By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – Monday, Justice Minister Felipe Bulnes called the overcrowding of Chilean prisons, which lead to the deadliest prison fire in the country’s history, “subhuman.”  Overcrowding in penitentiaries was officially recognized as a primary cause of last Wednesday’s fire that burned part of the capital’s San Miguel Prison and killed 81 prisoners.

The San Miguel Prison currently houses approximately 1,900 people, double its intended capacity.  This overcrowding can be seen in almost every jail in Chile.  Chile’s prison population totals approximately 54,000 people; however, it’s  infrastructure only has the capacity for 34,000 people.

Bulnes was quoted on a Chilean television network as saying, “of course we need more jails, because it would allow us to separate and rehabilitate. With rates of overcrowding like this, conditions are subhuman, an indignity.”  He also admitted the need to purge the Gendarmeria, the Chilean prison service, in response to accusations by inmates’ families that guards regularly accept bribes to bring drugs, cell phones and other prohibited items into the prisons.

Jaime Pincheira, the prison warden Calama, a city in Northern Chile, has denied reports that 500 inmates began a hunger strike Sunday in solidarity with the families of the San Miguel victims.  Pincheira told local reporters that only 200 of the prisoners there are fasting, some 40 percent of the prison population.

In a report on prison conditions last year, Supreme Court attorney Monica Maldonado found that some prisons have potable water only a couple of hours a day, a hundred prisoners share one usually infested toilet and the population in some jails easily doubles their capacity.

President Sebastian Pinera has responded to the recent criticisms and deaths by announcing a $460 million plan to improve conditions for Chile’s prisoners. The plan includes purchasing prefabricated modular prisons for minimum-security inmates to help reduce overcrowding in the country’s prisons.

The courts are currently investigating claims that prison police in San Miguel waited an hour before calling the fire department while 81 inmates suffered burns and smoke inhalation.

For more information, please see:

Global Post – The Story Behind Chile’s Prison Fire – 15 December 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune – Chilean Official: Prison Inmates “in Subhuman Conditions” – 13 December 2010

Associated Press – New unrest at Chile prison where 81 inmates died – 11 December 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – Earlier this week, twenty-three Colombian lawmakers blocked a vote on a law intended to regulate compensation for victims of violence in the country.  The proposed law establishes a process of reparation and assistance available to the more than 4 million Colombians affected by the country’s violence committed by guerrillas, paramilitaries and government forces will all be eligible under the law.

Last week, international NGO International Organization for Migration weighed in with their support for the proposed legislation by signing a memorandum with Colombia’s Vice President Angelino Garzon.  The memorandum also illustrates an initiative to create an agenda for promoting human rights, protecting migrant populations and preventing children from involvement in armed conflict.  Garzon went on record to say “the victims law would be an invaluable tool, but could have ended up being a dead letter if not for the support of international bodies such as the OIM.”

Although the law has seen significant support from international organizations, and perhaps most importantly from current Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, members of the Colombian Legislature blocked the bill from moving forward citing a “conflict of interest.”  Elias Raad, one of the representatives who blocked the vote, said that he couldn’t vote because the husband of a fourth cousin would benefit from the law.

The majority of representatives responsible for blocking the vote are supporters of former President Alvaro Uribe, who publicly opposed the law.  Uribe refused to support the bill because it includes compensation for victims of state violence and Uribe simply found that these reparations would be “too expensive.”

Interior and Justice Minister German Vargas Lleras and Agriculture Minister Juan Camilo Restrepo were vocal in their anger about the congressmen’s blocking of the vote.  Restrepo called the legislators’ actions “filibuster politics,” claiming the only aim is to obstruct the approval of the law by delaying the necessary voting rounds.  Vargas Lleras claimed that he would call “extraordinary sessions” if the House wasn’t able to vote on the bill within its legal time limit.

For more information, please see:

Colombia Reports – Lawmakers Block Victims Law Vote – 8 December 2010

Colombia Reports – International NGO Supports Victims Law – 3 December 2010

Colombia Reports – Santos to Personally Defend Victims Law – 27 September 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

EASTER ISLAND, Chile—Indigenous residents of Easter Island have suffered violence at the hands of Chilean authorities who are attempting to drive them out of government buildings they began inhabiting three months ago.  The indigenous individuals, or Rapanui, claim that Chilean officials stole those buildings from their ancestors.  The authorities have been tear-gassing and shooting rubber bullets and buckshot at indigenous individuals, and at least 24 have been injured.  Leviante Araki, president of the Rapa Nui Parliament, suffered two shots and had to be flown to Santiago for medical attention.

The Rapanui have been occupying several buildings such as the Hangaroa Hotel and government offices.  Chilean forces, acting on a court order, have stormed the buildings and subdued the occupants by force before arresting them.

According to the website Saverapanui.org, “When the Rapanui gathered to protest this action, Chilean Special Forces started firing their guns and using tear gas.  The Rapanui responded by throwing rocks.  [The Forces] are hunting for individuals who have been involved with the reoccupation and those they are targeting who have helped share the story with the international press.”

On Saturday, Chile sent a plane to the island to evict the indigenous people.  Filmmaker Santi Hitorangi, who was wounded in a clash on Friday, reported that the indigenous residents have not complied, saying, “The arrival of the C-130 cargo plane with more police and armed swat teams adds to the psychological duress that’s happening here. ”  He alleged that Chile is trying to “stop any attempt of the Rapanui people to reassert their right to the land.  All we’re asking for is title to the land.  It’s a rightful claim.”  He added:   “Many including women were shot in their faces, in their heads.”

Chile’s government has been unsympathetic.  Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter called the acts of the indigenous individuals “illegal takeovers that cause damage to the island,” and said:  “The police forces acted in compliance with a court order.  That’s how institutions function, and we all must follow them.”

Easter Island is located about 7000 kilometers east of New Zealand and was annexed by Chile in 1888.  Each year, approximately 50,000 tourists visit the island, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site and famous for its monolithic sculptures.

There is concern among indigenous people that Chile is not properly regulating immigration to the island, which is incapable of sustaining such a population influx.  Indigenous individuals make up 2200 of the 5000 residents of Easter Island.  Some Rapanui have expressed fear that indigenous residents of the island could be wiped out by such practices.

For more information, please see:

Radio New Zealand-Rapa Nui activists fear uncertainty as Chilean troops remain on island-6 December 2010

Stuff-24 injured in Easter Island land protests-6 December 2010

Epoch Times-Easter Island Clashes Leaves Two Dozen Injured-6 December 2010

Press Association-Evictions continue on Easter Island-5 December 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – Jorge Ivan Laverde, a former Colombian paramilitary chief who confessed to ordering approximately 4,000 murders and using an oven to dispose of some of the bodies, was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Laverde, who turned himself in six years ago, led one of the fronts of the right-wing AUC militia federation’s Catatumbo Bloc.

Laverde was originally sentenced to 40 years in prison but his sentence was reduced as part of an amnesty law passed by the Colombian Congress in 2005.  Last week, Laverde was resentenced to the maximum prison term allowable under the law governing the paramilitaries’ demobilization.  He was also ordered to pay $3.2 million in reparation to the victims.

The 2005 Peace and Justice Law was passed to regulate the paramilitary fighters’ reinsertion into society.  Former AUC members face a maximum of eight years in prison if convicted of any of the egregious crimes which they are accused of, including kidnappings, murders and torture.  The law also shields former AUC members from extradition to the United States so long as they cooperate with Colombian authorities.

In Laverde’s case, the former paramilitary leader not only confessed that he ordered some 4,000 killings but he also admitted that he personally carried out 100 of those murders.

The AUC demobilized 31,000 fighters between the end of 2003 and mid-2006 as part of a peace process with then-President Alvaro Uribe.  However, new members have emerged, bringing the group’s numbers somewhere in the range of 4,000-10,000 fighters.  Although the AUC was originally founded to battle leftist rebels, it deteriorated into a “loose association of drug-dealing death squads.”

The aim of the amnesty law was to promote the demobilization of paramilitary groups through promises of relatively insignificant prison sentences.  Nonetheless, the notion of an eight year prison sentence for a man thought to have participated in thousands of killings may very well result in a public outcry.

For more information, please see:

The Herald Sun – Eight Years Jail for Man who Killed 4,000 – 4 December 2010

BBC – Colombia Reduces Jail Time for Paramilitary in Amnesty – 3 December 2010

Colombia Reports – “El Iguano” Convicted Through Justice of Peace Process – 3 December 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune – Ex-Militia Chief Sentenced Under Colombia’s Demobilization Law – 3 December 2010

STANLEY, Falkland Islands—Argentina has had a recent win in their long-standing struggle to assert sovereignty over the British-held Falkland Islands. The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), which has 12 member countries, agreed with Argentina on Friday that ships headed to or from the Falklands should be denied docking and fuel at mainland ports. This decision could be “very costly” for shippers who do business with and on the islands.

The battle for sovereignty over the islands began in 1982 when Argentina invaded the Falklands but was overpowered by British troops in combat lasting 74 days. Over 1,000 people died.  More recently, Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has revitalized the claim to Las Malvinas, as Argentina refers to the archipelago.

UNASUR’s agreement to block incoming and outbound ships associated with the islands has promised to injure the Falklands’ economy. The heads of state present at UNASUR’s summit in Guyana last week agreed with Argentina that vessels flying “the illegal flag of the Malvinas” should be blocked from using any member nations’ ports. Naturally, shippers and members of the Falklands government are nervous.

“If all South American ports do decide to block all access to Falkland Islands-flagged vessels,” Adam Cockwell, a manager of Work Boat Services Ltd. said, “then it raises a serious issue for us as we will not be able to go to any ports for our dry docking requirements.”

Stuart Wallace of Fortuna Ltd. voiced concerns that “if such a policy were to be implemented it would have the unfortunate effect of a significant loss of business for some South American ports. It would inconvenience Falkland vessel owners, but we would deal with any new circumstances.” He added: “Perhaps most importantly, such an aggressive blanket ban would make it clear internationally that we face a tightening blockade aimed at destroying our economy.”

Gavin Short, member of the Falklands’ Legislative Assembly stated: “If anyone was in any doubt about the hostile intent that Argentina has towards us and their drive to blockade us then [this new development] should dispel those doubts.”

For more information, please see:

UPI-Argentina wins wider Falklands blockade-29 November 2010

MercoPress-Unasur ban ‘huge negative impact’ on Falkland Islands?-29 November 2010

FIS-Unasur countries prevent entry of ships flying the Falklands flag-29 November 2010