By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
DEOGHAR, India- Five woman in a remote village of Deoghar district in India were paraded naked, beaten and forced to eat human feces by villagers after being branded as witches. The local police stated the victims were Muslim widows who the local clerics labeled as witches. Correspondents say abuse of women branded as witches is commonplace, but the rare video of the incident has incited outrage in India.
By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay-Former dictator, Gregorio “Goyo” Alvarez was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison Thursday for thirty-seven homicides committed as a part of “Operation Condor” between 1973-1985. Alvarez was commander-in-chief of the army during the period and de facto president of Uruguay from late 1980 until shortly before the restoration of democracy.
Alvarez was accused of disappearing dozens of Uruguayan political prisoners seized in Argentina and secretly returned home as part of a cooperative effort by South America’s right-wing regimes to crush dissent. Alvarez said that he knew nothing about illegal abductions or forced disappearances. He has been detained by Uruguayan authorities since 2007.
The Court gave Navy Captain Juan Larcebeau twenty years in prison for twenty-nine homicides related to secret prisoner transfers in 1978. Although the defense can still appeal the ruling, it is being hailed as “a very important step in clarifying” Uruguay’s past. The sentence came after an appeal successfully argued that charges for disappearances can be converted into murder charges, thus warranting heavier sentencing.
The sentence comes just days before a national election that includes a referendum on repealing a law that shielded members and agents of the military regime from prosecution for crimes such as kidnapping, torture and murder. The Supreme Court of Uruguay recently found those laws to be unconstitutional.
The prosecutor in Alvarez’ case persuaded judges that the crimes were not covered by the amnesty law because they stemmed from actions carried out under Plan Condor, a collaboration among various South American regimes to eliminate political enemies. It is estimated that about 150 Uruguayans disappeared in the secret flights from Argentina in the late 1970s and an additional twenty-nine people went missing in Uruguay. The U.S. intelligence services provided help in “operation condor.
Current Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez has made human rights prosecutions a top priority and courts have detained a number of suspects. Juan Marie Bordaberry, in office from 1973-1976 is awaiting his sentence. “Goyo” Alvarez is considered one of the most representative figures of the military regime in Uruguay.
For more information, please see:
AP-Last Uruguayan Dictator Sentenced to 25 Years-23 October 2009
BBC News-Uruguay’s Ex-ruler Alvarez Jailed-22 October 2009
Latin-American Herald Tribune-Ex-Dictator Sentenced to 25 Years in Uruguay-24 October 2009
By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan- Human rights group Amnesty International has accused Tajikistan of failing to protect their women. The group says nearly half of Tajikstani women are raped, beaten or abused by their families. According to Amnesty, Tajikstani women regularly endure humiliation from the hands of loved ones, including their husbands and in-laws, resulting in many committing suicide.
The report urges the authorities to address it as a crime, not to dismiss it as a “private family matter. The authors of the report say the government should introduce laws and support services to tackle domestic violence. Andrea Strasser-Camagni, Amnesty International’s Tajikistan expert said “Women in Tajikistan are beaten, abused, and raped in the family but the authorities tend to reflect the societal attitude of blaming the woman for domestic violence. They see their primary role as mediator, to preserve the family rather than protect the women and to safeguard their rights.”
Tajikistan, which borders Afghanistan, is the poorest former Soviet Republic. Strasser Camagni also states that traditional Tajikstani family values, reinforced after the Soviet Union break-up, impose even further discrimination on women by narrowing their role to that of wife and mother, and pushing them to lowest job market sector.
Tajikstani women have limited rights and job opportunities. Many women drop out of school and enter into marriages that are often polygamous or unregistered. “Women are being treated as servants or as the in-laws’ family property…They have no-one to turn to, as the policy of the authorities is to urge reconciliation, which…reinforces their position of inferiority” said Strasser-Camagni in a statement.
Up to one million Tajikstani men travel abroad every year looking for seasonal work. In many cases, they stop sending money or do not return home and leave their wives vulnerable to abuse by their in-laws. Some men even divorce their wives by text message announcing they have separated. Because of this many women are driven to commit suicide but relatives regularly cover up these incidents by presenting them as accidents.
Tajikistan has ratified relevant international human rights treaties, but has fallen short of its international obligation to protect women’s rights.
Amnesty International has called upon the Tajikistan government to: introduce effective domestic abuse laws, and carry out a nationwide public awareness campaign to address the practices of unregistered, polygamous, and early marriages. They have also urged a removal of all barriers to girl’s education and address the root causes of girls dropping out of education.
For information, please see:
Reuters- Tajikistan Fails to Curb Abuse of Women: Amnesty– 23 November 2009
Amnesty International – Tajikistan Women Beaten, Abused and Raped in the Family-24 November 24, 2009
BBC News- Amnesty: Nearly Half of Tajik Women ‘Regularly Abused’– 24 November 2009
By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
LAGOS, Nigeria – On Sunday MEND declared an “indefinite ceasefire” in order to pursue dialogues with the government regarding the Niger Delta region.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in a statement that because the government has “expressed it readiness to engage in serious and meaningful dialogue with every group or individual towards achieving a lasting peace in the Niger Delta,” they are willing to submit to a cease-fire while the dialogues take place.
Over the past few years, MEND’s attacks have wrecked havoc on the local oil industry. Oil prices in the world market have been effected from the loss of revenue caused by violence and damage. Nigeria is the world’s eight-largest oil producer, although its oil production has been reduced by one third since 2006.
Since the beginning of the oil region’s unrest, one of the key demands from MEND as been that the local communities must benefit from the region’s oil wealth. Once President Umaru Yar’Adua met with MEND leader Henry Okah, for the first time, the announcement came that the rebel group would cease-fire and accept the government offered amnesty.
On Friday, Okah urged other rebel groups and members of MEND who have shunned the recent government amnesty, to give the peace dialogues a chance.
From the talks between Okah and Yar’Adua, it emerged that there are plans to allot ten percent of the money it makes from the Niger Delta oil to be put back into the oil producing region. Currently the nine regions in southern Nigeria receive thirteen percent of the oil revenue.
Hundreds of oil workers, including dozens of foreigners have been targets of kidnapping by MEND and other rebel groups. Their attacks on pipelines and offshore facilities are what caused the intense drop in revenue. If the government and rebel groups find a way to achieve a middle ground, there may be hope for the region to find peace.
“The successful conclusion of the amnesty deal is the culmination of honest and all inclusive dialogue between the federal government and diverse stake holders in the Niger Delta,” said Information and Communications Minister Dora Akunyili.
“The achievement is unprecedented, not only in the history of Nigeria, but also throughout the world, in places where such internal disorders have occurred,” she added.
Several hundred fighters and civilians have been killed in the Niger Delta since 2006 and the oil out put has dropped from 2.6 million barrels a day to around 1.7 million.
For more information, please see:
AFP – Nigeria Rebel Group MEND Declare “Ceasefire” – 25 October 2009
AP – Nigeria Militant Group Calls Indefinite Cease-Fire – 25 October 2009
BBC – Nigeria Militants Reinstate Truce – 25 October 2009
Reuters – Nigerian Rebels Reinstate Ceasefire in Niger Delta – 25 October 2009
Xinhua News Agency – Nigeria’s Main Militant Group Announces Indefinite Ceasefire – 25 October 2009
By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
NAIROBI, Kenya – Thomas Cholmondeley was released from prison on Thursday after serving more than two years.
“He has already left Kamiti [maximum prison]. I understand he is already at the farm,” said Cholmondeley’s lawyer, Fred Ojiambo.
Cholmondeley, the great-grandson of the third Baron Delamere, one of Kenya’s first white settlers, shot and killed Robert Njoya on his family’s estate in Rift Valley ranch. This shooting was the second time in just over a year that he shot a black man.
He had previously faced murder charges after he killed a Maasai game park ranger in 2005. Cholmondeley was acquitted, however, for lack of evidence. This time around he denied killing Njoya, saying that he and his friend only shot and killed dogs when they fired at the poachers trespassing on the property.
Cholmondeley’s charge was reduced from murder to manslaughter. When High Court judge Muga Apondi read the sentence on May 14 he said that the killing was not premeditated and that Cholmondeley showed concern for the victim. Also, he had already spent 1,097 days in custody. The prosecution appealed the verdict, saying it was “gross miscarriage of justice” but so far there has been no ruling.
Earlier this year Cholmondeley was sentenced to eight months in prison for shooting Njoya, who he believed to be poaching on his property.
Racial tensions stirred after Njoya’s killing, re-opening wounds of Kenya’s colonial history. Cholmondeley’s trial was one of the most high-profile in Kenya’s post-independence history.
“It’s now clear that we have two sets of law in Kenya. My family continues to suffer after the brutal killing of my husband and the bread winner,” said Lucy Sisina, the widow of the ranger Cholmondeley killed in 2005.
Naivasha residents and relatives originally thought Cholmondeley’s May release date was too early and are upset at his even earlier release. The release has caused some from the local black Kenyan community to believe that a colonial-era two-speed judiciary is still in place in the country.
Commissioner of Prisons Isaiah Osugo said that they often release prisoners a few months early if their release date is coming up.
“I can’t believe that he is free,” said Njoya’s wife, Sarah. “There is nothing I can do. This is beyond me.”
For more information, please see:
CNN – Kenyan Aristocrat Freed From Prison – 24 October 2009
AFP – Kenyan British Aristocrat Freed – 23 October 2009
AP – White Kenyan Aristocrat Released from Prison – 23 October 2009
BBC – Convicted Kenya Aristocrat Freed – 23 October 2009
NY Times – Kenya: Aristocrat Out of Prison – 23 October 2009