Japan should give up Fujimori

Sayo Saruta, Japan Network for Bringing Fujimori to Justice, The Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo

Japan should wake up to the fact that harboring Fujimori not only runs counter to the international trend but also tramples on the feelings of victims and their families.

I visited Peru in May to look into two instances of serious human rights violations that took place under the administration of former President Alberto Fujimori.

In the Barrios Altos incident in November 1991, armed forces allegedly stormed a party, fatally shot 15 innocent civilians and seriously injured four others. In July the following year, armed forces allegedly broke into a university and kidnapped and killed nine students and a professor.

The mother of a student killed in the La Cantuta massacre guided me to the place where her son was found in the mountains. She told me it took her more than a year to locate her son. When she heard it was buried on top of a mountain, she climbed there to search; when someone told her it was in a military installation, she knocked on the installation's door only to find she had been misled.

Under the pretext of cracking down on terrorism, the military- controlled Fujimori administration not only committed numerous serious human rights violations but also other criminal activities, including extensive election violations.

With the exception of Fujimori, suspects are currently being tried in Peru. Meanwhile, Fujimori has been charged with five offenses and investigative authorities are looking into more than 20 other allegations. If Fujimori says he is innocent, he should prove this in court.

Families of victims of human rights violations have expressed anger at the Japanese people for harboring a murderer."

"Do they mean to ruin the century-long friendship between Peru and Japan?" one asked.

When I told them Fujimori is considered a hero in Japan and there is little public interest in the human rights violation cases in Peru, the families heaved a sigh of disappointment.

In Japan, many people seem to accept the view that Fujimori's prosecution is a political plot by the current administration.

The Japanese government has implied that since Fujimori has Japanese nationality, it cannot meet Peru's demand to return him. In response to an international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Police Organization in March, Tokyo announced it would not detain Fujimori.

But more than 10 countries, including Germany and Italy, have made it clear that if Fujimori enters their territory, they are prepared to take him into custody. The Latin America Parliament, a federation of national assemblies of Central and South American countries, has also adopted a resolution to demand Japan hand over Fujimori to Peru.

Peruvian and international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, are calling on Japan to extradite Fujimori. The idea that Fujimori should be returned to Peru is gaining general acceptance in international society.

The Peruvian government has officially requested recently Japan hand over Fujimori. Japan should comply with this request. If by any chance it cannot meet the request, it should take steps to prosecute Fujimori in Japan.

In the words of the mother who lost her son in the La Cantuta killings as she stood at the site where his body was found: "I don't want any more mothers to undergo this same agony. I ask the Japanese people to look at reality in the face. Please return Fujimori to our country so we can have him brought to justice."

With the establishment of the International Criminal Court, the trend against allowing human rights violators to go unpunished is gaining worldwide momentum.