Colombia’s Presidential Election Rests on the Question of How to End the Nation’s 50 Year Old Conflict

by Mridula Tirumalasetti
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Presidential candidate Óscar Iván Zuluaga is pictured above before a crowd of supporters (photo courtesy of The Wall Street Journal)

BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Colombia’s presidential candidate, Óscar Iván Zuluaga won the first round of voting on May 25 with 29.3 percent of the votes, ahead of President Juan Manuel Santos with 25.7 percent. Zuluaga will face Santos on June 15 in a run-off vote. In order to avoid a run-off vote in Colombia, Zuluaga would have had to win more than 50 percent of the votes. Polls show this has been the nation’s tightest election in years.

The most pressing issue of the campaign has been how to end the country’s 50-year conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a conflict which has claimed more than 215,000 lives. Santos has been negotiating with FARC in Cuba, and announced on May 16 that they had reached an agreement on three out of the five points, including land reform and political participation by the FARC. These negotiations have been said to bring the end of the fight against illegal drugs closer than ever.

Right-wing Zuluaga, who is backed by former President Álvaro Uribe, favors more of a military solution rather than peace talks. Zuluaga initially promised that, if elected, he would immediately suspend peace talks with FARC but has since softened his stance in exchange for Conservative Party leader, Marta Lucia Ramirez’s support in the run-off vote. Zuluaga has agreed to give FARC a chance to declare a ceasefire. In a speech after the first round of voting, Zuluaga said “The President of the Republic cannot and should not be manipulated by the FARC, the biggest drug cartel in the world today.” Zuluaga promised “a full-frontal assault on terrorism.” Santos has criticized Zuluaga’s acceptance of the idea of peace talks as hypocritical and “politicking.”

“Zuluaga’s triumph [in the first round] shows there’s an important part of society that doesn’t back the Havana talks,” said Alejo Vargas, who is a professor of political science at the National University. Some voters want a more firm approach when dealing with FARC. Voter Jhon Serrato said “You can’t just give them what they want, while they kill people.” Another voter, Lena Sanchez Rodriguez said “The office of the president has gotten weaker in the last four years” and “Santos doesn’t have a strong enough hand to deal with delinquents.”

Other voters such as Mariana Giraldo, support the Santos administration and the peace process. Giraldo said, “If there was a peace deal we would have more diplomatic agreements with other countries.”

A voter poll on Thursday, the first since Sunday’s first round of voting, showed Santos leading by one percent over Zuluaga. Still, almost 20 million of the 33 million registered voters did not vote. Additionally, approximately 800,000 voters voted a blank ballot in order to protest both of the candidates.

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Zuluaga wins first round of Colombia election – 25 May 2014

The Wall Street Journal – Colombia President Santos to Face Zuluaga in Runoff Vote – 25 May 2014

Bloomberg – Zuluaga Leads Santos Ahead of Colombia Presidential Runoff – 26 May 2014

Reuters – Colombia’s Zuluaga softens on FARC peace talks ahead of run-off vote – 29 May 2014

Police Retaliate Against Protestors Who Gathered to Mark the One-Year Anniversary of Taksim Square

ISTANBUL, Turkey- The Turkish government sent 25,000 police officers to disperse crowds of protestors who gathered in central Istanbul to mark the one-year anniversary of Turkey’s largest anti-government protest in decades.

Riot police circled the perimeter of the square and hundreds of plain-clothed police carrying batons patrolled the area.

Turkish police were told to use any force necessary to deter protestors, including tear gas.

Police blocked off all roads and stopped public transport to the Gezi Park area and Taksim Square hoping to quell protestors who came to mark the one-year anniversary.

More than 10 protestors have been arrested by police, who were told by the Turkish government to “do whatever is necessary from A to Z to stop the protestors”.

In 2013, protestors, mostly environmentalists, descended on Taksim Square to protest the Turkish government’s, under the rule of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, plans to take away the adjoining green space of Gezi Park and turn it into a shopping mall.

The protestors staged a peaceful sit-in for several days to fight for the green space because it was one of the only parks left in central Istanbul. Erdogan had the police forcefully remove the protestors, and this use of violence brought tens of thousands of protestors to Taksim Square for two weeks before police could finally regain control of the space.

The subsequent months of unrest after the protest resulted in dozens of deaths at the hands of Turkish police who were given permission by Erdogan and the government to use “violent force” if necessary.

This past week, despite preemptive action by police, hundreds of protestors showed up shouting phrases such as “Resign murderer Erdogan” and “Everywhere is Taksim. Everywhere is resistance”.

Elif Cetinkaya and her family stood across the street from the square, quietly protesting by wearing T-shirts with the faces of those killed in the 2013 protest.

“Why did so many people have to die to save this park?” Cetinkaya said. “We are here to mourn their loss and show that we stand firm, no matter what obstacles they erect,” Cetinkaya said.

Police helicopters flew overhead and police officers fired water cannons and tear gas on the protestors, who huddled together en masse, hoping to read a statement and lay flowers at Taksim Square to honor the dozens of deaths.

Several news stations reported that tourists lugging suitcases, who had no idea the protest anniversary was occurring, got caught in the tear gas and frantically ran for cover shielding their eyes and dropping their belongings in the streets.

Prime Minister Erdogan, who has faced a more recent divided faction over his attempts to block popular websites such as YouTube and Twitter, urged his people, particularly young people, to avoid the demonstration and further demonstrations, saying the movement that began in 2013 against his government was founded by “terrorist organizations” that “manipulated our morally and financially weak youth to attack our unity and put our economy under threat”.

“Don’t fall for these games. This is not about environmentalism. There is no sincerity or honesty here” Erdogan said.

For more information see:

Al Jazeera- Police use tear gas on Turkish demonstrators– 1 June 2014

Haaretz- Facing 25,000 Police Officers, Turkey Activists Mark Gezi Protest Anniversary– 31 May 2014

Jerusalem Post- Turkish Police Fire Tear Gas at Activists Marking Taksim Protests– May 31 2014

TIME- Police Tear Gas Protestors On Taksim Square Anniversary– 31 May 2014

 

 

China Sentenced 55 People in Stadium Trial

By Hojin Choi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

XINJIANG, China – A Chinese court sentenced 55 people for terrorism, separatism, and murder at a sports stadium. The sentence was handed down before a crowd of more than 7,000 spectators in the prefecture of Yili, a part of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Three of the defendants were sentenced to death.

The accused held on the back of pick-up trucks, dressed in orange jumpsuits and surrounded by security forces. (CNN)

The open trial follows a spike in widespread fear of terror attacks and increasing tensions across the country. In October, five people were killed and at least 40 injured by a car rushing into crowds of innocents on busy streets in Beijing. In March, a group of men armed with long knives invaded a train station in the city of Kunming and murdered 29 people, and  injured at least 130 others at the scene. In early May, some 39 people were killed and almost 100 injured by a terror bombing  in Xinjiang.

Chinese authorities believe these terror attacks were carried out by a separatist group formed with Uyghurs, an ethnically Turkic Muslim minority group native to the Xinjiang region. The ruling Communist Party declared an anti-terrorism campaign to strike hard any “violent terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism.” Li Minghui, Deputy Party Secretary of the prefecture of Yili, said they must “resolutely strike criminals … and boost the confidence and will to fight for all ethnicities among the masses.” The Xinjiang police launched a crackdown on the extremist groups that has resulted in 200 arrests of suspected terrorists so far.

Uyghurs have complained for a long time about pervasive discrimination in favor of Han, the Chinese majority ethnic group. The alleged discrimination includes employment, education, housing, and religious freedom restrictions. The Chinese government believes that Uyghurs are trying to form an independent state called East Turkestan.

Human rights organization Amnesty International described the “deplorable” proceeding as a “show trial.” William Nee, China Researcher of Amnesty International, said the recent terror attacks and disregard of human lives must be held to account. However, “speedy show trials will not deliver justice for the victims. Hastily sentencing people after unfair trials will only exacerbate tensions in the region,” said Mr. Nee.

The regional Communist Party leader announced before trial that the suspected criminals should be “severely punished.” According to Amnesty International, this places all of the defendants at risk of torture while they are detained.

According to Reuters, the trial was originally reported by the official Xinhua news, a state-operated press agency, but links to the news appear to be disconnected at this time.

For more information please see:

Reuters – China sentences 55 in Xinjiang mass trial – 28 May 2014

CNN – 55 sentenced before 7,000 onlookers at terror ‘show trial’ in Chinese stadium – 29 May 2014

CNN – China train station killings described as a terrorist attack – 2 March 2014

Aljazeera – China sentences 55 in mass stadium trial – 29 May 2014

BBC – China sentences 55 people in Xinjiang stadium – 28 May 2014

Amnesty International – China: Shameful stadium ‘show trial’ is not justice – 29 May 2014

Marshall Islands Sues U.S and Other Nuclear- Armed Countries in U.N’s Highest Court

by Max Bartels

Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania 

Majuro, Republic of Marshall Islands 

The tiny island nation of the Republic of Marshall Islands has sued a number of nations in the United Nations highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. The nations involved in the suit include the Unites States, China, North Korea, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia and the United Kingdom. The Marshall Islands accuses these nations of not fulfilling their obligations with respect to the cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament.

Mushroom Cloud of Bikini Atoll Explosion
(Photo Curtesy of The Guardian)

The lawsuit is particularly pointed at the United States, which used the different atolls of the Marshall Islands as a testing ground for their nuclear programs between 1946 and 1958. During that 12 year span the U.S detonated 67 nuclear weapons of varying potency.

The inhabitants of Bikini Atoll were evacuated in 1946 to make way for the testing. Then in 1954 the atoll was vaporized by a 15- Megaton hydrogen bomb. The inhabitants of the atoll were allowed to return to in the early 1970s but were again removed in 1978 after ingesting high levels of radiation from eating local foods grown on the atoll.

The people of Rongelap Atoll were exposed to severe nuclear fallout from U.S nuclear testing in 1954. It is estimated that the people of Rongelap were exposed to three times the external dose of the people most heavily exposed to the Chernobyl accident. The U.S government did not evacuate the people of Rongelap until two days after the explosion. The people of the Marshall Islands that have been exposed to the radiation of the testing sites have suffered many adverse effects such as tissue destructive effects and latent radiation diseases. In 2005 the National Cancer Institute reported that the risk of contracting cancer to those exposed to fallout is one in three.

Under an Agreement between the U.S and the Marshall Islands a Nuclear Claims Tribunal was formed to award damages to the victims of the nuclear tests. However, the tribunal has never had the funds to fully compensate the damage done. The Tribunal has awarded about $2.15 billion in damages but only about $150 million was paid because the U.S compensation fund was exhausted. The U.S claims that it is continuing to work with the Marshall Islands to provide health care and environmental monitoring.

The nuclear-armed countries named in the lawsuit will most likely argue that they have been making progress in certain areas or that they support the start of negations toward disarmament. The lawsuits state that Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) requires states to negotiate in “good faith” on nuclear disarmament. It will be up to the ICJ to decide if the nuclear- armed countries, including the U.S have sufficiently complied with International law.

For more information, please see:

News.com.au — Marshall Islands Sues U.S, Others Over Nuclear Arms — 25 April 2014

Aljazeera America — The Pacific Island Nation, Site of Many Nuclear Tests, is Taking its Case to the ICJ and U.S Courts — 24 April 2014 

The World Post — The Legacy of U.S Nuclear Testing in the Marshall Islands — 23 May 2010

Newsweek — Tiny Pacific Islands and Nuclear Testing Site Sues Nations for Failing on Nuclear Disarmament — 24 April 2014

The Guardian — Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test: 60 Years Later and Islands Still Unlivable — 2 March 2014