Outrageous. Peru’s Public Prosecutor’s Office closed the investigation into the Forced Sterilizations case that occurred between 1990 and 2000, during Alberto Fujimori’s government. In this case, considered a crime against humanity, approximately more than 314 thousand women (most of them Indigenous and poor) and 20 thousand men were subjected to surgical contraception procedures (tubal ligations and vasectomies) without their prior, free, and informed consent.
The Fourth Specialized Supraprovincial Criminal Prosecutor’s Office for Human Rights and Counterterrorism of Callao, Central Lima, Eastern Lima, Northern Lima, Northwestern Lima and Southern Lima declared the trial against 52 individuals under investigation in the forced sterilizations case extinguished due to the statute of limitations, even though these “meet, under international criminal law, the elements of a crime against humanity, having been committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against a sector of the civilian population in the implementation of a State policy”.
Despite this, the prosecutor’s office had to close the investigation in application of Law 32107 (called the Impunity Law and part of the so-called “pro-crime laws”) because it does not allow the case to be classified as a crime against humanity. The ruling not only closes the case, but also benefits current senator Alejandro Aguinaga (from the Fuerza Popular parliamentary bloc), among other individuals under investigation; and sets a precedent of impunity.
It should be noted that, in March 2026 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a historic ruling holding the Peruvian State responsible for the forced sterilization and subsequent death of Celia Ramos Durand, ordering reparations and measures to prevent recurrence.
Today, the relatives of the victims of forced sterilizations under Alberto Fujimori’s government stated that they will appeal the measure under the government of the former president’s daughter; and will inform the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in order to obtain justice.
