New Laws Restrict Opposition

December 28, 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela—New laws imposed by “lame duck” legislators in Venezuela have continued to inspire criticism that the country has now lapsed into a dictatorship. President Hugo Chavez, who will rule by decree for the next 18 months, has taken this opportunity to stifle as much opposition as possible.

One of the new laws sparking controversy will prevent lawmakers from switching political parties, categorizing such an act as “fraud.” Lawmakers breaking this law may be thwarted from holding public office of any kind. Many leaders of the opposition have protested, calling the law unconstitutional.

Proponents of Chavez defend the regulation. Iris Varela, a legislator who is a member of the President’s United Socialist Party, argued that such a law was necessary as it disallowed Chavez’s critics from being elected on one ticket “so later they can betray.”

Another new law changes the way the country’s legislature will operate procedurally. For example, legislators used to be able to take to the floor to orally defend a bill for 15 minutes; now they will only have 10 minutes. Those opposing a bill will only have 3 minutes to make their argument. A further change restricts parliamentary debates from being broadcasted on state television.

Defenders of free expression have spoken out against a new law that expands restrictions on Internet messages that “incite or promote disobedience of the current legal order,” or “refuse the legitimately constituted authority.”

“One has to say it clearly:” said Ismael Garcia, an anti-Chavez legislator, “a new dictatorial model is being imposed in Venezuela.”

Last week, fervent protests erupted against the restrictive laws. Most of the protesters were students and were dispersed by armed forces shooting off water cannons and rubber bullets.

“In Venezuela, the law is destroyed by the law,” opined historian and philosopher Fernando Mires in a recent essay. “The judicial system is destroyed by the judicial system and the Parliament is destroyed by the Parliament.”

For more information, please see:

New York Times-New Laws in Venezuela Aim to Limit Dissent-24 December 2010

Wall Street Journal-Flurry Of New Laws Strengthens Chavez’s Grip On Venezuela-24 December 2010

AP-Flurry of laws boost Chavez’s power in Venezuela-24 December 2010

Opposition Leaders Jailed After Protesting Election Fraud in Belarus

December 27, 2010

By Sovereign Hager
Managing Editor, Impunity Watch News

Over 600 people were arrested after protesting election results in Belarus. (Photo Courtesy of The Armenion)

MINSK, Belarus-Mass protests over what is widely considered to be a rigged re-election of Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the country’s long-standing president resulted in Belarus’s security service filing charges against seventeen oppositional figures, including seven other presidential candidates for organizing mass disturbances. Police have launched raids on oppositional leaders’ offices, seizing computers.

A meeting has been set for January 11, 2011, for leaders in the European Parliament to consider the election and crack-down. Leaders are set to discuss “the conduct and the aftermath of the presidential elections including the excessive and disproportionate forces by the Belarusian authorities, the beating and detention of oppositional presidential candidates and violence against journalists and civil society activists.”

Belarus held its Presidential election on December 19 and gave Lukashenko to a fourth term in office Massive protests broke out after election results were announced. International monitors called the elections fraudulent. Since that time, some 700 people have been arrested, with serious charges filed against twenty top opposition figures, including candidates for president. One man, Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu was beaten unconscious during a protest and then taken from his hospital bed by men in plain clothes.

The Belarussian parliament simultaneously ratified an agreement to create a “unified economic space” between Russia an Kazakastan. As part of the agreement, Russia said it would end tariffs on oil exported to Belarus, a concession that is thought to significantly strengthen Lukashenko’s position.

Several countries have condemned Lukashenka’s actions. Germany issued a warning that Mr. Lukashenka is isolating his country and the EU foreign policy chief and US Secretary of state have threatened to review relations with Belarus. Human rights organizations are concerned that the former presidential candidates currently being held fact up to fifteen years in prison if convicted. The Belarus Security Service, still called the KGB, refuses to issue any comment on the issue. Lukashenko told reporters that he had warned against such protests and said “there will no longer be any brainless democracy.”

For more information, please see:

European Voice-Special Meeting of MEPs to Consider Belarus-24 December 2010

Spero News-“European” Police State-24 December 2010

Belarus News-Human Rights Groups Urge EU to Impose Travel Ban on Lukashenka-23 December 2010

String of Bombings Rock Central Nigeria

December 26, 2010

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

Bombing in Jos, Nigeria on December 24. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters).

JOS, Nigeria – On Friday, December 24, extremists detonated a number of bombs in the Nigerian city of Jos, killing dozens. Nigerian officials believe at least 38 people were killed in the attacks and more than 78 were wounded. In response to this act of terrorism, the Nigerian government stepped up patrols and instituted a curfew in Jos, and barred people from carrying guns in the city. Yet despite these restrictions, there are reports of more violent outbursts in Jos on Sunday, December 26, as angry citizen’s reacted to Friday’s bombings.

The attack on December 24 consisted of a series of four bombings; two bombings occurred at a large market as people were doing last minute Christmas shopping. A third bomb was detonated in a predominately Christian part of the city, and a fourth bomb was detonated on a road leading to a mosque. The central government blames the violence on sectarian fighting between Christians and Muslims.

Furthermore, on December 26, several buildings in the city of Jos were set on fire and there were armed clashes between Christians and Muslims. News agencies claim at least one person was killed in the fighting. The Nigerian government has stepped in to prevent any further bloodshed.

Nigeria is a country where roughly have the population is Christian, while the other half is Muslim. The Christian residents dominate the southern half of Nigeria while the Muslim population is concentrated in the northern half of the country. Jos is the capital city in the state of Plateau. Plateau is located in a region called the Middle Belt, which separates the northern and southern regions.

Friday’s attack on Jos was not the first time the city has been embroiled in sectarian conflict. There were similar bombings in 2001, and in 2008 when religious tensions boiled over. Additionally, in March of this year over 490 people were killed when Muslim herders attacked a Christian village in the state of Plateau. Although the most obvious tension between these two factions are religious differences, other factors such as economic and political control, poverty, and lack of access to land and other resources also contribute to the unrest. Nigerian government officials believe the most recent attack was intended to produce more sectarian violence.

For more information, please see:

AFP — Clashes in Nigerian city after deadly Christmas bombings – 26 December 2010

BBC — Nigeria: Jos sees renewed clashes after bombings – 26 December 2010

Bloomberg — Nigeria Imposes Curfew on City After 32 Die in Christmas Eve Explosions – 26 December 2010

Reuters — Christmas Eve attacks kill at least 38 in Nigeria – 26 December 2010

VOA News — New Clashes in Central Nigeria After Deadly Friday Bombings – 26 December 2010

MOBS LYNCH AND BURN PRIESTS THOUGHT RESPONSIBLE FOR CHOLERA EPIDEMIC

December 25, 2010

By Erica Laster Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Uncontrollable lynch mobs have contributed to the murder of at least 45 citizens of Haiti since the beginning of the cholera epidemic. Ministry official Moise Fritz Evens confirmed that “The victims…were stoned or hacked with machetes before being burned in the streets.” Many of the bodies were found burned, using gasoline and other accelerants or hacked to pieces using machetes.

Authorities discovered the body of Ti Panyol after being attacked with a machete. Photo courtesy of the Daily Mail.

Some Haitians believe that voodoo priests are responsible for bringing cholera to the country, a severe blow considering many are still recovering from the earthquake in January. “People who practice voodoo have nothing to do with the cholera epidemic,” stated Max Beauvoir, head of one of the voodoo organizations in Haiti. He believes that the police should be doing more to stop the murder of innocent priests. Beauvoir and other heads have appealed to authorities in an attempt to assist priests and other victims of the lynch mobs.

Haiti’s minister of communication appealed to the community to end the lynchings, calling for a campaign to disseminate information to citizens to better understand the origin and spread of cholera.

Cholera causes diarrhea and vomiting in victims. The disease can easily be treated with rehydration and antibiotics, but the sanitary conditions and lack of medical supplies has dealt a blow to Haiti’s population. Almost 2,500 have been killed since October.

‘We have had cases every day since last week. People really believe that witches are taking advantage of the cholera epidemic to kill,” indicates Haitian prosecutor Kesner Numa. Numa said the mobs had accused the victims of spreading cholera to regions previously unaffected by the disease. 40 of the victims were found in a region called Grand Anse in southwest Haiti and none have been arrested in connection with their deaths.

For more Information please visit:

BBC News – Haiti Mobs Lynch Voodo Priests Over Cholera F– 24 December 2010

Daily Mail – Haiti Lynch Mobs Murder 40 Accused of Spreading Cholera With Sorcery – 23 December 2010

CNN – Officials: 45 People Lynched in Haiti Amid Cholera Fears – 24 December 2010

Pakistani Police Arrested For Involvment With Bhutto Assassination

December 24, 2010

David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch, Asia

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Two senior police officials were arrested Wednesday in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. A court refused bail for the two officials, Saud Aziz and his assistant Khurram Shehzad, said special public prosecutor Chaudhary Zulfiqar Ali. Aziz, the police chief in the Rawalpindi district at the time of Bhutto’s assassination, was the head of her security team. The two police officials are scheduled to appear for a hearing January 7.

Candle light vigil morning the near reunion of the Bhutto assassination

Bhutto returning from a self-imposed, eight-year exile to running in the country’s general elections in 2007, to later escape an attempt on her life but was subsequently killed on December 27 by a 15-year-old suicide bomber while campaigning for parliament in Rawalpindi.

Security breaches and allegations of covering up are the charges. The actions which bring their condemnation are the hosing down of the crime scene and failing to conduct a post-mortem examination on Bhutto.

The attorney for the two officials argued that Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, the current president, had asked the police not to carry out a post-mortem. Evidence of this conversation, via audio of that request, was played in court Wednesday.

The court decided that both men failed their legal obligations as officers of the law. Five suspected militants are already facing trial for alleged involvement in Ms. Bhutto’s murder.

A Pakistani government investigation blamed the then top leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud. He denied being involved in the assassination and was killed in a suspected US missile attack in August 2009.

It was the United Nations panel and their insight into Bhutto’s assassination which came to the conclusion that Pakistan’s military-led former government failed to sufficiently protect her and the intelligence agencies stalled the ensuing investigation.

The panel’s report in April said the suicide bombing which killed Bhutto “could have been prevented” and also that police deliberately failed in pursuit of an effective investigation into the killings.

The government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf rejects the allegations saying that Bhutto had in fact been afforded adequate protection.

“No one believes that this boy acted alone,” the U.N. report said. “A range of government officials failed profoundly in their efforts first to protect Ms. Bhutto, and second to investigate with vigor all those responsible for her murder, not only in the execution of the attack, but also in its conception, planning and financing.”

Bhutto’s family, including Zardari, said they suspected some elements in Pakistan’s intelligence agencies might have been involved in the assassination.

Police said they had earlier arrested five suspects in connection with Bhutto’s murder. Almost all of them are alleged to have been associated with the local Taliban fighting government forces in the country’s tribal region along the Afghan border.

Bhutto had taken a firm stand against Taliban militants before she returned to Pakistan in October 2007, ending a decade of self-imposed exile to take part in elections.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Two police offiicials arrested in Bhutto assassination – 22 December 2010

BBC – Pakistan police detained over Benazir Bhutto murder – 22 December

Sify News – Two police officers arrested in Bhutto murder case – 22 December