News

Bradley Manning Speaks at Sentencing Phase

by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – Private First Class Bradley Manning, a former intelligence analyst for the US Army, read a statement at the sentencing phase of his court martial Wednesday.  Pfc. Manning was convicted of 17 of 22 charges brought against him for leaking military intelligence to the information distribution system WikiLeaks. 

Manning, 25, attends his court martial before a military judge in Fort Meade, Maryland. (Photo courtesy of NBC News)

While Pfc. Manning originally faced a maximum sentence of 136 years, Judge Colonel Denise Lind set aside some of the duplicate charges.  Pfc. Manning now faces a potential sentence of up to 90 years in military prison.

Manning took the stand, stating “I’m sorry [my actions] hurt the United States.”  Manning went on to say “When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people.”

Earlier in the day, Judge Lind heard testimony from Army Commander David Moulton, a military psychiatrist, who explained that Manning showed signs of stress-induced behavioral disorders.  Cmdr. Moulton offered an example from April 2010, when Manning struck a fellow soldier with a knife after soldiers found Manning curled up in ball.  Moulton further revealed that Pfc. Manning was struggling with gender identity crisis during his deployment to Iraq.

Moulton noted that Manning’s lack of a support structure in dealing with his crisis added “incredible” pressure to the Private First Class.

Judge Lind also heard testimony that Manning emailed a picture of himself wearing a wig and lipstick to his superior, Master Sergeant Paul Adkins, who did not notify the brigade leaders.  The email, which contained the subject line “My problem,” came to Adkins at a time when he admitted having increasing concerns about Manning’s mental health. NBC news reports that, in a memo written to psychologists at the time, Adkins stated that Manning’s mental health was a “constant source of concern.”

Adkins added that a when a captain saw the photograph of Manning several months after his arrest, the unnamed captain would have immediately pulled Manning from working in the vault where classified information was processed.

For more information, please see:

Daily News – Revealed: Photo of WikiLeaks source Pfc. Bradley Manning dressed as a woman released – 14 August 2013

NBC News – ‘I’m sorry that I hurt the United States’: Bradley Manning apologizes in court – 14 August 2013

NPR – Bradley Manning: ‘I Am Sorry … I Hurt The United States’ – 14 August 2013

USA Today – Pfc. Bradley Manning’s apology – 14 August 2013

The Guardian – Bradley Manning supervisor ‘ignored photo of soldier dressed as woman’ – 13 August 2013

Russian Authorities Conduct Massive Sweep Against Immigrants

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – The attempted arrest of a single rape suspect has snowballed into a massive citywide raid on immigrants across Russia, though the suspect was not an immigrant.

Hundreds of immigrants from Vietnam are being held in a temporary tent camp in Moscow. (Photo courtesy of NY Times)

Khalimat and Magomed Rasulov, natives of Russia’s Dagestan region, were involved with an altercation with police on July 27 which lead to a fight, and a head injury to a police officer. Police had come to arrest one of the brothers on rape charges at a Moscow market in which they vended watermelons, when a relative of the brothers struck an officer with brass knuckles; gravely injuring the officer.

Two days later on July 29, Moscow police began raiding street markets, underground factories, and the subway system all across the city and arresting immigrants whom didn’t have requisite paperwork on their person. Russia’s Federal Migration Service has reported that nearly 1,500 immigrants have been detained thus far, with almost 600 of those individuals being held in a temporary tent camp that some have stated resembles a war zone.

“This is absolutely normal. In any society, in any country, if an emergency situation happens, then the government and society begin to act more harshly,” Moscow’s mayor, Sergei S. Sobyanin has stated.

The nearly 1,500 immigrants have included individuals from Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Syria, Morocco, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, and Egypt. The nearly 600 occupants of the tent camp were detained during a raid at an underground textile factory which had been shut down in 2009. According to Mayor Sobynin, counterfeit products were being made on three floors. There has been an inundation of the city’s detention centers due to all of the raids in the past few weeks, so the Emergency Services Ministries constructed the tent camp to accommodate.

The Ministries has claimed that the tent camp has the potential to accommodate over 900 individuals, however many have reported cramped conditions in too little tents, with only four outdoor showers and inadequate portable toilets.

Vladimir Lukin, Russia’s human rights ombudsman, has expressed concerns that the conditions at the tent camp “do not comply with government provisions.”

Russian authorities have prepared a bill that would create an additional 83 detention centers across the country.

Some point to the rampant corruption among police and politicians who charge illegal immigrants high fees for legal documents. It is widely believed that the July 29 incident that spawned these raids escalated due to the Rasulov’s refusal to pay the officers a bribe.

Meanwhile, the citywide raids have continued almost every day, and they are supported by a majority of Russians who attribute most crimes to illegal immigration. Mayor Sobynin, who is up for reelection on September 8, has seen his poll numbers rise. His opponents have also taken on the issue.

“For me this isn’t just a number. For me it means one simple thing: that the women in my building are afraid to go out on the street at night,” stated Aleksei A. Navalny, the most prominent mayoral challenger.

But some do not support the raids with the same fervor that the mayoral candidates do.

“Everything about this massive sweep violates Russia’s obligations under international law. Prolonged detention without counsel, ethnic profiling, inhuman conditions-it should stop now,” stated Human Rights Watch’s director in Russia, Tanya Lokshina.

For more information, please see:

NY Times – Russia Steps Up Raids Against Migrants – 12 August 2013

RIA Novosti – Police Round Up Illegal Migrants Across Russia – 12 August 2013

The Atlantic – Behind Russia’s Migrant Raids, a Vast Network of Bribes and Opportunism – 7 August 2013

The Guardian – Russia Detains Immigrants in ‘Concentration Camps’ – 6 August 2013

 

Suspected Holocaust War Criminal, Lazlo Csatary Dies Awaiting Trial

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BUDAPEST, Hungary – At age 98, one of the few remaining suspected Holocaust war criminals, Lazlo Csatary died awaiting trial in a Budapest hospital. In so doing, he left many questions unanswered.

Lazlo Csatary, 98, dies awaiting trial for alleged war crimes during the Holocaust. (Photo courtesy of CNN International)

Born just south of Budapest in 1915, Csatary became a police officer throughout Hungary until settling in the city of Kosice. In March 1944, Germans occupied Kosice. As commander of the Royal Hungarian Police in the area, Csatary allegedly helped Gestapo round up and deport several Hungarian Jews in cattle wagons. According to witnesses at the trial of Csatary’s commanding officer, by May 1944, Csatary pursued and beat detainees with a dog-whip in the outskirts of Kosice. When cattle wagons, destined for Auschwitz, were packed tightly with people, witnesses claim Csatary forced even more detainees inside. By the end of the war, Csatary allegedly sent over 15,500 Jews to the death camp.

Following a 1948 in absentia conviction for war crimes in Czechoslovakia, Csatary fled to Canada, where he became a citizen and Montreal art dealer. Canada revoked his citizenship in 1997 for lying on his application, stating that he was a Yugoslav national.

In September 2011, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre of Los Angeles received a tip that led them to discover Csatary in Budapest in 2012.

On 18 July 2012, reports indicate that Csatary was taken into custody for questioning. While Slovakia wanted to try him in their courts and even changed his sentence from the death penalty to life in prison to make the verdict executable, Hungary indicted Csatary on 18 June 2013. Csatary denied the allegations against him.

On 8 July 2013, Budapest’s higher court suspended the case, stating that “Csatary had already been sentenced for the crimes included in the proceedings, in former Czechoslovakia in 1948”, and the court needed to determine whether that verdict was valid in Hungary such that Csatary could serve it.

However, on 10 August 2013, Lazlo Csatary died in a Budapest hospital. According to his lawyer, Gabor B. Horvath, his death was caused by pneumonia.

“This is a very unfortunate end to a saga that lasted far too long,” Efraim Zuroff, Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s Israel Office, said Monday. “Csatary should have been brought to justice shortly after the war. … We gave the Hungarian prosecutors evidence two years ago, and this should have been taken care of months ago in Budapest.”

Zuroff further said, “The fact that a well-known war criminal whose Nazi past was exposed in Canada could live undisturbed for so long in the Hungarian capital raises serious questions as to the commitment of the Hungarian authorities to hold their own Holocaust criminals accountable.”

Absent an official trial and ruling on whether the decedent was the same man who committed atrocities during the Holocaust, the world will never know whether one of the last suspects was anything more than just that. Moreover, absent further search, Holocaust survivors will never know if justice was just in reach, or if justice still waits to be served.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Lazlo Csatary: Holocaust Questions Go Unanswered – August 12, 2013

Bloomberg Businessweek – Hungarian Suspected Nazi-Era War Criminal Csatary Dies at Age 98 – August 12, 2013

CNN International – Nazi War Crimes Suspect Laszlo Csatary Dies at 98 – August 12, 2013

Euronews – Nazi War Crimes Suspect Laszlo Csatary Dies before His Trial – August 12, 2013

Jewish Telegraphic Agency – Hungarian War Criminal Laszlo Csatary Dies at 98 – August 12, 2013

American Teacher Deported for Allegedly Inciting “Hatred” against the Bahrain State through Tweets and Publications

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain – An American teacher has been deported from Bahrain for allegedly inciting “hatred” through her publications. The Ministry of Communications said the unnamed teacher was deported for her alleged tweets and publications made in online journals. According to a statement made by the Ministry of Communications the unnamed American teacher was deported as a result of “activities linked to radical opposition groups,” and for allegedly violating the terms of her work permit by working as an unaccredited journalist.

Bahrain cracks down on decent as protesters continue to take to the streets to call for democratic reform in the Gulf state. (Photo courtesy of CNN)

The ministry alleged that she published a number of articles under a penname for several journals, including the As-Safir newspaper, which has been linked to Hezbollah, as well as a human rights newsletter published by the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, a group whose publications have been banned by the Bahraini government.

However, Maryam al-Khawaja, acting head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights denied that the teacher was writing for the organization, saying; “That was something made up by the government.” Al-Kahwaja also stated that a journalist at As-Safir had told her that the teacher had not written for their publication either.

Al-Khawaja, who was planning on entering Bahrain ahead of protest planned for this week, was recently stopped from boarding a British Airways plane heading from London to Bahrain because of a Bahraini government order preventing her from entering the country. She said the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights was attempting to contact the American teacher to determine if she has been subjected to human-rights violations while in the custody of Bahrain authorities.

The gulf state has seen massive waves of protests since the Arab Spring hit the region in 2011. The protests have been mostly led by members of the state’s Shia population calling for democratic reforms from the Sunni ruling family.

The state has responded to these calls for democratic reform by cracking down on dissent and free expression. The state has been accused of creating fake Twitter accounts and using these and other false evidence in order to convict its citizens of crimes against the state. The state has also raided the homes of protesters and activists.

Al-Khawaja said of the Bahraini states tactics that: “They have even increased house raids. It used to be one every other night. But since the Tamarod announcement, the raids are day and night – up to 100 or more per day.” She explained that security forces often break down doors during these raids on civilian citizens, enter with guns drawn and vandalize homes during the raid. She also explained that these tactics are intended to spread fear of the state.

The state response to calls for democratic reform has been to attempt to create an atmosphere of fear in the country in order to demonstrate the state’s power. However, the Bahraini government’s attempts to squash calls for democratization have remained unsuccessful. The Bahraini anti-government and opposition activists have called for anti-government rallies to be held on Wednesday, August 14, the anniversary of the gulf state gaining independence from the British Empire.

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Bahrain Bans US Teacher for ‘Radical’ Writing – 12 August 2013

CNN International – Bahrain Expels U.S. Teacher, Says She Incited ‘Hatred’ – 12 August 2013

Fox News – Bahrain Says American Teacher Deported over ‘Radical’ Writings – 12 August 2013

Jerusalem Post – Bahrain Deports US National for Associating with ‘Radical’ Groups – 12 August 2013

Brazilian Police Officers Convicted in Carandiru Prison Massacre

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil – A jury has found 25 Brazilian police officers guilty of killing 52 inmates during the 1992 riot at Sao Paulo’s Carandiru prison. It was country’s bloodiest prison riot in which 111 prisoners died.

Carandiru jail demolition on 8 December 2002.
The Carandiru prison was demolished in 2002, but the state has been slow to bring the perpetrators to trial. (Photo Courtesy of The Associated Press)

Judge Rodrigo Tellini de Aguirre Camargo sentenced those convicted to prison terms of 624 years each for their roles in what has been dubbed the Carandiru massacre. The officers, nine of whom are still on active duty, will also lose their jobs. Currently under Brazilian law there are no life sentences, and no convicted person can serve more than 30 years in jail. The officer’s attorney informed reporters that she would appeal the sentencing. The officers will be allowed to remain free pending the outcome of their appeal.

The lawyer for the officers, Ieda Ribeiro de Souza, argued they were only doing their duty and acted in self-defense, as many of the inmates were armed. She further stated that the fault lies with then Governor Luiz Antonio Fleury Filho, who oversaw security forces in the state.

“Who should be here is Dr. Fleury. He didn’t go [to Carandiru] himself” because he had political protection, said Ribeiro de Souza.

The riot, which began on October 2, 1992, was sparked by a fight between two rival gangs that started with a quarrel during a soccer game. It escalated into an uprising that quickly spread through the penitentiary, which was built to hold fewer than 4,000 inmates but was housing nearly 8,000. The riot went on for around three hours before more than 300 military police officers stormed the Carandiru prison. The officers gunned down more than 100 inmates within 30 minutes. No police officers were killed.

Autopsies showed the dead were riddled with an average of five bullets. The revolt ended in a massacre that exposed the harsh conditions of prisons in Brazil and it became an iconic example of how Brazil’s military police can sometimes kill with impunity.

Some survivors of the violence said police made little attempt to negotiate with the revolting prisoners. The officers entered firing, and continued to fire on prisoners who had surrendered or were hiding. Others said they hid among the scores of bodies, pretending to be dead, to avoid the gunfire.

The sentencing is the latest in a series of separate trials of police officers accused of executing inmates during the 1992 massacre. In April of this year, 23 officers were sentenced to prison terms of 156 years each for their part in killing 13 inmates during the same massacre. Another 31 officers will be tried in the coming months in connection with the slayings at the now-defunct prison.

Human rights groups have long decried conditions in Brazil’s prisons and the behavior of the military police. The Carandiru massacre gained special attention in Brazil because of its size and a popular 2003 movie.

For more information please see:

BBC – Brazil Carandiru jail massacre police guilty – 3 August 2013

Reuters – Brazil court sentences 25 police officers for prison massacre – 3 August 2013

Los Angeles Times – Brazil court sentences 25 police officers in 1992 prison massacre – 3 August 2013

The Wall Street Journal – Brazil Police Officers Found Guilty in 1992 Prison Massacre – 3 August 2013

Fox News – Jury finds 25 Brazilian police officers guilty of killing inmates in 1992 prison riot – 3 August 2013