Chile to Extradite Peru's Fujimori

Former Peru's President Alberto Fujimori, right, is escorted by correctional officers in this May 18, 2006 file photo. Chile's Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Fujimori must be extradited to face human rights and corruption charges in Peru. The ruling is final and cannot be appealed. (AP Photo/Roberto Candia) (Roberto Candia - AP)

"This decision is a remarkable example of the role that domestic institutions of justice can play in enforcing international standards and furthering accountability, even in highly sensitive cases," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for Human Rights Watch.

The human rights cases against Fujimori include the 1993 death-squad slayings of nine students and a professor at La Cantuta University, and the 1991 killings of 15 people at Barrios Altos, a working-class neighborhood of Lima. The corruption charges involve alleged payoffs to lawmakers and to news media, illegal phone tapping and misuse of $15 million in government funds.

Gisela Ortiz, the sister of one of the slain students, said her brother Enrique's body was found with four bullets in his head. All the other victims were burned.

"As relatives, we're very happy, satisfied by this decision by the Chilean judiciary to extradite Fujimori," she said.

Peruvian prosecutors are seeking 30 years in prison for Fujimori for each human rights charge and the corruption charges carry 10-year sentences. But prison terms run concurrently under Peruvian law.

"We regret what happened in Barrios Altos and La Cantuta, but Fujimori was the one who brought peace to this country, who defeated terrorism," Keiko Fujimori said Friday. "And it seems a paradox that today Fujimori is being tried."

She urged her father's supporters in Peru to go calmly to the airport to receive him when he is returned.

There is widespread concern that Fujimori's return could cause political turmoil in Peru. Many believed President Alan Garcia did not want him extradited, fearing he could become a powerful opposition leader. Garcia's political opposition is now fragmented, giving him a free hand to rule.

According to their extradition treaty, Chile now has three months to send Fujimori back. But there could be a delay while Peru prepares a prison facility for him.

When Fujimori's former spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, was grabbed in Venezuela in June 2001, he was sent back within days and jailed in a high-security naval prison where Abimael Guzman and other top leaders of the Shining Path rebel movement were being held.

As a political leader and a former head of state, Fujimori will apparently be held in a special facility inside a regular prison pending his trial, which could easily last more than a year.

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Associated Press writer Monte Hayes contributed to this report from Lima, Peru.