By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – Dr. Salomón Lerner Febres, former president of Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been the victim of intensified threats and harassment in recent days.  Peru’s National Coordinator for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch are calling on the Peruvian government to investigate the threats and ensure Lerner’s safety.

On September 5, 2009, Lerner reported that his dogs were poisoned and died at his home in Lima.  This week, he received anonymous phone calls at his house and at his office at the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights at the Catholic University of Peru.  The caller left a message saying, “What we did to your dogs, we will do to you.”

Peru’s Ombudsman, Beatriz Merino, stated that she is in “complete solidarity” with Lerner.  She said that the threats should be strongly denounced by the state because they demonstrate an intolerance of advocacy for human rights and democracy.

Lerner has been the victim of threats and harassment since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its report in 2003. In addition to presiding over the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Lerner is the vice president of a high level commission creating a Museum of Memory, which will focus on human rights abuses in Peru.  That commission is headed by renowned writer Mario Vargas Llosa.

Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established in 2001 to investigate massacres, forced disappearances, terrorist attacks, and violence against women committed in the 1980s and 1990s by the Peruvian government and two rebel groups. The commission held meetings, collected testimonies, and did forensic investigations. It also made recommendations for reparations and institutional reforms.  An estimated 69,280 people were killed during that period.  The formal work of the commission ended with the 2003 publication of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report.

The Americas director of Human Rights Watch stated that “this is still a delicate time for human rights defenders in Peru, given the longstanding lack of action to stem abuse.”  He called the conviction of former President Alberto Fujimori a “fragile gain”, saying that “the government needs to show clearly that harassment and threats against human rights defenders are not permissible.”

For more information, please see:

Derechos Humanos Peru – Solidaridad Con Salomon Lerner – 25 September 2009

El Comerio – La Defensoría Exhortó a Interior Dar Protección a Salomón Lerner – 25 September 2009

Human Rights Watch – Peru: Investigate Threats Against Rights Defender – 25 September 2009

Los Andes – Salomón Lerner, Ex Presidente de la CVR Recibe Amenazas– 25 September 2009