By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, North America and Oceania

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian authorities postponed the country’s presidential and legislative runoffs because they said they needed to wait for recommendations from a special commission tasked with evaluating the widely criticized electoral process.

There were violent protests last month after the council announced the results of the first round of voting.

Jovenel Moise, a banana exporter, won the most votes but with 33% fell short of a majority. On Sunday, he was to face ex-state construction company head Jude Celestin, who came second with 25%.

The winner will succeed President Michel Martelly next February as the head of the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country.

In parts of Northern and Southern Haiti, angry partisans insisted that the results released late Friday by the much-criticized electoral council did not reflect the will of voters. Presidential and legislative runoffs were scheduled for next weekend amid numerous accusations of fraud and manipulation of results.

On Saturday, street protests erupted when the results were announced; this led to several government buildings being set ablaze, and the death of one demonstrator. In the nearby town of Ferrier, another elections office burned and the mayor’s office was lit on fire. In northwestern Haiti, some houses and schools were set ablaze.

Police Inspector Guytho Noel said an 18-year-old protester was fatally shot when two factions clashed on the streets of the northeastern town of Terrier Rouge.

In recent days, President Michel Martelly announced that a five-member commission would assess Haiti’s electoral process ahead of the runoffs that opposition factions have threatened to derail because of suspicions of widespread fraud. However, the commission and the way in which it was formed has come under heavy criticism.

The opposition and the Senate have rejected the body and the government has also been forced to postpone the swearing-in of its members, who were supposed to have issued a report by Sunday.

While international observers have endorsed results from the first two rounds of this year’s elections, an array of rights groups, local election monitors and political factions allege they were so marred by fraud that their validity is in question.

In recent days, several legislative candidates have taken to the airwaves stating how they were asked to pay thousands of dollars in bribes to electoral court judges and council members in hopes of securing a spot in parliament.

For more information, please see:

BBC News — Haiti presidential election run-off delayed – 21 December 2015

Minneapolis Star Tribune — Haiti officials postpone elections set for this weekend until commission makes recommendations – 21 December 2015

Thompson-Reuters — Haiti postpones Sunday’s presidential election – council members – 21 December 2015

USA Today — Haiti postpones scheduled presidential runoff – 21 December 2015

Jamaica Observer — Violence in Haiti as final election results released – 20 December 2015

ABC News — Election Results Ignite Violent Protests in Haiti – 19 December 2015

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, North America and Oceania

PANAMA CITY, Panama — On Monday, Panama’s Supreme Court ordered the detention of former President Ricardo Martinelli to face charges that he allegedly used public money to illegally spy on opponents. Martinelli insisted on Tuesday that he’s being targeted politically, and will stay outside the country while fighting charges.

The case is one of a half-dozen investigations against the 63-year-old supermarket magnate for alleged corruption.

The Panama Supreme Court upheld a prosecutor’s request to order the detention of Martinelli after a judge declared him in contempt for failing to appear at a hearing.

In a resolution read by Judge Luis Mario Carrasco, the provisional detention order was stated as being ” fully justified because of the evident inattention to the process on the part of the investigated party.”

The Panama Electoral Tribunal in April rescinded Martinellli’s immunity, which is afforded to all ex-presidents in Panama. The Panama Supreme Court had requested Martinelli’s immunity be lifted after unanimously voting in January to appoint a special prosecutor and begin the corruption probe.

Martinelli, who oversaw a public works boom and Latin America’s fastest economic growth in recent years, fled Panama in January and is believed to be living in Miami.

Despite his initial popularity, his administration was tainted by allegations of corruption. Martinelli is accused of using public funds to illegally spy on more than 150 prominent people. Among those he allegedly spied on are trade union activists, politicians, lawyers, doctors and business people. Investigators said the wiretaps were carried out by members of Panama’s National Security Council.

On Monday, Martinelli denied the charges. “Like those now detained illegally, I’m a victim of rigged proceedings, of coerced or manufactured witnesses and it is ever more evident the violations to the presumption of innocence and due process.”

Martinelli has accused Varela, who once was his vice president, of concocting a case against him in revenge for being fired from his second post as foreign minister two years into the presidency. “I will prove my innocence here because there is no justice over there,” Martinelli said in a statement. “I’ll go if a politically appropriate moment presents itself, or after that tyrant leaves in 2019.”

Martinelli left Panama aboard his private jet in January after the election of archrival Juan Carlos Varela and a day after the Supreme Court took steps to lift his immunity as a current member of the Central American Parliament.

Panama has already filed an Interpol notice for his arrest.

For more information, please see:

ABC News — Panama’s Ex-President Fighting Spying Charges From Abroad – 22 December 2015

Al-Jazeera America — Panama court orders detention of ex-president – 22 December 2015

BBC News — Panama orders arrest of ex-leader Ricardo Martinelli – 22 December 2015

JURIST — Former Panama president detained over illegal spying – 22 December 2015

Minneapolis Star Tribune — Panama’s ex-President vows to fight spying charges from abroad – 22 December 2015

Reuters — Panama court orders detention of ex-president over spying – 22 December 2015

Tico Times — Panama court orders detention of ex-President Ricardo Martinelli – 22 December 2015

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

OTTAWA, Canada — On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau laid out his plan to reset Canada’s relationship with its indigenous people during his address to a group of First Nations leaders. In an appeal to First Nations chiefs, Trudeau has promised an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.

The public inquiry will be “top priority” of the Liberal government, the newly elected leader said.

In a statement given this morning, Prime Minister Trudeau said, “It is time for a renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations peoples, one that understands that the constitutionally guaranteed rights of First Nations in Canada are not an inconvenience but rather a sacred obligation.”

“History has shown that that taking an adversarial approach is not only ineffective, but it can be profoundly damaging. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the government’s relationship with First Nations.”

Trudeau’s speech, delivered to a special assembly of chiefs from the Assembly of First Nations, is part of a broader promise to reset the fractured relationship between Ottawa and Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples. “What’s needed is nothing less than a total renewal of the relationship between Canada and First Nations peoples,” he said.

Also announced Tuesday, the Liberal government has launched the consultation phase of its national inquiry into Canada’s missing and murdered indigenous women. The party is pledging to meet with victims’ families across the country to ensure the probe is relevant to those who have been affected most by the tragedies.

Calls for an inquiry have grown since a review found 1,181 indigenous women had been murdered or gone missing since 1980.

“We have made this inquiry a priority for our government because those touched by this national tragedy have waited long enough. The victims deserve justice; their families deserve an opportunity to heal and to be heard.”

Trudeau said another government priority will be to make “significant investments” in First Nations education. First Nations have long complained that their school system is under-funded when compared to other public school systems.

The Canadian government forced more than 150,000 First Nation children to attend these state-funded church schools from the 19th Century until the mid-1990s. The schools sought to integrate the children into mainstream Canadian society, but in doing so rid them of their native culture.

Quebec Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come is hopeful about the new government’s approach.

“The previous government certainly showed no respect, limited consultations, continued to push policies without the consent and involvement of the First Nations of this country. Here, we now have a new prime minister who is stepping forward, actually coming to our assembly. I think that in itself is a great message.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News — Justin Trudeau makes appeal to First Nations chiefs – 8 December 2015

CBC News — Trudeau lays out plan for new relationship with indigenous people – 8 December 2015

CTV News — ‘We have much work to do’: Trudeau touts new relationship with First Nations – 8 December 2015

National Post — Trudeau says Canada will forge ahead with a ‘total renewal’ of relationship with First Nations – 8 December 2015

The Globe and Mail — Liberals reveal first details of inquiry into missing and murdered – 8 December 2015

The Star — Trudeau commits to ‘nation-to-nation relationship’ with First Nations – 8 December 2015

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, North America and Oceania

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America — A growing number of U.S. Governors are refusing to admit Syrian refugees, citing security concerns highlighted by the terrorist attacks in Paris. Leading Republican presidential candidates called on President Barack Obama to suspend the plan to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in the coming year.

The governors are responding to heightened concerns that terrorists might use the refugees as cover to sneak across borders.

As of Monday, the governors of the following states have either expressed hesitation or outright refusal to accept Syrian refugees within their borders: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

For example, Louisiana Governor and 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate Bobby Jindal declared over Twitter, “I just signed an Executive Order instructing state agencies to take all available steps to stop the relocation of Syrian refugees to LA.”

Chief among the concerns shared by these governors, and indeed many of those involved, including members of the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, have revolved around the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of properly screening and vetting the Syrian refugees. Indeed, because of the Syrian conflict, many of these refugees have little or no documentation records.

Lavinia Limon, president and CEO of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigration, has said under the Refugee Act of 1980, governors cannot legally block refugees from settling in their communities.

Several governors acknowledged that they do not have the ability to stop the federal government from accepting and financing the resettlement of refugees to the United States. They too have sought reassurances that the process used to screen refugees is adequate and thorough.

As the list of states blocking refugees grows, the state of Delaware announced that it plans to accept refugees.

Governor Jack Markell said in a statement, “It is unfortunate that anyone would use the tragic events in Paris to send a message that we do not understand the plight of these refugees, ignoring the fact that the people we are talking about are fleeing the perpetrators of terror.”

Along with Delaware, governors from the following states have stated they will accept Syrian Refugees: Colorado, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington.

According to the Obama administration, which has stated that it hopes to resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees, more than 180 cities and towns have expressed willingness to accept refugees. The U.S. has resettled about 1,800 refugees from Syria so far in 2015, according to statistics compiled by the State Department.

Millions of Syrians have fled to neighboring Middle Eastern countries and Europe, and President Obama’s administration has pledged to accept about 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next 12 months. The U.S. State Department said the refugees would be spread across the country.

For more information, please see:

ABC News — Wary Governors Halt, Question Plan to Accept Syrian Refugees – 16 November 2015

CNN — Syrian refugees not welcome here, governors of 16 states say – 16 November 2015

Reuters — U.S. Republicans seek to shut door on Syrian refugees after Paris – 16 November 2015

Time — Governors Vow to Block Syrian Refugees After Paris Attacks – 16 November 2015

USA Today — After attacks in Paris, governors refuse to accept Syrian refugees – 16 November 2015

Washington Post — Governors rush to slam door on Syrian refugees – 16 November 2015