Soldiers accused of mass rapes to be tried

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

The Congolese army is often implicated in the regions mass rapes.
The Congolese army is often implicated in the region's mass rapes (Photo Courtesty of Al Jazeera).

FIZI, Democratic Republic of Congo – An army commander and seven other soldiers were accused and arrested yesterday for their alleged involvement in mass rapes that occurred in the eastern town of Fizi, in South Kivu province, on the evening of January 1.

Fifty women came forward to report the rapes. According to Madnodge Mounoubai, a spokesman for MONUSCO, the United Nations’ mission in DRC, the attacks were committed after a drunken soldier in a bar fired at a civilian; angry residents then killed the soldier.

“After he got killed, his colleagues heard that he was killed and they came and went on a rampage in the village. They started to loot the village, to loot the stores and to rape the women,” Mounoubai said.

A report sent to Fizi by MONUSCO accused Lieutenant Colonel Kibibi Mutware of directing the attack. Locals claimed to have witnessed him order the attack. Kibibi has denied the allegations.

Médécins Sans Frontières said women had been restrained by ropes or beaten with rifle butts before being attacked.  MSF also said that it had treated more than thirty women for injuries they suffered during the attacks.

The arrested soldiers will be put on trial as early as next week. U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said that the ten detained soldiers would be tried in a Fizi court.

Rape has become a frequent weapon of war in eastern Congo, used by soldiers to intimidate and break down community structure. It is often blamed on Congo’s regular army.

Amnesty International said that the Fizi rapes constitute “another telling example of the consequences of the virtual impunity the Congolese forces benefit from.

“The failure to hold the Congolese army to account when they fail to carry out their protection role or commit crimes themselves in turn encourages further violations.”

Last summer, rebel forces in eastern Congo raped hundreds of people. According to Amnesty, which welcomed the arrests in the Fizi rapes, “more often than not investigations in the DRC are never brought to a conclusion. A recent example of this is the investigation into the mass rapes that occurred in Walikale, North Kivu, in August 2010 which have now stalled.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Troops held over DR Congo mass rape – 19 January 2011

Guardian – Congolese army commander accused of directing mass rape – 19 January 2011

IPS – Soldiers accused of rape arrested – 19 January 2011

Reuters – Congo to try government troops accused of rape – 19 January 2011

Telegraph – DR Congo mass rape suspects arrested – 19 January 2011

FORMER HAITIAN DICTATOR, ‘Baby Doc’ DUVALIER, ARRESTED AFTER SURPRISE RETURN FROM EXILE

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                   Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – After living in exile in France for over 25 years, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier returned to Haiti Sunday, receiving an unexpected welcoming committee: heavily armed police.  Duvalier was charged and arrested at the Karibe hotel Tuesday, just two days after his arrival back to his homeland.  Succeeding his father in 1971, the former dictator faces possible charges stemming back to the torture and murder of thousands of Haitians during his 15 year rule. 

Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier reutrns to Haiti, waving to supporters, after 25 years in exile.
Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier reutrns to Haiti, waving to supporters, after 25 years in exile. Photo courtesy of the Washington Post.

In the midst of a questionable election, Haitian citizens are poised for answers, questioning the reason for his return amid such turmoil in the country.   “Everybody is in a wait-and-see mode, nothing is clear, and this is very frustrating, especially for the people living in the tents,” said Michele Pierre Louis, former prime minister to current President Rene Preval.

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians were forced to flee the country in fear of Duvalier’s corrupt administration. Duvalier associate, Henry Robert Sterlin, indicated that the former dictator returned because he missed Haiti and was moved by the January earthquake’s anniversary.  While a press conference was scheduled, it was quickly cancelled due to the hotel’s inability to handle the overwhelming crowd.

Part of a familial rule which lasted thirty years, Duvalier assumed power after the death of his father at the age of 19.   

Human rights organizations have called for justice for the crimes he committed.  Michele Montas, Haitian journalist and former spokesman for the United Nations secretary-general declared, “We have enough proof. There are enough people who can testify. And what I will do is go to a public prosecutor, and there is a public prosecutor that could actually accommodate our complaints.”

Government sources indicate that a judge may take up to 30 days to determine whether the accusations Duvalier faces have any merit in order to move forward with the case.

For More Information Please Visit:

CNN – Charges Filed Against ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier in Haiti – 18 January 2011

CNN – Baby Doc Duvalier Returns to Haiti in Surprise Move – 16 January 2011

Washington Post – Duvalier’s Return Adds to Haiti’s Political Turmoil – 17 January 2011

Correa Pushes Reforms, Tells Citizens to “Trust in the Government”

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO, Ecuador—President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, has proposed new constitutional reforms that many see as an effort by the unpopular leader to draw support.  Correa submitted ten questions to the Constitutional Court, including reforms targeting crime and the economy.

Correa is attempting to appear tough on crime in a country that has been swamped by criminals.  One of Correa’s sought reforms would alter a preventative detention law that allows detainees to be let go if they have not gone to trial within one year.  He also desires to revoke measures currently taken to protect suspects accused of serious crimes.  Another proposal would prohibit bullfighting and gambling.

“These people have come to kill and rob, and we must respond to that reality,” Correa announced to gain support for his proposals.  He added that he wanted to discourage “corruption and incompetence.”

Furthermore, Correa would like to decrease the number of justices on the Judiciary Council (there are currently nine.)

Carlos Vera, an ex-television anchorman, has spearheaded an effort to overturn the president’s mandate.  1.579 million signatures would be needed to have Vera’s request examined, and Vera said he has already acquired 79 percent.  Vera has objected to Correa’s proposals, citing similarities to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s “authoritarian” ruling style.  Correa and Chavez are political allies.

Correa is in the midst of a four year term and may run for office again in 2013.  In September, 2010, a violent police uprising occurred that Correa (and many others) viewed as a thwarted coup.  Analysts theorize that Correa’s present proposed referendum is an effort to regain power and legitimacy.  Three of the president’s predecessors were thrown out of office before completing their terms.

Correa made a televised address to defend his reforms.  “Trust in the government,” he appealed to citizens, before saying he would resort to referendums “as many times as necessary” to obtain his reforms.

The Constitutional Court will need to verify the legality of Correa’s submitted questions before they can be sent to the Electoral Council for approval.

For more information, please see:

CNN-Ecuador president pushes for referendum-18 January 2011

AFP-Ecuador’s Correa seeks judicial, economic reforms-18 January 2011

Wall Street Journal-Ecuador President Sends to Constitutional Court Referendum Questions-17 January 2011

Former Drug Lord Faces Prison For Murder

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Former drug lord Don Mario in police custody (Colombia Reports)
Former drug lord Don Mario in police custody (Colombia Reports)

BOGOTA, Colombia – Former drug lord, Daniel Rendon Herrera, or “Don Mario,” was convicted Monday and sentenced to 17 years in prison for the murder of an attorney. Don Mario was convicted for aggravated homicide, kidnapping and conspiracy.

According to a judge in the central Colombian city of Villavicencio, “Don Mario” ordered the kidnapping and murder of attorney Jose Absalom Achury Florez. This occurred while Mario was the paramilitary leader of the drug gang “Los Urabeños.”

The attorney was kidnapped by paramilitary officers from the town of Granada, Meta, in May of 2003. He was found dead 11 days later in his car 10 miles from where he was kidnapped.

Late last month, Colombian officers dismantled Mario’s drug operation, capturing seven of its members in two northwestern provinces. Alleged gang leader Luis Eduardo Vargas, alias “Pipon,” who is accused of committing hundreds of crimes in the region and of smuggling drugs to the United States via Central America is one of the members said to be detained.

Mario has been in custody since April, 2009 and the Colombian Supreme Court in March denied a request for his extradition from the United States, which accused him of providing material support to a terrorist organization and of conspiring to import, manufacture, possess and distribute cocaine in the United States. More than 3,000 homicides and other crimes, including forced displacement and disappearance, have been attributed to the Mario’s gang.

For more information, please see:

Colombia Reports – “Don Mario” Sentenced to 17 Years in Jail – 18 January 2011

Colombia Reports- Authorities Dismantle “Don Mario’s” Gang – 31 December 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune – Colombia Busts Gang Linked to Notorious Drug Lord – 31 December 2010

UK Court Finds Bread & Breakfast Owners Discriminated Against Gay Couple

By Ricardo Zamora
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PENZANCE, England – A Bristol County Court has ruled against two bed and breakfast owners for refusing to allow a gay couple to share a bed, holding that such a refusal constituted discrimination.  The Court awarded the couple 1,800 pounds (about $2,900) each in damages, reported Britain’s Equality and Human Rights Commission, which supported the gay couple’s claims.

Peter and Hazel Bull, the couple who own and run the bed and breakfast in Cornwall, England, insisted that they had a long-standing policy refusing to allow all unmarried couples to share a room due to their strict Christian beliefs.

Mrs. Bull offered support for their 24-year-old policy by stating that even her brother and his female partner were not allowed to share a room in the bed and breakfast due to her strict religious beliefs.

The Christian Legal Centre, legal counsel to the Bulls, said that “the Bulls made it clear that they did not hold any hostility towards homosexuals and applied their policy of ‘only giving double rooms to married couples’ regardless of sexual orientation.

But Judge Andre Rutherford ruled against the Bulls, holding that they discriminated against Martyn Hall and Steve Preddy on the ground of sexual orientation and in violation of British equality law.

After the judgment, the Bulls stated they are considering an appeal.  “We are obviously disappointed with the result,” they said.  “Our double-bed policy was based on our sincere beliefs about marriage, not hostility to anybody,” they added.

Judge Rutherford also made a point to announce that he believed the Bulls.  “I am quite satisfied as to the genuineness of [their] beliefs and it is, I have no doubt, one which others also hold,” he said.  The Judge, however, refused to accept the defense because the Bulls’ views are not “those accepted as normal by society at large.”

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, a British gay-rights group, supported the ruling.  “You can’t turn away people from a hotel because they’re black or Jewish and in 2011 you shouldn’t be able to demean them by turning them away because they’re gay either,” he said.

For more information please see:

CNN – Christian B&B Owners Discriminated Against Gays, UK Court Finds – January 18, 2011

THE FREETHINKER – Judge Rules Against Christian Fundie B&B Owners Who Turned Away a Gay Couple – January 18, 2011

SKY NEWS – Gay Couple Win B&B Discrimination Case – January 18, 2011