Capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

was last used in 1979. In the same year, the death penalty was abolished for ordinary crimes. Peru is one of seven countries that has abolished capital punishment for "ordinary crimes only." Peru voted in favor of the

United Nations moratorium on the death penalty At Italy's instigation, the UN moratorium on the death penalty resolution was presented by the EU in partnership with eight co-author member States to the General Assembly of the United Nations, calling for general suspension (not abolition) ...

in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. Peru is not a member state to the

Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, is a subsidiary agreement to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It was created on 15 D ...

History

Peru's final execution took place on January 20, 1979, when Julio Vargas Garayar, a 26-year-old Air Force sergeant, was shot by a firing squad for selling classified political information to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, who were then considered political enemies of Peru. Vargas was arrested on October 12, 1978, while trying to enter an air base in

Talara Talara is a city in the Talara Province of the Piura Region, in northwestern Peru. It is a port city on the Pacific Ocean with a population of 91,444 as of 2017. Its climate is hot and dry. Due to its oil reserves, and ability to produce aviation ...

; he was accused of attempting to enter the base to collect classified information from it. After a brief trial before a military tribunal, Vargas was convicted of the charges. He was formally ordered to pay 100,000 pesos and simultaneously sentenced to death on December 14, 1978; his appeal to the Supreme Council of Military Justice was rejected the day before his execution, and he was summarily stripped of his honors, dishonorably discharged, and executed at 6:00 AM. Some consider the execution to be controversial to this date; Vargas's daughter and other members of his surviving family claim that Peruvian officials forced a confession from Vargas by using torture. Later in 1979, Peru abolished the death penalty for crimes committed during peacetime, specifying via an amendment in their

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

that such executions were therefore abolished. However, the Constitution did not abolish executions for six specific wartime crimes:

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...

, crimes against humanity,

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

, war crimes, and murder.

Current usage

Capital punishment is currently legal only during times of international or

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, with several restrictions. Death sentences and executions during this time are allowed for specific crimes and may only be imposed by

military courts Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct b ...

during states of war. Executions are carried out by a

firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are ...

, and the death penalty is still permitted for the same six specific crimes exempted from the Constitution's peacetime abolition. In spite of the abolition of peacetime capital punishment and the fact that the government has not carried out an official execution since 1979, there have still been some documented extrajudicial and unofficial executions, such as the

Barrios Altos massacre The Barrios Altos massacre took place on 3 November 1991, in the Barrios Altos neighborhood of Lima, Peru. Fifteen people, including an eight-year-old child, were killed, and four more injured, by assailants who were later determined to be member ...

in 1991 and the April 22, 1997, executions of paramilitary hostage-takers in Peru's Japanese embassy.

Modern developments

The

Constitution of Peru The Constitution of Peru is the supreme law of Peru. The current constitution, enacted on 31 December 1993, is Peru's fifth in the 20th century and replaced the 1979 Constitution. The Constitution was drafted by the Democratic Constituent Congres ...

allows for the reinstatement of the death penalty for peacetime terrorism. On August 8, 2006, President

Alan García Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez (; 23 May 1949 – 17 April 2019) was a Peruvian politician who served as President of Peru for two non-consecutive terms from 1985 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2011. He was the second leader of the Peruvian Apris ...

announced that he planned to submit a bill to the

Peruvian Congress The Congress of the Republic of Peru ( es, Congreso de la República) is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru. Congress' composition is established by Chapter I of Title IV of the Constitution of Peru. Congress is compose ...

proposing that the death penalty be restored during peacetime. The announcement attracted condemnation from human rights groups like the International Federation for Human Rights. The IFHR issued a statement later that month stating that reintroducing the death penalty in Peru would be "a setback for human rights." President García submitted the bill later in 2006. On January 10, 2007, the Peruvian Congress rejected the bill in a 48-27 vote. Earlier, in August 2006, President García proposed reintroducing the death penalty in Peru for

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

and

child murder Pedicide, child murder, child manslaughter, or child homicide is the homicide of an individual who is a minor. Punishment by jurisdiction United States In 2008, there were 1,494 child homicides in the United States. Of those killed, 1,03 ...

, which attracted condemnation from human rights groups like the International Federation for Human Rights. The IFHR issued a statement later that month stating that reintroducing the death penalty in Peru would be "a setback for human rights." The February 1, 2018, rape and murder of 11-year-old Jimena Vellaneda in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

reignited the debate concerning the death penalty in Peru. A week after her murder, more than 4,000 Peruvian citizens participated in a march through Lima protesting her murder and calling for her murderer to receive harsh punishment.

External links

*http://www.handsoffcain.info/bancadati/schedastato.php?idcontinente=21&nome=peru * :es:Caso de espionaje de Chile en el Per%C3%BA de 1979 (Spanish Wikipedia article on the most recent execution to take place in Peru)

References

{{South America in topic, Capital punishment in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

Law enforcement in Peru Death in Peru Human rights abuses in Peru