Peru

The following Justice Initiative projects are underway, in or relevant to, Peru:

National Criminal Justice Reform

Peru: Citizen Councils for Police Accountability
Since mid 2003, the Justice Initiative has worked in cooperation with OSI’s Latin America program to strengthen community-based police accountability mechanisms (consejos distritales de seguridad ciudadana—CDSCs). The CDSCs, bottom-up mechanisms to hold police accountable for conduct and service quality, offer an important opening for community participation in local security issues. The Justice Initiative provides training and technical assistance to civil society groups to facilitate CDSC work. The project is designed to democratize the provision of security and promote civilian cooperation with, and monitoring of, police agencies. Future steps may include a media campaign to promote the successes of the CDSCs and advocate refinements to their funding and legal regulation. The Justice Initiative is in dialogue with CONASEC, the central coordinating body for the CDSCs, the Inter-American Development Bank and several donors.

Freedom of Information and Expression

Peru: FOI education and litigation
Two related initiatives in Peru seek to increase public understanding and use of newly-adopted FOI legislation by providing education and advice to grassroots groups and assisting in legal challenges to unwarranted denials of information. One project provides advice to groups seeking information on local budgets, and assists in filing administrative appeals, and where necessary pursuing litigation. The second project, aimed at national and provincial NGOs, develops strategies in preparing FOI requests and litigation, and trains judges to apply the FOI law. Individual judicial decisions are archived on Justice Initiative and local databases.

Regional: Freedom of Information Law Implementation, Legal Advice, Litigation and Monitoring Tool
Justice Initiative FOI implementation projects include legal advice and litigation in Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Peru. Litigation challenging government refusals to provide requested information has been a traditional tool of activists interested in making freedom of information laws work in countries that have them. The Justice Initiative is currently working with partners to provide legal advice and pursue litigation in Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Peru. The Justice Initiative has developed an “Access to Information Monitoring Tool” which permits evaluation of national FOI law implementation and comparative assessment between countries. This instrument is currently being tested in a pilot project encompassing Armenia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Peru and South Africa.