Former President Ollanta Humala (2011-2016) was convicted by a three-judge body of the National Superior Court (Tercer Juzgado Colegiado de la Corte Superior Nacional) to 15 years imprisonment for asset laundering. After a trial of over three years, the judges concluded that Humala’s presidential campaigns in 2006 and 2011 received illegal financing from Venezuela’s government under Hugo Chavez and from Brazilian engineering company, Odebrecht, which has been implicated in other bribery cases. Humala’s wife and co-founder of the Nationalist Party, Nadine Heredia, was also convicted and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for her role in the illicit financing of Humala’s campaigns; she sought and was granted political asylum from Brazil upon her conviction. The judges determined that in 2011 alone, Humala’s Nationalist Party received around USD 3 million in illegal contributions through means such as cash payments and false contracts. Humala has stated he will appeal.

 Sources: La Republica, France 24, BBC, El Pais 

On 15 April, President Dina Boluarte promulgated amendments to the bill that established the Peruvian International Cooperation Agency (APCI), passed by Congress the previous month. The amendments provide that civil society organizations (CSOs) must register and receive approval from the APCI to engage in international cooperation. Other provisions include sanctions for activities that are detrimental to public order or national security in the form of admonition, fines, suspension or cancellation of registry. They further classify financing of lawsuits against the government as an aggravating circumstance (meaning that CSOs could be sanctioned for legally challenging policies with which they disagree). The amendments, which proponents of the bill and the President characterized as vital to ensuring accountability in how CSOs use funds received from international cooperation, will tighten government scrutiny over CSOs. Rights organizations have denounced the bill as an attempt to stifle criticism of the government or legal action against the state, including judicial complaints over human rights abuses. 

Sources: Diario El Peruano, TV Peru, OHCHR, Amnesty International, International IDEA

On 12 March, Congress approved amendments to the bill that established the Peruvian International Cooperation Agency. The amendments will strengthen government control and scrutiny over the work of civil society organizations that receive international funding. Controversially, the amendments establish sanctions for NGOs for activities that could be detrimental to public order or national security. The vagueness of the provisions would allow for their discretional application, prompting concern among human rights practitioners. The amendments would classify the financing by an NGO of legal action against the government as an aggravating circumstance, meaning that organizations could be sanctioned for legally challenging government policies with which they disagree. Analysts assert that they restrict civic space and serve as a hurdle to access to justice for victims of human rights violations. Proponents of the bill allege that the amendments will strengthen transparency and accountability in the work of NGOs. President Dina Boluarte is expected to either make observations or sanction the amendments. 

 Sources: Congreso de la Republica, Wola, Infobae, Amnesty International 

A special prosecutor for trafficking in persons, and the congressional leadership have launched inquiries into an alleged prostitution ring in the legislature. Investigations claim that the former head of the Legal and Constitutional Office of Congress hired women to pose as assistants and office workers, to provide sex services to Congress members. Allegedly, the objective was to maintain a sex for votes scheme. The scandal came to light after a former adviser at the Legal and Constitutional Office was killed in an apparently targeted attack while she was travelling in a taxi. Media reports suggest the adviser recruited, on behalf of the former head of the Legal and Constitutional Office, the alleged victims of the trafficking ring. The former head and politicians accused of having participated in the scheme have denied wrongdoing. The special prosecutor is expected to continue its investigation to determine whether charges should be brought against those allegedly involved.

Sources: CNN, Voz de América, The Guardian, El Pais

In its decision on a complaint raised by five women victims of forced sterilization in the 1990s, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) recommended that the Peruvian State provide comprehensive forms of reparations to the complainants, and that it conducts all necessary inquiries into the practice of forced sterilization and implement a broader reparations program for all people affected. The Committee found that the practice of forced sterilization in Peru in the 1990s ‘amounted to sex-based violence and intersectional discrimination’, and recognized that rural, Indigenous and economically marginalized women were particularly affected by the State’s reproductive health and family planning program implemented during those years. Pursuant to the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women, Peru has six months to inform the Committee of the measures adopted to address CEDAW’s decision and recommendations. 

Sources: OHCHR, El Comercio Peru 

Former President Alejandro Toledo was convicted and sentenced on 21 October for the crimes of laundering of assets and collusion, in the context of the ‘Lava Jato’ scandal that originated in Brazil. It is the first conviction of a high-level Peruvian official related to this corruption scandal. He was accused of receiving over USD 35 million in bribes from the Odebrecht construction company in exchange for contracts to build sections of the Interoceánica Sur highway. During the hearing, in which he was found guilty, he was sentenced to 20 years and six months imprisonment, after a lengthy process that required his extradition from the United States. Toledo has denied all accusations, and his lawyer announced he would appeal. 

Sources: La Republica, Infobae, El Pais, The Guardian