The case of a mother who died during a forced sterilization procedure in Peru is set to be heard in court

Celia Ramos was among the thousands of women who endured the government's harsh policies in the 1990s. A ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights may pave the way for reparations.

An international court will hear the case of a forced sterilization that took place in Peru during the 1990s on Thursday, nearly 28 years after the procedure—one of many thousands—led to a woman's death.

Celia Ramos was 34 years old when she passed away in 1997, just 19 days after undergoing a tubal ligation that resulted in respiratory failure. The mother of three was reportedly "harassed" into consenting to the procedure, which was part of a nationwide family planning initiative.

The mass sterilization of hundreds of thousands of predominantly poor, rural, and Indigenous women during the 1990s is considered one of the most egregious and widespread human rights violations in Peru's history under former president Alberto Fujimori. However, neither Fujimori nor his health ministers have faced prosecution for this years-long campaign.

In 2024, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women called on Peru to provide compensation to women who were forcibly sterilized during the 1990s, stating that this state policy could be considered a “crime against humanity.” Marisela Monzón Ramos, now 38, was only 10 years old when her mother passed away. As the eldest of Ramos's three daughters, she attended the hearing at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Guatemala City on Thursday.

"This is a significant milestone for us, especially after years of struggle. It has been nearly thirty years since my mother passed away," she told the Guardian prior to the hearing. "[This hearing] provides us with an opportunity that we have not had in our country. We are seeking justice. The Peruvian government should be held accountable for the death of our mother, who was in perfect health," she stated. Although this is the first case of forced sterilization in Peru to be brought before the Inter-American Court, the Celia Ramos case represents thousands of others, according to Carmen Cecilia Martínez, associate director at the Center for Reproductive Rights.

"The court's ruling may compel the Peruvian government to provide reparations to the victims involved in this case and pave the way for justice for others," she stated.

Demus, a Peruvian NGO focused on women's rights, brought the Celia Ramos case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in 2010. Eleven years later, the IACHR issued a report stating that the Peruvian state was accountable for violating Ramos' rights and recommended implementing measures for reparation and prevention of future violations. However, due to Peru's lack of progress in addressing these recommendations, the commission referred the case to the Inter-American Court in June 2023. The legal team was strengthened by the regional Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and the Center for Reproductive Rights, both of which joined efforts in the same year.

Martínez states that successive health ministers during Fujimori's administration transformed forced sterilizations into a public policy, providing financial incentives to medical personnel for each woman who underwent the procedure. “The goal was unmistakable: to target women from impoverished, Indigenous, and rural backgrounds and strip them of their reproductive capacity, thereby violating their rights, including their right to reproductive autonomy,” Martínez explained. She added that the legal team hopes the court will classify this policy as a crime against humanity, which would remove any statute of limitations on initiating investigations. “There is a clear causal link between the violation of [Ramos’s] informed consent and her death,” Martínez stated.

Monzón, a biologist, expressed that her family, residing in the northern Piura region of Peru, was left "devastated" by her mother's passing. "Our life was cut short," she remarked. She and her younger sister remember how nurses persistently pressured their mother, who initially declined the procedure. "She was a young woman, full of joy and life," Monzón recalled. "She was a devoted mother, a loving wife, and a woman who always prioritized the well-being of those she cared for."