News

Disputes rise among European nations over refugee crisis

By: Sara Adams
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Europe

Migrants line up for food in a migrant camp in Rome, Italy. Image courtesy of Reuters.

EUROPE – The European Union has begun legal action on June 13 against three member countries for not taking in their fair share of refugees. The action will be brought in the European Court of Justice.

The Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary are the countries that may face fines for ignoring EU plans to resettle asylum seekers in the region. This proposal, formed in 2015, was to relocate 160,000 refugees across the European mainland.

In March, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern suggested cutting EU funds to nations that refuse to comply with the measures.

Hungary has taken hardline measures in its asylum policy. They passed a law that would detain asylum seekers into border camps for them to wait for their cases to be handled.

Under the EU plan, each country is assigned to take a certain number of refugees or migrants from the vast number of those coming in. Poland has not accepted any. The Czech Republic has taken 12 of their 2,000 allotment.

Further south, the populist mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, has asked the national government not to send any more migrants into the city. Italy has had an influx of refugees and migrant workers coming in from North Africa for the past three years.

In March, when the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban passed the bill allowing detainment of migrants before asylum, he reinforced his hardline stance on immigration. He claimed that immigration is the “Trojan horse of terrorism,” and argued that this was necessary to “defend [Hungary’s] borders…[So] no one will try to come to Hungary illegally.”

The rising fears among Europe regarding refugees are often based on security concerns. With the recent terror attacks in the United Kingdom, member nations of the EU remain on guard. Anti-immigrant sentiment is by and large in the continent and is an especially popular topic of discussion in local elections.

Immigration advocates push against the rhetoric pushed by anti-refugee leaders around the world. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called Hungary’s law an act “[promoting] toxic notions of ethic purity”.

Human rights group Amnesty International has also been outspoken against the anti-immigration sentiment of the three countries involved in the EU legal action. The European office director of the group, Iverna McGowan, said that the EU’s action shows that “countries will not be allowed to get away with dragging their feet to avoid accepting refugees.”

She continues, “Solidarity is the key to a fair and humane response to refugees in Europe.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Don’t send more migrants, Rome mayor tells Italy’s government – 13 June 2017

BBC News – EU targets Poland, Hungary, and Czechs for not taking refugees – 13 June 2017

New York Times – E.U. Move Against 3 Countries That Don’t Take Refugees – 13 June 2017

ABC News – EU warns 3 countries of legal action over refugee plan – 13 June 2017

Reuters – Rome’s 5-Star mayor calls to half migrants’ flow into city – 13 June 2017

The Guardian – Austria threatens EU funding cuts over Hungary’s hard line on refugees – 8 March 2017

BBC News – Hungary to detain all asylum seekers in border camps – 7 March 2017

 

 

New South Korean President Raises Concerns On ‘Comfort Women’ Deal

By: Brian Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia 

SEOUL, South Korea – President Moon Jae-in of South Korea raised concerns on a landmark agreement made with Japan in December 2015 dealing with wartime sex slaves. The new South Korean president stated that the agreement is unfair.

South Koreans protesting outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. Photo courtesy of NPR.

According to the deal, the Japanese government agreed to provide $8.3 million to help “comfort women” and for Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister, to offer his “most sincere apologies and remorse.” It was also agreed that both countries will not criticize each other on this issue in the international society.

The issue of “comfort women” has been an ongoing controversy between these two countries. Although the exact numbers are unknown, the authorities believe that around 200,000 women were forced to serve as sex slaves when Japan took control of Korea in 1910.

Lee Ok-seon, now age 90, spoke about the time when she was captured by the Japanese military. In 1942, at the age 15, Lee was grabbed by men in uniform and was forced to work in a brothel in a Japanese-occupied area in China. As the survivors age and die, Lee remains as one of the last “comfort women.”

Former “comfort women” and many of their supporters have been protesting outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul. In 2011, a group erected a bronze statue of a seated woman outside the Japanese embassy. Back in January of 2017, the Japanese government withdrew diplomats from South Korea after the same statue was erected in the city of Busan arguing that such action violated the 2015 agreement.

The victims believe that the apology made by the Japanese Prime Minister does not go far enough. Moreover, the polls show that the majority of Koreans believe the 2015 agreement to be unfair.

South Korean president, Moon Jae-in spoke with Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister, and discussed the common threat posed by North Korea. Although President Moon stated that the people of South Korea “cannot emotionally accept the comfort women agreement,” he was clear that the issue should not affect the relationship in finding ways to respond to North Korea.

On June 7, Kang Kyung-wha, President Moon’s pick for foreign minister said during her confirmation hearing that she seeks to renew discussions over the 2015 agreement with Japan.

For more information, please see: 

NPR – Not All South Koreans Satisfied With Japan’s Apology To ‘Comfort Women’ – 30 May, 2017

CNN – South Korea’s New President Questions Japan ‘Comfort Women’ Deal – 5 June, 2017

Nikkei Asian Review -South Korea Foreign Minister Pick Vows ‘Comfort Women’ Talks – 8 June, 2017

Chile Convicts 106 in One of the Country’s Largest Mass Prosecutions, Declines to Investigate Unlawful Detention of Indigenous Peoples Activist

By: Max Cohen
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – 106 former intelligence agents were sentenced by Judge Hernan Cristoso, in one of the largest mass prosecutions for human rights abuses. The agents were sentenced for their roles in the disappearances of 16 leftist militants during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship, which lasted from 1973-1990. 13 additional agents who had been charged were absolved from sentencing by the Chilean Judiciary. The sentences range from just over a year and a half to 20 years.

Dictator Augusto Pinochet, who controlled Chile from 1973-1990, and was responsible for the torture and deaths of thousands of people. Photo courtesy of AFP.

The abducted militants were reportedly sent to various torture and detention centers in Santiago between June 1974 and January 1975, and were never seen alive again. Their deaths were then covered up by the Chilean secret police by planting stories in foreign newspapers to imply that they had been killed fighting abroad as a way of absolving the government. Approximately 3,000 people disappeared and 30,000 were tortured during Pinochet’s rule. The disappearances were a part of Operation Condor, conducted by Chile in league with other South American countries such as Argentina and Brazil, which resulted in tens of thousands of activist deaths across the region. It was also motivated by the freshly established Pinochet government to consolidate its power.

Many of the agents who were convicted were already serving sentences for the human rights abuses they had committed. Also among those convicted were two former generals, Cesar Manriquez Bravo and Raul Iturriaga Neumann.

In addition to the criminal penalties for those involved, the current Chilean government was also ordered to pay 5 million Chilean pesos, equivalent to 7.5 million dollars, to the families of the victims as compensation.

Chile has also been criticized recently by Amnesty International for the decision by its Temuco Public Prosecutors Office to close an investigation into the unlawful detention of Victor Queipul Hueiquil, an activist for the rights of indigenous peoples in the country. Victor was reportedly detained for an entire day when police carried out an operation on the land of the Autonomous Community of Temucuicui. During the time of his detention he was allegedly blindfolded, tied up, and beaten while being interrogated.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – Chile: Closure of investigation into crimes against Mapuche leader puts indigenous people at risk – 17 May, 2017

BBC – Chilean judge sends 106 former secret agents to prison – 2 June, 2017

CNN – Chile convicts 106 former intelligence agents – 3 June, 2017

teleSUR – Chile Judge Jails 106 Ex-Agents of Pinochet Dictatorship – 3 June, 2017

UPI – Chile judge sentences 106 intelligence agents for kidnappings – 3 June, 2017

Members of Venezuelan Government Opposition Barred From Travel and Protests Intensify as Maduro Seeks to Change Constitution

By: Max Cohen
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela -Paulina Facchin, a representative of the Venezuelan opposition group Mesa de la Unidad Democratica in Peru, was barred back in January from getting her Venezuelan passport for the charge of “inciting hatred”. Ms. Facchin had previously done an interview with Peruvian press in which she was deeply critical of the current crisis in Venezuela, and had driven around an opposition legislator during his visit there. Then in mid-May, the leader of Venezuela’s opposition party Henrique Capriles was barred from travelling to New York to meet with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein.

A protestor brandishes a molotov cocktail during a march by healthcare workers. Photo courtesy of Agence France-Presse.

The protests in Venezuela meanwhile, have only grown more violent and out of control. In one example, a lynch mob drenched a person in gasoline and lit them on fire. The violence of the protestors has been met by the government with escalating deadly force. At least 55 people on both sides have been killed in the past seven weeks, with more than a thousand injured. However, it should be noted that the protestors have largely been peaceful, and the ones causing violence appear to be in the minority.

As his people protest in the street, Maduro is seeking to put together a constituent assembly to rewrite Venezuela’s constitution. Critics however, fear that his success in doing so would only further escalate the violence

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Harassing Opposition Activists Abroad – 30 May, 2017

Washington Post – Venezuela is sliding into anarchy – 24 May, 2017

UN News Centre – Venezuela: UN human rights chief regrets opposition leader being blocked to travel – 19 May, 2017

African Leaders Encourage South Sudan to Revive Peace

By: Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa Desk

 

JUBA, South Sudan — The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) concluded its summit meeting this past Monday with a focus on the worsening war situation in South Sudan.  The bloc at the summit called upon all parties involved to take necessary steps to follow a concrete plan to revitalize the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict on South Sudan, which was implemented in 2015.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir (Photo Courtesy of Eyewitness News)

The IGAD also called for a forum including all parties, even estranged groups, to discuss measures to restore a permanent ceasefire.  The forum would also develop a more realistic timeline towards South Sudan’s August 2018 elections, and would delay the elections if necessary to a more feasible date.  South Sudan First Vice President Taban Deng Gai believes the elections should go forth as planned, however summit delegates officially decided that it would be “too premature” to hold an election considering the country’s high level of violence.

The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (JMEC) in South Sudan has also decried its country’s continuing violence.  JMEC chairperson Festus Mogae commented that “[t]he rapidly deteriorating political, security, humanitarian and economic situation in the country has caused unprecedented displacement, famine, and growing civilian flight.  The pace of the implementation of the Peace Agreement has been too slow…”

According to the UN OCHA Humanitarian Bulletin Report distributed on May 28, 3.7 million South Sudanese are homeless.  Some have relocated to civilian sites, and others have been moved to refugee settlements in neighboring countries Kenya and Uganda.  Also according to the report, 5.5 million people are “food insecure,” and there are many reports of human rights violations including murders, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, and detentions.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir did not attend the summit due to “pressing issues in the country,” however First Vice President Gai attended in his place.

Sudan’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Jamal Al Sheikh, told reporters that the summit commenced the opening of “Sudanese humanitarian corridors to forward to relief to the affected civilians in South Sudan.”  Al Sheikh confirmed that IGAD would continue its efforts to cooperate with willing partners.

 

For more information, please see:

Africa News — IGAD Redirects South Sudanese Warring Parties Back to Peace Agreement — 13 June 2017

All Africa — East Africa: IGAD Appreciates the Great Role Played by the Sudan in Hosting Juba Refugees — 13 June 2017

Eyewitness News — Africa Leaders Push South Sudan to Revive Peace, Delay Vote — 13 June 2017

The Star — End Hostilities, Abuse of Human Rights in South Sudan, JMEC tells IGAD — 13 June 2017