U.S. Gives $30 Million to Colombian Armed Forces

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

President Santos vowed to fight impunity. (Photo courtesy of Colombia Reports)
President Santos vowed to fight impunity. (Photo courtesy of Colombia Reports)

BOGOTA, Colombia—The U.S. State Department has given certification to Congress that Colombia meets “statutory criteria related to human rights.”  This disburses the last funds that the U.S. pledged to give the Colombian military, an amount exceeding $30 million.

The U.S. State Department acknowledged that despite issuing the remaining funds, impunity in Colombia remains a concern.  The State Department asked Colombia’s justice system to strengthen the fight against human rights violations.

Colombia’s Prosecutor-General’s office is in need of organization and is noted for slow response times to crimes.  The State Department encouraged the Prosecutor-General’s office to effectively investigate wiretapping and surveillance frequently conducted by Colombia’s Department of Administrative Security (DAS).

Just sworn in on August 7 of this year, Colombia’s new President Juan Manuel Santos has been making strides against criminal groups operating in the country and threatening human rights activists.  The Santos administration has started illustrating a commitment to human rights, creating a labor roundtable, meeting with NGOs and attempting to improve the relationship with the judicial system.

President Santos was pleased with the certification by the State Department and called the decision “just” in a statement posted on the presidential website.  He went on to admit that there is much work to be done for the future:  “This is good news and more than anything just because it recognizes the attempt we’ve been making against a problem that no one denies.  Everyone knows that it existed and still exists, but to lesser extent.”

The State Department released a press statement explaining that Colombia took “positive steps to improve respect for human rights in the country.  Firm direction by the government that extrajudicial killings will not be tolerated has led to a rapid reversal in this disturbing trend.”  The Department also took note, however, that “there continues to be a need for improvement.”

The money will be used to help Colombia combat drug trafficking and widespread guerilla violence.  It will also go towards monitoring human rights abuses by security forces.

Since 2000, Colombia has received over $6 billion in U.S. military and other aid under what is known as Plan Colombia.  This initiative was constructed in hopes of decreasing leftist rebels, far-right militias and the notorious Colombian drug trade.

For more information, please see:

RTT News-US Certification For Colombia’s Human Rights Record-16 September 2010

Colombia Reports-Santos welcomes ‘just’ US certification on human rights-15 September 2010

AP-US OKs $30 million in military aid to Colombia-15 September 2010

72 Migrants Killed In Massacre: Honduran Helped 2nd Survivor Flee

By Erica Laster

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – 72 migrants out of a group of 77 were killed in Mexico on their way to the United States border by the Zetas cartel after refusing to work for the widely known drug gang.  Authorities discovered the bodies bound, blindfoldedand slumped against a wall at a ranch in the state of Tamaulipas.  While the group was made up of mostly of Hondurans, Ecuadorians, Guatemalans and one Brazilian, the whereabouts of the three Mexicans, consisting of two drivers and an assistant, are unknown. The remaining two, an Ecuadorian and one Honduran, escaped the massacre after the shooting stopped.

Photo courtesy of the Malaysian Insider
Photo courtesy of the Malaysian Insider

The Ecuadorian, Luis Freddy Lala suffered from a gunshot wound to the neck but was able to stumble to a marine checkpoint, alerting authorities.  The Honduran who freed him was forced to separate after hearing more gunshots behind them. Lala, 18, is now under the Ecuadorian Witness Protection Program while the Honduran survivor, whose name is being withheld, is under the protection of Mexican security forces until further notice.

Honduran Foreign Minister Mario Canahuati issued a statement declaring that “We call on Mexican authorities to take measures as soon as possible to avoid events like the one that occurred in Tamaulipas.”

Despite the Foreign Minister’s call to action, according to government figures, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are the most violent countries in the northern hemisphere.  Street gangs and the increase in drug trafficking has only exacerbated the violence.  Just 5 days ago in the northern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, at least four men using assault rifles burst into a shoe factory, killing 18 and wounding 5 of the 23 employees on duty.  Authorities, including Police Commissioner Hector Ivan Mejia believe the massacre was carried out as a part of a turf battle on a rival gang.  None of the 18 employees killed had criminal records.

Mexican authorities have seen an uptick in violence and the use of vulnerable migrants by cartels in order to further drug trafficking.

For More Information Please See:

Associated Press Official: Honduran helped massacre survivor flee – 4 September 2010

Washington Post 18 massacred in Honduras had no criminal records – 8 September 2010

CNN There Was Second Survivor From Mexico Massacre, Officials Say – 1 September 2010

Italy Outsources Border Patrol Duties to Libya: Fires Live Munitions at Unarmed Civilians

By Ricardo Zamora
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MILAN, Italy – Libyan officials on board Italian Naval ships continue to fire on boats suspected of carrying illegal African migrants.  Such use of force between the coasts of Italy and Libya has been commonplace since May 2009.

On May 14, 2009, Italy and Libya entered into a joint agreement to curtail the flow of migrants from Libya to Italy.  The terms of the agreement explained that Italy would supply reconnaissance vessels to be operated jointly by Italian and Libyan officials for the purpose of intercepting boats attempting to smuggle African migrants into Italy.  The agreement added that Italian officials were not to physically participate in boat interceptions and were on board the vessels only in a “maintenance” capacity.

The most recent incident occurred on Sunday, September 12, when Libyan officials on board one of the several Italian vessels opened fire on a Sicilian boat located 30 miles off the Libyan coast, Italian officials report.  The incident occurred in international waters.

Further investigation revealed that the boat was, in fact, an Italian fishing trawler occupied by ten men – all of them Italian nationals.  Although none of the ten occupants were wounded, the boat’s captain openly condemned Libya’s and Italy’s actions and inactions.  Italy has apologized for what it called a “mistake.”

“The fact that the Libyan patrol fired because it mistook the Italian boat for a ship of migrants does not make it any less serious,” center-left Democratic Party senator Giuseppe Lumia said.  “Here, it’s a question of respect for international norms and fundamental human rights.”

While only Libyan officials fired upon the Italian trawler, human rights groups worry that Italy’s silence over the matter implies that it does not condemn the use of deadly force on innocent civilians.  Both governments said they are investigating the incident.

“The Libyans and Italians appear to agree that it was a mistake to shoot at Italian fishermen, but imply that it’s OK to shoot at migrants,” said Bill Frelick, Refugee Program director at Human Rights Watch.  “The bullet-riddled boat shows a reckless use of potentially lethal force that would have been just as bad if it had actually targeted nonthreatening migrants.”

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the event would not have any repercussions on Italian-Libyan relations.

For more information, please see:

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH – Libya: End Lice Fire Against Suspected Boat Migrants – September 16, 2010

SAHARA REPORTERS – Libya: End Live Fire Against Suspected Boat Migrants – September 16, 2010

REUTERS – Libya Apologizes for Firing at Italian Boat – September 14, 2010

Taylor trial adjourns until September 27

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

On Monday, the Special Court for Sierra Leone judges created a schedule for the closure of the defense case in the trial of Charles Taylor, who has been charged with eleven counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law.

At the conference, Taylor’s defense attorney, Terry Munyard, indicated that the defense was still working on several motions and proposed to the judges that the court take a two-week recess to decide the defense motions. The defense also said that they had likely called their last witness, DCT-008, who concluded his testimony at the end of last week.

Defense witness DCT-008 was the twentieth defense witness, a Liberian national who served as a radio operator in the Special Security Services (SSS) unit of Taylor’s government in Liberia. His testimony focused primarily on radio communications that occurred between Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in Sierra Leone and members of Taylor’s security apparatus in Liberia. Prosecutors contended that the radio communications that took place facilitated arms transfers for use in Sierra Leone’s bloody conflict. Prosecutors also alleged that the radio communications occurred with Taylor’s approval, allegations that Taylor denied, positing that his security forces could have had independent relationships with Sierra Leonean rebels. DCT-008 said that the communications and the diamond and arms trades that took place between Liberia and Sierra Leone were based solely on the friendship between RUF commander Sam Bockarie and SSS Director Benjamin Yeaten.

The court made the following rulings after defense counsel’s request. First, it gave the defense until September 24, 2010 to file any submissions. Second, it said it would hold a status conference on September 27, 2010 to look at the volume of the pending motions and determine a date for another status conference. Third, it set a two-week recess to commence on September 28. Finally, it stated that court would resume on October 12, 2010.

For more information, please see:

Charles Taylor Trial – At Status Conference, Judges Draw Up Schedule For The Conclusion Of Defense Case – 13 September 2010

Charles Taylor Trial – DCT-008 Concludes His Testimony And Could Be The Final Witness In the Charles Taylor Trial – 11 September 2010

Border Crisis: Corruption and Smuggling Unearths 37 Immigrants In California Home

The United States border garners thousands of cars per day. Photo Courtesy of New Mexico State University nmsu.edu
The United States border garners thousands of cars per day. Photo Courtesy of New Mexico State University iri.nmsu.edu.

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                     Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

CALIFORNIA, United States – Immigration, drug and border corruption is virtually ignored on the U.S. side of the Mexican-U.S. border.  On Wednesday, government officials rescued some 37 immigrants locked inside one boarded up bedroom in a southern California home.  Authorities began searching for the home after receiving a phone call from a relative reporting that smugglers had threatened to kill his family without payment.

These “drop houses” are used by smugglers while waiting for payment for bringing immigrants into the country.  The immigrants had been locked inside the room for weeks and had not been fed for several days.  Most of those found were men, while three children under the age of three were also discovered in the room.  The immigrants were immediately placed in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.  Among the group were immigrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.

Their discovery should not come as a surprise as the U.S. and Mexico have been working to deal with smugglers, human trafficking and drug cases at a heightened pace.  In late August, a renowned asset named Garnica, known as “La Estrella,” (The Star), was sentenced to 20 years in prison by District Court Judge David Briones.  For years, Martha Garnica passed money through car windows, devised secret codes and provided drug and undocumented workers with maps to safely haul their cargo across the border.  A veteran law enforcement officer and former employee for U.S. Customs Service, Garnica was paid large sums of money, vacationing in Europe and reside in a spacious house with a built in swimming pool.

The $25 billion industry represents a growing problem for many Americans on the U.S. side of the border and U.S. officials attempting to root out corrupted government employees.  “It’s no different from spy agencies.  They look for weaknesses.  Sex is a biggie.  Alcohol, drug abuse, financial woes,” says James Smith, head of the inspector general’s investigative unit in El Paso.

For More Information Please Visit

Washington Post – Officials Rescue 37 Immigrants from California House – 8 September 2010

Washington Post – Woman’s Links to Mexican Drug Cartel a Saga of Corruption on U.S. Side of Border – 12 September 2010