By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil—On Sunday, Brazil elected the country’s first woman president, Dilma Rousseff.  President-elect Rousseff received 56% of the vote, and has become the eighth elected woman president in Latin America and the Caribbean.  She has vowed to defend women’s rights, echoing Barack Obama’s motto “Yes, we can,” by saying, “Yes, women can.”

After her victory on Sunday, Rousseff proclaimed, “Equal opportunities for men and women are an essential principle of democracy.  I would like for fathers and mothers to look into their daughters’ eyes today and tell them: ‘Yes, women can.’ I would like to register my first post-election commitment: to honor Brazilian women so that this unprecedented fact becomes a natural event.”  She went on to say that she will work towards women gaining opportunities “in businesses, civil institutions . . . and in the whole of our society.”

Many are hopeful that Brazil’s first female president will be successful in implementing important advances in gender equality.  Sociologist Fátima Pacheco Jordão opined: “Most important in this feminist-tinged speech was that she described the advance of gender equality issues as one of the foundations of democracy.  Never has a [Brazilian] president treated the gender question in this way.”

It is believed that the president-elect will promote certain women to higher governmental offices.  Yet Jordão is hesitant to expect massive reform under Rousseff, noting that most senior cabinet members will still be men.  According to Jordão, “The proportion of women in politics in Brazil is very limited, worse than many Latin American countries and several in Africa.”

Rousseff had been imprisoned and tortured for three years in the 1970s for opposing Brazil’s then-dictatorship.  More recently, she served under former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as Chief of Staff for the last five years.  She ran for president as the candidate for the Workers Party.

Brazil is ranked as the world’s eighth largest economy.  Rousseff, 62, will take office on January 1 of next year.

For more information, please see:

Guardian-‘Yes, women can’-Brazil’s first ‘presidenta’ pledges gender equality-1 November 2010

CBS-Obama telephones Brazil’s president-elect Rousseff-1 November 2010

Examiner-Brazil elects its first female president, Dilma Rousseff-1 November 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Argentina may become the forum used to prosecute cases involving murder, torture, and kidnapping stemming from Spain’s Civil War (1936-1939).  Argentina may be able to prosecute these war criminals who are currently protected by diplomatic immunity.

Judge Maria Servini of Argentina has been working toward litigating under universal jurisdiction because Spain’s judicial system has been restricted by amnesty laws from filing these cases.  Universal jurisdiction has been previously used in Spain by Judge Baltasar Garzon, who prosecuted the Chilean General Augusto Pinochet in 1998.

Judge Servini asked Spain whether its own courts would investigate tens of thousands of cases of “torture, assassination, forced disappearances and the stealing of children.”  Her inquiry came after human rights defenders in Spain took their case to Argentina because Spain’s courts were unavailable to them.

The issue remains whether Argentina’s courts can litigate under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction.  Under that doctrine, states can have jurisdiction over those whose crimes were committed outside their borders if the crimes were against all and so severe that differences between legal systems cannot reduce responsibility.

The plaintiffs will declare that Article 118 of Argentina’s Constitution supports universal jurisdiction.  The Article mentions a special law that can determine the venue to try crimes against the law of nations (ius gentium) that took place outside of the country’s borders.

US-based group Tamils Against Genocide stated that “Universal jurisdiction is a hard hurdle to cross, and progress of the above cases underscores that Argentinian laws support universal jurisdiction for egregious crimes.”

The three Spanish Civil War cases that have been filed in Argentina’s courts are the murders of Spanish citizens Severino Rivas, Elias Garcia Holgado, and Luis Garcia Holgado, and Argentine Vicente Garcia Holgado.  The cases could be expanded to include other murders and disappearances that Franco’s military committed between July 17, 1936 and June 15, 1977.  These dates represent the day before Franco’s revolution began against Spain’s government, and when Spain held its first elections after Franco’s death.

One lawyer working on these cases, Maximo Castex, told the Associated Press that because genocide and other human rights violations have been alleged, more cases involving Argentines whose relatives had been killed in Spain can be tacked on to the litigation.

For more information, please see:

Barcelona Reporter-War crimes Spain Argentine judge invokes universal justice to probe Spain’s Franco-era crimes-30 October 2010

TamilNet-Argentina: a possible forum to prosecute war criminals-29 October 2010

Casey Weekly Cranbourne-Judge may shed light on crimes of Franco-28 October 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – According to a report published by Transparency International, a global anti-corruption civil society organization, Venezuela is the most corrupt country in the Western Hemisphere, edging out Haiti for the top spot.

Transparency International publishes an annual Corruption Perceptions Index which measures the “unfairness of the public sector” of countries around the world.

In terms of the complete list, Venezuela was the 164^th most corrupt country out of the 178 nations that were included.  The annual ranking measures the perceptions of public-sector corruption by aggregating 13 independent surveys.

The news for Venezuela comes on the heels of President Hugo Chavez’s most recent efforts to make Venezuela a completely Socialist country.  Recently, President Chavez announced that the government was taking over the local subsidiary of Owens-Illinois, a U.S.-based glass container manufacturer.  In recent history, Venezuela has nationalized key industries within the country, including the steel and oil industries.

Chavez’s rule as President has been marred with accusations of corrupt government action and human rights abuses.  In a recent election, the Chavez regime is accused of silencing independent media, intimidating voters, arresting dissidents, and gerrymandering electoral districts in order to stave off legitimate competition from other parties.

Under Chavez’s watch, crime and inflation have skyrocketed.  According to news reports, many Venezuelan citizens cannot gain access to the basic necessities that they need, such as food, unless they shop at a government-controlled market.  The country has also been stricken by water and electricity shortages, which have affected even the capital city.

The next Presidential election is set to be held in 2012 and many political analysts think that Venezuelan citizens are growing increasingly disenfranchised with the current political regime.  Although ousting Chavez will not be an easy task because he has essentially gained control of Venezuelan commerce and media, analysts think that it could be likely for other political factions to unite against the embattled leader.

For more information, please see:

Miami Herald – Hemisphere Loser: Venezuela – 27 October 2010

El Universal – Venezuela is Considered One of the World’s Most Corrupt Countries – 26 October 2010

New America – Corrupt Venezuela Election Still a Blow to Regime – 3 October 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia—Despite recent victories over the country’s most powerful rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia remains a nation plagued by violence and human rights abuses.

Last month, Colombians rejoiced after learning that armed forces killed a high-ranking FARC commander, “Mono Jojoy.”  President Juan Manuel Santos, who took office on August 7 of this year, announced, “This is the beginning of the end for the FARC.”

But military wins have come at a high cost in Colombia.  Colombian armed forces have become increasingly infamous for frequent, and often unreported, human rights abuses with impunity.  Concerned human rights organizations have discovered evidence of torture, rape, looting, displacements and restricted freedom of movement against innocent civilians.  About 2,300 extrajudicial executions have also been uncovered.

Many believe that the government’s tunnel-vision focus on the FARC has allowed military abuses to go unchecked, while allowing other, smaller rebel paramilitary groups to run rampant.  It is even thought that many Colombian troops work with illegal groups to engage in drug trafficking and human rights violations.

A Colombian soldier has recently been accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl on October 2 of this year near a site where three children were murdered this month.  The soldier had disappeared from his military camp when both the sexual abuse and murders had taken place; he also fits the description of the offender given by the abused girl.  Incidents such as these remain alarmingly commonplace.

Colombia has admitted for the first time that 50,000 of its citizens have been “forcibly disappeared.”  The Colombian Commission of Jurists reported that the vast majority of those who vanished were activists who were kidnapped and killed by government soldiers or right-wing paramilitaries.

On Thursday, human rights groups issued a report announcing that over 22 activists were killed in the first 75 days of President Santos’ presidency.  The report, a 21-page document, explores the details behind several activists’ deaths, including indigenous leaders, a human rights worker, trade unionists, and community educators.  These murders only represent “registered cases,” and many other similar cases are believed to exist.

Maria Paulina Riveros, the director of human rights in the Ministry of Interior and Justice, vowed to investigate the murders “immediately,” and said, “Obviously we recognize that there continue to be very serious threats against human rights defenders; we say that progress is about to open the way to relevant consultation.”

For more information, please see:

Tribune Magazine-Finally, Colombia admits that 50,000 have ‘disappeared’-29 October 2010

Colombia Reports-Army faces further child abuse accusations-29 October 2010

Colombia Reports-22 activists killed in Santos’ first 75 days-29 October 2010

Miami Herald-A fleeting chance to end the war-29 October 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

 GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Thousands of workers in the sugar industry recently carried out a strike on the Guyana Sugar Corporation, the largest sugar producing company in the country.  The workers are protesting unfair wages and calling for a 15 percent pay increase.

With hopes of producing 264,000 tons of sugar by the end of the crop, the state run Guyana Sugar Corporation said that the one-day strike would not result in an actual loss of production but would reduce the number of available production days of dry-weather to plough the fields. 

Although the Guyana Sugar Corporation seems unwilling to accommodate the demands for the pay increase demanded by the workers, Paul Bhim, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, stated that “[t]he crop is still in an early stage because we are so far behind and as we go towards completing the crop, we’ll have more of an idea of what we could actually offer the workers in terms of a wage increase.”

In a statement released to the public, the Guyana Agricultural and General workers Union said it will not apologize for calling for the strike even though the sugar company is underperforming.

It is traditional for the sugar corporation to indicate whether there will be pay raises every year during the month of October.  However, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union claims that the strike is in response to the sugar company’s silence on the issue.

The Guyana Sugar Corporation claims that it has been holding talks with the union regarding the pay issue and the need for the workers to improve their attendance, which averages 57 percent attendance for working days.

Guyana is the Caribbean’s leading sugar producer and one of a handful of countries in the region that continues to export sugar to the United States and Europe.

In an interview with demerarawaves.com, Bihm indicated that the striking workers would lose one day’s pay for their actions.

For more information, please see:

Caricom News Network – Sugar Workers on Strike for Higher Wages – 19 October 2010

Caribbean News Now – Thousands of Sugar Workers Strike in Guyana – 19 October 2010

Bloomberg Businessweek – Guyana Sugar Workers Launch 1-day Strike – 18 October 2010

Nation News – Guyana Sugar Workers on Strike – 18 October 2010