By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia – An inquest into the shooting death of Irishman Michael Dwyer, Eduardo Rozsa Flores, and Arpad Magyarosi by Bolivian police returned an open verdict this week. Dwyer, Flores, and Magyarosi were killed in a raid on a hotel on April 16 and are suspected to have links to a far-right group thought to be responsible for attacks on indigenous Bolivians, including a plot to kill Bolivian president, Evo Morales.

A lawyer for the Dwyer family has called the Bolivian police reporting on the raid and nature of the deaths into question.  The Bolivian police initially reported that the men died in a shoot out and that Dwyer was shot six times.  However, the an autopsy performed in Ireland revealed that Dwyer was shot just once in the heart. The inquest heard reports that the men were asleep when the shooting took place. The Irish government has requested an international investigation into the deaths.

Bolivia’s ambassador to the UK, Beatriz Souviron said told the inquest that Dwyer’s plain ticket to Bolivia was paid for by a businessman who was subsequently arrested for being a part of a separatist terrorist movement.  According to Souviron, the three men were under investigation for a bomb attack at the home of a Bolivian cardinal and the discovery of a cache of arms and explosives.

Dwyer reportedly went to Bolivia to take classes in personal security and protection, but decided to stay after the classes ended because he found work.  Rozsa and Magyarosi are Bolivian citizens of Hungarian and Romanian decent. Rozsa holds dual citizenship with Croatia and Magyarosi holds dual citizenship with Hungary.

Dyer’s parents believe that he came under the influence of Rozca after meeting his supporters while doing security work in Ireland.Flores, a known anti-semite, joined Croatian forces when war broke out in the former Yugoslavia. He led an armed group that attracted many foreign right-wing elements.

In an interview in April of 2009, Flores said he had been called to Bolivia to to set up a militia to protect Santa Cruz. He claimed to be ready to proclaim independence and create a new country.

Evo Morales commented that he would be happy for a “transparent” investigation to take place.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Irishman Michael Dwyer Killed in Bolivia was Linked to Bomb Attack, Inquest Told – 14 October 2009

Belfast Telegraph – Bolivia to Allow Probe into the Death Riddle of Shot Irishman – 14 October 2009

Irish Times – Parents Learned of Dwyer’s Death from Journalists – 14 October 2009

Irish Times – Dwyer Inquest Returns Open Verdict – 13 October 2009

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Organizations representing under-served sectors of the Colombian population and a group of thirty-one experts and activists from twenty countries met for a peace summit created by Bogotá’s leftists mayor and Father Francisco de Roux, head of the Jesuit Order in Colombia. Throughout the four day summit, experts made proposals for resolving the current humanitarian crisis and the armed conflict in Colombia.

The summit was created to spawn a “citizens’ movement” for peace, and culminates with the adoption of the “Bogota Manifesto for World Peace” and the presentation of a petition to nominate the indigenous communities from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains for a Nobel Peace Prize.  The meeting was held in Colombia because, according to Bogotá Mayor Zaragoza, in Colombia “force needs to be replaced with words and negotiation.”

Colombia has been in a state of civil war for almost fifty years and the day that the Summit began, twenty-six FARC guerrillas were killed in a bomb attack by the air force and the army in the central province of Tolima.  An undetermined number of peasant families were killed trying to flee the attack.

Civilians are often trapped in the crossfire, accused of siding with either side of the conflict and rights organizations estimate that approximately ten percent of the population of Colombia has been displaced by the war. Despite this, Colombia is the largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the americas and the third largest recipient in the world, receiving more than five billion dollars since 2000.

The activities of indigenous “peace communities” were highlighted at the summit. Videos showed the suffering that the people from San José de Apartadó, Tiquisio, Cavida and Toribio had endured over the last two decades. This included “mass murders, displacement, years living in places like stadiums and later the return (to their village) as a peace community, where (they) have faced forced disappearance and harassment.” Peace communities have declared themselves neutral in all armed conflict.

A principle concern among experts and citizens is the proliferation of military power in Colombia and globally occurring alongside situations of extreme poverty. “We have to fight to assure a progressive change from this unbridled, disproportionate military spending to investment in a renewable energy and food production”, said Bogotá Mayor Zaragoza.

Experts recognized American President Barack Obama’s decision to cancel the anti-missile shield project in Europe and to take the lead in nuclear disarmament as a vital step towards peace. However, concern remains over the use of Colombian military bases by U.S. soldiers.

Experts in attendance urged the world to recognize that such steps towards toward peace will facilitate a shift towards sustainable world development, via the United Nations and a multilateral system in which all countries, not only the most powerful, are taken into account.

Mayor Zaragoza stated that, “we will build peace, because it is the greatest legacy that we now have to bequeath to future generations.”

For more information, please see:

IPS: COLOMBIA: Talking About Peace in the Middle of War – 5 October 2009

Pressenza – The World Peace Summit Condemns the “Colossal Military Expenditure Throughout the World – 11 October 2009

La Cumbre Mundial – La Cumbre Mundial de Paz Reúne en Bogotá a Expertos y Activistas de 20 Paises – 30 September 2009

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Two suspected “death pilots” have been arrested and are being detained for their alleged involvement in the murders of 950 people during Argentina’s “dirty war” in the 1970s and 80s.

A Spanish judge ordered former Argentine Navy Lt. Julio Alberto Poch to remain in jail until a decision is made about whether he should be extradited to Argentina to be prosecuted.

Poch was arrested in Valencia, Spain after police found an Argentine army pistol in his home.  Poch holds Dutch and Argentine nationality and works for the airline Transavia. Poch reportedly told airline colleagues that he was involved in the death flights in 2007.  An international warrant for Poch’s arrest was issued in March of this year. A spokesperson said that the extradition decision could take several months.

In Argentina, police arrested former Navy Captain Emir Sisul Hess last week in the town of Bariloche, near the Chilean border. An initial hearing was held on Friday. Sisul also reportedly discussed his involvement in the “death flights” with colleagues. He was a helicopter pilot in Argentina from 1976-77.

Argentine federal Judge Sergio Gabriel Torres is pursuing the extradition of Poch and handling the arrest of Sisul Hess. The men are suspected not just of drugging, blindfolding, and dumping people into the sea or the Rio Plata, but also of being involved in murders at the Argentine Marine Academy. Poch denies any involvement, saying that “it is practically impossible” and that he was a jet fighter at the time. Sisul has also denied the allegations.

Executed prisoners included students, labor leaders, intellectuals and leftists who were politically opposed to the dictatorship. Most of the people were snatched off of the street or arrested and held without trial in secret prisons and subject to torture. As many as 30,000 people disappeared or were held in secret prisons during the dictatorship.

There have been four major “dirty war” convictions. The first was the 1984 conviction of Ex-President Jorge Videla for the murder, torture, and detention of thousands. He is currently serving a life sentence. In 2005, an ex-naval officer was sentenced to 640 years in prison for his involvement in the “death flights.” In 2006, an ex-police chief was sentenced to life in prison for human rights abuses and earlier this year Ex-General Santiago Omar Riveros was sentenced to life in prison for kidnap, torture, and murder.

Hebe de Bonafini, the well known president of the Association of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a group of mothers whose children went missing during the “dirty war” said that she found no joy in the arrests. She urged the government to find other criminals from the period, “there are several. They are not the only ones.”

For more information, please see:

Aljazeera – Argentine Held Over “Death Flights” – 7 October 2009

BBC – Jail Ruling for “Dirty War” Pilot – 6 October 2009

CNN International – Argentine “Death Pilot” Held In Spain – 6 October 2009

Dutch News – Pilot Suspected of Role in 950 Murders – 6 October 2009

United Press International – “Death Flight” Pilot’s Release Bid Denied – 6 October 2009

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – Two mass graves were discovered last week containing over thirty peasants and rebel fighters.  Seventeen peasants were found in a grave on a ranch owned by the now dead, far-right militia leader Carlos Castano in Northwestern Colombia. Meanwhile, sixteen FARC rebels, thought to have been killed in combat, were found in La Uribe, in the southern jungles.

The peasants found in the ranch grave were dismembered and showed signs of torture.  Colombian prosecutors reported that the peasants were killed ten to twelve years ago by men commanded by Jesus Ignacio Roldan, known as “Monoleche.”

Castano, the owner of the ranch, was reportedly killed because he disagreed with the anti-guerrilla movement’s use of drug-trafficking mafias and because the paramilitaries were frightened that Castano would report them to U.S. drug agents.

The FARC fighters were killed in July and the bodies include the nephew of senior FARC Commander Jorge Bricero.  La Uribe, where the grave was found, has traditionally been a stronghold for the FARC.

Over 2,570 victims of right-wing paramilitaries have been unearthed in Colombia since the militias began demobilizing in 2005 pursuant to a peace agreement with the Colombian government.  The AUC was formed in 1997 as an umbrella group for the numerous paramilitary organizations created to protect drug lords’ territory and operations from attacks by leftists groups, such as the FARC.  The AUC is reportedly responsible for most of the drug related deaths in Colombia.

Both the FARC and the AUC have been designated terrorist groups.  While the AUC is no longer a formal organization, most of its past members have joined other criminal organizations.

Militias such as those that formally comprised the AUC often worked with members of the Colombian military in a “dirty war” killing and torturing people suspected to be leftist rebels or sympathizers. Prosecutors report that demobilized paramilitaries have confessed to over 25,000 murders.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Colombian Mass Graves Discovered – 26 September 2009

RTT News – Thirty-three Bodies Unearthed in Two Colombian Mass Graves – 26 September 2009

South America Policy Examiner – COLOMBIA: Two Mass Graves Discovered, Bodies Include Nephew of FARC Leader – 26 September 2009

AP – Colombia Finds 2 Mass Graves of Peasants, Rebels