LATIN AMERICA : Fujimori Bows to Peru’s Army in Handing Over Rights Case

LIMA, Peru — In a bid to calm the political maelstrom that has bedeviled him for almost a year, President Alberto Fujimori has turned over a high-profile human rights case to a military court. And despite cries of outrage and a worsening of already-strained relations with the United States, the move may smooth the way for his reelection in 1995.

Fujimori signed a controversial law giving a military court jurisdiction in the case of 13 officers accused of abducting and murdering nine students and a professor from La Cantuta University in July, 1992. His action abruptly cut short a debate in Peru’s Supreme Court about whether civilian or military courts should try the case.

Prime Minister Alfonso Bustamante resigned in protest Wednesday--he was replaced Thursday by Foreign Minister Efrain Goldenberg--and relations with the United States have plunged to their lowest levels in the almost two years since Fujimori earned U.S. disapproval by dissolving Parliament and suspending the constitution.

The case had put Fujimori in a political bind. Torn between loyalty to the military and promises to improve human rights in Peru, he opted in the end to disregard the local and international furor over his decision and bow to military pressure.

“La Cantuta was the No. 1 political problem in 1993,” said congressman Francisco Tudela, a member of the minority Renovation Movement that voted against the law. “And for better or for worse, the matter is now over.”

Military judges promised a speedy trial; indeed, it is scheduled to begin today. An army prosecutor said earlier this week that he will seek prison terms of up to 20 years for the officers.

A civilian trial could have dragged on for years, clouding Fujimori’s hopes for reelection and embroiling his administration further in the thorny question of military impunity in human rights abuses. Crimes committed by the military in the name of fighting the 14-year-old war against the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) insurgency have gone largely unpunished. But now the war is drawing to a close.

Critics of Fujimori’s handling of the case say that the 13 officers facing trail do not include the “intellectual authors” of the crime. Civilian prosecutors had announced earlier that they intended to call army Commander in Chief Gen. Nicolas Hermoza and de facto head of intelligence, Vladimiro Montesinos, to testify.

The army prosecutor said he will seek a five-year prison sentence for one of the accused, Gen. Juan Rivero. But Rivero is seen by many as a high-ranking scapegoat. The prosecutor also requested 20-year sentences for two majors, Santiago Martin and Carlos Pichilingue, whom he accuses of masterminding the crime.

“If there is any criticism during his campaign, Fujimori can say, ‘We’ve sentenced the army men,’ ” Tudela said. “What can the opposition say to that?”

Sources close to the government said the army’s top brass forced Fujimori to rush the law through Congress, threatening a coup d’etat if their demands weren’t met. Fujimori has enjoyed especially close relations with the military since he assumed the presidency in 1990, and he has become increasingly dependent on the army since his military-backed “self-coup” of April, 1992.

Analysts see the special law as a last-ditch effort by the military to keep the case out of the civilian courts. It guarantees a secret hearing for the officers and stipulates that disputes over military or civilian jurisdiction in cases unrelated to drug-trafficking will be resolved secretly by a simple Supreme Court majority.

Observers have described meetings between U.S. Ambassador Alvin Adams and the Fujimori administration as tense. The U.S. State Department issued a terse communique that “lamented” Fujimori’s signing of the law and urged his government to respect the separation of powers.

At stake is about $100 million in economic aid, withheld since April, 1992. Last week, $30 million was about to be released, but recent developments here mean that the money has been frozen indefinitely.