By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENAVENTURA, Colombia – The Colombian NGO Consultancy for Human Rights (CODHES) reports that  Colombia is the country with the highest number of displaced people in the world, based on figures from a report published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

According to the UNHCR report, approximately 3.7 million Colombian citizens have been displaced from their homes in the last five decades due to increasing violence from rebel groups, such as the FARC.

Jorge Rojas, Director of CODHES, stated “[t]he number of uprooted people in Colombia is higher than those in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.”  Ecuador and Venezuela were named as two countries that received the highest portion of displaced Colombians.

According to the report, about 600,000 Colombians live in Ecuador. The Ecuadorian government claims that that have spent $40 million in the past three years to address the displaced population.

The Colombian Government is receiving harsh criticism for their handling of the news.  Initially, Colombia rejected reports that the country had the highest number of displaced peoples.  According to Acción Social, the presidential agency in charge of displacement, the statements and figures contained in the report are “untrue”.  Acción Social also claims that global data on displacement and refugees cannot be used to compare displacement between countries because there are multiple ways to calculate displacement.

According to Colombia Reports, an independent news organization, the true purpose of the report was not to establish a definitive figure on displaced people, but rather to highlight the gravity of an often overlooked humanitarian crisis, a claim that dulls Acción Social’s claim that research methodology acts to unfairly skew the figures.  Colombia Reports goes on to point out that although high-intensity warfare is a “thing of the past” in Colombia, the UNHCR report illustrates that the country is experiencing a humanitarian disaster of “epic proportions”.

Colombia Reports also claims that Acción Social’s response is indicative of a much larger “national attitude of worrying too much about the country’s image and too little about its concrete problems.”

For more information, please see:

Pravda.ru – Colombia has the Highest Number of Displaced People in the World – 12 November 2010

Colombia Reports – Displacement is a Human Tragedy, not a Publicity Crisis – 11 November 2010

Colombia Reports – Colombia Rejects U.N. Report on Refugee Figures – 10 November 2010

Momento 24 – Colombia Displaces and Ecuador Receives Refugees by Violence – 9 November 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

DRY CHACO, Paraguay—An expedition led by conservation scientists from London’s Natural History Museum has become controversial because of the threat it poses to local indigenous peoples.  The expedition would invade remote areas of Paraguay that reach into Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil, called the Dry Chaco.  Experts fear that the expedition may have “fatal consequences” for indigenous groups, including the Ayoreo Indians who avoid contact with outsiders.

The Museum scientists plan to explore the Dry Chaco, a semi-arid lowland, in order to discover and record biodiversity.  Biologists and botanists will search for new plants, insects and animals in the isolated region.  The Museum has stated that it hopes their findings will help “governments and conversation groups better understand how to manage fragile habitats and protect them for future generations.”  The Dry Chaco has been threatened recently by the possibilities of logging and intensive agriculture.

The Museum has assured that they have researched the area and will try to avoid any contact with the indigenous groups.  Professor Richard Lane, head of science at the Museum, said, “[O]ur collaborators have enlisted an Ayoreo elder, who has volunteered to guide our team in the forest.”

Benno Glauser, Director of Iniciativa Amotocodie, a not-for-profit dedicated to the protection and preservation of the Ayoreo, has expressed concern about the expedition’s negative impact on indigenous peoples living in the area, many of whom have never made contact with the outside world.  According to Glauser, “[w]e know of three isolated indigenous groups in the area targeted by the expedition.  They live in completely virgin forest.  It makes them vulnerable to any external intrusion.”

Glauser said that “surprise contact” could arise between the scientists and indigenous peoples because the scientists would be moving “around in a very silent way in order to observe animals.”

Jonathan Mazower, the Advocacy Director for Survival International, a human rights organization that campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples, maintains that intruders may be seen as hostile by the indigenous groups, and surprise encounters may become violent.  Mazower has suggested that a good compromise could be to go through with the expedition, but move it to another area in the Dry Chaco.

Ayoreo elders who live near the town of Filadelfia have asked Paraguay’s president and the Museum itself to stop the expedition.  They believe that indigenous groups are endangered by the plans and said, “There is too much risk.  It’s like a genocide.”

For more information, please see:

Monga Bay-Chaco expedition working to ‘minimize the risk’ of running into uncontacted natives-11 November 2010

Telegraph-Danger: the world is on its way-10 November 2010

BBC-Conservation expedition ‘poses risk to tribes’-9 November 2010

This is London-Paraguay trip by scientists ‘could wipe out natives’-9 November 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – For the first time in history, Uruguay has imprisoned an active military official for human rights violations committed during the country’s 1973-85 dictatorship.

On Monday, General Miguel Dalmao was jailed for Nibia Sabalsagaray’s 1974 murder.  Sabalsagaray, a communist, was found hung in a prison cell after Dalmao had detained her.  If convicted, Dalmao may face 30 years in prison.  Col. Jose Chialanza was also jailed in connection with Sabalsagaray’s murder.

Sabalsagaray was found hanged in her cell shortly after being captured by Uruguayan military officers. At the time Sabalsagaray was detained, Chialanza was a battalion commander and Dalmao was a lieutenant in charge of gathering intelligence on individuals who were suspected of subversion.

Dalmao and Chialanza both claim that Sabalsagaray hanged herself.  However, Prosecutor Mirtha Guianze and lawyers for Sabalsagaray’s family presented evidence that they claim rules out the possibility of suicide.

Dalmao, who currently commands the Uruguayan army’s 4th Division, has repeatedly and steadfastly asserted his innocence.  Uruguay’s top army general, Jorge Rosales, has also publically supported Dalmao’s claims of innocence.  Nevertheless, the Uruguayan military has not issued any statements since Dalmao was officially imprisoned.

Uruguay Supreme Court’s recent ruling, declaring unconstitutional a law which made it easier for those alleged to have committed human rights violation during the dictatorship to achieve amnesty, may pave the way for not only Dalmao and Chialanza, but many others, to serve jail time for their violations.

To this point, a dozen Uruguayan military officials have been prosecuted for crimes against humanity, but all were committed outside Uruguay.  The court’s decision makes available the possibility that additional human rights violators within the country will be sought out and prosecuted.

Dalmao will remain jailed throughout the appeals process; the process will likely take several months.

For more information, please see:

The Argentina Independent – Uruguay: Military Dictatorship Crime Prosecutions – 9 November 2010

The Canadian Press – Active Uruguayan general imprisoned for aggravated murder in 1974 death of political prisoner – 8 November 2010

Kansascity.com – Active Uruguayan general imprisoned in 1974 murder – 8 November 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela–President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has again been accused of silencing voices of opposition by controlling and censoring the media.  A popular media watchdog, the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), has issued a report alleging that Chavez’s restrictions on members of the press bring to mind events during the Cold War in eastern Europe.

David Natera is the director of Venezuelan newspaper El Correo del Caroni and president of the Venezuelan Press Bloc, a group representing the owners of the country’s primary newspapers.  Natera presented the report against Chavez at IAPA’s 66th General Assembly in Mexico.  The report stated that Chavez “seeks to control ideas, and to impose silence” on anyone who disagrees with the government.

Natera’s report went on to accuse Chavez of seizing media outlets and expropriating property as part of a “social control strategy” so that “the people will have to depend on the state exclusively to get jobs or food.”  The report continued:  “To achieve this perverse end, Chavez needs silence, the silence of the media and of journalists. He needs the silence and the fear that were typical of the sad and oppressed peoples of Cold War-era eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and today’s Cuba under [Raul and Fidel] Castro.”

Natera was optimistic, however, that members of the press in Venezuela, though oppressed, will doggedly strive to maintain impartiality and report the truth.

Chavez considers himself a socialist revolutionary and is seen by many as an enemy of the free press.  In July of this year, his government acquired a minority stake in Globovision, the sole remaining opposition television network.  Similarly, in 2007, Chavez terminated the broadcasting license of the most popular independent television network in the country, Radio Caracas Television (RCTV).

According to Natera’s report, over the past year, 113 physical attacks against journalists have been reported in Venezuela.  In addition to these assaults, journalists have been imprisoned or sent into exile.  Acknowledging these human rights violations, Natera said:  “The independent media, which the government calls ‘private media’, are the ones that defend the Constitution, freedom of expression and the people’s right to a free and uncensored information.”

IAPA is a press advocacy group representing media organizations in North America, South America and the Caribbean.  It boasts a membership of 1,300 newspapers and magazines.

For more information, please see:

El Universal-“Chavez needs silence of the media,” IAPA cautions-8 November 2010

AFP-Venezuela’s Chavez targets freedom of press: watchdog-8 November 2010

RTT News-Chavez Imposing Media Censorship: Watchdog-8 November 2010

El Mercurio – Hugo Chávez busca controlar las ideas e imponer silencio a medios de prensa en Venezuela, dice la SIP – 8 November 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – Uruguay’s high court recently declared a law providing amnesty for human rights violations committed during the 1973-1985 dictatorship unconstitutional.

The Court’s decision coincides with controversial Congressional efforts to overturn the law, which protects former military and law enforcement officials from prosecution as a result of rights abuses.

The issue most recently came to public attention in the case of Juan Maria Bordaberry, a former “strongman” who is said to be responsible for 20 deaths.  Bordaberry ruled as democratically elected president from 1972 to 1973 and as dictator from 1973 to 1976, but was later sentenced to 30 years in prison for violating the constitution and another 30 years for the extrajudicial killings of 14 people who went missing during his rule.

The court’s decision comes amidst heated legislative debate between the governing center-left regime and the opposition.  The government sent Congress a bill to rescind the Ley de Caducidad (Expiry Law), even though the amnesty was upheld in referendums in 1989 and 2009.

The Expiry Law requires both the executive branch and the Supreme Court to authorize each judicial investigation launched into alleged crimes committed by security force members during the military regime.  The Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday allows an investigation into a case in which Bordaberry was accused by different human rights groups of responsibility for the deaths of 20 people.

The ruling party has justified the new bill, now before the Senate after its approval in the lower house, on the basis of a previous Supreme Court decision from October 2009.  The 2009 ruling marked the first time Uruguay’s highest tribunal had taken a stand against the amnesty law. The case was brought by a veteran human rights activist seeking justice for Communist Party activist Nibia Sabalsagaray, killed in 1974 by government agents.

Proponents of the bill want Uruguayan courts to consider all international human rights conventions signed by the country to be protected by the constitution, a step that would automatically invalidate the Expiry Law.  Opponents of the proposed law, including former Presidents Julio Maria Sanguinetti and Jorge Batlle, say the bill is “an affront to citizens who have upheld the law” and “an attack on Uruguay’s institutions.”

For more information, please see:

Latin American Herald Tribune – Uruguay High Court Declares Amnesty Law Unconstitutional – 4 November 2010

Americas Quarterly – Uruguayan Amnesty Law Unconstitutional – 3 November 2010

Washington Post – Uruguay’s High Court Annuls Dictatorship’s Amnesty – 1 November 2010