Peru Hires PR Agency to Combat U.S. Charges of Torture, Abuse

by Abraham Lama

Fujimori acknowledged in Havana, where he is attending the Ninth Ibero-American Summit, that he had hired two legal firms "to counteract the work of lobbies acting against Peru."

The president affirmed that his government would spend $360,000 annually to pay the firms, but the opposition daily La Republica reported that the total is closer to $880,000.

Fujimori hired the legal firms in response to the United States Senate's Nov. 8 declaration on the status of civil rights in Peru.

Two years ago, Latin American human rights activists complained that the inhuman treatment of people had become institutionalized in Peru. "Torture has become routine in the interrogation of suspects in common crime," noted a report at the time and added that, the army even used torture against its own members, those suspected of endangering national security. Only last year was torture made a specific offense in the nation's criminal code.

Senate Resolution 209 criticized the removal of three members of the Constitutional Court who voted against allowing Fujimori to seek reelection to a third consecutive presidential term.

The senators also questioned the seizure of businessman Baruch Ivcher's television station and the alleged harassment of opposition journalists by the National Intelligence Service (SIN).

The resolution also mentions the alleged torture committed by intelligence officers against subordinates they suspected of leaking information to the press.

The Senate directed Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to submit a copy of the resolution to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in order to impose financial pressures on Peru.

"Instead of spending money to clean up the government's image, (Fujimori) should eliminate the regulations that hurt our democratic institutions and he should prevent further human rights violations," affirmed legislative representative Alfonso Grados Bertorini, of the Union for Peru party.

"If he thinks it necessary to disseminate his government's point of view, he should entrust that duty to the ambassadors and not squander money, which this country sorely needs," said opposition representative Gustavo Mohme.

"It would be better if he amended his policies and did not disturb the democratic order in forcing through his illegal reelection," added Mohme.

Peru's Foreign Minister, Fernando de Trazegnies, defended the hiring of New York and Washington attorneys, saying, "In the United States, whoever doesn't have a lobbyist is lost."

"Lobbyists are legal in the United States. All countries have their lobbyists in Washington, and there are even specialized lobbies that promote the issues and objectives of economic sectors, like those defending rice or coffee producers," he said.

In Peru, the idea of experts hired to influence parliamentarians or government officials is not generally accepted by the public, though lobbyists are presumed to exist, acting behind closed doors.

In October, when the House of Representatives passed a resolution similar to the Senate's, leaders from Peru's governing Cambio 90 party criticized the activities of anti-Peruvian pressure groups.

Governing party legislator Martha Chavez accused businessman Ivcher of having hired lobbyists to promote the resolutions in the U.S. Congress.

"The North American senators are naive to let themselves be convinced by lobbyists hired by millionaire Baruch Ivcher, who has lied to them by saying he has been sentenced to 12 years in prison in Peru and that his Peruvian nationality has been revoked," maintained Chavez.

Ivcher, majority owner of Lima's Channel 2, was a Fujimori supporter until late 1997, when his station revealed presumed confidential information about the National Intelligence Service, including the salary of the agency's chief, Vladimiro Montesinos.

Later, Channel 2 reported that a SIN agent, Leonor La Rosa, currently living in asylum in Sweden, had been tortured by her commander, who suspected she had sold intelligence information to the press.

Finally, after discovering alleged irregularities in Ivcher's naturalization process, which granted him citizenship 10 years ago, the government applied a law that prohibits foreigners from owning any mass media outlets.

Control of Channel 2 was granted to Ivcher's minor partners, also Peruvians of Israeli origin.