The Chilean Supreme Court this morning ruled in favor of Peru’s nearly two-year-old request that former President Alberto Fujimori be sent home to face charges of corruption and human rights abuses. The decision, reached by five appeals judges, overturns an earlier Supreme Court ruling rejecting the extradition request.

The much-anticipated verdict was delivered just after 8 a.m. by Supreme Court Judge Alberto Chaigneau, who denied there was any government pressure behind the decision.

Together Chaigneau and his four colleagues – Nibaldo Segura, Jaime Rodríguez Espoz, Rubén Ballesteros and Hugo Dolmestch – agreed that Fujimori should face trial in Peru for seven of the 12 cases presented during the lengthy extradition process. Those seven include two emblematic human rights abuse cases, namely the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta massacres, which took place in 1991 and 1992 respectively. Twenty-five people, including a small child and a professor, were murdered in the two massacres, which are believed to have been carried out by an infamous, government-backed death squad known as the Colina Goup.

Fujimori governed Peru from 1990 to 2000 until internal pressures forced him to seek refuge in Japan. From a Tokyo hotel room the beleaguered president famously tendered his resignation via fax. For the next five years he stayed in Japan, taking advantage of the Japanese citizenship he inherited from his immigrant parents to protect himself not only from requests that he be extradited to Peru but also from two separate international arrest warrants.

Then, on Nov. 6, 2005 – for reasons that are not entirely clear – Fujimori flew to Chile, where he was subsequently arrested and detained. Peruvian authorities originally asked that Fujimori be surrendered to them. Chile, however, opted to place the decision in the hands of its Supreme Court, following protocol set by a 1932 extradition treaty between the two countries.

In June, Supreme Court prosecutor Mónica Maldonado – in making an official recommendation on the case – found there to be enough evidence in most of the 12 cases originally presented against Fujimori to warrant extradition. Exactly one month later, however, the Supreme Court made a complete about-face. On July 11, Judge Orlando Álvarez dismissed all 12 cases, ruling soundly that Fujimori not be extradited. Little more than two months later, this ruling constitutes another reversal.

The ruling was welcome new for groups such as Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW), which have followed the extradition process closely over the past two years.

“The Chilean Supreme Court’s decision to extradite Alberto Fujimori to Peru is a step forward in seeking justice for the thousands of victims of torture, killings, forced disappearances and other human rights violations committed under Fujimori’s government,” AI noted in a press release.

HRW described the decision as both “welcome” and “unprecedented,” especially considering that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, whose regime was responsible for countless human rights abuses, passed away last year without ever being convicted of a single crime.

“After years of evading justice, Fujimori will finally have to respond to the charges and evidence against him in the country he used to run like a mafia boss,” said HRW Americas Director José Miguel Vivanco. “This landmark ruling is a huge step forward for Chile. After years of wrestling with Pinochet’s legacy of atrocities, Chile is now building a positive record on human rights and justice.”

BenjaminWitte (benwitte@hotmail.com)