North America & Oceania

Police Find Eight Tortured Bodies Dumped Near Mexico City

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico — Authorities discovered eight dead bodies dumped along the streets of a Mexico City suburb on Thursday.

A police spokesperson said found the bodies in Ecatepec, a poor suburb north of the capital city.  Six of the bodies—five men and one woman—appeared to have been severely beaten.

“They were all naked and showed signs of torture,” police spokesperson said.  “It also appeared their throats had been cut.”

The other two bodies, both men between the ages of 18 and 22, died from gunshot wounds on another street.  So far, police have not identified the bodies or any suspects in what police called two separate crimes.

“Both incidents are being investigated by the homicide prosecutor’s office, which immediately assigned personnel to conduct the corresponding investigation,” the Mexico state Attorney General’s Office said, according to Global Post.

Fox News Latino reported that investigators believe the killings were linked to organized crime because of the way the victims were murdered.  The news organization quoted city officials as saying no messages were left with the bodies.

Fox News Latino also quoted city officials as saying two of the bodies had ropes around their necks, and all of them had “tattoos on different parts of their bodies.”

Since Mexico began cracking down on drug cartels six years ago, more than 60,000 people have died in violence linked to drug trafficking.  The Associated Press reported that Mexico City had been predominantly free of that violence, although it was slowly making its way there.

In September, Mexico deployed troops to Nezahualcoyotl, an eastern suburb, when fighting between two drug cartels spilled into the streets.

Reuters reported that the number of drug war deaths kept by the Mexican newspaper Reforma “is on course to suffer its heaviest death toll this year since [President Felipe] Calderon launched his offensive, at a time when the national count has erased somewhat.”

Ecatepec is home to both incoming President Enrique Pena Nieto and incoming State of Mexico Governor Eruviel Avila.  Both are members of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which governed Mexico between 1929 and 2000.  As Reuters reported, “[c]ritics accused the PRI of turning a blind eye to the drug trade while in power.”

But Nieto, who will be sworn in this December, has pledged to continue the national crackdown on organized crime.  Until last year, he governed the State of Mexico, where both Nezahualcoyotl and Ecatepec are located.

For further information, please see:

Global Post — Mexico Violence: 8 Bullet-Ridden Bodies Found on Outskirts of Mexico City — 26 October 2012

Fox News Latino — Police Find 6 Bodies in Central Mexico — 25 October 2012

Reuters — Eight Bodies Found Dumped in Mexico City Suburb — 25 October 2012

Seattlepi.com — 8 Bodies Found on Outskirts of Mexico’s Capital — 25 October 2012

U.S. Record on Human Rights Criticized

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, United States — Russia’s foreign ministry denounced the United States this week for what it called “serious problems” in the U.S. human rights record.

Russia criticized the United States and its record on human rights this week, turning the tables on it called American double standards. (Photo Courtesy of The Christian Science Monitor)

Presenting their own report on human rights to foreign nations, Russian leaders condemned what they called the American double standards on human rights.  Specifically, they criticized harsh conditions in prisons, use of the death penalty, mistreatment of adopted children, and the United States’ failure to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

“Washington’s attempts to become the world’s tutor on democracy are baseless,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov during a hearing by the Duma International Affairs Committee.

The report, which was not actually released after being presented on Monday, was the second paper from the Russian Foreign Ministry on human rights abroad.  The first was released in December, not long after a report from the U.S. State Department criticized Russia.

Among the criticisms outlined in the report were racial profiling, police brutality, Internet censorship and rising right-wing extremism.  It also condemned the United States for “extra-judicial” killings overseas by drones, its involvement in Afghanistan, CIA “renditions,” and failing to sign and ratify more than a dozen international treaties and conventions on human rights going back 80 years.

Konstantin Dolgov, who authored the new Russian report, said the purpose was to expand the dialogue of human rights abuses worldwide by showing no country is perfect.

“Nobody likes to be hectored,” he said.  “We are a young democracy, we have our problems, but we also have serious achievement that we hope won’t be overlooked.”

Dolgov and other authors based the report largely on the work of American academic and non-government sources.  They claimed the data shows that U.S. criticisms of other countries are often less than objective, ignorant of cultural significance, and sometimes hypocritical.

“They criticize and judge everyone except themselves,” Dolgov said.  “We think the U.S. should not try to monopolize the role of leader, teacher, and mentor in the field of human rights.  If they want to do this, they should be aware that they are also being monitored.”

The official U.S. response to the Russian report was “Bring it on,” according to the Christian Science Monitor.  The news organization quoted State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland as saying that would be the response from any agency, whether American or international.

“[The United States] is an open book, and we have plenty of non-governmental organizations of our own that make assessments about our human rights and that represent to the government what they think needs to be done,” Nuland said.

For further information, please see:

The Christian Science Monitor — Russian Report Criticizes US on Human Rights, US responds ‘Bring It On’ — 24 October 2012

Global Research — Russia Denounces US Human Rights Record — 23 October 2012

The Chicago Tribune — Russia Condemns United States for Human Rights Record — 22 October 2012

The Moscow Times — Foreign Ministry Slams U.S. on Human Rights — 22 October 2012

Civil Rights Groups Upset over Boston Police’s Spying

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

BOSTON, Massachusetts — Civil rights groups criticized the Boston Police Department this week for secret surveillance of activists who are not criminal suspects.

Susan Barney is among the activists included in intelligence reports compiled by the Boston Police Department, which civil rights groups criticize as a federal violation. (Photo Courtesy of The Boston Globe)

On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the National Lawyers Guild of Massachusetts called on the department to stop illegally spying on anti-war groups that have no affiliation with crime or terror.

“This kind of monitoring of political groups is just the kind of subtle interference that threatens to chill legitimate constitutionally protected speech,” the groups said in a letter to Police Commissioner Edward Davis.  “When police surveillance penetrates the internal workings of peaceful organizations, some Bostonians will be less likely to exercise those fundamental rights.”

By Wednesday, the police department issued a statement in response, saying that routine monitoring is not their practice.  But the department admitted that a computer glitch saved some intelligence reports unrelated to crime for longer than they should have been.

“Boston residents should confidently participate in any lawful, peaceful protest or demonstration knowing the Boston Police Department is not monitoring the events without specific information on suspected criminal activity,” the police statement read in part.

Police officials said the computer software problem was fixed last year, but not before 11 intelligence reports were saved for too long.

The civil rights groups sued the department last year.  They said that resulted in materials that showed police officials tracked and kept records on peaceful groups.

Now the groups are calling on Police Commissioner Edward Davis to create an independent auditing system to identify incoming surveillance reports on expressive activity, determine whether they are crime related, and purge anything unrelated to crime within three months.

But that might be too late for protesters named in the reports.  According to the Boston Globe, they were outraged but not surprised to learn that police documented their connections to protest groups.

“It’s appalling,” Susan Barney said in an interview with the Boston Globe.  She was a political activist listed in two reports.

“Money is being spent to harass, spy on, and surveil (sic) the public, instead of being used for education or housing for low-income communities,” she said.

“I don’t like being considered a homeland security threat,” Ridgely Fuller told the Boston Globe.  “I’m like this middle-aged suburban woman who just wants to speak out against injustice and war.”

The police intelligence reports detail how various Boston activist groups operate and who is involved.  Some even go in-depth about some groups’ views on politics and elections.

Civil rights groups said this violates federal regulations.

For further information, please see:

The Boston Globe — Boston Police Accused of Spying on Antiwar Groups — 18 October 2012

The Boston Herald — Civil Rights Groups Criticize Boston Police Department Surveillance — 18 October 2012

New England Cable News — Boston PD Accused of Spying on Anti-War Groups — 18 October 2012

WHDH-TV — Hank Investigates: Secret Police Files — 17 October 2012

Widespread Criticism Ahead of Refugee Center Opening

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia — With the first boatload of refugees expected to arrive as early as the end of next week, local resentment toward the Australian processing center on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island is growing.

 

Residents of Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island have criticized the Australian government for excluding them from key decisions as it prepares to reopen its refugee processing center on the island. (Photo Courtesy of Special Broadcasting Service Online)

On Wednesday, the governor of Manus Island criticized the Australian government for not consulting with locals about re-opening the asylum-seeker processing center, which was abandoned in 2004.

“[W]e are still in the dark about Australia assisting us,” Governor Charlie Benjamin said in an interview with the Australian Associated Press regarding a government aid package.  “That is arrogance.”

Benjamin said the same situation happened in 2001, when contracts were signed without any input from Manus Island officials.  This time around appeared to be different, however.  Two Manus representatives went to Brisbane last week for negotiation with Australian leaders, according to Benjamin.  But when they arrived, the Manus representatives were told the contracts for Australia’s aid plan were already handed out.

“We have no problem with Australian companies being considered because you want a job you would be satisfied with,” Benjamin told the AAP, “but we have tried our best to be involved in this, but they have not even consulted us.”

Local property owners are so fed up, they are prepared to take matters into their own hands.

On Thursday, landowners said they would sabotage the Australian processing center if their concerns were not heard, according to Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat.

“They’re prepared to start considering things like cutting the services that flow through their land to the processing center, things like road access, electricity access,” reported correspondent Liam Fox.

Residents complained of having very little information from the national and provincial governments, much the same frustrations expressed by Benjamin regarding the Australian government.  But Fox reported that the lack of information only compounds the speed with which the center nears opening.

“In just over a month, the Australian Defence Force engineers have transformed the place,” Fox said.  “It was overgrown with weeds and bushes and very dilapidated, and now it’s ready to take around 150 asylum-seekers.”

Even the head of Australia’s Human Rights Commission has expressed concerns.

Gillian Triggs said on ABC Radio Australia this week that she would like to inspect Australia’s offshore processing centers, including the one Manus Island.  She would like to see how things would work at the centers.

“I’m hoping that the government will work hard to ensure that there is a proper and speedy process,” Triggs said, referring to the reported risk of asylum-seekers being held in these types of centers for half a decade or more.  “[T]hat is our most particular concern, along with the mental illness that seems to go very directly with the concept of unlimited detention in confined contexts.”

But the Australian government indicated on Wednesday that not everything is as set in stone as it appears to be.

“The Australian government is yet to be advised of the preferred location of the site for the permanent facility on Manus,” read a statement issued by the Australian High Commission.  It implied that there is plenty of work and collaboration yet to finish and that it all is subject to change.

“Once the site is agreed, an experienced contractor will be appointed to build the facility consistent with the consultative terms of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by both governments on the establishment of the Regional Processing Centre.”

For further information, please see:

Australia News Network — Manus Landowners Prepared to Sabotage Asylum Seeker Centre — 18 October 2012

ABC Radio Australia — Australian Human Rights Commission President Plans Nauru, Manus Inspections — 17 October 2012

The Australian — Manus Refugee Facility Opening Is Clouded — 17 October 2012

Sky News Australia — Manus Governor Says Australia Arrogant — 17 October 2012

Special Broadcasting Service Online — Manus Refugee Facility Opening is Clouded — 17 October 2012

Aboriginals Want Better Recognition in Australia

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia — Aboriginal leaders called on the United Nations this week to deny Australia a seat on the Security Council because of the country’s record of treating indigenous Australians.

Michael Anderson of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra is calling on the United Nations to deny Australia’s bid for a seat on the Security Council. (Photo Courtesy of the National Indigenous Times)

Michael Anderson, the last surviving founder of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra 40 years ago, wrote a letter to UN ambassadors, urging them to reject Australia’s bid for council membership.

The move came on the heels of a new report on aboriginal relations that human rights lawyers called “concerning.”

In an interview with the New Lawyer, Stephen Keim, president of the Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, said the government should “work with Aboriginal peoples in the (Northern Territories) to promote and build representative institutions that will allow self-determination through self-government.”

Keim said Australia needs to more closely follow the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  According to Keim, UNDRIP gives native peoples the right of self-determination and the autonomy to achieve that through regulating their internal and local affairs.

But the report highlighted the diminished self-governance Aboriginals have, including the downfall of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, the concentration of local government, and the proliferation of indigenous advisory committees that have ineffective decision-making authority.

The report also identified key areas of concern, including transparency, development in the Northern Territories, lack of long-term planning in Aboriginal towns, and marginalization of Aboriginals’ decision-making.

According to the New Lawyer, Keim said the report called attention to “the importance of culture as a social determinant of health, which, as outlined in the UNDRIP, protects the maintenance and practice of indigenous cultures.”

This all comes in the wake of Australia deciding last month to shelve the Act of Recognition, which, if passed next year, would have acknowledged the role of indigenous Australians in the country’s history.  Now, the referendum will not be considered for at least three years.

A sunset clause on the act prevents the parliament from entirely neglecting the issue, however, said Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin.

But recent numbers indicated not many Australians knew about the proposed act.  Macklin said a poll by Reconciliation Australia found fewer than 40 percent of the non-indigenous population knew or heard about the referendum.

“The Australian government agrees with the findings of the expert panel that it is important a referendum is held at a time when it has the most chance of success,” Macklin said.

But Press TV reported that the treatment of Aboriginals may be improving, albeit slightly.

In the Northern Territories, greater involvement to protect the indigenous population from discrimination, human rights violations, and other abuse has been a central theme.  Since elections in August, government organizations have begun to cut down on racial stereotypes of Aboriginal Australians.

For further information, please see:

The National Indigenous Times — Australia Doesn’t Deserve a Seat on United Nations — 11 October 2012

Press TV — Indigenous Australians Demand Better Recognition — 11 October 2012

The New Lawyer — Report Spotlights Indigenous Rights — 8 October 2012

The Australian — Julia Gillard Switch on First People Referendum — 20 September 2012