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

HAVANA, Cuba — Democracy activists have been scrambling to get the Pope’s attention: they want him to know that Cuban authorities have been arresting peaceful protesters and violating basic human rights. Laura Labrada Pollan, leader of a Havana group called Ladies in White said, “we are asking for a meeting, a few minutes with Pope Francis, so he can hear it from us, to show him that yes, there are political prisoners in Cuba.”

However, members of Cuba’s fractured and officially illegal opposition party said they see little chance that the trip will bring significant change.

“Pope Francis wants his visit to have a major impact, but he won’t be able to work any miracles, because change depends on the Cuban government’s political will. And it has none,” said Elizardo Sanchez, president of the Cuban Commission on Human Rights.

“Cuba is at a human rights crossroads, with important advances such as the recent release of prisoners of conscience and other activists and a number of positive reforms to its migration laws overshadowed by the government’s determination to deploy new methods to stifle dissent,” said Amnesty International ahead of a state visit by Pope Francis.

Historically, Cuba has had a tenuous relationship with the Holy See.

In 1998, John Paul II called for greater respect for human rights during the first papal visit to Cuba, a historic trip that symbolized a nascent rapprochement between the Church and the one-time atheist state. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI criticized Marxism and spoke of the need for “new models,” considered by some to be a veiled message of disdain for the troubled country’s policies.

Amnesty International and other international organizations have not been allowed to enter Cuba since 1988, when a delegation from Amnesty International went to document the situation of prisoners of conscience and other individuals who were detained for political reasons across the country.

Although the country has been hesitant to allow these organizations to enter its country, Amnesty International claims advances have been made there, including a 2013 reform loosening travel restrictions and the release of political prisoners.

“However, the country still needs to make progress when it comes to allowing people to peacefully express their views without fear of being harassed, detained or attacked,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, the rights group’s director for the Americas.

Over the past few years, authorities in Cuba have switched from a strategy of incarcerating people viewed as political dissidents for long periods of time, to consecutive short term arrests and public smear campaigns.

In an act of goodwill before the visit, Cuban authorities released more than 3,500 prisoners last week, amplifying a gesture also undertaken for the previous papal trips. Cuba is sensitive to criticism of its human rights record, saying it needs to restrain critics it describes as “mercenaries bent on destabilizing the government.”

 

For more information, please see:

LA Times — Pope Francis heading for Havana in first leg of reconciliation tour – 18 September 2015

NBC News — In Cuba, Democracy Activists and Dissidents Hope to Meet with Pope – 18 September 2015

Reuters UK — Pope’s visit to Cuba raises prospect of human rights friction – 18 September 2015

Yahoo! News — Cuban dissidents not expecting miracles from pope visit – 18 September 2015

Amnesty Int’l — Cuba at a human rights crossroads as Pope Francis prepares to visit the country – 17 September 2015

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

PERTH, Australia — An Afghani asylum seeker is in a critical condition tonight after setting himself on fire at the Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre, located east of Perth. The Afghani asylum seeker managed to obtain gasoline and set himself on fire in Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Center after two previous attempts to take his own life.

The man, Ali Jaffari, has been left with burns covering up to 90 percent of his body after the incident.

The Refugee Action Coalition claim it’s the third time the man has tried to end his own life in six weeks, and say it defies belief that he was able to get the gasoline.

Spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition Ian Rintoul said the man had been held at Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre for about eight months. He went on to question how such an individual would have access to these materials given his prior history.

“How was he allowed to obtain the materials that allowed him to do this?” asked Mr. Rintoul. “Given his known mental state, he should not have been at Yongah Hill and he should not have been able to obtain flammable fluid. There’s simply been no adequate mental health treatment or proper care.”

Mr. Rintoul also commented on the detention of Mr. Jaffari, speculating on the mindset of Mr. Jaffari. “Given that he had been re-detained it was likely that he was simply facing an indefinite detention, and in those circumstances it seemed likely he had no future and no prospect of release,” Mr. Rintoul said.

The facility operator of Yongah Hill, Serco, has so far declined to comment on the matter.

Jaffari arrived in Australia in October 2010 on a boat he boarded in Indonesia. He was granted a permanent protection visa but had that cancelled in May 2014.

Jaffari was convicted of indecently assaulting two boys under the age of 16 at a Geelong swimming pool. It was reported to Yahoo! News that he fondled, kissed and cuddled the boys and joined one of them in the shower in November 2012.

While participating in a sex offenders’ program, Jaffari made admissions regarding accessing child exploitation material. A subsequent analysis of his computer revealed 27 images of child pornography, and he was charged and convicted of possessing those images. For both offences, Jaffari was sentenced to 3 months in jail, but had both prison terms suspended.

Last month, refugee advocates called for an inquiry into conditions at Yongah Hill, after the death of a 27-year-old Afghan detainee who was attacked in a brawl at the center.

The Refugee Action Coalition said the Afghan man had been held for three years, and may have died of a heart attack. Despite being sick for days and asking for medical assistance, he was only given paracetamol, the group claimed.

Soon after his death, angry detainees staged protests at the center, which was also the scene of a brawl involving 50 detainees earlier in July.

 

For more information, please see:

ABC News — Man in critical condition after setting himself on fire at WA’s Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre – 16 September 2015

BBC News — Detainee sets himself on fire in Australian centre – 16 September 2015

Yahoo! News — Detainee sets himself on fire at Northam Detention Centre – 16 September 2015

The Guardian — Man in critical condition after setting himself on fire in detention centre – 15 September 2015

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia — Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Wednesday announced that Australia would accept 12,000 Syrians from persecuted minorities. This increase will be a supplementary intake, in addition to the 13,750 overall intake of confirmed refugees for 2015; the increase is expected to consist largely of Syrian refugees.

Australia will also give AU$44 million, or roughly $32 million USD, to the United Nations to directly pay for the support of 240,000 displaced people in countries neighboring Syria and Iraq.

The increase will be a one-time increase, rather than a permanent increase, and the refugees are to be granted permanent residency. The focus for the additional intake will be on women, children and families from persecuted minorities.

Some of the Prime Minister’s colleagues called for the priority of Australia’s intake to be Christians, prompting the Labor Party and others to declare that the places should be allocated on a needs basis, without qualification or discrimination.

Recently, Prime Minister Abbott confirmed the intake would include Christians, but not exclusively.

“There are persecuted minorities that are Muslim, there are persecuted minorities that are non-Muslim, and our focus is on the persecuted minorities who have been displaced and are very unlikely ever to be able to go back to their original homes,” said Prime Minister Abbott.

Treasurer Joe Hockey said it might take more than two years to resettle all of the 12,000-Syrian-refugees in Australia announced this week, and Prime Minister Abbott refused to include refugees languishing in offshore detention in the emergency intake.

Also announced Wednesday, the government has also decided that Australian combat aircraft would join bombing raids in Syria, extending the existing mission beyond the borders of Iraq where the operations are at the invitation of the Iraqi government.

The government’s decision to extend air strikes into Syria, a sovereign state, has been criticized in some quarters. Unlike Iraq, Syria has not asked for international help to fight IS.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said the UN had not approved the air strikes and the government’s claim it could make the strikes under “collective self-defense” was not true.

Article 51 of the UN charter guarantees “the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations”.

Furthermore, in Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Abbott insisted Syrian asylum seekers in Nauru and Manus Island detention centers would not be resettled as part of the intake. The Prime Minister stated that to do so “would encourage the evil trade of people smuggling.”

Australia refuses to resettle refugees who try to come to the country by boat and has a policy of turning back asylum-seeker boats, detaining refugees in Pacific camps and denying them resettlement in Australia even if they are found to be refugees.

For more information, please see:

Sydney Morning Herald — Migrant crisis: Australians throw open their doors to Syrian refugees – 10 September 2015

BBC News — Migrant crisis: Australia ups refugee intake and plans Syria strikes – 9 September 2015

Defense News — Australia Boosts Refugee Intake, Extends Airstrikes To Syria – 9 September 2015

Military Times — Australia to launch airstrikes in Syria, take more refugees – 9 September 2015

The Guardian — Australia to accept an extra 12,000 Syrian refugees and will join US-led airstrikes – 8 September 2015

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia — Prime Minister Tony Abbott has told Parliament the government will announce its response to the Syrian refugee crisis by the end of the day. On Sunday Prime Minister Abbott said the government would consider increasing the number of Syrians and Iraqis it would take as part of the humanitarian resettlement quota, but ruled out an overall increase in numbers.

Prime Minister Abbott has said more Syrian asylum seekers would be let into the country, but has stopped short of boosting overall refugee numbers. The increase would not mean Australia’s overall yearly intake of refugees would go up.

“Our focus will be on families and women and children, especially of persecuted minorities, who have sought refuge in camps neighboring Syria and Iraq,” the Prime Minister said.

Currently, Australia has set a quota for accepting refugees from around the world, which stands at 13,750 people. Last financial year, Australia settled more than 4,400 people from Syria and Iraq, Prime Minister Abbott said. The overall refugee intake will increase to 18,750 by 2018.

However, some within the Australian government are urging the Prime Minister and Australia to do more.

On Monday, Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg called for temporary housing of Syrian and Iraqi asylum seekers. Mr. Frydenberg said there was a good case for a Kosovo-type solution that would see Syrian and Iraqi refugees housed in Australia, then returned home once the countries were safe.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia was mostly looking at the plight of those minorities who wanted to flee Syria permanently. However, echoing Mr. Frydenberg, Ms. Bishop said there were a number of people currently fleeing Syria that would want to return home once the conflict was over.

“When the conflict is over people will want to return to Syria and Iraq. But there are some persecuted ethnic and religious minorities who will not want to go home so they are the ones we are focusing on as other countries are as well,” she said.

Ms. Bishop also said the government was still considering its options, including agreeing to an emergency Syrian intake as suggested by Labor yesterday.

“On a per capita basis we take in more refugees than any other country throughout the world,” she said. “When we see the photos, yes our hearts go out to these people, but let’s step back and ask where is the money coming from?”

Prime Minister Abbott has been urged to increase Australia’s refugee intake after photos of a drowned Syrian toddler on a Turkish beach shocked the world and put a human face to the dangers refugees risk trying to reach safety.

For more information, please see:

AU News — Julie Bishop says Australia will decide on upping the Syrian refugee intake in days – 8 September 2015

BBC News — Australia under pressure to boost total refugee intake – 7 September 2015

ABC News — Tony Abbott says Australia will accept more Syria refugees but within current intake, Peter Dutton to travel to Geneva for UN talks on crisis – 6 September 2015

The Guardian — Ministers press Tony Abbott for increase in refugee intake over Syria crisis – 6 September 2015

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

LOS ANGELES, United States of America — On Thursday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled a transgender illegal immigrant who suffered years of sexual and physical abuse in Mexico cannot be deported despite a felony conviction, because she is protected under international anti-torture conventions. Transgender people can be especially vulnerable to harassment and attacks and shouldn’t be equated with gays and lesbians by U.S. immigration officials determining whether to grant asylum, the federal appeals court said Thursday.

The judges said Mexico suffered from an epidemic of unsolved violent crimes against transgender persons.

The three-member 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel found that a federal immigration board that ordered her deported had confused sexual orientation with gender identity.

Writing in the ruling for the 9th Circuit panel, Judge Jacqueline Nguyen said, “Evidence of country conditions shows that police specifically target the transgender community for extortion and sexual favors, and that Mexico suffers from an epidemic of unsolved violent crimes against transgender persons.”

Edin Avendano-Hernandez said she had been sexually assaulted by uniformed Mexican police and a military official for being transgender. The Board of Immigration Appeals wrongly relied on Mexican laws protecting gays and lesbians to reject Avendano-Hernandez’s asylum request, the ruling states.

According to the ruling, Avendano-Hernandez was born male but grew up in Oaxaca, Mexico, believing that she was female and suffered years of abuse over her gender identity, including beatings, sexual assaults and rape.

That abuse continued into her adulthood and she suffered at the hands of the Mexican police and military before seeking refuge in the United States. After seeking refuge in the US in 2000, Ms. Avendano-Hernandez was twice convicted of driving under the influence in 2006. She was thus ordered deported by immigration officials.

Ms. Avendano-Hernandez suffered further abuse on her return to Mexico and went back to the US, where she was later arrested for probation violation. Facing deportation again, she applied for refuge under the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

The 9th Circuit sent the case back to the Board of Immigration Appeals with instructions to grant Avendano-Hernandez’s application for relief under the Convention Against Torture.

After the latest ruling, Ms. Avendano-Hernandez’s lawyer, Munmeeth Soni, told the Associated Press: “She [Ms. Avendano-Hernandez] is ecstatic. The fear was constantly hanging over her head that she might have to one day turn herself in to return to Mexico. She no longer lives under that fear.”

For more information, please see:

Advocate.com — U.S. Appeals Court Grants Mexican Trans Woman Asylum – 4 September 2015

BBC News — Transgender ruling: US court opposes Mexican’s deportation – 4 September 2015

ABC News — Court: Transgender Asylum Seekers Can’t Be Equated With Gays – 3 September 2015

Reuters — U.S. court: Transgender illegal immigrant cannot be deported to Mexico – 3 September 2015

Yahoo! News — U.S. court: Transgender illegal immigrant cannot be deported to Mexico – 3 September 2015