IHRDC Chart of Executions by the Islamic Republic of Iran
Originally published by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center
July 12, 2011
IHRDC has compiled a chart that documents executions of people by the Islamic Republic of Iran beginning in December 2010. It includes numbers, names, prisons, charges, dates, and links to sources.
Myanmar military forcing prisoners to act as human shields in military conflict
By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch, Asia
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar – Myanmar is facing criticism for their use of prisoners as tools of war. The Myanmar military has forced inmates to act as porters and human shields on the battle field while those who attempt escape face possible torture and execution.
Porters are forced to carry the military’s equipment through areas believed to be heavily populated with landmines and are also forced into the direct line of fire to prevent military forces from being hit by bullets.
In a statement by Human Rights Watch, former porters have “described witnessing or enduring summary executions, torture and beatings, being used as human shields to trip land mines or shield soldiers from fire, and being denied medical attention and adequate food and shelter.”
One escaped porter illustrated the experience by stating that he and other porters “were carrying food up to the camp and one porter stepped on a mine and lost his leg. The soldiers left him, he was screaming but no one helped.”
Karen Human Rights Group, which is based in Myanmar, and Human Rights Watch conducted interviews of former porters who had fled from the battlefield. These interviews are used in a report, titled “Dead Men Walking”, about the use of convict slave labor. According to the interviews, the inmates are chosen at random from prisons across the country. While some of those chosen have been convicted of serious offenses, others have committed only minor crimes such as brawling.
The use of inmates for acts of war has been a systematic practice in the country and dates back to as early as 1992. In January approximately 1,200 male prisoners were forced to serve as porters during two military operations which were carried out with the support of the army, the police and prison authorities.
For decades the Myanmar military has fought against various ethnic armies who are seeking autonomy. In addition, the report calls for an investigation into the military and the ethnic rebel groups for not only forcing civilians to become porters, but also for recruiting child soldiers and using landmines in conflict.
The use of porters has been ignored by the new civilian led government in Myanmar despite the call of inquiry that has been supported by 16 countries including the United States and Britain.
Human Rights Watch has stated the use of convict slave labor constitutes a war crime and is demanding that the United Nations launch an investigation into the use of prisoners in Myanmar.
For more information, please see:
AFP – Rights group slams Myanmar use of convict porters – 13 July 2011
Asian Correspondent – ‘Dead Men Walking’: Burma’s convict army porters – 13 July 2011
MSNBC – Rights group: Myanmar uses ‘convict slave labor’ – 13 July 2011
Reuters – Myanmar army turning prisoners into war zone porters: groups – 13 July 2011
“False Positive” Scandal Leads to Sentencing of Colombian Colonel
By Emilee Gaebler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
BOGOTÁ, Colombia – The Colombian government has faced public international outcry since 2008 when what has been termed, the “false positives” scandal, first surfaced. A false positive occurs when the army kills innocent civilians and passes them off as enemy guerilla combatants in order to falsely inflate their kill counts. A number of recent convictions and indictments of army officials and soldiers are the most recent developments in the “false positives” scandal.
- Colombian soldiers lining up bodies of rebel combatants. (Photo Courtesy of Colombia Reports)
On June 29, 2011, eight Colombian soldiers were sentenced for killing four innocent men in the province of Antioquia back in June of 2006. The four farmers were pulled out of their homes by the soldiers, shot in the back and then the soldiers disguised the bodies by placing guerilla uniforms on them. All eight soldiers were given 60 years in prison, the maximum sentence, for their participation in the “false positives” slayings.
Major Orlando Arturo Cespedes Escalona was indicted just a week later on July 5, 2011 for the murder of 11 innocent civilians in Sucre. Back in the summer of 2007, the 11 farmers were offered $426 in order to do some work on a farm but when they showed up they were murdered. The 11 deaths were falsely reported months later as guerilla fighters who were killed in a skirmish.
Escalona’s commander Colonel Luis Fernando Borja was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his participation in the 11 murders in Sucre. Borja admitted that in 2007 two men were enticed by soldiers from his unit offering paid work opportunities and then killed. Borja is the most senior official sentenced so far in this scandal which has been linked to almost 1,500 members of the military.
The “false positives” scandal evolved out the body bag culture of the Colombian army where soldiers are rewarded with extra pay, days off and promotions when they kill a high number of rebel combatants. Currently, there are over 1,400 cases of “false positive” murders being investigated in Colombia.
For more information please see:
BBC News – Colombian Colonel Sentenced for Faking Civilian Murders – 14 July 2011
BBC News – Colombians Soldiers Jailed for “False Positive” Killings – 6 July 2011
Colombia Reports – 8 Soldiers Convicted of “False Positive” Murders Receive Maximum Sentence – 6 July 2011
Colombia Reports – Army Major Indicted for “False Positive” Killings – 5 July 2011
Colombia Reports – Seven Colombian Military Members Sentenced for “False Positives” – 30 June 2011
ESTONIAN HOSTAGES IN LEBANON LIVE TO TASTE FREEDOM AGAIN
by Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
BEIRUT, Lebanon–Seven Estonian cyclists who were abducted on 23 March 2011 in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley have been released, according to the Estonian foreign ministry. All seven men are in their 30s and entered Lebanon from Syria on a bicycle tour.
Security sources reported that on 23 March 2011, the seven men were cycling in Lebanon’s Easter Valley when masked gunmen in a black Mercedes and two white vans with no license plates kidnapped the foreigners on a road between Zahle, a predominantly Christian town, and Kfar Zabed, a town with a healthy Sunni-Christian mix.
Kfar Zabed is located some 10 kilometers (approximately 6.21 miles) southeast of Zahle and five kilometers (approximately 3.11 miles) from Lebanon’s border with Syria. The Bekaa Valley is notorious for engaging in unlawful activities including kidnappings.
A group known as Haraket Al-Nahda Wal-Islah (Movement for Renewal and Reform) claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and demanded an undisclosed ransom. This group was previously unheard of according to Lebanese security officials.
The case to recover the seven cyclists had been covered in mystery for months, although several individuals were arrested in Lebanon in connection with the kidnapping. Lebanese Interior officials confirmed that 9 people implicated in the abduction had been arrested, including Lebanese suspects and those of other nationalities.
The Estonians were shown asking for help on video three times: 20 April, 20 May, and 8 July. The first two videos were posted on the Internet while the third video was sent to the relatives of the hostages. The seven men were seen calling on the leaders of Lebanon, Saudia Arabia, Jordan, and France for assistance. None of the videos released made political demands, although it has not been made public whether a ransom was actually paid to ensure the release of the hostages.
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet shared these sentiments followed the release of the seven cyclists; “The main thing now is for our seven fellow countrymen to get home to their families and loved ones as quickly as possible.”
The cyclists were freed in the town of Arsal. As Estonia lacks diplomatic representation in Lebanon, the cyclists were taken directly to the French embassy in the capital, Beirut. French diplomats have already begun to work on an official release for the hostages.
Lebanese Interior Minister Marwan Charbel expressed that “Our sole priority right now is to ensure that they arrive at the embassy safe and found, and then we will hear whatever details they have.”
Although relatively prominent before, the kidnapping of Westerners in Lebanon has become less common since the end of the civil war in 1990.
For more information, please see:
Al-Jazeera-Kidnapped Estonians freed in Lebanon-14 July 2011
BBC-Seven Estonian hostages freed in Lebanon-14 July 2011
CNN-Army:Estonian cyclists abducted in Lebanon are released-14 July 2011
Reuters-Estonia confirms kidnapped men released in Lebanon-14 July 2011