LIMA PERÚ, AGOSTO 26. La ministra de Justicia, Marisol Pérez Tello,asiste a la celebraciión del décimo tercer aniversario de la entrega del Informe Final de la Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación sobre la violencia en el país. Foto: ANDINA/MINJUS/ Juan Azabache
Justice Minister and human-rights-advocate Marisol Perez Tello apologized on behalf of the Peruvian State to families of victims who died in the internal armed conflict between 1980 and 2000.
Remarks were made as she participated in the 13th anniversary of the release of the final report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
“This ceremony has been held for 13 years, and the State has never been present. This apology is made on the name of the State, because it cannot escape its responsibilities,” the minister told the press.
The State’s obligations are not only to respect, but guarantee human rights, and “if you are absent and don’t take part in the repair or search process, you have made a mistake as a State, and it has to be corrected.”
Important measures have been taken so far. For instance, during the administration of President Alejandro Toledo, the Congress passed an act that codified the reparations process into law, and during the government of President Humala, the Law on the Search of Disappeared Persons was adopted. However, this does not override the individual responsibilities.
“Of course, an apology has to be made, for forgetting them [the families], for being indifferent and for abandonment,” Perez Tello stated.
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Published: 8/26/2016