By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haiti’s former dictator known as “Baby Doc” return to Haiti was not the homecoming he might have expected. Fleeing the country in 1986 fearing political upheaval and pressure from the United States the ex-president returned to Haiti in early 2011 after a 25 year exile. Upon his return a Haitian court has levied charges of embezzlement; however human rights groups have demanded that he not be excused for his regimes human rights abuses.

Duvalier took the office of “President for Life” at age 19 after his father, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier in 1971. Baby Doc ruled Haiti with his brutal militia in order to maintain control of the country.

Some people speculate that Duvalier’s return may have been for legal impunity. While a January 2012 Haitian court declared that Mr. Duvalier would have to stand trial on the count of embezzling public funds, the court also declared that the statute of limitations had run out on the charges of murder, torture and forced disappearances.

While the statute of limitations may have run out for murder according to Haitian courts, Amnesty International and Navi Pillary, the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Human Rights was quick to point out that there is no limitation for international crimes such as torture, extrajudicial executions, and violations under international law. Pillary continued that Haitian authorities must not allow crimes and abuses from the regime go unpunished, as crimes done in an official capacity do not bar a sovereign from claiming immunity from the civil or criminal jurisdictions of foreign states.

Ex-President Duvalier was supposed to stand before a Court of Appeals judge earlier this month to see if he would stand trial for human rights abuses. The ex-President already missed a January 31^st and February 7^th hearing date which would have decided whether or not he would face a Haitian court for human rights abuses for crimes committed under his regime.

The exiled leaders’ refusal to attend a hearing where he might be charged with crimes against humanity has been seen as an affront to his victims and their families. There have been suggestions from Haitian human rights groups that he be seized and stripped of his diplomatic passport so he would meet his next court date and not flee the country. So far the former president has not been penalized for his blatant skirting of the law and its procedures.

For more information, please see:

ABC – Haiti’s ‘Baby Doc’ Summoned To Court After No-Show – 21 February 2013

BBC – Haiti’s ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier Avoids Appearing In Court – 21 February 2013

El Confidencial – Jean Claude Duvalier Also Appeared In Court This Time Haiti – 21 February 2013

Noticias Sin – Duvalier Haitian Court Orders Be Carried Hearing Next Week – 21 February 2013

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – Chile made important steps in the fight against moral indecency this week with a series of arrests against child pornographers. The Investigations Police of Chile (PDI) arrested an interim official of the Superintendent of Education in the distract of Los Lagos for the crime of possession and distribution of child pornography. The investigation began last July after an anonymous tip on a YouTube video brought it to investigators attention.

Using a pseudonym, the official used websites to contact children between the ages of 6 and 14 in order to participate in sexual services for monetary compensation. The investigation led the commissioner of the Computer Crimes Squad of the PDI to vimeo.com which the accused maintained under the same pseudonym. Investigators searched through the sites history and identified at least 27 instances of explicit child pornography.

While the now former Superintendent has been arrested, and indicated that he would like to remain in custody – fearing community retribution – there is indication that he has been released on bail, subject to nightly check ins. Records indicate that when he was arrested at his home, police took from his hard-drives, CDs and DVDs more than 470 saved videos and about 160,000 images of child pornography. These materials will be used as evidence at his upcoming hearing where his charges will be formalized as distribution of child pornography in which he is expected to receive a 38 year sentence. Some of the photographs were of subjects under nine years old.

Along with the Superintendents arrest, the Cybercrime Brigade of the PDI arrested another man in Puente Alto for the storage and distribution of child pornography. Records indicate that that he lured two fifteen year old neighbors into his home under the guise of the use of his pool and gifts. He then forced them into a state of undress using death threats against them and their families. He was on parole for a 2010 charge of sexual abuse of a 14 year old. This event took place during a church retreat where the individual was serving as a catechist.

This is just the latest in Chile’s crackdown on predatory abuse of child exploitation rings. After President Sebasitan Pinera promised the creation of database and registry for child pornographers the PDI busted a large child prostitution ring in Santiago which lead to the arrest of numerous high-profile clients. Pinera has indicated that reports of child sex abuse increased 20 percent last year to 21,176.

For more information, please see:

Terra – Cybercrime Brigade Of PDI Subject Arrested Accused Of Producing Child Pornography – 21 February 2013

La Nacion – He Threatened Two Neighbors Of 15 Years And Forced Them To Produce Child Pornography – 21 February 2013

Terra – PDI Arrested Charged With Producing Child Pornography – 21 February 2013

Cronical Libre – PDI Public Official Arrested By Storing 455 videos And More Than 175,000 Child Pornography Photos – 21 February 2013

The Jakarta Post – Chile Announces Measures To Fight Child Sex Abuse – 19 July 2012

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

 BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – A Colombian tribunal has restored land stolen from 32 displaced families as part of the country’s land restitution law. Residents of Córdoba have been the target of numerous threats and intimidation. A tribunal that specializes in land restitution issues ruled on February 13^th for the restitution of 405 acres of land on the Santa Paula Farm.

The land restitution office was created by the Victims and Land Restitution Law in 2011 which is supposed to return over 4.9 million acres to the displaced owners affected by the nearly 50 year conflict.The new law aims to return millions of acres that belonged to Colombians who have fled their homes due to violence in addition to financial compensation, all of these displaced Colombians are victims of human rights violations and infractions of international humanitarian law.

“This ruling restores victims’ ownership over land seized by one of Colombia’s most powerful paramilitary mafias, in a region where it continues to exercise influence. It is a milestone achievement for Colombia’s land restitution office and the victims who have courageously stepped forward to reclaim their land,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director at Human Rights Watch.

Mario Cuitiva, a member of one of the families claiming rights to the farm has been the target of threats and intimidation which caused him to flee in November 2012.  Cuitivia, is not the first member of these displaced families to experience repercussions. Yolanda Izquierdo, a former leader of the effort to reclaim the Santa Paula farm was shot in January 2007. The shooter is Sor Teresa Gómez, member of the AUC, the right winged paramilitary organization that planned the theft of the land. There are 49 members of the families who have had threats made against them.

There has been debate in Colombia by how successful the land restitution law has been. The Interclesial Commission for Justice (CIJP), a NGO, has accused associates for former president Uribe in blocking land restitution. Many of those associates have links to paramilitaries and are undergoing investigation. “Officials of the government of Uribe, and persons of his entourage are engaging in actions legal and illegal [to block land restitution]. For example people were fraudulently chosen as representatives of their communities. They are businessmen or put forward by businessmen – businessmen linked to paramilitaries,” said Jesus Alberto Franco, a spokesman for the CIJP.

The land restitution office has filed an additional 80 claims to the land and are awaiting the rulings.

 

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch — Colombia: Landmark Ruling for Land Restitution – 20 Feb 2013

Colombia Reports — Paramilitaries, Uribe’s Associates ‘Blocking’ Land Restitution: NGO – 15 Feb 2013

Amnesty International — The Challenges of Colombia’s Victims’ Law – 15 June 2011

Human Rights Watch — Colombia: Victims Law a Historic Opportunity – 10 June 2011

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO, Ecuador – Rafael Correa won the presidential election earlier this month by a wide margin. Correa’s win could mean more media regulations on the country.

“No one will stop our revolution….We have never failed and we will never fail,” a jubilant Mr. Correa told a screaming crowd from a balcony at the government palace after the results were announced.

Correa won this year’s election he won with 57% of the vote, his closest opponent was Guillermo Lasso, a former banker who had 23% of the vote. Correa has only been office since 2007 but is the country’s longest serving President in decades with this second term. Since taking office, Ecuador’s poverty rate has dropped to 32.4%. The number of government employees has increased from 16,000 to 90,000. He has improved access to education and health care as well as improved the country’s roadways.

During Correa’s first term, he made radical changes including changing electoral law and the constitution to allow for consecutive political terms.

He has had a tough policy regarding media outlets that issues out fines and lawsuits when the outlets are critical of his government. Despite Correa’s win, many are worried that his win will threaten the free press. A specific concern is a proposed communications law, which could lead to more checks on the media.

“We hope that the confrontation and harassment of the press is over, but we hope that the confrontation and harassment of the press is over, but we see the risk of trying to control the media’s content and establish prior censorship of journalist work,” Vicente Ordoñez, president of the country’s National Journalist Union, said Monday.

Current media laws in place make it illegal for biased political reporting. Examples of these laws since May 2012 include at least eleven radio stations have been closed and Vistazo magazine was charged with an $80,000 fine after being accused of violating a political propaganda law. Violations are ruled on by a tribunal or the country’s Constitutional Court.

Corerea has had repeated problems with the national newspaper El Universo, Ecuador’s National Court of Justice ratified a decision sentencing the paper’s owners and former columnist to three years in prison for defaming the president and fined them $40 million. After worldwide criticism, Correa pardoned the journalist and waived the fine.

Other criticisms facing Correa stem from his prosecution of indigenous leaders for organizing protests against large-scale mining projects.

 

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Ecuador’s Correa Wins Third Presidential Term – 18 Feb 2013

The Guardian — Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa Says Citizens Will Be in Charge, Not Money – 18 Feb 2013

Wall Street Journal — Ecuador Election Win Seen Tightening Correa’s Grip – 18 Feb 2013

New York Times — President Correa Handily Wins Re-election in Ecuador – 17 Feb 2013

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO, Ecuador – The authorization for a Chinese company’s development of a large copper mine within Ecuador’s amazon province incited hundreds of protesters claiming that the mining would contaminate the water sources and force people from their lands. In today’s Ecuador, these people might be deemed terrorists.

It’s becoming harder to identify exactly what a terrorists in Ecuador does. Years ago it was the bombing of civilians and diplomats for political and military leverage, today? It’s the protests and resistance to what the government calls development, but what the protesters characterize as the protection of the amazon.

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, in an attempt to halt the growing expansionism of Amazonian lands has stated numerous times, that the president had failed in his promise to defend the interests of Ecuador’s indigenous population, and is in fact prosecuting 189 Indian leaders on the grounds that they are terrorists despite his promises to support the people and their environmental interests. In a statement “The person that has infringed most on our rights in the past four years has been the president.”

In a special assembly held last year, the infamous “head shrinking” Shuar tribe of Ecuador declared “The Amazon does not have to pay for the external debt the government has with china.” When Canadian and Chinese mining companies came to strip mine swathes of land, they lived up to those words. In the last ten years indigenous tribes have begun taking militant action against those that would destroy the eco-integrity of the land. And for that work, they have been deemed to be committing terrorism by Ecuadorians President Rafael Correa.

With the growth of South American infrastructure and the move to total industrialization the demand for oil is growing. This growth has led to a quickening arrival of drills from China and Canada, and unfortunately for the indigenous tribes of the amazon rain forest, who live and rely on the ecosystem underneath the lush rain forest, are vast deposits of oil, metals and minerals.

Armed resistance and violence continues against mining camps, and have been met with state security forces and the strong arm of Correa who has made a hobby out of arresting activists and intimidating journalists who threaten his conjured image of the ecologically minded man-of-the-people.

As hostiles continue, the Shuar tribe echoed a call for resistance, “to get the gold, they will have to kill everyone of us.”

For more information, please see:

Salon – “To Get The Gold, They Will Have To Kill Every One Of Us” – 10 February 2013

Red State – Ecuador’s Hugo Chavez – 7 February 2013

Pachamama Alliance – Shaur Assembly Says: “The Amazon Does Not Have To Pay For The External Debt The Government Has With China” – 1 October 2012

Al Jazeera – Indigenous Resistance Is The New ‘Terrorism’ – 10 July 2011