The challenge in trying a former leader

It is a trial that has garnered little attention in the international media. But to the people of Peru, the trial of former president Alberto Fujimori on charges of crimes against humanity, abuse of power and corruption is one of the most important events since independence from Spain nearly two centuries ago.

Not only is a former leader of the country in the dock — a first — but in a very real sense so, too, is the country's legal system and perhaps even its standing with countries such as Canada.

With over 75 witnesses heard from and only a handful yet to appear, the trial should conclude shortly, which means a verdict could come in the next few months, just in time for the visit by foreign leaders, including Canada's Stephen Harper who is scheduled to attend the next Asia-Pacific Economic Conference meeting in Lima in November.

Harper announced a year ago that his foreign policy focus would be on strengthening trade and other ties to the Americas, based on "our foundation values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law."

The outcome of the Fujimori case could well be a test of those commitments.

Pardon

That is because the trial of Alberto Fujimori has provided a unique opportunity to cement a decade-long campaign by jurists, human rights activists and concerned citizens to restore Peruvian trust in the rule of law, seemingly a fundamental prerequisite to Canada's involvement in the Americas.

This is no small matter in a country where Fujimori's daughter is one of the most popular members of Congress and has been campaigning openly for his release from these charges.

Keiko Fujimori received more votes than any other legislator in last year's general election and leads a powerful voting bloc whose members proudly refer to themselves as "Fujimoristas."

In a televised interview in June 2007, Keiko Fujimori declared that should she win the presidency in 2011 she "would not hesitate" to grant her father amnesty and would instead "punish the criminals."

With that, Fujimori pointed a finger directly at Peru's judicial system, which she says has "unjustly condemned many people," a thinly veiled reference, it appeared, to her father and the senior military leaders now on trial.

Shining path

Alberto's daughter speaks with a certain popular authority that has some in Peru worried. Beyond that, there have also been a series of recent polls that show many Peruvians have mixed feelings about their former president.

One poll suggests more than half of those surveyed believe the man who ruled them with impunity from 1990 to 2000, until he fled the country for Japan in the midst of a bribery scandal, is guilty as charged.

At the same time, Peruvians also ranked his tenure as "one of the best in recent history," largely on the strength of his having wiped out Peru's bloody insurgent groups, most importantly the Maoist-inspired Shining Path.

With so much riding on this trial, the court has been mindful to ensure that the process is not only fair but also that it is seen to be fair. To that end, a steady stream of independent observers has been allowed into the courtroom to attest to the judge's handling of the case.

The charges

In fact, this trial is limited to charges for which the former president was extradited to Peru from Chile last September. The most serious human rights charges centre on three specific events that occurred during Fujimori's reign:

• The first, in 1991 barely a year after he took power, involved a massacre of 15 people including an eight-year-old boy.
• A year later, nine students and a professor from Cantuta University were kidnapped and later executed.
• The third case involves the kidnapping of renowned Peruvian journalist Gustavo Gorriti. This took place in the aftermath of a coup in which Fujimori suspended the country's constitution, took over the judiciary and dismissed the democratically elected Congress.

Fujimori is also charged with corruption and abuse of authority in four other cases, including illegal wiretaps, bribing members of Congress and embezzling state funds for illegal purposes.

That last includes transferring $15 million to Vladimir Montesinos, the former head of the National Intelligence Service who is serving a 20-year sentence for arms trafficking and corruption.

Rogue elements

Fujimori's lawyers deny all charges and are relying on the argument that their client cannot be held responsible for crimes carried out by rogue elements of the country's military and intelligence communities.

This argument flies in the face of numerous claims by former military and intelligence personnel who, in separate trials, have testified that the president knew full well what was happening and that at times he even issued the order to execute certain "undesirables."

In his own corruption trial, Montesinos, who ran Fujimori's counterinsurgency network, testified that he was acting on the former president's direct orders.

Montesinos later recanted this accusation when he testified last month at Fujimori's trial. Muddying the waters, Montesinos stated the former president "bears no responsibility" for what happened.

Ronald Gamarra, a lawyer representing victims of Montesinos's death squads, said the about-face is not surprising and suggested Fujimori and Montesinos have cut a deal.

The two men are or at least were intimately connected. In fact, just two days after the start of this trial, Fujimori was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to six years after admitting to ordering an illegal raid on the home of Montesinos's estranged wife. (It was alleged the raid was conducted in order to secure documents that could implicate Fujimori in specific crimes.)

In such a murky, close-knit world — and with the allegations as serious as they are — the importance of this trial is evident, as is the need to reinforce the belief that the rule of law is there to protect the rights of all Peruvians.