North America & Oceania

US Marine Convicted Of Killing Transgender Filipino

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

MANILA, The Philippines — A court in The Philippines convicted a United States Marine of homicide Tuesday in the killing of a transgender woman. The court sentenced him for six to 12 years, in a case that has reignited debate over American military presence in its former colony.

Joseph Pemberton, left, in Philippine Court Tuesday. (Photo Courtesy of USA Today)

The Marine, Joseph Pemberton, had been charged with murder; however, the court convicted him of the lesser offense of homicide, which does not require malicious intent.

Pemberton will be temporarily detained in a Philippine jail until the Philippine and US governments agree on where he should be held during his prison term.

Authorities stated Pemberton, who was on shore leave in Olongapo City during joint military exercises, killed the victim in October 2014 after he discovered that she was transgender.

The court said that it had reduced the charge from murder because the element of “treachery” was not present in the killing. The general perception of the case has led many to criticize aspects of the sentencing. The victim’s sister told Reuters, “We expected a murder conviction but instead got homicide. We are not content with the decision.”

Laude’s mother, Julita Cabillan, also told the Associated Press that while she was happy with the verdict, she was not pleased with the jail term. “No amount of money could pay for the years I spent raising my child,” Cabillan told reporters. “What they did to my child was gruesome. Just because we are poor doesn’t mean we can’t fight for justice.”

Additionally, Protesters supporting the victim, Jennifer Laude, outside the Hall of Justice carried placards, saying “Justice for Jennifer Laude! Justice for the Filipino people”, “Jail Pemberton in the Philippines”.

The case has sparked renewed controversy over U.S. military presence in The Philippines. According to the Associated Press, activists outside the courthouse warned that they would closely watch to ensure Pemberton is detained in a Philippines jail. The Philippines and U.S. governments must next agree on where Pemberton should serve his sentence, as prescribed under a visiting forces agreement.

Under the agreement, the Philippines can prosecute U.S. service members, but the U.S. has custody over service members from the commission of the offense until completion of all judicial proceedings. Interestingly in 2009, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled that convicted U.S. personnel must serve their sentences in the Philippines.

In recent years, both countries have sought to rebuild defense ties. Last year, President Obama visited Manila to sign a deal to expand military cooperation with the Philippines.

Both allies are also waiting for the Philippine Supreme Court to approve a pact allowing the U.S. military to store supplies on Philippine bases for operations related to maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disasters.

The case has now led to calls from left-wing groups for the Philippines to end its military agreements with the US.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC News — US marine guilty of Filipina transgender killing – 1 December 2015

CNN — U.S. Marine found guilty of killing transgender woman in Philippines – 1 December 2015

NY Times — U.S. Marine Guilty in Killing of Transgender Woman in Philippines – 1 December 2015

Reuters — U.S. Marine jailed in Philippines for killing transgender woman – 1 December 2015

USA Today — U.S. Marine found guilty of killing transgender Filipino – 1 December 2015

Washington Post — U.S. Marine convicted of killing transgender Filipino – 1 December 2015

Obama To Sign Congressional Defense Bill; Guantanamo Bay To Remain Open

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

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America — On Tuesday, the Senate approved an annual military policy bill, and White House officials said President Obama would sign the measure, despite provisions that bar the transfer of detainees from the terrorist detention center at Guantánamo Bay to the United States. President Obama vetoed an earlier version of the bill last month because it kept across-the-board budget cuts in place, and prohibited him from closing the prison.

The U.S. Detention Center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. (Photo Courtesy of the WSJ)

The president had objected to the previous bill because of the Guantanamo language, as well as because it eased military spending cuts without also loosening restrictions on domestic spending.

Members of the Senate overwhelmingly approved the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) 91-3 on Tuesday, just days after the House passed the bipartisan measure by a vote of 370-58. The legislation authorizes Pentagon spending on military personnel, ships, aircraft and other war-fighting equipment.

The Senate also voted 93-0 to send Obama another bill affecting Guantanamo. The military construction appropriations measure bars spending to renovate or build facilities in the United States to house former Guantanamo detainees.

Together with extending a ban on transferring Guantanamo detainees to the United States, the bill also imposes new restrictions on transfers to third countries, including Libya, Syria, Yemen and Somalia.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest addressed members of the media Tuesday to explain the President’s rationale for signing the bill, while also emphasizing the President’s position toward closing Guantánamo Bay remains unchanged.

“I would expect that you would see the president sign the NDAA when it comes to his desk,” Mr. Earnest stated in a news briefing. “That certainly does not reflect a change in our position, or the intensity of our position, about the need to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay.”

Although the Defense Department has been slowly releasing prisoners from Guantánamo, there are still 112 prisoners at the prison. The majority of these inmates are suspected terrorists whom were captured in Afghanistan; Obama has made the closure of the prison a national security priority.

In response to the passage of the NDAA, Republicans on Capitol Hill fear the president may prepare an end-run around Congress, and will try to close the prison through an executive order.

“If the President moves forward with this, it would be blatantly unconstitutional, flouting laws passed by Congress,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R., Texas) told the Wall Street Journal.

Alternatively, there are voices in Washington which remain hopeful Guantánamo may yet be closed. “If the president can find a constitutional path to that conclusion, I hope he can serve our country by closing Guantanamo once and for all,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

White House officials said that Mr. Obama intended to send Congress a plan to close the detention center after signing the bill.

For more information, please see:

NY Times — Senate Passes Military Bill That Bars Transfers of Guantánamo Detainees – 10 November 2015

Reuters — Obama to sign defense bill with Guantanamo restrictions – 10 November 2015

USA Today — Obama will sign defense bill despite Guantanamo Bay closure ban – 10 November 2015

US News and World Report — Congress sends Obama defense bill that bans moving Guantanamo detainees to US – 10 November 2015

Wall Street Journal — Obama to Sign Defense Bill Despite Provisions to Keep Guantanamo Open – 10 November 2015

Washington Times — Congress passes defense policy bill that keeps Guantanamo open – 10 November 2015

5th Circuit Upholds Blockage Of Obama Immigration Plan

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

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America — The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a Texas-based federal judge’s injunction blocking President Barack Obama’s plan to protect parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents along with more immigrants who came to the country as children. The Obama administration will ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on the president’s plan to shield as many as 5 million immigrants living in the country illegally from deportation.

Protesters Hold a Rally Outside the Court of Appeals in New Orleans. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

Lawyers for the administration had been expecting the Fifth Circuit ruling to go against the president, noting the high number of judges appointed by Republican presidents.

The three-judge panel for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans ruled 2 to 1 against an appeal by the Obama administration, saying a lawsuit brought by 26 states to block Mr. Obama’s actions was likely to succeed at trial.

Mr. Obama announced last November that he would use his executive authority to effectively stop deporting the undocumented parents of American children. That program, known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, would also allow the parents to work legally in the United States.

The plan was first blocked in February by a Federal District Court judge in Texas, who ruled that allowing millions of illegal immigrants to remain lawfully in the United States would prove costly to the State of Texas. The judge at that trial also said the government had not followed the proper procedures for enacting the new immigration rules.

Writing for the two judges in the majority, Judge Jerry Smith found that Texas had established it was in a strong legal position to bring the lawsuit because it would be harmed by new costs for issuing driver’s licenses to immigrants. He also found that the program would undercut the will of Congress.

In a scathing dissent, Judge Carolyn King said the two other judges, as well as the District Court judge, had misstated the basic facts of the case. She accused her colleagues of basing their decisions on conjecture, intuition, or preconception.

In the last several weeks, administration officials and other supporters of the immigration actions had expressed frustration that the appeals court had taken so long to rule. Marielena Hincapié, the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, said that while the appeals court ruling might be seen as another defeat for her cause, “the silver lining is that this is just in the nick of time for the administration to go to the Supreme Court.”

Under normal circumstances, in order for the Supreme Court to hear the case this term, briefing would have to be completed by mid-winter. The National Immigration Law Center has called for a quick Supreme Court appeal.

For more information please see:

BBC News — Federal appeals court halts Obama immigration action – 10 November 2015

CNN — Court upholds block on Obama’s immigration plan – 10 November 2015

USA Today — Appeals court deals crippling blow to President Obama’s immigration plan – 10 November 2015

US News — Obama appeals to Supreme Court in immigration case that could protect 5 million – 10 November 2015

Washington Post — Immigrants now must rely on Supreme Court for deportation relief – 10 November 2015

NY Times — Appeals Court Deals Blow to Obama’s Immigration Plans – 9 November 2015

Los Angeles Declares State of Emergency to Deal With Homeless Crisis

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

LOS ANGELES, United States of America — The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday declared a State of Emergency on homelessness, calling for $100 million to help address the growing crisis. The West Coast city is the first in the country to declare a State of Emergency over the growing number of street dwellers.

A Homeless Man Sits on the Lawn of City Hall as the Mayor Speaks in the Background. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

According to an LA Times report, the number of homeless people living on the city’s streets has grown by 12 percent since 2013.

City Council President Herb Wesson, along with members of the council’s Homelessness and Poverty Committee, and Mayor Eric Garcetti, announced the plan during a news conference outside City Hall, as homeless people dozed nearby on a lawn.

“This city has pushed this problem from neighborhood to neighborhood for too long, from bureaucracy to bureaucracy,” Mayor Garcetti said. “Every single day we come to work, we see folks lying on this grass, a symbol of our city’s intense crisis.”

Los Angeles has one of the largest unsheltered populations in the country, and more than an estimated 25,000 homeless residents. Some of those men and women live on the city’s infamous Skid Row, a makeshift camp on public sidewalks that stretches for blocks.

Gary Blasi, a Professor Emeritus at the UCLA School of Law, said the promise to fund new housing and services for the homeless people in L.A. was a positive step for a city government that has recently been preoccupied with empowering police to crack down on encampments.

“If it is purely symbolic, that will be bad,” Professor Blasi said. “But at least people are engaging in a conversation about how to solve the problem, instead of just moving it around the city.”

In addition to the one-time $100 million funding proposed by the council, Mayor Garcetti is calling for an annual $100 million to fund permanent housing for the homeless and to set up a foundation dedicated to the issue.

In the short term, Mayor Garcetti wants $13 million in emergency funding to grow homeless services and housing, most of which would be allocated in the form of subsidies. “If we can lift up those in need, and pick up those left behind, then we can live up to the best of our ideals,” Garcetti said.

Tuesday’s announcement by Mayor Garcetti was also marked by evidence of the confused tactics critics say have hindered an effective city response to a growing challenge.

Council members haven’t identified the sources for all of the money or how it would be used. Meanwhile, the mayor has yet to release a sweeping plan, now weeks overdue, he says he is crafting to end homelessness. Late in July, Garcetti said in a speech that his office was preparing a three-part “battle plan” for what he dubbed a “war on homelessness here in Los Angeles.”

 

For more information, please see:

BBC News — Los Angeles: $100m plan to tackle homeless ’emergency’ – 23 September 2105

CNN — Los Angeles declares ‘state of emergency’ on homelessness – 23 September 2015

International Business Times — Los Angeles Mayor Announces State Of Emergency To Tackle Homeless Crisis, City Council Pledges $100M – 23 September 2015

Al-Jazeera America — Los Angeles declares homelessness state of emergency – 22 September 2015

LA Times — L.A. to declare ‘state of emergency’ on homelessness, commit $100 million – 22 September 2015

FIFA Executive Approved by Trinidad & Tobago for Extradition to U.S.

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago — Trinidad and Tobago’s Attorney General has signed ‘Authority to Proceed’ documents, clearing the way for extradition proceedings against former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who is wanted in the United States on corruption charges. Warner’s attorneys are challenging the decision, stating that Trinidad & Tobago’s Attorney General, Faris Al-Rawi, missed the September 16 date for signing off on the documents, which would result in Mr. Warner’s discharge.

Former FIFA VP and CONCACAF President Jack Warner Faces Extradition. (Photo Courtesy of Trinidad Express)

The case was adjourned until Friday, after lawyers asked for time to review the documents.

James Lewis, representing Trinidad & Tobago, however, said that there was no reason to discharge Warner, since the documents were now signed. Mr. Lewis also stated that with the signing of the Authority to Proceed, the process would be free to continue as necessary.

Mr. Warner is among nine officials of world football’s governing body, along with five sports marketing executives, indicted by US prosecutors. US authorities have asked for him to be extradited in order to face the charges.

Mr. Warner faces 12 charges of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and bribery; while the list of offenses Mr. Warner is wanted for in the United States is certainly expansive, the situation regarding Mr. Warner also involves millions of dollars, spanning over the course of decades.

From the early 1990s, he allegedly began to leverage his influence and exploit his official positions for personal gain. Furthermore, he allegedly accepted a $10 million bribe from South African officials in return for voting to award the country the 2010 World Cup.

In one particular alleged instance, Mr. Warner bribed officials with envelopes each containing $40,000 in cash; when one demurred, he allegedly said: “There are some people here who think they are more pious than you. If you’re pious, open a church, friends. Our business is our business.”

Mr. Warner, the former president of CONCACAF, the governing soccer confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean, has denied all wrongdoing.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC News — FIFA corruption: Jack Warner extradition proceedings approved – 21 September 2015

Jamaica Observer – Jack Warner challenges AG’s decision to proceed with extradition – 21 September 2015

The Guardian — FIFA crisis: Jack Warner’s extradition to United States moves a step closer – 21 September 2015

Trinidad Express — Jack challenges AG’s decision to proceed with extradition – 21 September 2015