Jennie Dador, executive secretary of the National Human Rights Coordinator of Peru, speaks from Lima with elDiario.es while Congress returns to discuss the advancement of elections to 2023. But the session on Tuesday ended once again postponed under the argument of the need to “find consensus”. For the human rights lawyer, an early call to the polls could decompress the delicate political situation in Peru.
In any case, the key to moving forward with new elections does not depend only on the Legislative power. “If Boluarte resigns, Parliament is obliged to call elections immediately. But the president refuses to resign. She has the formula to get the elections held this year,” explains Dador. This is not what the president of Peru thinks, who assured on Sunday that the responsibility of approving the advancement of elections for this year “depends solely and exclusively on Congress.”
At the same time, protests continue in various regions of the country. Also the repressive response by the State. “In the last 20 years, in the midst of all kinds of conflict, the number of deaths has not exceeded 167 people. Now, in less than 60 days, there are 57. It is an absolute disproportionality. We have never had a reaction from the State of this guy,” says Dador. The Coordinator has registered 58 deaths in the last two months. Of the total, 47 have died due to the direct responsibility of the State, 7 of them are minors, a policeman has died at the hands of the protesters and 10 people in the context of the road blockade.
A week ago, the National Human Rights Coordinator that you head presented a report on human rights violations in Peru in the last 50 days. What conclusions did they reach?
We have verified that the Government has operated outside the law in the repressive response of the State. They do not meet national or international standards. There has been no proportionality. For example, a single intervention by the Army to control a demonstration in Ayacucho left 10 people dead. It is a total nonsense. In Juliaca, around 22 people died, not by the Army but by the actions of the Police. The autopsies have identified the use of projectiles, weapons of war, even rifles.
We are talking about the disproportionate use of force, the use of prohibited weapons to control demonstrations, which in this case also lead to massacres. Not only because of the number of people killed but also because of the extrajudicial executions, which do not comply with the parameters agreed upon by law.
Has there been an increase in harshness in the State’s response?
From the beginning, the Government acted in this way. The State entered to kill from the beginning. Not only protesters, which is not justified either, because even if you are a bad element, a violent person or a vandal, they do not have to execute you either, but also minors, where the State’s obligation to protect is double.
There are more than 200 people arrested for demonstrating. Are the arrests legal?
There is a set of arrests that are not only arbitrary, but have also been massive. It is as if the Police went out and cast a net and caught everything that fell into it. We are talking about arrests of 200 people in a single act, sometimes 50, other 60 at the same time. It is a disproportionate response. In addition, in these groups of mass arrests, it was also identified that older adults, street vendors, women with children, and people with mental disabilities were being detained. In general, there are also restrictions on the work of lawyers for the defense of detainees.
In the midst of the protests, a group of police officers forcibly entered the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos on January 21. How do you analyze the procedure?
This has been a raid on the university, something we haven’t seen since the 90s with the dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori. The Police broke down the door, which was absurd, they brought in an armored vehicle to knock down the door and then entered through the side door that was open.
And there they arrested 193 people, including students and protesters who came from the regions that had been housed there. But they are not only detained, but also put to the ground, thrown to the ground, beaten, and entered the university housing. It was extreme and unnecessary violence.
Is there any precedent in the country of what is happening?
The situation is exceptional for Peru. We have not had a repression of this nature since the democratic recovery in the year 2000. Even in the last 20 years, in the midst of all kinds of conflicts, the number of deaths does not exceed 167 people. Now, in less than 60 days, there are 57. It is an absolute disproportionality. We have never had such a reaction.
Why do you think Baluarte’s response has been so harsh?
I think that the way in which she came to power through a legitimate constitutional succession is not in question, but she did it without the support of a bench in Congress or parties, rather she was alone, that is why the way to sustain herself in power has been the military and police presence in alliance with the parties, which are in Parliament and whose members are retired Navy admirals, with very violent and anti-democratic speeches.
The Peruvian Attorney General’s Office has opened an investigation against Boluarte and three ministers for genocide. Can the president be sentenced for this cause?
We have always said that the behaviors carried out by the president and her ministers do not correspond to genocide. In that case, a set of elements are required that make it much more difficult to prove the charge. We speak of extrajudicial executions. The fact that the Prosecutor’s Office has accepted the case as genocide makes us think two things. On the one hand, that the cause can be redirected towards the crimes that can really be proven. But you can answer that it does not correspond to the criminal type and that it is filed.
We, from the human rights organizations, are very clear that there is not only political responsibility of the president and her ministers, but that there are also criminal responsibilities, due to the chain of command of how decisions were made. We are going to take a few years, as usually happens in Justice, but we are sure that Boluarte will end up in jail.
What do you think about the fact that the first female president in the history of Peru could be arrested?
I come from the feminist movement, which is why I say that the body of a woman is not the one that will guarantee or represent the interests of women. Peruvian women learned during the Fujimori dictatorship, where they gave us some perks, that what is not good for democracy cannot be good for women. Not in any way.
Therefore, we do not recognize it as part of the women’s movement, it never had an agenda that defended the interests or rights of women, nor of feminists. It is an accident in the history of the women’s movement in Peru.
Is former President Castillo responsible for acts of violence?
I don’t think I have direct responsibility. Even only a small part of the agenda set by the protests calls for the release of President Castillo or the return to power. At this moment there are three common themes to the different mobilizations: the resignation of Mrs. Baluarte, the call for general elections and a third, which is beginning to enter with more force, which is the need for a constituent process. Then down there are nuances.
Congress is currently debating a possible advancement of elections. Can the new elections be an immediate solution to the problem?
Yes, it is part of the answer that would help decompress the situation. The closer the date, the better. Now, if Congress doesn’t do it, who has to resign is Baluarte. If she resigns, Parliament is obliged to immediately call an election. But the president refuses to resign. She has the formula to make the elections this year.
The other issue that is also under discussion is whether or not they should call a constituent process at this time. For me, it would be very good if a consultation is approved, in order to ask the citizens at the time of the elections whether or not they want to go to a constituent process.
Why do you think that rural Peru has been the one leading the protests and not Lima, as has happened on other occasions, for example, with the resignation of Manuel Merino in 2020?
It is undeniable that the arrival of President Pedro Castillo to power has marked a before and after in Peruvian politics. Castillo is a man from the countryside, a rural teacher, a trade unionist, the son of illiterate parents, with a history of poverty. Whoever sees him says: ‘If he can, I can too.’ It is a recognition by identity. No one denies that the management of the Castillo government has been disastrous, but we all witnessed that he was treated like a donkey, a beast. I think that ended up helping a movement that was boiling to gain momentum.
The UN recommended that Peru “limit the excessive use of force” by police and military. How to analyze the international response?
Accompaniment has been very important because as a result of what is communicated abroad, between the international press and the movements, it rebounds and impacts within the country. The United Nations High Commissioner, as well as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), have recommended that the Peruvian State limit the use of force. However, the Government is far from implementing these recommendations. Therefore, in addition to the human rights violations, there is an impressive level of political clumsiness on the part of the Government.