In Focus

Guatemalan Justice System and Citizen Mobilization Lead to Major Victory in the Country’s Fight Against Impunity

In this podcast, Director of Programs Marcie Mersky analyzes the recent steps forward taken in Guatemala in the fight against impunity, including the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina and his possible criminal prosecution on charges related to a multi-million dollar corruption scandal.

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AFRICAA memorial to those killed or tortured during Kenya’s Mau Mau uprising against British colonial forces in the 1950s was unveiled in Nairobi as part of a British settlement with Kenyan veterans. The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced arrest warrants against two Kenyans accused of corrupting witnesses in the Court’s cases against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto. ICC judges said that the trial of Lord’s Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen, accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes, should occur in Uganda rather than The Hague. Meanwhile, the trial of Bosco Ntaganda, a rebel leader from the Democratic Republic of Congo, opened at the ICC. A rights group accused Sudan’s military of systematic abuses in Darfur, including rape, torture and killing civilians. The trial of Hissène Habré, the former leader of Chadaccused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture, continued in a special court in Senegal.

AMERICASIn Colombia, government and FARC negotiators created an international sub-commission to settle the question of how accountability for war crimes would be handled in an eventual peace deal between the two parties. Pressured by civil society’s demands, Guatemala’s president resigned and was indicted on corruption charges brought by the Prosecutor’s Office and a UN-backed investigative commission known as the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), established to dismantle criminal networks with ties to politicians and the security forces. Documents recently declassified by Argentina’s military shed light on acts of torture agents its soldiers during the 1982 war with the United Kingdom over the Malvinas Islands. In Mexico, a report issued by a group of international experts–including former Guatemalan Prosecutor General Claudia Paz y Paz and Colombian lawyer Alejandro Valencia– contradicted the government’s official account of what happened to the 43 college students from Ayotzinapa who were disappeared one year ago.

ASIAIn Nepal, the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) has urged the government to criminalize enforced disappearances in order to enable the commission to recommend action against perpetrators. While meeting with rebel groups, Myanmar’s president pushed for a ceasefire deal to end decades of conflict ahead of November elections. After the UN Human Rights Council announced it would release a report calling for accountability for war crimes committed duringSri Lanka’s civil war, the government put forth plans to establish a South Africa-style truth and reconciliation commission, set up a criminal justice mechanism and compensate victims. Australia’s Victoria State government wants to house Syrian refugees on an army base that was formerly used as a refuge for East Timorese refugees in the 1990s.

EUROPEIn Serbia, eight former police officers were indicted on war crimes charges related to the killing of over 100 civilians near Srebrenica in 1995. Meanwhile, Serbia and Kosovo agreed to exchange schoolbooks, the first official effort to do so since the 1999 war between the two states in 1999. Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted a justice sector reform strategy, a condition for the release of European funding for local war crimes investigations. After accepting the ICC’s jurisdiction over crimes committed during the 2014 Maidan protests, Ukraine extended the Court’s jurisdiction to include crimes committed anywhere in the country since February 2014, including in Crimea and the downing of Flight MH17. The president of the European Council committed European Union support to any negotiations aimed at reunifying ethnically divided Cyprus.

MENAIn Tunisia, hundreds of people protested against a proposed law on economic reconciliation that would offer amnesty for those accused of corruption. Meanwhile, the country’s truth commission has come under attack from the government and media. Protests over garbage collection in Lebanon havetransformed into a movement calling for broad institutional reforms to increase official accountability. The United Nations human rights chief called for an independent commission to investigate ongoing human rights abuses in Yemen, where a Saudi coalition is fighting against Houthi rebels.

Publications

Living with the Shadows of the Past: The Impact of Disappearance on Wives of the Missing in LebanonThis report examines the impact on women of enforced disappearances committed during Lebanon’s civil war, focusing in particular on the effects on wives of the missing or disappeared—and their children. The research is based on interviews conducted by ICTJ with 23 wives of missing or disappeared persons of varying backgrounds.

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On the Path to Vindicate Victims’ Rights in Uganda: Reflections on the Transitional Justice Process Since JubaThe government of Uganda has been slow to address and remedy serious human rights abuses committed against civilians throughout the country, despite its commitment under the Juba peace talks.

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Author: Impunity Watch Archive