By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MADRID, Spain – On Thursday, March 10, French police stormed a cottage near the Belgian border and arrested four suspected members of the outlawed Basque separatist group, ETA. Among the individuals captured were ETA’s military chief and its chief explosives expert. The raid occurred two months after ETA’s senior leadership declared a formal cease fire on January 10.

During the raid, French police and members of the RAID, a French anti-terror unit descended on the village of Willencourt and arrested, Alejandro Zobaran Arriola, the suspected military chief of ETA.  He is responsible for coordinating the shooting and bombing campaigns that are carried out by ETA fighters. Along with Mr. Arriola, Mikel Oroz Torrea, who is suspected of being ETA’s top explosives expert, was also arrested. During the offensive, police seized two firearms along with forged documents.

The planning for Thursday operation began last month when the cottage owner tipped off authorities to the four suspects. The landlord contacted police after he grew suspicious of their nighttime activities. After the tip was received, local police officials determined the suspect’s car had a fake license plate. This prompted local law enforcement to contact the French anti-terror police to investigate further.

The arrests on Thursday are the second major blow to the ETA organization in the last two weeks. On March 1, Spanish police arrested four suspects in northern Spain who are allegedly connected to armed terrorist group. Spanish and French authorities have been working together to hunt down and capture members of this organization who often try to avoid detection by moving back and forth between the border regions of Spain and France,

ETA’s leadership declared a “permanent and general” cease fire on January 10, 2011. The last terrorist attack by ETA agents was carried out in August 2009. Over the past 50 years, ETA has killed more than 850 people during their struggle to establish an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southern France.

Notwithstanding the January 10 self-imposed cease fire, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has called for the total disbandment of ETA. Along with the most recent arrests, dozens of other ETA members have been arrested throughout Europe. Spanish officials believe this campaign has crippled the organization’s top leadership.

For more information, please see:

BBC News — ‘Eta military chief’ Arriola arrested in France – 11 March 2011

Daily Mail — ETA terror chief snared in daring police raid on French town – 11 March 2011

Irish Times — French police arrest senior Eta activists – 11 March 2011

Washington Post — French police arrest 4 Basque ETA suspects – 11 March 2011

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A former senior Serbian police official was convicted Wednesday by a UN tribunal for his part in the “campaign of terror” against Kosovans in 1999. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) sentenced Vlastimir Ðorðevic to 27 years in prison for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

During the conflict in 1999, Ðorðevic was an assistant internal affairs minister and the head of the public security department–the equivalent of chief of police in many countries–as well as a close aid to former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic. Ðorðevic was found guilty of taking part in a “joint criminal enterprise” in 1999 along with officials such as Milosevic in order to change the ethnic balance of Kosovo by engaging in a “widespread campaign of terror and violence.”

This campaign of terror included murdering, deporting, and forcibly transferring ethnic Albanians, many of which were civilians. The court found Ðorðevic to be responsible for the murder of “not less than 724 Kosovo Albanians” who were murdered by Serbian forces. The court found that “[i]n the large majority of cases the victims, including many women and children, were civilians, who were unarmed and not in any way participating in any form of armed conflict.”

Ðorðevic asserted that he had no control over the responsible Serbian forces and instead he oversaw operations geared toward the “terrorists” of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The court rejected these claims, finding that Ðorðevic’s participation in the joint criminal enterprise was “crucial to its success” and that Ðorðevic exercised “effective control” over the Serbian police forces who committed the crimes.

The court cited examples to show that the Serbian police forces’ conduct was not part of any police operation to find and arrest terrorists. In March of 1999, Serbian polices forces shot and burned 114 men and boys. On that same day in another city, the police killed 45 members of one family. Serbian police forces also lined up 19 women and children and shot them.

Ðorðevic was also found responsible for the mass deportation and forcible transfer of over 200,000 Kosovo Albanians, though according to the court that number is a conservative estimate and the true numbers are likely much higher. The presiding judge stated that “Kosovo Albanians left Kosovo because they were specifically ordered to do so by Serbian forces, or because the conduct of Serbian forces caused them to leave, in particular by shelling, shooting, killing and by burning houses and other buildings in their villages, towns and cities.”

Additionally, the court found that Ðorðevic played a “key role” in concealing the killings of Kosovo Albanians. Ðorðevic directed a coordinated operation to remove evidence of the killings committed by Serbian forces by transporting the bodies in trucks and burying them in mass graves. In 2001, 744 individuals were exhumed from a mass grave near Belgrade.

The ICTY has indicted 161 persons for serious violations of humanitarian law committed in the former Yugoslavia from 1991-2001. Proceedings against 125 have concluded. Ðorðevic is the eighth former senior Serbian official to be tried by the tribunal, and the sixth to be convicted.

Following Ðorðevic’s conviction on Wednesday, Amnesty International called on Serbian officials to continue investigating. The Director of Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Programme said, “Amnesty International welcomes the conviction of Vlastimir Ðorðevic, but calls on the Serbian authorities to redouble their efforts to ensure that all police officers and others suspected of the murder of ethnic Albanians and involvement in the cover-up operation, are brought to justice.”

For more information, please see:

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL — Serbia must pursue others after Kosovo murders conviction — 24 Feb. 2011

UN NEWS CENTRE — UN tribunal convicts former Serbian police official for crimes in Kosovo — 23 Feb. 2011

ICTY PRESS RELEASE — Vlastimir Đorđević Convicted for Crimes in Kosovo — 23 Feb. 2011

AFP — Serb police general gets 27 years for Kosovo ‘terror‘ — 23 Feb. 2011

BBC — Serbian police chief jailed over Kosovo murders — 23 Feb. 2011

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MISNK, Belarus — On Thursday, Belarusian opposition member Vasily Parfenkov was sentenced to four years in a high-security prison for taking part in the mass protest following the widely-disputed re-election of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in December 2010. Parfenkov was convicted of breaking a window at the parliament building during the protest. Parfenkov denies damaging any property.

Mass protests occurred after the December 19th re-election of Lukashenko, spurred by reports of fraud and vote-rigging by independent observers. Hundreds of people were detained following the protests, and opposition leaders were arrested and their homes and offices were raided. Parfenkov, who campaigned for opposition candidate Vladimir Neklyayev, is the first opposition member to stand trial. 37 other opposition leaders and 5 presidential candidates have been charged with inciting mass riots and await trial.

Parfenkov’s trial lasted barely seven hours and the prosecution alleged Parfenkov and others caused damage to the parliament building totaling about $4,600. The prosecution initially asked for a six-year sentence. Parfenkov admitted to taking part in the protest, but said he did not break any windows or otherwise damage the building. In addition to being sentenced to four years in a maximum security prison, Parfenkov was ordered to pay $4,700 to compensate for damage and his part in, according to the judge, a “lawless mob.”

Rights activists said they had almost no access to the trial proceeding because police in plain clothes used most of the 40 available seats. Vesna organisation chief  and rights activist Ales Belyatsky told the AFP that “[t]he court heard absolutely no evidence of there being any mass disturbances.” Belyatsky said, “[t]he accused admitted that he took part in an unsanctioned demonstration and pushed a wooden fence a few times.” Belyatsky further noted that “[t]hese crimes should be qualified as hooliganism [and h]e should have been sentence to 15 days in jail.”

In a separate development, the Justice Ministry revoked the license of four lawyers representing opposition activists for “gross violations.” The suspended lawyers are effectively barred from practicing their profession. The opposition activists who lawyers were suspended will now be represented by state-appointed attorneys. Garry Pogonyailo, a rights activists and former defense lawyer who lost his license, told the AFP that appointed lawyers “defend only formally, and very rarely show any enthusiasm.”

Parfenkov’s trial and sentencing has drawn sharp criticism from other countries and human rights organizations. The United States and European Union have spoken out against the continuing crackdown in Belarus, including shutting down human rights offices in Belarus as well as trying political prisoners. The US and EU have imposed sanctions, banning Lukashenko and 150 other Belarusian officials from 27 EU countries and freezing the assets of many officials. Poland has been particularly harsh in its criticism of the Lukashenko regime, and Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski said on Sunday that his “country’s authorities will most favourably consider requests for political asylum by Belarussians engaged in pro-democratic activities.”

On Monday, the UN High Commission for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, spoke out against the trial and sentencing of Parfenkov “for exercising his right to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.” Pillay indicated that the length and condition of the pre-trial detentions of the other opposition leaders awaiting trials do not comply with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Pillay’s office has also received continued reports of intimidation and harassment of lawyers, journalists, and non-governmental organizations in Belarus.

Pillay stated, “I have stressed before to the Belarus Government and I shall say it again: States have a duty to protect human rights defenders, journalists and civil society from threats, retaliation or pressure stemming from the legitimate exercise of their work in defence of human rights.”

For more information, please see:

UN NEWS CENTRE — Belarus: UN rights official speaks out against sentencing of political opponents — 21 Feb. 2011

WASHINGTON POST — Trials begin for Belarusan protesters amid criticism — 20 Feb. 2011

REUTERS — Polish leader offers asylum to Belarus opposition — 20 Feb. 2011

IRISH TIMES — US condemns Belarus trials and imprisoning of protester — 19 Feb. 2011

AFP — Belarus sentences protester to four years in jail — 18 Feb. 2011

WSJ — Belarus Sentences Opposition Activist to Four Years in Prison — 17 Feb. 2011

AFP — Belarus tries opposition, suspends defence lawyers — 17 Feb. 2011

BBC — Belarus dissident Vasily Parfenkov jailed for protest — 17 Feb. 2011

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

TIRANA, Albania — Tens of thousands of opposition protesters marched through Tirana on Friday, demanding the current government of Albania resign over allegations of corruption. This peaceful protest occurred almost a month after a similar protest turned into a riot and resulted in the death of four demonstrators.

Members of the opposition planned the demonstration in an effort to force Prime Minister Sali Berisha to resign and to hold an early election because of allegations of corruption and vote-rigging in the 2009 general election. Estimates of the size of the protest differ greatly, with opposition estimates at 200,000 people and police estimates at 7,000. People filled the main boulevard in Tirana, some shouting “Sali go” and “Prime Minister you are a murderer” and holding signs that said things like “Justice” and “We want early elections.” The demonstration ended outside of government headquarters, which was surrounded by dozens of police in riot gear.

Recent rallies have been in response to the publication of a video which alleges government ministers have been organizing corrupt deals. That scandal resulted in the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Ilir Meta. Parliament lifted his immunity from criminal prosecution on Wednesday, and prosecutors are expected to file corruption charges soon. Tensions between the ruling party and the opposition Socialist party have been high since the resignation of Meta and the protest last month that left four demonstrators dead, and involved sticks, stones, and Molotov cocktails from demonstrators and tear gas, water canons, and live ammunition from the police.

In response to the opposition protest on Friday and to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism in Albania, the Albanian government held a rally to show its strength on Sunday. The rally was held at a central square in Tirana during an open-air concert. Prime Minister Sali Berish spoke at the rally, assuring the crowd of tens of thousands of supporters that “no one will come to power through violence.”

Albania, one of Europe’s poorest countries, is a member of NATO and is currently seeking to join the European Union. However, the EU has stated that Albania has not done enough to cure government corruption. Both the EU and US. officials have urged restraint on both Berisha’s government and opposition forces.

“We are the only hope to give an end to the injustice and give Albania a fair governance,” Socialist leader Edi Rama said in a speech to protesters on Friday. “We do not want to come to power through demonstrations but we shall keep on demonstrating to oust this government. Here are the people asking for fresh, free and fair elections.”

For more information, please see:

AFP — Albania marks 20 years after communism — 20 Feb. 2011

AP — Albanian ex-PM loses immunity, can be investigated — 19 Feb. 2011

AFP — Tens of thousands in anti-government protest in Tirana — 19 Feb. 2011

AP — Albanians hold new anti-government protest — 18 Feb. 2011

ALBANIAN ECONOMY — Albania Opposition Plans “Anti-Mubarak” Style Rally — 18 Feb. 2011