News

Congress Investigates Secret “Cuban Twitter”

by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee request records from the US Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Cuban operations Thursday.  This request came after evidence emerged that the US government funded ZunZuneo, dubbed the “Cuban Twitter” by reports.

Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Foreign Relationship Committee, defended the program during hearings. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

The Associated Press reported early last week that the Twitter-like program, administered by USAID, provided social media service to Cuban citizens from 2009 to 2012 when federal grant money ran out.  The purpose of this “Cuban Twitter” was to promulgate information to undermine the communist government and gather demographic information on dissidents in Cuban.

The US government reportedly hid its involvement in ZunZuneo by creating a shell corporation in Spain to finance the operation.

Members of the Senates and House of Representative expressed concern about the program’s administration through USAID rather than an intelligence agency. “Why would we put that mission in USAID?” Republican Senator Mike Johanns asked, adding “Why wouldn’t you look at some other part of the federal government to place that mission? To me, it seems crazy.”

Documents obtained by AP show that the site’s early messages poked fun at the Castro government and were created by a satirist working for the social media project.  This conflicted with earlier statements by the Obama administration that the messages were not political in nature.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is Cuban-born, defended the pro-democracy operations carried out by USAID, saying the program was “so important to offer the other side of the story, the side that promotes American values: God-given values like freedom, justice or liberty.”

Other lawmakers were uncomfortable with the idea of USAID, an organization known for providing humanitarian aid without involving itself in political situations, conducting covert operations.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, chair of the Senate panel, said he had no prior knowledge of the Twitter-like operation, contradicting claims by SAID Administrator Rajiv Shah that Congress was properly informed.

Leahy later clarified that he was notified generally of the program, but not of the program’s risks, its political nature or the extensive efforts to conceal Washington’s involvement.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Senate requests information on USAID internet projects – 10 April 2014

ABC News – Senator: Aid Agency Laudable for ‘Cuban Twitter’ – 9 April 2014

National Public Radio – Was ‘Cuban Twitter’ Program Political Or Not? – 9 April 2014

TIME – USAID Denies ‘Cuban Twitter’ Was Meant To Subvert – 8 April 2014

The Washington Post – U.S. secretly created ‘Cuban Twitter’ to stir unrest – 3 April 2014

Italian Government Seeks EU Help As 4,000 Migrants Reach Shores In 48 Hours

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.

Migrants off the coast of Sicily in January, after a Naval rescue mission. (Photo courtesy of The Guardian)

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

Civil Suit Opened against Dutch State by Srebrenica Survivors

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.

The Mothers of Srebrenica, survivors of the 1995 massacre opened suit against the Dutch state, arguing that Dutch peacekeepers should have done more to prevent bloodshed. (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

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

District Court Judge Dismisses Suit Over Drone Strike Deaths

by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – A federal judge dismissed an action against top Obama administration officials Friday brought by family members of three American citizens killed in a drone strike in Yemen, including Anwar al-Awlaki.  While D.C. district court Judge Rosemary Collyer said the case “raises fundamental issues regarding constitutional principles,” she announced that she will grant the government’s motion to dismiss.

al-Alwaki, a radical Muslim cleric and US citizen, was killed by a drone strike in Yemen in 2011. (photo courtesy of The Guardian).

The ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights represented the families of the three men killed in the drone strikes: al-Awlaki, his son Abdulrahman, and Samir Khan, a naturalized citizen who moved to Yemen in 2009 to work for an English language magazine.  The suit named former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, CIA Director David Patraeus, and two commanders in the military’s Special Operations Command.

Judge Collyer, in her 41 page opinion, ruled that courts should hesitate to hold government officials personally liable for violating citizens’ constitutional rights during wartime.

“The persons holding the jobs of the named defendants must be trusted and expected to act in accordance with the U.S. Constitution when they intentionally target a U.S. citizen abroad at the direction of the president and with the concurrence of Congress,” Collyer wrote, adding “They cannot be held personally responsible in monetary damages for conducting war.”

The ruling, if it stands, suggests that the Judiciary has no role in evaluating the legality of the Executive’s decision to kill American citizens in overseas operations when officials have deemed those citizens to be terrorists.

Brian Fallen, a Department of Justice spokesman, stated that the district court reached the correct decision.  Lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights say they have not decided whether they will appeal the decision.

Lawyers from the ACLU were vocal about their distaste for the court’s ruling. “This is a deeply troubling decision that treats the government’s allegations as proof while refusing to allow those allegations to be tested in court,” ACLU lawyer Hina Shamsi said.

The Obama administration is separately fighting Freedom of Information Act requests brought by the New York Times and ACLU seeking disclosure of a memo authored by the Department of Justice laying out the legal justification for the strikes.  Presently a summary of that legal reasoning has been unclassified and made available to the public.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Judge dismisses lawsuit over drone strikes – 4 April 2014

The Guardian – Drone killings case thrown out in US – 4 April 2014

The New York Times – Judge Dismisses Suit Against Administration Officials Over Drone Strikes – 4 April 2014

Reuters – Lawsuit over American drone strikes dismissed by U.S. judge – 4 April 2014

The Washington Post – Judge dismisses lawsuit over drone strikes in Yemen that killed American Anwar al-Awlaki – 4 April 2014

Indian Court Orders Death Sentence for Three Rapists

By Brian Lanciault
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India–Three men were sentenced to death on Friday for two gang rapes committed last year in Mumbai.  These included an attack on a photojournalist that sparked protests in the city and raised fresh questions about attitudes to women in the world’s largest democracy.

Police escort one of the convicted rapists outside of a jail in Mumbai. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

A Mumbai court on Friday sentenced Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali and Mohammed Salim Ansari to death, the first time capital punishment has been ordered in a case of rape not involving the death of the victim.

“There was no chance of reformation in these men and this sends a strong signal to society,” special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters outside the court.

Women’s safety in India has been under the heavy scrutiny since the gang rape and murder of a student on a bus in Delhi two years ago.  The 2012 rape-murder provoked nationwide protests and the introduction of tougher sexual assault laws. Recently a stream of high-profile and highly publicized attacks has raised concerns that little has changed.

In this most recent case out of Mumbai, four men were convicted last week of gang-raping a photojournalist. The woman was attacked in the early evening of August 22 while on an assignment with a male colleague at an abandoned textile mill.

Three of the men were given the death penalty because they had also been found guilty of raping another woman at the same location in July. The fourth man received a life sentence and a juvenile charged for his involvement in the case is being tried separately.

“I think the court has given a distinct, definite and welcome verdict,” said Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police in Mumbai.

The attack on the photojournalist provoked a public outcry partly because Mumbai, India’s financial capital and the home of Bollywood, is considered one of the country’s safest cities for women. Mahalaxmi, the neighborhood where the two rapes took place, is a central district close to many new offices and bars. Since the attack, public scrutiny has been at a zenith.

For more information, please see:

BBC News–Mumbai gang rape: Death sentence for India rapists–4 April 2014

Voice of America–Indian Court Orders Death Sentence for Rapists–4 April 2014

Reuters–Three sentenced to death for gang rapes in Mumbai–4 April 2014

Channel News Asia–Indian court orders first death sentences for multiple rapes–4 April 2014