Amnesty International rejects the enactment of Law 32735, which allows alleged crimes committed by members of the Armed Forces and the Police to be investigated and tried by military and police courts, rather than by the ordinary justice system, even when the victims are civilians.
The law, enacted on July 20, amends the Military-Police Criminal Code and the New Criminal Procedure Code. It could result in ongoing investigations and judicial proceedings being transferred or halted, including cases in which a first-instance conviction has already been handed down.
Under international human rights standards, which Peru is legally obliged to uphold, military courts must not try civilians or hear cases involving possible human rights violations or crimes under international law. Their jurisdiction must be strictly limited to military offences committed by military personnel in the exercise of specifically military duties.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has affirmed this principle in several judgments concerning Peru. Referring these cases to the military justice system jeopardizes the rights of victims of human rights violations and their families to know the truth, access justice and obtain reparation.
“This law seriously jeopardizes judicial independence and the ability of victims of human rights violations to access justice. It undermines judicial independence and accountability for the unlawful use of force by police and military personnel, and seeks to revive, from the darkest depths, a policy of impunity that the Peruvian state has attempted to impose for decades,” said Jennie Dador, Executive Director of Amnesty International Peru.
The enactment of this law is even more alarming in a context of weakened institutions, attacks against bodies responsible for the administration of justice, and the persistence of a pattern of unlawful—and in some cases lethal—use of force by the state during protests, security operations and routine police interventions, as documented by Amnesty International in 2023 and 2024.
State repression during those years left at least 50 people dead. More recent allegations include the death of a 17-year-old boy who reportedly died in police custody, and the death of an eight-year-old boy who, according to available information, died in the context of a police intervention. It is therefore deeply concerning that such cases could be investigated and prosecuted within the military justice system.
The involvement of military courts in cases concerning extrajudicial executions, torture, enforced disappearances, sexual violence or the unlawful use of force prevents the rights of victims to truth, justice and reparation from being adequately guaranteed. Both Peru’s Constitutional Court and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have affirmed this.
“The Peruvian state must adopt laws that help prevent the recurrence of human rights violations and remove from its legal framework any provisions that disregard victims’ rights. Instead, the authorities are passing legislation that rolls back the protection of these rights, undermines due process and places justice at risk,” concluded Ana Piquer, Amnesty International’s Americas Director.
Contact: [email protected]