A Voice for the Voiceless

Somali Pirates Release Ships after Record Ransom Paid

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter,  Africa

The Samho Dream, a South Korean oil supertanker. (Photo courtesy of Media Steed).
The Samho Dream, a South Korean oil supertanker. (Photo courtesy of Media Steed).

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Pirates off the coast of Somalia are in the process of freeing two ships in exchange for a record ransom. Specifically, a ransom of over $9 million (U.S. dollars) was paid for the release of the Samho Dream, and $7 million (U.S. dollars) was paid for the return of the Golden Blessing. The ransom for the Samho Dream is the largest ransom paid for a single ship since pirates began attacking international vessels off the coast of Somalia.

The Samho Dream, a South Korean oil supertanker, with its five Korean and nineteen Filipino crew members has been under control of Somali pirates since April 2010. The Samho Dream was estimated to have 2 million barrels of oil onboard, worth approximately $160 million dollars (U.S.), when it was captured. This ship was seized in the Indian Ocean as it was traveling from Iraq to the United States.

The initial price for the Samho Dream began at $20 million (U.S. dollars) but through negotiations that figure was whittled down to over $9 million. Once ransom the amount was agreed upon, the cash was ferried by helicopter to the ship and then dropped onto its deck. As of Saturday, a pirate name Hussein told Reuters, “We are counting our cash, and soon we shall get down from the ship.” A South Korean foreign minister expects that once the crew is safe, the South Korean crew members will be sent to a third country for medical evaluations before coming home.

The Golden Blessing, a Singaporean ship, with a nineteen member Chinese crew was captured on June 28. The Golden Blessing was transporting chemicals from Saudi Arabia to India when it was attacked. According to European Union Naval forces, the Golden Blessing was released Saturday after a ransom was paid. The Golden Blessing is now being escorted by Chinese naval vessels to safe waters.

According to a report released by the International Maritime Bureau, the first nine months of 2010 have been the busiest time for ship hijackings in the past five years. The report points outs that Somali pirates are responsible for a substantial number of theses seizures. This is due in large part to the absence of a functioning central government in Mogadishu. Ship hijackings have continued to occur even as European Union, NATO and other nations have stepped up naval patrols in the waters off Somalia.

For more information, please see:

Voice of America – Somali Pirates Release Two Tanker Ships – 6 November 2010

BBC Africa – Somali pirates receive record ransom for ship release – 6 November 2010

Associated Press – Report: Somali pirates release SKorean ship – 6 November 2010

Arirang – Somali Pirates Free Hijacked Korean Ship – 6 November 2010

Nigerian State Secret Service Captures Weapons Shipment – Iran Won’t Comment

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter,  Africa

Rockets seized by the Nigerian SSS at the Apapa Wharf in Lagos.(Photo courtesy of Diran Oshe).
Rockets seized by the Nigerian SSS at the Apapa Wharf in Lagos.(Photo courtesy of Diran Oshe).

ABUJA, Nigeria- Nigeria officials continue to search through 13 shipping containers looking for additional weapons. It is believed the military-grade arms shipment originated in Iran. The Iranian embassy in Nigeria has not offered any explanation on the seized shipment and believes any response to this incident will only cause more confusion. Moreover, the embassy stated that no Iranian has been arrested in connection with the seizure. Israel officials believe the weapons were only passing through the Nigeria port and their final destination was the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. A Hamas spokesman has denied this charge.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press — Nigeria: Iran won’t discuss arms seizure — 1 November 2010

LAGOS, Nigeria – Nearly a month after militants detonated a string of car bombs killing 10 people in the capital, Abuja, Nigerian State Secret Services (SSS) intercepted thirteen shipping containers filled with weapons and explosives. Upon opening the first container, officials discovered a substantial cache of weapons and explosives. Officials are continuing to examine the other twelve containers and suspect they contain similar cargo. These weapons were discovered after increased security measure implemented in response to this recent terrorist attack. This find is especially troubling amid fears that violence could disrupt parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for 2011.

Nigerian officials led journalists to a yard adjacent to the seaport Apapa Wharf in the costal city of Lagos to show them a portion of the recently discovered weaponry.  Suspicion arose when the clearing agent offered any price necessary to ensure that the shipping containers were unloaded at an off-dock facility instead of at the port where security measures are more rigorous.  Upon further inspection, the bill of lading falsely claimed that the shipping containers in question held construction materials, specifically floor tiles.  However, security officials soon discovered the individual crates contained weapons. The munitions included rocket launchers, 107mm artillery shells, machine guns, grenades and other explosives. The SSS is continuing to search for other containers that may contain similar cargo. While the ownership of the shipping containers and their final destination are still not known, it is believed they were shipped from Iran

Several militant groups currently operate in Nigeria, and any one of them could be connected to this weapons shipment. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) claimed responsibility for the string of car bombs that exploded in the capital earlier this month. Furthermore, MEND has threatened more attacks, although their destructive capabilities may be hindered by the recent arrest of its top leaders. Along with MEND, the Boko Haram, a militant Islamic group, operating in the northeastern part of Nigeria, could also be linked to this weapon shipment. The Boko Haram recently attacked a police station, killing police officers and government officials. This brutal assault has led many to fear the group may be planning additional attacks.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Nigeria’s secret police intercept weapons shipment – 27 October 2010.

Canadian Press – Nigeria: Artillery rockets, rifle rounds included in weapons seized in shipping containers – 27 October 2010.

Nigerian Compass – SSS intercepts containers laden with rocket launchers – 27 October 2010.

Nigerian Tribune – Customs seize 13 containers of arms, ammunition in Lagos – 27 October 2010.

Reuters Africa – Nigerian secret service intercepts arms shipment – 27 October 2010.

Report cites hundreds of rapes on Congo-Angola border

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

Security forces raped as many as 700 women and girls along the Congo-Angola border (Photo Courtesy of Al Jazeera).
Security forces raped as many as 700 women and girls along the Congo-Angola border (Photo Courtesy of Al Jazeera).

CONGO – Almost seven hundred women and girls were raped along the Congo-Angola border during a mass expulsion of some seven thousand Congolese from Angola in October, according to a recently released United Nations report.

The report was released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and said that 6,621 people arrived in two territories of Luiza and Tshikapa/Kamonia, in Western Kasi province.

Many of the victims said that they were locked in dungeon-like conditions for several weeks and raped repeatedly.

Separately, doctors conducted examinations of 35 women in the Congolese town of Tembo last week, confirming that they had been raped and left without clothes in the bush along the border.

The reports come after the wave of mass rapes that occurred in eastern Congo between July 30 and August 3 by rebel militiamen.

“What worries us is that rape seems to be becoming endemic in several parts of Congo.  We fear it’s becoming part of the routine,” said U.N. spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said, referring to the recent rapes that occurred in the eastern Kivu province.

U.N. officials call Congo the worst place in the world for sexual violence.  Despite the presence of U.N. peacekeepers, more than 200 women were raped in a single thatched-roof village in eastern Congo a few months ago.

This is not the first time the countries have expelled each other’s citizens. Last year, Angola expelled 160,000 Congolese, while Congo expelled 51,000 Angolans.  Relations have deteriorated between the countries, due in part to offshore oil ownership, Angola’s diamond exports, and closer Congolese relations with Rwanda and Uganda.

Lambert Mende, the DRC information minister, said that the no reports of rape have been reported to authorities.

“We’re not informed. We don’t know, these figures are not confirmed,” Mende said. “There are expulsions, perhaps there are rapes but we have received no complaints and we don’t want to launch a dossier.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – UN: Mass rapes on Angola-DRC border – 6 November 2010

AP – UN: 700 sexual attacks seen on Congo-Angola border – 6 November 2010

CNN – UNICEF reports sexual violence in the Congo region – 6 November 2010

New York Times – Hundreds Were Raped on Congo-Angola Border – 6 November 2010

Reuters Africa – Hundreds abused during Angola expulsions, U.N. says – 6 November 2010

Uruguay’s High Court Declares Amnesty Law Unconstitutional

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Former Uruguayan Military General Gregorio Alvarez Being Arrested ho his Involvement in Killings UnderJuan Maria Bordaberrys Dictatorship (Photo courtesy of Merco Press)
Former Uruguayan Military General Gregorio Alvarez Being Arrested for his Involvement in Killings UnderJuan Maria Bordaberry's Dictatorship (Photo courtesy of Merco Press)

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – Uruguay’s high court recently declared a law providing amnesty for human rights violations committed during the 1973-1985 dictatorship unconstitutional.

The Court’s decision coincides with controversial Congressional efforts to overturn the law, which protects former military and law enforcement officials from prosecution as a result of rights abuses.

The issue most recently came to public attention in the case of Juan Maria Bordaberry, a former “strongman” who is said to be responsible for 20 deaths.  Bordaberry ruled as democratically elected president from 1972 to 1973 and as dictator from 1973 to 1976, but was later sentenced to 30 years in prison for violating the constitution and another 30 years for the extrajudicial killings of 14 people who went missing during his rule.

The court’s decision comes amidst heated legislative debate between the governing center-left regime and the opposition.  The government sent Congress a bill to rescind the Ley de Caducidad (Expiry Law), even though the amnesty was upheld in referendums in 1989 and 2009.

The Expiry Law requires both the executive branch and the Supreme Court to authorize each judicial investigation launched into alleged crimes committed by security force members during the military regime.  The Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday allows an investigation into a case in which Bordaberry was accused by different human rights groups of responsibility for the deaths of 20 people.

The ruling party has justified the new bill, now before the Senate after its approval in the lower house, on the basis of a previous Supreme Court decision from October 2009.  The 2009 ruling marked the first time Uruguay’s highest tribunal had taken a stand against the amnesty law. The case was brought by a veteran human rights activist seeking justice for Communist Party activist Nibia Sabalsagaray, killed in 1974 by government agents.

Proponents of the bill want Uruguayan courts to consider all international human rights conventions signed by the country to be protected by the constitution, a step that would automatically invalidate the Expiry Law.  Opponents of the proposed law, including former Presidents Julio Maria Sanguinetti and Jorge Batlle, say the bill is “an affront to citizens who have upheld the law” and “an attack on Uruguay’s institutions.”

For more information, please see:

Latin American Herald Tribune – Uruguay High Court Declares Amnesty Law Unconstitutional – 4 November 2010

Americas Quarterly – Uruguayan Amnesty Law Unconstitutional – 3 November 2010

Washington Post – Uruguay’s High Court Annuls Dictatorship’s Amnesty – 1 November 2010

UK Military Accused of Abusing Iraqi Detainees

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

LONDON, England — A lawyer representing more than 200 Iraqi civilians told the high court in London on Friday that the Iraqis suffered systematic mistreatment and torture by British soldiers in a secret prison near Basra. The lawyer called this “Britain’s Abu Ghraib.” These allegations come not longer after secret UK military training aids advocating abuse and even torture were leaked to a newspaper.

Michael Fordham, a lawyer for the former detainees, told the court that the abuse of detainees began when British forces first entered Iraq in March 2003 until they withdrew from Iraq in 2009. According to the New York Times, Fordham claimed the former detainees had experienced “beatings, starvation, sleep deprivation, electric shocks, prolonged periods of nakedness and sexual humiliation by female soldiers, sensory deprivation through the enforced use of hoods, earmuffs and blackened goggles, and exposure to pornographic DVDs.”

The solicitors representing the former detainees submitted video footage which they say substantiate the allegations. The interrogators themselves filmed over 1,200 videos, and 13 of them were submitted to the panel of three High Court judges.

One of the videos, which can be viewed on the Guardian’s website, shows two interrogators screaming obscenities at a detainee. The interrogators ignore the man when he says he has not been allowed to sleep, and that he has not had food or drink in two days. One of the interrogators threatens the man with execution. The lawyers for the detainees claim that the man was beaten severely after he was led away from the camera, as evidenced by the muffled sounds at the end of the video.

The hearing before the high court is expected to last three days, at which time the court will have to decide whether or not to overrule two successive British governments, as well as military commanders, who have previously refused to initiate a public inquiry. Opponents of an inquiry have claimed that past reports of abuse of detainees were individual incidents, the result of a few bad apples as opposed to systemic, command-approved abuse.

Phil Shiner, a lawyer for the former detainees, believes that it’s “nonsense” to claim it’s a case of a few bad apples. He also asserts that people at the highest level of government knew what was going on, and only a public inquiry will shed light on the truth of the matter.

“We want accountability, reparations and an apology,” Mr. Shiner said. “There are lessons that have to be learned.”


For more information, please see:

BBC — Iraqi civilians systematically abused, court hears — 5 November 2010

NYT — British Troops Accused of Abusing Iraqi Detainees — 5 November 2010

GUARDIAN — Iraqi prisoners were abused at ‘UK’s Abu Ghraib’, court hears — 5 November 2010