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 INTRODUCTION

The equal and inalienable rights of all human beings establish the foundations for
freedom, justice and peace in the world, according to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948.

In this work, we are going to analyze human rights in relation to police detention in
Peru,

Detention is the deprivation of liberty of a person for a period of time, in principle, brief.
It is considered as a precautionary, very provisional and personal measure. The purpose
is to resolve your situation or make it available to the competent authority depending on
whoever arrested the investigated person.

Detention is a security measure exercised by the Peruvian national police in order to

prevent the detained person from escaping or assaulting the people who are close to him.
Through time it has been instituted as an act of dominance over the freedom of people,
technically it is a transitory measure that restricts the freedom of a person, until the
authority that determined the arrest defines their legal situation.

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 HISTORY

Detention appears in antiquity in the form of slavery, considered a regular institution at

the time, which Rome knew like all peoples, the sources define slavery as an "institution
of the law of nations by which someone is subjected, against nature, to the domain of
another

In this historical context, the first document that establishes the need to justify the
detention of a subject was according to the following: through a public process,
controlled and only by the will of the Monarch. “The Magna Carta”, known as “Magna
Carta Libertatum”, was drawn up after tense and complicated meetings between nobles
and English royalty, it lists the privileges granted to the Church of England, the City of
London, merchants and dignitaries
feudal rights of the regime, as well as
the precise guarantees of the individual
freedom of the people: "no free man
will be detained or imprisoned except
by virtue of a legal judgment of his
parties or the Law of the country".

In Peru, the criminal process was based on the inquisitive model, which has been
maintained for more than forty years and is still in force in the capital of the republic,
considered a metropolis in relation to development and progress that has been leading
worldwide in macroeconomic aspects, which, however, do not agree with the validity of
the old criminal process of medieval influence, inappropriate in its procedures,
procedures and interpretation of its rules and which subsists as a rule that the detention
of the person prevails instead of considering the presumption of innocence, in
accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which in its
Art. 9.3 establishes that: "Pretrial detention of persons who are to be tried should not be
the general rule."

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 POLICE DETENTION ACCORDING TO THE PERUVIAN
PENAL CODE

1. Police detention only lasts for the time strictly necessary to carry out the investigations
and may not exceed a period of forty-eight (48) hours or the term of the distance.
2. Preliminary detention lasts seventy-two (72) hours. Exceptionally, if the requirements
established in numeral 1) of article 261 of this Code subsist and circumstances of special
complexity arise in the investigation, it can last a maximum period of seven (7) days.
3. Police detention or preliminary detention may last up to a period not exceeding fifteen
(15) calendar days in the crimes
of terrorism, espionage, illicit
drug trafficking and committed
by criminal organizations.
4. The Criminal Judge, in these
cases, is especially empowered
to adopt the following
measures: a) Visit the place where the detainee is located, at the request of the detainee,
and find out the reasons for the deprivation of liberty, the progress of the investigations
and the state of your health.
5. Within the detention period determined by the Judge, the Prosecutor decides whether to
order the release of the detainee or if, notifying the Judge of the Preliminary
Investigation the continuation of the investigations, he requests preventive detention or
another alternative measure.
6. When the Prosecutor requests the preventive detention of the accused in the cases
indicated in the preceding paragraphs, the detention is maintained until the hearing is
held within a period of forty-eight (48) hours.”

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WHEN CAN A PERSON BE ARRESTED?

There are two ways to arrest a person:

PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE

It is a precautionary measure when it is in full process or has not yet started. The
following assumptions are included:

 When the subject is surprised at the moment that he commits a crime or tries to do
it.
 When a provisionally detainee escapes.
 When the processed person does not appear when he has the obligation to do so,
which is known as default.
 When the person investigated for a crime with a sentence of more than three years
or, in the case of being less, it is interpreted that he will not appear.

EXECUTIVE MEASURE

The executive measure of detention applies when there is already a conviction and the
following cases occur:

 The escape of a convicted person escapes from prison or in transfer to it.

 The convict is in unknown whereabouts.

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ARBITRARY DETENTIONS 

Arbitrary detentions are arrests or

detentions of persons in those
cases in which there is no
probability or evidence of
committing a crime or in cases in
which the due process established
by legal norms or statutes is not
complied with. Arbitrary arrest or
detention of people is contrary to what is established by law in democracies, and is
therefore illegal in these regimes. Although there are differences in the legislation of
different countries in terms of definitions and application, it is typically supported for
very short periods of time, a few hours or a few days. In some countries, this temporary
deprivation of liberty is commonly called preventive detention or detention for
“investigation”.

HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECT FREEDOM

The American Convention on Human Rights establishes that the States Parties undertake
to provide judicial and effective remedies to the victims of human rights violations and
the Court, in its interpretation of Art.1.1 of the Convention, established "That the
obligation of the States Parties is that of guaranteeing the free and full exercise of the
rights recognized in the Convention to all persons subject to its jurisdiction; as a
consequence of this obligation, the States must prevent, investigate and punish any
violation of the rights recognized by the Convention”. In our reality, these precepts are
not complied with where the people subject to detention are undermined in their
integrity or their rights are restricted, which leads to raising guarantee actions such as
Habeas Corpus to claim compliance with their right. Not only to protect freedom and
physical integrity, but also the scope of protection and prevent arbitrary and illegal
arrests and all the rights inherent to their condition.

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 “HABEAS CORPUS”

Habeas corpus is a constitutional guarantee whose purpose is the protection of

individual freedom and related constitutional rights, in such a way that against the threat
or deprivation of a person's liberty.

CHARACTERISTICS

The simplicity and speed of its procedure and the principle of informality are essential
characteristics of habeas corpus.

SIMPLICITY: The protection of individual freedom determines that the habeas corpus
has a simple procedure (few stages).

CELERITY: Requires short deadlines, so that the constitutional judge can decide in a
peremptory time on the legitimacy of the deprivation of liberty of the affected person.

INFORMALISM: means that the habeas corpus is not subject to rigid procedural
formalities. For this reason, the claim may be filed by the affected party or by any
person on his behalf; in writing, electronically or orally. Likewise, a lawyer's signature is
not required for its presentation and it can be known by any criminal judge without
taking turns.

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 CONCLUSIONS

Detention is the act by which another is deprived of his ability to move from one place
to another. It is considered a precautionary measure that can be carried out by
individuals, the police force, the judicial authority or the Public Prosecutor's Office,
according to the assumptions allowed in the regulations in force for each case.

Personal freedom is a fundamental right in virtue of which no person can suffer a

physical or ambulatory limitation or restriction, except for the causes established by law.
This right is recognized in various national and international standards.

No authority should imprison a person without proof that they have committed a crime,
worse if that authority does it for personal interests. In case it does, you can present a
"Habeas corpus" to be able to be released and denounce that authority for detaining you
without reason.

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 RECOMMENDATIONS

We must be fully aware of our rights so that others do not take advantage and receive a
benefit from our ignorance.

Freedom is one of the most important rights, if someone wants to stop you for no reason,
you should know that the Political Constitution of Peru has a tool with which you can
defend yourself against these injustices.

In general, we must respect and ensure respect for the rights that are mentioned in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in order to carry out correct police work.

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 ANNEXES

(P
e n
a l

Code)

(Correct police arrest)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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 https://portal.mpfn.gob.pe/descargas/renadespple/imagenes/
03062013Derechos_humanos_detencion_y_legalidad.pdf (03/06/2013)

 https://www.defensoria.gob.pe/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Informe-010-2009-
DP-ADHPD.pdf (2009)

 https://lpderecho.pe/habeas-corpus-caracteristicas-derechos-protegidos-tipos-
procedimiento/ (09/04/2021)

 https://dle.rae.es/arbitrario

 https://www.ohchr.org/es/about-arbitrary-detention

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