13 1. Antiterrorist Legislation and State of Emergency 64. On April 5, 1992, President of the Republic Alberto Fujimori announced a series of measures intended to “streamline the process of […] national reconstruction,” “modernize the public administration,” “reorganize the judiciary as a whole,” and “bring peace to the country, within a legal framework that severely 18 punishes terrorists.” One of the justifications given for the interruption of the legal order was the alleged complacency of the judiciary in terrorism trials which, in the words of the head of state, had led to “the mass 19 release of convicted and confessed terrorists, through the misuse of the so-called conscience criterion.” 65. By means of Decree Law No. 25418 of April 6, 1992, Alberto Fujimori established the “Emergency and National Reconstruction Government,” temporarily dissolved Congress, and intervened in the judiciary, the Public Prosecution Service, and the office of the Comptroller General of the Republic. The intervention in those institutions was carried out by sending the armed forces to occupy their installations and by placing opposition members of Congress and ranking officials opposed to the suspension of the constitutional order under house 20 arrest. 66. In this context, the Emergency and National Reconstruction Government enacted a series of decree laws that established, within the Peruvian legal system, special procedures for investigating, bringing charges against, and prosecuting people accused of terrorism or treason against the fatherland. On May 5, 1992, Decree Law No. 25475 was enacted (hereinafter “Decree 25475”), which defined the different forms that the crime 21 of terrorism could take. 67. To deal with the attacks on the country by members of Shining Path, and to address the danger that those actions posed to democracy, the State decided to declare a state of emergency first in Ayacucho and 22 then, progressively, through much of the nation’s territory. In this regard, Article 137.1 of the 1993 Constitution provided as follows: Article 137 of the Constitution. The President of the Republic, with the consent of the Council of Ministers, may decree, for a given period, throughout the nation’s territory or in part thereof, and informing Congress or the Permanent Commission, the states of emergency provided for in this article: 1. State of emergency, in the event of a disturbance of the peace or domestic order, of a catastrophe, or of grave circumstances affecting the life of the nation. In such a situation, the exercise of the constitutional rights dealing with personal freedom and security, the inviolability of homes, and freedom of assembly and circulation set forth in sections 9, 11, and 12 of Article 2 and in section 24.f of that article may be restricted or suspended. In no circumstance may any person be exiled. The duration of the state of emergency shall not exceed sixty days. Any extension shall require a new decree. During a state of emergency, the armed forces shall assume control of law and order, if so ordered by the President of the Republic. 18 Museum of the Congress of the Republic of Peru, Message to the Nation by the President of Peru, H.E. Alberto Fujimori Fujimori, April 5, 1992, available at www.congreso.gob.pe/museo/mensajes/Mensaje-1992-1.pdf. 19 Museum of the Congress of the Republic of Peru, Message to the Nation by the President of Peru, H.E. Alberto Fujimori Fujimori, April 5, 1992, available at www.congreso.gob.pe/museo/mensajes/Mensaje-1992-1.pdf. 20 IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Peru, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.83, Doc. 31, March 12, 1993, Section III, The Situation Since April 5, 1992, para. 54, available at www.cidh.oas.org/countryrep/Peru93sp/indice.htm. 21 Decree Law No. 25475 of May 5, 1992, available on the web site of the Congress of the Republic of Peru: www.congreso.gob.pe/ntley/Imagenes/Leyes/25475.pdf. 22 Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru, Vol. VI, Section Four: Crimes and Human Rights Violations, Chapter 1: Patterns in the Commission of Crimes and Human Rights Violations, 1.6 Violations of Due Process, 1.6.6. State of Emergency, Illegal Arrests, and Guarantee Actions, p. 461.