By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Managing Editor, News

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — Rios Montt, the former Guatemalan dictator, was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity last Saturday for killing more than 1,700 Ixil Mayan Indians during Guatemala’s 36-year civil war.  He was sentenced to 80 years in prison.  Montt is the first Latin American ex-leader to be convicted of genocide, and the first former, or current leader in the world to be convicted of genocide in his own country.

The 86-year old Montt held power in Guatemala from 1982-1983.  After overthrowing one leader during a coup, he was was overthrown immediately after.  During his year-long dictatorship, he commanded his troops to rape, torture, and murder thousands of Ixil Mayans when he implemented a scorched-earth policy against leftist rebels.  Troops massacred the indigenous population because they were thought to be assisting the rebels.  Over 200,000 people died during the course of the civil war.

After the civil war ended in 1996, Montt became a member of congress and was immune from prosecution.  Montt was indicted in January 2012 after losing his immunity when he finished his congressional term.  His attorneys tried to delay the trial in hopes that he would die before facing a court, however, attempts were futile when he and his former Chief of Military Intelligence, José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, went before Guatemala’s Supreme Court on March 19, 2013.

In a courtroom packed with Ixil Mayan people, garbed in traditional clothing, Judge Yassmin Barrios told Montt that he was “fully aware of plans to exterminate the indigenous Ixl population.”  Montt denied the charge, and proclaimed his innocence, claiming he never had control of the battlefield.  Former U.S. President, Ronald Reagan was a supporter of Montt, believed that Mott was “a man of great personal integrity.”  President Reagan believed that the dictator received a “bum rap” from rights groups when Montt implemented a scorched-earth policy.

The courtroom erupted in cheers after Montt, who claimed he had “never authorized, signed, proposed, or ordered attacks on a racial, ethnic, or religious group,” received his sentence.  “I feel happy.  May no one else ever have to go through what I did.  My community has been sad ever since this happened,” said Elena de Paz, an Ixil Mayan whose parents were killed and home was burned by soldiers when she was only two years old.  Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu was also satisfied by the court’s decision.  “Today we are happy, because for many years it was said that genocide was a lie, but today the court said it was true,” she said.

Amnesty International hailed the verdict, and called Montt’s trial “the trial of the decade.”

For further information please see:

Bloomberg News — Former Guatemalan Dictator Rios Montt Guilty of Genocide Charges — 11 May 2013

The Atlantic News Wire — Rios Montt Convicted of Genocide — 10 May 2013

Human Rights Watch — Guatemala: Rios Montt Convicted of Genocide — 10 May 2013

New York Times — Former Guatemalan Dictator Rios Montt Convicted of Genocide — 10 May 2013 

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – Thousands of students took to the streets today as protestors marched on the Chilean capital of Santiago demanded free education. The second national march of the year, protestors clashed with police despite the peaceful undertone as petrol bombs were met with tear gas and water cannons.

While Chile’s education system is regard highly among Latin American countries, protestors state that they are discriminatory and unfair. While the middle and upper class have access to top schooling, the poor are limited to under-funded state schools with no free universities available.

The movement began with numerous demonstrations in 2011, and shows no signs of letting up. Few have seen any new benefit in the past few years, but education reform is slated to be a large issue during this year’s November Presidential election. Nationwide students marched for the opportunity to the same access to the education systems that the rich of the nation have had for generations. While the movement is mainly peaceful, with students waving signs and chanting, nefarious elements turned parts of the march violent.

Whether or not the protesters themselves have become violent or small groups of ill-tempered individuals who have infiltrated the movement has become the main question for police officers. Throughout Latin America during seemingly peaceful protests, hooded vandals can be seen inciting police officers to take the bait by throwing stones, vandalize shops and throwing homemade incendiary devices. Their intentions however must be questioned, as once peaceful scuffles become increasingly dangerous and disruptive as riot police shut down the protests. Here in Santiago after petrol bombs were thrown, the once peaceful protest was forcibly shut down by police who were attempting to quell the riot favoring elements.

Last month, 100,000 students marched for free education. The protest left casualties as eight officers were injured, one in serious condition after being attacked with acid, with 109 protestors were detained for different offenses.

For more information please see:

BBC – Chile Students Resume Protests For Free Education – 8 May 2013

Edmonton Journal – Chile Students Stage Big Protest Demand Education Reform – 8 May 2013

BBC – Chile Student Protests Resume As 100,000 March – 11 April 2013

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SUCRE, Bolivia – A packed judiciary made their decision this week, despite constitutional restrictions, President Evo Morales would be able to seek a third term as President of Boliva.

Following other Latin American leaders on the right and left, the Bolivian supreme court announced that despite term limits set forth by the Bolivian constitution, President Morales would be eligible to seek a third 5 year term after his current term expires. The language of the constitution allows that a Presidential candidate may only seek re-election once. However Supreme Court ruled that despite this being Morales second attempt at re-election, his first would not count as this was a new ratified constitution, that differed from the ones that were in place when Morales sought his initial term, and its subsequent re-election. Indicating that next year’s vote will be legally counted as Morales’ first re-election.

Opponents are claiming foul play are in order. The new constituoon was ratified via referendum in 2009, which lead many at the time to question whether Morales would attempt to circumvent the resitrictions. Insiders say that the constitution was only ratified because of a promise that Morales would not attempt to run for a third term. As for the court decision, opposition leader Samuel Doria Medina of the National Unity party accused the Morales government of stacking the judiciary in a way that favored Morales’ policies.

After the Constitutional Courts statement, the Senate of Bolivia immediately passed the Law Enforcement Legislation which would allow Evo Morales on the bill for the December 2014 Presidential election. The bill was passed quite quickly and is likely to be ratified by the parliamentary majority supporting Morales.

Should Morales win, he will be the longest sitting President in Andean politics, and be the longest sitting ruler in Bolivian history

For more information, please see:

La Republica – Evo Morales: Senate Approves Bill Allowing third Candidacy – 7 May 2013

Financial Times – Boliva court Clears Evo Morales’ bid To Run For Third Term – 30 April 2013

CNN – Court Clears Path For Bolivia’s Morales to Run For 3rd Term – 30 April 2013

Reuters – Court Allows Bolivia’s Morales To Seek Second Re-Election – 29 April 2013

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – Forgotten, and alone, Juan Navarro languished in a Peruvian prison for 37 years without ever being convicted.  Charged with murder in 1976, he was incarcerated in the Lurigancho prison on August 3 of that year, where he would remain until his story was revealed, without a court date or trial.

His brain has to fail him as the 76 or possibly 78 year old man has the signs of dementia and can no longer remember details about his life. Only that he has been in prison surviving against the harsh conditions and that he has been incarcerated, “They ruined my teeth from so many hits and they chased me with a knife. … They wanted to slit my throat,” the problem with his incarceration, is that no one knows how he got to be there. Prison and judiciary  officials have no information or records concerning his imprisonment and confinement. A prison riot destroyed any records that would lead to information concerning his crime, or family.

Having spent 37 years in prison, he has officially spent more time in prison than Peruvian statutory regulations allow. Peruvian criminal sentencing statutes do not allow for a sentence over 35 years. Peruvian law also dictates that if you are imprisoned for over 36 months without an official sentence you would be freed. So even had Mr. Navarro been sentenced to the maximum possible sentence for the crime of murder, he would have had have been released two years ago. However these loopholes require someone to file paperwork on your behalf in order to streamline the process. Unfortunately until Mr. Navarro’s story was revealed on the radio, he had no family in order to file his writ.

These violations of habeas corpus are nothing new to Latin American prisons. According to the prison director at the San Pendro prison in Lima, only 1,291 prisoners of the approximately 8,6000 inmates have been sentenced.

Before anyone had the opportunity to file a writ of habeas corpus for Mr. Navarro the government took a proactive step and released the inmate. Demented and without family, Mr. Navarro has been taken in by residential care center that takes care of the elderly that have been forgotten and neglected by society.

For  more information, please see:

CNN – 37 Years In Prison, But Was He Sentenced? – 15 April 2013

La Republica – Freedom Granted To Oldest Lurigancho Prisoner – 11 April 2013

Peru 21 – Freed Old Man Who Was Imprisoned 37 Years Without Trial – 10 April 2013

RPP – Judiciary has Immediate Reease of Juan Navarro Acuna – 10 April 2013

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – The fight against illegal immigration in the United States has forced human traffickers into the sea. One new shocking twist has led to a dangerous trend as human traffickers have begun abandoning poor migrant works at sea, at the mercy of the sea and the slim hope that either the U.S. coast guard or Mexican navy picks them up.

In the past decade the United States has taken to tightening the security across the land border, doubling the number of Border Patrol agents and building hundreds of miles of fences and barriers in order to combat the stem of illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Illegal human traffickers and drug traffickers have remained consistent with their attempts to continuing their illegal importation, and have increasingly taken to the seas. However smuggling hundreds of migrant workers at a dock or abandoned beach is complicated and dangerous as an operation, leaving a high chance of being discovered, leading to another option, abandoning the cargo at sea.

With traffickers demanding high operating fees beforehand, there is little reason for them to finish the operation. At sea, they will feign engine trouble or radio trouble and force the migrants on to small boats without food or radios and tell them that they will return for them, without any intention of doing so. The Mexican navy has in the past months found an average of 10-12 boats of the coast of Baja California with wayward seafarers presumably abandoned by the smugglers.

With estimates of upwards of 300,000 migrants smuggled into the United States each year, the trend of sea smuggling is a shocking one. In order to battle this new frontier, it is likely that the coast guards and border patrols will likely need increased resources in order to watch the high seas. But either way, sources have indicated that there is likely going to be a “Dramatic increase now in drowning and other kinds of water fatalities and other kinds of danger associated with crossing in the water.”

The problem has become so perverse that Mexican maritime authorities have issued a warning “Do not allow yourself to be fooled and put your life at risk by leaving it in the hands of people without scruples whose only goal is obtaining money without caring about the lives of other human beings.”

One survivor indicated that she agreed to pay $12,000 to be smuggled via boat into the United States. She was found abandoned in a 31-foot vessel in the New Port harbor.

For more information, please see:

Fox News Latino – Smugglers Abandoning Migrants At Sea, Mexico Says – 30 April 2013

CNN – Mexico: Traffickers Abandoning Immigrants At Sea – 29 April 2013

UNODC – Migrant Smuggling – 1 January 2012

CNN – Mexican Smugglers Use Pacific As New Route – 23 September 2009