News

Argentine Government Withdraws From Falkland Islands Talks With Britain

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America 

 

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina  —  The British Foreign Secretary William Hague, has accused the Argentine government of “bullying” and intimidating behavior towards residents of the Falkland Islands. The Falkland Islands are under British rule but Argentina has disputed since 1945. In June 2012, the Falkland Islands announced they would hold a referendum on its sovereignty status, scheduled for the upcoming month.

 

Hector Timerman at his press conference in London. (Photo Courtesy of Sky News)

The Argentine government has refused to recognize the existence of the Falkland Islands, and refers to the islands as the Malvinas. The Argentine Foreign Minister, Hector Timerman refused a meeting with Hague due to the government not recognizing Falkland Islanders’ existence. Timerman held a press conference during his London visit and said “The Falklands islanders do not exist. What exists is British citizens who live in the Islas Malvinas. The United Nations does not recognise a third party in the conflict. It says there are just two parts – the UK and Argentina.”

The Falkland Islands have shown signs that they want to remain under British rule and reject Argentina’s sovereignty claim. Hague said “This is a community that is nearly 200 years old. They seem very determined to remain British. If there’s any chance they would change their minds, the approach by Argentina is completely counterproductive.

It only fortifies the islanders’ determination to stay British. It is only going to add to the decades and centuries that the Falklands will remain British.”

Timerman withdrew from a scheduled talk with Hague last week after Hague demanded that residents from the islands be represented in the sovereignty discussion. Timerman called the suggestion an ultimatum.

In response to Timerman’s withdrawal, Jan Cheek, representative of the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands, said “We are disappointed, but hardly surprised. Argentina prefers to disregard our existence, rather than engage constructively with the people who have lived on the Falkland Islands for so many generations.”

Argentina considers people born in the islands to be Argentine citizens. Timerman guarantees that due to this status islanders have “all the social, civil, economic, political rights as any Argentinean citizens born in continental Argentina.”

Argentina’s claim for sovereignty of the Falkland Islands is led by their President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

 

For further information, please see:

 

BBC News — William Hague: Argentina bullying Falklands – 10 Feb 2013

Voice of Russia — New outbreak of Falkland Islands (Malvinas) war – 8 Feb 2013

Sky News — Argentina: Falklands Islanders ‘Don’t Exist’ – 6 Feb 2013

 

Migrant Workers Exploited at Russian Winter Olympics Sites

By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SOCHI, Russia – Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report, “Race To The Bottom,” last week detailing the exploitation of migrant workers who built sites and infrastructure, including the Central Olympic Stadium, the Main Olympic Village, and the Main Media Center, for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Workers at an Olympic construction site in the Imereti Valley near the Black Sea port of Sochi. (Photo Courtesy of RFE/RL)

HRW learned that employers cheated migrant workers out of wages, required 12-hour shifts with few days off, and confiscated passports and work permits, which forced migrant workers to stay in their current job.  The watchdog organization stressed a need for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Russian authorities, including the State Corporation OlympStroi, to rigorously monitor worker’s rights in the coming year before the 2014 Olympic Games.

2014 will be Russia’s first Winter Olympics and its first Olympics since the Summer Games of 1980.  As a pet project on which President Vladimir Putin has staked his reputation, Russian officials have promised the games next year will be the most expensive ever, with a price tag exceeding $50 billion (China spent $42 billion on the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing).  Putin’s personal spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov defended the project as an opportunity to develop the Sochi region, while simultaneously comparing the magnitude of the project to the “reconstruction of cities and towns after World War II.”

In Russia’s strive for greatness, the region of the Black Sea coast town of Sochi, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains, is being transformed, necessitating tens of thousands of construction workers, including over 16,000 migrant workers from outside of Russia.  HRW spoke to 66 workers, nearly all of whom had low-wage, low-skill jobs.  They came from countries such as Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine, and earned as little as 55 to 80 rubles (US$1.80 to $2.60) an hour.

Some of the workers interviewed indicated that they did not receive full wages, were never paid at all, or had their wages kept from them as a tactic to keep them on a project.  Working 12-hour day, 7-days a week, they did not receive the benefits of a 40-hour work week, overtime pay, or a day off per week, which are all mandated under Russian law.  Some employers convinced workers to continue to labor for months with the promise that pay would come soon.

For some workers, the lack of salary is particularly trying because in many instances, the migrant workers came to Russia in order to support their families back home as the sole breadwinners.  When they are paid, they send the majority of their earnings home.

Although accommodations and meals were generally provided, housing was overcrowded (e.g., one employer provided a single-family house as living quarters for 200 migrant laborers) and meals were insufficient to sustain people laboring for 12 hours a day.

In several instances, migrant workers who complained of the ill treatment, exploitation, or unfair wages were denounced to the authorities and deported.  It was quickly demonstrated that foreign workers, with limited knowledge of the language, issues with residency, and a fear of legal repercussions proved particularly vulnerable.

The International Olympics Committee (IOC) claimed in a statement that it had raised the issue of worker exploitation.  However, the IOC has by and large praised Russian authorities’ preparation for the Olympic Games.  The IOC has furthermore failed to address numerous other human rights allegations in Russia, such as restrictions on public assemblies, new internet restrictions and a re-criminalization of libel.

Furthermore, while OlympStroi, the state company overseeing official construction, had conducted some 1,300 inspections into exploitation allegations, it found only a small number of violations.

“As the IOC meets in Sochi this week to celebrate the one-year countdown to the 2014 Winter Games, it has a chance to make a strong statement about respect for human dignity by publicly calling on the Russian authorities to put an end to worker exploitation,” said Jane Buchanan, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “The Olympic Games are about excellence and inspiration. The world should not cheer Winter Games in Russia that are built on a foundation of exploitation and abuse.”

Unfortunately, this is not the first story of abuses in the Stroi region.  Last fall, thousands of residents were forced to move to make way for the present construction.  While most received some form of compensation, at least dozens of homeowners were forcefully relocated and never compensated at all.  Environmentalists have also warned of illegal dumping, destruction of forests and wildlife, and similar violations.

Even athletes currently on site for trial events have been surprised by large numbers of heavily armed riot police, frequent checkpoints, and constant requests to show ID to not only access athletic venues but also to exit, as well as to simply enter their living quarters.

Buchanan further commented: “Like the athletes competing in the 2014 Winter Olympics, Russia has big hopes and dreams for its performance in Sochi as the host.  But exploiting workers is a victory for no one, and Russia urgently needs to change course.”

For further information, please see:

HRW – Russia’s Anti-Olympic Spirit – 8 February 2013

HRW – Russia: Migrant Olympic Workers Cheated, Exploited – 6 February 2013

Huffington Post – Migrant Workers at Russia Olympic Sites Face Abuses, Human Right Watch Says – 6 February 2013

New York Times – Putin’s Vision of Olympic Glory Meets a More Earthbound Reality in Sochi – 6 February 2013

RFE/RL – HRW Criticizes Exploitation at Russian Olympic Construction Sites – 6 February 2013

Peru To Introduce Bill To Broaden Scope Of Domestic Violence

By Brendan Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – In an effort to curb the rampant violence against women experienced in Latin America, the Executive branch of the Peruvian government is proposing legislation in order to expand the definition to further protect its population. The submitted bill will amend the countries Law on Protection against Domestic Violence (LPDV) expanding the definition of violence to include coercion via sexual, physical, psychological and economic means.

The Executive Branch of Peru is introducing legislature that would broaden the definition of Domestic Violence. (Photo courtesy of Gestion)

According to independent estimates in Peru, 50% of women in urban areas have experienced at least one instance of physical or sexual violence, with that number rising to 69% in rural areas, and with 30 percent of women suffering some sort of psychological abuse as a result of their partners.

This new bill is just the next step that President Ollanta Humala’s fight to bring Peru into the 21st Century. The National Parliament of Peru approved a bill that would modify the National Plan of Reparation in order to include compensation for survivors of sexual violence. This would allow those forced into prostitution, sexual slavery, survivors of sexual abuse and kidnappings that occurred in Peru’s violent wartime past. These victims will be allowed to seek compensation for any sexually based crimes that were forced upon.

The initiative to amend the LPDV would mean that any act or omission, directly or indirectly, produced between household members that could result in any type of impairment of physical, sexual or psychological or economic detriment would be punishable. Earlier domestic violence was hard to identify, with only immediately view able situations or evidence such as bruises was domestic violence easy to punish. Domestic violence has been known to affect not just the abused, but the health of children within violent households. Peruvian children whose mothers suffered from domestic violence tend to weigh less and are more likely to suffer from disease. Seeing as nearly 50% of women in Peru have reported some type of violence, these results have widespread meaning.

Economic violence would be classified as any attempt to coerce the autonomy a household, which would cause financial or property damage through loss, conversion, theft or destruction property of the partnership or owned by the victim.

The reasoning behind the amended bill works under the theory that actions of a sexual nature committed against someone against their consent or during times of duress, even without penetration constitutes a violation of human rights and an offense to human dignity.

With Peru’s less than impeccable past concerning women’s rights, this represents at least an attempt to curb the epidemic of gender inequality that haunts the Latin American country.

For more information, please see:

Gestion – Executive Proposes To Expand The Legal Definition Of Domestic Violence – 10 February 2013

Eval Central – Development That Works: The Costs Of Crime And Violence In Latin America And The Caribbean – 5 February 2013

Womankind – Peru Moves To Bring Justice For Women Survivors Of Sexual Violence During Conflict – 5 June 2012

United States Institute of Peace – Sexual Violence And Justice In Postconflict Peru – 1 June 2012

Charges Against Ethiopian Editor Renewed By New Administration

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Despite a change in administration, Ethiopian officials have renewed criminal charges against the former editor-in-chief of the now-defunct newspaper, Feteh, for allegedly criticizing former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Two articles published in Feteh. (Photo courtesy of Committee to Protect Journalists)

A judge in the Federal High Court in Addis Ababa revived three charges against Temesghen Desalegn, the former editor-in-chief of Feteh. Desalegn faces charges of defaming the government, false publication of articles, and “outrages against the constitution”.

The original charges relate to various articles published in Feteh between July 2011 and March 2012 before former Prime Minister Zenawi passed away last August, 2012. State prosecutors alleged that the Feteh articles falsely accused the government of interfering in religious affairs and discrimination against certain ethnic groups, and incited violence.

The evidence against Desalegn cited Feteh articles discussing subjects including how Ethiopians should be angry about the Government’s repressive practices; the role of the youth as agents of change and in popular uprisings in Ethiopia and abroad; and the lessons that should be learned from the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.

In the charge, the government cited two articles discussing the peaceful struggles of youth movements for political change in Ethiopia in the wake of the Arab Spring.

In addition, the government made reference to two columns criticizing the killing and imprisonment of student protesters; the massacres of ethnic minorities by government forces; and the ethnic federalism system introduced by the Meles Administration.

Desalegn was arrested on August 1, 2012, a few days after Ethiopian authorities closed the weekly newspaper and blocked the distribution of around 30,000 printed copies that contained conflicting reports on the health of the late prime minister.

With the same month, state prosecutors suspended the original charges against Desalegn without explanation. However, with the revival of the charges, Desalegn is currently facing the same charges he was facing last year.

The next court date is scheduled for March 26, according to local journalists.

Shimeles Kemal, a government spokesman, said that the charges had been renewed based on further incriminating evidence. Kemal offered no additional details.

Ethiopia, a close ally of the United States, has been repeatedly criticized by international human rights groups for legislating broad anti-terrorism legislation to punish critical journalists and opposition groups.

The Ethiopian government has denied all allegations that it is targeting journalists because of their reporting or affiliations with political groups.

However, with seven journalists currently behind bars and 79 that have fled the country, Ethiopia is the second-leading jailer of journalists in Africa after neighboring Eritrea, which has jailed at least 30 journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

 

For further information, please see:

Sudan Tribune – CPJ Denounces Politicized Trial of Ethiopian Journalist – 10 February 2013

Committee to Protect Journalists – Charges Renewed Against Ethiopian Journalist Temesghen – 8 February 2013

Amnesty International – Ethiopia: Detention of Editor Signals Continuation of Meles-era Crackdown – 24 August 2012

All Africa – Ethiopia: In Ethiopia, Feteh Editor Jailed During Trial – 23 August 2012

 

DR Congo Rebel Ringleader Arrested in Cape Town

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa—South African police today, Sunday, February 10, announced that the “ringleader” of a group of 19 Congolese rebels today faces charges of plotting a war with the goal of unseating the Congolese President, Joseph Kabila.

DRC police arrest rebel ringleader. (Photo Courtesy of News 24)

The ringleader, who the police declined to identify, was arrested on Friday. Captain Paul Ramaloko, a spokesman for the South Africa Police Service said that the leader did not fight the arrest, however, he did not offer any further details. The Captain did mention that, “he cooperated with us.”

The group of 19 individuals, including a United States citizen, also appeared before the South African court to face charges under the Foreign Military Assistance Act with their leader. The group was arrested in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province under the suspicion of running an illegal military operation. A law enforcement official said that they were actually members of the M23 rebels that have been working to overtake parts of Mali’s eastern region. The group members were not asked to enter any pleas, but rather have been ordered to return to court later this week on February 14, 2013.

These 19 individuals were arrested before their “leader” on February 5. South African prosecutors commented that the group believed that they had been on their way to a training camp, where they would learn the tactics they would need in order to wage a full scale war against the Kabila government. What the men did not know was that they were set up. The people that the group of 19 were in touch with were actually undercover police officers.

The rebel suspects asked the undercover officers for thousands of machine guns and grenades as well as missiles, cash, radios and satellite phones. In return, the group offered the officers mining rights in eastern Congo, where mining experts estimate mineral deposits worth trillions of dollars. One of the suspects is James Kazongo, a United States citizen who lives in Middletown, Delaware. He denied the charges against him and has been in contact with the United States Embassy in South Africa.

The arrested “ringleader,” Ramakolo said, is one of the main players in the plot, “in organizing the coup attempt.” He also will be expected to appear in court early this week.

 

For further information, please see:

ABC News – South Africa Police: Congo Rebel Ringleader Arrested – 10 February 2013

Business Day Live – South African Police Arrest Another Suspect in Alleged DRC Coup Plot – 10 February 2013

Calgary Herald – South Africa Police Say ‘Ringleader’ of 19 Congolese Rebels Allegedly Plotting Coup Arrested – 10 February 2013

Mail & Guardian – DRC Rebel Ringleader Arrested in Cape Town – 10 February 2013