Haiti Postpones Elections Amid Accusations And Violence

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, North America and Oceania

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian authorities postponed the country’s presidential and legislative runoffs because they said they needed to wait for recommendations from a special commission tasked with evaluating the widely criticized electoral process.

Haitians Protesting Announced Election Results. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

There were violent protests last month after the council announced the results of the first round of voting.

Jovenel Moise, a banana exporter, won the most votes but with 33% fell short of a majority. On Sunday, he was to face ex-state construction company head Jude Celestin, who came second with 25%.

The winner will succeed President Michel Martelly next February as the head of the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country.

In parts of Northern and Southern Haiti, angry partisans insisted that the results released late Friday by the much-criticized electoral council did not reflect the will of voters. Presidential and legislative runoffs were scheduled for next weekend amid numerous accusations of fraud and manipulation of results.

On Saturday, street protests erupted when the results were announced; this led to several government buildings being set ablaze, and the death of one demonstrator. In the nearby town of Ferrier, another elections office burned and the mayor’s office was lit on fire. In northwestern Haiti, some houses and schools were set ablaze.

Police Inspector Guytho Noel said an 18-year-old protester was fatally shot when two factions clashed on the streets of the northeastern town of Terrier Rouge.

In recent days, President Michel Martelly announced that a five-member commission would assess Haiti’s electoral process ahead of the runoffs that opposition factions have threatened to derail because of suspicions of widespread fraud. However, the commission and the way in which it was formed has come under heavy criticism.

The opposition and the Senate have rejected the body and the government has also been forced to postpone the swearing-in of its members, who were supposed to have issued a report by Sunday.

While international observers have endorsed results from the first two rounds of this year’s elections, an array of rights groups, local election monitors and political factions allege they were so marred by fraud that their validity is in question.

In recent days, several legislative candidates have taken to the airwaves stating how they were asked to pay thousands of dollars in bribes to electoral court judges and council members in hopes of securing a spot in parliament.

For more information, please see:

BBC News — Haiti presidential election run-off delayed – 21 December 2015

Minneapolis Star Tribune — Haiti officials postpone elections set for this weekend until commission makes recommendations – 21 December 2015

Thompson-Reuters — Haiti postpones Sunday’s presidential election – council members – 21 December 2015

USA Today — Haiti postpones scheduled presidential runoff – 21 December 2015

Jamaica Observer — Violence in Haiti as final election results released – 20 December 2015

ABC News — Election Results Ignite Violent Protests in Haiti – 19 December 2015

Press Release: Sergei Magnitsky’s Mother Demands Answers from Russia’s General Prosecutor Chaika About False Statements Against Her Son

Yuri Chaika

22 December 2015 – Sergei Magnitsky’s mother has demanded answers from Russian General prosecutor Chaika over his hysterical letter containing false information about Sergei Magnitsky published last week in Russian newspaper Kommersant. Chaika’s letter was a response to Russian blogger Alexei Navalny’s explosive video about the corruption and abuse of office involving Chaika’s two sons and senior prosecutors in the country.

In Chaika’s 14 December 2015 letter to Kommersant, he claimed that Sergei Magnitsky had never investigated the $230 million theft from the Russian budget.

In Sergei Magnitsky’s mother’s application to the General Prosecutor’s office which was filed at the end of last week, she refuted Chaika’s false statements and placed the responsibility on Chaika himself for the cover up of the $230 million theft and its perpetrators implicated by Sergei Magnitsky in sworn testimony.

“The information you have disseminated inflicts pain on a mother who lost her son, it is not based on facts, it has not been corroborated by courts, and it is refuted by documents, including the criminal case files about Magnitsky’s death,” said Ms. Magnitskaya to Prosecutor Chaika.

“Thanks to Sergei Magnitsky’s investigation which he conducted on instruction from his client – the Hermitage Fund – the theft of 5.4 billion rubles [$230 million] was uncovered, and reported to you on 25 July 2008 in an application seeking to investigate the fraud and prosecute its perpetrators. In response your senior aid Bumazhkin replied that the investigation had been terminated …due to the lack of crime. Your aid also reported that the outcomes of this investigation were under control of the General Prosecutor’s Office,” said the application from Ms. Magnitskaya.

“It follows that under the control and with knowledge of the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office headed by you, perpetrators who committed a grandiose theft of 5.4 billion rubles from the budget, remained for a long time free, had opportunity to destroy evidence of their crime and continue it unhindered through laundering the proceeds stolen from the Russian people via bank wire transfers,” said Ms. Magnitskaya’s application.

Sergei Magnitsky’s mother’s application asks Chaika whether the information he had disseminated was his personal opinion, or his official conclusion as General prosecutor of Russia tasked by Russian president to personally oversee all cases connected to Sergei Magnitsky. The reply from Prosecutor Chaika to Magnitsky’s mother application is yet not known.

For more information please contact:

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

Twitter: @KatieFisher__

www.facebook.com/russianuntouchables

www.billbrowder.com

U.N. Adopts Resolution, No Mention of Assad

By Brittani Howell

Impunity Watch News Reporter, The Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – On Friday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a resolution that paves the way for an international peace process for the Syrian conflict. The peace process includes a ceasefire, talks between the Syrian government and opposition groups, as well as a plan to unify the government. Talks of Assad, however, were missing from the discussion.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution for the Syrian Conflict. (Photo Courtesy of The New York Times)

Western allies determined prior to the meeting, that bringing Assad to justice was a lower priority then ending the Syrian conflict. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond stated, “If there’s justice in the world, Bashar Assad will end up in the Hague. Whether that is going to happen is another question. The moral answer is to end the killing now.”

Human rights advocates, on the other hand, believe this way of thinking is dangerous. Stephen Rapp, President Obama’s former Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, stated, “The idea that you can go forward [with a peace settlement] without accountability is impossible.”

John Kerry, United State’s Secretary of State, when discussing Assad’s fate with reporters after the Council meeting on Friday, stated, “This is not being kicked down the road; it’s actually being timed out.”

Human Rights Watch released a report, two days before the United Nations Security Council meeting, which details the atrocities that occurred under Assad’s control. The report contains 28,000 photos of the deaths of hundreds of people who had been under the government’s custody. Most of the deaths are believed to be as a result of torture, and Human Rights Watch is calling for an investigation and prosecution of the crimes.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Assad’s forces have been responsible for many other atrocities including bombing civilian areas indiscriminately, using nerve agents and chlorine gas against non-combatants, and the use of barrel bombs.

Part of the passed resolution requires an election to take place within 18 months of the political talks. However, there was no mention of whether Assad will be allowed to run in the new elections, as the Russians and Iranians blocked any attempt to discuss the issue. The election process will be under the guidance of the United Nations, which would make it difficult for Assad to control the vote, and also requires all Syrians to vote, even “members of the diaspora.”

Sergey V. Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of Russia, stated, “We should try avoiding the mistakes we have made.” He continued, “Only the Syrian people are going to decide their own future. That also covers the future of the Syrian president.”

Assad was not in attendance at the United Nations Security Council meeting.

For more information, please see:

CNN – U.N. Security Council Approves Peace Plan for Syria – 19 December 2015

Reuters – U.N. Endorses Syria Peace Plan in Rate Show of Unity Among Big Powers – 19 December 2015

ABC News – ‘Agreement’ on UN Draft on Syria, but No Mention of Assad – 18 December 2015

The New York Times – After Years of War in Syria, U.N. Passes Resolution on Talks – 18 December 2015

Politico – Cozy Retirement for Assad Looks Likely as Syria Peace Talks Convene – 17 December 2015

Press Release: New York Federal Court Disqualifies Lawyer John Moscow and BakerHostetler in Magnitsky Money Laundering Case

21 December 2015 – The federal court in New York has disqualified lawyer John Moscow and his firm, BakerHostetler, who represented the alleged Russian recipients of money laundering proceeds from the US$230 million Russian fraud that Sergei Magnitsky uncovered, in a civil forfeiture case brought by the US Department of Justice. The case alleges money laundering of proceeds of Russian fraud into multi-million dollar Manhattan real estate by Prevezon, a company owned by a son of former Vice-premier of the Moscow Region and the current Vice-president of Russian Railways Pyotr Katsyv.

John Moscow and BakerHostetler had originally worked for Hermitage in 2008 to defend Hermitage against unfounded accusations relating to the fraud, including (among other projects) by tracking the stolen US$230 million and its recipients, and bringing the evidence of this complex Russian fraud which victimised Hermitage, to the US Department of Justice. On Hermitage’s behalf, John Moscow personally presented the findings from the Hermitage’s and Sergei Magnitsky’s investigations of the $230 million fraud to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

On 25 November 2008, one day after Sergei Magnitsky’s arrest by corrupt Russian officials on false charges, John Moscow also became involved in Hermitage’s legal actions to free Sergei Magnitsky from Russian detention. Prior to his arrest, Sergei Magnitsky gave testimony to Russian authorities implicating Russian officials in the theft of Hermitage’s Russian companies and of US$230 million the Hermitage’s companies had paid to the Russian government.

One year later, on 16 November 2009, Sergei Magnitsky was killed in Russian police custody before he could testify in an open trial.

In 2013, John Moscow and BakerHostetler switched sides, and went from representing Hermitage to representing Russian-owned Prevezon, an alleged beneficiary of the US$230 million fraud, that Sergei Magnitsky’s investigation had led to after his death. The US Department of Justice has traced to Prevezon nearly US$2 million of the US$230 million fraud proceeds and more funds in false and questionable transactions. The US court has frozen about US$14 million in Prevezon’s assets, including bank accounts and several Manhattan properties.

In November 2015, John Moscow and BakerHostetler made filings on Prevezon’s behalf in which they explicitly accused Hermitage of committing the US$230 million fraud that they originally have been hired to defend against.

On 15 December 2015, Hermitage filed a motion to disqualify BakerHostetler and John Moscow.

In Judge Griesa’s opinion, issued on 18 December 2015, the U.S. Court for Southern District of New York ordered:

“The court is now convinced that it would be improper for BakerHostetler and Moscow to continue as counsel to defendants. …Hermitage’s motion to disqualify BakerHostetler and Moscow as counsel to defendants is granted.”

Hermitage Capital’s representative said of the disqualification of John Moscow and BakerHostetler:

“This disqualification is a stark reminder that lawyers can’t switch sides just because there is money being offered to them.”

Under Rule 1.9 of the New York Rule of Professional Conduct, lawyers are not allowed to betray their former clients. In particular, the rule says:

“A lawyer who has formerly represented a client in a matter shall not thereafter represent another person in the same or a substantially related matter in which that person’s interests are materially adverse to the interests of the former client unless the former client gives informed consent, confirmed in writing.”

Hermitage became the victim of the US$230 million fraud in 2007 when a Russian criminal organisation, comprising FSB, Interior Ministry and tax officials and headed by a convicted fraudster Dmitry Klyuev, raided offices of Hermitage and its law firm in Moscow, unlawfully seized statutory and financial documents for its corporate Russian subsidiaries. Using those documents, the Russian crime group forged contracts and powers of attorney, fraudulently re-registered the stolen Hermitage companies to felons previously convicted for violent crimes, and through sham court proceedings obtained about US$1 billion judgments against the stolen Hermitage companies, in order to claim US$230 million in purportedly “overpaid” taxes.

The fraudulent US$230 million tax refund was granted by Russian tax officials, who were members of the crime group, in one day, and paid out two days later to two small Russian banks, where fraudsters had opened bank accounts, and then laundered through Russian banks and around the world.

Through efforts of Hermitage and law enforcement authorities around the world, about US$40 million connected to the US$230 million fraud uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky have been identified and frozen.

BakerHostetler is an “Am Law 100 law firm” with more than 900 attorneys and 14 offices. John Moscow is a former New York prosecutor and a partner at Baker Hostetler.

For more information please contact:

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

Twitter: @KatieFisher__

www.facebook.com/russianuntouchables

www.billbrowder.com

Canadian Pastor Receives Life Sentence in North Korea

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

PYONGYANG, North Korea –

North Korea’s Supreme Court sentenced Canadian Pastor Hyeon Soo Lim to life in prison with hard labor last week. Mr. Lim was detained in February and was charged for “subversive plots and activities” while on a routine missions trip to North Korea. Prosecutors originally called for the death penalty as punishment for his alleged crimes against North Korea’s government. 

Mr. Lim during his confession at a news conference in July. (Photo courtesy of BBC)

North Korea’s official news agency, KCNA, has reported that Mr. Lim confessed to committing anti-DPRK religious activities, conducting false propaganda, and aiding in an operation to lure and abduct North Korean defectors.

Mr. Lim traveled to North Korea in January for a visit that his family describes as a routine humanitarian trip. Mr. Lim, who emigrated from South Korea to Canada in 1986, is a minister at the Light Korean Presbyterian Church in Toronto. He has completed over 100 trips to North Korea in order to support projects that his church initiated there, including an orphanage, nursery, and nursing home.

In July, Mr. Lim was brought to a news conference by authorities, where he read a statement confessing to attempts at bringing down North Korea’s government. Associated Press reports that Mr. Lim admitted that he was working toward creating a religious state in North Korea while taking advantage of the policies of the United States and South Korea. Mr. Lim gave another confession at a church in Pyongyang in August.

Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs objects to the sentence given to Mr. Lim, especially in light of his age and poor health. Canadian officials were not given access to Mr. Lim during his detainment. The Department of Foreign Affairs also commented on this in its statement, stating that the North Korean government’s refusal to let Canadian officials confirm Mr. Lim’s health and wellbeing is a violation of the rights of states to have access to their citizens under the Vienna Convention.

North Korea has been known to detain foreigners for religious or missionary activities, accusing them of committing crimes against the state. Other westerners that have been held by North Korea in the past have also given public confessions under pressure from its government.

International human rights groups have criticized North Korea for its trials of foreign detainees, in part because their family members and outside lawyers are not allowed to visit them or defend them in court.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – N Korea Sentences Canada Pastor to Life in Jail – 16 December 2015

CNN – North Korea sentences Canadian pastor Hyeon Soo Lim to life in prison – 16 December 2015

The New York Times – North Korea Sentences Canadian Pastor to Life in Prison – 16 December 2015

The Guardian – Hyeon Soo Lim: Canadian Pastor Given Life Sentence in North Korea – 15 December 2015