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IMPUNITY WATCH PRESENTATION OF NECTALI RODENZO (3/5) from Impunity Watch on Vimeo.
November 9, 2010. Impunity Watch Law Journal and the International Law Society hosted Nectali Rodenzo, a lawyer and Co-Coordinator of the National Front of Lawyers in Resistance to the Coup in Honduras. Rodenzo shared his experiences of the 2009 Honduran military coup, its context and aftermath, and how it relates to the human rights situation on the ground in Honduras today.
By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
BOGOTA, Colombia – Five soldiers, including an Army major and four former soldiers, were charged with murdering three farm laborers and presenting them as rebels killed in combat. The murders, which occurred in 2002, are just a few of the approximately 2,000 that investigators have uncovered and pinned on Colombian Security Forces.
The murderous scandal, which is known as the “false positives” scandal, has been blamed on a system that offered soldiers and officers the hope of promotions and extra leave time for increasing body counts in the conflict with leftist guerrillas.
According to the Colombian Attorney General’s office, the current case occurred on Dec. 11, 2002, in a rural part of the municipality of Campamento, a northwestern province of Antioquia. On that day, troops under the command of then-Lt. Juan Carlos del Rio Crespo “removed from the cane field where they were going about their daily tasks laborers Alejandro Agudelo Agudelo, Angel Ramiro Agudelo and Gonzalo Agudelo Perez.”
The soldiers later reported that “the deaths of those people as casualties in combat with members of the 26th Front of the FARC,” according to the statement by the Attorney General’s office. An investigation established that the laborers “were executed when they were totally defenseless” and that the troops planted guns next to their bodies to bolster their argument that the laborers were rebels.
Four of the charged men are currently being held in a military prison while authorities search for the fifth soldier. Since 2008, when the scandal first broke, 272 soldiers have been convicted and 58 have been absolved in similar cases.
For more information, please see:
Latin American Herald Tribune – Five Colombia Soldiers Charged with Murdering Civilians – 3 January 2011
Latin American News Dispatch – Colombian Major and Four Soldiers Accused in “False Positive” Murders – 3 January 2011
Miami Herald – Colombian Soldiers Accused of Killing 3 Civilians – 1 January 2011
By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch, Africa
NAIROBI, Kenya- Kenya’s Industrialization Minister Henry Kosgey, already under ICC indictment, stepped down from office today facing 12 counts of corruption and graft. Most of these charges stem from the many vehicle exemptions he gave to individuals while in office. Kenyan law dictates no vehicles over 8 years old are road-worthy and through these exemptions, many cars past the 8 year limit were given permits to operate. Corruption and graft is a rampant problem in Kenya, a country ranked as the 20th most corrupt nation in the world by Transparency International. Kosgey, who was arrested shortly after his resignation, has stated, “I wish to state that my actions in this matter are above reproach, because I have committed no wrongdoing,” adding that this was not a case of corruption “in the way that most people understand the term to mean.”
Despite his protestations of innocence, the Kenya Anti-Corruption Comission (KACC) is going forward with it’s prosecution of Kosgey. In November, the KACC began questioning Kosgey in relation to his importation of older vehicles. Kosgey’s arrest and subsequent bail come just one day after Kenya’s attorny general gave the KACC permission to prosecute Kosgey for abuses of office. In an interview with CNN, Professor PLO Lumumba, head of the KACC, stated the importance of prosecuting corruption since it has become so ingrained in Kenyan society, affecting the basic survival of Kenyans and their access to services like medical care and education. Said Kosgey,
[Y]ou cannot sustainably have a country where the policeman on the beat, the individual who visits the hospital, the young person who attends school, the business person who is seeking a permit, must pay certain undocumented monies as a condition to accessing those services.
Lumumba, in reference to Kosgey, went on in the interview to say that Kenya would not be extending special treatment to corrupt government officials at any level.
Kosgey is also facing charges from the ICC, along with 5 other Kenya cabinet members, related to the 2008 post election violence that left over 1,000 dead, three times as many injured and over 600,000 forcibly displaced. He has vigourously denied the ICC charges as well but ICC Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo has named him as having the greatest share of responsibility.
For more information, please see;
Capital News- Kosgey Denies Graft Charges, Freed on Bail- 4 Jan., 2011
CNN- Crooked Top Officials Should Take Fall, Says Corruption Chief– 3 Jan., 2011
BBC- Kenyan Minister Facing Corruption Claims Resigns– 4 Jan., 2011
By Ricardo Zamora
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
Former Yukos Oil company executives Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev have had their previous eight-year prison terms lengthened to fourteen year. The new rulings, handed down by Moscow’s Khamovnichesky district court on December 30, 2010, indicate a politically motivated trial and showcase continuing corruption within the Russian judicial system, said Human Rights Watch.
Arrested in 2003 for tax evasion and fraud, both men were scheduled to be released in 2011 and were eligible for parole beginning in 2007. The new charges, including theft and embezzlement, were brought in February 2007 when both men approached parole eligibility on their original sentences. The December 2010 ruling, however, moves back their release date until 2017.
“The sentence is a blow to the rule of law in Russia,” said Rachel Denber, acting Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Everything about the charges and the trial indicates that the case against them is political.”
Amnesty International reports that several procedural violations were tolerated during the trials including defense lawyers being unable to cross-examine witnesses and defense witnesses prevented from taking the stand. Additionally, authorities have pressured and harassed former colleagues to testify for the prosecution and the courts have failed to order the prosecution to disclose procedural irregularities which violated the defendants’ rights to prepare their cases.
Russia has a motive for retaliating against Khodorkovsky. One of the young tycoons who amassed a fortune in the early 90s after the former Soviet Union’s collapse, he took a stand against Putin’s government, challenging state control over exports and funding opposition parties. He became a thorn in Putin’s side and Putin, now only Russias prime minister, nevertheless remains Russia’s most powerful man.
“All evidence points to a pattern of political motives and interference having obstructed justice in this case,” said Nicoal Dockworth of Amnesty International. “The Moscow City Court must overturn this unfair conviction to restore faith in the independence of Russia’s legal system,” she added.
Several human rights groups have urged Russian President Dmitri Medvedev to call on prosecutors to drop the charges, citing several flaws in the charges, concern over the court’s tolerance of serious procedural errors, and evidence suggesting the government intimidated, harassed, and beat several individuals connected to the case. In response, Russia has accused those groups, the EU, and the US from trying to influence the outcome of the case and has warned the West to mind its own business.
Malaysia Sun – Irregularities and Obstruction of Justice Marred Khodorkovsky Trial Says Amnesty International – January 3, 2011
Human Rights Watch – Russia: Khodorkovsky Sentence Spotlights Unfair Trial – December 30, 2010
Reuters – Russia Accuses West of Meddling in Khodorkovsky Trial – December 28, 2010
By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
Since the election results have been released there have been threats of violence from both sides. Furthermore, both parties have stipulated deadlines for the other to give up power or to leave the country, yet, all of these deadlines have passed without any action.
In response to growing tension, a delegation representing the regional governments of western Africa called ECOWAS will meet with Mr. Gbagbo on Monday, January 3 to try and persuade him to step aside and allow Mr. Ouattara to assume the presidency. The ECOWAS representatives include the presidents of Benin, Cape Verde, and Sierra Leone. Additionally, the Africa Union, an organization representing nearly every government on the African continent will also be taking part in the negotiations. The AU will be represented by Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
As this crisis continues to drag on, ECOWAS and other international organizations are growing more impatient with Mr. Gbagbo’s behavior and the threat to use military force has grown louder. Recently, the British government has pledged to support military operations if Mr. Gbagbo does not cede power peacefully. Others including ECOWAS have also mentioned the use of military action against Mr. Gbagbo. The former president has responded to these threats by demanding all foreign troops including the UN peacekeepers leave Ivory Coast.
Mr. Gbabgo still holds considerable power in Ivory Coast because he controls the nation’s security force. Alternatively, Mr. Ouattara’s control is limited to the Golf Hotel which is surrounded by 800 UN peacekeepers. Since the elections, threats have been made by Mr. Gbagbo’s government to storm the hotel. Although there have been several clashes between the peacekeepers and citizens loyal to the former president, an organized effort to storm the hotel has not materialized.
AFP — I.Coast’s Gbagbo under renewed pressure after deadline – 2 January 2011
BBC Africa — UN to investigate Ivory Coast violation reports – 2 January 2011
Reuters — Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo resists African demands he step down — 2 January 2011
VOA News – West Africa Struggles to End Ivory Coast Crisis – 29 December 2010