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Last Updated:  Tuesday, 8 April, 2003, 10:02 GMT 11:02 UK
Online campaign against Fujimori

By Elliott Gotkine
BBC correspondent in Lima

Human rights groups have launched an international campaign to get Peru's ex-President Alberto Fujimori extradited from Japan.

Alberto Fujimori
Mr Fujimori says he is a victim of political persecution
Mr Fujimori has been in self-imposed exile there ever since he fled Peru in 2000 amid a corruption scandal.

Peru wants him extradited to face charges that he organised death squads which murdered alleged members of the Maoist Shining Path rebel group in the 1990s.

But despite a wanted notice from Interpol, Mr Fujimori has been protected by his Japanese citizenship, which he obtained because his parents were born in Japan.

Until now, Mr Fujimori has had few competitors in cyberspace.

From his luxury Tokyo apartment, Peru's fugitive ex-President issues communiqu�s and diatribes via his website, fujimorialberto.com.

But the launch of Fujimoriextraditable.com.pe, by a coalition of human rights groups, should redress the balance.

At the same time, they are hoping to encourage the United States to exert more pressure on Japan, which has so far refused to hand Mr Fujimori over.

The slick tri-lingual website documents Mr Fujimori's entire reign, from his rise to power, his self-coup of 1992, when he amended the constitution and dissolved Congress, to the year 2000, when he escaped to Japan, from where he faxed his resignation back to Peru.

Entire sections are dedicated to allegations of torture, forced disappearances and extra-judicial killings, particularly of alleged members of the Maoist Shining Path guerrilla group.

While the campaign will be welcomed by Peruvian prosecutors, it's unlikely to make much difference.

No extradition treaty exists between Japan and Peru.

And anyway, almost two-and-a-half years since he fled, Peru has yet to translate its extradition request into Japanese.


SEE ALSO:
Japan blocks Fujimori arrest
27 Mar 03  |  Asia-Pacific
Japan 'won't extradite Fujimori'
10 Mar 03  |  Americas
Fujimori snubs Peru truth inquiry
10 Sep 02  |  Americas
Fujimori's controversial career
18 Sep 00  |  Americas
Analysis: Peru confronts the past
10 Apr 02  |  Americas


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