Concluding observations by individual members
330. Members of the Committee expressed appreciation of the State party's
cooperation in submitting additional information and in complying with the
Committee's requests for a supplementary report occasioned by the events that
had taken place in Peru on 5 April 1992. While the representatives of the
State party had made a commendable effort to respond to their queries, members
regretted that their concerns had not been adequately addressed in the
additional information that the Government had submitted, which left most of
their questions unanswered. Members were not satisfied that their request for
a supplementary report made at the Committee's forty-fourth session had been
met adequately. As a result, members found it difficult to form a
comprehensive view of the human rights situation in Peru during the period
under review and, in particular, since 5 April 1992.
331. Members found little information in the report itself relating to the
period prior to 5 April 1992 that was positive. Subsequent developments in
respect of the implementation of the rights and freedoms protected under the
Covenant had, under the Government of Emergency and Rational Reconstruction,
also not been encouraging. In particular, members were deeply concerned about
terrorism, which appeared to be part of the daily life in Peru and was an
obstacle to the application of the Covenant. Members condemned not only the
activities of terrorist groups but also the excessive force and violence used
by the military, the security forces and paramilitary and civilian groups.
Members considered that combating terrorism with arbitrary and excessive force
could not be justified under any circumstances.
332. Another principal concern of members of the Committee related'to the
constitutional justification of the changes in Peru brought about by the
events of 5 April 1992. It appeared that the ensuing suppression of the
Constitution and dissolution of Congress had rendered the state of law
uncertain, left the legal system and judiciary in disarray and resulted in the
de facto suspension of habeas corpus. The Committee had reason to believe
that, subsequent to 5 April 1992, many of the rights contained in the
Covenant, including non-derogable rights specified under article 4,
paragraph 2, had been derogated from,
333. Members also expressed concern about the house arrest of politicians and
did not find the reasons for such detentions convincing. Women who had not
been found guilty of an offence had been detained, together with their
children. Those detentions could not be considered compatible with the rights
guaranteed under the Covenant. Members expressed regret that no response had
been received regarding follow-up action taken pursuant to the views adopted
by the Committee under the Optional Protocol with regard to Peru, namely,
communications Nos. 202 (1986) and 203 (1986), despite the request by its
Special Rapporteur and repeated queries raised during the dialogue. Noting
the intention of the Government of Peru to restore democracy and law and
order, members of the Committee considered that, even during the current
transitional period, the Government had to pay due attention to the
implementation of the rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Covenant. In
the event that the emergency circumstances warranted any derogations from such
rights, they were to be strictly confined to the limitations specified under
article 4 of the Covenant, and other States parties should be duly notified.
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