Update: Mugabe Using Blood Diamonds to Fund Zimbabwe Election

By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch, Africa

President Mugabe of Zimbabwe (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)
President Mugabe of Zimbabwe (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

HARARE, Zimbabwe- The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report citing ‘blood’ diamonds as the main source of funding for President Robert Mugabe’s upcoming 2011 election in Zimbabwe.  These blood diamonds, also called conflict diamonds, are being mined from the Marange fields in Zimbabwe, a mining cite that lost it’s Kimberly Process (KP) certification last year after reports of forced labor and other human rights violations reached the Israeli Diamond Exchange, the group that leads the KP.  The KP is a watchdog group made up of government, diamond industry and civil officials to end the mining, smuggling and sale of blood diamonds.  Despite losing its certification, the Marange fields continues to be mined.  Last week, David Vardi, an Israeli Diamond Exchange trader, was stopped at the Ben Gurion Internatiol Airport after flying in from Zimbabwe carrying $140,000 in uncut diamonds. While the KP has not classified the diamonds coming from Murange as blood diamonds, they have put a stop to their export and some fear that President Mugabe’s effort to control the fields will increase the number of blood diamonds on the market.

In addition to the HRW report, the Africa Canada Partnership group reported in June that it had investigated the Marange fields and found that the mining cites were under military control yet none of the proceeds were benefiting Zimbabwe’s government.  Because the military reports to the President, many fear Mugabe is using these diamonds to ensure his victory in the next elections.  Tom Porteous, UK director of HRW, said “Revenue from the mines is serving to prop up Mugabe and his cronies.”  The HRW report cites unnamed soldiers, diggers, local and national parliament leaders and others inside Zimbabwe’s government as the source for this information.

Mugabe’s party, Zanu (PF), has denied the existence of any diamond smuggling. “These are just inventions of the western imperialists who are trying to discredit Zanu (PF)[. . . .]  There is no corruption at Marange,” said party spokesman Rugare Gumbo earlier this month in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.  Despite these assertions by the government, these latest HRW allegations follow years of reports citing torture in the mines as well as military slayings of freelance diamond miners and other human rights violations.  The Marange feilds remain under a KP enforced embargo until the international community can agree the diamonds being mined there are conflict free.  As reported earlier this week on Impunity Watch, Zimbabwe continues to struggle with its next elections.  If Mugabe is using the Murange feilds to fund his campaign for 2011, Porteous believes the diamonds will be used to “[. . .] fund political violence and intimidation of Mugabe’s opponents.”

For more information, please see;

VOA News- Human Rights Watch Says Zimbabwe’s Murange Diamonds Funding Mugabe Party– 29 Dec., 2010

Business Day- Diamonds Funding Mugabe’s Election– 30 Dec., 2010

AFP- Blood Diamond Fears in I. Coast Political Duel– 28 Dec., 2010

AFP- Israeli Trader Barred as ‘Blood Diamonds’ Suspect– 29 Dec., 2010

IW- Zimbabwe Delays Elections– 23 Dec., 2010

Ukrainian Border Officials Torture Migrants and Asylum Seekers

By Ricardo Zamora

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KYIV, Ukraine – Migrants and asylum seekers, including children and the elderly, face torturous practices and arbitrary detention at the hands of Ukrainian border officials and police, said Human Rights Watch in a recent report.  The inhuman practices include the use of electric shocks to “round up” those apprehended at the country’s borders, lack of access to the asylum procedure, food deprivation, detention of children, corruption and more.

The report, “Buffered in the Borderland: The Treatment of Asylum Seekers and Migrants in the Ukraine,” reveals the Ukraine’s failure to live up to its obligations under an agreement with the EU which came into effect on January 1, 2010.

For example, Ukraine has not taken the initiative to close major legal gaps in its laws.  One of the legal gaps does not provide for the protection of those who flee generalized violence and war or for trafficking victims.  Such loopholes are not just inconsistent with the point of the agreement, but also contradict the EU charter of fundamental rights.

Under the agreement, the EU provides financial assistance to the Ukraine to assist in the development of acceptable treatment towards refugees and asylum seekers.  While the report concedes that some conditions in detention facilities have improved, it notes that Ukraine continues to subject many individuals to inhuman and degrading treatment.

The report also criticizes the EU for returning third-country nationals who enter the EU from Ukraine back to Ukraine to face such inhuman treatment.  The report notes that the EU’s financial assistance does not absolve its member states of their obligations under the EU charter of fundamental rights to provide access to proper asylum procedures and not to return people to face torture or ill-treatment or of the EU members’ responsibilities toward unaccompanied children.

“The EU should suspend its readmission agreement until Ukraine demonstrates its capacity to provide a fair hearing for asylum seekers, to treat migrants humanely, and to guarantee effective protection for refugees and vulnerable individuals,” said Bill Frelick, Refugee Program director at Human Rights Watch.

“Buffeted in the Borderland: The Treatment of Asylum Seekers and Migrants in Ukraine” is available at: http:/www.hrw.org/node/94366

Ukrainians.ca – Ukraine: Migrants and Asylum Seekers Tortured. Mistreated – December 19, 2010

PressTV – Report: Migrants Abused By Ukrainian Guards – December 18, 2010

Reuters – Migrants Returned by EU to Ukraine Face Abuse: HRW – December 16, 2010

Impunity Watch Presentation of Nectali Rodenzo (2/12)

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IMPUNITY WATCH PRESENTATION OF NECTALI RODENZO (2/12) 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.

Study Finds Deterioration of Women’s Rights in Egypt During 2010

By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East Desk

CAIRO, Egypt –  According to a report issued by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), Egypt ranked 125th out of 134 countries when it came to women’s rights in 2010. The report also showed that Egypt ranked thirteenth among countries in the Middle Estate/North Africa region.

Nehad Abu El Komsan, chair of the board of ECWR, said: “The regional ranking is especially saddening . . . Palestine – which is under occupation – preceded Egypt in the women’s rights ranking.”

Among the factors which determined Egypt’s low ranking was the state council’s refusal to appoint female judges in February of 2010.  The ECWR report also stated that the women’s quota system, which reserves sixty four parliamentary seats for female candidates, was only a temporary solution and did not adequately integrate women into the polical sphere.

Abu El Komsan stated: “The women [candidates] were used to decorate the parliament.  It is not an issue of development, it is only a political tool.”

The report noted that although representation of women in political parties turned out ot be weak, some women did successfully emerge as leaders in a few political parties, such as Asmahan Shoukry, who was named the Labor Party’s first female president.

The report’s examination of educational opportunities in Egypt revealed that school curriculum in Egypt reaffirm the stereotypical view that women are only suitable for domestic roles.  Additionally, the study showed many reports of men attempting to break into girls’ schools and harass girls. Girls also reported harassment by teachers and security guards at universities.

As for workplace conditions, women still receive lower wages than men for the same work, are regularly deprived of promotion opportunities, and are treated as temporary labor because of their domestic responsibilities.  A new labor law reduced maternity leave from ninety to one hundred an eighty days, and limited it to twice in a lifetime.

Additionally, the study showed a marked increase in violence against women. According to the report, 71.4% of violent crimes committed in Egypt during 2010 were against women. A study by several NGO’s also showed that incidents of rape have increased in Egypt, with twenty seven rapes reported daily. It is also estimated that roughly 95% of rape cases in Egypt go unreported.

The study stated that two thirds of young men polled felt that physically torturing a women is “justifiable in some situations.”

The report also noted the rise in two new police practice practices in Egypt: the practice of holding women hostages in order to force fugitives to surrender themselves to the police, and sexual violation of women by police officers. In 2010, several Christian women women were also reported to have disappeared as a part of sectarian violence in Egypt.

The ECWR report concluded with recommendations that the Egyptian government pass more legislation to protect women, do more to integrate women into the political sphere, and promote gender equality through art.

For more information, please see:

thedailynewsegypt.com – Women’s rights in Egypt deteriorate in 2010, says report – 28 December, 2010

msn news – Violence against women increased in Egypt in 2010: Report – 28 December, 2010

ECWR /Bikyamasr – Egypt Women: Postponed rights in 2010 – 28 December, 2010

Impunity Watch Presentation of Nectali Rodenzo (1/5)

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.

Impunity Watch Presentation with Nectali Rodenzo from Impunity Watch on Vimeo.

Rodezno and the Lawyer’s Front are engaged in the daily defense of life and liberties in post-coup Honduras, as part of a massive resistance that opposes not only the de facto government that took over when President Zelaya was ousted, but the illegitimate regime installed after fraudulent elections were held last November. Ongoing political assassinations, horrific police brutality, persecution and murder of anyone working in opposition to the Lobo government characterize the current regime’s approach to human rights. Rodezno will speak to the context in which the coup was perpetrated, and prospects for those who continue to struggle for justice in Honduras.