India Police Arrest Crew of U.S. Ship

By Kevin M. Mathewson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India — Police in southern India say they have arrested the crew of a US-owned ship accused of illegally entering Indian waters with a huge cache of weapons on board.

Crew members were arrested on charges of illegal possession of weapons and ammunition. (Photo Courtesy of AFP)

Eight crew and 25 security guards aboard the MV Seaman Guard Ohio were arrested after they failed to produce documents allowing them to carry the weapons, Foreign Secretary Sujata Singh told reporters. The men were charged with illegal possession of weapons and ammunition, and entering India’s territorial waters without permission, Singh said.

“The crew and security guards are cooperating with the investigators,” Singh said, adding that information about the case had been shared with representatives from the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.

The ship’s owner, AdvanFort, claim the vessel was involved in supporting anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean.

The Indian authorities say they intercepted the American ship last weekend when it was reportedly sailing off the coast of Tamil Nadu.

However, in a statement released on Monday, AdvanFort said India’s coast guard and police allowed the vessel to enter the port to refuel and shelter from a cyclone which hit India’s eastern coast last weekend. The company even thanked officials.

“The Indian coast guard approached us and asked us to follow them into the port. We would never have entered Indian waters otherwise,” the ship’s captain said.

In recent years piracy has emerged as a major threat to merchant ships in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea, with ships and their crews sometimes hijacked for ransom. Last year  two fisherman were shot to death by armed Italian marines. The marines were part of a military security team on a cargo ship when they fired at the fishermen, mistaking them for pirates. The two Italians are facing trial in India for the deaths.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – MV Seaman Guard Ohio: India police arrest crew of US ship – 18 October 2013

Huffington Post – MV Seaman Guard Ohio Arrests: Crew Of U.S. Owned Ship Held In India For Illegally Transporting Weapons – 18 October 2013

Aljazeera – India arrests US ship crew over weapons – 18 October 2013

Bloomberg News – India Arrests Crew of U.S.-Owned Ship Over Weapons, PTI Reports – 18 October 2013

Four Chilean Men Convicted for Murder and Torture of Young Gay Man

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – Four men in Chile have been convicted of first-degree murder for torturing and beating to death a young gay man and carving swastikas into his body.

Patricio Ahumada, convicted killer of gay man Zamudio
Prosecutors have asked for life imprisonment for Patricio Ahumada. (Photo Courtesy of AP)

Daniel Zamudio, a 24 year-old clothing store salesman was attacked on the night of March 2, 2012 at the San Borja de Alameda park in the Chilean capital, Santiago. The attackers burned Daniel Zamudio with cigarettes, broke his right leg with a heavy stone, beat him with glass bottles and carved swastikas into his body with broken glass before walking away. He died of his injuries 25 days later.

Judge Juan Carlos Urrutia said Patricio Ahumada Garay, Alejandro Angulo Tapia, Raul Lopez Fuentes and Fabian Mora Mora, who were between the ages of 19 and 25 at the time, were guilty of a crime of “extreme cruelty” and “total disrespect for human life.” The four are due to be sentenced on October 28th. Prosecutors are asking for jail terms ranging from eight years to life in prison.

Daniel Zamudio’s death set off a national debate in the country about hate crimes that led Congress to approve the nation’s first anti-discrimination law targeting hate crimes. The law adopted last year, named the “Zamudio law,” allows people to file anti-discrimination lawsuits and adds hate-crime sentences for violent crimes.

“It is typical of us, Chileans, that an accident has to happen for us to approve a law. My son will not come back, but this case may end up being good for Chile,” said Daniel’s father, Ivan Zamudio. He was in court to hear the verdict, alongside Daniel’s mother, Jacqueline Vera.

The law had been stuck in Congress for seven years after the initiative was stalled by conservative legislators, but President Sebastian Pinera put it on the fast track after Zamudio’s murder.

“We’re satisfied with this ruling. There’s a before and an after the Zamudio case,” said Rolando Jiménez, president of the Gay Liberation and Integration Movement. “It generated such outrage because of the brutality, the hate, that it helped raised awareness,” he said. “We’ve witnessed a cultural change that finally led to an anti-discrimination law.”

For more information please see:

The Guardian – Chilean men carved swastikas into body of gay man they killed – 18 October 2013

ABC News – 4 Guilty in Chile Gay Murder That Led to Hate Law – 17 October 2013

The Washington Post – Chilean court convicts 4 in murder of gay man that prompted Chile to adopt hate crime law – 17 October 2013

BBC – Four Chileans convicted over murder of gay man Daniel Zamudio – 17 October 2013