By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia—Former president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, has been subpoenaed to testify in U.S. federal court against Drummond, an Alabama-based coal company.  It is claimed that Drummond helped right-wing paramilitaries in their activities, including the murders of at least 116 people.  It is believed that Uribe’s testimony will provide details about significant matters relevant to the civil case.

About 500 plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege that Drummond aided the Colombian Army and the United Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC paramilitaries) in their fight against left-wing guerrillas.  The plaintiffs are speaking out on behalf of numerous relatives whom they say were murdered by the AUC during the years 1999 to 2005.  They are demanding compensation from Drummond for the harm done by this violence.

Terry Collingsworth, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said Uribe will be questioned about the connection between his Army at the time and the AUC, including what knowledge Uribe’s government had about Drummond’s operations.

Plaintiffs claim that Uribe “has direct knowledge of a number of key cases, including until what point the armed forces supported the paramilitary protection of mining properties of Drummond.”  Collingsworth added that one of Uribe’s aides was also working for Drummond during the time period of interest.  Uribe “knows the levels of cooperation between the armed forces and the AUC, specifically in regions like Cesar where Drummond was active,” the lawyer explained.

Drummond’s alleged cooperation with paramilitaries is not the only instance of its kind.  Three years ago, Chiquita, a banana company, said they paid $1.7 million to guerilla fighters; in 2001, Coca-Cola was accused of similar connections.

Uribe was president of Colombia from 2002 to 2010.  He is expected to testify in Washington D.C. on November 22 of this year; however, Uribe has not announced whether he will actually show up for the hearing.  The former president is now employed by Georgetown University in Washington D.C. teaching classes.

For more information, please see:

Miami Herald-Colombia’s ex-leader Alvaro Uribe subpoenaed in U.S. federal court-5 November 2010

Inside Costa Rica-Colombian’s Former President Uribe Summoned to Testify on Killings-5 November 2010

Colombia Reports-Uribe ordered to testify in Drummond case-4 November 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – Popular Peruvian blogger Jose Alejandro Godoy has been sentenced to three years in prison and 120 days of community service for “defamation.”  In addition, Godoy was ordered to pay a fine of 350,000 soles, approximately $125,000 U.S. dollars.  This represents the first time in Peruvian history that such an action has been taken against a blogger.

Former Peru Congressman Jorge Mufarech filed charges against Godoy in 2009 for one of the blogger’s posts.  The post, which was titled “Desde el Tercer Piso” (From the Third Floor), illustrated threats that Congressman Mufarech made against Arzibu Gonzalez, an advisor for Peru’s Nationalist Party.

Godoy published links to numerous documents which tended to substantiate the threat allegations.  One such document was a letter sent from Arzibu to Congressman Fredy Otarola, a member of Peru’s Nationalist Party, detailing the threats.  Although Mufarech demanded that the post be taken down, it was not, and the ex-Congressman filed suit.

Other Peruvian journalists have been outspoken against the ruling.  The Lima-based Press and Society Institute called the ruling “unconstitutional” and “without precedent.”  In a statement, Press and Society Institute stated, “[t]he lack of judicial support for the sentence… as well as the excessive sentence, shows a clear attempt, without precedent, against freedom of the press in the history of Peru. [i]t is the first sentence that has been produced in this country against a blogger.

In perhaps the most powerful outcry of support, Susana Villaran, the likely mayor-elect of Peru’s capital city of Lima, called the conviction “an attack on freedom of expression.”

Godoy is not accepting the verdict without a fight.  Stating “[i]t is an unfair, illegal ruling and doesn’t only go against the Constitution but against international human rights agreements,” the blogger has vowed to appeal the final ruling.

For more information, please see:

Guardian.co.uk – Peru Blogger Jailed for Three Years – 2 November 2010

Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas – Peruvian Journalists Condemn Blogger’s Defamation Conviction – 1 November 2010

Peruvian Times – Peru Judge Hits Local Blogger with 3 Year Prison Sentence, First of Kind in Peru – 29 October 2010

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