I am of the opinion that a disaster of tremendous proportions was avoided last Sunday when Ollanta Humala, a nationalist former military officer, defeated Keiko Fujimori in the second round of Peru’s presidential election. To me, a victory by Fujimori would have represented the vindication of Alberto Fujimori’s decade-long government and of the inexcusable human rights violations that took place during the latter; a clear case of impunity trumping memory and a cruel disregard for the dignity of the victims and families of victims of abuses committed.

My position, and that of many human rights activists here in Lima, however, is not synonymous with an uncritical support and acceptance of Ollanta Humala. As I have mentioned in a previous post, the future president has a questionable human rights record, having battled claims that he tortured civilians as a counterinsurgency officer in the early 1990s. His closing statement in the presidential debate, during which he asserted that regarding him there were only doubts, but regarding the Fujimoristas there were proven facts, was not quite as reassuring as it was intended to be.

Everyone here is anxiously waiting to see what direction the new government will take on human rights. Specifically, what will be its policy on the judicialization of human rights abuses committed during the internal war; on reparations for the victims and families of victims of the conflict; on the exhumation and forensic investigation of the more than 4,000 mass graves scattered throughout the country; on the fostering of a collective memory of the conflict? Each is an important dimension of the issue Peru’s disappeared.

Most would agree that the performance of the outgoing administration of Alan García on these issues has been disappointing to say the least. The 2008 annual report of the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDDHH) denounced the administration’s distancing from and failure to apply many of the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commision, in addition to its passive attitude on the promotion of policies such as the National Plan of Human Rights and the Integral Reparation Plan.

Many consider that the García regime has been guided by a narrow understanding of development in which it is equated to economic growth largely based on the performance of extractive industries. They argue that this has resulted in a scenario in which human rights have been placed second, as evidenced in cases of conflict between local populations and extractive projects (the 2009 events in Bagua being an emblematic case, and protests in Puno a more recent one).

As we look to the future, there is cause for vigilance. Illustrative of the uncertain future of human rights, memory and justice in Peru are comments uttered on May 30 by Omar Chehade, who will be Second Vice-President under Ollanta Humala. While discussing the Madre Mía case—the very case for which Ollanta Humala has been suspected of having committed human rights violations—in an interview on the program “Prensa Libre,” he maintained that the victims were still terrorists and that they could well be alive and continuing their terrorist activities. Such accusations showed a clear lack of respect and sensitivity for the families of the victims of enforced disappearance, and an insult to the memory of the disappeared.

Although Chehade later publicly retracted his assertions in a letter to the CNDDHH and made a public apology to the memory of the victims of the case Madre Mía and their families, the incident is still a clear indication of the battle between impunity and memory that is currently being waged in Peru.

Now, more than ever, is a time for Peruvian civil society to be on its toes.

Today, armed with my faithful camera, I set out to capture the essence of the contentious battle between Keiko Fujimori and Ollanta Humala, to be decided tomorrow in the second round of Peru’s presidential election. This is what I found:

Propaganda and counter-propaganda

Flyer against Keiko Fujimori

Anti-Keiko sentiment in graffiti

Anti-Humala graffiti

Old lady and Keiko propaganda

Graffiti modified by a Keiko supporter

Boy and propaganda

Ollanta graffiti

Vandalized Fujimori propaganda

Propaganda and counter-propaganda

Derogatory sticker on a lamp post

Billboard featuring a magazine cover

Ollanta posters

(A country that forgets its history is doomed to repeat it)

These words, a not-so-subtle warning expressed by the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, have been echoing in my head since the day I set foot in Peru. With the second turn of the presidential elections soon coming up on June 5th, newspapers have unsurprisingly been dominated by the fierce battle being fought by the two candidates.  At it really does feel like history, quite literally, may be about to repeat itself.

Memory represents an important line of work at EPAF. The basic rationale is that allowing victims of violence and families of the disappeared to share memories of the past and reassert the truth over what happened during the years of the internal conflict can contribute to justice, help restore their dignity, and put an end to their victimization. But this leads me to wonder whether there can be such a thing as a collective memory in a country as divided as Peru. Is memory of the conflict not doomed to remain principally, if not exclusively, a weight on the shoulders of its most direct victims? Memory seems to have very little power over people determined to forget.

While there are notable exceptions, what I am currently witnessing in Lima is a striking lack of memory. How else to explain the first-turn victory of the two current presidential candidates, both more than a little problematic with regards to their human rights records? How to interpret the lack of any concrete proposal, by either of the candidates, to deal with the many sequels of the conflict?

Newspaper stand in Miraflores

If polls are to be believed, the candidate currently leading the race is Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for corruption and human rights violations. In addition to the crimes he has been prosecuted for, his regime has been blamed for the forced sterilization of nearly 300,000 indigenous women.

The support for Keiko Fujimori builds on the bases that remember Alberto Fujimori as the president who defeated the Shining Path after years of internal conflict and restored the country’s economic growth through neoliberal reforms. Many would also argue that she cannot be blamed for the crimes of her father; her opponents, however, are quick to point out her position as First Lady during part of her father’s presidency. Moreover, there is concern that her candidacy is being run by many of the same people that used to be part of her father’s government.

In response to the possibility of Keiko Fujimori becoming President, the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos, an umbrella human rights organization, has initiated a campaign entitled “Fujimori Nunca Más” to ensure that electors do not forget the crimes committed by the ex-dictator on the day of the elections.

The story is complicated, however, by the fact that the human rights record of the second candidate, Ollanta Humala, is not much shinier: from a military background, he is suspected of having committed human rights violations during the conflict. He was also responsible for a 2000 aborted coup d’état, and has been accused of being linked to another coup attempt, led by his brother in 2004. His critics further decry his association with the Chávez regime, despite his efforts during the campaign to represent himself as closer to Brazil’s more moderate Lula da Silva.

Regardless of who is elected on June 5th, it will be difficult to consider it a victory from a human rights and historical standpoint. But the real test will come after the election: what will the winning candidate’s government do to address Peruvians’ claims for the truth, justice, and reparation? What will be its policy on the 15,000 disappeared of the internal conflict that have not yet been found?