News

Peace Agreement Reached Between Philippines and the MILF

By Brian Lanciault

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MANILA, Philippines– Representatives from the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Saturday signed the final piece of the four annexes to the Framework Peace Agreement, completing a vital cornerstone to a more than decades-old peace process.

Philippines chief negotiator, Miriam Coronel Ferer, shake hands with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief negotiator, Mohagher Iqbal, as they exchange peace agreements between both parties at the GPH-MILF Formal Exploratory Talk in Kuala Lumpur. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

Representatives led by Presidential Peace Adviser Secretary Teresita Deles, government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer and her counterpart in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Mohagher Iqbal, met late in the afternoon Saturday and affixed their signatures to a several page document, the annex on normalization and addendum on Bangsamoro waters.  The resolution came at the end of four days of negotiation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“Today the government and the MILF jointly signed the annex on normalization, the last of the four Annexes to the GPH-MILF Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB), which was completed on 15 October 2012. This paves the way for the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). This is indeed a long-awaited moment that is a gift to our people at the start of a new year of renewed hope and commitment,” Deles said.

Earlier, negotiators from both sides signed the annexes regarding transitional arrangements and modalities, revenue generation and wealth and power sharing.

“Long live peace,” those witnessing the signing of the landmark document during the 43 exploratory talks in Malaysia cheered. Video footage of the event was streamed live across the nation.

Malaysian facilitator Datu Abdul Gaafar Tengku said: “I am very proud to be part of this process. I’ve witnessed in 1986 the People Power and now this.”

Malaysia has played the role of a third party facilitator of the talks since 2004.

Iqbal said the signing of the normalization annex had been an emotional matter.

“All these documents that we had signed are important, but the annex on normalization and addendum on Bangsamoro waters is vital because it is the last of the four annexes that completes the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed in October 2012,” he said.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, who was in Kuala Lumpur to witness the event, said in his twitter post immediately after the signing of the last annex: “After more than a year of hard work, the peace panel in a moment of joy!”

A substantial portion on the annex on normalization includes the decommissioning of weapons from members of the MILF.

Coronel, during a video streamed press briefing, said the decommissioning and demobilization will be carried out in a multi-phase process.

“It will be gradual,” she said.

The MILF boasts some 12,000 fighters and the normalization process would involve the “decommissioning” of the firearms used by the rebels.  Provisions provide for  the absorption of a number of them into the police force of the yet to be created Bangsamoro.

With the completion of the four annexes, Coronel said negotiators can now proceed to crafting the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in order to complete the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.

The BBL is set to be drafted by the Transition Commission which Iqbal also heads, but would also have to pass through a congressional vote, and would be subjected to a plebiscite in areas covered by the FAB.

The conflict in southern Philippines has cost the lives of an estimated 150,000 combatants and civilians over the last four decades.

For more information, please see:

The Australian– Philippines peace deal nears for Muslim south–26 January 2014

Gulf News– Philippines steps closer to Moro peace–25 January 2014

Inter Aksyon– Lacierda: Annex on Normalization signing is President Aquinoas defining moment–26 January 2014

The Wall Street Journal– Philippines, Rebel Group Step Closer to Peace–25 January 2014

New Deaths Make Ukrainians Unsure How Long Tensions Must Continue

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KYIV, Ukraine – Continued tensions sparked fatalities in Ukraine, as government and opposition leaders called a fragile truce. Meanwhile, the country’s neighbors fought over what message to send Ukraine.

Violence flared amidst anti-government sentiments that have continued in Ukraine since late November 2013. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

On 22 January 2014, clashes between activists and police ended with two dead for the first time since anti-government protests began in late November over Ukraine’s decision to back out of EU treaty talks.

Ukrainian authorities identified one of the deceased as Serhiy Nihoyan, the son of Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh. In December 2013, Nihoyan travelled from his home in eastern Ukraine to join the protests. The other man shot was a Belarusian citizen, Mikhail Zhyznewski, who joined the protest with Una-Unso, a Ukrainian far-right group. A third activist was later found dead in a forest near Kyiv, after his abduction last week.

In this light, Ukrainian opposition leaders began to observe a fragile truce, which may lead to a meeting with President Viktor Yanukovych, who asked parliament to hold an emergency session to discuss the ongoing crisis.

The speaker said the session will address the opposition’s  demand to remove government officials.

Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko asserted that he would lead pro-EU protesters “on the attack” if elections were not called. Ukrainian media outlets report that activists took over reigional state administrations in western cities; namely, Lviv and Rivne. The governor of Lviv, Oleg Salo has been forced out of office.

On 23 January 2014, Head of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso received assurances that President Yanukovych will not declare a state of emergency, after Barroso and Yanukovych spoke over the phone.

In the past week, hundreds of activists and dozens of police have been injured near Kyiv’s Independence Square.

Klitschko urged both the protesters and police cease all use of force until his talks with Yanukovych were completed. He planned three main demands to the talks:1) a snap presidential election; 2) the cancellation of the new anti-protest laws; and 3) the resignation of the government.

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said opposition leaders should be “more humble” and “move away from the language of ultimatums.”

Azarov denied police responsibility for the deaths, saying that live ammunition was not carried.

The European Union promised that it would “rethink” its relationship with Ukraine if there was a “systematic violation of human rights.” Additionally, the United States accused Ukrainian officials of failing to “engage in real dialogue” and revoked the visas of “several Ukrainians who were linked to the violence.” Russia then accused the EU and US of improperly interfering in Ukrainian affairs.

To achieve peace, however, Ukraine must listen to its people above any foreign body.

For further information, please see:

CNN International – Ukraine: No Deal in Talks between Government and Protesters – January 24, 2014

Human Rights Watch – Ukraine: Police Beatings, Kidnappings in Kiev – January 24, 2014

BBC News – Ukraine Protests: Crisis Talks after Day of Bloodshed – January 23, 2014

Bloomberg Businessweek – Ukraine Opposition Urges Continued Truce – January 23, 2014

Russian Authorities Searching for “Black Widow” Suspected of Planning Suicide Bombing at Sochi Games

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SOCHI, Russia – Russian authorities are searching for a woman they believe to be planning to carry out a suicide bombing at the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Ruzana Ibragimova is suspected of plotting a suicide bombing on the Sochi Winter Games. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

Ruzanna Ibragimova, a 23-year-old native of Dagestan in the North Caucasus region, is thought to be the widow of an Islamic militant. She is deemed a “black widow”, as she is attempting to avenge her husband’s death through an attack. Ibragimova is believed to have traveled to Sochi earlier this month, somehow managing to penetrate strict security at the site of the Games. Two other females also allegedly planning to carry out suicide bombings are wanted in Sochi.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is conducting one of the largest security operations in the history of the Olympics, as over 30,000 police and Russian ministry troops have been deployed to the area. Authorities have severely limited access to Sochi by the public. Wanted posters with the images of the suspected suicide bomb-plotters have been put up in the area.

The Russian government considers Islamist militants from Dagestan and the nearby republics of Ingushetia and Chechnya to be a major security threats to the Sochi Games. Security fears have been increased after two suicide bomb attacks killed 34 people in the southern city of Volgograd back on December 29th and 30th.

Several countries’ Olympic associations have been sent email threats regarding specific athletes; however most have been dismissed as not credible by the International Olympic Committee. The IOC stated that the emails seemed to be “a random message from a member of the public,” and did not pose a threat, but also stated that they would be taken very seriously.

British Olympic Association officials stated that they “receive correspondence of every type and it is not uncommon to come across something like this that lacks credibility. It is extremely important in matters such as this that everyone maintains a level head and a sensible perspective,” stated spokesman Darryl Seibel.

U.S. President Barack Obama offered America’s “full assistance” in making the Olympics “safe and secure” in a telephone conversation with the Kremlin on Tuesday, the White House stated. Two U.S. warships will be on standby in the Black Sea upon commencement of the Games on February 7th. The U.S. has also offered to supply Russia with hi-tech equipment to help detect improvised explosives.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Russia Hunts Suspected Female Sochi Suicide Bomber – 22 January 2014

The Independent – Race to Find Sochi “Bomber” Casts Chill Over Winter Olympics – 22 January 2014

Mirror News – The “Black Widow” Suicide Bomber Thought to be in Hiding in Winter Olympic Games City of Sochi – 22 January 2014

ABC News – Urgent Search for “Black Widow” Suicide Bomber, May Already be in Sochi – 20 January 2014

Syria Photographs Provide Evidence of Systematic Torture by Assad Regime

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – A team of international war crimes prosecutors and forensic experts has issued a report stating that there is “direct evidence” of “systematic torture and killing” by the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

This image from the report purportedly shows ligature marks around the neck of a prisoner. (Courtesy of The Guardian)

Their report, based on thousands of photographs of dead bodies of alleged detainees killed in Syrian government custody, would stand up in an international criminal tribunal, the group says.

“This is a smoking gun,” said David Crane, the first chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and one of the report’s authors. “Any prosecutor would like this kind of evidence — the photos and the process. This is direct evidence of the regime’s killing machine.”

The bodies in the photos showed signs of starvation, brutal beatings, strangulation, and other forms of torture and killing, according to the report.

A Syrian government defector codenamed “Caesar” provided testimony and 27,000 photographs as evidence used in the report; in all 55,000 such images were brought out of the country. According to the report, Caesar worked as photographer in the military police. Once the war started, he was required to document “killed detainees.”

A complex numbering system was also used to catalog the corpses. The system allowed intelligence agencies to identify the corpses and then later to provide false documentation that the person had died in a hospital. According to the report the system may have also served other purposes such as documenting each person’s death without involving family members, proving that orders had been followed, or perhaps it was simply the way it had always been done.

The fact that all the bodies were photographed, the report’s authors say, strongly suggests that “the killings were systematic, ordered, and directed from above.”

The report was authored by Crane, Sir Desmond de Silva, former chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice, former lead prosecutor against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

“Ultimately, the validity of our conclusions turn on the integrity of the people involved,” de Silva said. “We, the team, were very conscious of the fact there are competing interests in the Syrian crisis — both national and international. We were very conscious of that.”

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Why Syria’s Assad enters Geneva talks in a position of strength – 23 January 2013

CNN – Gruesome Syria photos may prove torture by Assad – 22 January 2013

Reuters – Dooming the Syria talks before they begin – 22 January 2013

BBC – Syria photos may prove claims of torture – 21 January 2013

Guardian – Syria regime document trove shows evidence of ‘industrial scale’ killing of detainees – 20 January 2013

Uganda Deports British Man for Videos on Laptop

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter

KAMPALA, Uganda – A British man who was facing charges in Uganda of possessing a gay sex video is to be deported, a court has ruled.

Bernard Randall being deported from Uganda (photo courtesy of AFP)

Bernard Randall, a 65-year-old retired man from Kent, denied a charge of trafficking obscene publications.

Uganda’s government passed the anti-gay legislation in December, punishing homosexuality with life in prison. The President blocked the bill, saying not enough members of parliament were present to ensure a fair vote.

The President can refuse a bill before parliament can force it into law without his consent.

Judge Hellen Ajio has ordered Randall deported within the next 12 hours.

An official from the prosecutor’s office said Randall was being deported because he had “kept on corrupting Uganda’s youth” and had not renewed his visa at this time.

“Lies!” reported Randall, although his lawyer said the ruling would not be appealed.

Randall’s lawyer asked for Randall to have at least five days before leaving the country.

Randall first appeared in court in Uganda in November, would have faced a possible two-year prison sentence if found guilty.

He was charged alongside his friend Albert Cheptoyek, 30, a Ugandan national with whom Randall shares a home with.

Cheptoyek denied the more serious accusation of “acts of gross indecency.”

If Cheptoyek is found guilty, he could serve a possible seven year sentence in prison.

Officials at the court said police would accompany Randall to his home and allow him to collect his personal belongings before escorting him to the airport.

The trial took place in Entebbe, just outside the capital, Kampala.

Cheptoyek told BBC that Randall was being held in the court’s cells awaiting his deportation.

BBC’s Catherine Byaruhanga said Cheptoyek still stood as the trial against both men had not officially started.

Randall was put on trial after thieves stole a laptop from his home.

On the computer was stills of Randall with another man, which were then published in the notorious homophobic tabloid newspaper Red Pepper.

Randall has come out as homosexual after the recent death of his wife of 40 years.

For more information, please visit:
BBC News – Uganda gay sex case Briton Bernard Randall to be deported – 22 January 2014
Gay Star News – Uganda to deport British man on trial for gay sex video – 22 January 2014
The Sun Daily – Uganda court orders deportation of Briton in gay sex case – 22 January 2014
Herald Sun News – Gay Briton Bernard Randall to be deported from Uganda after private pictures stolen – 22 January 2014
Google – Uganda court orders deportation of Briton in gay sex case – 22 January 2014