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Amnesty Pressures Bahrain’s Allies to End Human Rights Crisis

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain – Amnesty International has called on the allies of Bahrain to address the ongoing human rights crisis in that nation, in particular, the Bahraini government’s attempts to suppress peaceful demonstrations.  Bahrain: A Human Rights Crisis claims that those governments who have a close relationship with Bahrain must pressure the authorities there to end the crackdown on opposition forces.

A director of Amnesty International stated that “[North American and European governments] must be much more robust in pressing the Bahraini authorities to uphold their international human rights obligations.”

Since March of this year, protestors have been calling for the reform of the government.  On March 16, the Bahraini government attempted to suppress the protests by using shotguns, rubber bullets, tear gas, and in some instances, live ammunition.  The use of such weapons could not be justified.

Over five hundred people have been arrested in the past month.  Most of those arrested were Shi’a Muslim protestors.  Even now, no one knows where many of these protestors are located.  Some of those who have been detained were also tortured following their arrests. Four detainees died while in custody.

Among the detainees are medical doctors and nurses.  Although the exact reasons for their arrests are unknown, these individuals may have been arrested as a result of treating protestors, playing an active role in demonstrations, and criticizing the government.  In addition, protestors have also been fired from their jobs in government service and state institutions, including teachers and university lecturers.  These dismissals have been justified as breaches of their employment contracts.

The human rights organization states in its paper that “Bahrainis need to see their government acting decisively and transparently to reverse this downward trend and begin a process of rebuilding trust and confidence in its institutions.”.

For more information please see:
Al Jazeera – Rights Groups Slam Bahraini Crackdown – 23 April 2011

Boston Globe – Medical Workers Missing in Bahrain – 23 April 23, 2011

Amnesty International – Bahrain: International Pressure Needed Now to Halt Spiralling Human Rights Crisis – 21 April 2011

Amnesty International – Bahrain: A Human Rights Crisis – 21 April 2011

Healing the Wounds: Speech, Identity & Reconciliation in Rwanda and Beyond

Courtesy of Cardozo Program in Holocaust & Human Rights Studies

Colombian Judiciary Denies Allegations Of Bribery

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Supreme Court President Camilo Tarquino holds press conference to deny bribery allegations (photo courtesy of Colombia Reports)
Supreme Court President Camilo Tarquino holds press conference to deny bribery allegations (photo courtesy of Colombia Reports)

BOGOTA, Colombia – On Tuesday, Colombia’s Supreme Court denied allegations that its judges were bribed by the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a now demobilized paramilitary organization, to elect Mario Iguaran as prosecutor general in 2005.

According to Supreme Court President Camilo Tarquino, the accusations are “preposterous and unthinkable.” During a press conference, Tarquin stressed that ” the election was carried out transparently,” also noting that “every time the court is working on something a new controversy arises to deflect attention from the real and important processes.”

The Supreme Court’s denial of the allegations comes after former Prosecutor General Mario Iguaran, the now Ambassador to Egypt, denied the allegations in a Monday press conference. Iguaran stated “for me it is no surprise that the embassy had noticed a rumor existed. I already knew the embassy had. I don’t see magistrates received money to elect me.”

According to a recently released WikiLeaks cable, the United States Embassy in 2008 expressed its concern about rumors regarding alleged bribes by paramilitary chief “Macaco” to secure Iguaran’s election. The reported rumors add to the 2010 testimony of an extradited AUC member who claimed that Macaco paid more than $2.5 million to Supreme Court magistrates to secure Iguaran’s election.

Iguaran served as the prosecutor general from 2005-2009 and was an a leading force behind the prosecution of politicians with ties to the AUC. Former presidential candidate Gustavo Petro has demanded a probe be initiated to investigate the allegations.

For more information, please see:

Colombia Reports –Supreme Court Denies Paramilitary Bribery Allegations – 1 March 2011

Inside Costa Rica – Colombia’s Ex-Attorney General Accused of Alleged Links to Paramilitary – 1 March 2011

Colombia Reports – Ex-Prosecutor General Rejects Paramilitary Bribe Claims – 28 February 2011

E.U. Nations Disagree Over Refugee Plan for Libya

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

Boat of Refugees docks in Lampedusa, Italy on February 21. (Photo courtesy of AFP).
Boat of refugees docks in Lampedusa, Italy on February 21. (Photo courtesy of AFP).

BRUSSELS, Belgium – As violence and revolution continues to rattle nations throughout North Africa, European Union (E.U.) members disagree on how to respond to the crisis.  In particular, there is wide disagreement on how to deal with the prospect of millions of North African refugees setting sail for southern Europe.  The Italian government, in particular,  has been urging other E.U. members to help find a solution to this looming crisis.

On Thursday, E.U. members Italy, Spain, France, Cyprus, Malta and Greece presented a joint proposal calling for a common asylum system to be in place by 2012.  The proposal was presented during a meeting of E.U. interior ministers in Brussels.  The plan also calls for dispersing the asylum seekers around all of Europe and not simply allowing the refugees to stay in the countries that ring the Mediterranean sea.  The Spanish Interior Minister, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba echoed this sentiment when he claimed that “Italy was only the door of Europe”.  Along with establishing this common asylum system, the proposal calls for funding which will be used to help nations like Italy process the refugees that arrive on their shores.

The Italian government and Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni have been sounding the alarm about a potential refugee crisis that could hit Europe.  Mr. Maroni claims that as many as a million and a half Libyan refugees could seek asylum in Europe.  His belief is that E.U. members should deal with this problem collectively. Recent reports suggest that after this proposal was introduced, several E.U. members were still hesitant about providing assistance.

The refugees that are sailing to southern Europe include people who are seeking a better economic situation as well as political refugees.  The political refugees are especially important because the European Union has certain obligations related to human rights agreements which require the E.U. to identify and accept these people.

This migration of both political and economic refugees is also being monitored by the United Nations.  Specifically, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, has appealed to E.U. members to help deal with the potential wave of refugees related to the fighting in Libya.  In addition to those displaced by the recent fighting in Libya, Frontex, the E.U.’s border protection agency, estimates that between 750,000 and 1.5 million additional economic refugees are in Libya waiting to make passage to Europe.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Europe divided over Italy’s warnings of Libya exodus – 25 February 2011

BBC – EU urged to share asylum burden amid N Africa turmoil – 25 February 2011

THE GUARDIAN – Is EU serious about supporting human rights across north Africa? – 25 February 2011

VOICE OF AMERICA – Libya Unrest Sparks Migrant Debate in the EU – 24 February 2011

Myanmar Arrests an Australian Newspaper Editor

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

RANGOON, Myanmar — The Australian owner and editor of the only English-language newspaper published in Myanmar has been detained under Burmese immigration law. This arrest comes amid a business dispute with his Burmese partners over the ownership of newspaper, however.

The editor, Ross Dunkley, founded the newspaper, The Myanmar Times, in 2000, which is the sole publication with rare foreign investors in this repressed regime. It is published weekly in English and Burmese.

His associate, David Armstrong, said Dunkley was arrested on Thursday as he returned from Tokyo when he was accused of violating immigration laws. The grounds for violations are unclear at this point. He is being held in Insein Prison pending a hearing on Feb. 24, Mr. Armstrong said.

Sonny Swe is also the co-founder of the Myanmar Times who is the son of an influential member of the junta’s military intelligence service.

But Sonny Swe was jailed in 2005 and his stake was handed to Tin Tun Oo, who the article said was close to the military regime’s information minister.

Tin Tun Oo was a candidate for the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) during controversial November polls, but was not elected to the country’s new parliament, which resumed just last month.

Although some political experts have suggested political shift have created a glimmer of hope for a country run by the military for almost half a century, critics see merely cosmetic alterations aimed at hiding the generals’ power behind a civilian facade.

Reporters Without Borders, an NGO, ranked Myanmar 174th out of 178 countries in its 2010 press freedom index, and reported last year that the regime increased censorship ever since the first election that took place last November in 20 years.

Some media rights group quoted in December as saying that the country was a “censors’ paradise”, where journalists and internet bloggers are subject to arrest and intimidation and those sending information to foreign news organizations face long prison terms.

After the election in November, authorities suspended nine weekly news journals that gave significant coverage to the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Jailed Australian replaced at Burmese paper – 14 February 2011

IHT – Myanmar Arrests a Newspaper Editor – 12 February 2011

BBC News – Burma: Australian publisher Ross Dunkley arrested – 12 February 2011

MSN Malaysia News – Australian newspaper boss arrested in Myanmar – 12 February 2011