U.S. War Crimes of Korean War Pt.1/2

David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – The US atrocities during the Korean War have emerged casting a shadow over the conduct of US officers and generals in command during the conflict.

The Korean War left Korea, North and South, with several million dead and the UN forces involved in the fighting with over 100,000 casualties.

Novel by Philip D. Chinnery documenting the atrocities during the Korean War
Novel by Philip D. Chinnery documenting the atrocities during the Korean War

Published testimonies, by BBC, of Korean survivors who recall such killings, and the candid accounts of American veterans brave enough to admit involvement open the World to American atrocities once forgotten.

The Korean War began on June 25th 1950 when communist North Korea invaded the South with six army divisions. The United States decided to intervene in the defense of the South and, taking advantage of the Soviet absence from the UN Security Council, proceeded to press for UN resolutions condemning the invasion. A resolution was passed, days later, calling upon member countries to give assistance to South Korea to repulse the attack.

The American troops who were rushed to the front line straight from occupation duty in Tokyo in July 1950 were badly led, undertrained and underprepared and quickly defeated by superior North Korean forces. North Korean guerrilla methods were too advanced for US commanders, reports BBC reporter Jeremy Williams.

The surprise attack from the North produced a refugee crisis were up to two million refugees were running across the battlefield.

Fearing North Korean infiltration, the US leadership panicked. All civilians were seen as the enemy.

As a result, on July 26th the US 8th Army, the highest level of command in Korea, issued orders to stop all Korean civilians. ‘No, repeat, no refugees will be permitted to cross battle lines at any time. Movement of all Koreans in groups will cease immediately’ reports Williams.

The same day US 8th Army delivered its stop refugee order in July 1950, up to 400 South Korean civilians gathered by the bridge were killed by US forces from the 7th Cavalry Regiment. Some were shot above the bridge, on the railroad tracks. Others were strafed by US planes. Local survivors say more were killed under the arches in an ordeal that lasted for three days.

‘The floor under the bridge was a mixture of gravel and sand. People clawed with their bare hands to make holes to hide in,’ recalls survivor Yang Hae Chan. ‘Other people piled up the dead like a barricade, and hid behind the bodies as a shield against the bullets.’

Corroborating the Korean survivors’ testimony are the accounts of 35 veterans of the 7th Cavalry Regiment who recall events at No Gun Ri.

‘There was a lieutenant screaming like a madman, fire on everything, kills ’em all,’ recalls 7th Cavalry veteran Joe Jackman. ‘I didn’t know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there, it didn’t matter what it was, eight to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot ’em all’ said Jackman.

The killings discovered at No Gun Ri mark one of the largest single massacres of civilians by American forces in the 20th century.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Kill ’em All: The American Military in Korea – 17 February 2011

Global Research – The Korean War: The “Unknown War”. The Coverup of US War Crimes – 16 March 2011

New York Times – Korean War Panel Finds U.S. Attacks on Civilians – 9 July 2009

GUATEMALAN VICTIMS OF SYPHILIS EXPERIMENT SUE U.S. HEALTH OFFICIALS

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                    Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MIAMI, United States – Victims of United States syphilis experiments in Guatemala have filed a class action law suit to recover for their resulting illness and infections from 1946 to 1948.  The lawsuit alleges that U.S. public health officials violated both national and international laws by conducting syphilis experiments on prison inmates, orphans and mentally ill citizens of Guatemala.   All of the experiments were funded by the National Institute of Health.

U.S. officials infected Guatemalan prisoners, orphan children and mental health patients with syphilis. Photo courtesy of CNN.
U.S. officials infected Guatemalan prisoners, orphan children and mental health patients with syphilis. Photo courtesy of CNN.

Filed by victims or direct heirs, the lawsuit claims that the illegal testing was part of a larger scheme to continue the syphilis experiments previously performed on African Americans in the state of Alabama from 1942-1972.  The complaint alleges that “This decision to move to Guatemala was part of a deliberate plan to continue the Tuskegee testing offshore, where it would not be subject to the same level of oversight as in the United States.”

The Tuskegee experiments were a notorious study which involved the medical testing and deliberate failure to inform 400 African American men of their syphilis infection.  Under the guise of receiving medical care for “bad blood,” these poor and uneducated men were promised free meals and burial expenses if they allowed the government to autopsy their bodies after their deaths.

Susan M. Reverby, a writer and professor at Wellesley College began researching for her follow up book on the syphilis experiments, “Examining Tuskegee: The Infamous Syphilis Study and Its Legacy,” when she uncovered the Guatemalan experiments.  

Reverby immediately alerted the federal government of her findings, despite the usual practice of academics of keeping the content of their work private before publication.  A recent article published in the Journal of Policy History, Reverby states that “Public Health Service researchers did, in fact, deliberately infect poor and vulnerable men and women with syphilis in order to study the disease.”  She further claims that “The mistake of the myth is to set that story in Alabama, when it took place further south, in Guatemala.”

Dr. John Cutler, former assistant surgeon general of the United States Public Health Service (PHS), was discovered to not only have been a researcher in Tuskegee, but the physician responsible for conducting the Guatemalan experiments.

The lawsuit indicates that American doctors along with “The medical team started with inmates in the national penitentiary, using American taxpayer money to hire prostitutes who tested positive for syphilis or gonorrhea to offer sexual services to inmates.”  Requiring an uninfected group to determine error for false positive received from various inmates, the doctors moved to performing blood work on children in orphanages.  Later, mental patients were tested and inoculated with the sexually transmitted disease.

The U.S. doctors convinced the institutions officials to participate using various methods of ‘payment’.  Some received supplies such as refrigerators, while other officials received difficult to obtain medications for diseases such as epilepsy and malaria. In some instances, individual subjects -prison inmates- received compensation in the form of cigarettes.  Inmates receiving prostitutes received women already infected with syphilis.

In October, President Barack Obama created a bioethics panel to look into the studies.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and current Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius both issued a public apology.  

The class action lawsuit currently contains 7 plaintiffs despite the 700 subjects that were allegedly victims of the syphilis experiments. 

For More Information Please Visit:

Huffington Post – U.S. Guatemala Syphilis Tests: Attorneys Seek Lawsuit For Thousands Of Victims – 8 March 2011

CNN – Guatemalans Sue U.S. Over Medical Experiments – 16 March 2011

Fox News – Secretly Infected with Syphilis, Guatemalan Victims May Sue U.S – 9 March 2011

The Root – The Guatemala Syphilis Experiments Tuskegee Roots – 2 October 2010

U.N.: Attack on Ivory Coast Market “A War Crime”

Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

Damage from a 81mm shell fired into Abodo neighborhood. (Photo courtesy of
Damage from a shell fired into the Abodo neighborhood. (Photo courtesy of Defenceweb).

 ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – On Thursday, March 17, at least six mortar shells were fired into Abodo, a neighborhood in northern Abidjan. The attack killed between 25 and 30 people and wounded more than 40. The United Nations (U.N.) mission in Ivory Coast claims the attack may qualify as “a crime against humanity.” The U.N. believes this attack was carried out by forces loyal to incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo. Numerous international observers believe the once stable West African nation is heading towards civil war.

On Friday, a statement from the United Nations mission to Ivory Coast claimed nearly 100 people were killed or wounded when at least six 81 mm shells were fired into the Abodo district. The statement also noted that “such an act, perpetrated against civilians, could constitute a crime against humanity.” One of the shells hit the Saika Kone market where shoppers had congregated. The U.N. believes the shells were fired from a military base in Abodo and the perpetrators of the attack had been aiming for the market area. Abodo, a northern suburb in Abidjan is controlled by militias loyal to Mr. Gbagbo’s rival, Alassane Ouattara.

According to U.N. human rights chief  Navi Pillay, members of her office went to the scene of the attack and collected physical evidence. Specifically, her investigators noted “”shelling impacts were visible throughout the market and at least three houses were destroyed.”  Ms. Pillay also explained that her “mission collected photographic evidence of the damage caused as well as physical evidence of shell remains.”

Mr. Gbabgo has denied any involvement in the incident. In response to the U.N. statement, Ahoua Don Mello, a spokesman for Mr. Gbagbo’s government, told the AFP news agency the accusations were part of a larger conspiracy by the U.N. and France to oust Mr. Gbabgo and install Mr. Ouattara as president. Further, Mr. Gbabgo claimed that since forces loyal to Mr. Ouattara took control of the neighborhood, his security forces have not had access to Abodo.

International observers claim that this incident is another example of pro-Gbagbo forces firing upon innocent civilians.  The United Nations claims over 400 people have been killed since the disputed presidential election. Prior to the election, Ivory Coast was a peaceful nation prospering from its role as the world’s largest cocoa producer.

For more information, please see:

ABC NEWS — UN Condemns Mortar Attack on Ivory Coast Market – 19 March 2011
2011

New York Times — Ivory Coast: Attack on Market May Be War Crime, U.N. Says – 18 March 2011

Press TV — Dozens killed in Ivory Coast violence – 18 March 2011

Reuters — UPDATE 4-Gbagbo forces kill at least 25 in Abidjan attacks-U.N. – 17 March 2011

RTT News — UN Condemns Mortar Attack On Ivory Coast Market – 18 March 2011

UPI — U.N. wants ‘scale up’ in Ivory Coast – 19 March 2011

Protesters Demand New Government As Wages Fall in Swaziland

By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

Protesters March Peacefully on Swazilands Capital Friday; Photo Courtesy of Reuters
Protesters March Peacefully on Swaziland's Capital Friday; Photo Courtesy of Reuters

MBABANE, Swaziland– As many as ten thousand students, nurses, teachers and other Swazi workers marched through the Swaziland capital of Mbabane on Friday, peacefully protesting the country’s unstable economy.  The protesters are calling for an end to Swaziland’s government which is the last absolute monarchy in Africa, led by King Mswati III.  Swaziland is currently suffering a sharp economic downturn which has caused a majority of wages to drop as much as 60 percent.  Additionally, the International Monetary Fund has denied recent loan requests from the country, stating that Swaziland’s government needs to cut public spending before it can be considered for more loans.

In a statement to the state-run newspaper, Mswati said “We need to work even harder and sacrifice even more today for a better tomorrow. The storms shall pass for sure.”  The protesters who gathered Friday say that suggesting they give up even more in order for conditions to improve is ‘laughable’.  Many are attacking Mswati’s actions, citing his lavish lifestyle, as the factors that have bankrupted the small South African country.  Mswati has been in power for 25 years and despite the fact that his worth is estimated at $100 million USD, average wages in Swaziland are less than $1.  He has lived for years with multiple wives who have separate palaces and it is reported the king has a fleet of luxury cars for his personal use.

It appears the government’s plans to celebrate Mswati’s upcoming coronation anniversary, in combination with the economic slump, prompted Friday’s protest.  Signs in the crowd read “Why Cut Salaries, Cut Corrupt Government” and “Down With Celebrations”.  In a country where political parties are illegal and past demonstrations have resulted in police intervention, Friday’s protest marked the largest gathering of its kind in Swaziland in recent years.

During the protest, Mario Masuku, head of the banned opposition People’s United Democratic Movement (Pudemo) stated, “Swaziland cannot remain an island of dictatorship in the sea of democracy. . .Royalty has squandered the economy. . .We want a government by the people.”  The protesters marched to Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini’s office and gave him a petition which called for the resignation of Dlamini and his cabinet.  The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), which has been working with the unions and the Swazi government during wage negotiations, has issued a statement commending Friday’s protesters.  Cosatu is not only calling for sanctions against the Swazi royal family for greed and corruption but is also planning to organize multiple events and rallies over the coming weeks in an effort to stand in solidarity with Swazi workers.  “Let these actions serve as a clear statement to the world, to SADC [South African Development Community] and to our own government that merely standing by and watching Mswati is an act of accomplice in the persecution of the people of Swaziland.”

For more information, please see;

BBC– Swaziland: Protest at Pay Freeze While King Celebrates– 18 March, 2011

AFP– Work harder, Don’t Protest Swazi King Says: Media– 19 March, 2011

UPI– Swaziland Protesters Demand New Government– 19 March, 2011

Mail & Guardian– Cosatu to Intensify Role in Swazi Protests– 19 March, 2011

Chechen Women Must Follow Dress Code Or Face Abuse

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

GROZNY, Russia — A human rights group recently released a report detailing the enforcement of an Islamic dress code in Chechnya, and the resulting abuse women suffer if they do not comply with the dress code. The report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and entitled “You Dress According to Their Rules: Enforcement of an Islamic Dress Code for Women in Chechnya” can be read in full here.

The report is 40 pages long and details the violence, harassment, and threats women in Chechnya face if they do not follow the Islamic dress code. HRW interviewed dozens of women for the report, each of whom had either been a victim themselves or witnessed attacks or harassment against women for not complying with the compulsory dress code. The interviews reveal that women are attacked with paint gun pellets by men thought to be Chechen law enforcement. The men also hand out leaflets claiming the paintball shootings were preventative and if women still refuse to wear head scarves and dress modestly, then more “persuasive” methods would be used.

One of the victims interviewed, identified as Louiza, said she and a friend were attacked while walking down a street in Grozny. They weren’t wearing head scarves. They were wearing skirts a little below the knee and blouses with sleeves a bit above the elbow. Louiza reported that a car pulled up with its side window rolled down and a gun barrel pointed at them. According to the HRW report, Louiza said “I thought the gun was real and when I heard the shots I thought, ‘This is death.’ I felt something hitting me in the chest and was sort of thrown against the wall of a building. The sting was awful, as if my breasts were being pierced with a red-hot needle, but I wasn’t fainting or anything and suddenly noticed some strange green splattering on the wall and this huge green stain was also expanding on my blouse. So, I understood it was paint.” Louiza said the men in the car were wearing the military-style black uniform law enforcement officials wear and she added that “[i]t’s only at home that I could examine the bruise and it was so huge and ugly. Since then, I don’t dare leave home without a headscarf.”

Another victim reported that while walking down a street in Grozny with friends and not wearing head scarves, men in military-style black uniforms shot paintballs at them and screamed, “Cover your hair, harlots!” The woman said that male bystanders watching the incident applauded the attack and claimed it served the women right. The HRW report goes on to detail other incidents like this one.

The dress code is part of a “virtue campaign” started in 2006 by Kremlin-backed Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov. The campaign began with local authorities prohibiting women from working in the public sector if their heads weren’t covered. This enforcement is prohibited by Russian law, but is still strictly enforced in Chechnya. Also, education authorities began requiring women attending schools and universities wear head scarves. The requirement of wearing a head scarf was eventually applied to other public places.

According to HRW, this virtue campaign violates “freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and the right to personal autonomy and expression, guaranteed by Russia’s constitution and international human rights obligations.” HRW has urged that the Kremlin should make it absolutely clear that Chechen women are free to dress however they choose and that any attacks or harassment should be fully investigated. Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has instructed Chechen authorities to investigate the paintball attacks, but nothing else has been done to further the investigations.

Kadyrov, who rules with the support of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, has actually explained publicly that women must be forced to dress modestly in order to prevent men from having to do their duty and kill them. “A woman should know her place,” Kadyrov said in an interview last July. “[In Chechnya] man is the master. Here, if a woman does not behave properly, her husband, father, and brothers are responsible. According to our tradition, if a woman fools around, her family members are obliged to kill her…. As president, I cannot allow them to kill. Therefore, let women not dress indecently.”

For more information, please see:

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR — Report: Chechen women attacked with paintball guns for ‘immodest’ dress — 11 March 2011

AP — HRW: Chechen women abused if refuse to cover head — 10 March 2011

HRW — Russia: Chechnya Enforcing Islamic Dress Code — 10 March 2011