Unjust Imprisonment In Peru

EDM number 211 in 2003-04, proposed by David Drew on 04/12/2003.

That this House recognises that in Peru in the 1980s and early 1990s, thousands of people were rounded up and convicted by anonymous judges on what was often rather dubious evidence, during the struggles between the Peruvian Government and the Shining Path and MRTA terrorist groups; further recognises that many of these prisoners were subsequently found to be innocent and were therefore unjustly imprisoned; welcomes the fact that in early 2002, President Alejandro Toledo issued a personal apology to the 726 imprisoned; notes that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has done much good work, including a Report showing the scale of the problem; further notes however, that the investigation of many other cases where a prisoner is believed to be innocent has been painfully slow; calls upon all parties in Peru to give the Commission Report their full support; commends the work of human rights groups such as Paz y Esperanza and the Episcopal Commission for Social Action; calls upon the Peruvian Government to bring to account all those who were responsible for crimes against humanity, including members of the military and government organisations; and urges the Peruvian Government to give adequate funding to the Ministry of Justice so that prisoners who may be innocent and who have been in prison for upwards of 10 years can have their cases reviewed and, where merited, receive full pardons.

This motion has been signed by a total of 118 MPs, 1 of these signatures have been withdrawn.