By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – United Nations’ Human Rights Council issued 148 recommendations for Venezuela recently, in part because of the various reports of government human rights abuses towards activists who have publicly criticized government policies. Venezuela, however, has rejected the recommendations despite requests for change from its own allies.

Humberto Prado, 48, an ex-prison inmate turned director and founder of a prison monitoring group, claims he has been fearing for his life ever since he became an activist for prison reform. After criticizing conditions in a prison where inmates rioted in June, Prado began receiving anonymous phone calls at all hours of the night threatening to kill him.

Government officials, however, have ignored his complaints and Prado suspects that they might even be behind the threats. As the harassment intensified and government indifference continued, Amnesty International helped Prado and his family flee to Spain.

Prado is one of many activists who have fallen victim to attacks after President Hugo Chavez took office. Over the last 12 years, 83 activists have been attacked or harassed and 10 have been killed.

Out of the cases involving attacks on activists in Venezuela this year, the Committee of Victims’ Relatives reports that only 13 percent of them are being tried in court while the remaining have been either dismissed or remain in the preliminary investigative stage.

According to the director of the Committee of Victims’ Relatives, Liliana Ortega, various nonprofit groups have been investigated for improper funding after publicly denouncing government policies. Additionally, human rights groups have also reported arbitrary police arrests of activists, illegal wiretapping and restrictions on public meetings.

Last Friday, during the United Nations Periodic Review of Human Rights convention in Geneva, some of Venezuela’s allies, including Brazil, Russia, and Turkey, expressed concern over Venezuela’s criminal procedures, specifically it’s procedural delays, and other human rights issues.

A member of the Venezuela delegation who attended the convention but who wants to remain anonymous was surprised to hear criticism coming from Venezuelan allies. “”The fact that the United States, Britain and Germany questioned the Judiciary was predictable, but Brazil’s criticisms were not,” he said.

The Brazilian delegation expressed concerned about how closely judges and prosecutors work together in criminal proceedings. They called for a more independent judiciary in order to guarantee citizens of Venezuela the essential conditions of a democracy.

For further information, please see:

ABC News – Threats, Violence Rising for Venezuelan Activists – 14 October 2011

El Universal – Even Allies Questioned Venezuela at the UN Human Rights Council – 14 October 2011

CNN – Venezuela Rejects Certain Human Rights Recommendations – 11 October 2011

El Universal – US Asks Venezuela to “Reconsider” Human Rights Suggestions

– 12 October  2011

By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A trial in Argentina that began in late February of this year and is now in its final phase of testimony may finally prove the strategic  plan to carry out approximately 500 baby abductions adopted by the nation’s military leaders during Argentina’s Dirty War.

The recent Dirty War trials are uncovering a painful time in Argentina’s history, a period of military dictatorship rule between 1976 and 1983 when around 500 babies were abducted and thousands of left-wing activists were murdered at the hands of the government. Efforts to locate the “disappeared” from this period have been on going by the grandmothers (”las abuelas de Plaza de Mayo”) and the now adult children of those murdered who question their own identity.

One of the accused in the case is Jorge Rafael Videla. Videla headed the military during Argentina’s dictatorship and is now being accused of spearheading the kidnapping operation which redistributed babies from left-wing mothers to military officials. He is among the 11 officials on trial for 35 acts of “illegal appropriation of minors.”

Victoria Montenegro, 35, is a daughter of the Dirty War who was abducted by a military colonel when she was a newborn. She was raised by Lt. Col. Hernán Tetzlaff, the man who killed her biological parents. Although Tetzlaff confessed to the murder in 2000, it was not until after her recent testimony in trial that Montenegro was finally able to accept the truth and shed the name he had given her.

Like many others who were abducted as babies, Montenegro was constantly lied to by her military parents and received a strong ideological education. “I grew up thinking that in Argentina there had been a war, and that our soldiers had gone to war to guarantee the democracy,” she stated. “And that there were no disappeared people, that it was all a lie.”

Thanks to more government support, advanced technology and a growing genetic data bank, the total number of recoveries as of August is 105.

The trial is shedding light on many mysteries surrounding the Dirty War, including a possible connection between some Dirty War crimes and the Argentinean Catholic Church which supported the military government at the time. Church officials in Argentina and at the Vatican have declined to comment on allegations of possible involvement.

For further information, please see;

The New York Times – Daughter of ‘Dirty War,’ Raised by Man Who Killed Her Parents – 08 October 2011

CNN – Argentina Presses Forward with Human Rights Trials – 06 October 2011

Reuters – Argentina Nixes Extradition in 1970s French Nun Case – 04 October 2011

The Guardian– Child of Argentina’s ‘Disappeared’ Fights for Right to Keep Adoptive Name – 23 September 2011

By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile — Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter signed a legislative proposal on Sunday that could potentially put a halt to the student and teacher led protests that have paralyzed high schools and universities around the country for over five months.

The legislation seeks to reform article 269 of the Penal Code by criminalizing illegal occupation or invasion of buildings and increasing penalties for public disorder, including the mistreatment of policemen, from 541 days to three years in jail. If approved, the new law will also force television channels to release tape used to record the protests so that authorities can identify and sanction individual protestors.

According to the Chilean government, students protests have incited violence, theft and have caused mass amounts of damage to property. “He that seeks to undermine peace and stability of the people, or damages public or private property will find this a tough legislation,” Pinera warned.

Student leaders, however, remain undeterred and have called for the continuation of street and campus protests this week after failed negotiations with the Chilean government over education reform on Wednesday.

Students are urging the government to increase taxes on the wealthy and fund free and high quality education for all but Pinera remains that “Nothing is free in life,” and that only the very poor will receive federal grants. After the United States, Chile ranks second in most expensive college tuitions in the Western Hemisphere.

Behind the student movement is Camila Vallejo, a 23-year-old geography student who has become an international celebrity with twice as many twitter followers as Pinera. Her quick notoriety on twitter has enabled her to direct the protests, rally student groups and even cast doubt on some of Pinera’s statements through twitter messages.

In response to Pinera’s claim that his 7 percent increase in education funding for 2012 was the biggest in Chilean history, Vallejo tweeted “How can this be an extraordinary effort if in 2011 it increased 13 percent, in 2009 15 percent and in 2008 24 percent?”

Vallejo told Associated Press on Wednesday that she is exhausted and would like to step down for a bit but feels obligated to stay and continue leading the fight. She believes that Pinera’s recent threat to criminalize the student protests shows that he wants to sabotage talks just as they begin.

Student leaders will take a vote on October 8 to decide whether to continue negotiation talks with the Chilean government.

For further information, please see:

Business Week – Chilean Students Prepare March After Government Talks Break Down– 06 October 2011

Associated Press – Pressure Grows As Chile Student Leader Opens Talks – 05 October  2011

Huffington Post – Chile Education Protests: Talks With Government Break Off – 05 October 2011

Latin News – Pinera Tries to Play Hardball – 03 October 2011

Santiago Times – Chilean Government to Criminalize School Seizures – 03 October 2011