Human rights court orders reparations for forced sterilisation case in Peru

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights says Peru must pay the family of a woman who died as a result of forced sterilisation.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) has ordered Peru to pay reparations to the family of Celia Ramos, a mother of three whose death resulted from a campaign of forced sterilisations during the 1990s.

Thursday’s landmark ruling stated that the 34-year-old Ramos was coerced into sterilisation against her will, causing an allergic reaction that led to her death.

The court ordered Peru to pay her family $340,000 as part of the ruling.

It noted that the Peruvian government had “failed to fulfill its obligation to initiate and conduct a thorough investigation” into Ramos’s case, heightening the strain on her family.

“Ms Ramos Durand’s family members — especially her three daughters, who were children at the time of the events — suffered profound harm as a consequence of the sterilization and death of Celia Edith Ramos Durand and the impunity surrounding the case,” the IACHR wrote in its decision.