Civil Society, Headlines, Human Rights, Latin America & the Caribbean

PERU: Montesinos Defends Fujimori, Then Clams Up

Ángel Páez

LIMA, Jul 1 2008 (IPS) - Vladimiro Montesinos, the second most powerful person in the regime of former President Alberto Fujimori in Peru (1990-2000), has admitted in court that crimes were committed during intelligence operations he directed.

Montesinos, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence and is being tried for further charges, appeared as a witness in the trial of Fujimori for violations of human rights.

Fujimori permitted Montesinos to go into exile in Panama in September 2000, after a video recorded by Montesinos himself came to light, showing him bribing a member of Congress in his office at the National Intelligence Service (SIN).

In court on Monday, a defiant Montesinos made it clear from the start that he would not accept that Fujimori was responsible for the massacres in Barrios Altos and La Cantuta, committed in November 1991 and July 1992 respectively by the Colina Group, an Army Intelligence Service (SIE) elite squad.

The former official told prosecutor José Peláez, who had a battery of hundreds of questions ready for him, that “President Fujimori has no responsibility for the matters in this case.”

The prosecution has asked for a 30-year prison sentence for Fujimori, accused of being an accessory to the murders perpetrated by the Colina Group.

Under questioning by prosecutor Peláez about his participation in intelligence operations, Montesinos admitted he was involved in illegal phone-tapping.

“And did Fujimori know of this?” Peláez asked.

“Of course he knew,” answered Montesinos.

“And why did you do it?” the prosecutor said.

“For reasons of state, with the authorisation and knowledge of the president,” was the reply.

“Can crimes be committed for reasons of state?” asked the prosecutor.

“Yes, they can,” said Montesinos, the former de facto head of the secret services during the Fujimori administration.

Carlos Rivera, a lawyer for the non-governmental Institute for Legal Defence (IDL), who is representing the families of the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta victims, said that “Montesinos perpetrated crimes of corruption and human rights abuses over a 10-year period.”

The “only justification” given by the former official is “what he calls ‘reasons of state,’ which were simply Fujimori’s interests,” Rivera told IPS.

“Montesinos has attempted to make an academic argument out of reasons of state, but a crime is a crime, whether or not matters of state are involved. There is no valid justification to mitigate his responsibility, as he knows perfectly well,” Rivera said.

Francisco Soberón, the leader of the non-governmental Association for Human Rights (APRODEH), told IPS that “what Montesinos said is unacceptable in a society governed by the rule of law.”

“He tried to justify the crimes of the Fujimori administration. Only totalitarian regimes use ‘reasons of state’ as an argument to commit crimes,” said Soberón.

Montesinos was tried, convicted and expelled from the army in 1976 when it was revealed that he had travelled to Washington to meet with U.S. authorities, including Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents.

Fujimori’s former number two took advantage of his appearance in court to praise the ex-president, especially for his campaign against the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) and Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) guerrilla organisations.

“With his characteristic great courage, which sets him apart from any other head of state in the history of Peru, he fought the terrorists who had taken over the university,” said Montesinos, referreing to military interventions in several universities influenced by these groups.

During previous court sessions, Fujimori has fallen asleep and complained of pain after undergoing an operation to remove mouth cancer, but on Monday he was completely alert, and responded to Montesino’s answers with half-smiles.

The former official never mentioned the cases of Barrios Altos and La Cantuta, arguing that he himself is facing trial for these massacres in another court and is not obliged to say any more.

Montesinos, who has already been convicted for phone tapping, bribing lawmakers, illicit enrichment and arms trafficking for the insurgent Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) among other crimes, insisted that his former boss was not linked in any way to human rights violations.

“What we suspected has come to pass: Fujimori and Montesinos have agreed between them that Montesinos will not incriminate Fujimori,” said Rivera. “That is what happened today (Monday). We are not surprised. He seized the opportunity to make groundless accusations.”

Prosecutor Peláez asked Montesinos, who claims to be a lawyer, if it was true that Fujimori appointed him as his adviser because of his able defence of criminals like Medellín cartel drug trafficker Evaristo Porras Ardila.

His answer was: “That is a myth, a nefarious legend, and I categorically deny it.” He immediately stated that Edmundo Peláez, the prosecutor’s brother, had defended Panamanian drug trafficker Boris Foguel, the ringleader of a Lima organisation known as “Los Camellos” (The Camels).

But that was not all. Montesinos also said that during the Fujimori regime, Judge Hugo Príncipe Trujillo, a member of the tribunal trying the former president, and prosecutor Avelino Guillén, José Peláez’s colleague in the trial, shelved an investigation into phone espionage by arrangement with the SIN.

Montesinos “with clear and precise logic attempted to discredit those who are prosecuting and trying Fujimori,” said Soberón. “By protecting Fujimori, he protects himself. If anything happens to him, it will also happen to the former president. He made this message very clear.”

When asked about intelligence operations ordered by Fujimori, Montesinos refused to give details “for reasons of state.” But he was perfectly willing to break this principle when it came to attacking his accusers.

Peláez, for instance, asked him if he knew that the former head of the SIE, Colonel Rafael Córdova, had given Fujimori a report about Montesinos’ past as a defence lawyer for drug traffickers, and the fact that he was forbidden to enter military establishments.

Montesinos said that the head of SIE was his subordinate officer and that the allegations were false. Furthermore, he revealed that he had recommended Córdova to the position of head of Peruvian intelligence in Ecuador.

Tired of Montesino’s evasions, the prosecutor called on the tribunal to order the witness to limit himself to answering the questions.

At times, Montesinos addressed neither the prosecutor nor the judges, but the television cameras, such as when he excused his refusal to answer questions by comparing himself to former heads of the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies.

He referred specifically to officials who invoked state secrets as their reason for refusing to answer questions about the illegal but tolerated Iran-Contras arms trafficking scandal in the 1980s, and the Sep. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington that killed 3,000 people.

“If the chiefs of intelligence services did not answer questions from Congress in a powerful country, why should I break the code of silence in a courtroom in a small country?” Montesinos said.

“Montesinos’ statements in favour of Fujimori show that the mafia-like partnership between them remains alive,” said Soberón.

“Right from the start of the hearing, Montesinos acted as Fujimori’s shield-bearer. He tried to create a media sensation by ridiculing prosecutor Peláez. But his purpose was also to discredit his accusers and the members of the tribunal,” he said.

When prosecutor Peláez asked for a recess, Montesinos announced that he would not answer any more questions. Presiding Judge César San Martín recognised that the witness was within his rights, but emphasised that he regretted not having been informed at the start that Montesinos would only talk for a few hours.

Montesinos announced his departure from the hearing just when he was about to be questioned by counsel for the families of the victims of Barrios Altos and La Cantuta.

Thus the number two of the Fujimori regime avoided being questioned on behalf of the men, women and children murdered by agents of the iron-fisted system he ran, under the former president’s protection.