Global IssuesRIGHTS-PERU: Fears of Bias in Fujimori Trial
Lawyers representing the families of the victims of two high-profile massacres committed in the early 1990s in Peru, and who are taking part in the trial against former president Alberto Fujimori, have questioned the independence of the future heads of the Supreme Court and Lima High Court.
According to the human rights lawyers, Javier Villa Stein, who will be president of the Supreme Court as of Jan. 1, and César Vega, who will become president of the High Court in the capital on the same day, have expressed views favourable to leaders with close ties to Fujimori, who are now in prison for corruption and other crimes committed during the former president’s two terms in office (1990-2000).
The two magistrates will hold those posts when the courts determine whether Fujimori was ultimately responsible for the Nov. 3, 1991 killings of 15 people -- including a young boy -- at a barbecue in the Barrios Altos neighbourhood in Lima, and the Jul. 18, 1992 kidnapping and murder of nine students and a professor at La Cantuta University.
Both massacres were committed by an Army Intelligence Service (SIE) death squad known as the Colina Group.
Villa Stein in particular will have an influence on the case when the Supreme Court selects the panel of judges who will have the ultimate say if Fujimori appeals the sentence he receives.
The future president of the Supreme Court 'has already expressed his views on the validity of evidence presented in the legal proceedings against Fujimori administration officials, which means that for the sake of the independence, autonomy and objectivity of the judiciary, he should have nothing to do with this trial,' lawyer Gloria Cano of the non-governmental Human Rights Association (APDH), who represents families of the victims, told IPS.
Cano was referring to remarks by Villa Stein in which he questioned, as evidence of corruption, the so-called 'Vladivideos', as the press dubbed the tapes in which Fujimori’s former intelligence adviser Vladimiro Montesinos filmed himself handing out bribes in the 1990s to government ministers, high-ranking military officers, legislators, media owners and others.
Villa Stein defended two former owners of newspapers who received funds from the National Intelligence Service (SIN), which under a reform implemented by Fujimori was left under his direct control.
The two men in question are Eduardo Calmell of the Expreso newspaper, and Moisés Wolfenson of La Razón, who was also a legislator of Fujimori’s party.
The future Supreme Court chief justice also provided legal assistance to two notorious figures of the Fujimori regime who were convicted of corruption: former attorney general Blanca Colán and former army chief José Villanueva.
The lawyers who question the judge’s independence also point out that his son, Ernesto Villa, worked until July in the law practice of Fujimori’s defence lawyers César Nakasaki and Rolando Sousa. And when Sousa was elected to the legislature for Fujimori’s party, Ernesto Villa became his legal adviser.
Another concern raised by the human rights lawyers is the friendship between Villa Stein and Supreme Court justice Robinson González, who had defended the alleged innocence of people later sentenced for their ties to Montesinos, who is in prison for corruption, human rights violations and other crimes.
'There is a possibility that Villa Stein will appoint González to sit on the panel that will review Fujimori’s sentence,' said Ronald Gamarra, another of the defence attorneys of the families of the victims of the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta killings, and the head of the non-governmental National Human Rights Coordinator.
'Everyone knows Villa Stein’s opinion on the trials against the ‘Fujimoristas’, just as his close ties to the governing party are well known,' Gamarra told IPS. 'Thus, out of respect for the transparency and independence of the prosecution against Fujimori, he should have no role whatsoever in the process.
'His mere participation in any facet of the trial will undermine its impartiality. He should stay away from the proceedings to prevent any suspicion of his possible influence on the process,' Gamarra argued.
'I would have preferred another justice to be selected as Supreme Court president, someone who could guarantee that there is no threat of distortion in the process, but regretfully that did not happen,' said Cano. 'For that reason, Villa Stein should delegate someone else to set up the appeals panel that will be responsible for the final sentence against Fujimori.'
Gustavo Campos, who is also defending the families of victims of the two massacres, said the fact that Villa Stein believes the charge of 'autor mediato' (the person who planned, organised and directed the crime) is not applicable also poses a threat to the legal proceedings.
'When the leader of the (Maoist guerilla organisation) Sendero Luminoso, Abimael Guzmán, was convicted as ‘autor mediato’ of the massacre of peasant farmers in Lucanamarca, only one of the five judges, Villa Stein, expressed discrepancies,' Campos, a member of the non-governmental Human Rights Commission (COMISEDH), told IPS.
'Villa Stein preferred the charge of ‘coautoría’ (co-perpetrator). This point is important to highlight because the attorney general’s office is seeking conviction of Fujimori as ‘autor mediato’ in the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta cases,' he explained.
'The magistrate has already taken a position on this, and unfortunately it will be him who chooses the justices on the panel that will eventually review Fujimori’s sentence,' he said.
The human rights lawyers also criticise the appointment of Vega as future president of the Lima High Court, arguing that his well-known ties with the governing APRA party could compromise the independence of his decisions. They also blame him for judicial procedures that have delayed the trial against Fujimori.
'With the selection of Villa Stein and Vega in two high-level positions in the judiciary, the scenario for the next few years is not exactly encouraging,' said Gamarra.
© Inter Press Service (2008) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service