Brazilian Police Forcibly Evict Thousands From Pinheirinho Settlement

by Emilee Gaebler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASÍLIA, Brazil – This past Sunday, January 22, at 6 am, residents of the Pinheirinho slum were awakened by the police and forcibly evicted from their homes.  The police used rubber bullets, tear gas and were in full riot gear.  They were backed up by armored vehicles and two helicopters. 

Police catalogue and remove furniture in the Pinheirinho slum. (Photo courtesy of BBC)

Following the physical actions by the police, the government cut electricity, gas and telephone lines for the area.  The area was also blocked off and residents were unable to return.  The slum, which is located about 60 miles east of São Paulo, had roughly 5,500 residents.

Small battles between police and residents also occurred.  Residents threw rocks and sticks at the troops, set up make-shift barricades and set cars on fire.  About 30 arrests were made, multiple minor injuries were reported and at least one serious injury resulted from a rubber bullet shot.

The Pinheirinho slum was established in 2004, when people began to occupy the land that a bankrupt company had owned.  Residents of the settlement built homes, churches, schools and stores on the land over the past eight years. 

Recently, legal negotiations were underway to ensure that this type of eviction did not occur.  There was a proposal that the land be purchased by the federal government and kept as a low-income housing area so as to legalize the established settlement. 

Amnesty International states that the police action violates a previous agreement that no evictions would occur while a peaceful solution was sought.  Brazilian officials claim that the action was legal as the slum was established by illegal squatters who have no land rights.

The residents of Pinheirinho have been forced into a variety of emergency housing situations.  Some are staying with family and friends.  Another 350 families have been forced to take shelter in a school gymnasium with inadequate sanitation. 

Since Sunday, a few residents have been permitted back onto the land to gather small belongings.  The police have also been cataloguing and removing furniture to return it to its rightful owners. 

Disputes over the legality of this action have emerged.  Amnesty International and other land movement groups in Brazil like Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) protest the eviction and its effects, noting that now thousands of families are homeless. 

“What is happening in Pinheirinho is part of an unfortunate pattern of forced evictions in Brazil. As the country booms, tens of thousands of poor families are being removed to make way for infrastructure and private development projects, without receiving adequate protection and alternative housing. The Brazilian authorities… must actively engage with the residents to find a long-term solution that suits their needs — not temporary spaces in shelters which split up families,” said Atila Roque, director of Amnesty International, Brazil.

Brazilian authorities claim that they are going to move all residents to a tract of land, roughly 0.4 square miles large, to “re-integrate” them into society.  They also claim to be in the process of allocating them new homes and helping with food and transportation needs.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC – Criticism Grows of Brazil Slum Clearance by Police – 25 Jan 2012

International Business Times – Brazil: Activists Condemn Forced Eviction of São Paulo Squatters – 25 Jan 2012

Aljazeera – Clashes in Brazil Eviction Raid – 24 Jan 2012

Amnesty International – Brazil Must Address Needs of Thousands Left Homeless Following Eviction – 24 Jan 2012

Rio Times – Police Retake Favela in SP State – 23 Jan 2012

Canada Deports Rwandan Charged with Crimes Against Humanity

By Brittney Hodnik
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

OTTAWA, Canada – Leon Mugesera lost his 16-year battle to stay in Canada on Monday, 23 January 2012.  Mugesera has been charged with crimes against humanity, by encouraging and promoting the Rwanda genocide.  Canadian authorities ruled that he would be deported, and returned to Rwanda as soon as possible.  A federal government official told BBC News that Canada “will remove him as quickly as legally possible.”

Mugesera is charged with crimes against humanity, encouraging the genocide of Hutu and Tutsi peoples. (Image Courtesy of The Canadian Press/CTV Montreal)

In 1992, Mugesera was a member of Rwanda’s ruling Hutu party, the MRND, according to BBC News.  In his capacity, he gave a speech to more than 1,000 party members, encouraging them to kill Tutsis and throw their bodies in the river.  The ensuing two years resulted in mass killings between the Hutus and Tutsis.

Mugesera allegedly referred to Tutsis as “cockroaches that should be exterminated.”  Over the two year period, somewhere between 800,000 and 1 million Hutus and Tutsis perished.

According to the Montreal Gazette, Mugesera arrived in Canada in 1993 with his wife and five children.  In 1996, he was ordered deported for failing to reveal on his application that he may have been involved in crimes against humanity.  He fears torture or death if he is returned to Rwanda, according to The Times Colonist.

Finally, on 12 January 2012, the Canadian courts officially deported him.  The Montreal Gazette reports that his lawyers sought a stay, and eventually lost in the Federal Court of Canada.  However, Mugesera and his lawyers appealed to the United Nations Committee against Torture. 

The UN Committee requested that Canada hold off on the deportation until it could review the case.  However, authorities argued that the provincial court did not have the jurisdiction to rule on immigration cases, according to CTV News; rather the matter was solely the province of the federal court.

Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo is praising Canada saying that it “did the right thing.”  Further, as CTV Montreal reports, “Leon Mugesera’s deportation, while decades past due, is welcome news for a people committed to healing and justice,” said Mushikiwabo.

The Canadian government based its decision to deport, taking into consideration diplomatic assurances that Mugesera would be safe to return to Rwanda.  According to The Montreal Gazette, “The Canadian government has denied there’s minimal risk because it’s received diplomatic assurances.”  Mugesera’s lawyer argues that the “Rwandan government is run by organized crime,” and he fears for his client’s wellbeing, according to The Montreal Gazette.

Mushikiwabo wrote on Twitter and news sources confirm that Mugesera had left the country and he was on his way to Kigali, Rwanda.

For more information, please visit:

CTV Montreal — Mugesera Lands in Rwanda Following Historic Deportation — 24 Jan. 2012

The Times Colonist — Rwanda Genocide Suspect Mugesera Deported From Canada — 24 Jan. 2012

BBC News — Canada Deports Rwanda Genocide Suspect Leon Mugesera — 23 Jan. 2012

The Montreal Gazette — Judge to Rule Monday on Rwandan Genocide Suspect Leon Mugesera — 23 Jan. 2012

Tibetan Protester Shot and Killed

By: Greg Donaldson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia 

BEIJING, China – On the first day of the Chinese New Year security forces opened fire on Tibetan protesters yesterday killing one protester and injuring thirty-two others. This has been a contentious month between government officials and Tibetan protesters.

Norpa Yonten was killed in Luhuo yesterday (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

Four monks have already committed suicide by setting themselves on fire this month in protest of the government. With the most recent self-immolation just last week the total amount of monks killing themselves by fire has risen to sixteen over the past twelve months.

Two different accounts exist of what led to the violence. The first account, given by three Tibetan monks, explained that thousands of people marched to the local police station yesterday morning to call for religious freedom and to protest local corruption. Then around two o’clock in the afternoon police began firing at the crowd from windows of the police station.

The second account, from Xinhua (China’s official news agency),  stated that dozens of people gathered outside a bus station after a man put up posters claiming a monk would set himself on fire there. Then at 2 p.m. the crowd of protestors began attacking the local police station with clubs and stones. Xinhua confirmed that one protestor was killed following the confrontation and five police officers were injured.

Free Tibet identified the killed protestor as forty-nine year old Norpa Yonten. The International Campaign for Tibet, a rights group based in Washington, said that he was the brother of a reincarnated lama.

Kate Saunders, a spokeswoman for the International Campaign for Tibet, said in a telephone interview with the New York Times, that three people were killed in the protest yesterday and forty-nine people had received treatment for injuries at monk-operated clinics.

Tibetans are afraid to go to government-run hospitals for fear that they will be questioned by authorities about the conditions surrounding their injuries.

The self-declared Tibetan parliament-in-exile in India, says the protestors demanded return of their exiled leader, the Dalai Lama, reports BBC.

The Chinese government has classified Tibetans who engage in self-immolation or extreme protest techniques as terrorists and has accused the Dalai Lama of encouraging such activities.

Anticipating further protests due to New Year celebrations and the fourth anniversary of violent protests in March of 2008 the Chinese government has banned all foreigners from travelling to Tibet from February 20 to March 31.

For more information please see:

BBC – Tibetan Protester ‘Killed by Chinese Police Gunfire’ — 23 January 2012

MSN – Police Open Fire on Tibetans in China, One Dead: Locals – 23 January 2012

New York Times – Tibetans Fired Upon in Protest in China – 23 January 2012

Phayul – Tibetans Shot to Death on Chinese New Year – 23 January 2012

Venezuelans Protest Chavez’s Decision to Close Consulate in Miami

By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela  — An estimated 160,000 Venezuelans living in Florida may not be able to participate in the upcoming elections after President Hugo Chavez closed the Venezuelan consulate in downtown Miami following the recent exile of Consul General Livia Acosta Noguera. The consulate served thousands of Venezuelans living in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

Venezuelans gather in downtown Miami to protest the closing of the Venezuelan consulate. (Photo Courtesy of AFP).

Hundreds of Venezuelans living in Florida gathered over the weekend in downtown Miami in protest to demand that the consulate be reopened immediately. Many Venezuelans living in the Southeast depend on the consulate to, among other things, renew passports, receive pensions, transfer currency and vote.

Mario Di Giovanni, a student at Florida International University, helped organize the protest. “There are a lot of things necessary for the day-to-day life of Venezuelans here that cannot be done now that we don’t have the consulate,” Di Giovanni said. He is asking for the rights of Venezuelans to be defended.

One of the biggest concerns surrounding the closing of the consulate is the question of how Venezuelans will be able to register and vote in the upcoming presidential elections in Venezuela where Chavez is seeking another six-year term. Although Venezuela’s National Electoral Council has promised Venezuelan’s living in the United States that they will be able to vote, protestors say they have yet to receive any information. The opposition primary in Venezuela is on February 12.

There has been some speculation that reason behind Chavez’s decision to close the consulate is to sabotage the primary elections of the oppositions. Chavez denies that accusation, and instead, blames the United States for the closing.

“Now that we are closing the consulate administratively over threats against the personnel, they’re accusing me now that it’s a plan to sabotage the primary elections (of the opposition), that it’s an outrage against the Venezuelans who live in Miami,” the Venezuelan president said during an interview with Televen.

Chavez states that he closed the consulate following an “unjust” order from Washington to exile Acosta on January 6. A documentary aired by Univision accused Acosta of having discussed a possible cyber-attack against the U.S. while working at a Venezuelan Embassy in Mexico in 2006.

Vice President Elias Jaua assures Venezuelans residing in the United States that both the Los Angeles consulate and the New York consulate are open and able to carry out consular functions. Some protestors residing in Florida, however, say that the travel to New York or California would be cost-prohibited.

For further information, please see:

Herald Tribune – Chavez Blames U.S. in Venezuela’s Consulate Closing – 24 January 2011

AFP  – Venezuelans in Miami Protest Closing of Consulate – 21 January 2012

The Washington Post – Venezuelans in US Protest Closure of Miami Consulate Following Diplomat’s Expulsion – 21 January 2012

ABC News – Venezuela: Consulate Officials in US Threatened – 15 January 2012

Fox News – Latino Chavez to Close Venezuelan Consulate in Miami – 14 January 2012

 

 

 

Trial Of Tunisian Television Station Director Delayed

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TUNIS, Tunisia – On Monday, 23 January, a Tunisian court delayed the case against Nessma TV for airing the award-winning French-Iranian film “Persepolis” for insulting Islam until 19 April.  The judges will now consider the new press code adopted after the overthrow of former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Nessma TV’s station director Nabil Karoui. (Photo Courtesy of Tunisia Live)

Over 140 lawyers filed suit against Nessma TV’s station director Nabil Karoui and several of the station’s workers.  The court charged them with “attacks against sacred values and morals and disturbing the public order.”  Karoui could serve three years in jail if he receives a conviction.  His lawyers already stated they would appeal that verdict.

When Karoui arrived at the courthouse, he said it was a political trial, a “trial of 10 million Tunisians who dreamed of having a democratic country.”

The film depicts Tunisia’s challenges of implementing Islamic values into society after years of government-enforced secularism.  After the Tunisian television station showed the film on 7 October, ultraconservative Muslims, called Salafis, engaged in angry demonstrations and firebombed the station owner’s home.

Recipient of the jury prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, “Persepolis” adapted Iranian director Marjane Satarpi’s graphic novels portraying a girl’s childhood during Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.  The animated film, dubbed in a Tunisian dialect, contains a scene where a character represents God.  Islam deems depictions of God blasphemous.

The trial began on 17 November, but the judge adjourned the matter until January once lawyers began arguing inside the courtroom.  On Monday, large crowds demonstrated outside the courtroom in support of Nessma TV and the Salafis.

The Salafis chanted, “Secularists, you have no place in Tunisia”.  Demonstrator Mohammed Chammam added, “If the people of Nessma do not return to the right path, their activities will be halted by any means necessary, including violence.”

However, several major Tunisian figures visited the courthouse to support the television station, including lawyers, human rights activists, non-governmental organizations, and ex-political leaders.  Amnesty International and Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights also called upon the Tunisian government to end the trial.

Ben Ali enforced secularism and persecuted Islamists until the people overthrew him in January 2011.  Throughout the past year, a small group of Salafists began promoting Islam’s ultraconservative form.  Two weeks after the film aired, Ennahda, a moderate Islamist party that does not hold the Salafists’ extreme ideology, dominated Tunisia’s elections.

Mohamed Bennour, the Ettakatol Party’s spokesperson, said, “The Tunisian people revolted to eradicate all types of censorship.  This trial is an influential battle that will decide the future of freedom of expression and personal freedoms in Tunisia.”

For further information, please see:

The National – Trial Of Tunisian TV Station Owner Accused Of Offending Islam Postponed – 24 Jan 2012

Al Arabiya News – ‘Persepolis’ Trial Resumes In Tunisia In Tense Climate – 23 Jan 2012

Boston Globe – Tense Tunisia ‘Persepolis’ Trial Delayed To April – 23 Jan 2012

Tunisia Live – Trial Postponed for Tunisia TV Station Owner Responsible for ‘Persepolis’ Airing – 23 Jan 2012