City Bar Statement on Peruvian Congress’s Passage of Statute of Limitations Bill

On July 4, 2024, Peru’s Congress passed Bill No. 6951/2023-CR, a piece of legislation that would establish a statute of limitations on crimes against humanity committed from 1980-2002, effectively ensuring impunity for atrocities that occurred during former president Alberto Fujimori’s administration and Peru’s internal armed conflict. This decision came on the heels of an Inter-American Court of Human Rights resolution granting provisional measures in the Case of Barrios Altos and Case of La Cantuta v. Peru, both of which involved accountability for massacres committed under the Fujimori regime. Despite the Court’s admonishment of the bill and directive to the State of Peru to stop the progression of the law, the bill passed with a vote of 15-12 and is expected to be signed into law by President Dina Boluarte in the near future.

The statement “expresses profound concern over the Peruvian State’s blatant defiance of international human rights law principles and willingness to open the door to a law that would offer widespread protection to perpetrators of crimes against humanity.”

The bill, if passed, would be “effectively ensuring impunity for atrocities that occurred during Alberto Fujimori’s presidency and Peru’s internal armed conflict,” the statement says.

The City Bar’s Inter-American Affairs Committee, International Human Rights Committee, and United Nations Committee also signed on to the statement.

Read the full statement here:

Statement condemning Peruvian Congress’s passage of statute of limitations for crimes against humanity and urging the president of Peru to veto the bill