North America & Oceania

Indonesia Postpones Drug Related Executions of 10 Prisoners

By Max Bartels

Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania 

 

Jakarta, Indonesia

The Indonesian government has postponed the executions of 10 prisoners convicted of drug smuggling charges. The government has postponed the executions to deal with the appeals of several of those scheduled to be executed; the government claims the appeals could take months to work through. The Indonesian government has been under significant pressure by the international community to halt its practice of executing those who are convicted of drug smuggling charges. The President of Indonesia declared narcotics a “national emergency” and imposed a death penalty in Indonesia, which hasn’t been used since 2013 in any criminal case.

Andrew Chan consults with his lawyer during his original conviction. (Photo curtesy of the International Business Times)

In January Indonesia executed five foreign citizens who were convicted of drug smuggling charges in Indonesia. Since then, two Australian citizens have been sentenced to death for smuggling heroin as part of the “Bali Nine” drug smuggling organization. The two Australians, named Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran argue that they are reformed and have expressed remorse for the crime as well as argue they have been model prisoners.

Both men appealed to the President for clemency to halt their executions. The President rejected their appeals and the executions were scheduled to continue as planned. Government officials claim that there are no avenues under Indonesian law to appeal the Presidents decision on a clemency appeal. However, the defense attorneys claims that the President did not actually read the case files of the two men before he rejected their appeals. The lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran have until March 25th to prepare their argument and submit evidence to challenge the president’s rejection of their earlier clemency appeal, with March 30th being the day the defense is scheduled to present their case.

In addition to the two Australian citizens there are several other foreign prisoners who have been sentenced to death that are attempting to appeal their sentences and convictions. Two Nigerian prisoners are also appealing the President’s clemency rejection, as well as a French citizen and Ghanaian citizen who are asking the Indonesian Supreme Court to review their convictions. Indonesian officials have expressed concerns over the timing of the executions. If all the executions are not carried out simultaneously it would create further problems for the government, the executions must now wait until the appeals of all the convicts are resolved before any of the executions can move forward.

For more information, please see: 

The NY Times — Indonesia Postpones Drug- Case Executions Amid Legal Challenges — 19 March, 2015

ABC News — Indonesia Defers Execution of 10 Drug Traffickers — 18 March, 2015

International Business Times — Bali Nine Executions: Indonesian Court Postpones Clemency Appeal Hearing for 2 Australian Convicts — 19 March, 2015 

The NY Times — Indonesia: Executions are Delayed — 18 March, 2015

Mexico’s Guerrero State Continues To Be Plagued By Violence: Politicians Targeted

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Aide Nava, a 42-year-old woman running for mayor, has been kidnapped and decapitated in Northern Guerrero, a Southwestern Mexican state. This same state has been the location of numerous violent crimes and most notably the recent murders of approximately 43 student teachers, which sparked the biggest crisis of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration.

Relatives of missing students gather in Mexico City to protest violence occurring in Guerrero State. (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian).

Guerrero, along with eight other Mexican states, is set to hold gubernational elections in June. Nava, a candidate from the leftist Part of the Democratic Revolution was kidnapped in the town of Ahuacuotzingo, the municipality she hoped to become mayor of in the June elections. A threatening note was left next to Nava’s body, stating that the same treatment would be given to any politician who does not “fall in line.” The note was signed by “Los Rojos,” one of the main criminal groups in Gurrero. Gurrero’s chief prosecutor Miguel Angel Godinez did not confirm local media reports that Nava has been beheaded, but said “it is a very unfortunate and important case that we have to treat with a great deal of care.”

Violence throughout the state is prevalent. Nava’s husband, Francisco Quiñónez, who served as mayor of the same town Nava sought to run for mayor in, was shot dead in June 2014, two years after the couple’s son disappeared after being kidnapped. Additionally, two weeks prior to Nava’s death Leticia Salazar, the mayor of Matamoros, suffered an armed attack on a convoy she was travelling in. Further, Juan Acosta, the mayor of the town of Choix in the state of Sinaloa, is currently hospitalized after suffering bullet wounds sustained in an attack on a vehicle he was traveling.

More than 100,000 people have died in violence linked to drug cartels in Mexico during the past eights years. There have been no significant improvements in the security of citizens. Unfortunately, it seems as though now, the people who can make a difference in controlling the violence through the enactment of reforms, are the targets of the violence.

 

For more information, please see the following:

THE GUARDIAN – Mexican Mayoral Candidate Reportedly Decapitated – Body Found on Dirt Road – 11 Mar. 2015.

HUFFINGTON POST – Mayoral Candidate Aide Nava Decapitated in Mexico’s Guerrero State – 11 Mar. 2015.

LATIN POST – Mexico Drug Cartel News: Mayoral Candidate Aide Nava Found Decapitated in Guerrero Along With Threatening Note Written By Gang – 12 Mar. 2015

REUTERS – Mexico Mayoral Candidate Decapitated in Northern Guerrero State – 11 Mar. 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

U.S Appeals Ruling On BP Oil Spill

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., – United States of America – The United States Government is appealing a federal court ruling that reduced the potential penalty BP Plc must pay for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the biggest offshore oil discharge in U.S. history, by nearly $4 billion. The Clean Water Act would allow for BP to be fined a maximum of $17.6 billion but Barbier’s ruling on the spill size lowered the fine to $13.7 billion.

 

The aftermath of the Gulf Oil Spill in 2010. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters).

U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier decided the spill size in January, judging it to be 3.2 million barrels. BP appealed the spill-size decision last month. Additionally, Judge Barbier recently rejected claims that the London-based BP was reckless in preparing for a disaster or had acted unreasonably in responding to the spill. However, the U.S. didn’t say which part of the court ruling it was appealing in a notice it filed Friday. The U.S. is seeking a maximum $13.7 billion based on the size of the spill and the finding of gross negligence. BP has countered the U.S’ claim by stating that it did not deserve the maximum fines due to its efforts in responding to the spill and minimizing the impact. Wyn Hornbuckle, a Justice department spokesman, didn’t immediately respond to requested for comment on the substance of the U.S. appeal.

BP has incurred more than $42 billion of costs for the spill, including for clean up, fines and compensation for victims. Approximately 810,000 barrels were collected during the clean up.

For more information, please see the following:

ABC NEWS – BP Ends Attempt to Out Oil Spill Claims Administrator – 6 Mar. 2015.

BLOOMBERG – BP Win Cutting Gulf Spill Tab By $4 Billion Fought by U.S. – 13 Mar. 2015.

REUTERS – U.S. Appeals Ruling On Size of BP Oil Spill – 14 Mar. 2015.

Indonesia Rejects Pleas From Australian Government for a Halt in Drug Smuggling Executions

By Max Bartels 

Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania 

 

Jakarta, Indonesia

Two Australian nationals are scheduled for execution in the coming days. Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan are both members of the “Bali Nine” drug smuggling gang. Chan is thought to be the ringleader of the gang and authorities arrested him for attempting to have four others smuggle 8 Kilograms of heroin onto a flight out of Indonesia. Chan was arrested attempting to board a flight to Sydney, he did to have any drugs on him but he was later named as the mastermind of the plot. Sukumaran was also linked to the heroin plot and was later arrested at a hotel in Indonesia. Both men were convicted and sentenced to death, Indonesia has imposed the death sentence in drug offense in light of the serious toll drugs and drug violence is taking on the country. In December six convicted drug smugglers were executed by firing squad including a Brazilian and a Dutch national.

Chan and Sukumaran behind bars in Indonesia (Photo curtesy of Reuters)

The Australian government has reached out to Indonesian President Widodo in an attempt to halt the execution. There have been pleas from both Prime Minister Abbott and Foreign Minister Bishop but President Widodo has refused to give clemency for drug cases. In an eleventh hour attempt to halt the execution the Australian government offered Indonesia a prisoner swap but the Indonesians have reported that no such swap will occur. A spokesperson for the Indonesian government stated that Indonesia does not have any laws or legislation that allow for any kind of prisoner swap.

Australian government officials and politicians attended a candle light vigil early Thursday morning in honor of the two men. Foreign Minister Bishop addressed the gathering stating that she had reminded the Indonesia government that legal avenues remained open and appealed for mercy on behalf of the two men’s families. Prime Minister Abbott stated that Australians are sick in their guts over the execution of these two men. He further stated that Australians abhor drug crime but also abhor the death penalty and while these two prisoners deserved punishment they do not deserve to be executed.

The Australian government has also argued that the two men have been rehabilitated in prison. Both prisoners have been in Indonesian prison for the past decade and over this time they claim to be reformed. Sukumaran studies fine arts and has set up a class for his fellow inmates. While Chan has been using his spirituality to counsel other inmates and help them deal with drug addiction. Regardless of the claims the Australian government makes, the Indonesia government has shown no intention of halting the impending executions and if they do not then both prisoners will face a firing squad in the very near future.

For more information, please see: 

CNN — Australian Prisoners Just Days Away From Execution by Indonesian Firing Squad — 4 March, 2015

CNN — Indonesia Dismisses Eleventh Hour Attempt to Save Bali 9 Smugglers — 5 March, 2015

Reuters — Australia Seeks Indonesia Prisoner Swap as Execution Looms — 4 March, 2015

Reuters — Indonesia Rejects Australian Proposal of Prisoner Swap for Death Row Pair — 5 March, 2015

U.S. Immigrants May Be Deported For Bosnian War Crimes

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America – United States officials are seeking to deport hundreds of Bosnian immigrants, whom are believed to have been invovled in war crimes during the 1992-95 war. The Bosnian War killed more than 100,000 people and displaced two million others after the breakup of Yugoslavia. Officials have identified an estimated 300 immigrants suspected of having concealed wartime atrocities when they came to the United States. During the wave of Bosnian immigrants to the United States, more than 120,000 Bosnians sought US visas. During this time, little effort was made on behalf of the United Sattes government to check the backgrounds of these immigrants.

US immigrants suspected of war crimes during Bosnian War (Photo Courtesy of BBC).

In 2008, the United States immigration agency set up a war crimes section, which has investigated immigrants from former conflcit zones, including: Ethopia, Rawnda, El Salvador, Guatemala and other global hot spots. However, no conflict has gained as much detention as the Bosnian war.

Now, investigators are giving much attention to those who arrived in the United States following the Bosnian War. Michael McQueen, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement historian, told the New York Times, “the more we dig. The more documents we find,” “the idea that the people who did all this damage in Bosnia should have a free pass and a new shot at life is just obscene to me.” U.S. officials are making an effort to identify suspects, urging witnesses to come forward with any information pertinent to the war crimes. However investigations have proven to be complicated, due to a lack of available expenses necessary for fees such as travel and translation.

Federal officials have built cases against immigrants from New York to Oregon. Suspects include: a metal worker in Ohio, four casino staff in Las Vegas, and a woman located in Kentucky who had been a guard at a military detention center in Bosnia. The woman, Azra Basic, has been jailed and faces extradition on charges that she tortured detainees, allegedly forcing them to drink gasoline and human blood.

Kathleen O’Conner, a human rights prosecutor at the Department of Justice, has stated, “justice can be served in the United States despite the fact that many yeas have gone by and that the conduct occurred overseas, far away.”

 

For more information, please see the following:

BBC – US Moves to Deport 150 Bosnians Over War Crimes – 1 Mar. 2015.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES –US Immigrants Suspected of Bosnian War Crimes Could Be Deported – 28 Feb 2015.

NEW YORK TIMES – U.S. Seeks to Deport Bosnians Over War Crimes – 28 Feb. 2015.

REUTERS – U.S. Moving to Deport Bosnians Over War Crimes: NYT – 28 Feb. 2015