The Fujimori Trial: 2nd Report from the WOLA Observer

The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) sent Dr. Jo-Marie Burt, professor of political science at George Mason University, to Lima to observe the trial of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori for alleged human rights violations, abuse of authority, and corruption. Dr. Burt observed the Fujimori trial during its first week in mid-December 2007, and visited Peru again at the end of February of that year. She witnessed several sessions of the trial, in which Fujimori faces charges in four cases of serious human rights violations: the Barrios Altos massacre of November 1991, in which 15 people were killed; the La Cantuta massacre of July 1992, in which 10 people were killed; and the kidnappings of journalist Gustavo Gorriti and businessman Samuel Dyer, which occurred in the days following the coup of April 5, 1992.