ICTJ World Report October 2011 Issue 5
Amnesty International Urges Libya to Cease Arbitrary Detention and Abuse of Detainees
By Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
TRIPOLI, Libya–Libya’s Transitional Council (NTC) is holding some 2,500 detainees in the capital of Tripoli. Many of these individuals have been beaten, subjected to other types of ill-treatment, and been denied access to lawyers or judicial proceedings.
Amnesty International, a London-based rights group, claimed that it had uncovered evidence of torture and ill-treatment of thousands of people detained in recent months.
Prisoners interviewed by the group’s researchers said they had been held for various durations, from a few days to a few months and that with rare exception, they had not been arrested under any kind of legal order.
In the report released on Thursday 13 October, Detention Abuses Staining the New Libya, Amnesty International reported that routinely involved beatings, particularly involving the use of wooden sticks or ropes on the feet. The human rights group conducted the report after interviewing some 300 prisoners.
The report included visiting eleven detention facilities in and around the capital of Tripoli and the cities of Zawiya and Misrara. The group made their visits to these cities between 18 August, just before Tripoli, and 21 September. At least two guards at two different detention facilities told Amnesty International researchers they beat detainees in order to elicit “confessions” more quickly.
Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, the group’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, shared these sentiments about the developing situation.
“There is a real risk that without firm and immediate action, some patterns of the past might be repeated. Arbitrary arrest and torture were a hallmark of Colonel Gaddafi’s rule. We understand that the transitional authorities are facing many challenges, but if they do not make a clear break with the past now, they will effectively be sending out a message that treating detainees like this is to be tolerated in the new Libya.”
Sub-Saharan Africans who were suspected of being Gaddafi’s mercenaries were particularly targeted, according to the report. The NTC pledged to look into these reports.
Jalal al-Galal, a spokesman for the NTC, told Reuters correspondents that the council leadership would look into the report.
“NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil has said time and time again that he will not tolerate abuse of prisoners and has made it abundantly clear that he will investigate any such allegations.”
There are unconfirmed reports that Colonel Gaddafi’s son Mutassim has been seized. NTC authorities have claimed that he had been captured in the family’s embattled home town of Sirte. Meanwhile, a military commander in the city has denied the claims, which have ignited celebratory gunfire in several cities. If these reports are confirmed, the capture of Gaddafi’s son would represent a major breakthrough for the NTC, according to BCC correspondent Caroline Hawley.
Mutassim is a senior officer in Gaddafi’s army and was also a national security advisor to his father.
Amnesty International has stated that black Libyans, particularly those from the Tawargha region, which happens to be a base for Gaddfi forces in their efforts to regain control of Misrata, are vulnerable to attacks and abuse. Dozens of Tawarghans have been taken from their homes, checkpoints, and even hospitals.
The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have also expressed concern over the sweeping arrests of men accused by interim authorities of fighting for Gaddafi.
Al-Jazeera correspondent James Bays visited some police stations in Tripoli and shared these sentiments. Some of these stations were also visited by Amnesty International during their investigation.
“Many of them were from Sub-Saharan African countries who came here as workers and were then rounded up and accused of being mercenaries. It’s quite possible that some of those people were fighting for Gaddafi but having spoken to some of them myself, it was pretty clear that some of them were also innocent people, rounded up simply because of the color of their skin.”
Amnesty International’s Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui shared these sentiments after meeting with NTC officials. During these meetings, the NTC acknowledged concerns over arbitrary detention and promised to do more to ensure that all those detained enjoy equal protection of the law.
“The NTC has to act urgently to translate their public commitments into action, before such abuses become entrenched and stain the new Libya’s human rights record. These detainees have in many cases been arrested without a warrant, beaten and sometimes worse, on arrest and arrival in detention. They are vulnerable to abuse by armed militias who often act on their own initiative. The authorities cannot simply allow this to carry on because they are in a ‘transitional’ phrase. These people must be allowed to defined themselves properly or be released.”
One can only hope that the NTC will act soon enough to prevent more abuses. Gaddafi’s throne has been successfully taken from him but the practices delegated from that throne appear to remain. And as long as that appears to be the case, the NTC will have a difficult time in substantively distancing itself from Gaddafi.
For more information, please see:
Al-Jazeera – Libya’s NTC Accused of Detainee Abuse – 13 October 2011
BBC – Amnesty Urges Libya to Tackle ‘Stain’ of Detainee Abuse – 13 October 2011
CNN – No Confirmation Yet of Gadhafi Son’s Arrest; New Report Details Detainee Abuse – 13 October 2011
NYT – Anti-Qaddafi Fighters Are Accused of Torture – 30 September 2011
The Guardian – UK Tells Libya to Form Interim Government After Taking Over Sirte – 13 October 2011
Human Rights Watch – Libya: Protect Civilians in Sirte Fighting – 12 October 2011
U.S. Waives Ban on Aid to Countries with Child Soldiers
By Ryan T. Elliott
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America/Oceania
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States–For the second consecutive year, President Obama has waived a ban on military aid for countries that use children soldiers. Under the U.S. Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008, which took effect in 2010, there is a federal ban on providing U.S. foreign military financing, military training, and other military aid to countries that recruit and enlist soldiers under the age of eighteen.
The president holds the power, however, to waive this ban, but only if he or she determines that doing so would serve the best interests of the country. That is precisely what President Obama did last Tuesday for the second straight year in a row. According to a memorandum released by the White House on Tuesday, the countries that will continue to receive military assistance despite the fact that they continue to use of child soldiers in their armed forces, include: Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen and South Sudan.
“The law [restricting U.S. taxpayer funds to go to militaries that recruit and use child soldiers] could be very effective if it was applied the way Congress intended, but instead the administration has chosen to disregard the law and exert poor leadership on this issue,” Jo Becker, the director of Human Rights Watch’s Children Rights Division, told ABC News. “Last year, the administration said they were putting governments on notice and giving them time to address the problem, but this year governments have shown no progress and are still getting assistance [with] no strings attached.”
Last year there were five countries that were identified for their use of child soldiers, and they included: Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Somalia, and Myanmar. This year, only Somalia and Burma were not given waivers, presumably because the U.S. military does not have strong military ties with these countries. President Obama’s waiver will allow tens of millions of dollars of U.S. tax dollars to to go to Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and South Sudan, all of which continue to recruit, enlist and use children soldiers
The administration justified the waivers either in terms of the relevant countries progress with respect to reducing child soldiers or, in the case of Yemen, the country’s importance to anti-terrorism efforts.
South Sudan is expected to receive one hundred million dollars this coming year for military aid. The administration took the position that the law banning military aid to countries with child soldiers should not apply to South Sudan because it did not exist as an independent country until after the publication of the 2011 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report.
Meanwhile, the administration noted the progress in Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo in addressing child soldiers. In Chad, the government had issued a plan to prevent child recruitment and discharge child soldiers who are currently enlisted. It has been said that Chad has already taken some steps towards this programs implementation. The administration said that the Democratic Republic of Congo has also taken some very important steps to reduce child soldiers in the military.
Finally, Yemen has received the most criticism from human right advocates because it continues to receive U.S. military aid despite the fact that it has done very little to reduce the amount of children in its armed forces. In fact, it is well documented that in Yemen, children who are 15 years old and younger have been recruited to fight in the government’s conflicts. Yet Yemen continues to receive millions of dollars in U.S. military and counter-terrorism assistance.
The administration justified this aid by stating that “[c]ooperation with the Yemeni government is a vital piece of the U.S. national strategy to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qa’ida and its affiliates and adherents by denying them sanctuary in the ungoverned spaces of Yemen’s hinterland.” Accordingly, for the 2012 fiscal year the State Department has requested thirty five million dollars in foreign military financing for the Yemeni government. This represents only a portion of the total aid the Yemeni government is expected to receive, which has exceeded one hundred million dollars in past years.
While the administration has fallen back on the position that they cannot simply withdraw all of this military support, Jo Becker, the director of Human Rights Watch’s Children Rights Division, told ABC News that this does not have to be an “all or nothing “ approach and that “thirty five thousand dollars is a lot of money.” Becker suggested that the administration could simply withhold a portion of the funds until the country in question takes the necessary steps in order to remove children from its forces.
“The Obama administration has been unwilling to make even small cuts to military assistance to governments exploiting children as soldiers,” Jo Becker told ABC News, and “children are paying the price for its poor leadership.”
For more information, please see:
Albany Times Union – Should America Aid Nations With Child Soldiers? – 7 October 2011
AllGov – Obama Administration Urged to Stop Funding Child Soldiers – 6 October 2011
Black Entertainment Television – Obama Administration Waives Child Soldier Law – 6 October 2011
ABC News – Obama Waives Child Soldier Ban in Yemen and Congo – 5 October 2o11
Democracy Now – Obama Waives Curbs on Aid to Countries Using Child Soldiers 5 October 2011
Foreign Policy – Congress Strikes Back Against Obama’s Child Soldiers’ Waivers – 5 October 2011
Inter Press Service – Obama Waives Aid Curbs on Militaries Using Child Soldiers -5 October 2011
Venezuela Under International Scrutiny for Attacks Against Activists
By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
CARACAS, Venezuela – United Nations’ Human Rights Council issued 148 recommendations for Venezuela recently, in part because of the various reports of government human rights abuses towards activists who have publicly criticized government policies. Venezuela, however, has rejected the recommendations despite requests for change from its own allies.
Humberto Prado, 48, an ex-prison inmate turned director and founder of a prison monitoring group, claims he has been fearing for his life ever since he became an activist for prison reform. After criticizing conditions in a prison where inmates rioted in June, Prado began receiving anonymous phone calls at all hours of the night threatening to kill him.
Government officials, however, have ignored his complaints and Prado suspects that they might even be behind the threats. As the harassment intensified and government indifference continued, Amnesty International helped Prado and his family flee to Spain.
Prado is one of many activists who have fallen victim to attacks after President Hugo Chavez took office. Over the last 12 years, 83 activists have been attacked or harassed and 10 have been killed.
Out of the cases involving attacks on activists in Venezuela this year, the Committee of Victims’ Relatives reports that only 13 percent of them are being tried in court while the remaining have been either dismissed or remain in the preliminary investigative stage.
According to the director of the Committee of Victims’ Relatives, Liliana Ortega, various nonprofit groups have been investigated for improper funding after publicly denouncing government policies. Additionally, human rights groups have also reported arbitrary police arrests of activists, illegal wiretapping and restrictions on public meetings.
Last Friday, during the United Nations Periodic Review of Human Rights convention in Geneva, some of Venezuela’s allies, including Brazil, Russia, and Turkey, expressed concern over Venezuela’s criminal procedures, specifically it’s procedural delays, and other human rights issues.
A member of the Venezuela delegation who attended the convention but who wants to remain anonymous was surprised to hear criticism coming from Venezuelan allies. “”The fact that the United States, Britain and Germany questioned the Judiciary was predictable, but Brazil’s criticisms were not,” he said.
The Brazilian delegation expressed concerned about how closely judges and prosecutors work together in criminal proceedings. They called for a more independent judiciary in order to guarantee citizens of Venezuela the essential conditions of a democracy.
For further information, please see:
ABC News – Threats, Violence Rising for Venezuelan Activists – 14 October 2011
El Universal – Even Allies Questioned Venezuela at the UN Human Rights Council – 14 October 2011
CNN – Venezuela Rejects Certain Human Rights Recommendations – 11 October 2011
El Universal – US Asks Venezuela to “Reconsider” Human Rights Suggestions
– 12 October 2011
Tunis TV Station Under Criminal Investigation for Airing ‘Persepolis’
By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
TUNIS, Tunisia, — The interim government of Tunisia is currently investigating a television station for airing the animated film Persepolis. Specifically, they are investigating whether the station should face charges for “defaming” Islam by airing the film.
Persepolis is a semi-autobiographical film by Marjane Satrapi based upon her best-selling graphic novel of the same name. It depicts her early childhood through adult years in Iran during and after the Islamic revolution. One scene includes an imaginary conversation with God, who is represented by a man with a white beard. Many Muslims consider such pictorial depictions of God to be prohibited.
The film was dubbed into the Tunisian dialect of Arabic for the airing.
On October 9, two days after the film’s airing, more than 300 protesters marched on the Tunis headquarters of Nessma TV. Police, having gained prior knowledge of the protest from Facebook, were on hand to prevent the protesters from reaching the building and made around 50 arrests.
An Interior Ministry official was quoted as saying that many of the protesters were carrying weapons, including knives, bars, and sticks. Hichem Meddeb, a ministry spokesman, said that arrests were made after protesters began throwing rocks.
The National Commission for the Reform of Media and Communication has come out condemning “all forms of violence and attempts to intimidate journalists.” They also called on media outlets to abide by the code of press ethics, and to exhibit responsibility.
A complaint about the film’s airing was sent to the Tunisian government and was signed by 144 individuals. The complaint sought charges to be brought against Nessma’s director and others under the press code and penal code. The press code says in articles 44 and 48 that a person found guilty of inciting hatred among religions or insulting a religion can be sentenced to prison. Penal code article 226bis says that a person found guilty of undermining public morals by “intentionally disturbing other persons in a way that offends the sense of public decency” can be sentenced to prison.
On October 11, after receiving the complaint, the state prosecutor opened up the case against Nessma.
Human Rights Watch is calling for the government to drop its investigation, telling authorities to respect free expression and approve pending amendments to abolish the “defaming of religion” law.
“Nessma’s owners have every right to air this serious and provocative film,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The government should be defending that right, just as it should defend the right of Tunisians to protest peacefully against Nessma.”
On September 23, Tunisia’s ad hoc advisory board, the High Commission for the Protection of the Objectives of the Revolution, approved a draft code that eliminates the offense of defamation of religion, as well as many other articles that violate the right to freedom of expression.
The interim government has yet to promulgate this change in the code.
This is not the first attack on free expression that has taken place since the ouster of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali on January 14.
Film director Nouri Bouzid was bludgeoned on the head with a metal bar on April 18, shortly after giving an interview on a Tunisian radio station in which he called for a secular constitution and explained that his upcoming film defended civil liberties and criticized religious fundamentalism.
The dispute over Nessma has highlighted the struggle between religious conservatives and liberals over the direction of the country.
A rally was held on Sunday in furtherance of preserving the freedoms of the Tunisian people.
“This event does not defend Nessma TV in any way, this event defends the freedom of the individual,” the post says. “We do not want a dictatorship in the name of the sacred. We do not want to go from a police dictatorship to an Islamic dictatorship,” said organizers.
For more information, please see:
LA Times — Tunis crowds gather for anti-censorship march — 16 Oct. 2011
Tunisia Live — Protests Against Protests: Freedom of Speech and Anti-Censorship Rally in Downtown Tunis Today — 16 Oct. 2011
Eurasia Review — Tunisia: ‘Persepolis’ Screening Stirs Passions — 15 Oct. 2011
Macon — Protesters attack home of Tunis TV station head — 14 Oct. 2011
Human Rights Watch — Tunisia: Drop Criminal Investigation of TV Station for Airing Persepolis — 13 Oct. 2011
The Guardian — Islamist protesters attack Tunisian TV station over animated film Persepolis — 10 Oct. 2011