By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

PUERTO ASIS, Colombia—A small Colombian town has been gripped by panic after three teens who were named on online hit lists were murdered.  Many local families have reacted by moving out of the area or sending their children away to safety.

Three hit lists, containing 90 names, were posted on the social networking website Facebook.  Those named were youths, threatened with death if they did not leave the town Puerto Asis.  According to a local official, some of the names on the lists were nicknames only known and used within the youths’ group of friends.

The message on Facebook read in part:  “Please, as a family, urge them to leave town in less than three days, otherwise we will be obligated to realize acts such as those of August 15.”

On August 15, Diego Jaramillo, 16, and Eibart Ruiz, 17, were shot and killed while riding a motorcycle between Puerto Asis and Puerto Caicedo; soon afterward, the first hit list was posted online containing their names.

Five days later, Norbey Alexander Vargas, 19, was murdered in Puerto Asis after his name was included in one of the ominous lists.

Although officials at first believed the lists to be a prank, they have now launched an investigation aided by Internet experts.  The Facebook page has been blocked.

Puerto Asis is a small town of 70,000 people, located in the remote jungles of southern Colombia near Ecuador.  The names on the Facebook hit lists indicated that most if not all of the youths mentioned were from Puerto Asis.

Colombia is a country at war with various militant anti-government groups and violent gangs.  The infamous FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) group and a dangerous gang called Los Rastrojos have ties in the area.

Internet hit lists are new to Colombia, but similar threats have been signed and publicly displayed by right-wing paramilitaries, naming alleged “drug addicts and prostitutes.”  In 2005, the paramilitaries were demobilized and splintered off into numerous criminal gangs.

It is believed that criminal gangs in Colombia consist of 4,000 to 9,000 members and operate in 24 of the country’s 32 states.

The Colombian ombudsman Volmar Ortiz issued an alert, indicating that the Los Rastrojos gang may be responsible for the recent murders and hit list intimidation.  Ortiz’s warning said the gang “executes violent acts, spawning community conflicts, imposing their will, intimidating and dispensing punishment against those culturally and socially stigmatized.”

For more information, please see:

LA Times-COLOMBIA: Deaths of 3 teens feed fear over Facebook threats-26 August 2010

Time-Colombia’s Facebook Hit List: Drug Gangs 2.0-26 August 2010

ABC News-Facebook Death List: 3 Colombian Teens Killed-25 August 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America 

 CARACAS, Venezuela – What has been viewed as an ongoing joke has officially become a grave reality.  It is almost unfathomable to think about, but there are places on earth more dangerous than an active war zone.  While the world is focused on the US war in Iraq because of the never-ending news cycles recounting the number of fatalities in any given given day, little attention is paid to a country that experiences even greater violence, Venezuela.

Venezuela has roughly the same population as Iraq, but experienced nearly four times the number of murders in 2009.  According to 2009 statistics, there were 4,644 civilian casualties in Iraq.  Although violence in Venezuela does not receive the amount of media coverage as Iraq receives, Venezuela’s more than 16,000 murders in 2009 dwarfs Iraqi casualties.

These alarming numbers are not a new phenomenon in a country that has experienced a surge in violence since President Hugo Chavez took office in 1999.  According to the Venezuelan Violence Observatory, it is estimated that there have been 118,541 homicides in Venezuela in the past decade.  The Venezuelan government has stopped releasing homicide statistics, but has not disputed the figures presented by VVO.

Wealthier Venezuelan citizens have resorted to hiding their homes behind walls and hiring foreign security personnel to advise them on how to avoid kidnappings and killings.  Unfortunately, every Venezuelan cannot afford such precautions and protection.

While the government has all but ignored the high crime rate, a recent photograph printed in El Nacional, a Venezuelan newspaper, depicting a dozen homicide victims strewn about the city’s largest morgue, has brought the issue to the forefront of Venezuela’s social conscience.  Although the photograph was exceptionally graphic, the most startling news may be that the bodies in the photograph were accumulated after only a two-day stretch.

While the photograph was a stark reminder to those living in the midst of this violence on a daily basis, the Venezuelan government attempted to quietly sweep it under the rug.  Almost immediately, a court ordered the paper to cease publishing the gory photograph and all others like it.  The prohibition has done little to quiet a public outcry that is concerned with why the government sits back in quiet acquiescence and lets the violence continue.

Teodoro Petkoff, the editor of another Venezuelan newspaper, sarcastically stated, “Forget the hundreds of children who die from stray bullets, or the kids who go through the horror of seeing their parents or older siblings killed before their eyes,” in response to the court’s order.

Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas has a murder rate of 200 victims for every 100,000 inhabitants, making it one of the deadliest cities in the Americas.  Other heavily populated South American capital cities, including Bogotá, Colombia and São Paulo, Brazil, have significantly lower murder rates at 22.7 victims per 100,000 inhabitants and 14 victims per 100,000 inhabitants respectively.

Scholars are confounded by the dramatic increase in violence over the last decade.  Some scholars attribute the violence to Venezuela’s shrinking economy.  As the income gap between the rich and the poor broadens, feelings of resentment increase.  In addition to the disenfranchised feelings, Venezuela is littered with illegal firearms.

Along with the income gap widening, Venezuela has the highest inflation rate in the hemisphere.  The inflation rate, coupled with low law enforcement salaries, has caused some law enforcement officials to turn to supplementing their incomes with criminal activity.

Other experts attribute the rise in violence to President Chavez himself.  Throughout the Chavez regime, the judicial system has become increasingly politicized and aligns itself with President Chavez’ political ideals.

To add insult to injury, more than 90 percent of Venezuelan murders go unsolved.  While some of the country’s most brutal killings remain open, the courts seem to tirelessly pursue individuals who are critical of President Chavez.

Bernardo Álvarez Herrera, the Venezuelan Ambassador to the United States, wrote an open letter to the New York Times claiming that the Venezuelan government is undertaking initiatives, including creating a national security force and funding a training program for law enforcement officials, to end some of the violence.  Herrera claims that stories highlighting the high murder rates understate the Venezuelan government’s efforts to solve the violence problem.  Human rights advocates are not impressed and say that the measures are too timid.

For more information, please see:

Island Crisis – Venezuelan Ambassador to U.S. Writes Open Letter to New York Times – 24 August 2010

New American – Murder Out of Control in Venezuela – 24 August 2010

New York Times – Venezuela, More Deadly than Iraq, Wonders Why – 22 August 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela—Two officers were shot and killed on a Venezuelan military base after a soldier opened fire with an assault rifle.  Six other soldiers were injured in the following shootout .

The gunfire erupted early Saturday on the Fort Tiuna military base, located in the capital city of Caracas.  The base is the largest in the country and houses the headquarters of the Defense Ministry.  The gunman fled from the base after firing a Russian AK-103 assault rifle.

The alleged shooter has been identified as Jeffersson Jose Trujillo Vasquez.  The attorney general’s office reports that the soldier began shooting after arguing with one of his superiors during the changing of the guard.  That officer, Captain Miguel Angel Rosales, who was 33 years old, was shot in the head and died.

After killing Rosales, Vasquez allegedly entered an arms depot and shot Lt. Alfredo Ruiz.  Ruiz, who was 25, was fatally injured by the attack.

The gunfight that followed between Vasquez and others at the base resulted in six wounded soldiers: three women and three men of various ranks.

Although the suspect’s abandoned car has been found in a slum, police and troops have yet to capture him.

Military officials have yet to publicly react to the incident.

Fort Tiuna was recently the scene of a separate shooting.  Last week, a Hong Kong athlete at the women’s baseball World Cup was struck and wounded by an apparent stray bullet.  Her team pulled out of the Cup.  Though it is still unclear whether that bullet originated from the military base, the tournament was moved from Fort Tiuna to Maracay, west of Caracas.

Although Caracas has a reputation for being one of the most dangerous cities in Latin America, Fort Tiuna has been considered relatively safe.  This reputation has been reinforced by the fact that President Hugo Chavez often visits the officers’ mess at night.  The vice-president owns a residence on the military compound, and foreign delegations are frequently hosted there.

For more information, please see:

AP-2 shot dead at Venezuela military base; 6 wounded-21 August 2010

AFP-Soldier kills two officers, wounds six at Venezuelan base-21 August 2010

BBC-Venezuelan soldier kills two officers ‘after dispute’-21 August 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Brazilian comedians are prohibited from publicly making fun of candidates ahead of the upcoming presidential election.  The law, which could last until the runoff election at the end of October, has been dubbed the “anti-joke law.”  Specifically, the law forbids television and radio programs from “using trickery, montages or other features of audio or video in any way to degrade or ridicule a candidate, party or coalition.”

Brazilian internet services are not licensed by the government and therefore the ban does not cover internet material, but the material could still be judged by the Brazilian courts.

The law was a product of Brazil’s 1964-1985 dictatorship and specifically prohibits satire about political candidates in the three months preceding and election.  Violating the law is punishable by a fine of up to $112,000 and a broadcast license suspension.

Brazilian performers are not taking the ban lying down and plan to fight the prohibition.  There is public outcry that the law violates freedom of speech and several groups have planned protests in Rio de Janeiro, and other cities, on Sunday.  The groups claim that the ban on speech is a stain on the democratic country’s international reputation.

Marcelo Tas, a comedian-turned-reporter and the host of a weekly television comedy show that targets politicians, asked “[d]o you know of any other democracy in the world with rules like this?”  Tas also stated that people would have to look at classic comedian Monty Python’s material to find a bigger joke than the “anti-joke law.”

Proponents of the law claim that the law’s true purpose is to ensure that all candidates are portrayed in an even light so as not to skew voting.  According to backers, the ban on satire encourages candor because candidates will not fear widespread political jokes.

Tas, on the other hand, uses President Obama’s popularity leading up to the 2008 presidential election as a prime example of the benefit of satirical programming.  According to Tas, candidates, including Barack Obama, benefit from showing a more humane and personal side of themselves that generally shines through when one is confronted with a critical opinion.

On Deadline – Satirists (seriously) protest Brazil’s Political Anti-joking Law Ahead of Election – 17 August 2010

Press Association – Satire banned from Brazil election – 17 August 2010

Telegraph – Satire banned in Brazil ahead of presidential election – 17 August 2010