By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Francisco Gomes de Medeiros, a Brazilian crime journalist, was gunned down in front of his home in northeastern Brazil.  The murder occurred last Monday and the police have since apprehended a man they believe to be responsible for the shooting.  Officials report that Gomes died instantly from five gunshot wounds.

Gomes, who routinely received death threats as a result of his criminal reporting,  recently claimed that political candidates were trading drugs for votes in Rio Grande do Norte.  Gomes declined to give specific political candidates’ names, and said that the cocaine-for-votes scheme was the work of people running for seats in the state legislature.

Only days after the arrest, police arrested João Francisco dos Santos, claiming that Santos committed the murder.  According to the police officials, Santos held a grudge against Gomes because Santos felt that Gomes’ coverage of a robbery that Santos had committed in 2007 convinced the judge to sentence him to eighteen months in jail instead of the seven months that Santos expected.

Although Santos has admitted to the shooting, police are not ruling out that the murder is connected to Gomes’ reports about the political drug trading scandal.

Emanuel Soares Carneiro, president of the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Stations said in a statement, “[Gomes] is one more victim of the violence committed against journalists that seek to tell the truth to society.”

Gomes’ murder is just one of many in an ongoing battle between the media and Brazilian criminals who wish to silence the truth.  One day before Gomes was killed, three men broke into the home of the owner of a small newspaper in Sao Paulo state and shot and killed him.  Police were unable to identify any suspects in the shooting.

According to media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists, 20 Brazilian journalists, most of whom exposed cases of corruption, have been murdered between 1994 and 2009.  Sidney Silva, who worked with Gomes at Radio Caico, believes that the murder is directly linked to Gomes’ journalistic work.  Silva described Gomes as “an excellent person and professional who will be missed.”

For more information, please see:

Radio-Info.com – A Radio Crime Reporter is Gunned Down in Brazil – 22 October 2010

Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas – Journalist’s Confessed Killer Arrested in NE Brazil – 21 October 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune – Journalist Slain in Brazil – 20 October 2010

The Washington Post – Crime Reporter Murdered on Northeastern Brazil – 20 October 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Protests erupted nationwide in Argentina after the killing of a young activist.  Mariano Ferreyra, 23, was shot Wednesday while demonstrating with railway workers who demanded better pay and benefits.  At least two others were injured by gunfire, including a 57-year-old woman who is now suffering from a serious head wound.  The gunman is still unidentified.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has denied any government involvement in Ferreyra’s murder.  “Violence must be condemned by everybody,” she said at a rally at the Government House.  “We are all responsible.  I don’t want to live in an Argentina where people leave their houses armed with sticks and weapons.  I’m going to defend every demonstration, but not with sticks or guns.”

The President went on to criticize people who “believe that by repressing they show authority,” saying at another rally:  “Some were looking for a new death in Argentina; as they couldn’t achieve it in democracy, these kinds of violent groups appear.”

Opposition groups have denounced the government, accusing it of covering up the “union bureaucracy” they see as being responsible for Ferreyra’s death.

“Murder cannot be the response to a demand from workers,” Hugo Yasky, a union leader, said Thursday.

Although some members of the police force were present at the railway demonstration where Ferreyra died, no officers are currently under investigation.

On Thursday, widespread protests swept across the country as a backlash to Ferreyra’s death.  Protesters blocked roads and interrupted public transportation after a labor federation called a general strike.

Two airline companies in Argentina—LAN and Aerolineas Argentinas– are also protesting Ferreyra’s death.  Unionists from both airlines said they will stop operations from 12:00-2:00pm (for LAN) and 2:00-3:00pm (for Aerolineas Argentinas).  The protests are expected to increase flight delays.

For more information, please see:

Buenos Aires Herald-‘I don’t want to live in an Argentina where people leave their houses with sticks and guns,’ CFK-21October 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune-Union Member’s Killing Spurs General Strike in Argentina-21 October 2010

Momento24-Airline companies protesting because of the death of Mariano Ferreyra-21 October 2010

Monsters and Critics-Protests in Argentina after activist was killed-21 October 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America  

TIERRA AMARILLA, Chile – With the world’s attention focused directly on the 33 rescued Chilean miners over the last couple of weeks, Chilean President Sebastian Piñera has vowed to strengthen health and safety standards for miners in the future. 

Although miraculous, the rescue, and scrutiny that came along with it, has proven devastating to many mine workers.  New, strengthened regulations will undoubtedly cause mines to shut down for periods of time, and for some, permanently, putting many Chileans out of work in one of the country’s largest industries.

Northern Chilean mines are home to a vast amount of valuable copper, spurring investment to uncover the untapped resources.  Mining accounts for 40 percent of the state’s revenue and employs 170,000 people, about 10,000 of them just in the smaller mines in northern Chile.

The government crackdown on mining has closed dozens of mines or restricted operations until tunnels can be made safe, escape shafts can be dug and ventilation can be improved.  Piñera said he would triple the budget of mine safety agency Sernageomin, whose top regulators he fired after the collapse in San Jose but which had only three inspectors to oversee hundreds of mines in northern Chile.

Fernando Rivadeneira, a 45-year veteran miner, whose father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were also miners, stated “[t]his is all paralyzed now,” pointing to the small mine he owns and where he works.

Like the rest of the general public, the miners recognize the need and importance of a safer work environment in the mines.  However, they face unemployment as the only alternative because up to this point, the government has not offered any aid to those who will be forced out of work.

An inspection in September determined that Rivadeneira needed to reinforce tunnels in the mine that he operates, which means lining them with wooden timbers and industrial netting to capture falling rocks.  Rivadeneira, who is being forced out of a job himself, has also lost several workers on his crew due to the closing.

Rivadeneira said, “They are right about it, [b]ut I cannot just go work at something else. I am 62 and no one is going to give me a job.”  Nobody will argue that improved safety is a negative thing for the mining industry.  However, there are unintended consequences that cannot be ignored.

Although Chile has some of the toughest regulations in the region leading to a drop in mining accidents and fatalities, 31 miners have died this year, and government regulators admit that only a fraction of mining operations are ever inspected.

For more information, please see:

Washington Post – Government crackdown after mine collapse leaves other Chilean miners feeling left out in the cold – 16 October 2010

Bloomberg – Pinera Vows to Improve Chile Mine Safety After Rescue – 14 October 2010

CBC News – Chilean mine safety under scrutiny – 14 October 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LA PAZ, Bolivia—Protests have continued against a controversial new law in Bolivia.  Members of the press and others fear that the “Law Against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination” will hamper their freedom of expression; supporters of the law herald it as a step toward equality.

The two disputed articles of the new legislation—Articles 16 and 23—make it illegal for journalists to publish or broadcast anything that could be construed as discriminatory.  The law also holds members of the press responsible for statements uttered by third parties.

Opponents of the law say they are concerned that the government will use the regulation’s language to eliminate voices of opposition.

During a protest in Santa Cruz last week, demonstrators wearing muzzles held signs reflecting sentiments such as, “democracy is dead,” “don’t muzzle our children’s future,” and “life is nothing if liberty is lost.”  A journalist tied a microphone to a noose and labeled it, “The PRESS-R.I.P.”  Many have dubbed the law “la ley mordaza,” which means “the muzzle law.”

The law’s proponents see things differently.  “The bill protects and guarantees equal treatment for all people,” Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera said.  “We have to combat a culture of racism. . . .  Do not forget that until four years ago the indigenous were discriminated against and abused, handicapped in their social and economic presence with racist epithets and attacks.”

An article by Workers World commended the law as a “triumph for the working class and oppressed,” and “for Bolivia’s majority Indigenous population and for the Afro-Bolivian community as well, both of which have suffered 500 years of oppression.”

There doesn’t seem to be an immediate end to the controversy.  Journalists are presently trying to collect a million signatures to overturn Article 16 and modify Article 23.

The Bolivian Bishops’ Conference released a statement which reaffirmed the “commitment to any initiative that leads to the removal of racism and discrimination,” but expressed worry over the “imminent risk associated with the recent approval and promulgation of that law, in regards to the exercise of the principles and fundamental rights of individuals and institutions.”

For more information, please see:

Committee to Protect Journalists-In Bolivia, anti-discrimination law raises concerns-18 October 2010

Workers World-New Bolivian law guarantees equality-15 October 2010

Andean Information Network-Conflict and Consensus:  The Anti-Racism and Discrimination Law in Bolivia; Part I:Content and Justification of the Legislation-15 October 2010

Fides-America/Bolivia:  Church promotes dialogue between journalists and government on anti-racism law-14 October 2010

CNN-Protests Continue in Bolivia Over Controversial Racism Law-14 October 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America  

LIMA, Peru – Survival International, an organization supporting tribal peoples worldwide, has warned the United Nations that a massive oil pipeline set to be constructed in Northern Peru will be very harmful to indigenous peoples living in that area. 

In a letter from Survival International to the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, James Anaya, the organization claims that “permitting companies to operate in this region of Peru flagrantly violates international law.” 

 The letter exhorts the Special Rapporteur to initiate an immediate investigation and to urge Peru’s government to prohibit the companies from working in the area.  The human rights NGO believes that if work on the pipeline proceeds, “some of the world’s most vulnerable citizens could be wiped out.”

Independent from the environmental concerns, there are significant fears that outsiders who enter the Indians’ land to work on the pipeline may introduce new diseases into the indigenous peoples’ population that their bodies are not prepared to fight.  Perenco, a Peruvian gas company, has recently admitted to transporting 50,000 tons of material into this region, the equivalent of ‘seven Eiffel towers.

While the pipeline has not yet been approved by the Peruvian government, there are signs that the pipeline will be given the go-ahead.  Survival’s appeal to the UN comes as the Peruvian government attempts to expel a British environmentalist, Paul McAuley, for speaking out against environmental and human rights abuses in northern Peru.

Survival’s director, Stephen Corry, said, “[t]his is as serious as it gets for indigenous people anywhere in the world. Massive oil operations are planned which will destroy the rainforest and could decimate two tribes.”

The other companies interested in petroleum operations in that region are Spain’s Repsol-YPF and U.S.-based ConocoPhillips, which have applied to cut 282 miles of seismic lines in their bid to find oil.

For more information, please see:

Indymedia.org – UN Warned about Oil Pipeline in Peru – 15 October 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune – Group Says Peru Pipeline will Harm Indians – 15 October 2010

Domain-b.com – Survival International Warns US about Oil Pipeline in Peru -14 October 2010

Survival International – Letter to to the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people – 14 October 2010