“Impunity does not hide the crime, it magnifies it,” the CNDDHH affirmed, after noting that the amnesty paves the way for impunity for military and police officers accused in 600 cases of extrajudicial executions, torture, and forced disappearances.

The measure was approved with the votes of 16 right-wing members of the Permanent Commission, while 11 dissenting votes were cast by left-wing and centrist lawmakers.

It also benefits senior citizens aged 70 years and older, including the perpetrators of the massacres of unarmed civilians in Barrios Altos and La Cantuta, under the iron-fisted government of Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) during the so-called internal conflict (1980-2000).

The amnesty’s promoters argued that the trials of those now amnestied who fought against terrorism (as the armed groups operating in the country are known here) have dragged on for 25 years or more without sentencing.

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