By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe Desk

MADRID, Spain – Amidst calls for separatist action, Madrid turned down a request for Catalonia to hold a referendum.

On 08 April 2014, Madrid refused permission for Catalonia to hold a Scottish-style independence referendum. The landslide vote settled at 299 to 47. Nevertheless, the President of Catalonia vowed to push ahead with plans to hold the referendum for the region just hours after Spain’s parliament overwhelmingly rejected the petition.

Earlier in the day Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had closed the door on the referendum insisting that it was not allowed under Spain’s constitution, following last month’s ruling by Spain’s Constitutional Court that a region like Catalonia could not “unilaterally” call a referendum on its sovereignty. He also warned that Catalonia’s independence would be economically disastrous for both the region and Spain.

“Together we all win and separate we all lose,” Rajoy told parliament. “This isn’t just a question of law, but of sentiment … I can’t imagine Spain without Catalonia, or Catalonia out of Europe.”

Rajoy warned that Catalonia’s isolation from Spain and the European Union would turn it into “the closest thing imaginable to the island of Robinson Crusoe.”

In response to Rajoy’s comment, Alfred Bosch, spokesman of the Catalan left-wing separatist party ERC said: “We are not Robinson Crusoe. Right now we are Friday, the servant, who can’t even choose his own name.”

“They are afraid of the vote of the Catalan people,” Artur Mas, President of the northeastern region said. “Some would like to present this as an end to the matter. But as the President of Catalonia, I have to tell them this is not the end. It is simply a new paragraph. Catalan Institutions will search through the legal frameworks to find away to continue with this consultation.”

Since the beginning of the economic crisis, separatist sentiment has soared, with growing resentment over “unfair” redistribution taxes from the wealthy region across the rest of Spain. Many believe that Catalonia’s distinct language and culture would fare better on its own. Mas has planned a referendum for 09 November 2014.

Of the region’s 7.5 million people, the latest polls have shown that about 80% in the region want the right to hold a referendum on independence and roughly half of Catalans voters would vote ‘yes’ to breakaway state.

During the debate Mr Rajoy also rejected comparisons with Scotland which will hold its own referendum on independence in September.

“Don’t talk to me about Scotland,” the Spanish premier said. “Because it responds to a very different constitutional and historic situation. If they had half the devolved powers (of Catalonia) they wouldn’t have taken the trouble they have.”

For further information, please see:

Euronews – Spain Rejects Catalonia Bid for Independence Referendum – April 09, 2014

Reuters – Catalan Leader Says Parliament Rejection Won’t Halt Referendum – April 09, 2014

Telegraph – Catalonia Vows to Continue Independence Fight after Referendum Snub – April 09, 2014

Deutsche Welle – Spanish Parliament Rejects Catalonia Independence Referendum – April 08, 2014

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

Pozzallo, ITALY – Approximately 4,000 immigrants have reached the shores of Italy over the last 48 hour, according to Italian officials, and Italy is calling on the European Union for help.

The Italian government has stated that the latest influx of immigrants has been the highest mass immigration the country has seen since its launch of a naval operation to rescue immigrants at sea. The naval operation, referred to as “Mare Nostrum,” was launched in light of two shipwrecks in October of 2013 that claimed the lives of over 400 migrants from Eritrea and Syria.

The Italian government reported a roughly 60 percent increase in asylum claims in 2013. Most of these claims were from those fleeing Syria. Italy’s Interior Minister, Angelino Alfano, estimated that 15,000 migrants had been rescued so far this year in the Mediterranean Sea, and up to 600,000 migrants from Africa and the Middle East are still ready to launch from Libya. Alfano called on the international community to set up “refugee camps” in Libya and stated that the next six months would be “extremely difficult” because favorable weather conditions meant more migrants would cross the Mediterranean Sea.

“The landings are non-stop and the emergency is increasingly glaring,” stated Alfano. “Europe must take the situation in hand. It cannot say that, having given 80 million euros ($110 million) to [the EU’s border control agency], the problem has been resolved,” Alfano stated.

The Italian Navy stated that of the 4,000 recent arrivals, it had rescued approximately 2,500 of the migrants, and further migrants were being aided by coastguard ships and merchant ships. Alfano also stated that “the procedure for expelling those who do not have a right to stay in Italy should be sped up, but we should welcome those who have a right to asylum.”

The recent influx of migrants comes amidst the buzz of European Parliament elections next month. Lawmakers have disagreed on the migrant influx. MP’s Davide Caparini and Nicola Molteni have urged Alfano to quell the arrivals “by turning them back” and have claimed that asylum-seekers are getting better treatment “than any Italian citizen.” Senator Luigi Manconi, however, the head of the human rights committee in Parliament, stated that the problem was Italy’s to bear.

“We are not facing an invasion, absolutely not. We have to criticize ourselves for not putting in the necessary measures in time,” Manconi said.

The Italian Navy stated that it has undertaken health checks on board of the vessels on which the migrants were rescued and taken the migrants to the ports of Augusta and Pozzallo in Sicily.

On Wednesday, six large tents were assembled in Pozzallo for some migrants, while others have been transported across the country.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Italy Sounds Alarm as 4,000 Immigrants Land – 9 April 2014

Deutsche Welle – Italy Alarmed Over Boat Migrant Influx – 9 April 2014

The Guardian – 4,000 Immigrants Reach Italy By Boat In 48 Hours, As Minister Calls For EU Help – 9 April 2014

Reuters – Italy Rescues 4,000 Migrants In 48 Hours In Escalating Crisis – 9 April 2014

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Survivors of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre filed suit against the Dutch government, arguing that Dutch peacekeepers should have prevented the bloodshed.

On 11 July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces overran the town of Srebrenica, a UN-protected safe haven for Muslims. General Ratko Mladic’s troops moved by lightly-armed Dutch peacekeepers in the safe area, where thousands of Muslims gathered for protection. As days followed, nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys were slaughtered and their bodies dumped in mass graves. The event has been called the worst bloodshed on European soil since World War II.

Mladic, dubbed the Butcher of Bosnia, and former Bosnian Serb political chief Radovan Karadzic are facing charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Hague.

In 2007, a victims’ group, the Mothers of Srebrenica brought suit in connection with the massacre. The Mothers of Srebrenica represents about 6,000 widows and victims’ relatives. They have been seeking justice for several years for the massacre, which the UN’s International Court of Justice has ruled genocide.

“They did not prevent the murder of thousands of civilians,” the group’s lawyer Marco Gerritsen told the Hague court, where the case is being heard.

“The Mothers of Srebrenica want the responsibility of the Dutch to be recognised and then compensation, even though this is less important to them,” said Semir Guzin, another victims’ lawyer.

“Of course, this procedure is not going to give us our sons and husbands back, but will bring a bit of justice,” Hatidza Mehmedovic, one of about a dozen representatives of the Mothers present at the hearing.

In 2013, the European Court for Human Rights ruled against the Mothers of Srebrenica, stating that the United Nations had immunity.

However, in September 2013, the Dutch Supreme Court ordered the government to pay damages to victims’ relatives. Those victims had been handed over to Bosnian Serb forces by Dutch soldiers. More recently, the Dutch state’s lawyer argued that the Netherlands had no direct control over the Dutch peacekeeping unit during the operation. Civil proceedings against the Dutch state had been put on hold pending the outcome of the case against the UN.

“It is about Dutch soldiers, but Dutch soldiers wearing blue helmets and therefore completely under UN control,” Gert-Jan Houtzagers told the court. “Dutchbat did what it could with a handful of men. They tried to protect as many refugees as possible. That didn’t work, but it’s twisting the facts to say they [Dutchbat] led people like lambs to the slaughter.”

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Srebrenica Survivors Sue Dutch Government – April 7, 2014

Deutsche Welle – Srebrenica Relatives Sue Dutch Government – April 7, 2014

Guardian – Srebrenica Massacre Survivors Take Legal Action against Dutch Government – April 7, 2014

Washington Post – Srebrenica Widows Sue Dutch Government – April 7, 2014

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MADRID, Spain – Two Spanish journalists that were detained for over six months in Syria finally arrived back in Spain on Sunday.

El Mundo staff correspondent Javier Espinosa and freelance photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova were both reunited with friends and family on the tarmac of the of the Torrejon de Ardoz military airport in Madrid.

The two journalists had were kidnapped back in September at the Tal Abyad checkpoint in the Syrian province of Raqqa. They were close to the Turkish border, and had been prepared to leave Syria after covering the situation for two weeks. The kidnappers were thought to be members of a group linked to al Qaeda and Syria and had not revealed their demands to free the two journalists.

“We want to thank everyone who has worried about us and who has made it possible for us to return home, and as you can see, we are perfectly well,” Espinosa stated at the airport on Sunday.

The two men later went to the El Mundo newsroom where they were greeted with ovation and tears of joy. “Thank you so much. I’m sorry for what we have made you go through,” Espinosa stated to those gathered in the newsroom.

El Mundo had reported early Sunday that the two men had been freed in Syria, but it did not delve into any details of their release.

Espinosa, 49, and Garcia, 42, have both traveled to Syria many times, often together. Garcia had been traveling with Espinosa even though he was not on assignment for El Mundo. Espinosa was previously kidnapped while covering the conflict in Sierra Leone, and Garcia was kidnapped in 2012 in Syria for nearly two weeks. In 2012, Espinosa was in a make-shift press center in Baba Amr in the province of Homs, where correspondent Marie Colvin of The Sunday Times of London and French photographer Remi Ochlik were both killed.

The most recent kidnappers of the two stated that they wanted to make sure that the two men were not spies. Espinosa and Garcia had been traveling with four fighters from the Free Syrian Army, who were also kidnapped, but they were released twelve days later.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Spanish Journalists Home After Syria Ordeal – 30 March 2014

BBC News – Syria Crisis: Freed Spanish Journalists Back in Spain – 30 March 2014

CNN – Report: 2 Spanish Journalists Kidnapped in Syria Arrive Home – 30 March 2014

Fox News – 2 Spanish Journalists Freed From Captivity in Syria – 30 March 2014

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

LONDON, United Kingdom – Britain recognized same-sex marriages at midnight on 29 March 2014, a historic change that many couples did not wait until dawn to celebrate.

Around the 1980s, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government passed a law that banned schools and local authorities from “promoting” homosexuality or depicting it as “a pretended family relationship.”

In 2003, Britain repealed that law without the large street protests against same-sex marriage that appeared in France. By 2005, British law provided a civil partnership that provided same-sex couples all legal protections and rights afforded heterosexual married partners, except for the label of marriage.

And in July 2013, Parliament legalized same-sex marriage by a wide margin, with the backing of Prime Minister David Cameron, who stated that no two people should be denied the right to marriage based on their sexuality. Polls demonstrated that two-thirds of Britons—especially young adult Britons—supported same-sex unions. However, BBC research suggested that a quarter of the women and half of the men surveyed would turn down an invitation to a same-sex wedding.

At midnight on 29 March 2014, Britain’s new same-sex marriage law came into effect. Couples began celebrating Britain’s first same-sex marriages within minutes. One marriage, that of Londoners Sean Adl-Tabatabai and Sinclair Treadway, included approximately one hundred guests at a town hall in Camden, and concluded at 12:10 a.m. Camden Mayor Jonathan Simpson officiated the ceremony. Adl-Tabatabai and Treadway emerged to loud applause, as well as Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You, Babe.”

“It’s amazing and surreal,” Adl-Tabatabai said. “It did feel like a historic moment.”

“For the first time, the couples getting married won’t just include men and women – but men and men, and women and women,” Cameron said in a statement. “When people’s love is divided by law, it is the law that needs to change.”

“What has amazed me is how much of Britain, how quickly, has moved toward backing us on this,” said columnist and former Conservative lawmaker Matthew Parris.

Britain exempted religious groups from conducting same-sex weddings, unless a group chose to opt in. While Quakers and Liberal Judaism have opted to conduct same-sex weddings, the Church of England, the country’s biggest faith, does not conduct same-sex weddings.

“These weddings will send a powerful signal to every young person growing up to be lesbian, gay or bisexual – you can be who you are and love who you love, regardless of your sexual orientation,” said Ruth Hunt, acting Chief Executive for leading gay rights charity Stonewall.

Scottish law will begin recognizing same-sex marriages in October 2014.

For further information, please see:

Aljazeera – UK Holds First Gay Marriage Ceremonies – March 29, 2014

BBC News – Swansea and Caerphilly Couples among First in UK to Have Same-Sex Weddings – March 29, 2014

Independent – Gay marriage: ‘When People’s Love Is Divided by Law, It Is the Law That Needs to Change,’ Says David Cameron as First Same-Sex Couples Tie Knot – March 29, 2014

Irish Times – First Gay Couples Marry in UK at Stroke of Midnight – March 29, 2014

TIMES – First Couples Wed as Gay Marriage Becomes Legal in UK – March 29, 2014