News

African Union Demands Halt in Kenyan Leaders’ ICC Case

By Erica Smith

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The African Union (AU) has asked that the International Criminal Court (ICC) to halt the cases against Kenyan president Kenyatta, his Deputy William Ruto and journalist Joshua arap Sang until after its application to have the cases moved.

Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto, right, speaks with his defense counsel Karim Khan ( Photo Courtesy of The Christian Science Monitor)

The AU also wants to two leaders to be able to choose which session of the trial they would like to attend so that the leaders will be able to carry out their constitutional responsibilities.

The AU sent a letter to the ICC and the United Nations Security Council on September 10th arguing that the court should determine whether the cases can be moved before the trials progress further.

“The prosecution has ignored several procedural requirements having the effect of eroding the principles on natural justice. The court’s attention has been drawn to this aspect on two occasions by its own judges. This leaves the African Union with no option but to ask that until the request of the AU is considered and clearly responded to, the cases should not proceed.” The letter signed by AU Chairperson Hailemariam Desalegn and by AU Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma stated.

The AU further argued that Mr. Ruto should not be forced to attend all the trial sessions even though the ICC prosecutor is appealing an earlier decision that he would not have to attend them all. The AU believes that Mr. Ruto will be unable to carry out his constitutional duties if he is forced to attend every session.

The AU pointed out that there are two high level security meetings slated for this month that Kenyatta would not be able to attend as a result of the ICC trial against Ruto. The AU believes that  Kenyatta not participating in the meetings will seriously affect Kenya’s efforts towards peace and security.  The AU also believes that the trials would undermine Kenya’s role in the international arena and that the trials should not infringe on the responsibilities of the two Kenyan leaders.

“While Kenya has always cooperated and reiterated its commitment to continue cooperating with the court, it must do so in the context of its own constitutional requirements,” the AU wrote.

For further information, please see:

All Africa — Africa: ICC Allows Five African States to Join Ruto Appeal — 14 September 2013

All Africa — Kenya: Stop Uhuru Ruto Trials, AU Demands — 13 September 2013

The Christian Science Monitor — Can Kenya’s leaders skip part of their international crimes trials? — 13 September 2013

All Africa — Africa: Halt ICC Cases, Give Kenyan Leaders Leeway – AU — 12 September 2013

Suspect in Tennessee Murders in Custody

By Brandon Cottrell
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – Jacob Allen Bennett was named a suspect in the rural Tennessee murders of John Lajeunesse, age 16; Steven Presley, age 17; Dominic Davis, age 17; and Danielle Jacobson, age 22.  The four victims, who were headed to nearby Renegade Mountain to go four-wheeling, were found dead in a parked car near the mountain.

Jacob Allen Bennett, a possible suspect in the recent murder of four Tennesseans, is now in custody. (Photo Courtesy CNN)

The area where the car was found is part of a 3,000 acre former resort.  The area is very wooded and isolated with less than 50 full time residents.  One of those residents said that with “10 miles of road on 3,000 acres it’s easy to . . . be invisible once you get past the gate.”  Many other residents say the area has lacked sufficient security ever since new owners got rid of a controlled access gate and fence that once surrounded the entire resort.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Mark Gwyn believes that, “The citizens of Cumberland County and Crossville can rest assured that we have the person who committed the crimes in custody [and] that the community is safe.”  Bennett, age 26, has been arrested five times previously, though the authorities have released few details pertaining those arrests.  Of the arrests, reporters have discovered that one of the arrests was for being a violent felon in possession of a firearm.  It is also believed that Bennett has been arrested for theft.

While Bennett was identified as a suspect quickly, no one has said why Bennett was initially identified.  Deputy District Attorney General Gary McKenzie said that, “There are some indications that there was some connection between the suspect and one, possibly two of the victims,” but he declined to specify which of the victims might have known Bennett.

McKenzie also failed to mention a possible motive or give other details about the case.  Other authorities, however, say they believe the four victims were deliberately targeted.  Additionally, they are pursuing leads and have ruled out the possibility that the murder was one of the victims and that none of the victims committed suicide.

Donald Andrews, the superintendent of the school district where three of the victims attended school, said that the murders were “just a surprise; it’s one of those this doesn’t happen here kind of things . . . it’s actually a grim reminder to us all that we’re vulnerable.”  However, it is not yet clear what made these four victims vulnerable.  Some local residents wonder whether it was a drug deal gone badly, a theft or just a fight but they will have to wait for answers to those questions.

 

For more information, please see:

ABC – Suspect in Shooting of Woman, 3 Teens Arrested – 13 September 2013

CBS News – Four Found Shot To Death In Car Near Former Tenn. Mountain Resort; Person Of Interest In Custody, Report Says – 13 September 2013

CNN- Suspect Detained In Rural Tennessee Slayings Of 4 – 13 September 2013

Fox News – Tenn. Shooting Victims In Car Include 3 Teens; Person Of Interest Taken Into Custody – 13 September 2013 

Catalan Demonstration Presses Spain to Cut Ties with the Region

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MADRID, Spain – Hundreds of thousands of Catalans demonstrated throughout the region in effort to separate from Spain. In Catalonia, many hope that Scotland will separate from the United Kingdom to promote similar referendums throughout European countries.

Demonstrators wave separatist banners as hundreds of thousands link hands along the Catalan coast. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

Catalonia, a wealthy industrial region in Spain, generates a fifth of the country’s economy. Until King Philip V abolished Catalonia’s Generalitat in 1714, Catalonia managed its own affairs. Following a recession and cuts in Catalan public spending, many felt discontent toward Madrid.

“But this is about more than economics,” Al Jazeera’s Emma Hayward reported. “They feel their culture is very distinct from Spain’s and they want independence.”

On 10 September 2013, Catalan President Artur Mas said, ”The people of Catalonia should be consulted next year on their political future.”

11 September is Catalonia’s National Day. On that day for 2013, a poll revealed at 52% of Catalans would vote for a Catalan state separate of Spain.

At exactly 17:14 on 11 September 2013, approximately 400,000 demonstrators dressed in yellow and formed a human chain across 250 miles (400 kilometers) of the region—from the Pyrenees border with France in the north to the Valenica border in the south—to demand independence in “a Scottish-style referendum.” Several waved the regional flag and draped themselves in separatist banners.

The chain, deemed “the Catalan Way”, linked 86 communities in their push for political self-determination. By day’s end, organizers claim that 1.6 million people had participated.

Although a referendum is not permitted by the Spanish Constitution, Mas is determined to hold a 2014 referendum. Mas also stated that he is “firm” in promising “the right to choose their political future” for Catalans; and he is determined to use “all the democratic and legal measures available so that Catalans can decide their future as a country.”

“Today is a historic day,” said Carme Forcadell, President of the Catalan National Assembly, which organized the demonstration. “The Catalan people have reaffirmed their determination to be a free state.”

“We need to put an end to the economic and cultural suffocation we are suffering,” Forcadell further stated. “We have come to the streets in our hundreds of thousands to show in a democratic and inclusive way that we are capable of achieving any aim.”

Regional leader of the People’s Party, Alicia Sanchez Camacho criticized the independence movement: “There are millions of Catalans who feel like orphans because they don’t have a government because it has put all its focus on the separatism movement and the independence of Catalonia.”

While history echoes that “a house divided cannot stand”, Spain and Catalonia must determine whether they are people of and within one house. If they are one house, the European Union is best hearing one voice. However, one voice cannot always speak for two houses.

For further information, please see:

Catalan News Agency – The Majority of Catalan Parties Propose an Independence Vote in 2014 the Day after the Human Chain  – September 12, 2013

Wall Street Journal – Catalan Separatists Pull Off Protest but Referendum Is Harder  – September 12, 2013

Al Jazeera – Catalans Join Hands to Demand Independence – September 11, 2013

Euronews – Catalonia Celebrates National Day Amid Calls for Independence – September 11, 2013

The Telegraph – 400,000 Person Human Chain Stretching 250 Miles for Catalan Independence – September 11, 2013

Reuters – Catalans Form Human Chain to Press for Independence from Spain – September 11, 2013

Gang Rape Trial Sparks Scrutiny Over Indian Death Penalty Ambivalence

By Brian Lanciault

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India– An Indian judge will announce Friday whether four men should hang after fatally raping a young woman on a bus last December. The case presents a major test for India’s paradoxical death penalty.

Protesters gathered outside of the court as the trial transitioned into the sentencing phase. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

 

Indian judges hand down an average of 130 death sentences per year; they have executed only three people in 17 years. Despite this seeming reluctance to carry out the sentences,India voted last year against a U.N. draft resolution which called for a global moratorium on executions.

In November, India ended what many human rights groups had perceived as a de facto moratorium on capital punishment after executing Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, a militant convicted for the 2008 attack on Mumbai. Three months later, however, India hanged Mohammad Afzal Guru  for a 2001 militant attack on parliament.

“In the past year, India has made a full-scale retreat from its previous principled rejection of the death penalty,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

She called for the complete abolition of the death penalty.

Prosecutors want the “harshest punishment” to be given to bus cleaner Akshay Kumar Singh, gym instructor Vinay Sharma, fruit-seller Pawan Gupta, and unemployed Mukesh Singh for the rape and murder of the woman. The hope is to send a signal to society that such attacks would not be tolerated.

Comments on social media suggest that popular opinion favors executing the men, yet a survey by CNN-IBN-The Hindu newspaper in July showed Indians were divided on capital punishment.

The four men were found guilty this week of luring the 23-year-old trainee physiotherapist onto a bus on December 16, raping and torturing her with a metal bar and then throwing her naked and bleeding into the street. She died two weeks later. Defense counsel A.P. Singh urged Judge Yogesh Khanna to ignore demands for the death penalty, which characterized as  “primitive and cold-blooded.

If the men are sentenced to death, a potentially multi-year appeals process lies ahead. The case will go the High Court and then the Supreme Court. If the courts confirm the sentences, the final decision will lie with the president, who has the power to grant clemency.

The death penalty should be imposed only in the “rarest of rare” cases, according to a Supreme Court ruling from the early 1980s. However opponents say the reality is quite different.

Indian courts sentenced 1,455 prisoners to death between 2001 and 2011, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. During the same period, sentences for 4,321 prisoners were commuted to life imprisonment.

There are 477 people on death row. Many have been there for years. Human rights groups are alarmed by the policy tendencies of President Pranab Mukherjee, who was sworn into office in July 2012. He has rejected 11 appeals for clemency, confirming the death penalty for 17 people.

Top politicians, including interior minister Sushilkumar Shinde, have said the death penalty is guaranteed in the case. Such comments could add pressure on the court to make a populist ruling to satisfy the public’s outrage.

For more information, please see:

Los Angeles Times — Indian police praised for handling of bus rape; other cases languish — 12 September 2013

Wall Street Journal — Rape Case: Sentencing Arguments — 11 September 2013

BBC — India Delhi gang rape four ‘deserve death penalty’ — 11 September 2013

Reuters — Delhi gang rape trial puts focus on death penalty paradox — 13 September 2013

Over 200 Protesters Arrested in Chile on Anniversary of 1973 Military Coup

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – On September 11th, more than 260 people were arrested and 42 police officers were injured during protests marking the 40th anniversary of the 1973 military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet.

Masked protesters at a demonstration in Valparaiso on 11 September 2013
President Pinera said those behind the violence should be severely punished. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

Police say six officers were listed in serious condition with gunshot wounds and burns from acid. Gen. Rodolfo Pacheco, one of the Chilean capital’s top police chiefs, was taken by helicopter to a hospital after being struck in the head with a petrol bomb.

The protests spread across Huechuraba, San Bernardo, Estacion Central, Pudahuel, La Reina, Peñalolen and Lo Prado, all located around Santiago. The protests started on September 11th, and ended in the early morning hours of September 12th.

Protesters set up barricades and attacked police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons. Six buses and seven cars were set on fire by protesters armed with fire bombs. In Santiago, four businesses were looted, and electricity lines were severed, prompting power cuts in 200,000 homes.

“Last night was a violent night, but it could have been much more violent if it hadn’t been for the efficient response of police,” President Sebastian Pinera told reporters. Pinera called on judges to punish those behind the clashes “with severity.” Chilean protests are often infiltrated by violent anarchist groups and end with clashes between police and hooded vandals who throw rocks, firebombs and acid.

The government had deployed more than 8,000 police throughout the capital to prevent a repeat of the violence seen in previous years. Pinera recently said that in the last two years, “more than 700 police officers have been injured by the cowardly acts of hooded vandals, including recent victims who were burned with acid or Molotov bombs.”

President Sebastian Pinera submitted a bill to Congress earlier this year that strengthens penalties for those who insult or physically harm police and makes it a crime to attack police headquarters or vehicles.

Approximately 40,000 people suffered human rights abuses in Chile under Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. The government estimates more than 3,000 were killed or forcibly disappeared during Pinochet’s rule. More than 1,000 human rights cases are still ongoing in Chilean courts.

For more information please see:

ABC News – Chile Coup Anniversary Toll: 264 Arrests – 12 September 2013

The Washington Post – Chile’s toll from coup anniversary violence, arson: 42 police officers wounded, 264 arrests – 12 September 2013

BBC – Hundreds arrested in Chile clashes on coup anniversary – 12 September 2013

Fox News Latino – Hundreds arrested, scores hurt in disturbances in Chile – 12 September 2013

BBC – Clashes in Chile on anniversary of 1973 military coup – 11 September 2013