NotiSur - Peru, Paraguay - 9 Sept 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit [Reminder: This is a private reading copy for your personal use, not for redistribution under the terms of our LADB subscription -- NY transfer] ------------------------------------------------------------ L A T I N A M E R I C A D A T A B A S E NotiSur - South American Political & Economic Affairs ISSN 1060-4189 Volume 11, Number 33 September 7, 2001 ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2001, Latin America Data Base (LADB), Latin American Institute, University of New Mexico Director: Rebecca Reynolds Bannister Editor: Patricia Hynds Staff writers: Carlos Navarro, Robert Sandels LADB ARCHIVES: Back issues are referenced to provide historical background relevant to the articles in this newsletter. These can be accessed with a subscription to the LADB searchable on-line archives at http://ladb.unm.edu/ by clicking on Search Archive. For subscription information, e-mail info@ladb.unm.edu or call 1-800-472-0888. In This Issue: PERU: FORMER PRESIDENT ALBERTO FUJIMORI CHARGED WITH CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY * Congress removes Fujimori's immunity * Attorney general charges Fujimori with homicide * War against guerrillas spanned several administrations PARAGUAY: PRESIDENT LUIS GONZALEZ MACCHI FACES GROWING OPPOSITION & CALLS FOR RESIGNATION * Vice president calls for Gonzalez Macchi to resign * Other Partido Colorado ex-presidents face charges * President's brother called for questioning ____________________________________________________________ ********************* PERU ********************* PERU: FORMER PRESIDENT ALBERTO FUJIMORI CHARGED WITH CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY The wheels of justice continue to turn against Peru's disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000). The Peruvian Congress has accused him of responsibility for two brutal massacres in the 1990s, and the attorney general has filed homicide charges against him. The government is pressuring Japan to cooperate in bringing the former president to trial, but so far the Japanese government has refused. On Aug. 2, Peruvian Judge Jose Luis Lecaros declared Fujimori a fugitive from justice (reo ausente) and ordered his arrest. Fujimori has been in Japan since last November. He left Peru to escape a corruption scandal and faxed his resignation from Japan. Congress rejected his resignation, firing him for dereliction of duty (see NotiSur, 2000-12-08). An official at Japan's Foreign Ministry said that, despite the arrest order, Japan would not extradite Fujimori because he is protected by his dual Japanese and Peruvian citizenship. "We will respond according to Japanese law," the official said. Asked if this meant Fujimori would not be extradited because he is a Japanese citizen, he said, "It would depend on the situation, but, generally speaking, that's what it means." "While Japan can take that position on principle, it is a signatory to a series of international treaties," said Prime Minister Roberto Danino. "When we have the legal route laid out and established, we will push their compliance with the treaties so Fujimori can be brought to justice." Fujimori has said that he will not return to Peru because he is a victim of political persecution. "The government...will give Mr. Fujimori every guarantee of a clean, just, and transparent trial before Peruvian courts," President Alejandro Toledo told reporters on Aug. 6. Toledo said he wanted to encourage Japanese investment in Peru and sought a bilateral relationship of "mutual respect," but he also said Fujimori should be considered Peruvian. "From our perspective, Fujimori was elected as a Peruvian, governed as a Peruvian, and...needs to face Peruvian courts," Toledo said. "Japan cannot buy his immunity with money." Congress removes Fujimori's immunity On Aug. 27, Congress convened a special session to debate the charges against Fujimori. That night, the lawmakers voted 75 to 0 to lift Fujimori's constitutional immunity. Deputy Martha Chavez, the ex-president's staunchest supporter and the only member of Congress to insist the motion was a "tremendous injustice," left the chamber before the vote. In the vote, Congress accepted an investigative committee's report holding Fujimori responsible for the actions of the Grupo Colina, a paramilitary death squad allegedly run by jailed ex-spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos. The report cited testimony from Fujimori's former military chiefs, former intelligence agents, and a secretly filmed videotape from 1998 in which Montesinos tells two former officials that the Colina massacres "came from" Fujimori. The allegations include the 1991 murder of 15 people who were attending a party in the Barrios Altos district in Lima and the 1992 killing of nine university students and a professor at the Enrique Valle y Guzman University, known as La Cantuta. Fujimori granted amnesty to some of those convicted of murdering the La Cantuta victims and burying their bodies (see NotiSur, 1995-07-07). Committee chair Deputy Daniel Estrada of Union por el Peru said evidence showed clearly that the death-squad killings were part of the Fujimori government's strategy to defeat the guerrillas. The massacres "could not have occurred without the consent of the highest spheres of power," Estrada said. The government said the vote should make it easier to force Fujimori's return from Japan to stand trial for crimes against humanity. "The possibility of extradition would be much more concrete [with the congressional vote]. We'd be speaking about serious crimes against humanity, which means that all [countries] have not only the duty but are also responsible for investigating and pursuing Alberto Fujimori," said Roland Gamarra, a state attorney leading the investigations into crimes against humanity, on CPN radio. Some legal experts say that charges of crimes against humanity could circumvent the extradition issue altogether. They say Japan must try Fujimori for such crimes in its own courts or send him to an international tribunal because it has signed international human rights treaties. But Kazuo Ito, a Japanese lawyer who specializes in international law, said it was "extremely questionable" whether Fujimori would be tried in Japan for murders committed in Peru. He said such a trial would require evidence that Fujimori had a direct role in specific murders, not just that he was aware of the existence of a death squad and took no steps to dismantle it. However, Japanese media said outside pressure on Japan to alter its stance could grow now that Peru's Congress has voted to charge Fujimori with crimes against humanity. "This... could strengthen calls against Japan to extradite the former president not only from inside Peru, but internationally as well," the daily Mainichi Shimbun said in its online edition. Motofumi Asai, a former Japanese Foreign Ministry official and now a professor at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo, said Japan should force Fujimori to leave the country. "When taking into account the oppressive political rule that [Fujimori] carried out, I think he should be forced to leave the country...especially if Japan is a country that values democracy and human rights," Asai said. On Sept. 4, Peru's special prosecutor Jose Ugaz said that Fujimori's extradition is complicated by Japan's position. "Obtaining extradition does not depend on whether we have proof as long as Japan maintains that its nationals cannot be extradited," said Ugaz, who has been investigating the network of corruption and the illegal fortune of Montesinos for the past year. He said Peru maintains that the same judicial criteria used by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon against Augusto Pinochet apply to Fujimori. "There are certain international treaties that allow a case to be tried if it involves crimes such as torture, which is the case with Fujimori." He said he hopes that a "Japanese Garzon" will charge Fujimori in Japan. Attorney general charges Fujimori with homicide On Aug. 5, Attorney General Nelly Calderon filed homicide charges against Fujimori with the Corte Suprema de Justicia (CSJ). She accused the ex-president of being the "co-author" of the "horrendous" Barrios Altos and La Cantuta massacres. She also charged Fujimori with responsibility for the murder of Mariela Barreto, an agent of the Servicio Nacional de Inteligencia (SIN), headed by Montesinos. Her decapitated and dismembered body was found in March 1997 (see NotiSur, 1997- 04-25). An official at Japan's Foreign Ministry said the latest legal actions in Peru would not affect Japan's stance. "There is no change," said a Foreign Ministry official. "If there is a request for cooperation in investigation we will respond according to relevant Japanese laws." Peru's Justice Minister Fernando Olivera called Japan's position "unacceptable" and said his government is preparing a "judicial battle" to secure Fujimori's extradition. "We're now dealing with crimes against humanity, which are prosecutable throughout the world and are also covered by international treaties," said Olivera. "It's going to be very difficult for Japan to reject this request." War against guerrillas spanned several administrations Peru's internal conflict began in 1980 and raged until the mid-1990s. It took a toll of at least 25,000 lives, mostly civilians, especially poor campesinos in the Andes and the Amazon region. A recent study called Rescatando la Memoria del Silencio by sociologist Jaime Antezna said there could be as many as 180 common graves where at least 2,000 people were buried who were executed by security forces during the 1980s. Most of the executions and clandestine burials occurred between 1983 and 1989, Antezna found, and the worst massacres occurred in the departments of Ayacucho--where Sendero Luminoso began its guerrilla war--Huancavelica, Apurimac, Junin, and San Martin. The Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH) said its investigations found that the largest number of massacres, at least seven, occurred during the government of Alan Garcia (1985-1990). In the first six years of the Fujimori government, at least five massacres took place, including those of Barrios Altos and La Cantuta. During the Fernando Belaunde government (1980-1985), at least four massacres took place including the assassination of eight journalists in Uchuraccay in the southern Andean department of Ayacucho. [Sources: Reuters, 08/03/01, 08/04/01, 08/06/01, 08/27/01, 08/28/01; Notimex, 08/26/01, 08/28/01; The Miami Herald, 08/29/01; La Opinion (Los Angeles), 08/28/01, 08/30/01; Associated Press, 08/03/01, 08/06/01, 08/28/01, 08/29/01, 09/06/01; Spanish news service EFE, 08/26/01, 08/27/01, 08/31/01, 09/04/01, 09/06/01] ********************* PARAGUAY ********************* PARAGUAY: PRESIDENT LUIS GONZALEZ MACCHI FACES GROWING OPPOSITION & CALLS FOR RESIGNATION Demands are increasing that Paraguayan President Luis Gonzalez Macchi resign. Since he took office, Gonzalez Macchi has been unable to make headway on solving the country's social and economic problems. Vice President Julio Cesar "Yoyito" Franco is leading the calls for the president to step down. Meanwhile, two former presidents of Gonzalez Macchi's Asociacion Nacional Republicana (ANR, Partido Colorado) also face charges. Anti-government protests increased in August. On Aug. 14, owners of public transportation companies went on strike to demand fare increases. In clashes with police, 62 bus drivers were arrested and dozens wounded. The capital, Asuncion, was paralyzed because of the lack of transportation, but Interior Minister Julio Cesar Franego said the government would not approve the increase. Campesinos belonging to the Mesa Coordinadora Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas (MCNOC) also arrived in the capital demanding that both Gonzalez Macchi and Franco resign or carry out the agreements made previously by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and other government institutions. On the same day, members of the Union Industrial Paraguaya and the Centro de Comerciantes closed their businesses for two hours to demand that something be done about widespread corruption and contraband. The weakened government also faced a teachers' strike, and a walkout by state employees at the Banco Central and the water and telephone companies. Vice president calls for Gonzalez Macchi to resign Since early August, Vice President Franco has renewed his calls for Gonzalez Macchi to resign, saying it is the only way to solve the social and economic problems in the country. Franco and Gonzalez Macchi have serious differences regarding the administration of the government, and Franco has frequently and publicly criticized the president's decisions. On Sept. 1, thousands of protesters, led by Franco, gathered in the center of Asuncion in front of the Panteon de los Heroes to call for Gonzalez Macchi's resignation. Franco, with the opposition Partido Liberal Radical Autentico (PLRA), took office in September 2000 after the August election to replace Luis Maria Argana, the former vice president who was assassinated in Asuncion March 23, 1999 (see NotiSur, 2000-08-25). Gonzalez Macchi is a member of the Partido Colorado, in power since 1947. As head of Congress, he was next in line when then President Raul Cubas Grau (August 1998-March 1999) resigned and left the country following Argana's assassination (see NotiSur, 1999-03-26, 1999-04-09). The president also lacks support within the Partido Colorado. On Aug. 18, party chief Nicanor Duarte Frutos told the press that he recognized "painfully, that the government of President Luis Gonzalez Macchi is inefficient, insensitive, and tremendously detrimental" for the country. He added, however, that the solution was not for Gonzalez Macchi to resign and turn over the presidency to Franco who, he said, lacks the capacity and the authority needed to govern. Duarte Frutos also said the people have lost confidence in Franco because he has surrounded himself with a group that has made politics "a sales counter where everything can be negotiated." The Catholic Church has offered to mediate in a "national dialogue" to end the crisis. Gonzalez Macchi has responded favorably to the offer, but the PLRA has been cautious. On Sept. 4, Franco said he would participate in the dialogue to make clear his position and that of the PLRA. But he said the church should "have the courage to say clearly who is starving, pillaging, and mismanaging our suffering country." Other Partido Colorado ex-presidents face charges Judge Wilfrido Peralta issued an order on Aug. 29 for the preventive detention of former president Cubas Grau, accused of misusing discretionary funds during his presidency. Judge Peralta is investigating the disappearance and presumed theft of some US$500,000 from the discretionary account. Cubas has lived in Curitiba, Brazil, since he left office in 1999. The judge's action is part of a process by prosecutor Javier Contreras to seek Cubas Grau's extradition from Brazil to face charges in Paraguay. And, the national prosecutor's office has charged former President Juan Carlos Wasmosy (1993-1998) with misuse of funds in connection with US$697 million in a secret bank account in the Cayman Islands. The accusation was made by the organization Pueblo Estafado en Accion, which includes dozens of citizens who lost their savings when banks and financial institutions went bankrupt under suspicious circumstances during Wasmosy's government. On Aug. 31, Wasmosy said he was going to sue the daily La Nacion for its story about his accounts in the Cayman Islands. La Nacion reported that when Wasmosy took office in August 1993, he opened a secret bank account in the Cayman Islands, depositing US$7 million. In less than five years, the account had grown to US$697 million. La Nacion said Wasmosy would have had to deposit more than US$12 million each month to accumulate that amount in five years. President's brother called for questioning Meanwhile, the president's brother, Judge Jose Ignacio Gonzalez Macchi, was in court to answer charges that he was involved in illegally transferring US$16 million out of the country. He denied the allegations. The US$16 million belong to the Paraguayo-Oriental and Union banks, now being liquidated. After the banks were intervened, the funds were managed by officials designated by the Superintendencia de Bancos, which is controlled by the Banco Central del Paraguay (BCP). Despite legal prohibitions, the money was taken out of the country last year and deposited in private accounts in Citibank in New York on the orders of high officials of the Superintendencia and the BCP. The judge is suspected of attending meetings at which the operation was orchestrated. One of the meetings was at the house of his father, former minister of justice and labor Saul Gonzalez. The judge said he would stay in the country until the situation has been clarified. The judge recently returned to Paraguay from California where he is taking courses in law. He has been on leave from the Corte Suprema de Justicia to complete the studies. The president and his wife have also been questioned regarding the US$16 million. In July, the PLRA called for Gonzalez Macchi's impeachment, but the motion was blocked by the Partido Colorado. [Source: Associated Press, 08/14/01; El Nuevo Herald (Miami), 08/16/01; Reuters, 08/31/01; Notimex, 08/14/01, 08/30-09/01/01; Spanish news service EFE, 08/08/01, 08/14/01, 08/28/01, 08/30/01, 09/03/01; CNN, 08/15/01, 08/31/01, 09/03/01; La Nacion (Paraguay), 09/05/01] ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= pvtsa-09.06.01-23:05:33-8804