Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/mac/TEXT/HUMANrts/PERU.TXV

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TITLE:  PERU HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995




On occasion, Sendero tried to interrupt free movement within
the country, conducting "armed strikes" during which civilians
were told to stay home or risk reprisals.  Public and private
vehicles operating during such strikes were subject to attack.
Sendero's armed strikes were significantly less successful in
1994 than in previous years.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

The Constitution provides for the right of citizens to choose
and change the laws and officials that govern them, and
citizens exercise this right in practice.  Voting is mandatory
by secret ballot for all citizens between the ages of 18 and
70; however, prisoners and members of the armed forces and
police are ineligible to vote.  The law bars only groups that
advocate violent overthrow of the Government from participating
in the political process.  The Fujimori administration
tolerated opposition groups representing a wide variety of
opinion and ideology and did not hinder them from criticizing
the Government.

The campaign for the 1995 presidential and congressional
elections began in late 1994.  Under a provision of the new
Constitution, President Fujimori will seek reelection.  In
October an unprecedented 26 political groups representing a
wide political spectrum launched presidential bids, though the
independent National Elections Board disqualified nearly half
for failure to meet registration requirements.

Opposition politicians, human rights groups, and the media all
complained of the incumbent's unfettered access to government
resources to promote his candidacy.  There were already a
limited number of reports of instances of irregularities in the
campaign, such as government harassment of, and spying on,
opposition members.  Nevertheless, opposition candidates were
able to campaign across the country and hold rallies (including
in the government-declared emergency zones), buy
advertisements, and speak freely to the press.

There are no laws that restrict women and minorities from
participating in government and politics; both women and
minorities (including indigenous people), for example, are
represented in the Congress and some senior government
leadership positions.  There are 7 congresswomen out of
80 members.  Two of the 14 cabinet ministers and several vice
ministers are women, as is the Attorney General and a supreme
court justice.  Four of the 26 people declaring candidacies in
the 1995 presidential campaign were women, though 2 failed to
meet election board requirements, and 1 later withdrew.

President Fujimori is from a racial minority.  There are two or
three indigenous congressmen, and one recent vice president was
a Quechua speaker.  There are some indigenous prosecutors, and
one of the declared presidential candidates is a Quechua
speaker from Ancash.  However, it is difficult for indigenous
people to reach the highest leadership levels in both the
public and private sectors.  Discrimination has often led to
exclusion of these groups from leadership positions in
government and business (see Section 5).

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

The Government allowed numerous nongovernmental organizations
(NGO's) dedicated to monitoring and advancing human rights to
operate independently, although government officials often
criticized them.  The military often restricted the ability of
local and international human rights workers to investigate
human rights abuses; the Government usually ignored human
rights groups' requests for information; and it prohibited many
human rights monitors--but not the ICRC--from visiting key
prisons.  Verbal attacks by the Government against both
domestic and international human rights monitors suggested a
hardening of the Fujimori administration's attitude toward the
role of NGO's (especially those associated with foreigners) in
bringing human rights abuses to public attention.  Legitimate
fears of physical attack by Sendero severely limited the
ability of human rights monitors to carry out their work.

The vast majority of Peruvian human rights NGO's are
independent and generally objective in their views.  Several
private human rights groups joined in 1985 to form an umbrella
organization known as the National Coordinating Committee for
Human Rights, or Coordinadora.  Over 40 groups from around the
country are either voting or observer members of the
Coordinadora.  The Coordinadora maintains a policy of not
mixing politics with human rights (although its individual
members may occasionally do so, but not under the
Coordinadora's name), and its members function as credible,
thorough, and impartial observers.  The previously established
dialog between the Government and the Coordinadora stalled over
dissatisfaction with progress on key agenda items and Congress'
action in the La Cantuta case.

Local groups repeatedly denounced Sendero Luminoso as the
largest violator of human rights in Peru, while simultaneously
documenting the many violations by government forces.  In fact,
strong documentary evidence proves that Coordinadora members
have been balanced in their denunciations of abuses by both
sides.  Nevertheless, President Fujimori, other government
officials, members of the business community, and the
progovernment press often unfairly accused human rights groups
of being defenders of terrorism and of criticizing only
government abuses, not those of Sendero.  For example, in
January government-party Congresswoman Martha Chavez called for
greater congressional oversight of NGO's on the grounds that
some of them were allegedly "financing terrorism."  However,
she produced no evidence to prove her accusation.  The
Coordinadora and other organizations responded by noting that
by law their accounting was transparent and proved that they
were not channeling funds to terrorist groups.

In April the Government's public attacks on human rights groups
stepped up as those groups denounced the reported army killings
in sweep operations in Huanuco department.  President Fujimori
criticized human rights organizations, claiming they had not
denounced human rights violations by terrorists.  Health
Minister Jaime Freundt publicly accused human rights NGO's of
defending Sendero Luminoso.  In addition to reversing for
7 weeks the policy of allowing the ICRC access to the zone
where the operation took place, the political-military
commander of the Huallaga front, where the Huanuco killings
took place, alleged to the media in April that the ICRC was
collaborating with terrorists.  Finally, on April 27, the
government-controlled Congress passed a resolution condemning
the Coordinadora for supposedly lying and exaggerating its
denunciations of the Huanuco killings and thereby "damaging the
image and prestige of Peru."

In early May, a Ministry of the Presidency official, Dora
Solari, and a government-party congressman, Hugo Zamatta,
without offering proof, accused unnamed NGO's of having links
to terrorism.  Also in May executive branch officials,
including President Fujimori and Justice Minister Vega,
boycotted a visit by Pierre Sane, the Secretary General of
Amnesty International; Vega wrote to Sane before the visit
telling him he was not welcome in Peru.  Executive branch
officials also refused to meet with a human rights delegation
from the New York Bar Association and would not permit the
delegates to visit any of the country's prisons.  In late
September, President Fujimori again criticized international
human rights organizations, alleging that they were "defending
the human rights of terrorists and not the public."  A few days
later, the Congress passed a motion authorizing its oversight
committee to investigate NGO's use of funds.  In December
President Fujimori publicly labeled the Coordinadora as
terrorist accomplices for its alleged "complicitous silence."
In a spirited public rebuttal the next day, the Coordinadora
Executive Secretary pointed out that since its foundation the
Coordinadora had condemned acts committed by Sendero and MRTA.

Some human rights workers were the subject of threats and
harassment from unknown sources.  One, who worked for a
Lima-based human rights group and a local radio station,
received repeated anonymous telephone calls advising him to
stop criticizing the Government or he would be killed.  In
October a judge issued an arrest warrant for another human
rights monitor working for a church group in Chimbote because
he was reportedly associated with two environmentalists
detained on terrorism charges.  Human rights groups affirmed
the innocence of both the environmentalists and the monitor.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

The Constitution provides for equal rights for all citizens and
specifically prohibits discrimination based on ethnic origin,
race, gender, language, religion, opinion, or economic
condition.  Nevertheless, discrimination against women and
minorities is extensive.  Discrimination based on sexual
preference is also frequent.  According to Peru's only gay
rights group, the Homosexual Movement of Lima, gays and
lesbians are often the target of harassment by police, who
rarely investigate hate crimes against them.  On August 11,
police raided a gay bar in Lima, allegedly beat some of the
patrons, and arrested 76 people without making any charges.
They held some of the customers in custody for 7 hours before
releasing them.

     Women

The Constitution grants women equality with men, and laws on
marriage, divorce, and property rights do not discriminate
against women.  Nevertheless, tradition often impedes access by
women to leadership roles in major social, business, and
political institutions.  However, there is a small but growing
number of women in leadership positions in the Government (see
Section 3).

Violence against women, including rape and spousal abuse, is a
chronic problem, according to local women's groups and law
enforcement offices.  On average there were 326 complaints of
violence against women per month, according to these sources.
In the last 10 years, there were over 59,600 reported cases of
violence against women; many additional cases, however, go
unreported.  There are special women's police stations in Lima
and other major cities to deal with the rising number of
complaints of domestic violence.  In addition, women's groups
have established legal aid and health centers for women.
Judicial authorities do take legal action against perpetrators
of domestic violence.  However, one of the reasons that special
women's police stations were established was that regular
policemen often do not take seriously accusations by women
against their husbands.  Although the Government has passed
strong legislation against domestic violence, this is not
always translated into action at lower levels, especially
outside the major cities.

Although prohibited by law, sexual harassment in the workplace
is a common problem.  According to a study by the Flora Tristan
Women's Center, 62 percent of working women knew of cases of
sexual harassment in the workplace.  Women's groups assert that
this problem is on the rise and is exacerbated by the country's
high rate of unemployment.

Sendero Luminoso also targeted women's organizations, claiming
that communal kitchens and the "glass of milk" program--managed
principally by women--have links with the Government.

     Children

The Government does not adequately address children's human
rights and welfare.  President Fujimori has on numerous
occasions emphasized the need to improve education at all
levels, but the Government does not provide sufficient funding
for the public schools.  Millions of children suffer from
malnutrition and live in extreme poverty.  In addition, minors
can be tried as adults for terrorism offenses (see below).

A large percentage of children are born out of wedlock; many
fathers fail to support their children.  In addition, orphans
have become common, due in large part to the guerrilla war; one
newspaper estimated the number of war orphans at 55,000.  It is
not unusual for indigent parents to give up their children,
either through adoption or by sending them away as house
servants.  In Lima alone, there are thousands of homeless,
orphaned, or abandoned children.  Many children are forced to
work in the informal economy to support themselves; according
to the Movement of Children of Christian Workers, the number of
children under the age of 16 obliged to work exceeds 200,000.

Violence against children is a serious problem.  Approximately
half of all rapes are perpetrated against minors.  According to
the director of Lima's children's hospital, 600,000 children
have been the victims of abandonment and physical violence.

Decree Law 25564, issued by President Fujimori in June 1992,
provides for minors aged 15 to 18 to be tried as adults for
terrorism offenses.  The law was issued in response to
Sendero's frequent use of minors in acts of terrorism.  Several
dozen minors are awaiting trial or serving time in various
prisons.  In October 1993, the Children's Rights Committee of
the United Nations reported that Peruvian minors accused of
terrorism "do not benefit from the safeguards or guarantees
normally offered by the juvenile administration of justice
system."

Although hampered by a lack of resources, the Government has
taken some measures to safeguard children's rights.  For
example, in February the Government stiffened the penalties for
rape and violence against children; conviction of rape of a
minor can now mean life imprisonment, depending on the
circumstances.  The Justice Ministry administers several
children's defense centers around the country which work to
protect the rights of children and deal with cases of violence
against minors.  In 1994 training for police officers included
a course on children's rights.  In addition the Government
announced it would build 30 to 40 homes for orphaned and
abandoned children; it inaugurated one of these shelters in
Lima in September.

     Indigenous People

The 1993 Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race
and guarantees the right of all citizens to speak their native
language.  However, Peru's large indigenous population faces
pervasive discrimination and social prejudice, in addition to
suffering many of the severe human rights abuses cited in this
report.  Because of geographic isolation, government
centralization, lack of organization, and social
marginalization, indigenous people are in general unable to
participate in decisions affecting their lands, cultures,
traditions, and the allocation of natural resources.  These
decisions are made by the central Government in Lima.
Particularly in the jungle regions, colonists, coca
cultivators, guerrillas, and business interests steadily
encroach on native lands, many seeking to exploit natural
resources.  Indigenous groups fear that Articles 88 and 89 of
the Constitution, which assign to the State any native lands
"in abandonment," will mean the loss and sale to commercial
interests of traditional land.  Some Amazon groups have
expressed concern over the possible effects on their
communities and the environment of oil and gas exploration in
the Camisea area.  Malnutrition and disease are rampant among
many of these tribes.

The law generally protects the civil and political rights of
indigenous people to the same extent as the rights of other
citizens.  However, many indigenous groups live in isolated
areas, which affect the Government's ability to offer them
services, security, and enforcement and protection of civil and
political rights.

The largest indigenous groups are speakers of Quechua and
Aymara (recognized as official languages), but there are dozens
of smaller native language groups.  Indigenous people lack
access to public services and support in their native lands,
and investment is focused largely on the coast.  The
Government's lack of investment in traditional indigenous areas
has been aggravated in recent years by the presence of Sendero
Luminoso in many such places.

Sendero Luminoso remains by far the most egregious violator of
the rights of indigenous people.  It continued to target
violence against the Ashaninka tribe in Peru's central jungle.
The Coordinadora estimated that between 20 and 40 Ashaninka
communities have disappeared as a result of Sendero violence,
and that more than 10,000 Ashaninkas have been displaced.  As
many as 3,000 Ashaninkas may be trapped in zones under Sendero
oppression.  In late August, unconfirmed reports indicated that
common graves with the bodies of Ashaninka natives were
discovered; the authorities said they believed the graves may
contain the remains of victims of Sendero violence.

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Peru's population includes several small racial minorities, the
largest of which are blacks of African descent and Asians.
Blacks, who tend to be concentrated along the coast, face
particularly pervasive discrimination and social prejudice and
are among the poorest groups in Peru.  This discrimination
excludes blacks from leadership roles in government, military,
and business institutions.  Both the navy and the air force
reportedly have unwritten policies that exclude blacks from the
officer corps.  According to Peru's two black human rights
groups, police routinely detain persons of African descent on
suspicion of committing crimes for no other reason than the
color of their skin, and police rarely act on complaints of
crime against blacks.  The human rights groups also note that
blacks tend to be relegated to servants' jobs; the few blacks
who have been relatively successful financially have done so in
the sports and entertainment fields.

     People with Disabilities

Although the Constitution states that disabled persons "have
the rights to respect of their dignity and to a regime of
protection, attention, readaptation and security," the
Government spends relatively little on assisting the
handicapped or preventing discrimination against them.  There
is little public infrastructure with facilities for people with
disabilities, such as wheelchair ramps on streets or in
buildings, and no law mandating access for them.  Disabled
persons face discrimination when seeking employment; many are
reduced to begging in the streets.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

The new Constitution recognizes the right to organize a trade
union, to engage in collective negotiations, and to strike.
These rights are to be exercised democratically, and the State
is to promote the peaceful resolution of labor disputes.  The
Constitution states, however, that the right to strike must
take into account broader social interests.  It also states
that employers may not require membership or nonmembership in a
union as a condition of employment.

About 7 percent of the estimated 8.5 million persons in the
work force belong to organized labor unions.  Up to
three-quarters of Peruvian workers work in the informal sector
of the economy, which operates largely beyond government
supervision and taxation.  Existing unions represent a
cross-section of political opinion.  Though some unions have
been traditionally associated with political groups, unions are
prohibited by law from engaging in explicitly political,
religious, or profit-making activities.  There are no
restrictions on membership in international bodies.

Workers from organized trades, teachers, and government unions
struck more frequently than in 1993, seeking benefits in
accordance with the improved economic situation they perceive.
Reprisals against striking workers are reportedly infrequent.

Union members and officials have been targets of terrorist
assassination and intimidation attempts.  The labor movement
and its leaders have been generally hostile to terrorist groups
and have fought to prevent or reduce terrorist infiltration
into the labor movement; however, the Government detained some
union officials suspected of terrorist links.

In March the International Labor Organization (ILO) Committee
of Experts' annual review of compliance with ILO conventions
criticized a number of restrictive practices and asked the
Government to take initiatives to amend its labor legislation
so as to bring it into conformity with the conventions to which
Peru is a party.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

Although the Constitution recognizes the right of public and
private workers to organize, bargain collectively, and strike,
it states that these rights must be exercised in harmony with
broader social interests.  It excludes public employees
exercising management or decisionmaking authority, as well as
members of the police and military, from the right to organize
or strike.  However, both judiciary branch and Lima municipal
workers conducted strikes in late 1994 to protest salary and
working conditions.

Labor regulations promulgated prior to the 1993 approval of the
new Constitution provide that workers can form unions based on
profession, employment, or geographic location.  The
regulations exclude temporary, probationary, apprentice, or
management employees from union membership.  They require a
minimum of 100 members to form trade unions by branch of
activity, occupation, or for various occupations; and a minimum
of 20 workers to form a union within a company.  They also
limit the number of union officials, the amount of time they
may devote to union business on company time, and require them
to be active members of the union.

Labor regulations set the number of union representatives who
can participate in collective bargaining negotiations (a
minimum of 3, maximum of 12), and establish the negotiating
timetable.  The management negotiating team cannot exceed the
size of the workers' team; both sides may have attorneys and
professional experts in attendance as advisers.  A majority of
all workers in a company, whether union members or not, must
approve a strike by a secret ballot.  A second vote must be
taken upon petition of 20 percent or more of the workers.

The law permits companies unilaterally to propose temporary
changes of work schedules, conditions, and wages and to suspend
for up to 90 days collective bargaining agreements if required
by force majeure or economic conditions, provided they give 15
days' notice to employees.  If workers dispute the proposed
changes, the Labor Ministry is to resolve the dispute based
upon criteria of "reasonableness" and "economic necessity."  In
such cases employers are to authorize vacation time and in
general adopt measures that avoid aggravating the employment
situation.

A conciliation and arbitration system resolves disputes in
collective bargaining impasses, but union officials complain
that their proportionate share of the cost of arbitration
exceeds their resources.  They also state that increasing
numbers of companies utilize a policy of hiring workers on
temporary, personal services contracts to prevent union
affiliation.  This has become an issue of contention between
organized labor and employers and is one of several concerns
that labor has raised in international forums.  Employers deny
the accusation of antiunion bias and assert that labor
stability provisions of the law have made long-term commitments
to workers too expensive.

The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination, and there
are no effective measures to resolve such complaints.  No legal
provisions require employers who commit antiunion discrimination
to reinstate workers fired for union activities.

Special regulations permitting greater flexibility in
application for the Labor Code in export and duty free zones
provide for the use of temporary labor as needed, flexibility
in labor contracts, and a wage system based upon supply and
demand.  As a result, workers in duty free zones are unable to
unionize.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor, as well
as imprisonment for debt.  However, there are periodic reports
of the practice of forced labor in remote mountainous Andean
and Amazonian jungle regions of the country.  In response to
one complaint filed with the ILO, the Government acknowledged
the existence of such practices and asserted it had taken
measures to end abuses, such as closing down and fining
clandestine recruitment agencies and opening a labor and social
welfare office in Huaypetue, where forced labor abuses had
occurred.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

Education through primary school is compulsory and free.
However, a high percentage of school-age children work rather
than attend daytime classes, with only a small number of such
children attending classes at night.  The minimum legal age for
employment is 16.  Labor law contains special provisions for
workers between the ages of 16 and 21.  Their apprenticeship
cannot exceed 18 months, they must be paid at least the minimum
wage, should be accorded specialized training, and can comprise
no more than 15 percent of a company's work force.  Given
Peru's widespread poverty, children work in the informal
economy without government supervision of wages or conditions
from a very early age to help support their families.  Child
labor is heavily used in the agricultural sector and to mine
gold, but not in other major export industries, such as
petroleum or fisheries.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

The Constitution provides that the State should promote social
and economic progress and occupational education.  It states
that workers should receive a "just and sufficient" wage, to be
determined by the Government in consultation with labor and
business representatives, and "adequate protection against
arbitrary dismissal."  The current minimum wage is about $57
(130 soles) per month and is generally considered inadequate to
support a worker and family.

The Constitution also provides for a 48-hour workweek, a weekly
day of rest, and yearly vacation.  It prohibits discrimination
in the workplace.  While occupational health and safety
standards exist, the Government lacks the resources to monitor
or enforce compliance.  Employers and workers generally agree
upon compensation for industrial accidents on an individual
basis.  The Government introduced reforms in 1993 eliminating
the need to prove culpability to obtain workman's compensation
for injuries.  There are no provisions for workers to remove
themselves from dangerous work place situations without
jeopardy to continued employment.