Peru: Turn policy into practice to uphold the rights of older persons, says UN expert

GENEVA (22 March 2024) – A UN expert today welcomed progress in Peru’s legal framework to protect the human rights of older persons, but urged the Government to implement policy commitments, allocate sufficient resources to ensure adequate living standards for older persons, and accelerate the path to transitional justice for older survivors of political violence.

“I commend the important steps taken by Peru in recent years to protect the rights of older persons, including the ratification of the Inter-American Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons and the adoption of the Law on Older Persons,” said Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, in a statement at the end of a 12-day visit to the country.

Mahler stressed that Peru must allocate adequate resources to fulfil these commitments for older persons to be able to live with dignity. “Despite almost universal health insurance, many older persons in Peru struggle to get the health care they need due to long waiting times, high out-of-pocket costs and a lack of specialised providers, especially in rural areas,” she said. “More than half of the older population has no access to pensions and has no choice but to continue working beyond the regular retirement age.”

The expert noted that even those with pensions were struggling to meet their basic needs, as the amounts they received were not always predictable and were often insufficient to cover the cost of living.

Mahler pointed to the shortcomings of Peru’s system of care and support for older persons, noting the limited number of adequate care facilities, especially residential facilities for older persons in situations of abandonment, the lack of trained service providers and the limited support for older persons to receive care in their own communities.

“The persistence of ageism and age discrimination affects older persons’ access to essential services and their ability to participate in the labour market and public life, including political life,” she said, adding that it could lead to violence, abuse and neglect in the family.

The expert noted that ageism exacerbates existing vulnerabilities and reinforces social and economic exclusion for older persons who face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, including members of Indigenous communities, migrants and refugees, women, LGBT+ persons and persons deprived of their liberty.

Mahler expressed concern about the prevalence of violence against older persons, especially older women. She urged the Government to take protective measures and enable more older persons to safely report such incidents and seek justice.

The Independent Expert stressed the need to accelerate transitional justice efforts for survivors and victims of gross human rights violations during Peru’s internal armed conflict. She recalled that tens of thousands of Peruvians were subjected to enforced disappearances, summary executions, torture and forced sterilisation by the Government and the Shining Path guerrilla movement between 1980 and 2000.

“Many survivors are now older persons and are still waiting decades later for justice for the crimes committed against them and their loved ones,” Mahler said.

The expert expressed grave concern about proposed legislative measures that would impose a statute of limitations on investigations into crimes against humanity and war crimes committed before 2002. “Such measures would violate international law and Peru’s existing human rights obligations,” she said.

The Independent Expert will present her report to the Human Rights Council in September 2024.

ENDS

Ms. Claudia Mahler (Austria) was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council as Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons in May 2020. She has been working for the German Institute for Human Rights as a senior researcher in the field of economic, social and cultural rights since 2010. She was also a visiting professor at the Alice Salomon Hochschule in 2020-2021. From 2001 to 2009, Ms. Mahler conducted research at the Human Rights Centre of the University of Potsdam where her main fields were in human rights education, minority rights and the law of asylum. In 2000, she received her doctoral degree and was appointed as Vice President of the Human Rights Commission for Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Her mandate covers all countries and has most recently been renewed by Human Rights Council resolution 51/4.

The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, country page – Perú