LIMA, Peru (AP) — Lawyers for victims of human rights abuses during Peru’s armed conflict vowed to appeal to international bodies Thursday to knock down an amnesty law passed by the country’s Congress the previous night.
Congress passed the legislation late Wednesday to provide amnesty for military members and civilians prosecuted for serious human rights abuses during the country’s armed conflict between 1980 and 2000.
A coalition of human rights organizations said the new law could wipe out 156 convictions and another 600 cases that are being prosecuted.
Supporters of the law come from right wing political parties that have historically defended the military, including the Popular Force party led by Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori.
The law now awaits action from President Dina Boluarte, who can sign it, return it to Congress with her comments or let it become law in two weeks without touching it. Boluarte has not made any comment on the amnesty, even before its passage.
There have been numerous attempts in recent years to shield the military and police from prosecution in Peru for crimes committed during the conflict. But opponents of amnesty in Peru have found success before at international bodies.
Amnesty laws passed in 1995 in Peru shielded military and police personnel from prosecution for human rights abuses committed during the country’s internal conflict, including massacres, torture, and forced disappearances.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has at least twice previously declared amnesty laws in Peru invalid for violating the right to justice and breaching international human rights standards.
“We’re not only going to the domestic arena to seek its invalidation, but we’ve already taken some action at the international level,” lawyer Gloria Cano, director of the Pro Human Rights Association said during a news conference Thursday. She said they had already alerted the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Inter-American Court on Human Rights and planned to go to the United Nations as well.
Human rights advocates believe that Peru’s membership in the Inter-American System of Human Rights and the obligations that entails, make the amnesty law unconstitutional.
Fernando Rospiglioso of the Popular Force party, who supports the amnesty, said in June that only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of cases brought against soldiers and police for abuses during the 1980 to 2000 armed conflict led to convictions.
“Many of them (the accused) are no longer with us, others grew old in silence subjected to never-ending prosecutions,” he said.
A truth commission determined that the majority of the conflict’s victims were Indigenous Peruvians caught between security forces and the Shining Path rebel group. The commission calculated some 70,000 people were killed in the conflict.
FILE - A cross with a legend that reads in Spanish, "Sanctuary for memory," marks an area where bodies were exhumed, in what used to be part of the Cabitos military headquarters, in Huamanga, Peru, Oct. 31, 2014. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.
Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.
“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.
"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.
Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.
Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.
Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.
At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.
Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.
Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.
After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.
“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”
Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.
Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.
His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.
“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”
Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.
FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
