News

Church Raid Bullet Removed from Infant’s Brain

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – A bullet lodged in the brain of an infant boy during an attack on a church near Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa has been removed following an operation, a hospital spokesman says.

Infant after bullet removed from his brain (photo courtesy of F2F)

 

The 18-month old boy survived a raid attack that left six people dead. The infant was shielded by his mother who was shot and the bullet passed through her and into her son’s head. This act saved her son’s life.

No group has admitted to the raid that occurred on March 23rd.

The bullet was removed during a three-hour operation at the Kenyetta National Hospital in the capital, Nairobi.

“The baby is fully awake and he is back to his old state,” chief neurosurgeon Mwangi Gichuru said.

Kenyan police say the attack on the church could be an “act of terrorism.”

At least two gunmen burst into the church and started shooting indiscriminately.

Blood-soaked Bibles and overturned chairs law strewn across the church’s floor after the shooting.

The shooters escaped the scene before authorities arrived. The investigation is still continuing.

Kenyan officials said on Tuesday that they have arrested more than 650 people in an ethnic Somali part of Nairobi.

In a statement, the Interior Cabinet Secretary said a thorough security operation has been launched aimed at arresting the perpetrators of the Monday attack.

The Secretary described the attack as “barbaric” and an “act of cowardice” against innocent and peace-loving Kenyans.

The Somali al-Qaeda group al-Shabab has carried out several attacks in Kenya since 2011, when Kenya sent troops into Somalia to battle it.

On Monday, six people were killed in explosions in the Eastleigh suburb of Nairobi, which has the largest Somali population. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Late Monday, Nairobi police chief Benson Kibui assured Kenyans they are safe and that the attackers would be found.

“We are here to ensure that you and me are secure, so there is no need to panic. The government is on top of issues investigating all this and terrorism. But whoever is doing this or whoever is collaborating with whatever is going on, we will nab him,” Kibui said.

For more information, please visit:
BBC News – Kenyan church raid: Bullet removed from boy’s brain – 1 April 2014
Face 2 Face Africa – Kenya’s church raid: Bullet removed from boy’s brain – 1 April 2014
Panorama – Kenyan church raid: Bullet removed from boy’s brain – 1 April 2014
Nigerian Tribune – Kenya’s church raid: Bullet removed from boy’s brain •Police arrest 650 after bomb attack – 2 April 2014
News.nom.co – Church attack: Bullet removed from Kenyan boy’s brain – 1 April 2013

Spanish Journalists Arrive Home After Being Kidnapped in Syria Back In September

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.

Espinosa reunited with his son. (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

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

Nine Nuclear Commanders Fired in Cheating Scandal

by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – Nine Air Force commanders were fired Thursday after being implicated in scandal involving cheating on nuclear proficiency tests.  Air Force leadership additionally will discipline dozens of junior officers posted at Malmstrom Air Force Base, a nuclear missile base in Montana.

Col. Robert Stanley, who was led Malmstrom’s 341st Missile Wing, reportedly resigned in light of the cheating scandal. (photo courtesy of BBC News)

Though not directly involved in the cheating scandal, the nine commanders held leadership positions at Malmstrom.  Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said the nine “failed to provide adequate oversight of their crew force.”  Those firings were in addition to Col. Stanley, who resigned from his post Thursday.

“Leadership’s focus on perfection led commanders to micromanage their people,” said Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command.  Wilson added “Leaders lost sight of the fact that execution in the field is more important than what happens in the classroom.”

Officers at Malmstrom were under pressure to achieve 100% proficiency on regular tests when only 90% was required, perhaps precipitating the cheating scandal.

James indicated Thursday that 100 junior officers were implicated in the cheating scandal, either for participating or overlooking the cheating. Nine of those officers were cleared of charges while the remainder received punishments ranging from letters of counseling to courts-martial. 30-40 of those officers are expected to be retrained and returned to duty.

Disciplinary measures are one of a variety of changes expected to affect the Air Force’s intercontinental ballistic missile programs, according to both James and Wilson.  Other issues to be addressed are morale and the micromanagement of lower-level officers.  James, while optimistic about the changes, cautioned that progress will likely be slow.

“The issues that we have before us today are tough, and they didn’t come overnight . . . While we have progress in certain areas in recent years, there is more work to be done,” James said.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel also expressed concern about the state of morale and discipline among nuclear officers.  Hagel instituted a review of nuclear forces to look into the impact of these issues.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Nine fired in US nuclear force cheating scandal – 27 March 2014

CNN – 9 Air Force commanders fired from jobs over nuclear missile test cheating – 27 March 2014

Fox News – Commanders fired in nuclear missile exam cheating scandal – 27 March 2014

Russia Today – Nine nuclear base commanders fired from US Air Force over cheating scandal 27 March 2014

The Washington Post – Nuke test cheating linked to flawed leadership – 27 March 2014

Same-Sex Marriages Begin in Britain

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.

The first same-sex marriage ceremonies took place as early as 12:01 a.m. on 29 March 2014. (Photo courtesy of Irish Times)

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

Japan Releases Death Row Inmate after 48 Years, Evidence Found to be Fabricated

By Brian Lanciault

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

TOKYO, Japan–After forty-eight years of professed innocence and incarceration, thirty of which were in solitary confinement, Iwao Hakamada was freed Thursday. On June 10, 1966 when two children and their parents were stabbed to death and their home set ablaze, Hakamada, the longest-serving death row inmate in the world, was arrested, thrown in jail and ultimately sentenced to death for it.

Iwao Hakamada, former Japanese featherweight champion, was held for 48 years on death row, and finally released on Thursday after a tribunal determined that evidence was fabricated. (Photo courtesy of Reuters).

Hakamada, a former professional boxer who is now 78, was released Thursday morning after a Japanese court concluded investigators had likely fabricated evidence during his 1968 trial, according to Associated Press reports. Hunch-backed and wearing a yellow button-down, he struggled into an awaiting car, surrounded by a crowd flashing cameras. The decision to free him comes a month after the exoneration and release of America’s longest-serving death row inmate, Glenn Ford.

Blood on a shirt prosecutors alleged Hakamada wore during the family’s murder turned out not to contain his DNA. The court ordered a retrial, calling Hakamada’s original verdict an injustice. Prosecutors reported that they will seek appeal.

The order marks only the sixth time in Japan’s postwar history that a death row inmate has been granted retrial. The decision is expected to ignite more criticism of a capital justice system that has come under attack before. Japan and the United States are the only two Group of Seven nations to maintain the death penalty, and it holds high popularity in Japan.

Critics report significant problems with the system. Death row inmates, who are hanged, don’t know the date of their execution until the morning of the event. “For decades,” Reuters reports, “Japan did not even officially announce that capital sentences had been carried out.” Perhaps most troubling of all, police obtain confessions in closed-door interrogations, opening the door for false or fabricated confessions.

This is exactly what Hakamada claims happened to him.

In 1966 Hakamada had taken a job in the town of Shimizu situated along Japan’s southern coast at a food-processing factory. On June 30 of that year, the factory’s manager and his wife and two children were found stabbed to death. Someone had also stolen 200,000 yen — $2,000 –from their house, which had been razed.

Two months later in August, Hakamada was arrested, charged with murder, robbery and arson. While in custody, he said he did it. He later recanted the confession, but it was too late. On September 11, 1968, a three-judge panel sentenced him to death.

The case wasn’t nearly as solid as it appeared. The sentencing haunted one of the judges. “I have thought about his trial for many years,” Judge Norimichi Kumamoto told reporters in 2007. ”The guilty verdict was based solely on Hakamada confessing to the killings. But he confessed after being confined and tortured in a small room for 20 days. … The police use shocking, barbaric means to extract confessions and those who make them do so only out of despair.”

“I have felt sadness and disappointment over this,” Kumamoto continued.

Despite that admission, Hakamada languished on death row for seven more years, always unsure if every day was to be his last. He was eventually admitted into the Guinness Book of World Records as the globe’s longest-serving death row inmate.

If previous cases offer guidance, Hakamada’s chances at retrial are good. Four of the other five death row inmates who were tried a second time were acquitted. The other case is pending.

For more information, please see:

The Telegraph– World “longest serving” death row prisoner released–27 March 2014

Washington Post– Japan frees world’s longest-serving death row inmate after more than 45 years— 27 March 2014

Japan Times– Hakamada released after 48 years— 27 March 2014

ABC News– Japan Frees World’s Longest-Held Death Row Inmates— 27 March 2014