By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MADRID, Spain – Faced with political and economic pressure from China, Spanish legislatures continued support changes to Spanish universal jurisdiction law. Human rights groups chastised the move as a step backward in international law.

 

Almost two decades ago, Spain enacted legislation to support universal jurisdiction. The doctrine allowed Spanish judges to reach beyond their borders to investigate serious human rights abuses. In 1998, Spain made headlines by using the doctrine to arrest Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet in London.

When faced with pressure from the US regarding cases relating to Guantanamo Bay prisoners around 2009, Spain limited universal jurisdiction to cases that had a relevant connection to Spain, as long as no other national court would take the case.

In January 2014, the People’s Party (PP) tabled legislation that would curb the use of universal jurisdiction. The new law would essentially erase Spanish universal jurisdiction, applying the doctrine only for defendants who were Spanish citizens or residents, and only victims and public prosecutors could bring a case.

On 11 February 2014, Spanish Members of Parliament voted to continue support for a bill that limits the Spanish judicial power to try extra-territorial criminal cases. According to human rights organizations, the move would end Spain’s role as a leader in enforcing international justice.

PP Spokesman Alfonso Alonso defended the change, calling universal jurisdiction “inefficient” and something that “promises a lot but leads to nothing more than diplomatic conflicts.”

The vote came after a Spanish court ordered Interpol to issue arrest warrants for Chinese officials, including former President Jiang Zemin, for decades-old human rights abuses. While Spain sought to deepen trade relations with China to boost the European country’s economy, the court order caused China to issue a sharp rebuke.

“China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed to the erroneous acts taken by the Spanish agencies in disregard of China’s position,” said a foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying. “But I believe this incident concerns the sound development of bilateral relations, so we hope that the Spanish government can properly deal with this matter and tell right from wrong.”

“This reform makes it even harder to probe into severe human rights abuses,” said Ignacio Jovtis, of Amnesty International Spain. AIS is among nearly two dozen human rights groups urging the government to abandon the change. “It’s a step backwards for human rights and justice.”

Reed Brody, of Human Rights Watch, expressed concerns over the double standards in international justice. “It’s OK to use international justice for El Salvador, Chile and Chad, but when it comes to US or China or Russia, there’s no justice. That really threatens to undermine the entire architecture of international justice.”

To ensure accountability for atrocities committed in the world, the world must deeply consider whether those with great power should run in the face of great responsibility.

For further information, please see:

Euronews – Spain Bows to Chinese Pressure and Backs Law to Curb Pioneering Judges – February 12, 2014

Guardian – Spain Moves to Curb Legal Convention Allowing Trials of Foreign Rights Abuses – February 11, 2014

Reuters – China Bristling, Spain Seeks to Limit Its Judges’ International Rights Powers – February 11, 2014

CNN International – Spanish Judge Issues Arrest Warrants for China’s Former President, Prime Minister – February 10, 2014

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BERN, Switzerland – By narrow margin, Switzerland passed a referendum that curbs immigration from European Union countries. As several leaders threatened retaliation, others hoped that they might take political office on a wave of anti-immigrant hatred.

On 9 February 2014, Switzerland voted narrowly to limit workers from its European Union neighbors by limiting the country’s open-borders treaty; specifically, by removing EU citizens’ equal footing in the Swiss labor market. Leaders throughout Europe threatened to retaliate, and EU officials warned that the referendum could threaten Switzerland’s access to the bloc’s 500 million consumers.

Anchored by economic powers Germany and France, the bloc stretches from Portugal to Latvia and from Ireland to Greece.

While Switzerland is a neutral non-EU country, the referendum’s motivating hatred toward immigration has been increasing in EU Member States throughout the region.

The vote aroused fear that Swiss citizens might reflect the zeitgeist of Europe, where right-wing populists fill the political spotlight has become with an anti-immigration agenda.

“Switzerland is playing the role of a pioneer for the whole of Europe now,” said Chairman Toni Brunner of the Swiss People’s Party, which backed the referendum measure and has launched an initiative to ban mosque minarets. “EU open borders, in the form they exist in today, will have to be discussed.”

Large Swiss companies argued against the referendum, stating that the country is in desperate need of employable talent from nearby countries. Switzerland’s unemployment rate is currently 3.5 percent. However, the Swiss People’s Party argued that the referendum was necessary to preserve Swiss identity in the face of 80,000 EU citizens moving through the Alps and changing the social fabric of Swiss cities, villages, and towns.

Although polls several weeks ago indicated the referendum would fail, a 50.3 percent vote of support allowed it to pass.

Since the multi-year debt crisis began, hard economic times have persisted in Europe, leaving immigrants the scapegoats. The stream of Syrian refugees into the region—particularly around Bulgaria—has also added to anti-immigrant nationalism.

In Greece, Golden Dawn’s paramilitaries declared war against immigrants, with several well-document attacks taking place in Athens.

Hungary’s far-right Jobbik party, known for its anti-Semetic, anti-Roma, and anti-immigrant positions, has moved from the outer rim of politics into Parliament, with heavy campaigns appearing well ahead of elections.

While binding treaties prevent EU Member States from legally blocking immigration within the bloc, several European leaders have sought ways to curb the flow of immigrants from the EU’s poorest countries, Romania and Bulgaria. Those leaders are expected to take up to one-third of the European Parliament’s seats following the May 2014 elections.

“Immigration is the big theme of 2014 in Europe,” said Director of Open Europe Mats Persson. “One of the big risks is that the European Parliament becomes quite polarized after the May elections, filled with federalists who want a closer union in Europe and nationalists who want exactly the opposite.”

The free movement of people remains under attack. But as history teaches, the constriction into oppression always re-opens and expands into freedom.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – EU to Review Swiss Ties after Immigration Vote – February 10, 2014

Expatica – Swiss Move to Limit Damage after EU Migrant Curb Vote – February 10, 2014

Geneva Lunch – Emotional Swiss Day: Votes, Olympic Medal – February 10, 2014

Reuters – Swiss-EU Power Talks on Hold after Immigration Vote – February 10, 2014

Washington Post – Swiss Vote to Limit Foreign Workers Captures Growing European Fears about Immigration – February 10, 2014

Euronews – EU Warns Switzerland All Treaties Will Be Reviewed after Anti-Immigration Vote – February 9, 2014

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – Russian police arrested fourteen gay rights protesters in Moscow and St. Petersburg on Friday, shortly before the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

In the incident Moscow, Russian police detained ten protesters in the City’s Red Square after they had been waiving rainbow flags. In the incident in St. Petersburg, four protesters were waving displaying a banner which included the language of the Olympic Charter which bars any form of discrimination.

A Russian law banning gay “propaganda” from reaching minors has elicited international criticism since its passing, with some calling for a boycott of the Sochi Olympic Games. Russian law also bans any unsanctioned protests.

Anastasia Smirnova, one of Russia’s leading gay activists and an arrestee in the St. Petersburg protest, posted a thank-you to supporters on her Facebook page, writing, “Can’t write much as phones are not permitted, and they are now calling us to sign papers. Cosmic hugs to you from our police station … Detention for a photo with a banner — isn’t it an amazing way to celebrate the Opening of the Games?”

Western powers have been urging Russia to rescind its anti-gay laws since before the commencement of the Sochi Games. On Friday, President Putin met with Dutch authorities who challenged the country’s gay laws, but President Putin opined that the Winter Olympic Games should be about sports and not about discussing political views.

Some world leaders, such as U.S. President Barack Obama, have chosen to stay away from the Games completely, while other world leaders appeared less troubled by the issue. Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Putin on the Olympics and praised their countries’ growing alliance. China’s state-controlled media has barely reported on the Russian anti-gay propaganda law.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is also in attendance at the Games, and has advocated for gay equality in sports. “Many professional athletes, gay and straight, are speaking out against prejudice. We must all raise our voices against attacks on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex people. We must oppose the arrests, imprisonments and discriminatory restrictions they face.”

Corporations have spoken out, either explicitly on the issue, as well. Google changed its homepage logo to depict illustrations of athletes skiing, sledding, curling and skating against a rainbow-colored backdrop and language from the Olympic charter that bans discrimination. The company has stated that it wanted the illustration to speak for itself. The logo has widely been interpreted as support for gay rights and a rebuke of Russia’s propaganda law.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Russian LGBT Activists Arrested on First Day of Sochi Games – 7 February 2014

The Independent – Winter Olympics 2014: Sochi Protesters Arrested Over Banner Citing Olympic Charter’s Words Against Discrimination – 7 February 2014

New York Times – Scores Detained in Russia Before Olympic Ceremony – 7 February 2014

Reuters – Gay Rights Protesters Detained in Russia as Games Start- Activists – 7 February 2014

 

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Homeland Security of the United States has warned airlines with flights to the Sochi Games in Russia that toothpaste containers, or similar personal hygiene items could be used as homemade bombs.

The DHS authorities issued the warning to both domestic, as well as international flights heading to Sochi, Russia for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Major news outlets have reported that anonymous government officials stated that ingredients could be brought on board to these flights and the bombs could be assembled either on the flight, or afterwards in the Sochi Olympic Village. The warning seems to be a proactive attempt to be consistent with Russia’s massive security efforts, as authorities did state that they haven’t identified any specific threat to the United States or the Sochi Games.

“While we are not aware of a specific threat to the homeland at this time, this routine communication is an important part of our commitment to making sure we meet that priority. As always, our security apparatus includes a number of measures, both seen and unseen, and DHS will continue to adjust security measures to fit an ever evolving threat environment,” a DHS official stated.

Security in the host city of Sochi has been amped up for several months, as the Russian government prepares for the Winter Olympics that start this week, while also combating the threat of militants operating in the Caucasus. The Kremlin has deployed over 30,000 security forces to the Sochi Olympic Village and has severely restricted access to the area. In the months leading up to the Olympics, terror groups have issued threats, and three suicide bombings in as many months have rocked cities across Russia.

“Out of an abundance of caution, [DHS] regularly shares relevant information with domestic and international partners, including those associated with international events such as the Sochi Olympics,” the DHS said in the issued statement on Wednesday.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Sochi 2014: U.S. Warns Airlines of Russia “Toothpaste Bomb” Threat – 5 February 2014

Reuters – U.S. Warns Airports Over Possible Bomb Ingredients in Toothpaste Tubes – 5 February 2014

Russia Today – U.S. Warns of Explosives in Toothpaste Tubes on Russia Flights Ahead of Olympics – 5 February 2014

TIME World – Americans Warn Airlines of Toothpaste Bombs on Sochi Flights – 5 February 2014

 

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PARIS, France – A French court began a genocide trial on Tuesday against a former Rwandan intelligence officer who fled Rwanda after the 1994 genocide.

In what has been promised to be the first of several prosecutions of former Rwandan officials, Pascal Simbikangwa appeared before a panel of judges in Paris to face the charges of complicity in genocide and crime against humanity. Simbikangwa, 54, had been sought under an international arrest warrant beginning in 2008. He had been in hiding on the island of Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean.

Simbikangwa could receive a sentence of life imprisonment if he is convicted. The initial indictment, drafted by Judge Olivier Leurent, stated that Simbikangwa had stashed a massive amount of weapons in his home, as well as harassing members of the minority ethnic group- the Tutsi. Simbikangwa is a Hutu, which was the ethnic group that constituted the majority of the government during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

The trial is expected to last seven weeks, and the panel of judges is expected to hear from 53 witnesses. The potential witnesses include Simbikangwa’s former neighbors back in Kigali, the Rwandan capital; French historians, and former Rwandan officials. The trial is scheduled to conclude with testimony from Tharcisse Renzaho, a former politician and prefect, who was sentenced to life in prison by the United Nations’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

France has widely been considered a refuge for Rwandan fugitives that participated in the country’s ethnic genocide, which killed over 800,000 people in 100 days back in 1994. Human rights groups see Simbikangwa’s trial an effort by France to shed this reputation, and end the protection of the fugitives.

France also has been accused of providing military training to the Hutus, and has never tried anyone accused of complicity in the Rwandan genocide. After restoring diplomatic relations with Rwanda in 2009, Paris appointed five judges to investigate the matter of the Rwandan fugitives and opened a police unit that specialized in genocide crimes.

In addition to the criminal case, five human rights groups have filed civil suits against Simbikangwa. On Tuesday, the civil plaintiffs included the Collective of Civil Plaintiffs for Rwanda, the group that first found Simbikangwa in Mayotte and filed a complaint against him.

In Europe, several countries including Belgium, a former colonial overseer of Rwanda, as well as Norway, have already brought Rwandans to justice in their countries.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Landmark Rwanda Genocide Trial Opens in Paris – 4 February 2014

BBC News – Rwanda Ex-Spy Chief Tried in Paris on Genocide Charges – 4 February 2014

France 24 – 20 Years On, France Confronts Rwandan Genocide – 4 February 2014

NY Times – Former Rwandan Intelligence Chief Goes on Trial For 1994 Genocide – 4 February 2014