Wyoming to Become Last State to Ban Human Trafficking

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, United States — Wyoming is expected to become the last state in the nation to ban human trafficking when the governor signs legislation into law by the end of the month.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead is expected to sign a human trafficking ban into law this week, making the state the last in the nation to do so. (Photo Courtesy of The Huffington Post)

Gov. Matt Mead will sign the law this week, according to the Huffington Post, once the state attorney general finishes a review.  The bill would outlaw human trafficking, given local police the ability to arrest anyone breaking the new law.

“We did not want to be the only state without that,” Mead told the Huffington Post.

International anti-human trafficking advocates made a last-week push before state lawmakers passed the law on Feb. 20.  According to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, the law passed nearly unanimously with a 29-to-1 vote.

The law would make it a felony to knowingly recruit, harbor, receive, or participate in any other way in forced labor or sexual servitude.  A similar ban already exists on the federal level, but supporters of the Wyoming law said a state ban was essential to punish perpetrators and help victims.

“In committee, we heard testimony of cases where human trafficking is happening and where law enforcement doesn’t have the ability to prosecute it as they should,” Rep. Kendell Kroeker (R-Evansville) told the Casper Journal.  “I think this legislation will fix that and give us a chance to bring justice to the victims by prosecuting the criminals.”

Lawmakers modeled the bill on laws already in place in other states, and they said the time for this type of law was now.

“In Wyoming, we don’t consider ourselves as a place where trafficking happens,” Rep. Cathy Connolly (D-Laramie) told the Huffington Post.  “This is a recognition that it does happen here.”

Fellow State Rep. Tom Walters (R-Casper) agreed.

“If all the other states have a law, it makes Wyoming a safe haven for this type of activity,” Walters told the Casper Journal.

“Like anything, there may be issues that come up that need to be ironed out, but this bill is good for the state of Wyoming,” Walters added.

Among those who pressed Wyoming for the law change was Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino, who is a United Nations goodwill ambassador focused on human trafficking.  In December, Sorvino criticized Wyoming while speaking at the National Conference of State Legislatures.  She urged State Sen. John Hastert (D-Green River) for a change during a meeting at the conference.

For further information, please see:

The Huffington Post — Wyoming Human Trafficking Ban to Become Law Next Week — 23 February 2013

KULR8 — Wyoming Senate Passes Human Trafficking Bill — 21 February 2013

Casper Star-Tribune — Wyoming Legislature Passes Bill to Outlaw Human Trafficking — 20 February 2013

Casper Journal — Human Trafficking . . . in Wyoming ­– Bill Would Outlaw Nasty Crime — 18 February 2013

Boko Haram Posts Video of French Family Hostages

By Hannah Stewart
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ABUJA, Nigeria — France will not negotiate with gunmen claiming to be from the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram who kidnapped a French family of seven, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday.  Moreover, while Le Drian deplored the fact children were among the hostages, he stated: “We do not play this bidding game.”

Cameroonian security stands at the French family’s vehicle that they drove before being abducted last week.
(Photo courtesy of CNN)

He went on to say, “we will use all [other] possible means to ensure these and other hostages are freed.”

The three adults and four children were abducted in Cameroon last week.  The father reportedly works for the French company G.D.F. Suez, which is based in Yaounde, Cameroon.  G.D.F. Suez is currently developing a natural gas liquefaction project in Cameroon.  Reports state that the family is being held in Nigeria.

In a video posted on YouTube on Monday, gunmen threatened to kill the family unless authorities in Nigeria and Cameroon release prisoners held there.  The masked man, who identified himself as a Boko Haram agent, states that French President Francois Hollande “started war against Islam, and we must fight him everywhere.”

Boko Haram is believed to have killed at least thousands since 2009 in an attempt to establish an Islamist state in Nigeria.

The kidnapping has illustrated the heightened risk to French citizens in Africa due to France’s involvement in Mali combating Islamic militants.

However, the abduction was the first case of foreigners being seized in the predominantly Muslim north of Cameroon.  This region – with typically porous borders – is considered to be within the operational sphere of Boko Haram and other Nigerian militant groups.

Simultaneous to this abhorrent event, the conflict between Nigerian troops and Boko Haram continued this week in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state and main base of Boko Haram.

Nigerian troops reportedly killed a suspected Boko Haram commander and three of his lieutenants during a recent operation.  The operation was conducted in order to apprehend Boko Haram fighters thought to be involved in attacks that killed three civilians and left six soldiers wounded last week.

For more information, please see:

BBC – French Family Kidnapped in Cameroon “Shown in Video” – 26 February 2013

CNN – France Blasts “Cruelty” as Boko Haram Displays Kidnapped Family – 26 February 2013

News.com.au – Nigeria Kills Boko Haram Commander – 26 February 2013

Reuters – France Says Will Not Negotiate with Cameroon Hostage-Takers – 26 February 2013

Declassified Documents Reveal Late General Pinochet Planned on Overturning 1988 Referendum Results

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile — Recently declassified documents revealed that the late Chilean military leader, Augusto Pinochet, wanted to stay in power despite losing a referendum in 1988. Pinochet died in 2006, before he could be brought to trial for numerous charges for corruption and various human rights abuses.

General Pinochet. (Photo Courtesy of AP)

The documents reveal that Pincohet urged his closest military allies in his attempt to overthrow the results. Pinochet’s allies refused and he was forced out of office. His plan was to use military force to seize the country’s capital, Santiago.

In 1990, citizens elected a civilian government to replace Pinochet. The documents released from the U.S. National Security Archive reveal that Pinochet said he would do “Whatever was necessary to stay in power.” He confided in his advisers, “I’m not leaving, no matter what.” U.S. officials warned Chilean leaders against violence if Pinochet used force to stay in office.

The declassified papers reveal that Pinochet was angered after the October 5th 1988 referendum and attempted to overturn the results by summoning members of the military government.  Air Force commander, Fernando Matthei rejected Pinochet’s plans for throwing out the results, and other generals followed suit. A CIA informant present at the meetings said, “Pinochet was prepared on the night of 5 Oct to overthrow the results of the plebiscite,” this information is located in a report by the State Department titled: “Chilean junta meeting the night of the plebiscite.”

The papers also reveal that the anti-Pinochet referendum campaign was supported by the U.S. government despite its early support of the military government due to its overthrow of former president Salvador Allende.

The country voted for a civilian government in 1989, and in 1990, Patricio Aylwin became the country’s first democratic president.The former military government of Chile is estimated to have killed more than 3,000 people between 1973 and 1990.

Pinochet died while under house arrest. The country is divided on how to view Pinochet’s regime, to some he is seen as a violator of human rights due to outlawing political parties, forcing thousands into exile, and having a brutal police force. Pinochet’s loyalist see him in a positive light due to Chile’s growth in economic prosperity.

The newly declassified papers were released at the same time as the movie “No”,  centering on the campaign that caused Pinochet’s downfall. The film was nominated in Sunday’s Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film.

For more information, please see:

Global Post — US pressed Pinochet to accept defeat: documents – 24 Feb 2013

South China Morning Post —

Declassified papers show Pinochet tried to ‘cling on to power’ in 1988 – 24 Feb 2013

 BBC News — Chile’s Gen Pinochet ‘tried to cling to power’ in 1988 – 23 Feb 2013

Times Standard — Report: Chile’s Pinochet wanted anti-vote violence – 23 Feb 2013

 

Qatari Poet’s Life Sentence Reduced to 15 Years by Qatari Court of Appeals

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DOHA, Qatar — Last Monday the Qatari Court of Appeals ruled to reduce the life sentence of poet Muhammed Rashid al-Ajami, who goes by the name ibn al-Dheeb in his poetry, to fifteen years.

The Qatari Court of Appeals reduced Al-Ajami’s (pictured here) life sentence to 15 years. (Photo Courtesy of Al Arabiya)

Originally, al-Ajami was sentenced to life last November for composing and reading out a poem which allegedly incited “the overthrow of the ruling system.”  The poem, written in 2010, allegedly criticized the Emir, Sheikh Hamad al-Thani.

Human rights activists however claim that the actual poem that angered authorities was written in 2011, in which al-Ajami wrote about authoritarian rule in the region.  His poem, titled “Tunisian Jasmine,” which al-Ajami recited and later uploaded to the internet in January 2011, expressed support for the uprising that occurred in Tunisia, saying: “We are all Tunisia in the face of the repressive elite.” In the poem, he also denounced “all Arab governments” as “indiscriminate thieves.”  In a clear reference to Qatar, a home to a major U.S. base, al-Ajami wrote “I hope that change would come in countries whose ignorant leaders believe that glory belies in U.S. Forces.”

Dr. Nejib al-Naimi, al-Ajami’s lawyer, said that the five judges were unanimous in their decision, but he plans to take the case to the Court of Cassation, Qatar’s highest court, where a final hearing will be held on al-Ajami’s sentence.  During the case, al-Naimi asserted that “there was no evidence al-Ajami had recited the poem he is being tried for in public,” which was the central claim that the prosecution raised, and that he only read it “at his apartment in Cairo.”

Al-Ajami was said to have been visibly disappointed with the court’s ruling and looked agitated while he was escorted out of the courtroom.  Reuters reported that al-Ajami shouted out “there is no law for this,” as he was led out.  Al-Naimi said that “the appeals court was apparently politicized and does not differ much from the court of first instance.”

Dr. Ali bin Fetais al-Marri, Qatar’s Attorney General, said that he was also “not happy” with the judgment.  “As a chief prosecutor, I look forward to restoring the sentence to a life term.”

Human rights officials, who attended al-Ajami’s appeal, criticized the conviction, saying that “his trial was marred by irregularities, with court sessions held in secret.”

Qatar, whose human rights record has been criticized in the past, insists that the sentence was not an abuse of freedom of speech but is punishable because it is an “illegal call to overthrow political regimes.”  Under Article 130 of the Qatari Penal Code, the charge for inciting to overthrow ruling systems is punishable by death.  Naimi, a former Qatari Justice Minister who also was a member of Saddam Hussein’s defense team, said that according to the charges, his client should have faced a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

The Court of Cassation will make its final ruling on Al-Ajami in 30 days.

For further information, please see:

Al Arabiya — Qatar Cuts Jail Term for Maverick Poet to 15 Years: Lawyer — 25 February 2013

BBC News — Qatari Poet Life Sentence Reduced to 15 Years — 25 February 2013

Gulf News — Qatar Slashes Life Term Against Poet to 15 Years — 25 February 2013

Al Jazeera — Qatari Poet’s Sentence Reduced to 15 Years — 25 February 2013

 

This Week in Syria Deeply: 24 February 2013