Committee against Torture

Information received from Peru on follow-up to the concluding observations on its seventh periodic report *

[Date received: 30 September 2021]

I.Introduction

1.The Committee against Torture considered the seventh periodic report of Peru (CAT/C/PER/7) at its 1683rd and 1686th meetings, held on 13 and 14 November 2018, and adopted its concluding observations at its 1707th meeting, held on 29 November 2018. In that document, the Government of Peru was asked to provide information on its follow-up to the Committee’s recommendations relating to the national preventive mechanism, the investigations into forced sterilizations, and human rights defenders and journalists (paras. 15, 37 and 49, respectively).

II.Implementation of recommendations

Follow-up information relating to paragraph 15 of the concluding observations (CAT/C/PER/CO/7)

2.Act No. 30394, under which the mandate of the Ombudsman’s Office was broadened to include responsibility for the national mechanism for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, was published on 22 December 2015. Under the Act, a new article, article 9-A, which provided for the implementation and administration of the national preventive mechanism in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention, was added to the Organic Act on the Ombudsman’s Office.

3.In accordance with Act No. 30394, the Ombudsman’s Office, by decision No. 007-2017/DP, amended the regulations governing the Office’s structure and functions and created the Directorate of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment at the Office. To ensure that it can fulfil its mandate, the national preventive mechanism enjoys structural and functional independence from the Ombudsman’s Office and is also independent of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.

4.The total budget allocated to the national preventive mechanism amounted to 56,175.00 soles (US$ 13,701.21) in 2017, 168,358.00 soles (US$ 41,062.92) in 2018, 205,219.00 soles (US$ 50,053.41) in 2019 and 221,012.00 soles (US$ 53,905.36) for the current year.

5.Pursuant to Act No. 30394, the national preventive mechanism must submit annual reports to Congress. Since 2017, five annual reports on the national preventive mechanism and six special reports on the following topics have been submitted: (i) the situation of women in police and military training centres; (ii) the situation of women in prisons in four of the country’s departments; (iii) the situation of children and adolescents deprived of liberty; (iv) persons deprived of liberty during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) health emergency; (v) the follow-up to recommendations relating to the situation of children and adolescents deprived of liberty; and (vi) the follow-up to recommendations concerning the situation of women in prisons and other monitoring activities related to COVID-19.

6.In addition, as part of the 2018–2021 National Human Rights Plan, adopted under Supreme Decree No. 002-2018-JUS, a working group was set up to strengthen the national preventive mechanism. The working group comprises the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Health, the national preventive mechanism, the National Prison Institute and the following civil society organizations: Centro de Atención Psicosocial, Comisión de Derechos Humanos, Comisión Episcopal de Acción Social, Instituto de Defensa Legal, Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Asociación pro Derechos Humanos, Paz y Esperanza, Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos and Asociación Dignidad Humana y Solidaridad.

7.The working group has met twice, both times in 2019. Both meetings were attended by representatives of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of the Interior, the National Prison Institute and the National Programme for Juvenile Centres; representatives of civil society organizations such as Centro de Atención Psicosocial, Concilio Nacional Evangélico del Perú, Dignidad Humana y Solidaridad, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos, Comisión de Derechos Humanos, Instituto de Defensa Legal and Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos and representatives of the national preventive mechanism.

8.Legislative Decree No. 1513, which was adopted on 4 June 2020 in order to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and lessen its impact on persons deprived of liberty, provided for special measures to reduce overcrowding in prisons and juvenile centres because of the risk of infection by the coronavirus.

9.Furthermore, in connection with the nationwide health emergency declared as a result of COVID-19, Supreme Decree No. 004-2020-JUS, adopted on 23 April 2020, provided for special circumstances under which, on a temporary and exceptional basis, the Presidential Pardons Commission could conduct assessments, recommend granting ordinary and humanitarian pardons, as well as commuting sentences, and carry out the relevant procedures.

10.In addition, Supreme Decree No. 006-2020-JUS provided, on an exceptional and temporary basis and in accordance with international standards, for special circumstances under which the Presidential Pardons Commission could conduct assessments, recommend granting ordinary and humanitarian pardons to adolescents deprived of liberty, as well as commuting sentences involving social and educational measures, and carry out the relevant procedures, in connection with the nationwide health emergency declared as a result of COVID-19.

Follow-up information relating to paragraph 37 of the concluding observations

Investigation and punishment of cases of forced sterilization

11.With respect to the investigations into forced sterilizations that took place between 1995 and 2000, the Attorney General’s Office has indicated that proceedings are under way in cases No. 26-2014 and No. 59-2019.

12.An opinion was issued in case No. 26-2014 on 27 September 2018, setting out a charge of endangerment of persons in a situation of dependence against S.L.C.R., for acts committed against M.M.M.C. and requesting the dismissal of the proceedings against E.O.M.O., E.Z.D. and E.C.C., who were facing identical charges, also for acts committed against M.M.M.C. The recommendation was sent by the transitory fourth division of the national high court to the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office for consultation in December 2020 and was returned on 30 April 2021. The trial of S.L.C.R. on a charge of endangerment of persons in a situation of dependence, for acts committed against M.M.M.C., is now expected to begin.

13.In case No. 59-2019, A.F.F. and others are alleged to have committed an offence against life, body and health, through the infliction of serious injuries leading to death, against M.M.M.C. and four other women, and the offence of serious injury against 1,310 victims. Both offences were committed in a context of serious human rights violations. The hearings on the charges began on 11 January 2021 before the Transitory Supranational Criminal Court for Organized Crime. Forty-three consecutive sessions were held – the last on 14 June 2021 – during which the Attorney General’s Office substantiated its request for an indictment orally. The judge held two hearings, on 14 and 21 September 2021, at which he weighed the arguments for initiating the criminal proceedings against the suspects requested by the Attorney General’s Office. These hearings have been scheduled to continue on 29 September 2021.

14.There is also another prosecution file on forced sterilizations: Criminal Investigation No. 14-2016, which contains a total of 169 volumes (67,851 pages) and involves a total of 2,729 alleged victims nationwide, from 14 of the country’s regions (Ancash, Apurímac, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Cuzco, Huancavelica, Huánuco, Junín, Lima, Loreto, Moquegua, Piura, San Martín and Ucayali).

15.Furthermore, a criminal investigation, No. 96-2019, was opened on 12 November 2019 into an offence against life, body and health allegedly committed, through the infliction of serious injuries and in a context of serious human rights violations, against O.A.P. and other victims who were not identified as such in the request for an indictment described above. This investigation has been combined with prosecution file No. 14-2016, since the two files are closely related.

16.Lastly, the investigations under way involve, in total, 4,044 alleged victims of forced sterilization.

Measures taken by the Government with respect to forced sterilizations

17.Without prejudice to the foregoing, the Government wishes to note that, in November 2015, under Supreme Decree No. 006-2015-JUS, priority assistance for victims of forced sterilizations that took place between 1995 and 2001 – including free legal assistance, psychological support and comprehensive health care – was declared a matter of national interest. In addition, the Register of Victims of Forced Sterilization was set up at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights in order to identify all affected persons, ensure their access to justice and provide free legal assistance to anyone in the country who believes he or she is a victim of forced sterilization.

18.In December 2015, the Ministry approved a procedure for entering information on victims of forced sterilizations that took place between 1995 and 2001 into the Register. In addition, ministerial decisions No. 0319-2015-JUS, No. 0001-2016-JUS, No. 0161-2016-JUS and No. 0157-2017-JUS were adopted, making it possible to establish a timeline for the progressive implementation of the Register. The first phase involved district-level offices in five regions: Cuzco, Cajamarca, Piura, Huancavelica and Lima Este. The second phase involved district-level offices in a further four regions: Ayacucho, Lima Centro, Lima Sur and San Martín. The third phase involved district-level offices in nine more regions: La Libertad, Huánuco, Junín, Moquegua, Ventanilla, Apurímac, Ucayali, Loreto and Ancash. Between January 2016 and August 2021, 7,769 procedures were initiated to include in the Register persons who have declared and consider themselves victims of forced sterilization.

19.In 2016, an intersectional approach that reflected intercultural, gender-based and human rights perspectives was applied to the Register, taking into account the situation of indigenous women who speak the language of an indigenous community. The same year, the Ministry of Culture helped make interpreters available to 2,000 people, in particular indigenous women, who were in the process of having their information entered into the Register. In addition, 200 employees of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the Ministry for Women and Vulnerable Groups were trained in how to provide culturally sensitive services. In 2017, the first decision of the Public Prosecution Service in the Awajún language was issued.

20.Between January 2016 and December 2019, 42 mobile registration drives and/or campaigns relating to the Register of Victims of Forced Sterilization were held at the district-level offices of the Public Defence Service in Ancash, Apurímac, Ayacucho, Cuzco, Cajamarca, Huancavelica, Huánuco, Junín, La Libertad, Loreto, Moquegua, Piura, San Martín and Ucayali. In addition, between January and December 2019, the Directorate General of the Public Defence Service and Access to Justice of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, together with the programme Platforms for Action for Social Inclusion (PAIS), organized six talks to raise awareness of the Register at the fixed platforms, or tambos, of the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion in district-level offices in the Amazonas, Ancash, Huánuco, Huancavelica, Ayacucho and Puno Departments.

21.Given the current situation in Peru, the Internet has become an essential, strategic tool for connecting the public and providing access to necessary services while avoiding face-to-face interactions and thereby helping to mitigate the harmful effects of the pandemic. As a result, various forms of support have been provided to help users gain access to information and communication technology tools and be able to make use of the services of the Public Defence Service.

22.This is the case with the tambos, or fixed platforms, which give the State an effective presence in small rural communities of varying sizes. The tambos have trained staff and modern facilities and provide services relating to social and productive activities to the poor in the areas they serve. The platforms bring State benefits closer to people in situations of vulnerability in dispersed rural settlements and help address any unmet or partially met needs for public services.

23.Two workplans have been put into place under the aegis of the PAIS programme of the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion and the Directorate General of the Public Defence Service and Access to Justice of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights: (a) one from September to December 2020 and (b) one from January to December 2021.

24.Between September 2020 and July 2021, representatives of the Public Defence Service gave 57 virtual talks to publicize and raise awareness of the Register of Victims of Forced Sterilization. These talks were the same as those held jointly with the PAIS programme and its tambos and/or delivered at district-level offices in Ancash, Apurímac, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Cuzco, Huánuco, Junín, Loreto, Moquegua, Piura, San Martín and Ucayali.

25.According to information from the Comprehensive Health Insurance Agency, as at 19 June 2021, 6,131 of all persons appearing in the Register of Victims of Forced Sterilization were covered by the Agency. People covered by the Agency can receive health-care services at their designated primary health-care facility and, if necessary, can be referred to facilities with more sophisticated resources. In emergencies, they can receive care at any health-care facility that is run by the Ministry of Health or a regional government and/or that has signed an agreement with the Agency.

26.With respect to access to justice, between January 2016 and July 2021, the Directorate General of the Public Defence Service and Access to Justice began providing legal services to a total 1,882 citizens from Amazonas, Apurímac, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Cuzco, Huancavelica, Lambayeque, Lima Centro, Lima Este, Lima Sur, Loreto, Moquegua, Piura, San Martín, Sullana and Tumbes.

27.Victims of forced sterilization have access to free legal assistance and counsel from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. To this end, the public defender must inform them of the scope and benefits of the free public defender service for victims, the ability of a citizen to decide whether or not to press charges and the right of a citizen to freely choose his or her legal counsel.

28.Because information on the system of access to justice must be provided in the languages of indigenous communities, the Public Defence Service, taking an intercultural approach, currently has 125 public defenders who are authorized to provide services in Quechua and eight who are authorized to do so in Aymara.

29.These public defenders can be found at district-level offices in Ancash, Apurímac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Callao, Cañete, Cuzco, Huancavelica, Ica, Junín, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Lima Norte, Lima Este, Lima Sur, Madre de Dios, Pasco, Piura, Puno, San Martín, Selva Central, Tacna and Ventanilla.

30.In addition, the National Human Rights Plan provides for the creation of a working group with representatives of the State and civil society to analyse and address the issues relating to the victims of forced sterilizations that took place between 1995 and 2001, a strategic measure that the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry for Women and Vulnerable Groups have been given responsibility for implementing.

31.The working group was set up in September 2018 with representatives of the State and civil society organizations, including the Follow-up Group on Reparations for Victims of Forced Sterilizations, to analyse and address the issues relating to the victims of forced sterilizations that took place between 1995 and 2001. The first local-level meeting of the working group was held in September 2019, in the city of Cuzco, with the participation of 40 civil society organizations from the Provinces of Anta, Chumbivilcas and Paruro, and sought to raise awareness of the issues facing affected persons in the region and promote dialogue between the organizations and State actors.

32.Within the framework of the justice system, another working group, a multisectoral group, was set up under ministerial decision No. 216-2020-JUS of 14 August 2020 to further the process of institutionalization, achieve the goals of the working group referred to above and analyse and make proposals for mechanisms to address issues related to the persons affected by the forced sterilizations that took place between 1995 and 2001. The purpose of the multisectoral working group is to coordinate, promote and bolster the strategic measures taken by the State to assist persons affected by forced sterilizations through coordinated and aligned efforts by the sectors involved.

33.The multisectoral working group was inaugurated on 27 August 2020 with representatives of the Ministry for Women and Vulnerable Groups, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. They were subsequently asked for information on the status of implementation of Supreme Decree No. 006-2015-JUS.

34.The second meeting of the multisectoral working group was held on 12 February 2021, with representatives of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the Ministry for Women and Vulnerable Groups and the Ministry of Health taking part as members of the working group and representatives of the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion and the Ministry of Culture taking part as guests. At the meeting, the workplan was approved and other State institutions that could offer services to persons affected by forced sterilizations were called on.

35.The third and last meeting of the multisectoral working group was held on 27 July 2021. A report on State assistance for persons affected by the forced sterilizations that took place between 1995 and 2001 was adopted at the meeting. The group also prepared a flow chart on mental health care for persons affected by forced sterilizations.

36.In addition, the Ministry for Women and Vulnerable Groups’ National Programme for the Prevention and Eradication of Violence against Women and Family Members, also known as AURORA, reported that, between 2016 and June 2021, women’s emergency centres had provided 70,596 measures of specialized, individualized assistance within their area of competence in 6,103 cases involving victims of forced sterilization.

37.In order to reinforce the assistance provided, teams of professionals specialized in psychological and social care, with profiles in line with the characteristics and needs of the population, were introduced in 46 women’s emergency centres in 22 regions in 2016 and 2017 with the aim of adapting the services and bringing them closer to rural areas. The regions in question were Cuzco, Cajamarca, Piura, Huancavelica, Lima, Huánuco, San Martín, Ayacucho, Moquegua, La Libertad, Junín, Apurímac, Ucayali, Loreto, Ancash, Arequipa, Puno, Tumbes, Amazonas, Pasco, Lambayeque and Ica.

38.Between 2018 and June 2021, the women’s emergency centres provided assistance to a total of 125 affected women, carrying out 1,191 measures of specialized and individualized assistance within their area of competence in coordination with the relevant sectors, in accordance with specific directive No. 010-2015-MIMP, which contains guidelines for the care of victims of forced sterilization in women’s emergency centres.

39.By August 2021, the Ministry for Women and Vulnerable Groups had 423 women’s emergency centres, of which 247 were regular women’s emergency centres, 175 were in police stations and 1 was in a health-care centre. In terms of capacity-building, in 2021, technical assistance relating to the guidelines mentioned in the paragraph above was provided to 66 staff members in the AURORA field units responsible for providing services at the women’s emergency centres in order to make psychological support available to 93 persons appearing in the Register of Victims of Forced Sterilization.

40.In 2016 and 2017, AURORA provided technical assistance on a standing basis to 46 teams at the women’s emergency centres working with the Register of Victims of Forced Sterilization with a view to properly and progressively implementing specialized psychological and social support services for persons affected by forced sterilizations.

41.In 2017, AURORA strengthened the capacity of the teams providing assistance within the framework of the women’s emergency centres, the Register of Victims of Forced Sterilization and the Rural Strategy through:

•A 2017 capacity-building course on psychological care and social support for persons affected by gender-based violence in cities and communities at women’s emergency centres around the country, held as 11 regional workshops, each consisting of 16 hours of in-person instruction, with 197 professionals from the three services taking part

•Two workshops on providing assistance to victims of forced sterilization that were aimed at staff of the women’s emergency centres working in admissions or on promotional matters and provided training for 448 persons

•A capacity-building course on psychological care and social support for persons affected by gender-based violence in cities and communities with five training modules – two virtual and three partially in-person – lasting a total of 55 class hours and attended by 305 professionals providing services through AURORA and 1,811 local agents providing assistance in cases of gender-based violence in the Register’s areas of focus

42.Lastly, ministerial decision No. 191-2021-MIMP established a temporary multisectoral working group called the working group to promote gender equality and access to justice. This forum is a mechanism for coordination between the Ministry for Women and Vulnerable Groups and civil society organizations and has the aim of proposing, developing and implementing measures and strategies geared towards the preparation of a technical policy document that will help promote gender equality in society and access to justice for all groups of women and respond to the various expressions of structural gender discrimination, including forms of gender-based violence such as forced sterilizations, femicides and the disappearances of women.

43.Additionally, under administrative decision No. 10-2016-JNAC-RENIEC, adopted in 2016, first-time applications for national identity cards and applications to renew, correct or request copies of existing cards are to be processed – and the cards themselves issued – free of charge nationwide for victims of forced sterilizations that took place between 1995 and 2001.

44.Finally, in a ruling handed down on 27 October 2020 in case No. 02064-2018-PA/TC, the Constitutional Court found without merit the appeal for constitutional review filed by M.R.L.C.B., the Minister of Health during the Administration of A.F.F., who had been responsible for the implementation of the 1996–2000 National Programme for Reproductive Health and Family Planning. In its decision, the Court noted that the lack of a response 20 years after the events was incompatible with the State’s duty to investigate and punish serious human rights violations.

Follow-up information relating to paragraph 49 of the concluding observations

45.As a preliminary point, it should be noted that the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights has the lead role in implementing the National Human Rights Plan, a public policy tool of the Government that was developed with the aim of coordinating and aligning the efforts undertaken by various government bodies to safeguard the human rights of the public, with human rights defenders being included for the first time as a specially protected group.

46.In addition, under the National Human Rights Plan, strategic guideline No. 3, on the design and implementation of policies in favour of specially protected groups, provides for strategic action aimed at generating mechanisms to ensure that human rights defenders throughout the country can carry out their peaceful, non-violent work, whether it is paid or done on a volunteer basis. To this end, a goal has been set for 2021 to have a mechanism in place for the protection of human rights defenders.

47.Furthermore, between 2018 and 2021, Peru participated in four public hearings before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights:

•The first, on the situation of indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon, land and environment, was held in December 2018, during the Commission’s 170th regular period of sessions and dealt with reports that the human rights of members and leaders of the indigenous community of Santa Clara de Uchunya, in the Peruvian Amazon, had been violated because of their role as defenders of the human rights of indigenous peoples.

•Similarly, the second public hearing, held in February 2019, dealt with the situation of human rights defenders and integral protection policies in Peru.

•A third public hearing was held on 6 October 2020 on the human rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon of Peru; it addressed the attacks and threats faced by indigenous leaders for defending their lands and territory.

•Finally, a public hearing was held on 23 March 2021 on the assessment of the policy for the protection of human rights defenders in Peru, in relation to the measures implemented by the State to protect this specially protected group.

48.A protocol to ensure the protection of human rights defenders was adopted in 2019. Its main objective was to set out actions, procedures and coordination measures to create a nationwide environment conducive to human rights defenders’ efforts to promote, protect and defend such rights.

49.While the protocol was in force, it was mandatory for offices of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to comply with it. It also made it possible for coordinated action to be taken with other public bodies, such as the Ministry of the Interior, the Peruvian National Police, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ombudsman’s Office and regional governments.

50.In addition, one of the mechanisms provided for in the protocol, for which the Directorate General of Human Rights of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights was responsible, was the design, implementation and management of a register of complaints and incidents involving situations of risk for human rights defenders and the establishment of an early warning procedure that would allow the relevant bodies to respond promptly to attacks or threats against human rights defenders.

51.The early warning procedure was activated at the request of the person threatened or any person who was aware of the risk. After the request was accepted, State involvement began when the person who would potentially receive protection under the procedure: (a) was identified and located; (b) gave his or her consent, unless unable to do so; (c) provided a description of the facts relating to the situation of risk and, if possible, supporting evidence; and (d) requested the protection measure or emergency protection measure that he or she wished to have put in place.

52.By April 2021, there had been a total of 31 requests for the activation of the protocol’s early warning procedure. Of that number, 22 met the requirements set out in paragraph 7.2.3 of the protocol and have therefore been accepted; 15 have resulted in early warnings being issued to the competent bodies, by means of directorial decisions of the Directorate General of Human Rights, following the identification of situations of risk that would endanger the life and integrity of the person in question and/or affect his or her ability to carry out his or her work in defence of human rights. The early warnings were issued in the following departments:

•Four in Lima: four alerts for threats against personal integrity, with one alert also involving attacks on a person’s image and one alert also involving stigmatization

•Two in Huánuco: one alert for assaults and threats and one alert for homicide

•One in Loreto: one alert for threats and stigmatization

•One in Lambayeque: one alert for assaults and threats

•One in Piura: one alert for homicide, assaults and threats

•One in San Martín: one alert for physical assaults and threats

•One in Cuzco: one alert for verbal assaults and attacks on a person’s image

•Two in Ucayali: one alert for threats, physical assaults and intimidation and one alert for threats

•Two in Amazonas: two alerts for threats against personal integrity

53.For its part, the Ministry of the Interior, in memorandum No. 005-2020/IN/DGIN/DAE of 4 June 2020, recommended that regional prefectures nationwide instruct sub-prefectures, which are responsible for taking personal protection measures, to immediately attend to the requests of human rights defenders, taking into account the guidelines set out in the protocol, in order to ensure their protection. The Ministry of the Interior also issued protocol No. 001-2021-IN-VOI-DGIN, on the procedure for taking measures to protect human rights defenders, in order to set out the procedures for the Directorate General for Internal Governance and its local offices to be able to process requests for personal protection measures promptly and effectively and to protect the integrity and safeguard the tranquillity of human rights defenders.

54.In October 2020, in addition, under ministerial decision No. 0255-2020-JUS, a register on situations of risk facing human rights defenders was created and guidelines on how it was to function were adopted. The purpose of the register is to collect, analyse and manage, on an official basis, information on situations of risk that human rights defenders face and patterns of attacks made on them because of their work, locally, regionally and nationally, so that appropriate short‑, medium- and long-term measures can be taken in a timely manner to prevent the situations of risk that they may find themselves in and to ensure their comprehensive protection.

55.On 22 April 2021, an intersectoral mechanism for the protection of human rights defenders was adopted under Supreme Decree No. 004-2021-JUS, which also includes principles, measures and procedures designed to prevent the emergence of the risks human rights defenders face as a result of their work, protect human rights defenders who face such risks and ensure that they have access to justice. Although a supplementary provision of the Supreme Decree establishing the mechanism involved the repeal of the protocol, the adoption of the mechanism was welcomed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Ombudsman’s Office and national and international civil society organizations.

56.The mechanism is multisectoral in nature, as it brings together eight ministries and their subsidiary bodies in preventing risks, protecting human rights defenders from those risks and ensuring that they have access to justice; it is intergovernmental, as it promotes coordinated action with other levels of government whose duties are related to structural problems that are a source of risk (community land titles, formalization of mining activities and so on); and it is participative, as it was developed with contributions from human rights defenders, civil society organizations and business associations involved in the issue.

57.In addition, the mechanism establishes a new early warning procedure, under the Office of the Deputy Minister for Human Rights and Access to Justice, with time frames of 30 working days (ordinary procedure) and 15 working days (special procedure, where the risk is imminent) to order protection and emergency protection measures. It also designates a coordinator for each sector so that the measures can be implemented rapidly.

58.The mechanism also includes various protection measures, such as those involving police patrols, legal assistance, public statements of support, comprehensive care for women defenders who are victims of violence, special visas or residence permits for foreign human rights defenders, consular support for human rights defenders who have been forced to flee to other countries, monitoring of environmental impact and the filing of legal actions when environmental crimes are committed. Emergency protection measures are also available through the mechanism. These include evacuation from the area of risk, subject to any duly warranted restrictions, and police protection for the person in question or his or her property, subject to any duly warranted restrictions.

59.With respect to the progress made in implementing the mechanism, once officials were designated as coordinators at the ministries involved in the mechanism, there has been ongoing intersectoral coordination to respond to situations of risk identified through the monitoring activities of the Directorate General of Human Rights. To date, four coordination meetings have been held.

60.On 26 April 2021, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, the Minister of the Environment, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Culture held a coordination meeting with organizations of indigenous persons from Ucayali on the situations of risk facing the indigenous community of Irazola, a district located in Padre Abad Province of the Department of Ucayali.

61.Training courses and activities have also been carried out in connection with the mechanism:

•From 14 to 23 June 2021, the first training programme was held on protection mechanisms for environmental defenders and strategies to combat environmental crimes. It was organized by the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and was intended for environmental defenders and the general public.

•From 25 June to 21 July 2021, a virtual course was held on the role of human rights defenders and police protection for them in situations of risk. It was organized by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the Ministry of the Interior and the Peruvian National Police and was intended for police instructors.

•From 28 June to 26 July 2021, the first training course was held for human rights defenders in the Peruvian Amazon. It was co-organized by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the association Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Law, Environment and Natural Resources) and was intended for indigenous peoples’ organizations in Loreto, Ucayali, Junín and Cuzco.

•On 31 August and 2 September 2021, participants took part in two sessions of a capacity-building course for environmental defenders and defenders of indigenous peoples in Peru, run by the organization Fondo Socioambiental del Perú (Socio-environmental Fund of Peru).

•On May 7 and 31, training sessions were held with officials and employees of the Office for Social Management of the Ministry of the Environment.

•On 7 June 2021, a training session was held with officials of the National Service for State-protected Natural Areas.

•On 25 August 2021, a conference was held on the human rights-based approach and the role of human rights defenders; officials and employees of the National Institute for the Defence of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property were the intended audience.

62.The Ministry of the Environment, within the framework of the mechanism and under ministerial decision No. 134-2021-MINAM, adopted a sectoral protocol for the protection of environmental defenders in order to help create a safe environment for that group, which is in a situation of vulnerability. The Ministry’s aim was to establish guidelines for the coordination, implementation and evaluation of the use of prevention, recognition and protection measures by the environmental sector under the framework of the mechanism and provide integrated assistance through the Ministry’s line departments, programmes and special projects and their subsidiary entities in the protection of environmental defenders, under the coordination of the Environmental Crimes Operational Unit.

63.For its part, the Attorney General’s Office has, under its decision No. 461-2021-MP-FN of 31 March 2021, created a commission to put forward strategies or a working mechanism to facilitate access to justice for human rights defenders, to help prosecutors achieve better results when investigating cases involving violations of the rights of human rights defenders and to monitor and follow up on those cases.

64.Similarly, the Ombudsman’s Office, under administrative decision No. 29-2020/DP-PAD, adopted guidelines for the intervention of the Office in cases involving human rights defenders. The document sets out parameters for the Office’s interactions with sub-prefectures and prefectures, police stations, the Public Prosecution Service, the judiciary and State institutions in general in responding to attacks against human rights defenders, a specially protected group, as such situations involve actual or potential violations of their rights. With this instrument, the Ombudsman’s Office also seeks to ensure the recognition, protection and defence of human rights defenders, who peacefully engage in efforts to make the rights enshrined in the Constitution and international human rights instruments a reality and who, for their efforts, are stigmatized, persecuted, treated as criminals and assassinated.

III.Conclusion

65.In fulfilment of its international obligations, the Government of Peru has provided an account of its progress towards implementing the provisions of the Convention relating to the recommendations on the national preventive mechanism, the investigations into forced sterilizations, and human rights defenders and journalists and undertakes to continue taking steps to safeguard the rights of all persons.