by Emilee Gaebler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – A former Argentinian President will finally stand trial for the corruption scandals he was tied to during his terms in office.  Carlos Menem was directed to stand trial last week, by federal judge Ariel Lijo, for his involvement in the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) building.

The 1994 bombing completely wiped out the seven-story building.  There were 85 deaths, and more than 300 people injured, when a truck loaded with explosives drove straight into the structure.  Argentina, has the largest community of Jewish citizens in the Americas, outside the United States.

At the time, Argentinian prosecutors said the attack was planned and paid for by Iran who hired the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to carry it out.  Iran has adamantly denied any involvement.  Following the bombing relations between Iran and Argentina were completely frozen.  Argentina sought for years to extradite eight Iranian officials who allegedly masterminded the bombing.  No conviction, or even trial has ever been held regarding the attack.

In 2009 Menem was first accused of concealing and tampering with evidence that indicated the attack at AMIA had a Syrian connection.  Menem is the child of two Syrian immigrants.  A close family friend who died in 2010, Alberto Kanoore Edul, a Syrian-Argentine businessman, is alleged to have been involved.  It is believed that Menem ordered his staff to destroy evidence that linked Edul to the attack.

Judge Lijo has also issued that former judge Jose Galeano, who was in charge of the investigation, stand trial.  Menem is accused of pressuring Galeano to abandon further inquiries into Edul’s involvement.  Other officials also called to stand trial were: the former head of state intelligence, Hugo Anzorreguy; his deputy Juan Carlos Anchezar; former police chief Jorge Palacios; and a former federal police agent.

The Israel UN envoy in the US praised this “re-energizing” action and gave Argentina credit for rechecking the facts and trying to clear up and close the case.  In the past 18 years almost nothing has been done to investigate the attack.

Menem served two-terms as President of Argentina.  He was a member of the Peronist party and in the beginning he was very popular with the public.  However, his popularity decreased as his personal scandals and tough free-market policies alienated him from the public.  Corruption scandals emerged towards the end of his second-term, including charges of smuggling arms to Ecuador and Croatia in the 1990s.  He was recently cleared of these charges.

 

For more information, please see;

Buenos Aires Herald – AMIA Inquiry: Judge Announces Menem, Galeano to Stand Trial – 7 April 2012

J Space – Ex-Argentinian President to Stand Trial for AMIA Attack – 2 April 2012

Merco Press – Former President to Stand Trial in Relation to Argentina’s Deadliest Terrorist Attack – 1 April 2012

European Jewish Press – AMIA Bombing: Argentina’s Carlos Menem to be Tried for Obstruction – 31 March 2012

BBC – Argentina’s Carlos Menem Faces Bombing Trial – 30 March 2012

By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil — Amnesty International and human rights activists around the world are showing outrage at a Superior Court of Justice’s decision this week, which ruled that sex with a 12-year-old does not necessarily constitute statutory rape. The head of Amnesty International’s Brazil branch, Atila Roque, is concerned that this ruling will serve as a green light to rapists and discourage victims of sexual abuse from reporting their abusers.

A Brazilian law, adopted in 2009, forbids sex with anyone under the age of 14. This week, however, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice did not convict a man accused of having sex with three 12-year-olds because, among other things, the girls had previously worked as prostitutes and the incident occurred in 2002.  Amnesty International said in a statement that “It is of extreme concern that the protections provided by Brazil’s legislation in cases such as these have not been implemented.”

Brazil’s human rights minister, Maria do Rosario Nunes, believes the court’s ruling “would in practice spell impunity” and has pledged to try to get the case overturned. Tourism Minister, Gastao Vieira, agrees, and stated on Tuesday that “the exploitation of sex is a crime and those responsible for it must be punished.”

According to the court’s president, Ari Pargendler, the court is open to revisit the decision.

Underaged prostitution has drawn many tourists to Brazil over recent years. Brazil’s Tourism Ministry stated on Tuesday that over 2,000  websites have been found, many of them hosted in the United States, promoting Brazil as the “sex tourism” destination in 2011. The websites show pictures of women in sensual poses and encourages sexual encounters with minors.

Taking down and reporting these websites is going to be one of the many steps the Brazilian government will take to combat the sexual exploitation of underaged girls during the 2014 World Cup. Last year, members of the Brazilian government distributed posters and sponsored advertisements across the country containing warnings that the sexual exploitation of minors is considered a crime. The posters were also distributed to the United States, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Spain.

 

For further information, please see:

ABC News – Brazil: Critics Slam Court’s Underage Sex Verdict – 30 March 2011

The Global Post – Human Rights Group Outraged At Brazil’s Underage Sex Ruling – 30 March 2012

The Washington Post – Critics Slam Brazilian Appeals Court’s Lenient Verdict in Sex With Minors Case – 30 March 2012

Associated Press – Brazil Takes on Websites That Promote Sex Tourism – 27 March 2012

 

by Emilee Gaebler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – On Tuesday of this week, 24-year-old Daniel Zamudio passed away.  His death is sparking calls for the passage of new national anti-discrimination laws in Chile.  Zamudio, an openly homosexual youth, was violently beaten up by a gang of men in a park, 25 days ago, on March 4.

The men carved swastika symbols into Zamudio’s body and stubbed cigarette butts out on him.  News reports state that the attackers beat Zamudio for roughly an hour with bottles and rocks, cut off a portion of his ear, broke his leg and left him with severe head injuries.  Doctors at the Santiago Emergency Assistance Public Hospital worked to keep Zamudio alive but on March 19 he suffered a heart attack and his condition deteriorated.

The four men accused of the attack are members of the neo-Nazi group, Nazis del Centro (Downtown Nazis).  They are all four currently in custody, on attempted murder charges, but prosecutor Ernesto Vasquez is asking that be changed to premeditated murder, which carries a life sentence.  At least one of the men already has a prior record for assaults on homosexual individuals.

Gay rights groups throughout the country are asking that torture charges be included as well.  Jaime Parada, spokesmen for Chile’s Movement for Homosexual Liberation and Integration, spoke out about how this aggressive attack highlights the fear that homosexuals in Chile must live with.

“We are fighting for an anti-discrimination law, for changes in language so people stop treating us like we are ill and make sure that the church does not treat us like sinners and so on,” said Parada.

Seven years ago, an anti-discrimination law was first proposed, but it was never passed due to pressure from Evangelical Christian groups. Chilean government officials are promising to focus on getting that passed.  Chile’s Interior Minister, Rodrigo Hinzpeter, currently acting as President while President Piñera is in Asia, affirmed this.  Hinzpeter spoke outside the hospital, the day Zamudio died, to a hostile crowd who booed him.

“Since this aggression, Daniel’s murder happened, we have had a relative education on how we are going to construct a more harmonious society, with more love, where no one – no one – is discriminated against for any reason, because all Chileans have the same rights.  There is no-one in our society who can feel such murderous arrogance that they can attack and assault a fellow citizen for any reason,” said Hinzpeter.

There has been a general public outcry in the wake of the attack because people feel that the government is not doing enough to protect those who are victims of hate crimes.

 

For more information, please see;

La Razón – Asesinato de Joven Homosexual Conmociona a Sociedad Chilena – 29 March 2012

The Washington Post – In Chile, Beating Death of Gay Man Stirs Change – 29 March 2012

BBC – Chile Prosecutors Seek Murder Charges Over Gay Attack – 28 March 2012

NTN24 News – Murder of Gay Man by Suspected Neo-Nazi Group Shakes Chile – 28 March 2012

EDGE – Gay Man Brutally Attacked in Chilean Capital Remains in Critical Condition – 25 March 2012

by Emilee Gaebler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – On March 19, two male nurses in Uruguay were charged with the murders of 16 patients and held without bail after confessing their guilt in front of Judge Rolando Vomero.  The names of the two men have not been released to the press at this time.  Instead they have been simply identified as J.A.A. age 46, and M.P.G. age 39.

The two nurses do not appear to have been working together.  J.A.A. worked at the Asociación Española, a private caregiving facility, where he admits to killing 11 patients.  M.P.G. was employed at the Hospital Maciel, where he admitted to causing the deaths of another 5 patients.  A single female nurse was also arraigned with them on charges of covering up their deeds.

The charges against the two men are for the deaths of at least 16 patients at this time.  Reports have surfaced that there are more than that so investigators are currently looking in depth at patient’s records for the two hospitals.  Public news outlets in Uruguay believe that dozens more patients were killed by the men.  At a recent news conference one of the men said he had killed at least 50 patients and the other said he had lost count long ago of how many he had killed.

The hospital’s spokespeople and the health minister of the government are stressing that there is substantial rebuilding now required to instill faith and credibility back in to the health system.  The first step is to establish just how extensive this operation was.

Ines Massiotti, a lawyer for one of the nurses, stressed that both her client and the other nurse acted out of pity due to their extensive years working in the intensive care units and being exposed to death and suffering.

“My client is fully aware of his actions.  He fully confessed in front of the judge [and] prosecutor, and his defense is he did it out of mercy,” said Massiotti.

Attorney Santiago Clavijo echoed a similar statement noting that these were not “vicious” killings but rather done to stop the pain they witnessed the patient’s experiencing.  Prosecutors contest this noting that many of the patients targeted were not terminally ill.  In fact, one of the victims had release papers signed the day before she was killed.

Investigators believe that the two were killing patients in a number of ways, including; overdosing patients with the drug morphine and injecting air bubbles into their blood streams.  Health officials expressed profound concern for the situation and stressed that they would be fully cooperative during the investigation.

 

For more information, please see;

Latin American Herald Tribune – Nurses Accused of Killing 16 in Uruguay Hospitals – 21 March 2012

CNN – 2 Nurses in Uruguay Charged in Slayings of Patients – 20 March 2012

BBC – Nurses Confess to Killing 16 Patients at Uruguay Hospital – 19 March 2012

CBS – Uruguay Nurses Charged with Murdering 16 with Morphine – 19 March 2012

Daily Mail Reporter – Two Nurses Arrested in Uruguay After Poisoning 200 Hospital Patients in Mercy Killings – 19 March 2012