There is no doubt that the growing citizen insecurity is an issue pending resolution. According to data from the Ipsos Security Barometer, 76% of Peruvians feel unsafe when leaving their homes. In Lima, the figure reaches 81%.
Meanwhile, the victimization rate between January and June 2024 is 27.7%, as reported by the National Institute of Information Technology Statistics (INEI), which means an increase of 5.1 percentage points compared to the same period of time in 2022. . The perception of insecurity went from 82.6% (last year) to 86.1% (this year). What to do to stop the underworld?
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NEW LAWS
In recent days, the Congress of the Republic has approved a series of initiatives with which it aims to change the current scenario. One of them is the questioned criminal imputability of which adolescents aged 16 and 17 will be liablewhich seeks to address the increase in the participation of young adolescents in criminal acts, as well as their presence in foreign criminal gangs that recruit them.
The crimes for which adolescents could go to prison are terrorism, aggravated homicide, kidnapping, extortion, hitmen, drug trafficking and rape. The sentence will range between 6 and 8 years in prison.
The president of Congress, Eduardo Salhuana, defended the change and said that “it is pertinent to punish minors for serious crimes,” because these are concrete and real events that are seen on the street. “They are underage hitmen who act for hire. They do not have a criminal sanction and they go to a youth center, like Maranguita, and they leave and commit the same crimes again,” he explained.
However, international organizations, such as Unicef and Save the Children, have criticized the measure. Former Vice Minister of the Interior Ricardo Valdés declared to Peru21 that this rule is “a big mistake”, since the Constitution establishes that citizenship begins at the age of 18.
“In addition, Peru has signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Our prisons are overcrowded. How are classified criminals going to coexist with minors? The remedy will be worse than the disease,” he pointed out.
Likewise, Parliament approved the law that creates the registry of delivery providersdue to the increase in victims of motorcycle crime by people with irregular immigration status. To register in the registry, you will be required to have an identification document, driver’s license, current SOAT and technical inspection certificate. With the same tenor, also approved a rule that makes it mandatory for foreigners to identify themselves.
Likewise, the Plenary of Congress approved a bill that modifies the Law on the Use of Force of the PNP, to allow members of the Police to shoot down criminals in flagrante delicto when weapons are used that put the lives of the agents or third parties at risk.
Regarding this, Valdés said, “Congress is legislating in a populist manner.” However, Congressman Jorge Montoya, promoter of the rule, indicated that with it “we guarantee that our police officers will not be prosecuted or criminally persecuted for the use of their regulatory weapons in defense of the law and citizen security.”
AGAINST EXTORTION
Regarding extortion, Congress approved in the first vote incorporate the modality of drop-by-drop loans into the criminal offense of extortion.
The penalty for this crime will be no less than 15 nor more than 25 years in prison. Congresswoman Patricia Juárez, from Fuerza Popular, stated that these credits “will no longer be a tool of terror in our country” since with this norm “we will combat extortive usury and put an end to this criminal practice that affects thousands of Peruvian families.” ”.
In this regard, Ricardo Valdés stated to Peru21 that legislators must reflect on why drop by drop has a place. In his opinion, “the informal sector has serious difficulties in accessing the financial market, but unfortunately we do not have thinking congressmen.”
For the same purpose, it was approved in the first vote prohibit telephone operating companies from providing services within the perimeter of prisons —from where extortion calls are often made— and that, rather, the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) is empowered to freeze funds linked to extortion crimes. The Ministry of the Interior has a period of 60 days to regulate it.
PENDING PROJECTS
Military-police jurisdiction. President Boluarte announced the presentation of a law that establishes that police and military personnel who use their regulation weapons in the performance of their duties be tried in the military-police jurisdiction.
Frank staff. A law will also be promoted that allows the hiring of free and vacation personnel in the Police, and resources will be allocated to expand and build prisons.
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