North America & Oceania

USA Freedom Act May Ban NSA Surveillance Powers

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

 

WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America – Patrick Leahy, the Senate Judiciary Chairman, is pushing the Freedom Act in order to stop the National Security Agency from collecting the phone records of millions of Americans. The bill would ban bulk collection of phone records by the NSA, while still allowing targeted surveillance of suspected terrorists.

The USA Freedom Act is the first legislative attempt at reining in the National Security Agency, however time is running out for Congress to pass it.

Leahy has stated that he has already gained the support of the Republicans, and can win approval of the bill when Congress returns for session after the 4 November election. With Congress’ approval, the bill will be passed this year. The legislation would require the government to disclose the individuals whose data has been collected and report how many of these individuals were American citizens. Further, the Act would create a panel of special advocates, which would be used to address issues concerning privacy and civil liberties.

If the Freedom Act is not passed, the National Security Agency will likely be left without the necessary surveillance capabilities to conduct legitimate and necessary investigations of suspected terrorists. Previously, the NSA has used the Patriot Act anti-terrorism law, in order to conduct authorized surveillance. However, this act is set to expire on 15 June.

Section 215 has been the basis for collecting and storing records from United States phone companies. These records have been used by the NSA in data sweeps, whereby they used telephone numbers, the date and time of phone calls, and the length of the calls in surveillance investigations. However, this section did not give the NSA authority to include records of actual conversations. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have also used Section 215 in obtaining business records, driver’s license records, and credit card records of suspected terrorists.

The bill has garnered support from groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, The Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), and the National Rifle Association. The ITIC stated in a letter to the senate, “The USA Freedom Ac will send a clear signal to the International community and to the American people that government surveillance programs are narrowly tailored, transparent and subject to oversight.”

 

For more information, please see the following:

THE GUARDIAN – Time is Running Out on the USA Freedom Act – Which could Drastically Curtail US Surveillance Powers – 3 Oct. 2014.

USA TODAY – Congress May Ban NSA Phone Data Collection – 3 Oct. 2014.

US NEWS – Should Americans Be Worried About The National Security Agency’s Data Collection? – 3 Oct. 2014.

WALL STREET JOURNAL – NSA Phone-Date Collection Program Set For Legal Challenge – 1 Sept. 2014.

 

 

American Samoa Grants Amnesty to over 4,000 Migrant Workers

By Max Bartels

Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania 

 

Pago Pago, American Samoa 

American Samoa, a territory of the United States has recently granted amnesty to 4,000 foreign migrant workers living in the territory. Prior to this new bill American Samoa had a quota system of allowing only about 350 immigrants enter a year, this bill temporary changes that limit for this year only. The territorial government of American Samoa has stated that the bill is the first step in immigration reform, which is completely unencumbered by the United States federal immigration law. The territorial government has also stated that they have had trouble with undocumented workers in the past and that mass amnesty and giving legal status helps these immigrants better contribute to society, which is better for the immigrants, and better for American Samoa.

 

Fishing Docks in American Samoa (Photo Curtesy of Lemalae)

The bill is also important to the government of the territory in providing accurate census numbers. Census information is one of the biggest factors assessed in deciding the amount of federal aide the territory gets from the United States. With a large population of undocumented workers using the local infrastructure it creates a drain on the aide money. Previously the government did not get aide money reflecting the actual number of people living in American Samoa.

The migrants granted amnesty hail from 24 countries. Neighboring Samoa had 2,845 people, 457 Tongans, 446 come from the Philippine Islands, 101 from Fiji, 96 from China, 19 from New Zealand, 17 from Vietnam and 12 from South Korea. Other nations that are represented in the amnesty group include Australia, Germany, Federated States of Micronesia, Romania, Great Britain and Taiwan.

The Minimum wage in American Samoa is lower then the federal minimum and ranges from $4.18- $5.59. The minimum wage varies in that range depending on the industry, some industries require higher or lower minimum wages according to the territorial law. American Samoa’s minimum wage is also the lowest out of all the U.S territories. The working conditions in American Samoa are reported to be poor for foreign migrant workers; government and other highly sought jobs are only given to ethnic Samoans, which limits the potential jobs for these migrant workers.

For more information, please see:

ABC News — American Samoa Grants Amnesty to More Than 4,000 — 24 September 2014 

Radio New Zealand — American Samoa Grants Over 4,000 Immigration Amnesty — 1 October 2014

PayWizard.org — Territorial Minimum Wage — 4 October 2014

Minority Rights Group International — World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous People: American Samoa Overview — 4 October 2014

 

 

Alleged Sexual Abuse At Texas Immigration Detention Center

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

 

WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES of America – The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and attorneys from the University of Texas School of Law, have issued a complaint alleging ongoing abuse at the Karnes County Civil Detention Center in Karnes City, Texas.  Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, (ICE), opened the Texas facility along with a facility in Artesia, New Mexico after a 500 percent increase in the number of illegal immigrants crossing the border from Central America last year.

A Texas Immigration Detention Center (Photo Courtesy of Huffington Post).

The detention center for families was opened in Texas just two months ago. The complaint filed on 25 September, alleges that the 500-plus-bed center has failed to provide adequate food, health and mental health services. More serious allegations revolve around numerous instances of sexual abuse of women at the center.

The complaint was based on interviews with women in the Karnes City facility. The women allege that at least three employees engaged in abuse of the female detainees. The abuse includes numerous instances of the guards removing mothers from their cells at night to engage in sexual acts, in exchange for promises of immigration help. The complaint alleges that these women were harassed and groped in front of other detainees, including children. The female detainees claim that the perpetrators referred to the women as their “girlfriends.”

MALDEF asks the federal government to close the center and find alternative ways to detain immigrants with a criminal record, while releasing those whom are being detained for no other reason than illegal entry into the United States. Staff attorney for MALDEF, Marisa Bono, made a statement regarding the allegations stating, “This is exactly why the federal government should not be in the business of detaining families.”

ICE has stated that the agency is unable to discuss the ongoing investigation, but has implemented protections in accordance with Prison Rape Elimination Act regulations. A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE stated in an email “Ice has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse or assault,” “Accusations of alleged unlawful conduct are investigated thoroughly and if substantiated, appropriate action is taken.”

 

 

For more information, please see the following:

BALTIMORE SUN – Texas Immigrant detention Center Rife With Abuse, Groups Say – 2 October 2014.

HUFFINGTON POST – Complaint Alleges Sexual Abuse In Immigrant Detention Center – 2 October 2014.

NBC NEWS – Sex Abuse Alleged At Immigrant Family Detention Center In Texas – 2 October 2014.

REUTERS – Texas Immigrant detention Center Rife With Abuse, Groups Say – 2 October 2014.

Australia Makes Deal to Send Refugees to Cambodia

By Max Bartels 

Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania 

 

Canberra, Australia 

On Friday, Australia’s Immigration Minister, Scott Morrison, signed a deal with Cambodia’s Interior Minister Sar Kheng for Cambodia to accept some of Australia’s rejected asylum seekers for money. The deal requires Australia to pay $40 million (Aus.) over a four-year period to cover resettlement costs. A spokes person for Morrison pointed out that under the deal only those refugees that chose to go to Cambodia would be sent. The trial phase is set to begin first and Cambodia has said that it plans to take between two and five people from the Australian refugee center on Nauru for relocation to Cambodia. It is understood that the deal could involve the relocation of up to 1,000 refugees from Nauru to Cambodia.

 

Families on Nauru protest the Cambodia refugee deal (Photo Curtesy of The Guardian)

Political opposition groups in both countries have voiced their dissent about the new deal. The Australian Green Party has said that the refugees would be at high risk of abuse and exploitation in Cambodia. The Australian opposition parties have warned that the level of rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation in Cambodia have increased dramatically in recent years. These groups have also said that any deal signed with Cambodia must get Parliamentary approval first. So far Parliament has not voted on the new refugee deal and has only approved refugees to be sent to Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Human rights groups have also voiced their displeasure with the deal. The U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights was not involved in the deal and a spokes person said that there is concern with such a bilateral agreement that might involve the divesting of certain obligations under the refugee convention. The director of Australian Human Rights Watch said the deal would send people to a country that has a terrible record of protecting refugees and has many human rights issues of its own.

The Refugees of Nauru have said that they will reject the offer to be relocated in Cambodia. Those refugees that have been interviewed stated that it was the common opinion amongst the camp that Cambodia is very poor with a long history of abuse and killings. 80 refugees staged a protest outside the Australian High Commission on Nauru in response to the deal.  Australia has also recently granted temporary visas to refugees on Christmas Island, who arrived on the same boats as those on Nauru but those on Nauru now only have the option of going to Cambodia.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian — Australia Signs Controversial Refugee Transfer Deal with Cambodia — 26 September 2014

ABC News — Scott Morrison to Sign MOU on Refugee Resettlement, Cambodian Government Says — 25 September 2014

BBC News — Australia and Cambodia Sign Refugee Resettlement Deal — 26 September 2014

The Phenom Phen Post — Refugees in Nauru Protest — 30 September 2014

Protests in Guerrero Mexico Result In The Disappearance of 58 Students

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – On Friday 26 September 2013 in Guerrero, one of Mexico’s poorest and most violent states, police have joined a search for 58 students who went missing after a violent outburst at a local protest.

A police officer was detained for questioning after a deadly clash in Iguala left six dead and more than 17 injured (Photo Courtsy of Yahoo News).

Guerrero is notorious for frequent protests by teachers resisting reforms and violent gang turf wars relating to the cultivation and sale of drugs. Friday’s protest developed due to students from the Ayotzinapa teacher-training college protesting against what they consider to be discriminatory hiring practices for teachers, which favor urban students over rural ones.

Reports indicate that the protests turned violent when the students attempted to leave the protest. Members of the student union claim that their fellow students were attempting to hitchhike a ride back to their college campus on local busses. However the Iguala municipal police allege that the students were behaving unruly and trying to seize the local busses by force.

Media outlets report that the police proceeded to chase and fire at the students. Shots were fired at a local bus carrying a third division football team, the Los Avispones, which the gunmen presumably mistook for the bus “seized” by the student, causing the bus to crash killing the driver and one player.

The students have since disappeared after the eruption of the clashes between security forces and the students.  The clashes were deadly, claiming the lives of six people while injuring 17 others. While it is known that police took part in the shootings, a party of unidentified gunmen was also involved in the violent outburst. Activists claim that security forces are holding the missing students illegally. However state authorities have denied such accusations.

State authorities initially detained 282 local officer after the incident, but have since released all but 22, who are under arrest for suspicion of shooting at the students. Additionally, a helicopter has been deployed to assist in the search for the students.

 

For more information, please see the following:

BBC – Mexican Students Missing After Protest in Iguala – 29 Sept. 2014.

GULF NEWS – Dozens Of Students Missing After Mexican Protest Crackdown – 29 Sept. 2014.

NEWS 24 – Dozens of Students Missing After Mexican Protest – 29. Sept. 2014.

YAHOO NEWS – Dozens of Students Missing After Mexican Protest Crackdown – 29. Sept. 2014.