By: Fernando Oliveira
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

NEW YORK, United States – On October 15, 2017, relying on the United Nation Resolution 2,350/2017, the MINUSTAH (French acronym for United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) left the Caribbean island, being replaced by the Mission for Justice Support (MINUJUSTH), now integrated by 295 police officers, meant to assist and strengthen local police forces.

The mission, led by the Brazilian army with the assistance of other 16 nations, commenced  in April 2004, two months after the then Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted for the second time by local revolutionaries.  Indeed, soon after Aristides’ deposition, various armed gangs took the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, mainly the neighborhood named Cité Soleil, and started to firefight among themselves in a dispute to take the country’s power. The situation, thus, became completely out of control.

As such, the most relevant goal of the U.N. peacekeepers was to quell those armed gangs, in order to stabilize the country again. After many years combating them, the MINUSTAH accomplished the mission and restored the peace in Haiti.

However, during that long period, the MINUSTAH faced some serious troubles such as militaries being charged of sexual abuse against Haitian teenagers, and unnecessary force used against civilians. Furthermore, diseases and natural catastrophes turned things more complicated. In fact, in 2010, a deadly earthquake destroyed almost the entire country; later on, in that same year, U.N. militaries from Nepal were blamed on a cholera outbreak, which killed over 9,000 Haitians. Beyond that, in 2016, Haiti was taken by the hurricane Matthew. All those disasters contributed to postpone the end of the operation.

Nonetheless, the mission is considered a success by the U.N. According to Sandra Honoré, U.N. special representative and head of MINUSTAH:

“These are all indications that the people of Haiti are ready to move forward.”

Now, MINUSTAH troops have been replaced by MINUJUSTH, which will operate in Haiti for about two years. As the local police gets ready to operate by itself, the U.N. police force will gradually withdraw, eventually putting an end to its intervention.

For more information, please see:

New York Times – U.N. Votes Unanimously to End Peacekeeping Mission in Haiti – 13 April 2017

Telesur – UN Military Force Led by Brazil Will Leave Haiti in October – 22 April 2017

Newsweek – After 13 Years and Several Scandals, U.N. Votes To End Mission In Haiti – 13 April 2017

BBC News – Brazil plans Haiti peacekeeping withdrawal, says Amorim– 6 September 2011

EBC Agencia Brasil – Brazil prepares for final withdrawal of Haiti mission – 22 July 2017

Los Angeles Times – U.N. peacekeepers are leaving after more than two decades, but where does that leave Haiti? – 17 April 2017

BOGOTA, Colombia – Human Rights Watch is criticizing Colombia’s 2017 list of candidates for army promotions. The list contains candidates who are under criminal investigation for strong evidence that links them to extrajudicial killings.

In total, ten military personnel are being promoted in the Colombian military who have been credibly linked to the “false positive” killings. Evidence implicates five military officials, four colonels, and one general, who have been nominated. They are part of a group of 33 nominees. At this point, the group just need to be approved by the Senate which is only a formality.

America’s director at Human Rights Watch, Jose Miguel Vivanco, said, “the Colombian Senate should disqualify any officers credibly implicated in serious abuses, unless and until those allegations are fully and properly investigated.”

This “false positives” scandal occurred between 2002 and 2008, and resulted in the killings of over 3,000 innocent civilians. Colombian soldiers lured poor, jobless, and sometimes mentally impaired men to rural regions with promises of work. Once there, the men were executed and dressed in military fatigues to make them look like Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels. The soldiers were rewarded for “accomplishing their mission” with promotions and budget raises. This raised the army’s statistics and exaggerated its body count.

Human Rights Watch research showed the patterns of these killings were systematic and occurred under implausible circumstances, strongly suggesting that the commanders of units knew or had reason to know the truth. These nominated commanders are being investigated in Colombia and internationally for ordering crimes. If they knew or had reason to know their subordinates were committing these crimes, they had responsibilities under international law to prevent or punish those acts.

A resolution from November 2015 was designed to guarantee transparency of military promotions and requires the Defense Ministry to publish a “summary of the resumes of candidates” online. However, this entire round of army promotions is only showing limited transparency. Their resumes lack dates for their service in military units which makes it extremely difficult to assess whether they were involved in the abuses. The resumes provide greater detail on irrelevant information such as the date of their marriages and their children’s birthdays.

“Naturally, each of these five officers enjoys the presumption of innocence,” said Vivanco. “But promoting them while they are still under investigation would signal that Colombian authorities are not serious about ensuring justice for false positives.”

The officers are Brig. Gen. Francisco Javier Cruz Ricci, Cols. Miguel Eduardo David Bastidas, Mauricio José Zabala Cardona, Óscar Reinaldo Rey Linares, and Raúl Hernando Florez Cuervo.

For more information, please see:

InSerbia – Colombia: Military Figures in “False Positives” To Be Promoted – 18 November 2017

The Bogota Post – Human Rights Watch criticises Colombia’s promotion of officers linked to killings – 15 November 2017

Human Rights Watch – Colombia: Don’t Promote Officers Linked to Killings – 14 November 2017

Toronto Star – Rights group urges Colombia to scrub promotions for 5 officers allegedly linked to killings – 14 November 2017

By: Fernando Oliveira
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – On October 23, 2017, at about 9:30pm, Maria Esperanza Jimenez, a 67 years old Spanish tourist who was doing a guided tour into a favela named Rocinha, in the Southern Zone of Rio de Janeiro city, was shot down by a police officer.

The victim was in a Fiat Freemont along with four other passengers – her brother, her sister in law, a Brazilian guide, Rosângela Cunha, and an Italian driver rooted in Brazil, Carlos Zanineta, when they failed to stop on a police blockade at a slum area called Largo do Boiadero.

According to the preliminary investigations, Lieutenant Davi dos Santos Ribeiro fired his rifle against the car soon after it failed to stop at the road blockade. To Valéria Aragão, the Chief Investigator of the case, Ribeiro said he opened fire because he thought they were trying to escape from the blockade, only realizing that it was a tourist car when he and the other police officers approached the vehicle.

Driver of the car, Carlos Zanieta, said he did not see neither the blockade nor any stop sign. A voice record that is circulating through WhatsApp says that police were sheltering from the rain when they ordered the vehicle to stop, and that the police officers did not enter into the roadway. Accordingly, that would have been the reason the driver did not stop the car.

The fatal shot reached Jimenez’s neck. She was taken to Miguel Couto hospital by police; however, she was already dead upon arrival.

For further information, please see:

Reuters – Spanish tourist shot, killed by police in Rio de Janeiro slum – 23 October 2017

New York Times – Brazilian Police Kill a Spanish Tourist in Rio de Janeiro – 05 October 2017

The Guardian – Brazil police shoot dead Spanish tourist in Rio de Janeiro favela – 23 October 2017

Folha de São Paulo – Spanish Tourist Is Shot and Killed by Rio Police in Rocinha Slum – 23 October 2017

By: Emily Green
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRUSSELS, Belgium — The European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Venezuela’s democratic opposition and political prisoners on Thursday. This is Europe’s most prestigious human rights award.

Antonion Tajani, the Parliament’s president, made the announcement before a plenary session in Strasbourg, France. The prize was given as a reward to Venezuelan students and politicians for their courage to fight a repressive government and demand freedom. Guy Verhofstadt of the ALDE liberal group remarks that “this award supports the fight of democratic forces for a democratic Venezuela,” and invites the international community to join their fight.

Venezuela has suffered politically and economically for several years. As a result of dropped energy prices, the oil-producing nation took a severe economic hit. Poverty is widespread and thousands have left the country as refugees. Accordingly, President Maduro’s oppressive government has drawn much of the blame. It consolidated power by cracking down on the opposition and hundreds of leaders and supporters have felt the wrath of Maduro’s government. Many have been arbitrarily arrested and dozens have been killed in this past year. Officials report that more than 120 people were killed when anti-government street demonstrations turned violent.

As a result of Maduro’s government, Venezuela’s democracy is in danger. There is currently a standoff between the National Assembly, Venezuela’s only democratically elected Parliament, and the constituent assembly, made up exclusively of government supporters.  President Maduro has tried to close the National Assembly to limit the opposition’s power and influence. His goal is to create a superseding, all-powerful constitutional assembly that will be under his party’s control. The opposition’s effort to defend Venezuela’s democracy is the primary reason for their reward.

Mr. Tajani remarked, “we have decided to award the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to the democratic opposition, recalling our total support for the National Assembly of Venezuela – a democratically-elected parliament – the only parliament democratically elected.”

The “democratic opposition in Venezuela” receives the award as the official laureate. This group is represented by the country’s National Assembly and its president, Julio Borges, as well as political prisoners. The list of political prisoners is maintained by a human rights organization, Foro Penal. Mr. Borges will be invited to receive the prize on behalf of the opposition. The award comes with 50,000 euros (about $59,000) at a ceremony in Strasbourg this year.

The opposition follows last year’s winners, Nadia Murad and Lamiya Ajo Bashar, young Yazidi women who escaped captivity and sexual slavery under the Islamic State. The other finalists for this year included an activist in Guatemala who fights for the rights of indigenous peoples and a Swedish-Eritrean journalist who has been arbitrarily detained by Eritrean authorities since 2001.

The prize has been awarded every year since 1988 and is named after Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet physicist and political dissident.

For more information, please see:

Independent – Venezuela’s opposition awarded Sakharov Prize for championing human rights – 26 October 2017

NY Times – Venezuelan Opposition Receives E.U.’s Sakharov Freedom Price – 26 October 2017

BBC – Venezuela opposition wins EU’s top human rights prize – 26 October 2017

Washington Post – Opposition, prisoners of Venezuela with EU human rights prize – 26 October 2017

Euronews – Venezuela’s democratic opposition given EU’s human rights award – 26 October 2017

By: Emily Green
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Columbia – Peace talks in Colombia have become more complicated as the largest remaining rebel group, the ELN, violates a month-old cease-fire. The group has admitted its role in the death of indigenous leader Aulio Isarama Forastero.

The ELN, or National Liberation Army, and the Colombian government began their first ever cease-fire after more than 50 years of war. This agreement has been violated less than a month since it began on October 1^st. On Monday, President Juan Manuel Santos’ government condemned the killing of the indigenous leader and demanded information to bring the guilty parties to justice. The government also called on the ELN to take concrete steps to ensure that a violation like this is not repeated.

The ELN’s western front released a statement on Sunday explaining Mr. Isarama’s death. It claims that the group detained him for allegedly being an informant for military intelligence. While being escorted to interrogation, the rebels say he physically assaulted one of the guerrilla fighters. The fighter responded in self-defense which led to a “tragic outcome.” The group claims the killing had not been ordered and there was no authorization given for the use of deadly force.

The statement also said, “we’re committed to carry out an internal reflection at all levels so that these incidents don’t happen again.”

Mr. Isarama was a member of the Embera people. His death occurred on the reservation in the western state of Choco, where he was governor. Human rights groups report him to be the 11^th indigenous leader slain in Colombia this year.

Indigenous groups from northern Choco province have blamed the ELN from the beginning. They say that Mr. Isarama was led away by five armed men in ELN uniforms and shots were heard two hours later. They also allege that the rebel group has continued to lay mines and threaten their communities.

The chief government negotiator for the peace talks, Juan Camilo Restrepo, calls the killing “deplorable.” However, the government has indicated that it will continue its talks. Peace Commissioner Rodrigo Rivera says that protocol does not allow either side to walk away from the negotiating table because of one single incident. Still, a committee of observers including the UN will investigate the death of Isarama and make recommendations to prevent further incidents.

Peace negotiations with the ELN occurred after years of exploratory talks. Progress has been slow and there is doubt as to whether the group has full control of its 1,500 troops. Many of these rebels have been involved in kidnapping, drug trafficking, and destruction of oil pipelines. Not all of them left this life behind after their top leaders agreed to a cease-fire.

Colombia’s Indigenous communities have mobilized in a “Minga of Resistence” and demand that the government adhere to the terms of the country’s peace agreement. Indigenous organizations are marching in cities in at least 16 states. They demand observance of the peace agreement and the acceleration of murder investigations into at least 30 community leaders.

The demonstrators’ call to action says, “we will sing songs, slogans, we will dance as it shows that in our communities there is no fear and that the love for life, today unites us in the struggle and resistance.”

For more information, please see:

Washington Post – Colombia peace talks rattled by indigenous leader’s death – 30 October 2017

Colombia Reports – Colombia’s peace process ‘even more complex, more difficult and longer’ than talks – 30 October 2017

BBC – Colombia’s ELN rebels admit killing indigenous leader – 30 October 2017

Telesur – Colombia’s Indigenous March to Demand Government Comply with Peace Accord – 30 October 2017

Voice of America – Colombia’s ELN Rebels Admit Killing Indigenous Leader Amid Ceasefire – 30 October 2017