Watchdog: Chavez Censorship Akin to East European Cold War

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela–President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has again been accused of silencing voices of opposition by controlling and censoring the media.  A popular media watchdog, the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), has issued a report alleging that Chavez’s restrictions on members of the press bring to mind events during the Cold War in eastern Europe.

David Natera is the director of Venezuelan newspaper El Correo del Caroni and president of the Venezuelan Press Bloc, a group representing the owners of the country’s primary newspapers.  Natera presented the report against Chavez at IAPA’s 66th General Assembly in Mexico.  The report stated that Chavez “seeks to control ideas, and to impose silence” on anyone who disagrees with the government.

Natera’s report went on to accuse Chavez of seizing media outlets and expropriating property as part of a “social control strategy” so that “the people will have to depend on the state exclusively to get jobs or food.”  The report continued:  “To achieve this perverse end, Chavez needs silence, the silence of the media and of journalists. He needs the silence and the fear that were typical of the sad and oppressed peoples of Cold War-era eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and today’s Cuba under [Raul and Fidel] Castro.”

Natera was optimistic, however, that members of the press in Venezuela, though oppressed, will doggedly strive to maintain impartiality and report the truth.

Chavez considers himself a socialist revolutionary and is seen by many as an enemy of the free press.  In July of this year, his government acquired a minority stake in Globovision, the sole remaining opposition television network.  Similarly, in 2007, Chavez terminated the broadcasting license of the most popular independent television network in the country, Radio Caracas Television (RCTV).

According to Natera’s report, over the past year, 113 physical attacks against journalists have been reported in Venezuela.  In addition to these assaults, journalists have been imprisoned or sent into exile.  Acknowledging these human rights violations, Natera said:  “The independent media, which the government calls ‘private media’, are the ones that defend the Constitution, freedom of expression and the people’s right to a free and uncensored information.”

IAPA is a press advocacy group representing media organizations in North America, South America and the Caribbean.  It boasts a membership of 1,300 newspapers and magazines.

For more information, please see:

El Universal-“Chavez needs silence of the media,” IAPA cautions-8 November 2010

AFP-Venezuela’s Chavez targets freedom of press: watchdog-8 November 2010

RTT News-Chavez Imposing Media Censorship: Watchdog-8 November 2010

El Mercurio – Hugo Chávez busca controlar las ideas e imponer silencio a medios de prensa en Venezuela, dice la SIP – 8 November 2010

UK To Give Prisoners Right to Vote For First Time Since 1867

By Ricardo Zamora

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

STRASBOURG, France – Despite a 2005 European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision finding blanket restrictions on prisoners’ right to vote illegal, the United Kingdom has continued denying prisoners in England and Whales the right to vote.

In June, the influential European body, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CMCE), an inter-governmental organization that oversees and enforces ruling made by the ECHR, called on the ECHR for action against the UK policy.

The ECHR responded to the CMEC’s concerns in its October, Frodl, decision, finding that, with few exceptions, any denial to prisoners of the right to vote violates EU law.

Adam Wagner, a human rights barrister at One Crown Office Row chambers, wrote on his blog: “The now-final decision in Frodl…effectively ruled that the disenfranchisement of prisoners could only happen on rare occasions: namely, where a prisoner was detained as a result of the abuse of a public position or a threat to undermine the rule of law or democratic foundations.”

The Daily Telegraph disclosed this week that the British Government, currently faced with a similar challenge in its courts, appears to have changed it’s approach and is instead focusing on how to deny the maximum number of prisoners the right to vote without breaking the law.

The government is now seeking denial of the voting right to individuals serving sentences of more than four years.  But even this approach may be illegal in the wake of Frodl.

David Davis, former Tory shadow home secretary, maintains that the decision was none of the European Court’s business.  Davis maintains that the issue had been decided long ago by parliament.

In a response to the ECHR’s decision, Davis noted that the Court “said in the judgment that one of the reasons they made this decision was because there had been no debate in Parliament.”  “Well, maybe they didn’t got back to 1867.  Maybe they didn’t realize there was a democracy here then, but that’s when it was debated and we made a decision,” he added.

Telegraph.co.uk reports that the British Government is expected to decide how to amend the law before a meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in December.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Senior Conservative Calls For Prison Vote Debate – 11.05.10

Deutsche Welle – Postcard from Europe: UK Prisoners to Get the Vote – 11.05.10

Telegraph – Jailed MPs Could Be Denied Vote After Latest European Ruling – 11.05.10

Iran Human Rights Documentation Center Calls for the Unconditional Release of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani

November 4, 2010
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT – The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) condemns the continued unwarranted detention of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani in Iran and calls for her unconditional release.  “The Iranian authorities should immediately release Mohammadi Ashtiani,” said Renee Redman, Executive Director of IHRDC. “The handling of her case file has lacked fundamental guarantees of due process and transparency from the beginning. It is particularly alarming that while the Iranian government plays with Mohammadi Ashtiani’s life, it is making a bid for a position on the board of the newly-created UN Women agency that was created to promote women’s equality.”

Mohammadi Ashtiani, a widow and mother of two, was initially sentenced to execution by stoning for a conviction for adultery. Following international condemnation, her execution was suspended in July, pending review by the Iranian judiciary. While in detention, Mohammadi Ashtiani has reportedly been subjected to torture and mistreatment, and forced to falsely confess.

Mohammadi Ashtiani’s family and close associates have also been harassed and targeted by government authorities. Mohammadi Ashtiani’s lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, a prominent criminal defense attorney and a human rights activist, was threatened with arrest by Iranian authorities in retaliation for comments he made to the international media in support of his client. He was forced to flee the country. On October 10, 2010, Mohammadi Ashtiani’s other lawyer, Houtan Kian, and her son, Sajjad Ghaderzadeh, were reportedly arrested in Kian’s law office in Tabriz, Iran for speaking with two German journalists about Mohammadi Ashtiani’s case. Kian, Ghaderzadeh and the foreign journalists remain in detention.

On November 1, the International Campaign Against Stoning reported that Mohammadi Ashtiani would be executed by hanging yesterday. While her execution appears to have been delayed, reports indicate that the implementation of the sentence is imminent.

Under Article 83 of Iran’s Islamic penal code, individuals found guilty of adultery may be sentenced to death by stoning—this punishment falls disproportionately on women. Currently at least ten people—including both women and men—are awaiting execution by stoning for adultery convictions in Iran.

IHRDC’s recently published report entitled Silencing the Women’s Rights Movement in Iran documents the arrests and detentions of women’s rights activists and lawyers who defend women’s rights, following the disputed presidential election of last year.  The harassment of Mohammadi Ashtiani’s former lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, by Iranian authorities is also chronicled in the report.

The report is available in English on IHRDC’s website here.

The Persian translation of the report is available here.

IHRDC is a nonprofit organization based in New Haven, Connecticut that was founded in 2004 by a group of human rights scholars, activists, and historians. Its staff of human rights lawyers and researchers publish comprehensive and detailed reports on the human rights situation in Iran. The reports and database of documents relating to human rights in Iran are available to the public for research and educational purposes on the Center’s website at www.iranhrdc.org.

TENSION RISES BETWEEN BORDER STATES OF NORTHERN MEXICO AND TEXAS

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                       Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Gunfire and death has resulted in increased tension among the northern Mexican states and Texas cities just across the border.   With politicians being gunned down , citizens being recruited to the cartels and cartels constantly patrolling highways, the Mexican states bordering Texas have forced many to retreat.  Colleges and Universities in Texas have also felt the impacts of drug cartel control and gunfire.

Mass grave found in Acapulco not the end of violence in Mexican States this weekend. Photo courtesy of cache.boston.com.
Mass grave found in Acapulco not the end of violence in Mexican States this weekend. Photo courtesy of cache.boston.com.

Many of Mexico’s victims speak on condition of anonymity, noting that “This is out of the government’s hands.  Mexico has been sacrificed and sold to the narcos.  It is the narcos who have the power.”

On Thursday near Acapulco, 18 bodies were removed from a mass gravesite.  Investigators believed their deaths may have been a mistake.  A video posted on YouTube led authorities to the gravesite after anonymous calls to the police.  The video depicts two men being forced to answer questions from an off scene interrogator, confessing to killing the Michoacan men in the graves over drug trafficking disputes.  These videos are a powerful tool, challenging the authority of the state as vigilante justice is brought by criminals.

This past Friday, cartels and military forces clashed after the death of Tony “the Storm,” leader of the Gulf cartel.  Three of his henchmen were also killed in the gunfire in Matamoros, Tamaulipas which could be heard across the border in Texas.  CNN reported that border colleges only a half a mile away,  including the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College were forced to cancel classes and rearrange weekend events “because of gunfire taking place across the Rio Grande.”

On Saturday, eighteen were killed in Ciudad Juarez.  While many used to believe that any murdered victims were involved with narcotics, now, everyone is at risk.  One incident included a family of seven being slaughtered outside their home, including two brothers, believed to be the targets.  Five more bodies were found dead inside of a car and two were found lying in the street.  This marked one of the bloodiest days of the year in Ciudad Juarez.

For More Information Please Visit:

CNN – Official: 18 People Killed In Ciudad Juarez – 7 November 2010

CNN – Gunmen, Forces Clash After Cartel Leader Killed – 6 November 2010

LA Times – Caught Behind Enemy Lines – 6 November 2010

Washington Post – Mistake May Have Led To Mass Grave Deaths In Mexico – 4 November 2010