By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

STRASBOURG, France – The European Court of Human Rights recently communicated a case to the Macedonian government, asking it to answer questions regarding the 2003 CIA rendition of Khaled el-Masri.  This is the first time the Court has asked a country to answer for its possible role in the CIA-led extraordinary rendition program.

In December 2003, el-Masri, a German citizen, was traveling by bus from his home in Germany to Macedonia.  His passport was confiscated at the border and he was detained, before being taken away by armed officers in plain clothes.  El-Masri was allegedly held in Macedonia for 23 days before being flown to a prison in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he claims he suffered abuse.  He was later flown to Albania and released on the side of the road.  Macedonia has denied any role in the abduction of el-Masri.

El-Masri’s case was brought before the European Court by the Open Society Justice Intiative, after el-Masri failed to have his case heard in US courts.

“With this case, the European court has gone beyond the US judiciary in responding to the torture and abuse associated with unlawful rendition,” said James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative.  “Khaled el-Masri has endured a terrible ordeal, and he has a right to justice and public acknowledgement of his mistreatment.”  Goldston further noted the importance of the case making it to this step, as only ten percent of cases brought before the court make it that far.

The CIA has denied rendering el-Masri.  However, according to the Open Society Justice Initiative, el-Masri was flown from Macedonia to Afghanistan via Baghdad on an aircraft that has been identified in other rendition cases.

Germany and Spain are conducting their own investigations into el-Masri’s abduction, and the Polish, Lithuanian, and British governments are currently being investigated over their possible roles in the CIA extraordinary rendition program.

For more information, please see:

ACLU – European Court Will Review Macedonia’s Role In Extraordinary Rendition – 14 October 2010

GUARDIAN – Macedonia called to account over extraordinary rendition case – 14 October 2010

OPEN SOCIETY JUSTICE INITIATIVE – Top European Court Demands Answers on CIA Rendition – 14 October 2010

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

ATHENS, Greece – On Thursday, police in riot gear fired tear gas and charged culture ministry workers who had barricaded themselves within the gates at the Acropolis in protest over unpaid wages.

A court order was issued saying protesters were obstructing access to the iconic site, and the police arrived to remove the protesters.  The police sawed through the fence and sprayed journalists, who were there to cover the event, with pepper spray to clear them out of the way.  Images then show police chasing the workers around the monument, with some workers grabbing onto the fence to prevent their expulsion from the site.  The Acropolis did not open after the removal of the protesters because long-term workers went on strike in solidarity.

The protesting workers claim they are owed five million euros from unpaid salaries over the course of the last two years.  They were also protesting the imminent layoff of 320 culture ministry workers at the end of October, when their contracts expire.

According to the AFP, Telemachos Hytiris, Deputy Culture Minister, offered to speak with the protesters, but the prospect of permanent contracts are not guaranteed.  “Thousands of short-term workers have been laid off until now, the law applies to all,” he said.

The protest at the Acropolis is one of many other staged protests over the recent months due to the austerity measures the Greek government has enacted in order to reduce severe debt.  Greece barely managed to avoid national bankruptcy last spring, and the EU and IMF provided a rescue loan. As a result, they are monitoring the measures Greece is taking to reduce spending.

According to the AP, “authorities are particularly sensitive to protests at the Acropolis, which is seen as an emblem of ancient democracy, particularly as the country largely relies on tourism for revenue.”

George Petalotis, a government spokesman, said, “This is not just an issue of damage to Greek tourism, particularly under the current, difficult circumstances.  It is also an issue of respect for this outstanding monument.”

The protesters have said they felt they had no other choice than to protest at the historic site since the government has ignored a series of court rulings in their favor.  Ioanna Maraveli, a union representative, asked.  “If we are breaking the law by keeping the site closed, is it not also against the law for (the government) to leave us unpaid?”

For more information, please see:

AFP – Greek riot police break up Acropolis protest – 14 October 2010

AP – Riot police, protesters clash at Acropolis – 14 October 2010

BBC – Greek police storm Acropolis protesters – 14 October 2010

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BELGRADE, Serbia — Thousands of far-right extremists threw petrol bombs, stun grenades, and stones at police protecting a Gay Pride march in Belgrade on Sunday. The police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Over 100 people, mostly police, were injured and over 200 hundred arrested during the march, which was seen as a major test of Serbia’s pledge to protect minorities and human rights.

Mark Lowen of BBC News was at the scene. “As Gay Pride ended the street protests gathered pace. I stood on Terazije boulevard watching demonstrators hurl rocks at armed police, who responded with tear gas. Some officers retreated, bleeding,” he reported.

Many of the anti-gay rioters wore black and hooded tops, according to the AFP, and  shouted “death to homosexuals” as they threw Molotov cocktails, stones, and glass bottles at the police. The police estimated that 6,000 rioters faced 5,600 policemen. The rioters also fired shots and hurled Molotov cocktails at the headquarters of the ruling pro-Western Democratic Party, as well as the state TV building and headquarters of other political parties.

According to the AP, Jelko Kacin, the official heading the European Parliament’s evaluation reports on Serbia, stated that the anti-gay riots “show an elementary lack” of tolerance for minority rights in Serbia and the “inefficiency” of the state in preventing such a trend. The official further noted that a “bad message” was sent which could hurt Serbia in its bid to join the EU.

Serbian President Boric Tadic said in a statement following the riot, “Serbia will guarantee human rights for all its citizens, regardless of the differences among them, and no attempts to revoke these freedoms with violence will be allowed.”

This was the first Gay Pride march in the city since 2001. The march planned for last year was ultimately cancelled because the government said they could not guarantee the safety of the participants in light of threatened anti-gay violence.

For more information, please see:

AP — Official: Anti-gay riots send wrong message to EU — 11 October 2010

AFP — Rioters attack Serb police, ruling party HQ at Gay Pride — 10 October 2010

MSNBC — Dozens hurt, arrested in clashes at Serb gay pride march — 10 October 2010

BBC — Scores arrested in Belgrade after anti-gay riot — 10 October 2010

CNN — Serbia gay pride march attacked with bombs, stones — 10 October 2010

EJF investigated fishing trawlers operating off the coast of Sierra Leone and Guinea.  The boats have official European Union numbers, which means they are licensed to sell to the European market.  The biggest landing point for fish from west African waters is Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, which senior EU officials have criticized for its slack inspection procedure.

The official European Union numbers carried by the boats also mean that those vessels should have passed strict hygiene standards.  However, the EJF report alleges that extremely unhealthy and hazardous conditions exist on board many of the vessels they investigated.

The report claims that the “worst cases meet the International Labour Organization definition of forced labor, including physical confinement, compulsion, retention of identity documents, and non-payment of wages.”  The report goes on to detail conditions where crew members have been “punched, beaten with metal rods, deprived of sleep, imprisoned without food or water, and forced to continue working after injury; the worst cases of violence include murder.”

Some workers are forced to work in areas sorting fish with no ventilation and temperatures well over 100 ˚F.  Photographs and video show living quarters where the ceiling is less than a meter high, or where wooden structures are perched precariously on deck in danger of “being washed over the side.”

EJF alleges that workers are drawn from rural areas of countries like Vietnam or the Philippines, as well as locals, with the promise of higher wages than they could earn at home.  It’s only when they get to the boat that they find those promises never materialize – usually after their passports have been taken away.

The report details one case of a vessel fishing illegally in Sierra Leonean waters,  where “[local] crew members had been picked up in Freetown and taken on without contracts and were not given cash payment.  Instead they were paid in boxes of frozen ‘trash’ fish, which is the bycatch rejected by the European market.

EJF did not originally intend to investigate human rights abuses, but rather focus on illegal fishing practices.

Duncan Copeland,  an EJF investigator, said, “We didn’t set out to look at human rights but rather to tackle the illegal fishing that’s decimating fish stocks, but having been on board we have seen conditions that unquestionably meet the UN official definition of forced labour or modern-day slavery.”

For more information, please see:

MSNBC – Report finds slave-like conditions on fishing vessels – 30 September 2010

GUARDIAN UK – Modern-day slavery: horrific conditions on board ships catching fish for Europe – 30 September 2010

AOL NEWS – Slavery Found on Fishing Boats Supplying Europe – 30 September 2010

EJF – EJF Releases New Report – 30 September 2010