The IACHR visits Peru in the midst of the protests. What can happen?

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) arrives in Peru this Tuesday to carry out a technical visit, in the midst of the political and social upheaval that has led to protests against the ‘dismissal’ of Pedro Castillo and the appointment of Dina Boluarte.

«In compliance with international commitments on human rights, Foreign Minister Ana Cecilia Gervasi informs that the technical visit of the IACHR, at the invitation of Peru, will take place from the 20th of December to the 22nd», said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, last sunday.

The commission will arrive in Lima at a time of maximum tension. In less than two weeks of protests, more than 20 deaths, hundreds of people injured and numerous complaints of brutal repression against the organizations that support the deposed president have been reported in the country, informed RT.

That same Friday, when more deaths of protesters were confirmed, the IACHR spoke out to «strongly condemn» the acts of violence and urge the State «to adopt the necessary measures so that the acts of violence that have seriously affected the life and the integrity of people are promptly, exhaustively and diligently investigated, establishing material and intellectual responsibilities and punishing the persons that are responsible» of these violent actions.

But beyond this call, criminalization has become part of the national ‘landscape’ and the Executive has justified the actions of the Armed Forces and the Police. «We cannot live in chaos (…) with the violent ones you cannot compromise», said Boluarte over the weekend, when being interviewed by a local television station.

Thus, while discontent grows in the streets against the acting president – whose legitimacy is questioned by the left – stability seems increasingly distant in Peru and the general consensus points to the urgent need to call for general elections.What has happened with Castillo

Last week, a judge ordered an 18-month preventive detention measure against Castillo, who had already asked the IACHR to intercede for his political rights.

It hasn’t been the only call to the commission. The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, criticized the inaction of the American Convention «in the Latin American legal system» and called on the IACHR to issue precautionary measures in favor of Castillo, but the body responded that it recognized Lima’s «democratic response».

Although the Commission’s agenda is not yet known, the truth is that on the eve of the arrival of the technical group, Boluarte assured that the wife and the two children of the former president would have obtained the asylum offered by Mexico.

“A few days ago the chancellor told me that the Mexican State had already granted political asylum. I told the chancellor to proceed in accordance with the law, everything according to the legal framework», declared Boluarte on the television program Panorama.

Castillo’s situation remains unknown. For now, the former president remains confined in the Barbadillo prison, the same facility where former dictator Alberto Fujimori is being held, awaiting an investigation for rebellion after the failed attempt to dissolve Congress and decree a State of emergency in the country.

Despite the fact that this move precipitated the fall of Castillo from power, his government had already been dragging a governance crisis that the former president tried to settle with the mediation of the Organization of American States (OAS). However, the participation of the regional body did not allow even a day of truce on the part of Congress and the judicial system.Early elections in Peru

The protests, in addition to demanding the release of Castillo, the dissolution of Congress and the departure of Boluarte, insist on the call for new elections for the renewal of all posts, a point on which the rest of the population also seems to agree.

A survey carried out by Ipsos Peru reveals that 62% of the population agrees with an advance of the elections. However, the bottleneck is in Congress. Last week, the body refused to call new elections in 2023, despite the fact that the project had been sent by Boluarte as a gesture to try to silence and calm the discontent.

Despite the fact that the initiative received a majority of 49 votes in favor, 33 against and 25 abstentions, it required 87 votes for its approval, since it implied a constitutional reform that modified the duration of the presidential and parliamentary mandates.

Congress’s response has not prevented the reaction in the streets, which are still on fire to demand the elections. What is unique about the protests is that they confirm that the country continues to be divided between “Limacentrism” – surprisingly defeated at the polls by Castillo – and the regions.

Thus, southern Peru is the one that has had the deadliest balance as a result of the repression. According to the most recent report from the Ministry of Health, in the last days nine people died in Ayacucho; six in Apurímac; three in the Junín region; three in La Libertad, two in Cusco and one in Arequipa.A government that no one elected

Given the refusal of Congress for the electoral route to unlock the crisis, Boluarte insisted on the urgency that Parliament open up to this possibility: «Gentlemen, do not look for excuses not to advance the elections. Vote directly facing the interior (the regions) of the country», said the president, harassed not only by the protests but by a Cabinet that is already showing its first cracks.

The day before, the president announced that she would dismiss Prime Minister Pedro Angulo – who lasted less than a week in office – and that she would renew the names in some portfolios, after the heads of Education and Culture resigned in protest because of the repression that caused the death of demonstrators, especially in the south of the country.

For now, Boluarte rules out the option to resign and has given support to the Armed Forces, which were key in preventing Castillo from establishing the State of emergency: «My resignation would be to agree with the violent», she said on Sunday.

In parallel, her management has played the diplomatic card to try to give legitimacy to a government that did not come through the ballot box. Meetings with ambassadors, calls to respect the institutional framework and now, the invitation to the IACHR, are gestures that point to the urgency: reduce the conflict. The elections – for the moment – remain trapped in the hands of a Congress that swore in the current president, but that now does not intend to risk going to elections with a left mobilized in favor of an imprisoned ex-president.