By Delisa Morris

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia–Between 2003 and 2007, according to a recently released historic document on the Colombian conflict, US soldiers and military contractors sexually abused more than 54 children in Colombia.  Allegedly, the suspects have not and will not be prosecuted due to immunity clauses in bilateral agreements.

The report, 800 pages in length, was commissioned by the Colombian government and rebel group FARC to establish the causes and violent agitators of the 50-year-long conflict between leftist rebels and the state while they are negotiating peace.

Officials hope that the document will help negotiators determine who is responsible for the 7 million victims or the armed conflict between leftist rebels and the state while they are negotiating peace.

One of the scholars that helped redact the historians’ report, Renan Vega of the Pedagogic University in Bogota, focused part of this historic document on the American military that has actively supported the Colombian state in its fight against drug trafficking and leftist rebel groups like the FARC.

“[T]here exists abundant information about the sexual violence, in absolute impunity thanks to the bilateral agreements and the diplomatic immunity of United States officials.”

One incident cited in the report was a 2004 case in the central Colombian town of Melgar where 53 underage girls were sexually abused by nearby stationed military contractors “who moreover filmed [the abuse] and sold the films as pornographic material.”

According to Colombian newspaper, El Tiempo, the victims of the sexual abuse practices were forced to flee the region after their families received death threats.

The case that has called the most attention was in 2007 when a 12-year-old girl was raped by a US Army sergeant and a former US military officer who was working in Melgar as a military contractor.

Colombian prosecutors established that the girl had been drugged and subsequently raped inside the military base by the officers.  The prosecution officials were not allowed to arrest the suspected child rapists who were flown out of the country after the news broke.

The rape victim, her little sister and her mother were forced to flee to the city of Medellin as forces loyal to the suspects were threatening the family, the mother told Colombian television.

The special envoy will possibly have to deal with the role of the US military and its members in the alleged victimization of Colombians.

For more information, please see:

Colombia Reports – At least 54 Colombian girls sexually abused by immune US military: Report – 23 Mar. 2015

El Tiempo – Seven years of shameful impunity for girl raped in Melgar – 22 Mar. 2015

El Turbion – Impunity for soldiers Plan Colombia – 15 Feb. 2009

telesur – US Military Sexually Abused at Least 54 Colombian Children – 23 Mar. 2015

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — An Argentinian judge has dismissed the case against Argentina President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who allegedly shielded Iranian officials from prosecution over the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish centre.

Prosecutors had sought to relaunch the case against Fernández that was being brought by their late colleague Alberto Nisman, who died mysteriously last month after accusing Fernández of protecting Iranians suspected of ordering the deadly bombing at the Argentinian Jewish Mutual Association.

However, Judge Daniel Rafecas said on Thursday that documents originally filed by Nisman failed to meet standards needed to open a formal court investigation.  The Judge noted that Nisman failed to meet “the minimal conditions needed to launch a formal court investigation.”

“I dismiss the case because no crime was committed,” Rafecas said.

The late prosecutor was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the head in his bathroom on 18 January 2015, four days after he filed a report that accused Iran of ordering the attack via the Lebanese militant group Hezebollah, and alleging that Fernández was trying to shield Iranian officials from prosecution in exchange for oil.

Nisman’s death was initially ruled a suicide, but soon afterwards suspicion fell on Fernández’s government for orchestrating Nisman’s murder.

Even Fernández herself suggested the prosecutor was manipulated by upset former intelligence agents who then killed him to further smear her reputation.

Before the decision on Thursday, Argentinian MPs passed a bill to reform the country’s intelligence service, which Fernández recently suggested had strayed from civilian control.

Fernández says the new state security body established under the legislation will be held more accountable.  But opponents say the legislation does little more than change the name of the spy agency and has been rushed through Congress.  The opposition boycotted some of the debate.

The chamber of deputies approved the bill by a majority of 131 to 71 after an overnight debate.  Fernández now has to sign the bill, which she is expected to do in the coming days.

The long-unsolved bombing at the Argentinian Jewish Mutual Association killed 85 people and wounded 300.

For more information, please see: 

the guardian – Argentina judge dismisses bombing cover-up case against president – 26 Feb. 2015

Fox News Latino – Judge throws out case alleging Argentina’s president was behind Iran cover up – 26 Feb. 2015

CBS News – Judge announces decision on Argentina cover-up case – 26 Feb. 2015

The Tribune – Victory for Argentine leader: Judge rejects cover-up case – 26 Feb. 2015

By Delisa Morris

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil — How does the world’s biggest water supply in the seventh biggest economy run out of water?  When that country has its worst dry stretch since the 1930s.

Brazil is sometimes called the “Saudi Arabia of water,” water is so abundant in the area that it’s likened to living above a sea of oil.  However, the taps are starting to run dry.  The problem has been worsened by polluted rivers, deforestation and population growth, the largest reservoir system serving São Paulo is near depletion.

Currently, many residents are enduring sporadic water cutoffs, some going days without it.  Officials have said that water service provided two days a week, drastic rationing, may be needed.

Though the views are grimmer behind closed doors.  In a meeting recorded secretly and leaked to the local news media, Paulo Massato, a senior official at São Paulo’s water utility, said that residents might have to be warned to flee because “there’s not enough water, there won’t be water to bathe, to clean the home.”

Marússia Whately, a water specialist at Instituto Socioambiental, a Brazilian environmental group, said, “We’re witnessing an unprecedented water crisis in one of the world’s great industrial cities.”  She added, “Because of environmental degradation and political cowardice, millions of people in São Paulo are now wondering when the water will run out.”

Some have already had no running water for days.

“Imagine going three days without any water and trying to run a business in a basic sanitary way,” said Maria da Fátima Ribeiro, 51, who owns a bar in Parque Alexandra, a gritty neighborhood on the edge of São Paulo’s metropolitan area. “This is Brazil, where human beings are treated worse than dogs by our own politicians.”

Residents are taking matters into their own hands by drilling wells around homes and apartment buildings.  Others have implemented water conservation methods of hoarding water in buckets to wash clothes or flush toilets.  Public schools are prohibiting students from using water to brush their teeth, and serving sandwiches instead of meals on plates that need to be washed.

The worse forecasts say that São Paulo’s main reservoir system could run dry in 2015.

For more information, please see:

The Telegraph – Taps run dry in Brazil’s biggest city as drought bites – 23 Feb. 2015

The Seattle Times – Severe drought pushes Brazil’s largest city toward water crisis – 21 Feb. 2015

The Independent – Brazil water shortage: Sao Paulo devastated by its worst drought on record – 23 Feb. 2015

Independent.IE – Has Brazil’s largest city just run out of water? – 23 Feb. 2015

By Delisa Morris

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia — Last week during negotiations, the FARC, Colombia’s largest rebel group, agreed to stop recruiting soldiers under 17.  This week news comes that the FARC will discharge any child soldiers under the age of 15.  The group has said to have captured children as young as 13 to join their ranks.

The leader, Ivan Marquez, told a radio program that the recruitment of children was “not our policy”.  Marquez said there are currently 13 children under the age of 15 fighting with the Marxist group.

Marquez, who is one of the FARC negotiators at peace talks in the Cuban capital, Havana, told Colombian’s Caracol Radio that “after internal consultation with the guerrilla structures across the country, the Farc leadership could determine there were only 13 fighters younger than 15” in its ranks.

He said they would be “discharged from the war within a short period of time”.

According to Marquez, the children are descendants of guerrilla fighters or had joined the FARC after they had been orphaned.  Though human rights groups have long accused the FARC of forcibly recruiting children.

Figures released by Colombia’s Ministry of Defence suggest that since 2002 more than 2,600 children under the age of 18 have left the Farc, either fleeing the group or being captured by security forces.

Although a majority were between the ages of 16 and 17, figures suggest more than one third of the child soldiers were younger.

The peace talks between the FARC and the Colombian government have commenced in November 2012.

They have reached partial agreements on a number of issues, including on the drugs trade, land reform and political participation.

They are currently discussing the rights of victims of the five-decade-long conflict, which has killed more than 220,000 people.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Colombian Farc rebels ‘will discharge fighters under 15’ – 17 Feb. 2015

tele sur – FARC Discharges Under 15s to Comply with International Law – 18 Feb. 2015

Latin American Herald Tribune – Colombia’s FARC to Discharge Minors Under 15 – 18 Feb. 2015

Latin Post – Colombia and Farc Peace Talks, Conflicts, History & News: Rebels to Discharge Child Soldiers Younger Than 15 – 17 Feb. 2015