By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela—A hunger strike in Venezuela has escalated as four university students sewed their lips together while demonstrating to demand more funding for public universities.

The initial hunger strike began on February 23; it was started by five students and quickly grew to about 55 protesters.  The hunger strikers argue that Venezuelan universities are in danger of shutting down and that the government should give satisfactory funding to keep them in operation.

Administrators from various universities in the country have announced that by early next month, over two dozen public universities may be financially unable to continue operating cafeterias or buying supplies.

Government officials have responded by denying the claims.  They have stated that the protesting students are being influenced by President Hugo Chavez’s political opponents.

During a program televised in Bolivar state, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said: “If they want to walk naked through the street, let them do it.  If they want to sew whatever they want to sew, let them sew it, but . . . we’re going to keep working for our homeland.”  Maduro went on to attribute the hunger strike to the Venezuelan right wing, which “continues with its madness.”

One protester, 18-year-old Gabriela Torrijos, took the hunger strike to an alarming level on Friday as she and other students demonstrated near the United Nations Development Program office in Caracas.  Torrijos, a political science student at the Central University of Venezuela, sewed the left corner of her mouth shut.  Following her example, three other students partially stitched their mouths shut as well.

Enduring the pain of the improvised stitching, Torrijos told the Associated Press, “After seeing my friends take this action, I did it in solidarity with them.”

28-year-old Villca Fernandez had a more sever reaction to his stitching: his face ballooned out and remained puffy for three days.  He said he had not eaten solid food for 30 days and would not resume regular eating habits until the government increased the universities’ budgets.  “I’m willing to die for my university,” he declared.  “I’m willing to die for my country.”

On Tuesday, President Chavez stated that he would increase students’ stipends and review universities’ budgets.  The striking students, however, have not yet taken those promises seriously.

For more information, please see:

Press Association-Students stitch lips in protest-26 March 2011

AP-4 Venezuelan students partially sew lips together demanding university funding-25 March 2011

Seattle Times-Venezuelan students stitch lips in protest-25 March 2011

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – According to a Colombian radio report, aid, including food, for nearly 40,000 families impacted by last year’s flooding will soon perish. A local chamber of commerce has suspended delivery to victims due to apparent cost overruns in aid spending, causing the food to spoil.

The suspension order came after Sandra Morelli, Colombia’s comptroller general, warned that some of the food products, along with hygiene kits, might be being bought at unnecessarily high prices. Gustavo Marin Rincon, the owner of the site where the aid is being stored has asked the chamber of commerce to lift the suspension, at least temporarily. Rincon fears that any delay in delivering supplies could risk worsening the humanitarian situation in the region.

According to Morelli, the department has seen a 39% excess in the price of basic necessities, such as food and toiletry kits, to the region to help flood victims. Recently, research into corrupt practices found significant differences in the costs of goods as recorded in the contracts and those for the goods which were actually included in the food and bathroom kits.

In one example, the research found that a pound of rolled oats costs about $1.20 according to the contract, but the oats included in the food kits cost just $0.3 per pound. Morelli has also requested that the origin and quality of the products be tested, as many of the products are apparently Chinese and low quality.

Following the floods, which impacted over a million people, the Colombian government claimed that over $500 million would be necessary to aid the flood relief. Since that time, the aid project has been riddled with problems over the distribution of money.

For more information, please see:

Colombia Reports –Aid Supplies to Flood Victims not Reaching 40,000 Families – 22 March 2011

Colombia Reports – Flood Aid Misused in North Colombia: Comptroller – 14 March 2011

The Korea Herald – Colombia Requests Aid for Rain, Flood Victims – 13 March 2011

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

PARAMARIBO, Suriname—According to a human rights expert from the United Nations, Suriname’s government and authorities have not been engaging in enough dialogue with indigenous citizens.  The expert is seeking to encourage necessary dialogue between officials and indigenous groups.  It is hoped that this communication will strengthen indigenous communities’ rights to resources and land in certain forested areas within Suriname.

The UN expert is James Anaya, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.  Anaya recently ended a four-day visit to Suriname where he attended meetings with indigenous and tribal groups, senior officials in President Desi Bouterse’s government, and UN staff members.  This trip marked the first time an independent expert designated by the UN Human Rights Council ever visited Suriname.

On Thursday, Anaya released a statement in Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital, noting that increased dialogue between indigenous groups and government officials should facilitate “practical steps necessary to move forward with securing indigenous and tribal land rights, in accordance with relevant international treaties to which Suriname is a part.”

The UN expert commented that his visit had been “fruitful and constituted a unique and valuable opportunity for dialogue and consultation.”  He promised to collaborate with both Suriname’s government and the indigenous groups to aid their communication with regards to land and resource rights.  There has been no immediate official comment by Suriname’s government.

Several years ago, the Saramaka indigenous people brought a case against Suriname to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.  In 2007, the Court ruled in the Saramaka group’s favor, giving them collective rights to ancestral lands where they had lived for many years.  The Court also granted the indigenous group other rights to resources in the area.

For more information, please see:

Modern Ghana-UN rights expert urges greater dialogue between Suriname and indigenous groups-18 March 2011

Taiwan News-Expert: Suriname, tribal groups must engage more-18 March 2011

UN News Centre-UN rights expert urges greater dialogue between Suriname and indigenous groups-17 March 2011

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – A Peruvian military court has imposed suspended prison sentences for three senior police and army officers in connection with the deaths of 24 cops and 10 civilians during the June 2009 protests in the Amazonian town of Bagua. The conflict, which came to be known as “Baguazo,” was Lima’s deadliest class in a decade.

Among those receiving suspended sentences are retired police Generals Luis Murguruza and Javier Uribe and army General Raul Silva Alban, who were convicted of dereliction of duty. In addition to their prison sentences, the men also were ordered to pay fines.

The Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (Aidesep), who organized the original demonstration in 2009, touted the verdicts as confirmation that official misconduct can no longer be “swept under the rug.”

There is; however, still controversy surrounding the confrontation. Alberto Pizango, leader of Aidesep, was critical of President Alan Garcia’s decision to shield his Cabinet ministers from any accountability, in contrast to the actions of the military court. Although then-Premier Yehude Simon and the rest of the Cabinet resigned after the Baguazo, no member of the government has faced any judicial consequences.

The events leading up to the Baguazo began in April 2009, when indigenous people were opposed to laws giving Lima power to grant mining, logging and drilling concessions on Indian lands without consulting residents disrupted transport links and seized control of oil-industry installations, effectively shutting down a pipeline that carries crude oil from the Amazon interior to Peru’s northern coast.

The clashes began in June 2009 when police tried to clear a road blocked by thousands of indigenous people an quickly became bloody.

For more information, please see:

Peruvian Times –Indigenous Leaders Criticize Sentence of Bagua Conflict – 17 March 2011

Latin American Herald Tribune – Peru Police, Army Brass Convicted of Deadly Clash with Indians – 15 March 2011

Living in Peru – Police and Military Receive Sentences Two Years After Bagua Violence – 15 March 2011