JOINT STATEMENT
Human Rights Organizations Call for Strengthening Democracy in Peru

8 December 2022.

Yesterday, Peru’s Congress voted to remove then-President Pedro Castillo after he declared the dissolution of Congress, the reorganization of the justice system, and the imposition of a state of exception, which clearly violated the country’s Constitution. Later that day, Congress swore in Vice President Dina Boluarte as President of the nation.

As international human rights organizations, CEJIL, DPLF, and WOLA have accompanied the efforts of Peruvians to construct a democracy based in the rule of law which respects the human rights of its people. It is because of this that we call on the international community to exhort Peruvian authorities and political actors to promote long-term solutions to strengthen democracy and restore the balance of power in their country. The crisis Peru faces reveals the continued and sustained institutional deterioration of different branches of government. Among these are Pedro Castillo’s failed attempt to dissolve Congress and the abusive use of multiple constitutional figures by the legislature. 

We hope that the President, as well as the Legislature, the Judiciary, and other state institutions, social groups, and civil society, will advance a common agenda that guarantees a democratic solution for Peru. In particular, political reforms are desperately needed in a country where no president has finished the normal five-year presidential mandate since 2016.

To this end, we ask the international community to help facilitate a broad and inclusive dialogue among the various state institutions. We hope that such a process will facilitate efforts to address the structural causes that generated the crisis, and that it will encourage democratic and lasting solutions for Peru.

Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)

Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF)

Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)