Peru Reopens Probe into Mass Sterilization of 1000s of Indigenous People
Peru Reopens Probe into Mass Sterilization of 1000s of Indigenous People
Peruvian authorities have moved to reopen the investigation into allegations of the forced sterilization of thousands of indigenous men and women in the 1990s to reduce the country’s birth rate.
03:31 16.05.2015(updated 10:33 16.05.2015)
Peruvian authorities have moved to reopen the investigation into allegations of the forced sterilization of thousands of indigenous men and women in the 1990s to reduce the country’s birth rate.
The program, under the government of then-President Alberto Fujimori, sterilized an estimated 350,000 women and 25,000 men between 1995 and 2000, and was focused largely on the poor and indigenous communities. If proven to be coercive, it would be one of the largest forced sterilization programs in recent history.
Despite the fact that 2,073 women gave statements to human rights groups that they had had their tubes tied without their consent or knowledge, and despite the fact that at least 18 women are known to have died as a result, an investigation into the incident had previously and quietly been closed, while clearing the government of wrongdoing.
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A high ranking state prosecutor, Luis Antonio Landa Burgos, responded in a 56-page document dated April 29, that the investigation would be reopened and expanded to include new statements from other alleged victims of the procedures. He gave a timeline of three months for the new, wider investigation to be carried out.
Reports so far tell the stories of women who were coerced, threatened or outright deceived when they were operated on. For example, sometimes family members were used to sign consent forms in place of the woman herself, or an operation might be carried out without her knowledge after she had given birth. Activists also allege that some women were threatened with jail and that procedures were carried out in unsanitary conditions.
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