By Erica Laster                                                                                                                       Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

ATLANTA, United States – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has opted to confiscate several State’s supplies of sodium thiopental (ST) amid concerns about how the lethal injection drug had been obtained.  With the supply of the widely recognized lethal injection drug growing even tighter, states have resorted to illegal means and black markets in order to continue its use in carrying out the death penalty on inmates. 

Human rights groups have pointed out the ethical issues drug companies face once the drug is sold and control over its use is lost.

On January 28, 2011, the only U.S. company to manufacture sodium thiopental, Hospira Incorporated, stopped production of the lethal injection drug leaving states floundering for a substitute. Swiss drug company Novartis followed suit on February 10, forbidding distributors from allowing the drug to be exported to the United States.

On March 15, The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) confiscated the entire supply of sodium thiopental held by Georgia after concern and questions arose amid the origin of the drugs.  Shortly thereafter, Kentucky and Tennessee voluntarily turned over their supply of the drug to the DEA on April 1.

On April 14, the United Kingdom placed a ban on all exports of the sodium thiopental.  Business Secretary Vince Cable confirmed in a statement that “We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and are clear that British drugs should not be used to carry out lethal injections. That is why we introduced a control on sodium thiopental last year – the first of its kind in the world. And it is also why we are now controlling the export of the other drugs used in lethal injection in the US.”

Secretary Cable further announced that the UK would encourage the European Union to follow suit and apply the control “on an EU-wide basis.”

In the frenzy to continue capital punishment amid pressure from prisons and victims rights groups, many States resorted to the use of pentobarbital.  Pentobarbital is commonly used to euthanize animals and for medical treatment.  Ohio and Oklahoma are the only states currently using the new substitute.  Georgia officials have confirmed traveling to both states to learn more about its use.

An April 13 article by the New York Times revealed that some states have conspired to continue to obtain sodium thiopental, going so far as to traffick the drug from other sources, including black markets.

One deposition in a lawsuit brought by a death row inmate indicated that an Arkansas Department of Corrections official drove to Tennessee and Texas in order to bring the drug to Arkansas for an eminent execution.

Over 1,000 inmates have been executed in the United States since the first execution on December 7, 1982.

Photo Courtesy of CNN.  For More Information Please Visit:

IPS News – Lethal Injection Treads Murky Ethical Waters – 29 April 2011

Amnesty International – Lethal Injection – January 2011

Full Text Reports – Government Bans Export of Lethal Injection Drugs to the U.S. – 20 April 2011

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                        Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, United States – Newly released Wikileaks documents reinforce human rights activist’s beliefs that Guantanamo Bay detainees receive improper and abusive treatment at the hands of U.S. government officials.  Still more of the documents indicate that many of the detainee cases may be based upon flawed evidence.  The documents’ release only serves to further fuel the controversy over the inadequate system used to hold detainees and the inability of the government to close the prison permanently.

The newly released documents span two administrations ranging from 2002-2009.  Jay Carney, White House spokesman, emphasized the fact that readers must realize much of the content is attributable to the Bush Administration.  “A detainee assessment brief in 2006 may or may not be reflective of the administration or the government’s view of that particular detainee in 2011,” Carney stated.

The documents detail the number of inmates that have been transferred out of Guantanamo Bay since inception and the level of threat that each detainee poses to national security upon release.  These are referred to as Detainee Assessment Briefs (DAB’s), the documents indicate that 604 inmates have been released while 172 remain in Guantanamo Bay as inmates.

The Brief’s further contain photographs of the detainees and suspected terrorists and details of more than 700 detainee interrogations.

“These documents are remarkable because they show just how questionable the government’s basis has been for detaining hundreds of people, in some cases indefinitely, at Guantanamo,” stated Hina Shamsi, ACLU’s National Security Project Director.

Shamsi further stated that the assessments provided are not only one-sided, but confirm torture allegations and speculations on the part of detainees and human rights activists fighting to end the process of indefinite detainment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

The Center for Constitutional Rights issued a statement which indicates their belief that the documents “provide more public detail on the many innocent men at Guantanamo, many of whom remained and remain there long after the government knew they were innocent.”

According to the Washington Post, U.S. officials responded by criticizing news and media outlets decision to publicize the leaked documents considering that they contain “sensitive information.”  The files were released by European and American newspapers. 

Photo courtesy of digitaltrends.com.  For More Information Please Visit:

Washington Post – Guantanamo Bay: Why Obama hasn’t fulfilled his promise to close the facility – 23 April 2011

ABC News – WikiLeaks Guantanamo Files Reveal Faces, Lives of ‘Enemy Combatants’ – 25 April 2011

Washington Post – Guantanamo Documents Revive Debate – 25 April 2011

Washington Post – Leaked Gitmo documents provide fresh information on background of terror suspects – 25 April 2011

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Fear rises in Honduras as governmental abuse and oppression grows.  Journalists, activists and independent citizens are under the control of the government and military which continues to impose limits on speech as well as preventing citizens from conducting peaceful demonstrations against the Post-coup regime.  The past year has been plagued with an increase in disappearances and murders of journalists, students, homosexuals and even teachers.

With a homicide rate that is four times that of Mexico, Honduras currently maintains a spot as the country with the highest homicide rate in the Western hemisphere.

On April 1, 2011, Honduran teachers and students orchestrated a strike across the country to protest the repression inherent in the government.  Their attempts to free 18 teachers arrested and detained for sedition were unsuccessful.  Teachers protesting the illegal detainment, privatization of public school education and the oppression by the regime were beaten, shot with tear gas and illegally detained by police and military personnel. 

Americas Director at Human Rights Watch, José Miguel Vivanco condemned the violence, indicating that “Human Rights Watch recognizes that Honduran police have a duty to respond to protesters who engage in violence and prosecute those who break the law. But they also have an obligation to respect the basic rights of demonstrators.”

Protests by public school teachers have been ongoing since Mid March of 2011.  Each one ending more violently than the first.  President Lobo has been blamed as the source of the violence. 

“If President Lobo is committed to law and order, he should ensure that alleged brutality by the police is thoroughly investigated and that those responsible are prosecuted and held accountable,” Vivanco said.  Human Rights Watch called on the immediate and thorough investigation of the use of excessive force by Honduran authorities.  Further, Honduran authorities have been asked to prosecute anyone deemed responsible for the violence. 

Allegations of targeted violence against the media have also been made.  According to C-Libre, a popular Honduran newspaper, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters directly at journalists and cameramen, injuring those who merely came to record the protests. 

Gerardo Torres of Honduras’ National Front of Popular Resistance claimed that the money received from the United States to combat such issues as drug trafficking has been used indiscriminately. 

“All the money is spent on weapons, propaganda and controlling the mass media,” Torres is quoted as saying. “There are no civil rights in Honduras.”
The Honduran homicide rate has increased 39% in the last two years. 

Photo courtesy of Honduras Human Rights. For more information please visit:  

Honduras Human Rights – Honduras: Probe Charges of Police Brutality – 8 April 2011

Honduras Human Rights – Endless Repression By Military Back Regime – 1 April 2011

Latin Dispatch – Honduran Government Responsible for Murders and Human Rights Abuses – 14 April 2011

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                     Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – 11 suspects have been arrested in connection with the discovery of 72 bodies in eight mass graves located in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas on Friday.  This is the second time in eight months that authorities have uncovered mass graves believed to be the work of drug cartels in the area.  While the bodies have not yet been identified, they are believed to be the passengers of a migrant worker bus which went missing in early March.  

Amnesty International has called on the Mexican authorities to investigate.

In late March, a bus transporting migrant workers was reportedly hijacked and all of the passengers kidnapped by an unknown group.   After investigating the incident, authorities were led to the town of San Fernando in Tamaulipas where 11 suspects were arrested.  Along with the suspects, the state attorney general’s office confirmed the rescue of 5 hostages at the scene. 

According to transportation companies and surviving passengers, armed gunmen regularly stop vehicles heading towards the United States border.  After pointing out specific male passengers on the buses, they are then taken away. Criminal gangs have been thought to target transit companies and vehicles carrying migrant workers to force them to carry drugs. Kidnapping and ransom have been identified as other possible motives.

The victims’ nationalities have not yet been identified.

President Felipe Calderon’s office issued a statement regarding the discovery of the gravesites.

“These reprehensible acts underline the cowardice and the total lack of scruples of the criminal organizations, which generate violence in our country, and especially in the state of Tamaulipas.”

Despite the Administration’s condemnation of the mass murders, Amnesty International criticized Mexico’s inability to protect not only its citizens, but people passing through the country.  Amnesty International Researcher Rupert Knox stated that “The mass graves found yesterday once again show the Mexican government’s failure to deal with the country’s public security crisis and reduce criminal violence which has left many populations vulnerable to attacks, abductions and killings.” 

Knox further pointed out that, “All too often such human rights crimes have gone unpunished, leaving criminal gangs and officials acting in collusion with them free to target vulnerable communities, such as irregular migrants.”

The U.S. State Department issued a human rights report on Mexico based on cases from Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission.  The report noted Mexico’s military and police participation in and inability to control “unlawful killings by security forces; kidnappings; physical abuse; poor and overcrowded prison conditions; arbitrary arrests and detention; corruption, inefficiency, and lack of transparency that engendered impunity within the judicial system; confessions coerced through torture.”

Photo Courtesy of the Washington Post.  For More Information Please Visit:

CNN – More Bodies Discovered IN Mass Graves In Mexico – 8 April 2011

CNN – 59 Bodies Found In Mexico Mass Graves – 7 April 2011

Washington Post – More Missing Found In Mexico’s Mass Graves – 8 April 2011

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                     Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Nearly 1 million people remain homeless in Haiti, living in the squalid displacement camps while they await permanent housing.   The lack of patrols, security measures, and simple utilities such as doors, make the camps dangerous for women.  The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti has been accused of avoiding the camp interiors “generally (staying) on the perimetre of camps,” instead of going into the areas where women’s lives are actually at risk, especially at night,” says rape coordinator Annie Gell. 

Each day, women and young girls fight to survive from rape, attacks or sexual violence into prostitution.  Last week, MADRE (a women’s advocacy group) testified in front of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Bureau des Avocats Internationaux’s coordinator of the Rape Accountability and Prevention Project in Port-au-Prince, Annie Gell stressed the need for and lack of security in the displaced persons camps. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Women’s Rights (MCFDF) has been in place since 1994, and continues to address the issue of gender based violence in Haiti. 

Testimony provided to the United Nations stressed the importance of patrolling and security forces among the displaced persons camps in Port-Au-Prince.  According to Gell, there are “More women coming forward to report rapes and GBV.”  While she acknowledged that the large number and size of camps made it difficult to monitor and protect women due to overcrowding, she also emphasized that “a lot of people are moving out of camps because they’re so insecure, so dangerous.”  

In large part, UNPOL’s (trained peacekeeping forces) and the National Haitian Police play a large role in safety.  Gender unit officer, Marie Francoise Vital Metellus, told IPS the UNPOL’s purpose is to patrol camps and assist victims of gender based violence.

Grassroots groups are promoted as the solution to many of these problems.

One such organization is KOFAVIV (Commission of Women Victims for Victims), a grassroots Haitian organization which provides support and aid to victims and survivors of rape and sexual violence.  KOFAVIV is one of the many groups which supported the testimony of women activists at a March 25 hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. 

These groups have been consistently disappointed with the United Nations inability and refusal to work with grassroots organizations to confront the sexual violence prevalent in the camps.  The UN “is not working with the grassroots groups.” Gell is quoted as saying, “We’re (thus) hoping … that the commission will reinforce that the grassroots groups’ voices must be included in planning sessions to end sexual violence.”

This is especially important because of the need for prosecution tools in the country.  In Haiti, suspects actions have no consequences.

Photo Courtesy of Ecosalon.com.  For More Information Please Visit:

IPS – Women Turn Spotlight on Haiti’s Silent Rape Epidemic – 29 March 2011

MADRE – International Human Rights Hearing on Rape Epidemic in Haiti – 23 March 2011

Advocates Testify at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights – 25 March 2011