In the Peruvian province of Anta, victims of a forced sterilization program have filed a new lawsuit. The original investigator on the case, Jaime Schwartz, shelved the case after deciding that the statute of limitations had run out because the charges were those of manslaughter, and crimes towards the victim’s body and health. After this disappointing blow to the justice these women seek, the Women’s Association of Forced Sterilization Victims of Anta have presented a new lawsuit against those in the Fujimmori regime who instituted the family planning policy under which these sterilizations were carried out.
Sabina Huillca, one of the victims, explained that when the doctor told her she should be sterilized she blatantly refused, was given a shot, and woke up as the procedure was ending. The forced sterilizations targeted women like Huilica who are poor, uneducated, and indigenous. The Peruvian state has admitted that 300,000 sterilizations were performed without the consent of the women during the civil war from1980 to 2000. The new lawsuit maintains that these sterilizations are war crimes and crimes against humanity which means there is not statute of limitations. Hopefully these women will finally get the justice they deserve.
Title: Women Sterilized Against Their Will Seek Justice, Again
Published in IPS, 10/16/10
Author: Angel Paez
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53177
Faculty Evaluator: Sheila Katz, Sonoma State University
Student: Jordan Hall, Sonoma State University