By: Max Cohen
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – A court has convicted two former military officers of human rights abuses for their role in the torture and murder of civilians in 1983 during a conflict between the government and the Maoist Shining Path rebel group. Recently indigenous tribal leaders have vowed to block the government from accessing their territories and halt oil production unless an indigenous rights law is applied within 20 days.

The case against the former military officers had dragged on for a decade, and resulted in only two convictions thus far, with a third officer cleared due to lack of evidence and suspended sentences for two others due to their dementia. One of the surviving victims of the torture unfortunately died before the verdict came in. The two officers who were convicted were sentenced to 23 and 30 years respectively, however they did not appear in court for their sentencing and authorities are seeking their arrest. The country of Peru was also found to be partially responsible for the crimes and as such has been ordered by the court to pay reparations to the families of the victims. In addition to murder and torture of around 53 people, those in charge at the military base of Los Cabitos used an oven to burn the bodies of their victims.

During the 20-year conflict between the Peruvian government and the Maoist Shining Path rebel group that began in 1980, about 69,000 people were killed or went missing. Seventy five percent of those who were killed were indigenous peoples.

In recent days, tribal leaders have accused the current Peruvian government of refusing to carry out a consultation process even though the government is negotiating a new contract with Frontera Energy, whose current contract expires in 2019. Currently there exists a law, passed in 2011, which requires the government to seek the informed consent of the indigenous people before undergoing any development which may affect them. However, the government has not confirmed whether another consultation would happen, stating that one which had taken place during 2015 was still valid. Even though a consultation would not veto the project if indigenous leaders say no, tribal leaders have threatened to cut off access to their territories from both the government and oil companies if the demand is not met.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Peru tribal leaders vow to halt oil output unless indigenous rights respected – 27 Aug, 2017

teleSUR – Peru Court Convicts 2 in Military Human Rights Abuse Case – 19 Aug, 2017

Reuters – Peru court convicts two of human rights abuses at military base – 18 Aug, 2017

By: Max Cohen
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – Sunday July 30^th, 2017, Venezuela changed dramatically. As some protested, other Venezuelans voted in an election to create a Constituent Assembly, with the power to rewrite their country’s constitution, and perhaps most importantly, to oust the current opposition-led National Assembly. The election has since been deemed a fraud, and in the days since the new constituent assembly, the government of Nicolas Maduro have increasingly been engaging in increased unapologetically authoritarian acts.

According to the Venezuelan government, over 8 million people voted in the election, however an independent exit poll puts the turnout at half that number. Additionally, the company that makes the machines which were used in the election has publicly stated that the results were off by at least 1 million people. Two weeks prior, according to opposition leaders, around 7 million people voted in an unofficial referendum to keep the current constitution. Luisa Ortega Diaz, Venezuela’s now former attorney general, was fired by the Assembly in its first session on August 5^th, 2017 after promising that she would investigate accusations of voter fraud surrounding the election.

The Venezuelan government has also jailed two critics of Maduro, opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez and veteran politician Antonio Ledezma. The two men have been accused of planning to flee the country and of violating their house arrests by making political statements and speaking to media. They were abducted from their homes in nighttime raids by security forces. Ledezma was released on August 4^th, and placed back on house arrest. Additionally, two of the judges appointed by the National Assembly to an alternative Supreme Court have taken refuge in the Chilean Embassy and may seek asylum.

Protests and violence raged rampant in the streets during the election, with estimates of those killed in clashes with authorities ranging from 7 to 12 people. One of the candidates in the election was also killed in his home.

As of writing this article the Constituent Assembly has not yet dissolved the current National Assembly. Among the new leaders in the Constituent Assembly are Maduro’s wife and son. Opposition leaders in the National Assembly however, have pledged to remain in power regardless of what actions the Constituent Assembly takes, setting up the possibility of two governing bodies, each not recognizing the other.

For more information, please see:

NBC – Venezuela’s New Constituent Assembly Ousts Anti-Maduro Prosecutor Luisa Ortega – 5 August, 2017

New York Times – Venezuela’s New Leaders Begin Their March Towards Total Control – 4 August, 2017

CNN – Controversial Venezuelan vote to be investigated, attorney general says – 3 August, 2017

Time – Venezuela Heads Toward a Showdown As New Assembly Prepares to Convene – 3 August, 2017 

CBS – Voting machine firm: Venezuela vote rigged “without any doubt” – 2 August, 2017

Reuters – Venezuela jails opposition leaders in new crackdown on opponents –  1 August, 2017

ABC (Aus) – Venezuela election: Deadly protests mar ballot as voters snub Maduro constituent assembly – 31 July, 2017

CNN – Deadly election day in Venezuela as protestors clash with troops – 30 July, 2017

 

 

By: Max Cohen
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – Protests continue across Venezuela, with more on the way, as citizens attempt to stop President Maduro from rewriting the nation’s constitution. According to opposition members, millions voted against such a thing in an unofficial vote held last week, and millions more participated in a nationwide strike which paralyzed the country, protesting the rewrite. Meanwhile, the Maduro administration has continued to respond to the protests with violent means.

The opposition controlled National Assembly also attempted to replace the nation’s Supreme Court with 33 appointees of their own, however the already existing Court has since declared the move to be void, and inferred that it could result in charges of treason. One of these appointees has already been detained by the Maduro government, and authorities have threatened others with arrest and trial before military courts as well. Since the National Assembly had sworn in lawmakers whose elections were suspended for supposed voting irregularities, the Court maintains that any action the legislature takes is illegal.

A protest held on July 22^nd, had a few thousand protestors trying to reach the Supreme Court, however it’s unclear whether this was connected specifically to the Court’s action, or just a general protest of Maduro’s attempt to rewrite the constitution. Several protestors were injured, including violinist Wuilly Arteaga, who has become a symbol of the protests for playing the national anthem and other tunes on his instrument as hectic protests occur around him. Authorities in the country have routinely used rubber bullets and tear gas against the protestors for the past four months, causing the deaths of 97 people and injuring thousands.

Meanwhile, a Venezuelan diplomat, Isaias Medina, has resigned from his post at the UN in protest of the actions taken by the Maduro government, urging Maduro to step down in the process. The opposition party is also currently boycotting the elections for the Constitutional Assembly, which would be charged with rewriting the constitution, proclaiming the votes as a sham since the rules are apparently designed to give Maduro’s government a majority. Maduro plans to put 232,000 soldiers on the streets to assure that the Constitutional Assembly goes ahead.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Venezuelans protest Maduro’s plan to rewrite constitution -22 July, 2017

The Guardian – ‘I will be back’: Violin-playing face of Venezuela’s protests injured in clash – 22 July, 2017

teleSUR – Supreme Court Declares Opposition’s Naming of Judges Invalid – 21 July, 2017

New Jersey Herald – Venezuela diplomat says he resigned to protest Maduro acts – 20 July, 2017

By: Max Cohen
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America 

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – After a police officer was killed in the Vidigal favela, police officers and their families began protesting the rising levels of violence. So far, approximately ninety-one police officers have been killed in the Rio state. Brazil’s government has deployed as many as 8,500 soldiers to the city, and is set to deploy up to 10,000, to help abate its crime problem.

Violence has been rising in the area since the end of the Olympics, and Brazil is currently experiencing the worst recession in its history. Corruption also rages rampant among government officers. An average of three people per day have been killed by stray bullets in the first six months of this year alone. This is in addition to alleged human rights abuses by the police, who caused the deaths of more than 800 people last year. In the first two months of this year alone the number of killings by Rio police were at 182, 78 percent more than at the same point last year.

The protestors, who gathered at the seafront in Copacabana complained about their loved ones trying to stem the tide of violence with few resources. They also deride the fact that the hard work of honest policemen isn’t given as much attention as alleged human rights abuses, and the officers themselves have been fighting to change the penal code to punish the killings of police officers more harshly.

A few weeks prior however, residents of Rio’s favelas packed the same area, pleading for an end to the lethal shootouts between drug traffickers and police. That protest came after a pregnant mother and her child were both seriously injured in a crossfire that took place in one of these shantytowns on the outskirts of Rio.

Brazilian Defense Minister Raul Jungmann has said that the soldiers would soon begin participating in operations against drug traffickers, a departure from their previously limited role in patrolling, manning checkpoints, and recovering weapons seized during raids. Due to President Michel Temer’s decree, the troops can remain in the city up until the end of 2018. While their efforts are focused on the city’s north side, where the violence has been more pervasive, armored vehicles also patrolled other, quieter areas in the city.

For more information, please see:

Deutsche Welle – Brazil sends troops to Rio de Janeiro to fight organized crime – 29 July, 2017

ABC News – Troops deploy in Rio de Janeiro amid increasing violence – 28 July, 2017

BBC – Rio de Janeiro begins deploying 10,000 troops to fight crime surge – 28 July, 2017

BBC – Rio de Janeiro: Police protest over rising Brazil violence – 23 July, 2017

Al Jazeera – Rio’s favela residents protest against killings – 2 July, 2017

By: Max Cohen
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America 

LIMA, Peru – At least 2,000 Peruvian citizens protested July 7^th, urging President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski not to pardon the country’s ex-leader Alberto Fujimori, who is currently serving 25 years in prison for human rights violations.

One of President Kuczynski’s chief promises that allowed him to win the election against Fujimori’s daughter Keiko, was that he wouldn’t pardon Fujimori. However, Kuczynski proposed a potential pardon for Fujimori last month for health reasons, just after Kuczynski’s finance minister was ousted by a Congress dominated by Fujimori’s supporters.

Fujimori held office from 1990-2000, and was convicted in 2009 for leading groups which had massacred civilians and kidnapped journalists during his tenure. Despite this, Fujimori has an enormous amount of support due to his role in fixing Peru’s economy and stopping a bloody leftist insurgency. In fact, a May Ipsos poll found that 59 percent of Peruvians back a humanitarian release for him.

President Kuczynski meanwhile, has said that he will follow the recommendation of the doctors evaluating Fujimori, as to whether a pardon should be given for medical reasons. However, in 2013 a medical team which was then evaluating Fujimori said his condition didn’t warrant a pardon, so it is possible that history will repeat itself.

On June 27^th, President Kuczynski had condemned the conditions some workers were living in after a fire killed four people imprisoned inside a shipping container by their boss. They had been locked inside to prevent theft, and detection by municipal inspectors. Since then Peru’s public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into human trafficking and labor exploitation. The International Labor Organization described the conditions in which the workers died and 17 others were injured as akin to modern day slavery.

After only Mexico and Colombia, Peru has the third highest rate of cases of forced labor and human trafficking in the region and is 18^th worldwide, per the Walk Free Foundation’s Global Slavery Index. Jorge Toyama, a labor lawyer, claims that the country only has 500 labor inspectors when it needs four times as many, and that many workers in Peru are not aware of their rights.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Peruvians protest against possible pardon for jailed Fujimori – 7 July, 2017

Human Rights Watch – Peru: Don’t Give Fujimori Special Treatment – 6 July, 2017

The Guardian – Peru launches investigation as fire kills workers ‘locked inside container’ – 27 June, 2017