Interior Minister César Astudillo will be questioned this Thursday by the full Chamber of Deputies. Starting at 10 a.m., the retired EP general must answer 27 questions related to the fight against crime and his performance in office.
Watch the questioning here:
As agreed by the Board of Spokespersons, the parliamentary debate will last for two hours. That time will be distributed proportionally among the six parliamentary groups.
The is promoted by Juntos por el Perú.
What are the questions he must answer?
First topic: citizen security and measures against crime
- What concrete measures have you implemented since the beginning of your administration to reduce crime rates, especially extortion, contract killings, and aggravated homicides?
- What evaluation and control mechanisms are being applied to measure the effectiveness of the strategies implemented?
- How are you coordinating with other state institutions to ensure a comprehensive and effective response to insecurity?
- How much of the budget assigned to the Ministry of the Interior this year has been specifically allocated to citizen security programs and actions?
- How is the participation of neighborhood boards and other community actors being promoted in crime prevention?
- What awareness and education campaigns are being carried out to inform and protect the population against crime? What Work Plan and what actions have you implemented to protect neighbors against the increase in crime and citizen insecurity?
- What internal measures is the PNP carrying out within the framework of the Intersectoral Human Rights Mechanism to strengthen prevention and protection efforts for human rights defenders given the figures of victims among indigenous leaders and union leaders murdered by illegal mafias?
- What international agreements or conventions are currently in force and being applied by your sector to combat transnational organized crime?
- What have been the tangible results to date in terms of reducing crime and improving public security, especially in extortion, homicide, and organized crime?
- How many patrol cars and motorcycles does the National Police of Peru have for patrolling? How many of these vehicles are inoperative? And what plan do you have to decommission the inoperative vehicles?
- Have you considered any effective measure to decommission 100% inoperative vehicles older than 15 years that are located in police stations and special units?
- During your administration, what are the results of police investigations into kidnapping and disappearance cases? And what percentage of kidnapping and disappearance cases are resolved?
- Have the perpetrators of the murders of more than sixty environmental defenders killed since 2012, especially the recent murder of indigenous leader Américo Pascual Tumisha, Ashéninka leader and former head of the Onconashari native community who was attacked during a patrol after surprising mafias extracting copaiba oil in his territory, been identified, located, and captured?
- What is your relationship with businesswoman Susana Liliana Saldaña Ramos, candidate for the Mayor of La Victoria for Renovación Popular, who has been mentioned in a police investigation in a case of extortion (the Los Pulpos de la Victoria case) in the Gamarra emporium?
Second topic: dismissal of Óscar Arriola as general commander of the PNP (update: last week the departure of Arriola and the appointment of Fredy López as the new police chief, who took office this Thursday, September 16, was announced)
- Why do you keep Manuel Oscar ARRIOLA, General Commander of the National Police of Peru, in office, who has completely lost leadership over PNP members, the trust of the current government, and the population?
- Do you believe that Manuel Oscar ARRIOLA, General Commander of the National Police of Peru, is a suitable person to command the National Police of Peru, having demonstrated his ineptitude in locating and capturing fugitive Vladimir Cerrón, ineptitude in budget management for equipment purchase and PNP modernization, and also having criminal investigations?
- What is the legal procedure your office has to dismiss Manuel Oscar Arriola as General Commander of the National Police of Peru?
- Why has Manuel Oscar Arriola not been temporarily removed from office due to his ineptitude in managing public budget for police logistics and operations, causing harm to the police institution, having not executed much of the budget for police modernization and having returned that money to the Ministry of Economy to be used for the El Niño Phenomenon?
Third topic: questioned appointment
- Do you acknowledge having appointed Magali Ella Meza Mundaca as General Director of Human Resources of the Ministry of the Interior, who has pending fiscal investigations including one against her and others for corruption of officials when she was Head of Human Resources at MINEDU, where she was accused of irregular hiring, an investigation in which the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office of the Center together with DIRCOCOR-PNP raided 25 properties in Lima, Callao, and Huánuco, including this official’s home?
- Who recommended the investigated Magali Ella Meza Mundaca for the position of General Director of Human Resources of the Ministry of the Interior?
- How do you guarantee, as Minister of the Interior, the independence and autonomy of the National Police of Peru in conducting complex investigations, especially those involving political figures or people close to the government?
- How do you ensure that ongoing investigations, especially highly complex ones, are not interrupted or manipulated by political influences?
Fourth topic: about the credentials to be minister:
- Given the figures of murders and injuries resulting from extortion and contract killings, which now also gain relevance in construction and transportation, endangering all citizens, do you consider that you are playing a significant role in fighting crime and organized crime?
- Do you consider that, upon assuming the Ministry of the Interior portfolio while being a parliamentarian, your appointment as minister is “illogical and incongruent,” since it breaks the separation of powers and turns your oversight role into judge and party?
- Is it true that you, Minister General EP (r) César Astudillo Salcedo, have decided to surround yourself with former colleagues from the military institute in the Ministry of the Interior, placing retired army officers in key positions (General Secretariat, Intelligence Directorate, and Interior Government Directorate) whom you have worked with during your long career?
- Do you consider that, as an Army Officer, you are prepared to assume such a sensitive portfolio as the Interior, where you lack the specialization required for the position and are completely unfamiliar with police functions?
