Peru: New Amnesty law threatens the right to justice

On 9 July 2025, the Permanent Commission of the Peruvian Congress approved, in a second vote with 16 votes in favour and 11 against, Bill 7549/2023-CR, which grants amnesty to members of the Armed Forces, the Peruvian National Police and Self-Defence Committees who have been reported, investigated or prosecuted for actions committed during counterterrorism operations between 1980 and 2000. The initiative, presented by Congressman Jorge Montoya Manrique of the Honour and Democracy party and a retired military officer, awaits enactment by President Dina Boluarte to come into effect.

This initiative also includes a measure to benefit military personnel, police officers, and committee members over 70 years of age who have final sentences or are in the process of serving sentences for crimes committed during this period.

Between 1980 and 2000, Peru underwent an internal armed conflict in which around 69,000 people were killed or disappeared, with most of the victims being Quechua-speaking peasants, many of whom now face the risk of losing access to justice for which they have fought over the last 40 years.

Peruvian civil society organisations have criticised that this measure could impact 156 cases with final judgements and over 600 ongoing proceedings, including cases of extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture, sexual violence, and massacres. Along with relatives, the organisations will ask judges to conduct the necessary checks on the legality of the measure and not to implement it if enacted by the president.

Before its approval, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urged the State of Peru to refrain from passing laws granting amnesties for serious human rights violations, recalling that this is an obligation under international law. It also reiterated that the prohibition of amnesties in cases involving serious human rights violations has been recognised as an obligation under international law within the Inter-American system since 1992, as also noted in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights judgment, Barrios Altos v. Peru.

Previously, in 2024, Peru enacted Law 32107, which declared crimes against humanity committed before 2002 to be time-barred. In this context, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Volker Türk, alongside UN experts, warned that crimes against humanity and war crimes should not be subject to amnesties or statutes of limitations, as their imprescriptibility is a norm of jus cogens and customary international law. Furthermore, they emphasise that such a statute of limitations jeopardises victims' rights.

The OMCT regrets that the Peruvian State continues to promote legislative initiatives that uphold impunity, violate the rights of victims to truth, justice, and reparation, and contradict the obligations assumed under international law.

Furthermore, the OMCT expresses concern that this initiative adds to other recently approved legislative measures, such as the APCI Law, which represent a significant democratic setback and undermine the defense of human rights in the country.

We urgently call on the Peruvian Executive to halt this initiative and on the international community to express its solidarity with the victims and their families in the face of this measure, which represents a serious setback for the guarantee of their rights.