Peru’s president has signed into law a sweeping amnesty for soldiers, police and armed civilians accused of atrocities during the country’s two decades of conflict with Maoist insurgents — brushing aside an international court’s call to halt the move.
President Dina Boluarte, the first woman to lead Peru, gave the final approval on Wednesday to a bill passed by Congress in July. It grants immunity to those accused of crimes between 1980 and 2000 — a turbulent period in which the Shining Path and Tupac Amaru rebel groups fought a war that claimed roughly 70,000 lives and left more than 20,000 missing.
The measure also orders the release of convicted offenders over the age of 70, potentially freeing hundreds, including members of rural self-defence patrols that sprang up during the fighting.
Boluarte framed the law as a tribute to the security forces who, she said, stood “in defence of democracy” against terrorism. But human rights advocates see it differently. “A betrayal of Peruvian victims,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, warning the law could halt or overturn more than 600 trials and 156 convictions.
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The Inter-American Court of Human Rights had urged Lima to suspend the legislation pending a review. UN experts and Amnesty International also pressed for a veto, citing Peru’s legal duty to prosecute serious crimes — from extrajudicial killings to sexual violence.
The TRC has found that state forces were responsible for the vast majority of documented sexual abuse cases during the conflict.
This is not the first time the government has moved to shield past abuses. In 2023, a statute of limitations was imposed on crimes against humanity committed before 2002 — effectively closing hundreds of cases. Among those to benefit was former president Alberto Fujimori, released from prison months before his death in 2024 despite a conviction over military massacres.
In an unrelated case, former president Martín Vizcarra was this week placed in preventative detention over bribery allegations — the fifth ex-leader to face jail in a sprawling web of corruption probes.