By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala – The retrial of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity was recently delayed after two of the three judges on the panel accepted the defense’s motion that Judge Jeannette Valdez should recuse herself from the case. The defense alleged that Judge Valdez is an unbiased fact finder due to her graduate school study on genocide. Judge Valdez had previously turned down the motion to recuse herself calling it “a strategy to obstruct.”

Rios Montt is being tried for ordering military operations that led to the torture, rape and murder of 1,771 Ixil Mayans between 1982 and 1983 as part of Guatemala’s Civil War. Rios Montt was already convicted on these charges in 2013 and sentenced to 80 years in prison, but 10 days after the conviction his sentence was overturned on procedural grounds. The constitutional court argued that Rios Montt had been denied due process. The five-judge panel stated that Rios Montt had been left without an attorney on 19 April when his lawyer was expelled from the courtroom after accusing the presiding judge of bias against him. The panel ruled that the statements delivered in court before 19 April would stand but closing arguments would have to be given again, and ordered the trial to restart from that point.

Rios Montt’s trial was the first time a former head of state has been prosecuted for genocide in a national court, and the UN has praised Guatemala for its efforts. However, the retrial along with the recent postponement has caused issues for the prosecution in getting a successful conviction. This is largely due to the fact that several witnesses that were available to testify at the previous trial have since passed away. However, General Mauricio Rodriguez, Rios Montt’s former chief of intelligence has commented on the postponement, stating, “I am ready for the new trial. I want to end this humiliation already.”

A court official has said that the trial will resume in January 2015.

For more information, please see the following:

ABC NEWS – Guatemala Ex-Dictator Rios Montt’s Retrial Suspended – 5 Jan 2015.

BBC – Guatemala Rios Montt Genoice Trial To Resume in 2015 – 6 November 2013.

THE GUARDIAN – Postponement of Former Guatemalan Dictator’s Genocide Retrial Causes Dismay – 5 Jan. 2015.

JURIST – Guatemala Court Postpones Ex-Dictator’s Genocide Trial – 6 Jan. 2015.

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America – Earlier this week the Twitter and YouTube accounts for the U.S. military command, which oversees operations in the Middle East and Asia, were hacked by people claiming to be sympathetic toward ISIS. Central command is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. The United States and coalition partners have recently targeted Islamic State forces in air strikes.

The Twitter account read, “American soldiers, we are coming, watch your back, ISIS.” “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the CyberCaliphate continues its CyberJihad,” could be found on the Twitter feed of Central Command also. Several U.S. security and intelligence officials have stated that they are skeptical as to CyberCalpphate’s capabilities. Pentagon spokesman, Army Colonel Steve Warren, commented on the hacking, stating that the Defense Department “views this as little more than a prank, or as vandalism,” “It’s inconvenient, it’s an annoyance but in no way is any sensitive or classified information compromised,” Warren stated at a press briefing.

Media outlets, such as Reuters, reviewed some of the documents released by the hackers, and stated that no security threats could be immediately identified. Thus, it did not seem that the national security was put at risk. Accordingly, many of the released documents were easily found using a basic Google search. The intelligence community maintains that the incident was minimal and posed no threat. A former senior U.S. intelligence official stated, “Hacking a Twitter is about the equivalent of spray-painting a subway car.”

President Barack Obama was in the midst of announcing proposals aimed at strengthening the United States cyber security policies when the hacking took place. President Obama has proposed to give law enforcement agencies broader power to investigate and prosecute cybercrime. The President was addressing the recent hack of Sony Pictures, which the U.S has attributed to North Korea, and reminded the public that the United States is vulnerable in the area of cyber security.

For more information, please see the following:

BBC – US Centcom Twitter Account Hacked by Pro-IS group – 12 Jan. 2015.

DAILY TIMES – Apparent Islamic State Backers Hack US Military Twitter Feed – 14 Jan. 2015.

REUTERS – Apparent Islamic State Backers Hack U.S. Military Twitter Feed – 12 Jan. 2015.

YAHOO NEWS – Obama Seeks Enhanced Cybersecurity Laws to Fight Hackers – 13 Jan. 2015.

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

PORT–AU–PRINCE, Haiti – Five years ago, on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, a devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake devastated The Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince and the surrounding community, destroying entire communities and claiming the lives of about 220,000 people. The quake, which also created 1.5 million internally displaced peoples, was the most devastating natural disaster in modern North American history. Five years after the deadly earthquake Haiti is still struggling to recover, at least 80,000 Haitians continue to live without a “proper roof” over their heads and many Haitians fear that the Haitian government and international community’s “Build Back Better” campaign is failing and the members of the international community have not been held accountable for mistakes made in Haiti even as Haitians continue to suffer.

Billions of dollars were donated and pledged by state government, NGOs, private corporations and private citizens, to rescue, recover and rebuilding process in Haiti during the days and months that followed the Earthquake. In the United States alone tens of millions of dollars were raised by the American Red Cross through a texting campaign that allowed cellphone users to donate ten dollars to the Red Cross by sending a text message. However, five years after the quake many are asking where the billions pledged to rebuild Haiti have been spend. According to the United Nations in total $13.34 billion has been earmarked for the crisis through 2020, though two years after the quake, less than half of that amount had actually been released, according to U.N. documents.

The United States government has allocated $4 billion; $3 billion has already been spent, and the rest is dedicated to longer-term development projects. The Haitian government reports that 90% of the refugee camps established after the devastating quake have been destroyed and its residents have found more permanent housing. However, nearly 80,000 live day to day without a proper roof over their heads and according to the International Organization for Migration. Many of these people live in displacement camps. Private land owners in Haiti have forcibly evicted homeless quake victims who they see as illegally squatting on their land. “Although we are happy to report on the fifth anniversary of the earthquake that IOM has registered a 94 per cent decrease in the number of Haitians displaced, and a 93 per cent decrease in the number of sites still housing displaced populations, the international community must not forget the almost 80,000 persons that continue to wait for their chance to rebuild their lives with a proper roof over their heads,” said Gregoire Goodstein, International Organization for Migration Chief of Mission in Haiti.

In the months after the Haitian Earthquake the country was struck by an outbreak of Cholera that killed more than 8,000 people and sickened more than 700,000 since human waste was dumped into Haiti’s principal river in October 2010. Scientific studies have concluded that cholera was likely introduced to Haiti by United Nations peacekeepers from Nepal, where the disease is endemic. Haiti has called for the United Nations to be held liable for introducing the disease to Haiti and have called on the United Nations to step up its efforts to fight the deadly disease and provide for survivors. Last Friday a case seeking compensation for the victims of the outbreak was through out of court in the United States. Judge J. Paul Oetken argued that the UN’s charter provides broad legal immunity and that the international body has not waived it. “Where such an express waiver is absent, the United Nations and [its operation in Haiti] are immune from suit,” Oetken wrote. The United Nations has repeatedly declined to comment on the lawsuit but has said it is working with Haiti’s government to eradicate cholera. In December 2012, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced a $2.27bn initiative to help eradicate cholera in Haiti.

For more information please see:

NBC News – What Does Haiti Have To Show For $13 Billion In Earthquake Aid? – 11 January 2015

CNN International – Five Years after the Quake: Haiti at a Crossroads – 12 January 2015

Al Jazeera – UN ‘Immune’ From Haiti Cholera Lawsuit – 10 January 2015

International Organization for Migration – Five Years after 2010 Earthquake, Thousands of Haitians Remain Displaced – 9 January 2015