Peruvian state violence victims distrust Fujimori's reconciliation call

Victims and relatives of human rights abuses in Peru have voiced deep skepticism regarding President-elect Keiko Fujimori's recent calls for national reconciliation. They argue that genuine reconciliation cannot be achieved while perpetrators of past and present abuses remain unpunished and the whereabouts of thousands of disappeared individuals are unknown.

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the promise to 'govern like her father' constitutes a threat of return to an authoritarian and corrupt regime that used the state apparatus to commit serious human rights violations.

A statement signed by victims and human rights associations declared that Fujimori's promise to "govern like her father" signals a dangerous return to an authoritarian and corrupt regime responsible for grave human rights violations. These crimes, for which her father Alberto Fujimori was convicted, are a painful memory the nation cannot forget.

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We do not want this necessary process in our country to become a mockery by those who have not taken responsibility for their crimes, who have harmed our families, who do not ask for forgiveness cannot utter that word of reconciliation. That is not possible.

Gisela Ortiz, whose brother was murdered by the paramilitary group Colina during the La Cantuta massacre in 1992, stated that Fujimori's message is contradictory. Ortiz pointed out that Fujimori's party has actively promoted amnesty laws for military and police personnel accused of human rights violations in the 1980s and 1990s. "Reconciliation cannot be just a speech. Reconciliation must be a practice of the state, and that has always been a demand of the families," Ortiz said.

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Reconciliation cannot be just a speech. Reconciliation must be a practice of the state, and that has always been a demand of the families.

The families emphasized that a democracy cannot be built on enforced silence, as justice remains elusive for many who have spent decades seeking accountability for the deaths of their loved ones. The association of victims from recent anti-government protests, which followed the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo, announced plans for a march on July 28, the day Fujimori is set to assume the presidency. They declared they would not recognize her government, deeming it illegitimate and a potential threat to impunity.

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it is not possible to build a democracy where 'silence is imposed,' as justice is a basic pillar that must sustain the system and is still 'far away' for them after years, even decades, of seeking sentences against those who killed their loved ones.