The National Plan of Human Rights for the period 2014-2016 places Peru at the forefront of promotion and protection of these rights, Peru's Deputy Minister of Human Rights Jose Avila has said.
“This initiative is very ambitious because it not only guarantees civil and political rights, but also economic, social and cultural ones,” he said.
Avila explained that a basic condition to sign free trade deals is to have a clear policy on human rights. Thus, he recalled that the FTA between the European Union and Colombia and Peru compels both Latin American nations to pursue a clear respect for human rights.
He pointed out that the plan has a number of indicators that we will progressively measure, since enhancement and update of public services should be carried out in various fields by 2016.
According to the government official, the plan has four strategic axes. The most important one regards education, which involves raising levels of awareness of rights and duties among the population.
In this regard, he said the population’s level of knowledge is quite low according to a survey we conducted last year based on interviews with 3,000 individuals in several regions across country.
“Therefore, it is necessary to achieve the mainstreaming of human rights policy,” he said in an interview published by the official government newspaper El Peruano.
In order to do this, we need to achieve a coordinated work among the 18 state ministries, and this needs to be reflected in the public service to citizens.
“We are going to review how the justice system is being developed to make sure it reaches the entire population, in particular, the most vulnerable segments of the population,” the deputy minister added.
Avila noted that even though there are ongoing initiatives, the work will be more specialized from now on.
For instance, women and children who were captive by terrorists have been rescued as part of actions undertaken by the Defense Ministry in the Valley of the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro Rivers (Vraem).
“Therefore, as State, it is our obligation to better articulate the task of providing protection and care to this segment of the population,” he pointed out.
Likewise, this plan is expected to adapt our legal system to international standards. This will encourage developed countries to sign FTAs with Peru since it is a nation that respects human rights.
The plan aims to prevent social conflicts. In this sense, training to the Armed Forces and Peru’s National Police will be provided in order to ensure their interventions contribute to lower the stress level in situations of social conflicts.
(END) MAE/ASH/DLG/LOG/RMB
Published: 7/13/2014