By Ricky Zamora
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – The arbitrary detention of Venezuelan Judge, Maria Lourdes Afiuni, is a blow to judicial independence and the rule of both Venezuelan and International Law, says the Special Rapporteur on the Independence for Judges and Lawyers, Gabriela Carina Knaul de Albuquerque e Silva.

In December of 2009, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions declared the pre-trial detention of Venezuelan banker, Eligio Cedeño, to be arbitrary. Pursuant to the Working Group’s findings, Judge Afiuni conditionally released him. Minutes after issuing her decision, she was arrested for upholding Venezuelan and International Law.

Chavez’s government is seeking corruption charges against the Judge even though prosecutors explicitly stated that Afiuni had not received any payment or promise of payment. Afiuni remains in pre-trial detention.

The Venezuelan military police have also detained Cedeño’s defense lawyer and have held him under arrest without charges at intelligence headquarters.

“Afiuni’s decision to release Cedeño was expressly authorized in Article 264 of Venezuela’s Code of Criminal Procedure, which requires control judges to review periodically all pretrial preventative measures and grants judges complete discretion to modify pretrial detention for less stringent measures,” reports London-based attorney, Robert Amsterdam.

“Throwing a judge in prison for doing her job and issuing a decision that upholds fundamental rights protected under both Venezuelan and International Law is not something you’d expect in a functioning democracy,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas Director at Human Rights Watch. “Once again the Chavez Government has demonstrated its fundamental disregard for the principle of judicial independence,” he added.

Vivanco noted that Afiuni’s detention, taken together with the dramatic erosion of judicial independence in Venezuela under Chavez, makes it highly likely that she will receive an unfair trial

Human Rights Watch reports that on January 11th, the Inter American Commission on Human Rights ruled that Afiuni was entitled to protective measures and ordered Venezuela to be proactive in protecting Afiuni’s life and physical integrity and to transfer her to a safe place. The Venezuelan Government has yet to comply with the order.

In 2004, President Chavez and his supporters executed a political takeover of the Supreme Court. Since then, the Court has not been able to be a check on Executive power as it has since been comprised of government supporters. The result has been that the Court has failed to uphold fundamental rights of the Venezuelan constitution in cases involving government efforts to limit freedom of expression and association – fundamental rights.

For more information, please see:

HRW – Venezuela: Human Rights Watch Oral Statement Before the Human Rights Council – 03 June 2010

HRW – Venezuela: Stop Attacks on Judicial Independence – 08 April 2010

Robert Amsterdam – Judge Maria Afiuni’s Decision Cited UN Working Group Opinion – 15 December 2009

By Ricky Zamora
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Gulnara Shahinian, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery has called Brazil to strengthen efforts to close legal loopholes which effectively undermine incentives to discontinue the practice of slavery or forced labor in the nation’s rural areas.

During a recent visit to Brazil, Shahinian found that while the country has made efforts to abolish the practice of slavery or forced labor, the laws contain legal loopholes which some violators exploit, effectively allowing them to escapes criminal prosecution.

While civil penalties have been enforced, Shahinian found that “criminal penalties are more difficult to carry out due to jurisdictional conflicts and delays in the judicial system resulting in the lapsing of the statute of limitations.” She also noted that “although forced labor is considered a serious crime, first-time offenders might only face house arrest or community service.” Any incentive to discontinue such practices is effectively void.

During her visit, Shahinian met with many victims of forced labor in both rural and urban areas. In Brazil’s rural areas, forced labor is usually practiced in the cattle ranching and sugar can industries. There, the victims are typically males over the age of 15. In urban areas, on the other hand, forced labor is usually found in the garment industry and the victims include both males and females including many under the age of 15.

Shahinian reports that regardless of whether the forced labor occurs in rural or urban areas, the victims all endure the same working and living conditions and threats. Victims are forced to work long hours, with little or no pay, and are threatened with or subjected to physical, psychological, and sometimes sexual violence.

While in Brazil, the Rapporteur also met and held talks with local Government authorities, international organizations, and private sector and non-governmental organizations. She expressed her concerns over the effects of the legal loopholes and urged for the adoption of schemes that would counteract these loopholes. The largest and most basic concern is that those most vulnerable to forced labor can enjoy basic rights such as the right to food, water, and education.

Shahinian emphasized that “the strongest message that the Brazilian Government can send to Brazilians to show that the crime of slavery will not go unpunished is to pass the constitutional amendment which would allow for the expropriation of land where forced labor is used.” She added that the passage of such an amendment “will show that Brazil is indeed strongly committed to fighting slavery.”

For more information, please see:

Latin American Herald Tribune – UN Official: Slavery Continues in Brazil Despite Government Efforts – 01 June 2010

NewKerala – Brazil: UN Urges Efforts to Fight Slavery – 30 May 2010

UN News Centre – Brazil: UN Rights Expert Urges Stepped Up Efforts to Fight Slavery – 29 May 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Five Argentine ex-military officials have gone to trial, accused of human rights abuses and the deaths of 65 people under a clandestine co-operative by several South American dictatorships. Operation Condor, which operated between 1976 and 1983, was an effort to eliminate dissidents seeking refuge in neighboring countries.  There are hopes that the trial will bring to light the secrets of the notorious Automotores Orletti torture center, one of many similar prisons used by the military dictatorship.

The Automotores Orletti, nicknamed “the garden” by the military, appeared as an auto-body shop in a popular middle-class neighborhood of Buenos Aires.  But behind its metal garage door, bound, blindfolded prisoners were held alongside car parts and engines that ran to mask their screams.  Prisoners were interrogated and tortured, given electrical shocks and submerged headfirst in water.

Rodolfo Yanzon, a human rights attorney representing the plaintiffs, said, “This trial is even more important since the clandestine center was used by intelligence services of other Latin American countries, and people from those countries were detained there.”  Among the 200-plus people held at Automotores Orletti were Argentines, Uruguayans, Chileans, Paraguayans, Bolivians and Cubans.  John Dinges, author of “The Condor Years,” estimated that only 10 percent of them survived.  Dinges explained that Orletti “was the place that housed the international prisoners, those who were detained using the international network of Condor.”

A prosecutor described what took place in the secret prison as “calculated and planned and amounted to a death sentence.”  The center was shut down after two Mexicans escaped, grabbing a firearm and firing at guards.  In 2008, the center was converted into a museum.

Those charged on Thursday were Raul Guglielminetti, Ruben Visuara, Eduardo Cabanillas, Nestor Guillamondegui, Honorio Martinez Ruiz, and Eduardo Ruffo.  They were charged with illegal detention, torture and the killing of 65 people.  Guillamondegui was excused from the trial because of bad health.  Court officials said his health would be monitored to determine if he would face trial later.

Operation Condor was a coordinated repression by South American dictatorships against left-wing activists.  Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay all participated.  Rights activists say that between 1976 and 1983, 30,000 people were killed or disappeared under the Argentine dictatorship.

The trial, expected to last months, reflects Argentina’s effort to resolve crimes of the 1976-1983 military junta.

For more information, please see:

BBC-New ‘Operation Condor’ trial starts in Argentina – 4 June 2010

AP-Argentina court opens dirty war torture garage trial – 3 June 2010

Nine MSN-Argentines face trial for Condor deaths – 3 June 2010

By Ricky Zamora
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

 

BOGOTA, Colombia – While Colombia has made efforts to combat unlawful killings, its security forces continue to be implicated in such acts.

Colombia, long plagued by armed conflict and the deadly drug trade, is no stranger to human rights violations.  While the country has taken steps to reduce unlawful killings, it has been an uphill battle against decades of unlawful killings committed with virtual impunity.

Recently, Professor Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, reported that the rate of impunity for alleged killings by Colombian security forces may be as high as 98.5%.

An investigation led by Alston revealed that while these killings are not committed pursuant to official policy, many victims were murdered by the military, often for soldiers’ personal benefit or profit.  In fact, within the military, success was equated with ‘kill counts’ of guerrillas and promoted an accountability-free environment.

The investigation revealed that while Colombia’s efforts to reduce such killings include dismissal of senior military officers and the monitoring of military activity by the UN, they appear to be ineffective.

This indicates that current efforts are undermined by the very policies set forth to reduce unlawful killings.  Alston reported that there is an “alarming level of impunity for former paramilitaries.”

He added that “The vast majority of paramilitaries responsible for human rights violations were demobilized without investigation, and many were effectively granted amnesties. Today, the failure in accountability is clear from the dramatic rise in killings by illegal armed groups composed largely of former paramilitaries.”

Alston believes that “unless the Government ensures effective investigation and prosecution of killings by security forces, it will not be able to accomplish the goals it seeks to achieve and family members deserve justice. Colombian society and the international community need to know that security operations are lawful, or they will not be considered legitimate.”

This problem is not merely a threat to those typically vulnerable to guerrilla exploitation – the poor and ignorant.  In fact, human rights defenders, trade unionists, and other rights activists have fallen victim to the guerillas, paying with their lives.  This, then, tends to cause grave instability not only in Colombia’s remote areas, but everywhere, including the political arena, Alston added.

The Rapporteur did, however, commend the Colombian government for the part is has done; namely, that it is open to external suggestions for reform and willing to open itself to international scrutiny of its security policies.  This, he noted, is especially important as it sets an example for neighboring states to embrace the notion of transparency in regards to their security policies.

Professor Alston was appointed UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions in 2004 and reports to the United Nations Human Rights Council and the General Assembly. He has had extensive experience in the human rights field, including eight years as Chairperson of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, principal legal adviser to UNICEF in the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and Special Adviser to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He is Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University School of Law.

For more information, please see:

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – UN Expert finds progress, but also pattern of unlawful killings and ongoing “serious problems” with Colombia’s Security Policies – 27 May 2010

UN News Centre – Colombia takes steps on killings but security forces still culpable – 27 May 2010

Huffington Post – Colombia Commits “Crimes Against Humanity” as Free Trade Pacts Are Debated – 13 May 2009

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil – In recent years, Brazil has become a haven for agro-toxins that are shunned by other industrialized countries.  According to O Estado de Sao Paulo, the National Agency for Sanitary Monitoring, the United Nations and the Brazilian Development, Industry and Commerce Ministry claim that Brazilian farmers make unabridged use of ten to twelve chemicals that are specifically banned in other parts of South America, the United States, and the European Union.

While legislation currently exists to limit the use of these dangerous toxins, the government is “dragging their feet” and has failed to take appropriate actions to reassess the chemicals or take them off of the market completely.  More specifically, the government has failed to act even though many of these substances, including metamidophos, have long been associated with endocrine problems in humans.

Despite Brazil’s movement toward genetically modified crops, the use of toxins have not subsided.  In fact, recent studies have shown that more toxins have been used to treat genetically modified crops than were used to treat non-genetically modified crops.  Businesses that sells genetically modified seeds, including Bayer and Dow, are the same companies who manufacture the agro-toxins.  These companies place a great deal of pressure on Brazil to purchase the chemicals along with the genetically modified crops.

Rosany Bochner, coordinator of Brazil’s National System of Toxic-Pharmacology, fears that Brazilians are being exposed to potentially dangerous substances that the rest of the world has rejected.  Although data does not currently exist that studies the health repercussions of these agro-toxins, few deny that they will have long-term negative side-effects.

According to Researcher Frioruz Marcelo Firpo, Brazil is under mounting pressure to keep up with the world’s economy.  As pressure mounts to ban these chemicals across the world, additional pressure is being put on Brazil to purchase the toxins.

While Firpo openly acknowledges that Brazilians are paying a heavy “invisible” cost as a result of ingesting these toxins, there does not appear to be a great deal of optimism that practices will change.

For more information, please see:

Merco Press – Brazil has become a “haven” for the use of world-banned agro-toxins – 31 May 2010

O Estado de Sao Paulo – Brasil é destino de agrotóxicos banidos no exterior – 30 May 2010

Check Biotech – Uruguay and Brazil: Genetically Modified Products and Agro-toxins Go Hand in Hand-18 August 2009