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Update: German Sues Macedonia for Alleged Role In CIA Rendition

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SKOPJE, Macedonia – A German citizen who has alleged he was abducted and tortured as part of the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program began a legal battle against Macedonia last week.  Khaled el-Masri claims he was abducted in 2003 from Macedonia, and then transferred to a secret prison in Afghanistan where he says he was interrogated and tortured.  El-Masri is seeking official recognition of his ordeal from the Macedonian government.

According to el-Masri, he was vacationing in Macedonia in December 2003 when his passport was confiscated at the border.  He says that he was detained for 27 days in Macedonia before being flown to a secret CIA prison in Afghanistan where he was interrogated and abused for five months before being abandoned on a road in Albania.

The current court case in Macedonia is estimated to take up to two years. El-Masri is seeking $69,000 in compensation and an apology from the Macedonian government on the grounds that Macedonia sanctioned his abduction and then blocked investigations into the matter.  One of el-Masri’s lawyers in Macedonia said, “[t]o start with, it would be good if Macedonia at least apologizes to el-Masri.”

In October, the European Court of Human Rights communicated a case to the Macedonia government, asking it to answer questions regarding el-Masri’s abduction. That was the first time the court asked any European countries to answer for its alleged role in the CIA-led rendition program.

Macedonian officials have denied any involvement in el-Masri’s abduction.  However, there is recent evidence that some officials in Macedonia were dedicated to keeping the el-Masri case out of the news and the court.  In a diplomatic cable from the US embassy in Skopje released by Wikileaks, then-Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski is cited as promising the US ambassador that he would continue to stonewall local press requests to discuss the el-Masri case.

The current case in Macedonia is the latest development in a string of failed attempts to hold someone accountable for what was done to el-Masri. El-Masri filed suit in the US in 2007, but the case was never heard in court due to the risk of revealing “state secrets.”  In 2007, Germany issued arrest warrants for 13 CIA operatives suspected of involvement in the el-Masri abduction, but Germany has since dropped pursuing the matter, allegedly because of pressure and thinly-veiled threats from the US.  In 2009, a public prosecutor in Macedonia ruled there was not enough evidence to pursue a criminal trial in the matter.

According to sources of the Washington Post and NBC News at the time, el-Masri’s abduction was a case of mistaken identity, and the CIA agents who allegedly abducted el-Masri thought he was an al-Qaeda affiliated man with a similar last name of al-Masri.  A former CIA official told the Washington Post that the CIA analyst who pushed for el-Masri’s rendition “didn’t really know. She just had a hunch.”  According to sources of the Washington Post and NBC News, the CIA realized its mistake after holding el-Masri for two months, but continued to hold him for three additional months until then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice twice ordered him released.

According to a report released on Wednesday by the Associated Press, the lawyer who signed off on the el-Masri rendition was formally reprimanded by the CIA, and she is currently the advisor to the Near East division.  The CIA analyst who pushed for el-Masri’s rendition never received a formal reprimand from the CIA.  She has since received a promotion, and currently runs the CIA unit that leads U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

For more information, please see:

AP – AP IMPACT: At CIA, grave mistakes, then promotions – 9 Feb. 2011

TPM LIVEWIRE – CIA Officials Involved in Abuse and Wrongful Detention Rarely Reprimanded, Sometimes Promoted – 9 Feb. 2011

AP – German sues over alleged CIA kidnapping, torture – 2 Feb. 2011

AFP – Macedonian hearing over rendition flights opens – 2 Feb. 2011

SPIEGAL ONLINE – Cables Show Germany Caved to Pressure from Washington – 9 Dec. 2010

HARPER’S MAGAZINE – The El-Masri Cable – 29 Nov. 2010

WASHINGTON POST – Wrongful Imprisonment: Anatomy of a CIA Mistake — 4 Dec. 2005

NBC News – CIA accused of detaining innocent man – 21 April 2005

Cambodia and Thailand Armies Shed Blood Over Hindu Temple

David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch, Asia

PHON PENH, Cambodia – Thai and Cambodian troops continue to fight over a disputed area surrounding a 900-year-old Hindu temple.

The 900-year-old Hindu temple of Preah Vihear on the Thai-Cambodian border
The 900-year-old Hindu temple of Preah Vihear on the Thai-Cambodian border

The International Court of Justice awarded it to Cambodia in 1962 but the ruling did not determine the ownership of the scrub next to the ruins, leaving considerable scope for disagreement

On Friday, there was intense two-hour fighting between the neighboring forces, which left soldiers and a villager killed. On Saturday, troops fought with rocket-propelled grenades and guns, prompting residents to flee the area.

Shelling and machine gunfire echoed around the contested area on Monday around the ancient Preah Vihear temple claimed by both Southeast Asian neighbors, witnesses said.

Although sporadic clashes in the area are not unusual, it is rare for the two sides to fight over consecutive days. A call for “maximum restraint” to cease the hostilities was announced by Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general.

At least eight people were killed in four days of cross-border violence, which forced thousands of families to flee on both sides of the frontier.

This has been considered the most deadly clash since Preah Vihear was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008, a move that sparked sporadic skirmishes between the neighbors.

The temple was damaged on Sunday by Thai artillery fire, according to Cambodia, which said one wing of the building had “collapsed” as a result.

Thai officials, however, dismissed Cambodia’s account as propaganda. The true extent of damage is unknown.

With Prime Minister Hun Sen accusing Thailand of “repeated acts of aggression”, the country urged the UN Security Council to intervene in the fighting.

Thailand played down the reports of fresh fighting, with a military source near the border describing the incident as a “misunderstanding”, involving only small arms fire.

On Sunday, Wayne Hay, an Al Jazeera correspondent at the Thai-Cambodia border, reported seeing artillery fire streaming across the night sky, as well as ambulances heading towards the disputed area.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn says occasional skirmishes were due to the unsecured nature of the border. He says it demonstrates a need to step up efforts under a memorandum of understanding aimed at resolving the territorial conflict peacefully.

“This is why we urge Cambodia to work with us more rapidly under the MOU to negotiate the clear demarcations so we can secure the borders much more effectively,” he said.

Hundreds of Thai nationalists with the People’s Alliance for Democracy, known as the Yellow Shirts, have been protesting near government offices for two weeks demanding they get tough with Cambodia.

Panthep Pourpongphan is a spokesman for the PAD, said “[t]his fighting, is kind of evidence, is quite clear evidence that this kind of MOU has so many problems that we need to stop it and [start] new negotiations with a new MOU,” Pourpongphan stated.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve a border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia gained momentum on Wednesday, with the two neighbors set to address the UN Security Council next week.

Thailand also raised the possibility of the first face-to-face talks between the two countries’ foreign ministers.

“This war will be resolved through the mechanism of the United Nations,” Hun Sen said in a speech in the Cambodian capital.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera –Thai-Cambodia clashes continue – 7 February 2011

Voice of America – Thailand, Cambodia Border Fighting Breaks Out Amid Tensions – 4 February 2011

Channel News Asia – Cambodia, Thailand to face UN over border dispute – 9 February

Romanian Customs Chief Fired Amid Allegations of Illegal Smuggling and Corruption

By David Sophrin
Europe, Senior Desk Editor

BUCHAREST, Romania – Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc fired the nation’s chief customs official Radu Marginean earlier this week as allegations have arisen that Marginean had been taking bribes in association with illegal smuggling efforts along the nation’s southwestern border with Serbia.

Marginean, who was the Head of the National Customs Authority, has denied this allegations.  Nevertheless, he is just the latest person indicted in a larger effort by the Romanian government recently to crack down on the illegal smuggling of cigarettes across its international borders.  In the last week, the Romanian Anticorruption Directorate has detained 97 customs officials and police officers allegedly linked to these allegations and questioned approximately 150 persons.

These detentions are the culmination of an investigation by the Directorate  which focused in on cigarette smuggling along the Romania-Serbia border.  The investigation established that a number of shifts of customs officers at certain border checkpoints were collecting around 6,000 euros each day for their participation in the smuggling efforts.

This investigation is part of Romania’s effort to enter into the European Union’s ‘passport fee Schengen zone’.  Each nation that is party to this zone must demonstrate that it has made concentrated efforts to combat organized crime, forged commercial and passport documents, and issue updated biometric passports.

Despite these arrests, Romania’s entry into the Schengen zone remains in doubt.  While Romanian President Traian Basecu has publicly claimed that his country has met all ‘technical criteria’ necessary to join, France and Germany have both requested a delay in a vote on whether to let Romania enter, citing continuing concerns over considerable gaps in Romania’s border security apparatus.

In recent years, Romania has lost almost a billion euros of possible tax revenue as a result of illegal cigarette smuggling.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Romania’s customs chief sacked after corruption charges – 10 February 2011

BLOOMBERG – Romania Detains Customs Officials on Corruption Charges – 10 February 2011

B92 – Customs fired over cigarette smuggling scandal – 10 February 2011

FARC To Begin Hostage Release Monday

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Rescuers Ready Helicopters for Hostage Release (photo courtesy of Colobia Reports)
Rescuers Ready Helicopters for Hostage Release (photo courtesy of Colombia Reports)

BOGOTA, Colombia – Piedad Cordoba will travel to Brazil Monday to pick up the Brazilian helicopters and personnel involved in the planned release of five FARC hostages.

On her twitter account, the former Senator said “Friends, we are working out the latest details of the releases. Monday at noon the operation begins and I will leave for Brazil.”  According to the Red Cross, the first actual release is planned to take place on Wednesday.

Red Cross delegate to Colombia Christophe Beney told members of the press that Red Cross members and Cordoba will first pick up council member Marcos Vaquero in the southern Colombia and return him to the city of Villavicencio. On Friday, the helicopters will pick up council member Armando Acuña and marine Henry Lopez and bring them to Florencia.

Police major Guillermo Solorzano and soldier Salin Antonio Sanmiguel, the last two hostages, will “hopefully” be picked up the following weekend and be brought to the city of Ibague before Monday. “If there’s no surprises, this will be the order of the operation,” Beney said.

The release is a victory for freedom, not for the FARC. According to some media outlets, some people think that if the FARC kidnapped these people then they should not gain any publicity by setting them free.  However, this view “demonstrates a lack of understanding of both kidnapping and the significance of political kidnapping.”

To publicize the release with continuous reporting  only strengthens democratic institutions and denigrates the FARC, according to other media outlets.

For more information, please see:

Colombia Reports – FARC Hostage Release Operation to Begin Monday – 4 February 2011

Colombia Reports – The FARC Hostage Release: Who Benefits? – 3 February 2011

NDT Television – Colombia Readies Airports for Release of Hostages – 1 February 2011

Chile, Peru Integration To Decrease Poverty

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Perus President Alan Garcia and Chilean President Sebastian Piñera at the residence of the Peruvian Embassy to Chile (photo courtesy of www.andina.com)
Peru's President Alan Garcia and Chilean President Sebastian Piñera at the residence of the Peruvian Embassy to Chile (photo courtesy of www.andina.com)

SANTIAGO, Chile – Chilean President Sebastian Piñera and Peruvian President Alan Garcia agreed on Wednesday to downplay Lima’s suit against Santiago over maritime boundaries in favor of economic integration to combat poverty and underdevelopment.  On Wednesday, Piñera received his Peruvian counterpart at La Moneda palace on a visit that came just two months after the Chilean leader’s trip to Lima.

To reporters, Garcia acknowledged that during the meeting with Piñera, the pair discussed the case that his country brought in 2008 before the International Court of Justice at The Hague to adjust the maritime border with Chile in Peru’s favor.

The leaders agreed that their countries will respect the ruling of the ICJ. They also stated that the lawsuit must not obstruct the rest of the common agenda and emphasized that the two nations are presently going through their best period in terms of bilateral relations. Garcia stated “Peru should never fall into the condition of an international pariah” by not accepting the ICJ ruling.

The Chilean leader said that the two countries “are not only at the best moment of their relations, but have a world of possibilities” before them, among which he cited bilateral trade, which in 2010 reached $3 billion for the first time. The presidents also discussed the important flow of cross-border investment, which has seen Chilean investors pour some $9 billion into Peru since 1990, compared with $3 billion in Peruvian investments in Chile.

“The enemies of Chile and Peru are the same: poverty, the poor quality of education and underdevelopment,” said Piñera. On Wednesday, Piñera is scheduled to visit the Chilean Congress, which meets in the coastal city of Valparaiso.

For more information, please see:

Andina – President Garcia Heads Back to Lima After Fruitful Visit to Chile – 20 January 2011

Andina – Chile, Peru Integration to Contribute to Growth – 19 January 2011

Latin American Herald Tribune – Leaders of Chile and Peru Embrace Integration – 19 January 2011