Europe’s Debt Crisis Leads to Increase In Greece Hate Crimes

October 23, 2012

By Alexandra Sandacz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

ATHENS, Greece – As Greece feels the effects of Europe’s debt crisis and simultaneously experiences a 25 percent unemployment rate, the number of hate crimes increased.

Immigrants in Greece protest against recent hate crimes. (Photo Courtesy of SETimes)

For example, on September 17, 2012, Ali Rahimi was attacked by 15 individuals. He recalled, “I told them that I am from Afghanistan, and they said that it is time for me to go back to my country.”

Currently, there is a roughly 800,000 to 1 million undocumented migrants that now live in Greece, which has a population near 11 million.

Nikos Demertzis, a professor of political sociology at the University of Athens, described the crisis as, “We have a major socioeconomic crisis in which several hundred thousand Greeks are losing ground, and you have a rising number of immigrants in Greece, many illegal. This is creating a volcanic situation where all the classic parameters for the flourishing of a far-right force like Golden Dawn are present.”

Relying on the recent national frustration with unemployment and immigrants, political party, Golden Dawn, campaigned on a platform of ultra-nationalism and fierce anti-immigrant policies. Along with a growing popularity, Golden Dawn won 18 seats in parliament during June’s national election, becoming the fifth largest political party in parliament.

Golden Dawn campaigned with one major caveat: for Greeks only.

Ilias Panagotiaros, a Golden Dawn politician and a member of Greek parliament, said, “We have to protect 10 million Greeks that are suffering from the very bad economy and from the killings, rapes, shootings and everything else that all illegal immigrants are doing to this country.”

Consequentially, since the party took a seat in national office, many supporters have been accused of various violent attacks, such as the stabbings and beatings of immigrants, ransacking an immigrant community center, smashing market stalls and breaking the windows of immigrant-owned shops.

Judith Sunderland from Human Rights Watch states, “Something must happen quick. Xenophobic hate crimes have reached an alarming proportion in Greece. Victims are often actively discouraged from filing complaints, told by police officers that it is not worth their while or that they should fight back themselves. And many migrants fear that they could be locked up themselves because of their legal status.”

As a result of the numerous assaults against immigrants, Athens is recommending to create stricter penalties against hate crimes, which could include a minimum three-year prison sentence.

For further information, please see:

NBC World News — Hate crimes increase, extreme right strengthens as Greece economy sinks – 22 October 2012

The Washington Post — Anti-immigrant Golden Dawn rises in Greece – 20 October 2012

SETimes — Greece to crack down on hate crimes – 2 October 2012

The New York Times — Right-Wing Extremists’ Popularity Rising Rapidly in Greece – 30 September 2012

Rights Groups Charge Syrian Forces of Using Cluster Bombs

October 22, 2012

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria — On Sunday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced that new evidence emerged proving that the Syrian air force used cluster bombs near a main highway that runs through the town of Maaret Al Numan, where a major confrontation between Syrian and rebel forces recently took place. Rescuers said that the attack killed at least 49 people, 23 of them were children.

Human Rights Watch recently said that Syrian forces shelled the town of Maaret Al-Numan with cluster bombs. (Photo Courtesy of Al Arabiya)

Medics and rescuers said that two housing complexes and a mosque, where many woman and children had taken refuge, were among the wreckage. Among those killed is a 9 month old baby.

Non-governmental groups say that up to 40 percent of the bomblets failed to explode and that 98 percent of the victims are civilians, including children who mistake them for toys.

Rebels responded to airstrikes by opening fire from heavy machine guns mounted on pickup trucks. One rebel said “[i]t doesn’t matter if we die. We must shoot down these planes.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the air force’s targets included a rebel camp near the town of Wadi Deif, where there is a major storage facility for heavy armor and fuel.

The Observatory accused the military of also dropping cluster bombs on the town of Saraqeb, north of Maaret Al-Numan. The military has denied using cluster bombs, insisting that it does not possess them.

Syrian activists have posted videos online showing cluster munition remnants in and around towns located in the Northern governorate of Idlib, Homs governorate, and Lattakia governorate. The bomb canisters show damage and wear markings produced by being mounted and dropped from aircrafts. Residents from the towns of Taftanaz and Tamanea also confirmed to HRW that helicopters dropped cluster bombs on or near their towns on October 9.

One resident from the Taftanaz told HRW that Syrian forces had shelled the town for the past six weeks, and that on October 9, a helicopter “dropped a [bomb] and as it fell it broke into half and released smaller [bomblets]…” The strike hit a field of olive trees near the local airport, no casualties were reported. The resident also reported seeing around 30 unexploded bomblets after inspecting the site.

In Tamanea, one resident reported that around noon on October 9, a low flying helicopter “released a [bomb]… that split open between two schools, Intermediary and Elementary, very close to each other…” The resident also said that “The [bomblets] that exploded were the ones that hit the ground on the tip; we collected the ones that didn’t explode, their tip didn’t touch the ground.”

Meanwhile, the Observatory reported that at least 130 people were killed nationwide on October 15, including three children, when the army shelled the town of Abu Kamal on the Iraqi border.

For further information, please see:

Gulf News — Cluster Bombs hit Town as Syria Envoy due — 19 October 2012

Al Arabiya — Damascus Denies Using Cluster Bombs as U.S. Urges Syria Neighbors to Survey Airspace — 16 October 2012

Human Rights Watch — Syria: New Evidence Military Dropped Cluster Bombs — 14 October 2012

Kuwait Times — Cluster Bombs hit Syrian Town – 49 die as Jets Hammer Rebel-Held Town

U.N. Experts Warn Colombian Forces Could Avoid Justice

October 22, 2012

By Margaret Janelle R. Hutchinson
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTÁ, Colombia – United Nations Human Rights experts published an open letter today voicing serious concerns that constitutional amendments currently before Congress would enable members of the military or police forces (Fuerza Pública) to avoid prosecution for substantial violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

Colombian Honor Guard at the Presidential Palace in Bogotá. (Photo courtesy UN News Centre)

The proposed amendments pertain to articles 116, 152 and 221 of Colombia’s Constitution. According to the 11 experts who signed the letter, the modifications would essentially allow the Fuerza Pública to self-police, at least at the initial critical stages of investigations.

The constitutional reform project would expand the jurisdiction of military or police tribunals, giving them the power to investigate, process and decide on cases of human rights violations, which, according to the experts, should be under the authority of the ordinary criminal justice system.

According to the letter, “[S]uch a reform would represent a historic setback to the progress achieved by the State of Colombia in the fight against impunity and respect and guarantee of human rights.”

Notably, the criminal military justice institutions would not gain jurisdiction over crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and the crime of enforced disappearances. However, military and police courts would be competent to investigate, process and judge a long list of other violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including war crimes; arbitrary detention; cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; and other violations such as violence against the person and mutilation; taking of hostages; outrages upon personal dignity, including humiliating treatment; and the obligation to treat persons taking no active part in the hostilities humanely in all circumstances, without any distinction on grounds of ethnicity, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria, prohibited by virtue of common article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. These courts could also have jurisdiction over crimes committed by private security forces.

Paramilitary groups were set up in the 1980s by rich landowners looking for protection from rebels. But as they pushed back insurgents, the militias often massacred people on suspicion that they had colluded with guerrillas.

Over the last decade, scores of members of Colombia’s Congress have been jailed for links to paramilitary groups, and new accusations and cases continue to arise six years after the militias officially demobilized in a government-run process.

Thousands of people have been killed and millions more displaced in 50 years of war between the Colombian government and leftist guerrillas, whose grievances include the unequal distribution of land.

Negotiators from the government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have agreed to meet in Cuba in mid-November to start what are likely to be thorny peace talks aimed at patching together an end to the conflict, both sides said in Norway on Thursday after initial talks.

For further information, please see:

Chicago Tribune – Colombian forces could skirt prosecution, U.N. experts warn – 22 October 2012

Colombia Report – Colombian constitutional reform ‘undermines justice’: UN – 22 October 2012

KUNA – UN experts call on the authorities to reform the military criminal justice in Colombia – 22 October 2012

United Nations Human Rights – Open letter by Special Procedures mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council to the Government and representatives of the Congress of the Republic of Colombia – 22 October 2012

Venezuela, Argentina And Ecuador Declared Most Dangerous South American Countries For Journalists

October 22, 2012

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil – A report issued by the International American Press Association (IAPA) has declared that Argentina, Ecuador and Venezuela were the most dangerous countries for journalists and the free press.

Early on October 9 Argentina’s top TV Journalist was imprisoned in a Venezuelan airport backroom. Jorge Lantata a critic of the Venezuelan and Argentinean political regimes was detained along with his crew. During their detention they had their camera, computer and cellphone data erased before being allowed to leave the nation. Just hours after covering the Venezuelan election they were interrogated and accused of espionage by Venezuela’s secret service.

The disappearing and intimidation of journalists and dissidents in Latin America is no new event. Many countries from South America have a history of trouncing on the men and women who tolerate and preserve freedom of the press. Colombia for example has seen 54 murdered journalists in the past decade. Yet while civil liberties are being broadened in the hemisphere, freedom of the press still faces many obstacles. After meeting in San Paolo Brazil the 68^th General Assembly of IAPA released a survey that 67% of journalists in the region thought that freedom of the press was at risk in the hemisphere, while 82% of journalists in Venezuela believe that the press is most at risk under newly elected President Chavez.

The IAPA continued that 13 journalists have been murdered in the past six months in Mexico, Honduras, Brazil and Ecuador “[F]or the simple fact that they were doing their work.” They continued that the press is being intimidated at times for informing the people “On issues relevant to the national and international public.”

The threats facing the freedom of the press is not simply violence and threats, but the government institution that creates statutes and regulations help to stifle a free press. There are major factors threatening freedom of speech including impunity in cases involving free press violations, censorship and the relationship between journalists and the governments they report on.

The IAPA accused the presidents of Venezuela, Argentina and Ecuador of silencing independent journalists in their respective countries. Jaime Mantilla the new president of the IAPA explained that the governments do this “Through regulatory legislation, discrimination in official advertising, and immense state-run and private media mechanisms used to slander and carry out dirty campaigns.”

In 2011 four journalists were killed in Brazil, 3 in Peru and one each in Colombia and Paraguay.

For further information, please see:

ABC News – Press Group Says Violence Threatens Americas Media – 16 October 2012

Infosur Hoy – IAPA: Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador Most Hostile To American Journalism – 15 October 2012

El Universal – IAPA Survey: Press Freedom In Venezuela Is At Risk – 15 October 2012

The Guardian – Venezuelan Secret Service Erased Our Data, Claims Journalist – 8 October 2012

The Guardian – 24 Journalists Killed In Latin America In 2011 – 6 January 2012

First Private Abortion Clinic Opens in Northern Ireland Amid Protests

October 22, 2012

By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

Belfast, Northern Ireland – On Thursday, Northern Ireland’s first private abortion clinic opened its doors in Belfast, despite protest. The Marie Stopes sexual- and reproductive-health clinic will offer abortions and other services within the strict laws of Northern Ireland, where abortion is illegal except when the life or long-term health of the mother is in danger.

Pro-life protestors, including those of the Catholic and Protestant faith, lined up in front of the Marie Stopes clinic on Thursday in Northern Ireland. (Photo Courtesy of Irish Times)

Several hundred pro-life protestors lined the street in front of the clinic in pouring rain, to object to its opening. In particular, Catholics and Protestants were well represented among the crowd, according to the Guardian. The Catholic Demonstrators sang hymns and recited the Rosary while the Protestants waved posters.

Ciara Coyle, a protestor from Derry said that she believed abortion was wrong “no matter what the circumstances”. She asserted that there was not a demand in Northern Ireland for abortion services and that “Northern Ireland is a pro-life country, like the whole of Ireland, and we will continue to make our stand against this baby-killing clinic.”

The pro-life protestors later cheered when Bernadette Smyth, spokeswoman for the pressure group Precious Life, predicted their campaign would “run Marie Stopes out of Ireland”.

Most pro-choice activists in Belfast elected to avoid the potential confrontation of a counter-protest. However, one lone pro-choice campaigner demonstrated, despite attempts to shout her down.

Danni Stanfield, 21, a local student, held up a homemade sign, stating “Been in the situation? Only then does your opinion count.”

She explained, “Many of the people here today who are pro-life, if they were in that situation themselves they might take a different point of view. . . . I am not saying to women who get pregnant unplanned should have an abortion but rather that they be allowed that choice.”

Although Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, its abortion laws are much stricter than those in the rest of the U.K. In the U.K., a woman may receive an abortion within the first 24 weeks of a pregnancy, provided that continuing the pregnancy carries a greater risk than termination to the physical or mental health of the woman, and that she has the permission of two (one in an emergency) doctors. Exceptions can be made for extenuating circumstances past the 24 week limit.

However, in Northern Ireland, a woman only has the first 9 weeks of a pregnancy to receive an abortion. Such abortions may only be performed medically (i.e. chemically, not surgically).

Currently, about 40 abortions are performed in Northern Ireland each year for medical reasons, and about 1000 Irish women travel to Britain or Europe to receive abortions.

By contrast in the Republic of Ireland, abortion is illegal. An unborn child is considered an Irish citizen with full rights under the Irish constitution. There is concern in the Republic that if abortion availability increases in Northern Ireland, women will be more likely to cross the border and receive abortions.

The Marie Stopes clinic has already begun to see backlash to its presence. Northern Ireland Attorney General John Larkin has invited the Stormont Justice Committee to investigate the operations of the Belfast clinic.

Representatives of the clinic have stated they will only provide abortions within the bounds of the law.

Activists are hopeful that the new clinic is a sign Ireland is moving forward, even as some, such as commentator Chris Ryder, suggest that Irish society is unfortunately “groping its way towards the modern era.”

For further information, please see:

Irish Times – Northern Ireland: ‘Groping its way Towards the Modern Era’ – 20 October 2012

BBC News – Marie Stopes: Call for Investigation into Belfast Abortion Clinic– 18 October 2012

BBC News – Protesters at Marie Stopes Private Abortion Clinic in Belfast – 18 October 2012

GlobalPost – Ireland’s First Abortion Clinic Opens, Draws Protesters – 18 October 2012

The Guardian – Anti-abortion Activists Protest at Belfast Clinic Opening – 18 October 2012

The Guardian – Anti-abortion Activists Protest at Opening of Belfast Marie Stopes Clinic –18 October 2012