LIMA, PERU, AND SAN AGUSTIN, COLOMBIA — Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was found guilty of mass murder and kidnapping Tuesday and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, a rare instance of a former head of state being found guilty in his own country on human rights charges.
The 70-year-old former agronomy professor, who during a decade in office brought Peru back from the brink of political and economic collapse, was found guilty of ordering massacres in the Barrios Altos area of Lima in 1991 and at La Cantuta University in 1992 that left 25 dead. He was also convicted in the 1992 abductions of a journalist and businessman.
The court decision was the latest twist in the saga of a leader who emerged from obscurity in 1990 to win the presidency amid national crisis, prevailing against entrenched politicians and novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, only to flee the country in 2000 as a corruption scandal unfolded.
The massacres were carried out by the so-called Colina group, a secret police unit that acted as a death squad. Fujimori maintained in emotional testimony last week that he was unaware of the group's activities and that it was under the command of disgraced former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos. But the court found that there was "no doubt" Fujimori authorized the creation of the unit.
The kidnapping charges involved the 1992 abductions of businessman Samuel Dyer and journalist Gustavo Gorriti, a vocal critic of Fujimori's decision to shut down Congress and the courts during a state of emergency.
"This court declares that all four charges have been proved beyond all reasonable doubt," presiding Judge Cesar San Martin told a hushed courtroom.
Fujimori, who in testimony before the court last week protested his innocence and portrayed himself as Peru's savior, sat impassively, taking notes as the verdict was read.
The guilty verdicts, which were widely expected, were immediately hailed by victims' families and human rights activists in Peru and abroad. Francisco Soberon, leader of the Aprodeh human rights group in Lima, which led the legal campaign to bring Fujimori to trial, said, "They couldn't shut us up. . . . Our objective is to achieve full justice, remembrance and reparations."
Maria McFarland, a researcher at New York-based Human Rights Watch who was present for the verdict, said, "With this ruling, and its exemplary performance during the trial, the Peruvian court has shown the world that even former heads of state cannot expect to get away with serious crimes."
