News

German Art Collector Says $1 Billion “Nazi-Looted” Art Collection is Rightfully His

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MUNICH, Germany – Cornelius Gurlitt, the German owner of over 1,400 artworks believed to have originally been stolen by the Nazis during World War II, has stated that he is the legal owner and will not voluntarily hand over the paintings.

 

The collection is thought to be worth over $1 billion. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

Gurlitt stated that the paintings had been acquired legally in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine. The collection is estimated to be worth over 1 billion dollars. It was found in Gurlitt’s Munich apartment back in March 2012.

The collection includes paintings by Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Otto Dix and Max Liebermann. Experts opined that many of the paintings and sketches are in excellent condition.

The works were discovered in Gurlitt’s home in March 2012 during a routine tax inspection. Most are believed to have been seized by the Nazis from their owners during World War II, and were long thought to have been lost or destroyed.

Gurlitt inherited the collection from his father, Hildebrand. Hildebrand was an art dealer who sold works which had been confiscated or bought by the Nazis, and Gurlitt contends that this latest collection was rightfully acquired. Authorities are conducting investigations to establish who the possible original owners of the paintings may be.

Gurlitt, 80, had been silent regarding the collection since the authorities discovered it, until now.

“I’m giving nothing up voluntarily,” he stated in the interview when asked whether he would return any works to their original owners. Gurlitt contended that his father obtained the works legally. He also accused authorities and the public of misrepresenting him, stating that he had already provided the authorities with enough evidence to remove any suspicion from him.

German prosecutors have said they do not have “any strong suspicion of a crime that would justify an arrest.”

Jewish groups have complained at the length of time it took the German authorities to unveil the artworks. Their existence became public at the beginning of November. Jewish families and museums believe the paintings were taken from them by the Nazis and are calling for their return. The collection is being held at an undisclosed location for the time being.

For more information:

ABC News – Hoarder of Nazi-Looted Art Treasures Calls Paintings the Love of His Life – 17 November 2013

BBC News – Nazi-Looted Art: German Collector Says He Owns Pictures – 17 November 2013

Haaretz – Munich Art Collector Spent His Life Among His Paintings and No One Else – 17 November 2013

CNN – Who Were the Mystery Men Behind Germany’s “Nazi-Looted” Art Haul? – 11 November 2013

 

 

DR Congo Officers on Trial for Rape and War Crimes

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

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo – About 39 to 41 military officers have been accused of war crimes. They are now on trial in eastern DR Congo.

Soldiers on trial for rape and war crimes (photo courtesy of BBC).

Most of the charges relate to the mass rape and other acts of sexual violence against more than 130 women and girls in November 2012 by a retreating army.

The charges also include murder and looting, governor of North Kivu province, Julien Paluku, told AFP. He also said that judges had arrived from Kinshasa, the capital, to reinforce those in Goma, the eastern regional hub where the trial is taking place.

Correspondents say the military trial comes after months of international pressure after 23 soldiers were initially suspended but not charged.

The UN then threatened to stop funding army units suspected of abuses.

A high-ranking police officer said the tribunal’s verdict will be final. “There’s no appeal. They are definitely convicted, or if they are to be freed, they are freed.”

The soldiers at trial are mostly low-ranking officers.

According to a UN report, at least 102 women and 33 girls were victims of rape or other acts of sexual violence by government troops in the market town to the south of Goma.

The UN, in an interview, has explained that many families were and are separated as a result of those experiences. That raped women find themselves isolated and the harmony within the families broken. Entire communities become weakened and divided. This leads to an atmosphere of fear where the rebels become more powerful.

In October of this year, the UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO lamented that: “Almost a year after these incidents, none of the presumed perpetrators of these human rights violations has been brought to justice . . . in spite of the Congolese authorities’ commitment to persecute the perpetrators.”

Soldiers, who requested anonymity, admitted to the BBC in April that they had raped women in Minova, but said that they acted under orders from above.

The DR Congo government signed an accord with the UN in April to step up the fight against sexual abuse by armed soldiers and groups, which remains rampant.

The trial opens barely three weeks after the UN-backed Congolese army defeated the M23.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News – DR Congo officers in rape and war crimes trail – 20 November 2013
The Daily Star – Forty-one DR Congo soldiers go on trial for rape – 20 November 2013
allAfrica – Congo-Kinshasa: Q&A – Why ‘Rape Victims Must Talk About Their Trauma’ – 20 November 2013
Modern Ghana – Forty-one DR Congo soldiers go on trial for rape – 20 November 2013
Wopopular – Congo Soldiers Tried For Mass Rape – 20 November 2013

Nepal Votes to Elect New Constituent Assembly Despite Bomb Threats and Violence

By Brian Lanciault
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KATHMANDU, Nepal–Voters gathered outside polling booths across Nepal Tuesday to elect a Constituent Assembly that will attempt, yet again, to draft a constitution.  The interim government hopes to finally bring stability to the Himalayan nation.

Security personnel were deployed in force this past week to secure polling centers against various bomb threats as Nepal seeks to elect a new Constituent Assembly to draft a constitution. (Photo Courtesy of AP).

Candidates from over 100 political parties and several independent ones are competing in the election. The assembly will also double as a parliament and select a government. Nepal has 12 million registered voters.

Police said there were no reports of violence Tuesday morning. But, explosions rocked the capital in Kathmandu and other cities Monday night. Two people were injured in the explosion in Katmandu. Police believe the two suspects were supporters of an alliance of 33 opposition parties which have been attempting to disrupt and shut down the election.

Nepalese officials assured the public that security was formidable and tight, stating that they should have no fears of voting.

“We assure the voters we have done all that is necessary to ensure there will be free and fair election,” Nepal’s Chief Election Commissioner Neel Kantha Upreti told reporters, adding there was “more” than enough security.

The government ordered a four-day public holiday to allow voters to return to their villages in the mountainous country.

However, the opposition party alliance has been enforcing a nine-day transportation blockage to prevent voters from reaching the remote villages. The opposition appears upset at the appointment of a Supreme Court judge-led government in March, saying the larger parties have denied them any opportunities in the decision making leading up to the election.

There were several attacks on public vehicles that had defied the transportation embargo. A truck driver was killed and two dozen people have been injured in these attacks.

The previous Constituent Assembly was elected in 2008, following the end of a 10-year Maoist revolution and the overthrow of the centuries-old monarchy.

But the assembly was sabotaged by infighting and never finished its work. The result has been a power vacuum that left the country without a proper constitution for almost seven years.

Some of the disagreements center on whether to divide the country into a federal system based on ethnic groups or strictly by geography. But the parties mostly squabble over who gets to lead the country.

Analysts predict none of the political parties is likely to get a majority in the election. Any coalition government formed between two or more parties would face the insurmountable task of writing a constitution where each clause garners approval from two-thirds of the assembly. In a country with more than 100 ethnic groups and languages, this is a tall order.

The United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the party of former communist rebels, hopes to repeat the last election and emerge as the largest party. Its main competitors are the Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist).

Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal, which seeks to revive a Hindu nation and bring back the monarchy, also hopes to win a chunk of the seats in the assembly.

For more information, please see:

BBC News– Nepal voting ends for new Constituent Assembly— 19 November 2013

Times of India– 12 million divided Nepalese expected to vote for stability— 19 November 2013

Al Jazeera– Bomb blast at Nepal polling booth— 19 November 2013

Bangkok Post– Nepal defies bombing, braves threats in post-war poll— 19 November 2013

Greek Guerrilla Group Claims Responsibility for Murders of Two Golden Dawn Supporters

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

ATHENS, Greece – A rising group known as the “Militant People’s Revolutionary Forces” has claimed responsibility for the murder of two supporters of Greece’s Golden Dawn party earlier this month.

The group stated the murders were in retaliation for Fissas’ murder back in September. (Photo courtesy of Ekathimerini)

The Militant People’s Revolutionary Forces, an anti-establishment group, released an eighteen-page letter on Saturday claiming that it conducted a drive-by shooting that left two members of the Golden Dawn party dead outside the Party’s offices.

The group stated that the murders were conducted to retaliate for Golden Dawn’s alleged involvement in the murder of activist-rapper Pavlos Fissas back in September. A Golden Dawn supporter had confessed to the murder, but the Party itself has denied any involvement in Fissas’ death.

“The brazen murder of Pavlos Fissas was the drop of blood that made the glass overflow. The armed attack-response … is the starting point of the people’s campaign to send the neo-Nazi scum of Golden Dawn where they belong, to the dustbin of history,” the Militant People’s Revolutionary Forces’ letter stated. The letter was published on the news website www.zougla.gr, though the authenticity of the letter has not been validated by police.

Amidst the murder of the two Golden Dawn supporters, Greece has seen a growing public angst against Golden Dawn, which is widely regarded as “neo-Nazi” and frequently accused of attacks against migrants and left-wing activists.

Golden Dawn’s leader, Nikolaos Mihaloliakos, and five additional Golden Dawn leaders were recently charged with “belonging to a criminal group”, as the Greek government has cracked-down on the party due to the public furor surrounding Fissas’ murder.

The party, Greece’s third most popular according to surveys, had lost nearly a third of its support after Fissas’s death this past September, even though the party denies accusations of all violence and rejects its neo-Nazi label. An opinion poll that was also released on Saturday indicated that support for Golden Dawn had subsequently increased since its two supporters were murdered in retaliation.

The poll by ALCO released in the Proto Thema newspaper, conducted from November 12 to 15, put support for Golden Dawn at 8.8 percent, up 2.2 points in a month, but still below the 10.8 percent it enjoyed in June.

For more information, please see:

The Independent – Previously Unknown Greek Group Claims Responsibility For Golden Dawn Shootings – 17 November 2013

New York Times – Guerrilla Group Says It Killed Two From a Greek Extremist Party in an Athens Suburb – 17 November 2013

Ekathimerini – New Urban Guerrilla Group Claims Murders of Golden Dawn Members – 16 November 2013

Reuters – Greek Militant Group Claims Golden Dawn Killings – 16 November 2013

Former Argentine Army Officer Accused of Human Rights Violations Escapes from Security Forces

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – A former Argentine army officer accused of committing crimes against humanity during the 1976-83 military dictatorship has escaped while in transit to a court in Buenos Aires.

Wanted poster form the Argentine Justice Ministry
Lawless handed himself in to police in 2009 after a reward for his capture had been offered. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

Alejandro Lawless, 66, fled at midday from a police van outside a court building where he was being taken to along with other prisoners. Airport Security Police said they were temporarily distracted by escorting other prisoners to the court house. Lawless, who was not wearing handcuffs, took advantage of their distraction and escaped.

Lawless was an engineer who had served as a lieutenant-colonel in the army. He was found guilty in 2010 for his involvement in kidnapping, torturing and killing political opponents of the government between 1976 and 1983.The charges he faces entail his time working in the Navy and the Command Corps V of the Army.

Investigations into human rights abuses committed under the military regime have led to the imprisonment of key figures of the military junta, including that of Gen Jorge Rafael Videla who died in prison earlier this year while serving a life sentence.

Lawless is the third convicted military officer to escape from custody this year. The others were Jorge Olivera and Gustavo De Marchi who broke out of a military hospital in July and are still on the run. Seven staff members were relieved of their duties following their escape.

Estela de Carlotto, head of the Grandmothers of  Plaza de Mayo, a human rights organization, expressed dismay at his escape. “It is negligence or, to think the worst, complicity. This is serious, it will have to be investigated and those responsible sanctioned,” Estela de Carlotto told reporters.

An estimated 30,000 people were killed during the seven years of military rule in a campaign against perceived dissidents known as the Dirty War.

For more information please see:

Buenos Aires Herald – Carlotto says repressor Lawless escaped with ‘complicity’ – 13 November 2013

The Argentina Independent – Former Army Officer Escapes Custody on way to Tribunales – 13 November 2013

BBC – Jailed Argentine ex-army officer Alejandro Lawless escapes – 13 November 2013

Global Post – Jailed former Argentine army officer Alejandro Lawless escapes – 13 November 2013

La Nacion – Se fugó un ex militar procesado por delitos de lesa humanidad – 12 November 2013