Peru: victims of forced sterilizations file a complaint against the state before the UN
Protester representing women victims of forced sterilization during the government of Alberto Fujimori, in Lima, Peru, Monday, December 9, 2019 (Illustrative photo).
AP Photo / Martin Mejia
Text by: RFI Follow
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In Peru, victims of forced sterilizations file a complaint against the Peruvian state with the UN.
Filed by two associations, this complaint concerns five emblematic cases of women forcibly sterilized as part of a vast family planning program set up by the government of Alberto Fujimori.
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From our correspondent in Lima
,
Wyloën Munhoz-Boillot
It was in 1996, in Lima.
Maria Elena Carbajal, then pregnant with her 4th child, goes to the hospital to give birth, but things do not go as planned.
“
After the birth, they didn't bring me my newborn son right away.
I was pressured to accept tubal ligation in exchange for my baby.
It was only later that I realized that it was irreversible,
”she explains.
300,000
women forcibly sterilized
Like her, between 1996 and 2001, more than 300,000 women were forcibly
sterilized in Peru
, even though Alberto Fujimori, President of the Republic at the time, had declared before the United Nations that this program was based on consent. women.
Some of the victims lodged a complaint, without result, as noted by Christian Berndt, lawyer for Justice and Reparation, one of the associations at the origin of the complaint filed at the UN.
"
Twenty years later, there is still no conviction, no compensation or reparation, although there has clearly been a violation of human rights with serious physical and psychological consequences for these women,
" said the lawyer.
With the five cases presented to the UN Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the associations seek to set a precedent to obtain redress and justice for all victims of forced sterilizations in Peru.
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