News

Six Australians Suspected of Murder in Peru Win Bid to Testify from Australia

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – Six young Australians wanted in connection with the death of a 45 year-old hotel doorman in Lima have won the right to make statements on the case from Australia instead of returning to Peru, where the case is being tried.

Six young Australians who are at the centre of an ongoing diplomatic row with Peru who want them all extradited for murder.
Peru Six: The young Australians who have been fighting homicide allegations. (Photo Courtesy of Dallas Kilponen/Sydney Morning Herald)

A statement from the group revealed they would be permitted to give statements via video link rather than having to return to Peru, where they have said they fear they will not get a fair trial. “We were told by our lawyers and DFAT [Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] on 24 October that the three Superior Judges in Lima had made a favorable decision on our appeal to be able to give our statements from Australia under the International Co-Operation Procedure. However, we couldn’t share the news with you until it had been formally stamped by the court and overnight it was!” wrote the group on their official Facebook page.

The Australians, known as the “Peru Six”, are Jessica Vo, Hugh Hanlon, Tom Hanlon, Harrison Geier, Andrew Pilat, and Sam Smith. They were named as primary suspects following the mysterious death of Lino Rodriguez Vilchez, who fell 15 stories from a balcony at the Lima hotel where they were staying in January of last year.

Police initially ruled the death a suicide, but they reopened the investigation after a public campaign by Vilchez’s brother who argued that the evidence appeared inconsistent with suicide. The family of Vilchez claims the Australians attacked and threw Vilchez from the balcony after a dispute over a noise complaint.

Peruvian courts seeking extradition of the six served subpoenas in July and threatened the group with an Interpol arrest warrant if they failed to return to Peru to face court proceedings. The group remained in Australia over fears that they would be imprisoned and not receive a fair trial. A Peruvian court originally rejected the group’s bid to give evidence in Australia, but that decision was overturned on appeal.

The Peruvian judges have set dates of November 5, 6 and 7 for the group to testify.

The six have strongly denied any involvement in Vilchez’s death and maintain their innocence. Theresa Hanlon, mother of two of the Australians, says the group is relieved that the threat of being placed on Interpol’s wanted list appears to have ended.

For more information please see:

ABC News (Australia) – ‘Peru Six’ to be allowed to make statements while remaining in Australia – 30 October 2013

The Guardian – Six Australians accused of murder will not have to return to Peru – 29 October 2013

Peru this Week – ‘Peru 6’ will be allowed to testify from Australia – 29 October 2013

The Sydney Morning Herald – Peru Six win bid to give evidence in Australia – 29 October 2013

Niger Arrests 127 Migrants Crossing Sahara

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

NIAMEY, Niger – Officials in Niger have arrested 127 migrants as they attempted to cross the Sahara into Algeria.

The latest incident comes 92 days after migrants were found dead of thirst (photo courtesy of BBC)

Niger lies on a major migrant route between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.

The migrants were reportedly caught as they were leaving the northern town of Arlit before dawn in five vehicles.

The migrants, mostly men, with some women and few children, are believed to be from Nigeria and Niger.

This arrest comes after 92 migrants were found to have died of thirst after two trucks broke down carrying them across the Sahara.

The government announced on Friday a plan to close illegal camps in Northern Niger, which are referred to as “ghettos,” and said those involved in trafficking migrants would be “severely punished.”

Niger has said that migrants found in illegal camps will be handed over to international aid agencies.

On Wednesday, bodies of 52 children, 33 women, and 7 men were found dead after an attempt to cross the Sahara. The country has been holding three days of mourning over the bodies. Another 5 from the same convoy had been found several days earlier by the army.

The government has said in its statement on Friday that the tragedy was the result of criminal activities led by all types of trafficking networks.

About 5,000 African migrants are said to be currently stranded in illegal camps in the northern town of Agadez, alone.

Most of the migrants have paid large sums of money to be moved. They are waiting to cross the hundreds of kilometers of desert into Libya or Algeria, from where they can take boats to Europe in hope of a better life.

Many people emigrate to flee poverty in Niger, ranked by the United Nations as the least developed country on earth. Some work in neighboring Libya and Algeria to save money before returning home.

More than 32,000 people have arrived in southern Europe from Africa so far last year.

More than 500 are believed to have died in two shipwrecks off southern Italy this month.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News – Sahara deaths: Niger ‘arrests’ 127 departing migrants – 2 November 2013
Librepensa – Sahara deaths: Niger ‘arrests’ 127 departing migrants – 2 November 2013
Wordpress – Sahara deaths: Niger ‘arrests’ 127 departing migrants – 2 November 2013
Bangalore Wishesh – Niger arrests 150 migrants in crackdown after Sahara deaths – Daily News & Analysis – 2 November 2013
The Herald Scotland – 127 migrants arrested as they tried to cross the deadly Sahara – 3 November 2013

U.S. Drone Strike Kills Leader of Pakistani Taliban

By Brandon Cottrell
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – A U.S. drone strike killed Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban.  Several other militants, including two of Mehsud’s bodyguards, were killed in the strike.  Mehsud is believed to have been behind the failed car bombing in New York’s Times Square in 2010, as well as numerous attacks in Pakistan that have killed thousands.

Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, was killed in a U.S. drone strike (Photo Courtesy BBC).

Mehsud, who is “the self-proclaimed emir of the Pakistani Taliban,” is on the FBI’s most-wanted terrorist list.  He is also on the CIA’s most wanted list for his role in the December 2009 suicide bombing that killed seven Americans in Afghanistan.  He had been indicted on several charges, including conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens abroad and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against U.S. citizens abroad.

The drone strike, which took place in the tribal areas of Northern Pakistan, is a dangerous area to be and has been subject to numerous other U.S. drone strikes.  As a result, it makes it difficult for journalists to independently confirm information.  Such difficulty is reflected in several reports over the past few years that claimed Mehsud had been killed.

However, a senior Pakistani government official said that he “ think[s] it’s quite clear Hakimullah Mehsud has died . . . two of his bodyguards died and reports from the ground suggest he was killed too.”  Additionally, a U.S. intelligence official confirmed the drone strike took place and that Mehsud had been killed.

The Taliban also confirmed Mehsud’s death in a statement that said, “We confirm with great sorrow that our esteemed leader was martyred in a drone attack.”

The strike and death, however, comes at a sensitive time as the Pakistani government has been trying to come to a peaceful agreement with the Taliban.  To date, the fighting has killed thousands of Pakistani civilians.  Mehsud had said he was open to peace talks with Pakistan, as his only targets are “America and its friends,” but that no one had approached him about it.

Drone strikes themselves are controversial in Pakistan, where many view the use of drones as an infringement on sovereignty.  Additionally, the strikes often kill innocent civilians, though the number killed is disputed.

Earlier this week the Pakistani government reported that since 2008, only 3% of the causalities from U.S. drone strikes were civilians.  The government also reported that 2,227 people had been killed by U.S. drone strikes since 2008.  Other independent organizations claim, however, that as many as 13% of the causalities were civilians.

Though Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has asked the U.S. to stop the strikes, it has been reported that the Pakistani government has secretly supported many of the U.S. strikes against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.  The U.S., meanwhile, has given no indication that it will abandon its use of drone strikes, despite reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that argue some of the attacks may have violated international law.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Pakistan Says Drone Strikes Killed 67 Civilians Since 2008 – 31 October 2013

BBC – Pakistan Taliban Say Chief Mehsud Killed In Drone Strike – 1 November 2013

CBS News – Pakistani Taliban Leader Among Dead In Suspected U.S. Drone Strike, Officials Say – 1 November 2013

CNN – 3 Dead In First U.S. Drone Strike In Pakistan Since Leaders Met – 31 October 2013

European Union Provides Response to Illegal Immigration Emergency in Wake of Fatal Shipwreck

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BRUSSELS, European Union – European Union officials responded to emergency calls for review of illegal immigration. At the same time, EU critics claim that countries cannot afford providing full benefits to migrants.

Immigrants continued to find routes into Europe from Libya, Syria, and similar countries. (Photo courtesy of CNN International)

An early October 2013 shipwreck caught worldwide attention as over 300 African migrants died off the coast of Italian island, Lampedusa. Nevertheless, migrants have continued to begin journeys from northern Africa in hope of crossing the Mediterranean to hit Europe. As a result, EU leaders began a review of the bloc’s immigration policies.

European Union border agency Frontex estimates that a minimum of 72,000 people illegally migrate to the EU via land and sea, and expects that the actual figure is much higher. Of all illegal residents, Frontex believed that most arrived with plane tickets and valid travel visas only to remain beyond the visa’s expiration date.

EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom issued a statement giving Frontex sufficient resources to operate a wide “search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean, from Cyprus to Spain.”

The EU plans to establish a new border surveillance system and task force; however, observers believe boats will continue their regular flow.

Recently, Frontex released its “Annual Risk Analysis 2013” report, which states that immigrants taking illegal routes often travel through Greece and continue by land or ferry to Italy and the western Balkans. An increasing number has attempted central Mediterranean journeys. In many cases, the migrants have fled violence and poverty in regions like Syria and Libya.

The EU also said it is setting up a new border surveillance system and Mediterranean task force to bolster its efforts and will review its asylum immigration policies next summer.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, current holder of the EU presidency, said, “Today, Europe is not ready to accept as many refugees as probably can flow in.” Also, Grybauskaite denied that immigration policies would be business as usual.

National governments within the EU pledged assistance to several “gateway” countries, such as Italy, Malta, and Greece.

Although human rights groups criticize Greece often for its lack of an asylum service, the country has created such.

Not all parts of the bloc are ready to support immigration. For instance, anti-EU commentators in Britain have been pointing to statistics that suggest the UK cannot afford to allow EU migrants access to full benefits.

While immigration has created concerns in nearly every nation throughout history, now, every nation must remember what immigration most often means for the world: progress.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Greece Immigration: Look inside New Asylum Service – October 31, 2013

CNN International – How Do Illegal Immigrants Get into the European Union? – October 30, 2013

Wall Street Journal – EU: Mulling Security, Defense Operation to Stem Illegal Migration – October 30, 2013

Telegraph – True Scale of European Immigration – October 12, 2013

Saudi Writer Arrested for Supporting Women Drivers

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – On October 27, Saudi police arrested Tariq al-Mubarak, a columnist who criticized the country’s ban on women drivers.  The arrest followed an October 26 protest of the driving ban, during which at around sixty women got behind the wheel.

A Saudi Arabian woman starts her car and prepares drive despite the country’s outdated ban on female driving. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

On October 6, Tariq al-Mubarak wrote an opinion article that is titled “It’s Time to Change Women’s Place in the Arab World.”  The article, available here, supported women’s rights generally, but education, freedom to travel, and marriage were specifically mentioned as areas for reform.  Al-Mubarak, a young schoolteacher, is also a member of a core group that has supported the right of women to drive.

He was called to the Interior Ministry’s Criminal Investigation Department on Sunday on the pretext that a car was stolen.  However, when he arrived he was interrogated about his involvement in the “Women2Drive” campaign, the activist group behind the driving protest.  Human Rights Watch and local activists report that al-Mubarak remains in custody and does not have access to a lawyer or family.

The police have also fined and harassed some of the women that participated in the protest by driving.  Fines were typically around 300 Saudi riyals ($80 USD) and many of the women and their male guardians were forced to sign a pledge stating they would respect the laws in the future.  Days after the protest, police cars remained outside of the homes of some participants.

The activists responsible for the “Women2Drive” campaign have reportedly been followed over the last few days and are preparing for the possibility of arrest.  They have put contingency plans in place and have provided phone numbers to journalists and human rights organizations in the event they are arrested.

The activists called for women specifically with international driver’s licenses to take part in the October 26 protest.  The campaign began in 2011 and was started by Saudi women with goal having the ban on women drivers repealed.

Human Rights Watch has called for an end to the mistreatment of the activists associated with “Women2Drive” and announced their support of the group’s mission.

“Saudi authorities are retaliating against people who want a very basic right for women, the right to get behind the wheel and drive themselves where they want to go,” said Joe Stork, Human Rights Watch Deputy Middle East director. “The authorities should end the driving ban and stop harassing people for supporting women’s rights.”

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Saudi writer held for backing women drivers – 30 October 2013

Human Rights Watch – Saudi Arabia: Free Journalist who Supported Women Driving – 30 October 2013

Reuters – Saudi women say they will keep pushing for right to drive – 28 October 2013

Guardian – Saudi Arabia’s women hold day of action to change driving laws – 25 October 2013