DECLARACIÓN PÚBLICA

10 de abril de 2019.

La Organización Mundial Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA), instancia que reúne a sobrevivientes de abusos en contexto clerical y a activistas por los derechos humanos, manifiesta su categórico rechazo y preocupación por la reciente sentencia del 1er Juzgado Unipersonal Penal de Piura, Perú, que condena al periodista Sr. Pedro Salinas, por considerar parte de su labor profesional como difamación agravada en contra del arzobispo de Piura y Tumbes, Sr. José Antonio Eguren Anselmi.

Rechazamos dicha condena toda vez que atenta contra la develación de crímenes de lesa humanidad ocurridos en el seno de la institución eclesiástica católica. En efecto, para que un abusador pueda cometer ilícitos constantes dentro de una institución requiere de todo un sistema que opere a su favor silenciando a la víctima. Así, abuso y encubrimiento son dos caras de una misma moneda. Sin embargo, trabajos profesionales y heroicos como el realizado por los periodistas Pedro Salinas y Pao Ugaz sobre el Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana, no sólo permite acabar con la impunidad de los victimarios sino además empodera a otros sobrevivientes que vivieron estos vejámenes. En este sentido, el precedente a nivel internacional que este tribunal de primera instancia ha dictado, es el encarcelamiento de la verdad.

Asimismo, manifestamos nuestra preocupación pues el poder judicial peruano ha desaprovechado una oportunidad para incentivar a que más personas se atrevan a revelar los abusos en contexto clerical sin miedo a que el poder institucional se ejerza coercitivamente en contra de ellos. Tanto así, que se asoma irónico que un tribunal estatal condene a quien ha revelado la verdad, mientras que en El Vaticano su testimonio y el de todas las víctimas a las que Pedro Salinas representa, haya sido atendido y valorado por los organizadores de la cumbre por la protección de niños, niñas y adolescentes en la Iglesia, realizado en febrero reciente.

Por este rechazo y preocupación, como Organización Mundial que aglutina a representantes de 20 países de los cinco continentes, seguiremos atentos a las instancias sucesivas y casos similares tanto en Perú como en el resto del mundo.

PUBLIC DECLARATION

April 10, 2019.

The World Organization Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA), a body that brings together survivors of abuses in a clerical context and human rights activists, expresses its categorical rejection and concern about the recent sentence of the 1st Unipersonal Criminal Court of Piura, Peru, which condemns the journalist Mr. Pedro Salinas, for considering part of his professional work as aggravated defamation against the archbishop of Piura and Tumbes, Mr. José Antonio Eguren Anselmi.

We reject this condemnation because it attempts to reveal crimes against humanity within the Catholic Church. Indeed, for an abuser to be able to commit constant illicit acts within an institution, he needs an entire system that works in his favor by silencing the victim. Thus, abuse and concealment are two sides of the same coin. However, professional and heroic work such as that carried out by the journalists Pedro Salinas and Pao Ugaz on Sodalitium Christianae Vitae not only puts an end to the impunity of the perpetrators, but also empowers other survivors who lived these humiliations. In this sense, the international precedent that this court of first instance has dictated is the imprisonment of the truth.

We also express our concern that the Peruvian judiciary has missed an opportunity to encourage more people to dare to reveal abuses in a clerical context without fear of institutional power being exercised coercively against them. So much so, that it is ironic that a state court should condemn the one who has revealed the truth, while in the Vatican his testimony and that of all the victims that Pedro Salinas represents, has been taken care of and valued by the organizers of the summit for the protection of children and adolescents in the Church, held in February.

Because of this rejection and concern, as a World Organization that brings together representatives of 20 countries from the five continents, we will continue to be attentive to the successive instances and similar cases both in Peru and in the rest of the world.

CONTACT

Juan Carlos Claret Pool, ECA Founding/Board Member (Chile)
Email: juancarlosc1993@gmail.com

Sara Oviedo, ECA Founding/Board Member (Ecuador)
Email: sara.oviedofierro@gmail.com

Matthias Katsch, ECA Founding/Board Member (Germany)
Spokesperson for ECKIGER TISCH (Squared Table), Member of the German Council of Survivors
Email: matthias.katsch@ecaglobal.org, contactus@ecaglobal.org

Tim Law, President ECA USA/ECA Board Member (USA)
Email: timalaw@aol.com

Dr. Denise Buchanan, ECA Founding/Board Member (Jamaica)
Email: denise@ecaglobal.org

Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) is a worldwide leadership organization of survivors of clergy abuse and human rights activists. Its mission is to compel the Roman Catholic Church to end clergy abuse, protect children, and seek justice for victims. ECA assembly members represent over 21 countries from 6 continents. https://www.ecaglobal.org – @ENDCLERGYABUSE –https://www.facebook.com/ENDCLERGYABUSE/   – contactus@ecaglobal.org