News

Ugandan Police Stop Gay Pride Parade

By Samantha Netzband 

Impunity Watch, Africa Desk Reporter

KAMPALA, Uganda– Police stopped gay pride marches just outside the capital of Kampala on Saturday September 24th.  This was after a statement on the 22nd from Simon Lokodo, minister of Uganda’s ethics and integrity cabinet, who told organizers they would be prosecuted if they marched.

The Gay Pride parade in Entebbe, Uganda

Activists marching in August 2015. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

Gay rights activist Frank Mugisha said more than 100 LGBTQ participants tried to participate in the activism activities.  Before activists could march, they were herded onto buses by police and bused back to Kampala.  Homosexuality is currently illegal in Uganda and Lokodo is known for his harsh anti-LGBTQ stance.  In the past, the march has been allowed to proceed without government intervention.

The crackdown on the gay pride march comes after a lawmaker tried to push through a harsher law on homosexuality.  The law would have allowed a sentence of death as punishment for homosexual acts.  This law was eventually determined to be unconstitutional by the courts in Uganda.

Despite the triumph in the courts the climate in Uganda has been similar to the blockade of the gay pride march.  A few months ago Lokodo authorized a violent raid at a pride celebration.  LGBTQ citizens are also continually outed, threatened, and killed for their sexual orientation.

For more information, please see: 

BBC – Ugandan police block gay pride parade – 24 September 2016

Citizen TV – Ugandan police stop gay pride parade – 24 September 2016

Fox News – Uganda: Police stop gay pride parade deemed illegal – 24 September 2016

Out – Uganda Official Orders Pride March Organizers to Cancel Parade – 22 September 2016

Xenophobia Threatens Peace in Germany

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

BERLIN, Germany —  A federal government report released by the German government warns of unrest in Eastern Germany due to far-right violence as the product of “xenophobia and racist attacks.”  The report warns that the line between protests and violence is becoming too blurred, and that the increasing violence tarnishes the reputation of East Germany as a place to do business.  Through the report, the German government urges civil society to take a stronger stand against anti-migrant demonstrations.

Activists in Leipzig, Germany protest the German government’s migrant policy (Photo Courtesy of VOA News)

Within the past year, attacks on refugees residing in East Germany have increased dramatically, including riots and arson attacks on refugee shelters.  Far right-motivated violence was far more prevalent in Eastern Germany last year, at a rate of 58.7 average occurrences per one million inhabitants.  This figure was significantly higher than the rate of 10.5 average occurrences per one million inhabitants in Western Germany.  The attacks are most commonly carried out in the Eastern German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

In 2015, Germany accepted over 1 million refugees into the country.  This movement increased support for the anti-immigrant party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is represented in all of the eastern federal states.  AfD is also known for their criticisms of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “open-door policy” toward asylum-seeking refugees.

Iris Gleicke, the federal government’s Commissioner for Eastern German Affairs, considers right-wing extremism to pose a “very seirous threat” to the social and economic development of new German states.  Gelicke, who grew up in Eastern Germany, stated that “Society should not look away when people are attacked or refugee shelters are set on fire. A lot is on the line for east Germany.”  On recent trips to Japan and California in attempt to draw investments into Eastern Germany, Gleicke claims that there was concern about whether their staff would be welcome in the Eastern German states, and whether or not their investments would be safe there.

Merkel recently expressed her regret for losing control over the refugee situation in Germany, stating that she wishes she could “turn back time” to better prepare the country for the influx of migrants.  Merkel’s statements come in the wake of her conservative’s party second electoral defeat within the last two weeks, as voters rejected her open-door policy towards refugees.

 

For more information, please see:

The Huffington Post — German Government Fears Xenophobia Will do Economic Harm — 21 September 2016

Independent — Angela Merkel Admits she Lost Control of Refugee Crisis in Germany and Would ‘Turn Back Time’ if she Could — 21 September 2016

Newsweek — Far-Right Violence ‘Threatens East German Economy — 21 September 2016

VOA News — German Government Warns Against Rising Xenophobia — 21 September 2016

With Election Postponed, Violence in Kinshasa Leaves at Least 17 Dead

By Samantha Netzband

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo-17 are dead after violent clashes in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Violence broke out after current President Joseph Kabila said the government would be postponing the country’s Presidential election.  The election, which was originally scheduled for later this year, will now be held in mid 2017.

Protesters yell in front of a burning car during a demonstration in Kinshasa. (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian.

Opposition leaders are frustrated with the President, claiming that he is trying to stay in office even though the country’s constitution does not allow a President to be in office for three terms.  President Kabila and other government officials are claiming that this is not the case.  The government says that there are not enough resources to hold a fair election and the postponement is only to ensure a fair transition.

The United States and other observers are considering sanctions against the Congolese government if elections are not held as planned later this year. Barnabe Kikaya Bin Karubi, Congo’s Chief Diplomatic Adviser,  is currently in the United States pleading with United States officials to not sanction the Congo’s government.

“There are two resolutions that were pending in the House to impose sanctions on Congolese officials,” Kikaya said previously. “My mission is to plead with American officials and to prove to them that sanctions are not a solution to help us resolve our problems.”

The toll of the delayed election is already being seen at home.  Three police officers and fourteen protesters have been reported dead.  A police officer was burned in retaliation for shooting at protesters, and one opposition leader says he saw 25 protesters gunned down by security forces.  While the government reports the death toll as 17, other reports have marked the number as closer to 50.

For more information, please see:

CNBC Africa – Clashes in Kinshasa leave 17 dead – 20 September 2016

Digital Congo – Balance insurgency opposition: Evariste Boshab announces a provisional toll of 17 dead – 20 September 2016

The Guardian – Clashes in Kinshasa leave 50 dead, say DRC opposition groups – 20 September 2016

UN News Centre – DR Congo: Ban condemns deadly clashes between protestors and security forces in capital – 19 September 2016

Mexico’s Chief Criminal Investigator Resigns After Mishandling 43 Missing Students Case

by Portia K. Skenandore-Wheelock
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO — Chief of the Criminal Investigation Agency Tomás Zerón de Lucio resigned his position on Wednesday, without citing a reason for stepping down.

Zerón was in charge of investigating the disappearance of 43 students from Ayotzinapa, a radical teaching college, who have not been seen since September 2014. Zerón has been heavily criticized for his handling of the case and parents of the students have been vocal in their complaints. The government has said the students were arrested by municipal police in Guerrero state in the town of Iguala on September 26, 2014 and handed over to a drug trafficking gang. The government asserts that the gang killed the students and incinerated their bodies at a garbage dumpsite. Lab results proving this type of incineration impossible were released a day before Zerón’s resignation.

A contentious investigation into the disappearance of 43 students that occurred nearly two years ago has failed to uncover answers. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

Two independent international investigations have dismissed the government’s claims. Zerón’s handling of the crime scene has been under investigation since April after a report made by a panel of foreign investigators and legal experts. Information had been revealed with video and image evidence that Zerón had visited the site of the alleged incineration with one of the accused gang members a day before crime scene evidence was found. Zerón failed to note this visit in any of the official records.

Families of the students held a press conference Thursday in response to Zerón’s resignation. They are critical of his appointment to another high-level government job on President Peña Nieto’s National Security Council. “Instead of punishing him they have given him a prize. It doesn’t change anything. We are going to continue taking to the streets to demand the return of our children alive, and to demand the truth,” said Hilda Hernández, a mother of one of the missing students. The families have been preparing a protest for September 26, the second anniversary of the students’ abduction.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Mexico Missing Students Inquiry Boss Quits – 15 September 2016

New York Times – Top Investigator in Case of Missing Students in Mexico Resigns – 14 September 2016

PanAm Post – Lead Investigator in Mexican Student Massacre Steps Down – 15 September 2016

Vice News – Mexico’s Botched Investigation of 43 Missing Students Leads Chief Investigator to Resign – 15 September 2016

 

Poland to Consider Proposed Law Criminalizing Abortions

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

WARSAW, Poland — Polish legislators have proposed a law which would criminalize abortions. If passed, the law would apply to both women seeking abortions as well as doctors and other medical staff who are involved in the performance of the procedures.  These parties would be subject to jail time between three months and five years for causing “the death of a conceived child.”  The proposed legislature was drawn up by a rightwing think-tank, with the support of the Catholic Church and the Law and Justice governing party.

Women in Kraków , Austria in April protested proposed anti-abortion legislation set to be considered in Poland (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian)

Current abortion laws in Poland permit abortion only in the cases of rape, when the fetus is diagnosed with a severe or irreversible disability or an incurable illness which is threatening its life, or if the woman’s life is in danger.  The new proposed law would permit abortions only when the mother’s life is in danger.

Protesters have staged demonstrations in opposition to this proposed legislation in cities across Europe.  Thousands of human rights activists gathered in Warsaw, Poland outside of the Polish parliament on Sunday, while another demonstration occurred outside of the Polish embassy in London, England.  Pro-abortion campaign called “Save Women” compiled approximately 215,000 signatures in opposition of the proposed legislature.  These protestors argue that if passed, this bill would encourage women to have “dangerous, back alley abortions.”

On the other side, the pro-life bill has collected approximately 450,000 signatures.  Mariusz Dzierżawski, head of Poland’s “Stop Abortion” committee, claims that 58% of Poles currently back the proposed legislature.  Dzierżawski says that the legislature is necessary because “about 1,000 unborn children are legally killed in Poland each year.”  In April, the Catholic Church voiced its support for the passing of the proposed legislature.  Polish bishops want the bill passed in order to “protect every person’s life from conception to natural death.”

Official studies estimate that less than 1,000 legal abortions are performed each year in Poland as it is – as doctors are scared of suffering the repercussions of performing the procedure.  However, other independent research groups have estimated that 80,000-190,000 women undergo the procedure annually in Poland, whether through the “back alley” methods, or by traveling abroad.

Polish legislators are set to consider the bill on Wednesday.

 

For more information, please see:

Life News — Poland Proposes New Law Banning All Abortions and Protecting Unborn Children — 19 September 2016

New Europe — Poland Tables New Bill to Criminalize Abortion — 19 September 2016

The Guardian — Thousands Protest Against Proposed Stricter Abortion Law in Poland — 18 September 2016

Motto — This Polish Law Would Imprison Women Who Have Abortions — 16 September 2016