Peru - October 2024

In its decision on a complaint raised by five women victims of forced sterilization in the 1990s, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) recommended that the Peruvian State provide comprehensive forms of reparations to the complainants, and that it conducts all necessary inquiries into the practice of forced sterilization and implement a broader reparations program for all people affected. The Committee found that the practice of forced sterilization in Peru in the 1990s ‘amounted to sex-based violence and intersectional discrimination’, and recognized that rural, Indigenous and economically marginalized women were particularly affected by the State’s reproductive health and family planning program implemented during those years. Pursuant to the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women, Peru has six months to inform the Committee of the measures adopted to address CEDAW’s decision and recommendations. 

Sources: OHCHR, El Comercio Peru 

Former President Alejandro Toledo was convicted and sentenced on 21 October for the crimes of laundering of assets and collusion, in the context of the ‘Lava Jato’ scandal that originated in Brazil. It is the first conviction of a high-level Peruvian official related to this corruption scandal. He was accused of receiving over USD 35 million in bribes from the Odebrecht construction company in exchange for contracts to build sections of the Interoceánica Sur highway. During the hearing, in which he was found guilty, he was sentenced to 20 years and six months imprisonment, after a lengthy process that required his extradition from the United States. Toledo has denied all accusations, and his lawyer announced he would appeal. 

Sources: La Republica, Infobae, El Pais, The Guardian