The cardinal Pedro Barreto participated in the hearing titled “Democracy and the effects of selection process of the National Board of Justice (JNJ)“of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in relation to deficiencies in the election of members JNJ. In that sense, Barreto said: “I am here to witness the situation of human rights in Peru, the concern about the fragility of justice and corruption.”
“The decisions of the justice authorities have an impact on the people and I wonder: what is going to happen with the demands of vulnerable people for the appointment of the magistrates and, especially, the members of the National Board of Justice without transparency or meritocracy? Thus, distrust in the administration of justice increases, conflicts and structural crime grow,” said the cardinal.
It is necessary to point out that the International Mission International (MIO) issued a report on the selection process of members of the National Board of Justicewhere it was highlighted that were not fulfilled with three standards typical of an election: the lack of transparency, there was not enough participation of suitable candidate profiles to serve in the position and the poor curricular evaluation based on quantitative criteria. This last point MINE He described it as a “poor selection process.”
In that line, the Cardinal Barreto regretted the actions of the authorities of the State for the laws passed against the fight against corruption and in favor of criminal organizations, as well as victims of failures in the justice system. For this reason, he questioned what would be the final destination of the demands of vulnerable people who “desire the recognition of their collective rights.”
“How are illegal economies, drug trafficking, illegal logging, and human trafficking going to be combated when they are protected by State regulations and policies? What is going to happen to the demands of indigenous populations who want recognition of their collective rights and they are not given due justice?” he asked.
YOU CAN SEE: Today the deficiencies in the selection process of the JNJ are exposed at the IACHR
Cardinal Pedro Barreto expressed his concern for indigenous populations
As part of his intervention at the hearing of the IACHRhe Cardinal Pedro Barreto He referred to the current situation of indigenous communities, their territories and the leaders who were murdered for protecting the environment. For this reason, Barreto indicated the figures of the deceased people, the affected towns and the peasant lands that have not yet obtained title to their land due to the incompetence of the justice authorities.
“The titling of the territories is not being fulfilled, there are 712 native communities and 1,019 peasant communities pending titling (land). What is going to happen when indigenous environmental leaders continue to be murdered? Nearly 70 indigenous leaders have been murdered in the Peru in recent years,” he declared.
On the other hand, the cardinal reiterated the condition of the women and girls who were victims of sexual violations in the Amazon, especially in Awajún and Wampis.
“What is going to happen to the integrity of women and girls whose dignity is violated? In the Peruvian Amazon, unfortunately, there are more than 500 indigenous girls from the Awajún and Wampis peoples who have been sexually raped in the region and the majority of Their cases have gone unpunished,” he lamented.
