Brazilian Government Requires All Cars Have Tracking Chips

Brazilian Government Requires All Cars Have Tracking Chips

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASÍLIA, Brazil – A new law has been passed in Brazil requiring radio frequency ID tags to be placed in every Brazilian car, new and on the road.

Cars in Brazil to be tracked. (Photo courtesy of Time)

The radio ID tags are to be placed in car windshields and antenna in order to broadcast a variety of information including the “vehicle year or fabrication, make, model, combustible, engine power and license plate number.”

Checkpoints will be placed throughout the country to immediately track all automobiles in the nation, including their entrance and exit from the country. These checkpoints are expected to improve safety in cargo haulers, toll roads and other road based infrastructure. Administrators hope that in the future the chips will be used to  automatically open gates and pay highway tolls.

While citizens are probably appreciative of the security aspects – stolen cars will be able to be tracked to nearby checkpoints and automatically notify police. The fact that the government will be able to place a citizen’s car anywhere in the nation is worrying.  Many consider this to be an unparalleled breach of privacy, and the possibility of misuse is staggering.

Known as the “National System for Automatic Vehicle Identification” (Siniav), this Federal Resolution as administered by the National traffic Department requires that the system will be compulsory for all citizens by the 1st of January 2013. The implementation is scheduled to be completed by June 30, 2014. This required installation will cost all car owners approximately $5 for installation, while all new cars will have them pre-installed.

Officially the Siniav will allow for instant identification and location of fixed or mobile vehicles. This surveillance will be able to track the car throughout the country.

The quick identification of vehicles is worrying to some individuals. While the Brazilian government claims that the system will be confidential and secure, disclosure through a third party system does not alleviate suspicious. Despite the fact that all contractors involved with the program are required to sign confidentiality agreements, many believe it to be an unreasonable invasion of privacy. Some agencies believe that the increased security measures are a justifiable governmental interest and these electronic tracers are reasonable method for tracking automobiles.

The Order of Lawyers of Brazil, believe that knowing the exact location of the vehicle and its owner would be a violation of their constitutional right to privacy and the security of its citizens. All this confidential information must be held securely; and they find that that knowledge about vehicle ownership held by a contractor is contrary to public safety.

 

For further information, please see:

Zero Hora – Vehicles Need To Have Electronic Monitoring Until 2014 – 8 October 2012

BoingBoing – Brazil To Roll Out National Radio-Chip ID/Surveillance/Logging For All Vehicles – 6 October 2012

Brasilia Em Tempo Real – SINIAV Become Operational In January 2013 – 3 October 2012

Diario de Pernambuco – Vehicle Identification System Divides Expert Opinion – 3 October 2012

Segs – Operation of Siniav Will Be From January 2013 – 3 October 2012

 

Tanneries in Dhaka allegedly poisoning workers and residents

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

Dhaka, Bangladesh – A recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report alleges that tanneries in Bangladesh’s capital, that produce luxury leather goods sold around the world, are poisoning workers.

Worker carries tannery waste products. (Photo courtesy of The Chicago Tribune)

In Dhaka’s slum neighborhood of Hazaribagh, the tightly packed tanneries boast untreated waste water, which contains chemicals like sulfuric acid, chromium and lead as well as animal flesh.  The deadly cocktail of untreated waste water flows freely into open gutters near the tanneries which meanders its way through the city and into the city’s main river.

The tanneries employ roughly 15,000 workers including children as young as 11 years old.  The HRW report alleges a health and safety crisis that exists among the workers and their families.  Workers have contracted a host of health problems due to their occupation including a multitude of skin diseases, respiratory illness, diarrhea, and amputations caused by the operation of dangerous machinery.

Workers that were interviewed, like Sumon a 23 year old leather worker, reported shallow coughs and stabbing chest pains, most likely due to his exposure working at the tanneries.  He also reports that when he first started working at the tanneries, the fumes of the chemicals made him so ill he could not eat for 2 months, but now, the fumes don’t even register with him anymore.  Sumon believes that his occupation is hazardous to his health, but he has no choice because he is from an impoverished background.

Richard Pearshouse, author of the HRW report, saw firsthand how the residents of Hazaribagh lived.  Residents were reportedly bathing in black ponds in the slum neighborhood.  Young children employed in the tanneries were operating dangerous industrial machinery, cutting hides with sharp razor blades, and exposed to hazardous chemicals as they soaked hides.

Local authorities have allegedly ignored labor and environmental laws as well as court orders to clean up their acts.  The government’s hands off approach in the Hazaribagh area that houses approximately 90% of the tanneries in Bangladesh has created a dangerously unsafe environment teeming with hazardous chemicals.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association has attempted to alert the proper authorities of the state Hazaribagh is in without any luck of swaying the government into taking action.  The government has alleged that there is a possible plan being devised to relocate the tanneries out of the slum neighborhood.  It is believed, however, that the government is delaying this process due to pressure from the tannery owners.

The Hazaribagh tanneries and the leather industry in Bangladesh have emerged as a major source of economic wealth in the country.  Though the country is still highly impoverished, the leather goods industry has helped make a dent by hauling in an estimated $663 million in 2011.  The chief importers of Bangladeshi leather are China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Germany, Spain and the United States.

For further information, please see:

Accessories Magazine – Human Rights Group Warns of Toxic Leather Tanneries in Bangladesh – 9 October 2012

The Chicago Tribune – Photos: Toxic tanneries drive Bangladesh leather exports: report – 9 October 2012

Reuters – Toxic tanneries drive Bangladesh leather exports: report – 9 October 2012

The Times of India – Bangladesh: Tanneries harm workers, poison communities – 9 October 2012

Zee News – Bangladesh tanneries spew pollution, says report – 9 October 2012

The Himalayan – Workers pay high price at Bangladesh tanneries – 18 February 2011

ICTJ Press Release: Decision in Mau Mau Case

ICTJ Press Release

Peruvian Terrorists Attack Private Airstrip

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – Shining Path, making good on their threat to disrupt the flow of natural gas, have carried out an attack in the central region of Cusco that may threaten the nations gas production.

helicopter burnt down in a rebel attack in Peru
Destroyed Helicopter used to transfer gas personnel. (Photo Courtesy of the BBC)

Early Saturday morning, members of The Communist Party of Peru, more commonly known as the terrorist organization The Shining Path executed a daring raid on a private companies infrastructure and heli-transportation. Members axed through metal barriers and made their way directly to the airfield. Using crude explosive charges, the terrorists destroyed three helicopters, and a security control room before disappearing into the jungle.

These helicopters were used to transfer staff of “Transportadora de Gas del Peru,” (TGP) which monitors and operates the pipeline through Peru.

The attack seems to have had the desired effect as security personnel ran from the explosions terrified. Due to this destruction the TGP has announced that it has suspended all maintenance work on the pipeline until security can be reestablished.

Terrorist leader Martin Quispe Palomino took credit for the attack and announced that this was a reprisal for the companies’ refusal to pay “quotas” for working in the Cusco jungle.

While there have been reports that Shining Path has been severely weakened and a shell of its former 1980s self, their sudden surge of activity is giving the Peruvian military and government pause.  Despite the death of one of their leaders a few weeks ago, the Shining Path shows no signs of slowing down. As evident by this recent attack, and the kidnapping of dozens of gas workers in April, the organization seems to have branched out from merely ambushing and attacking the Peruvian army.

The US has remarked that the drug trade being pushed and pursued by the Shining Path are a detriment to Peruvian society and have offered any sort of assistance to the Peruvian government in their anti-terrorist crusade. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in a recent trip emphasized the need to work together on the issues of terrorism and drug trafficking. That the illegal drug business being conducted in the Peruvian valley has a detrimental effect on every country in the hemisphere. Leon Panetta reiterated his promise for the US to assist in protecting the inner security of the country.

It is unclear exactly what this damage will cause to the natural gas requirements and expectations of the Peruvian government, but what is known is this conflict is far from over.

 

For further information, please see:

La Republica – Helicopters Destroyed Three Businesses Operating in Camisea – 7 October 2012

La Republica – U.S. Reiterates That Drug Trafficking Is A Threat To Peru – 7 October 2012

The BBC – Peru Rebels Burn Helicopters At Jungle Airfield – 6 October 2012

The BBC – Peru Shining Path Rebel Comrade Williams Killed – 5 September 2012

Syrian Forces Advance into Rebel Areas

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria — Army and rebel sources said last Monday that Syrian forces attacked rebel controlled neighborhoods in Homs City and the nearby town of Qusayr in an effort to regain control of the Idlib and  Homs provinces.

Syrian forces expect to retake Homs City and Qusayr by the end of the week. (Photo Courtesy of Al Jazeera).

A Syrian security official said that the army now expects to take back the besieged areas by the end of the week, enabling troops to focus their attention towards northern cities such as the commercial capital of Aleppo.

“It is a huge operation, and we hope to finish it off by the end of the week,” he said, speaking under the condition of anonymity.  “After that, we will concentrate on the north of Syria.”

The revolt in Homs, Syria’s largest province, began as a peaceful protest that spiraled into warfare when Assad’s forces responded to the Sunni-led movement with force.  Activists refer to it as the “capital of the revolution.”  Located near both Lebanon and Damascus, Homs’ location is of strategic importance to the rebels. It is where they coordinated with sympathizers in northern Lebanon to smuggle supplies into the the province and wounded fighters into Lebanon.  Homs has seen some of the worst violence since the revolution to remove President Bashar Al-Assad began in March last year.  The army made numerous attempts to reclaim the region, but such sieges were unsuccessful.

On Friday, Syria deployed fighter jets in the Khalidiyeh neighborhood of Homs.  Videos posted online appeared to show the jets dropping barrels of explosives on the besieged areas.  Reinforcements were sent to Homs, where the army successfully stopped food and aid from reaching rebel-held areas.  Humanitarian conditions in the area are now worsening, and those who live there continue to lose hope.

“The siege is a huge problem for us.  We are dying every day, but nobody is paying attention to us,” said Raji Rahmet Rabou, an activist in Homs.

Meanwhile, clashes continue to take place in other provinces around Syria.  The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) told Al Jazeera that twenty people were killed, including at least five rebel fighters, in the town of Karak al-Sharqi.  SOHR also reports that Syrian troops are to blame for purposely targeting cars ferrying wounded people to field hospitals and clinics for treatment, but Al Jazeera has been unable to confirm this due to reporting restrictions.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Syrian Forces Step up Attacks on Rebel Areas — 8 October 2012

The Business Recorder — Syria Army Steps up Homs Assault — 8 October 2012

The Daily Star — Syria Army Steps up bid to Crush Homs Rebels — 8 October 2012

Reuters — Syrian Forces Advance Into Rebel-Held Part of Homs — 8 October 2012