Christians to go into hiding and many other believers to disappear, picked up a new passport at the Peruvian consulate in Tokyo Wednesday, September 14, in an apparent move to return and seek re-election.
Fujimori fled to Tokyo, Japan, in 2000 at the height of a government scandal and has been living in self-imposed exile where he is protected from potential criminal charges of human rights abuses and corruption by his dual citizenship.
"It’s clear this is another step by Fujimori on his comeback path," his spokesman Carlos Raffo told reporters in Lima, Peru. He has reportedly vowed to return for the April 2006 elections, despite facing possible arrest on charges of human rights abuses and corruption. Fujimori has denied any wrongdoing.
His announced return was expected to add to concern within the South American nation’s Christian community as two Peruvian Christians have gone into hiding because the Peruvian Supreme Court ordered their re-arrest in August for alleged terrorist crimes under Fujimori-era legislation.
"Augusto Camacho Alarcon (45) who was absolved and released October 26, 2004, and Carlos Jorge Garay (33) who was absolved and released on November 2, 2004, have both been informed that their absolutions have been invalidated," said Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) a human rights watchdog.
SUPREME COURT
"The Supreme Court has ordered they must be re-tried on charges of terrorism, and return to prison in the meantime." CSW’s partner organization in Peru, Peace and Hope, said both men have already spent over 12 years in prison for crimes of terrorism they did not commit.
"Both cases are characteristic of the legal insecurity for individuals who have been absolved of the crime of terrorism," said Peace and Hope lawyer Wuille Ruiz Figueroa in a statement seen by BosNewsLife.
"Yet they are now being submitted to yet another judicial trial which has also led to an order that they be recaptured and imprisoned once again. These are people, who during a few months of freedom, after more than 12 years of imprisonment, have been undergoing the difficult process of reinsertion into society and trying to return to a normal life."
SEPERATE ARRESTS
Camacho Alarcon and Jorge Garay were detained in separate villages on July 23, 1992, backed by controversial emergency terrorist laws introduced by Fujimory to eradicate "terrorist groups", including leftist guerilla fighters, from Peru.
Camacho Alarcon, a construction worker from the Andean village of Apurimac, was reportedly traveling down a street in Lima when someone nearby hurled a bag containing explosives.
At the same day authorities apparently arrested Jorge Garay, a factory worker, six blocks from his house in the Andean village of Ancash, where he happened to be walking when Shining Path rebels blew up a public bus. Both were sentenced to long prison terms despite what their supporters described as "only circumstantial evidence."
ARBITRARY DETAINMENT
They were tried under Fujimory’s system of arbitrary detainment and "faceless judges," which CSW claimed encouraged abuse. "The anonymity was ostensibly for the judges’ own protection. However, it led to widespread abuse because of the complete lack of accountability as they tried and sentenced thousands of Peruvians on charges of treason and terrorism," CSW said.
Fujimori also gave sweeping powers to the military, including provisions for military trials of civilians as part of his efforts to combat leftist guerilla groups. "Men and women were unexpectedly plucked out of their homes by the military or police, often at the dead of night. Most suffered torture and sexual assault as a routine part of interrogations. Family members were frequently threatened or assaulted in an effort to coerce a ‘confession,’" CSW added.
The conflict, which lasted from 1980 until 2000, is estimated to have claimed up to 70,000 lives. Thousands of Peruvians, including "many who were innocent", were detained and imprisoned on charges of "terrorism", while many others have "dissapeared" human rights activists say.
GOVERNMENT PRESSURED
CSW has urged the government to improve the situation starting with announcing an end to the "persecution" of the "innocent" two Christians.
"The situation of Augusto Camacho Alarcon and Carlos Jorge Garay is not only traumatic for them and for their loved ones but also seems to reveal a very disturbing deterioration in the area of human rights in Peru," said Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW.
But human rights watchers say the government seems reluctant to change the anti terrorism legislation as it is under public pressure to crackdown on guerilla fighters who are often seen as terrorists. Peru’s president has made clear however he wants a democratic system similar to that of the United States.
Last month after talks with US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld he stressed his governent shares with the US "the values of democracy, freedom of expression, respect for human rights, and firmness in the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism," according to a transcript seen by BosNewsLife. (With BosNewsLife Research, BosNewsLife News Center and reports from Lima and Tokyo).
