By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – A senior United Nations investigator has urged Chile’s government to stop using anti-terrorism law against the country’s Mapuche Indians who are fighting to recover their ancestral land.

The Mapuche Indians make up 9% of the Chilean population. They live in rural communities and suffer from high levels of poverty.

Ben Emmerson, the U.N.’s special investigator on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, said a long-running dispute over land rights could boil over into serious violence and disorder at any moment unless urgent action is taken. He says the situation is “volatile” in the southern regions of Araucania and Bio Bio, where most Mapuche live.

Chile’s anti-terrorism law, drafted by General Augusto Pinochet in 1984 is one of the harshest in the Chilean statute book. It doubles the sentences for some offenses and allows for the conviction of defendants on the basis of testimony from anonymous witnesses.

Human rights groups say the law is abusive because it allows for suspects to be held in isolation without charge and for the use of secret witnesses and telephone taps.

“The anti-terrorist legislation has been used in a way that discriminates against the Mapuche. It has been applied in a confusing and arbitrary way, which has turned into a real injustice that has impaired the right to a fair trial, and it has been perceived as stigmatizing and delegitimizing of the Mapuche territorial demands and protests,” Emmerson said.

Mapuche prisoners have staged lengthy hunger strikes to protest the anti-terror law and what they regard as excessive police violence during raids on Mapuche communities. Other forms of protest have ranged from marches, occupation of public buildings, and setting up roads blocks.

“The preliminary conclusions of the U.N. official go along with what we’ve been saying: that there’s no terrorism and that this is a disproportionate law that only creates more tensions,” said Aucan Huilcaman, a Mapuche leader. “If Chile really wants to show its democratic side it must recognize the Mapuche people,” Huilcaman added.

There was no immediate response from Chile’s government.

The Mapuche conflict has been going on for years in the south, with sporadic outbursts of violence. In January of this year, a group of attackers set fire to a house belonging to an elderly couple whose family had a history of poor relations with the Mapuche neighbors. The couple died in the blaze. Their deaths shocked Chileans and raised questions about the inability of President Sebastian Pinera’s government to meet the demands of Chile’s largest indigenous group.

Emmerson said Chile’s government should come up with a strategy to solve the dispute, speed up the return of land and recognize the country’s largest indigenous community under the constitution.

For more information please see:

ABC News – UN: Chile Should Solve Land Dispute With Mapuche – 31 July 2013

CNN Chile – Relator de la ONU sobre Ley Antiterrorista: “Ha sido aplicada en una forma que es ilógica, discriminatoria y contraproducente” – 30 July 2013

El Universal – Relator de ONU advierte a Chile riesgo del conflicto mapuche – 30 July 2013

BBC – UN criticises Chile for using terror law on Mapuche – 30 July 2013

Fox News – UN official says Chile should stop using anti-terrorism law against Mapuche in land dispute – 30 July 2013

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

PANAMA CITY, Panama – Panamanian authorities have charged the crew members of a North Korean ship, the Chong Chon Gang, detained at the Panama Canal after it was found to be carrying weapons.

Police authorities found a large supply of outdated Soviet-era weapons systems, and two MIG fighter jets buried beneath 200,000 bags of Cuban brown sugar. The ship’s crew, armed with what officials called sticks, tried to fend off Panamanian marines investigating whether the vessel was carrying contraband. They forcefully resisted being boarded and sabotaged the ship’s cranes to make the search and cargo movement more difficult. The captain was also reported to have attempted suicide during the confrontation.

State prosecutor Javier Caraballo accused the 35 crew members of endangering public security by attempting to traffic undeclared weapons. Caraballo also reports that the weapons trafficking charges could result in sentences of up to six years if the crew members are tried and convicted. The crew was expected to remain in detention while the Panamanian authorities finished unloading the vessel, which could take days.

The 450-foot Chong Chon Gang had been awaiting permission to cross the canal for the voyage home after a visit to Cuba. The ship was impounded on July 14^th, and on July 17^th North Korea asked Panama to release the ship and its crew. A statement by the North Korean Foreign Ministry asserted that the ship had been transporting the Cuban weapons to North Korea for refurbishment under a legitimate contract. The North Korean statement also criticized Panama for using what it called the pretext of searching the vessel for narcotics and for Panama’s violent treatment of the crew.

The Cuban government admitted being behind the supply of weapons found on board the ship. They said the weapons were Soviet-era arms from Cuba headed for repair and upgrading in North Korea. The Cuban foreign ministry said the Chong Chon Gang was carrying two anti-aircraft missile batteries, nine missiles in parts and spares, two MiG-21bis fighter planes and 15 MiG engines.

Panama has requested that the United Nations Security Council investigate whether there has been a breach of the sanctions against North Korea. The United Nations sanctions prohibit the supply of arms to Pyongyang in the dispute over its controversial nuclear program.

Panama’s Security Minister Jose Raul Mulino said the ship and its cargo had broken Panamanian and international law. “This is not an official or military ship belonging to the North Korean government. It’s a commercial ship which wanted to pass through the Panama canal with a [cargo] declaration which failed to reflect what it was carrying, turning a blind eye to the fact that its cargo could be violating UN resolutions,” he said.

For more information please see:

Los Angeles Times – Panama charges ‘contentious’ North Korean crew with arms trafficking – 18 July 2013

BBC – Panama charges North Korea weapons ship’s crew – 18 July 2013

New York Times – Panama Charges North Korean Freighter Crew – 18 July 2013

La Prensa – El buque norcoreano transportaba un radar de control de tiro, según Jane’s  – 17 July 2013

By Ellis R. Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil –  On July 11^th, tens of thousands of workers blocked key highways and staged mainly peaceful marches across Brazil in a day of industrial action called by trade unions to demand better working conditions and tougher government measures to contain rising inflation.

The “National Day of Struggle” was called by the country’s top five labor federations. The unions demanded better wages, a 40-hour working week, job security, improved public transportation, as well as more investment in public health and education.

Industry workers, shopkeepers, civil servants, teachers and even hospital staff took to the streets nationwide. Demonstrators blocked roads and around 40 highways in 18 of the country’s 26 states, as well as access to several ports. The crowds were smaller than in last month’s protests, which brought more than a million people onto the streets.

In Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, an estimated 5,000 people hoisting flags and banners blocked traffic on several roads, including Via Dutra, which is Brazil’s most important highway because it connects Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. In Brasilia, thousands demonstrated in front of the the National Congress and in Campo Grande, deep in Brazil’s interior, 35,000 demonstrated.

Among companies affected were General Motors, where a 24-hour strike was in effect, and Embraer, Brazil’s top plane maker. In many cities, public transportation was brought to a near standstill. Banks and shops had been closed for fear of looting and ransacking. Several schools were closed and in some hospitals around the country, only emergency services were operating.

Demonstrators also disrupted Brazil’s busiest port, Santos. Workers at Santos, which is also Latin America’s largest port, were complaining that Embraport, the largest Brazilian private multi-modal port terminal, is not hiring through the state-run labor management agency OGMO, which places union members in jobs. The workers fear that bypassing OGMO will make it possible for private companies to recruit non-unionized workers who will accept lower wages.

The protests were largely peaceful during the day. However, in Rio de Janeiro a group of masked protesters threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at police. The police pushed them back with teargas. The masked group sparked the clashes in a side street and then took refuge in a peaceful march in which union leaders called for calm and sang the national anthem. Due to the violence, the march was dispersed before it reached its final destination, and at least 12 people, including two minors, were arrested.

For more information please see:

France 24 – Brazil protest draws smaller crowds than June rallies – 12 July 2013

BBC – Brazil protests: Tens of thousands in union-led strikes – 12 July 2013

France 24 – Brazil workers protest nationwide for better conditions – 11 July 2013

La Nacion – Paro en Brasil: sin trasporte público y con rutas bloqueadas – 11 July 2013

The Guardian – Thousands on streets in Brazil protests – 11 July 2013

 

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – Italian drug lord Roberto Pannunzi, one of Europe’s most wanted drug traffickers and the world’s biggest cocaine importer, was arrested in Colombia on July 5th.

Roberto Pannunzi, 65, was caught in a Bogota shopping center and identified himself with a fake Venezuelan identification card bearing the name Silvano Martino, the Colombian Defense Ministry announced on Twitter. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) worked with Colombian police to find and arrest Pannunzi.

Less than 24 hours after his arrest in Colombia, he was deported and put on a plane from Bogota to Italy. An extradition order would have taken several months. Pannunzi was arrested by Italian police upon his arrival at Rome’s Fiumicino airport.

He was known as the “Pablo Escobar of Italy,” Colombian Defense Ministry said in a twitter post. Pannunzi is accused of importing between two and three tons of cocaine into Europe each month from South America, according to the defense ministry.

Pannunzi, known as Bebè (baby), is linked to the ‘Ndrangheta crime network which is based in the southern Italian region of Calabria. He is credited with soldering the link between the ‘Ndrangheta and Colombia’s Medellin cartels that has turned the ‘Ndrangheta into Italy’s richest and most feared organized crime syndicate according to Italian authorities.

Though often described as a mobster, Pannunzi is not known to have taken part in crimes of violence. Evidence pieced together from various investigations suggested his role was to collect guarantees of payment from various ‘Ndrangheta clans to pay for a shipment of cocaine from South America. Pannunzi would then broker the deal with the Colombians.

“He is the biggest cocaine importer in the world,” said Nicola Gratteri, deputy chief prosecutor in the Reggio Calabria province. “I hope there will be no more concessions, as in the past. And I say it because it is exhausting to have to go and search the world for Pannunzi every time he escapes,” said Gratteri.

Roberto Pannunzi was first detained in Colombia in 1994 and extradited to Italy but was released when his detention order expired. He was re-captured in 2004 in Madrid and handed over again to Italian authorities. He was tried and given a sentence of more than 16 years. In 2010, he staged a dramatic escape from a private hospital in Rome after being transferred there from jail on health grounds.

For more information please see:

The Guardian – Cocaine ‘broker’ Roberto Pannunzi back in jail in Italy after arrest in Colombia – 7 July 2013

El Tiempo – Así cayó el narco más buscado del mundo – 6 July 2013

BBC – Colombia deports Calabrian mafia boss Pannunzi to Italy– 6 July 2013

Reuters – Italy’s most wanted drug trafficker arrested in Colombia – 6 July 2013

Univision Noticias – Era el narcotraficante más buscado en Europa, pero cayó en Colombia – 5 July 2013

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – Police clashed with students in Chile’s capital, Santiago, on June 26^th after a peaceful nationwide demonstration by more than 100,000 students demanding education reform. Chilean police have arrested more than 100 people, many of them teenagers, after raiding secondary schools that had been taken over by their students.

Local television showed police bursting into schools barricaded with chairs as well as isolated clashes between students and police. The violence erupted when protesters began to throw stones and Molotov cocktails at police forces. Police in riot gear responded with water cannons and tear gas.

“They are not students, they are criminals and extremists,” Interior and Security Minister Andres Chadwick said at a press conference. “They’ve acted in a coordinated and planned way to provoke these acts of violence.”

Chile’s powerful student movement has staged major demonstrations to demand free and high quality education, along with the elimination of the profit motive at private universities. These demonstrations have been going on in the country since 2011, during which thousands of students have taken over schools and universities sporadically.

Although Chile’s education system is regarded by many as one of the best in Latin America, students argue it is deeply unfair. They say middle-class students have access to some of the best schooling in the region, while the poor have to be content with under-funded state schools. Students are demanding that the state be put back in control of the mostly privatized public universities.

In contrast to other protests, the student movement on Wednesday received the support of teachers, the CUT union, the professors union, the Federation of Port Workers and the CTC copper union, among other labor organizations.

Protesters also demanded a wider distribution of Chile’s copper wealth. Chile is the world’s top copper producer and has witnessed a surge in economic growth and investment, which the demonstrators say is not being used for the betterment of society as a whole. The South American country is afflicted by severe income inequality.

“This has to do with discontent that is deeply rooted in many sectors of society. But we’re the first ones to sympathize with people who are innocent victims of this violence, because there’s no way to justify these types of clashes,” Andres Fielbaum, president of the University of Chile student federation told state television.

Even after two years of student marches, students say they have seen few real benefits and the dispute over education reform remains a key electoral issue ahead of the November 17 presidential election.

For more information please see:

The Guardian – Chilean police evict student protesters from schools – 27 June 2013

BBC – Chilean students arrested in school raids after protests – 27 June 2013

RT Actualidad – Fuertes enfrentamientos marcan nueva jornada de protestas en Chile – 27 June 2013

NBC News – Violent clashes spoil Chile student protest – 27 June 2013

 Fox News Latino – Union members, miners join huge student protest in Chile – 26 June 2013