In 1994, during a patrol in Lima, Peru, a soldier opened fire on a public transportation vehicle carrying civilians. This resulted in the deaths of Zulema Tarazona Arrieta and Norma Pérez Chávez, and severe injury to Luis Bejarano Laura. The State did not prosecute the soldier responsible because an Amnesty Law, which covered crimes committed by State officials from 1980 to 1995, prevented prosecution of this and similar crimes committed during that that period. After the State was ordered by the Inter-American Court to repeal the Amnesty Law, in the 2001 Barrios Altos v. Peru case, it reopened the investigation into the deaths. The State did not issue a judgment against the soldier until 2008, fourteen years after the incident, and seven years after the Amnesty Law was ordered to be annulled. The Court held that the State violated the American Convention on Human Rights based on its untimely prosecution and repayment of reparations to the victims.
Case Summary: Tarazona Arrieta et al. v. Peru, Case Summary
Compliance Update: Tarazona Arrieta et al. v. Peru