By Erica Laster                                                                                                                      Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala – “We live in a terrifying anarchy,” says Oscar Quintero, an expert psychologist discussing coping strategies.  The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, an organization supported by the United Nations was created in 2007 to eradicate contract killings, dismantle illegal security groups and root out corruption among Guatemala’s business and political elite.  The same people who have helped in the campaign are now its quarry with the head of national police and a former presidential candidate now fugitives with arrest warrants issued for their capture.

Despite a homicide rate three times the number as Mexico, the Commission is being met with great resistance from a number of top officials.  Former Vice-President Eduardo Stein has accused the commission of “going out of control,” ignoring Guatemalan law and overstepping its mandate.   Stein believes the Commission is issuing erroneous criminal charges to the government. 

Carlos Casetrana, former leader of the International Commission told the Associated Press that “all the cases we’ve brought to justice have so far ended in prison sentences for the accused.”   

Those accused of kidnapping, murder, drug trafficking received the most rapid convictions.  1700 police officers, prosecutors and judges have been purged as a result of Casetrana’s recommendations.   The arrest of “hitherto untouchable ex-military leaders,” has been praised by Human Rights First. 

One of the Commission’s biggest accomplishments was the purging of Guatemala’s Pavon prison farm.  The purpose behind Pavon was a rehabilitation center for inmates where prisoners could tend livestock and grow vegetables.  It instead became a feudal state where inmates had access to prostitutes, internet, video games, drugs and fast food.   The largest prison in the state, officers swarmed the prison on September 25, 2006, retaking it from inmates running a cocaine lab from its premises.

Today, nearly half the countries territory of 14 million is controlled by drug cartel and other criminals.  Civilians face dangers in even the safest of government addresses.

For More Information Please Visit:

The Guardian – Bars, Brothels, And A Regime of Terror – 30 September 2006

Washington Post – U.N. Backed Investigators Shake Up Guatemala – 14 November 2010

CNN – U.N. Names Anti-Impunity Chief For Guatemala – 30 June 2010

Guatemala Times – UN Expert Calls For Drastic Change In Global Drug Control Policy – 25 October 2010

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                       Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Gunfire and death has resulted in increased tension among the northern Mexican states and Texas cities just across the border.   With politicians being gunned down , citizens being recruited to the cartels and cartels constantly patrolling highways, the Mexican states bordering Texas have forced many to retreat.  Colleges and Universities in Texas have also felt the impacts of drug cartel control and gunfire.

Many of Mexico’s victims speak on condition of anonymity, noting that “This is out of the government’s hands.  Mexico has been sacrificed and sold to the narcos.  It is the narcos who have the power.”

On Thursday near Acapulco, 18 bodies were removed from a mass gravesite.  Investigators believed their deaths may have been a mistake.  A video posted on YouTube led authorities to the gravesite after anonymous calls to the police.  The video depicts two men being forced to answer questions from an off scene interrogator, confessing to killing the Michoacan men in the graves over drug trafficking disputes.  These videos are a powerful tool, challenging the authority of the state as vigilante justice is brought by criminals.

This past Friday, cartels and military forces clashed after the death of Tony “the Storm,” leader of the Gulf cartel.  Three of his henchmen were also killed in the gunfire in Matamoros, Tamaulipas which could be heard across the border in Texas.  CNN reported that border colleges only a half a mile away,  including the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College were forced to cancel classes and rearrange weekend events “because of gunfire taking place across the Rio Grande.”

On Saturday, eighteen were killed in Ciudad Juarez.  While many used to believe that any murdered victims were involved with narcotics, now, everyone is at risk.  One incident included a family of seven being slaughtered outside their home, including two brothers, believed to be the targets.  Five more bodies were found dead inside of a car and two were found lying in the street.  This marked one of the bloodiest days of the year in Ciudad Juarez.

For More Information Please Visit:

CNN – Official: 18 People Killed In Ciudad Juarez – 7 November 2010

CNN – Gunmen, Forces Clash After Cartel Leader Killed – 6 November 2010

LA Times – Caught Behind Enemy Lines – 6 November 2010

Washington Post – Mistake May Have Led To Mass Grave Deaths In Mexico – 4 November 2010

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                   Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Last week, the Jamaican Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court denied bail to United States citizen Lynn Scantlebury, accused of trafficking various foreigners into the country and forcing them into prostitution.   On September 16, 2010, Scantlebury, 23, and her 41-year-old stepfather,  Anthony Parker, were arrested at the Latin Movement Night Club in Jamaica.

A total of thirteen people, several of them minors from Panama and the Dominican Republic, were detained by officials.  Scantlebury’s attorney argued for her release on bail, but was denied on the grounds that the defendant presented a flight risk.

Both Parker and Scantlebury face seven counts of facilitating human trafficking, seven counts of conspiracy, eight counts of human trafficking and one count each of money laundering and withholding travel documents.  It is further alleged that Parker and his wife, who has not been charged, played a major role in an international human trafficking ring.

In 2007, Jamaica passed the Trafficking in Persons Act, meant to prevent, suppress and punish all forms of trafficking related offenses, including those which involve the receipt of financial benefits and profits related to the trade.

Several wealthy businessmen from Jamaica have been under investigation in 2010 for criminal activities which include human trafficking.  Many are under scrutiny for their relationship with the reputed head of the Shower Posse, Christopher “Dudus” Coke, recently extradited to the United States.

This news should not be surprising given the country’s history of human trafficking.  One need only remember the caravan of Haitian children found aboard a bus en route to the border driven by a group of United States citizens claiming to be saving the parentless children in the wake of the earthquake.  It was later discovered that the children’s parents were in fact, alive and well.

For More Information Please Visit:

Jamaican Observer – American Woman Accused of Human Trafficking Denied Bail – 29 October 2010

Jamaican Observer – Family Accused of Trafficking Prostitutes – 4 October 2010

End Human Trafficking – Persons Accused of Human Trafficking Remanded – 7 October 2010

The Daily Herald – Two Accused of Human Trafficking Remanded – 5 October 2010

 Patricia Gonzalez, his sister and former attorney general, was also implicated in orchestrating many sensational murders linked to drug crimes.  Gonzalez stated that many “believe there are close ties between drug trafficking and government institutions.”  The video, she acknowledged, may only reinforce those beliefs.

As the video begins, armed gunmen in military uniforms level rifles at Mario Gonzalez’ head.  “”What group do you belong to?” “The group called La Linea or the Juarez Cartel.” “What is your job?” “I am the link to the prosecutor, my sister…”

In an interview with the Washington Post, Gonzalez indicated that she believes the off camera questioner to be “El Puma,” the leader of the Sinoa Cartel, a rival drug gang struggling for control in Mexico.  Gonzalez assumes he is a former police officer and on among many enemies she made while a prosecutor before retiring October 3, 2010.  “We fired 350 police and prosecutors.  I think there are clear elements that indicate that the state police are involved in my brother’s kidnapping.” 

Kidnapped attorney Gonzalez’s wife was contacted for a ransom of $500,000 shortly after the kidnapping.  However, officials inside of the investigation believe the ransom was an ill disguised attempt to thwart investigators from the real purpose of the kidnapping: destroying the reputation of prominent legal professionals.

While officials are continuing with the investigation, many cannot ignore Gonzale’s forced confessions to being complicit in the murder of the former chief of operations of Chihuahua and a veteran crime reporter for El Diario, Armando “Choco” Rodriguez in November of 2008.

Interior secretary Graciela Ortiz indicated that, ‘What’s important is that citizens can be sure the state will act objectively and impartially to apply the full weight of the law against anyone responsible for a crime, regardless if they are ex-officials or of the position that they held.”

For More Information Please Visit:

Daily Mail – Mexican drug gang video shows ex-politician’s kidnapped brother ‘confessing’ her crimes at gunpoint  27 October 2010

Washington Post Mexican Drug Cartel Forces Lawyer’s Video Confession – 30 October 2010

Justice In Mexico – Former State Attorney General Patricia Gonzalez Rodrigues accused of having ties to drug traffickers – 27 October 2010