War Crimes Prosecution Watch, Vol. 5, Issue 17 — November 22, 2010

War Crimes Prosecution Watch, Vol. 5, Issue 17 — November 22, 2010

Volume 5, Issue 17 – November 22, 2010

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Central African Republic & Uganda

Democratic Republic of the Congo (ICC)

Kenya

AFRICA

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Special Court for Sierra Leone

EUROPE

Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia

MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Iraqi High Tribunal

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

War Crimes Investigations in Burma

NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

United States

TOPICS

Terrorism

Piracy

Universal Jurisdiction

REPORTS

UN Reports

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSIONS

General

WORTH READING

War Crimes Prosecution Watch is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that compiles official documents and articles from major news sources detailing and analyzing salient issues pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world. If you do not want to receive future issues of War Crimes Prosecution Watch, please email warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org and type “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

Chilean Bishop And Human Rights Advocate Dies

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Chilean Bishop Sergio Valech Aldunate (photo courtesy of http://mundoclaraboya.blogspot.com)
Chilean Bishop Sergio Valech Aldunate (photo courtesy of http://mundoclaraboya.blogspot.com)

SANTIAGO, Chile – Chilean Catholic Bishop and staunch human rights advocate Sergio Valech Aldunate recently passed away after battling lung cancer; he was 83 years old.  Aldunate was particularly outspoken against human rights violations during the 1973-1990 Pinochet dictatorship.

Aldunate was ordained in 1953 and named a bishop by Pope Paul VI in 1973.  Between 1987 and 1992, Aldunate headed the Chilean church’s Solidarity Vicariate, an institution created after Pinochet’s 1973 coup.  The purpose of the Solidarity Vicariate was to speak up for the victims of the military regime.

The vicariate was eventually  abolished in 1992;however, Aldunate then established and headed a foundation that conserved its archives and made them available for investigations.

The Bishop was also chosen by then-President Ricardo Lagos to lead a commission probing politically motivated detentions and torture under the Pinochet government.  It is estimated that Pinochet’s regime was responsible for over 3,000 civilian deaths and 28,000 cases of torture.

There has been a tremendous outpouring of public mourning and appreciation.  Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said that Aldunate was “the voice of the voiceless during the dark night of the dictatorship. He turned into a rights defender, and was a man who saved many lives.”  Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz, Archbishop of Santiago stated that “[Aldunate] was an example of simple life, very poor, not wanting anything for himself… an exemplary Chilean…  He was always in the frontline for the reconciliation of his homeland.”

The online La Nacion newspaper called Aldunate “the most important figure of the cause of human rights during the military regime.”

The Bishop’s funeral was celebrated on Friday in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago; the same place Aldunate was consecrated at in 1973.

For more information, please see:

Independent Catholic News – Chile Bids Farewell to Bishop Valech – 25 November 2010

Fox News Latino – Chilean Bishop who Defended Human Rights Dies – 24 November 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune – Chilean Bishop who Defended Human Rights Dies – 24 November 2010

AUTHORITIES DISCOVER UNDERGROUND TUNNEL USED TO TRANSPORT DRUGS FROM MEXICO TO THE UNITED STATES

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                             Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
 
SAN DIEGO, United States – Thursday morning, authorities discovered a half mile underground tunnel running from a Mexican residence in Tijuana to a warehouse in San Diego, California.  Of the 75 drug tunnels found to date, this one, 90 feet deep and equipped with rail tracks and carts, appeared to be the most sophisticated.  Several suspects and truck drivers were arrested at the scene and approximately 20 tons of marijuana have been seized. 
Authorities discover 75th tunnel used to transport drugs from Tijuana to California.  Photo Courtesy of the New York Times. Authorities discover 75th tunnel used to transport drugs from Tijuana to California. Photo Courtesy of the New York Times.

U.S. agents found one truck filled with over 27,000 600 pound packages of marijuana.   The tractor trailer received the load and traveled 60 miles north to Temecula, California, a border checkpoint where authorities finally arrested the driver.  Miguel Unzueta, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent indicated that “this is obviously not a Mom and Pop operation.  This is a major significant drug cartel working.”  Authorities also arrested the driver of a second box truck following the trailer which was filled with $13,500 in cash.  While they are now in federal custody, both drivers are United States citizens.

In the last four years, U.S. authorities have found 75 underground tunnels used to transport tons of marijuana and cash back and forth over the border undetected.  The most recent tunnel came equipped with both a lighting and ventilation system.  According to Unzueta, its sophistication as electrical outlets ran throughout the wood and cinderblock enforced tunnel. 

After alerting Mexican authorities of the tunnel, Mexican military discovered an entrance beneath the kitchen floor of a residence.  Investigators on both sides believe the Sinaloa Cartel, a major Mexican Cartel known for its violence, kidnappings and murders, to be behind the tunnel.

Drug Enforcement Administration agent Ralph Partridge reported that between this and the last tunnel found on November 2, the marijuana seized amounted to the equivalent of one marijuana cigarette for each of California’s 37 million residents. Assistant United States Attorney Alana Robinsons noted that while these tunnels are being used to distribute marijuana, “these transborder tunnels pose a significant threat to our national security as well.”

For more information please visit:

CNN – ‘Sophisticated’ border tunnel leads to seizure of tons of pot – 26 November 2010

NY Times – Drug Tunnel Is Found At Border – 26 November 2010

Washington Post – Sophisticated Drug Tunnel Found In San Diego – 25 November 2010

Anti-Chavez TV Boss Seeking Asylum from US

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela—The president of a pro-opposition Venezuelan television network who has been in exile from his country is now seeking asylum in the United States.  According to that president, the procedure for obtaining political asylum is nearing completion.

Sixty-seven year old Guillermo Zuloaga, the owner of the Globovision television channel, escaped from Venezuela back in June of this year in order to evade arrest by authorities.  The authorities claim that Zuloaga was involved in the illegal sales of automobiles and have subsequently seized his property.

In an interview on Wednesday, Zuloaga told CNN’s Spanish language channel that the criminal charges against him were pretexts and that the true reason he was sought by Venezuelan officials is because he is being politically persecuted.  Zuloaga had had a falling out with Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez earlier in the year as Globovision remained a voice of opposition.

President Chavez spoke at a government event on Wednesday which was broadcast on state television.  During his speech, Chavez denied that Zuloaga was being oppressed for political reasons.  Chavez labeled Zuloaga a “bandit” and opined that he was in cahoots with the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Zuloaga said that although he would like to live again in Venezuela, Chavez’s government there is authoritarian and rules by intimidation by controlling the justice system.  He denied that he had been involved in a 100 million dollar plot to assassinate President Chavez, calling those allegations a “smokescreen.”

During a speech in Washington, Zuloaga declared to Chavez:  “President, I do not want you dead.  I want you healthy so as to see you when you stand before Venezuelans, and perhaps beyond our borders, for your government’s bad rule and the vast fortune you have wasted.”

Globovision remains on air despite its criticism of the government.  Chavez has attempted to interfere with the network but as of yet has been unable to completely silence it.

The National Journalists’ Association (CNP) has spoken out against Chavez’s threats against Globovision.  Earlier this year, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights announced that it remains concerned about Venezuela’s use of punitive power of the state to silence voices of opposition.

For more information, please see:

RTT-Venezuela’s Globovision TV Network Boss Seeks US Asylum-26 November 2010

Voice of America-Venezuelan TV Executive Seeks Asylum in US-25 November 2010

Mail Online-Venezuelan TV boss stokes row with Chavez after denying being behind $100m assassination plot-25 November 2010

Obama’s Strategy to Disarm and Defeat the LRA

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter,  Africa

Lords Resistance Army Commander Joseph Kony. (Photo Courtesy of Central African Studies).
Lord's Resistance Army Commander Joseph Kony. (Photo Courtesy of Central African Studies).

WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America – On November 24, President Barack Obama presented the United States Congress with a comprehensive strategy to disarm and destroy Uganda’s Lord Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA is a rebel group that has terrorized innocent civilians in central Africa for more than two decades. Specifically, the rebel group has attacked isolated villages across southern Sudan, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), and western Uganda.President Obama’s strategy aims to decapitate the leadership of LRA, and provide support and logistics to communities affected by the rebel group’s actions. 

President Obama’s letter to Congress lays out four specific goals: protect civilians, apprehend or destroy the senior commanders of LRA including Mr. Joseph Kony, encourage current LRA members to lay down their arms and disband, and provide humanitarian aid to villagers who have been affected by the LRA’s violence. Mr. Kony, leader of the LRA, is wanted by the International Criminal Court and lives a transient existence crossing between Sudan and Central Africa Republic to evade capture.

 Although the United States is not sending soldiers to fight the LRA, the initiative is going to provide logistical, economic, political, and military support to countries where the LRA is operating.

 This is not the United States first attempt at trying to destroy the LRA. In 2008, the U.S. made a concerted effort to defeat the LRA through a Ugandan-led operation called Lightning Thunder. The operation flushed out members of the LRA, which were based in the Garamba National Park. However, this government led operation did not capture many LRA members. Instead many of members slipped through the government’s dragnet and crossed from southern Uganda into DR Congo. While in DR Congo, the LRA began a reign of terror that included attacking remote villages and churches.

 Uganda has been fighting the LRA for over twenty years. The LRA was initially established to overthrow the Ugandan government and install a theocracy based on the Bible’s Ten Commandments.  The LRA is known to take children from their families and employ them as child soldiers or sex slaves. Furthermore, the group is known for its brutality of raping, killing, and mutilating the villagers they attack.

 For more information, please see:

AFP — Obama presents plan to disarm Uganda’s LRA rebels—25 November 2010

 BBC Africa — Barack Obama’s plan to defeat Ugandan LRA rebels – 25 November 2010

 The Guardian — US reveals plan to disarm LRA fighters – 25 November 2010

 VOANEWS — Obama Presents Plan to Help Disarm LRA in Uganda –25 November 2010