Fatal Shootout Erupts at Military Base

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela—Two officers were shot and killed on a Venezuelan military base after a soldier opened fire with an assault rifle.  Six other soldiers were injured in the following shootout .

The gunfire erupted early Saturday on the Fort Tiuna military base, located in the capital city of Caracas.  The base is the largest in the country and houses the headquarters of the Defense Ministry.  The gunman fled from the base after firing a Russian AK-103 assault rifle.

The alleged shooter has been identified as Jeffersson Jose Trujillo Vasquez.  The attorney general’s office reports that the soldier began shooting after arguing with one of his superiors during the changing of the guard.  That officer, Captain Miguel Angel Rosales, who was 33 years old, was shot in the head and died.

After killing Rosales, Vasquez allegedly entered an arms depot and shot Lt. Alfredo Ruiz.  Ruiz, who was 25, was fatally injured by the attack.

The gunfight that followed between Vasquez and others at the base resulted in six wounded soldiers: three women and three men of various ranks.

Although the suspect’s abandoned car has been found in a slum, police and troops have yet to capture him.

Military officials have yet to publicly react to the incident.

Fort Tiuna was recently the scene of a separate shooting.  Last week, a Hong Kong athlete at the women’s baseball World Cup was struck and wounded by an apparent stray bullet.  Her team pulled out of the Cup.  Though it is still unclear whether that bullet originated from the military base, the tournament was moved from Fort Tiuna to Maracay, west of Caracas.

Although Caracas has a reputation for being one of the most dangerous cities in Latin America, Fort Tiuna has been considered relatively safe.  This reputation has been reinforced by the fact that President Hugo Chavez often visits the officers’ mess at night.  The vice-president owns a residence on the military compound, and foreign delegations are frequently hosted there.

For more information, please see:

AP-2 shot dead at Venezuela military base; 6 wounded-21 August 2010

AFP-Soldier kills two officers, wounds six at Venezuelan base-21 August 2010

BBC-Venezuelan soldier kills two officers ‘after dispute’-21 August 2010

Mexico Supreme Court Upholds Gay Adoption Rights

By Ricardo Zamora
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Mexico’s Supreme Court upheld a law granting same-sex couples in Mexico City the right to adopt children earlier this week. The decision comes a week after the Court upheld the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, and after Argentina legalized gay marriage and adoption in July.

Juliana Cano Nieto, researcher in the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch, said that “the Supreme Court’s ruling confirms that the state cannot withhold any legal rights on the grounds of a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity.” This decision will “have resonance for courts throughout the continent for protecting the basic human rights of LGBT people,” she added.

The decision is a response to a challenge from the Attorney General’s office. The Attorney General contended that the law “breached the concept of family and the best interest of the child guaranteed in the constitution by allowing LGBT couples to adopt.”

The Court dismissed the Attorney General’s interpretation of the law, explaining that the law is not restricted to families formed by a male and female. In its opinion, the Court cited E.B. v. France, a European Court of Human Rights case which held that a single lesbian woman could not be denied the right to adopt a child due to her sexual orientation. The ECJ also noted that same-sex couples should have the same rights to adopt as traditional couples in order to fully guarantee equality and avoid discrimination. Finally, it made clear that the “best interest” of the child is to “have a loving family, regardless of the sexes of the family members.”

“Today, institutionalized homophobia has been buried,” said Jaime Lopez Vela, an LBGT group leader. He added that they were happy because “now we have the same rights and responsibilities of any other married couple.”

Justice Arturo Saldivar, voting with the 9-2 majority, reiterated that “the preferences of the parents do not determine a child’s sexual orientation… that is a discriminatory argument.” “It’s not a question of sexuality that determines whether a person is qualified or not to adopt,” Justice Margarita Luna added.

The Catholic Church strongly disagrees with the Supreme Court’s judgment and is seeking to impeach the justices voting with the 9-2 majority.

According to Human Rights Watch, Mexico is now the 11th country in the world to provide LGBT people equal access to marriage, along with the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Argentina.

For more information, please see:

The Christian Science Monitor – Mexico Court Upholds Gay Adoption Law. Is Mexico More Tolerant Than US? – 17 August 2010

Huffington Post – Mexico Gay Adoption Law Upheld By Supreme Court – 16 August 2010

Human Rights Watch – Mexico: Landmark Adoption Ruling for Same-Sex Couples – 16 August 2010

Brazil Bans Political Satire Ahead of Presidential Election

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Brazilian comedians are prohibited from publicly making fun of candidates ahead of the upcoming presidential election.  The law, which could last until the runoff election at the end of October, has been dubbed the “anti-joke law.”  Specifically, the law forbids television and radio programs from “using trickery, montages or other features of audio or video in any way to degrade or ridicule a candidate, party or coalition.”

Brazilian internet services are not licensed by the government and therefore the ban does not cover internet material, but the material could still be judged by the Brazilian courts.

The law was a product of Brazil’s 1964-1985 dictatorship and specifically prohibits satire about political candidates in the three months preceding and election.  Violating the law is punishable by a fine of up to $112,000 and a broadcast license suspension.

Brazilian performers are not taking the ban lying down and plan to fight the prohibition.  There is public outcry that the law violates freedom of speech and several groups have planned protests in Rio de Janeiro, and other cities, on Sunday.  The groups claim that the ban on speech is a stain on the democratic country’s international reputation.

Marcelo Tas, a comedian-turned-reporter and the host of a weekly television comedy show that targets politicians, asked “[d]o you know of any other democracy in the world with rules like this?”  Tas also stated that people would have to look at classic comedian Monty Python’s material to find a bigger joke than the “anti-joke law.”

Proponents of the law claim that the law’s true purpose is to ensure that all candidates are portrayed in an even light so as not to skew voting.  According to backers, the ban on satire encourages candor because candidates will not fear widespread political jokes.

Tas, on the other hand, uses President Obama’s popularity leading up to the 2008 presidential election as a prime example of the benefit of satirical programming.  According to Tas, candidates, including Barack Obama, benefit from showing a more humane and personal side of themselves that generally shines through when one is confronted with a critical opinion.

On Deadline – Satirists (seriously) protest Brazil’s Political Anti-joking Law Ahead of Election – 17 August 2010

Press Association – Satire banned from Brazil election – 17 August 2010

Telegraph – Satire banned in Brazil ahead of presidential election – 17 August 2010

Former Israeli soldier dismisses outrage over Facebook photos

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Photos posted to Abergils Facebook page have sparked outrage. (Photo Courtesy of Al Jazeera.)
Photos posted to Abergil's Facebook page have sparked anger and condemnation. (Photo Courtesy of Al Jazeera.)

JERUSALEM, Israel – A former Israeli soldier who posted photos of herself posing with blindfolded Palestinian prisoners to her Facebook account is defending her actions.

Eden Abergil, twenty-six years old, claims that she did nothing wrong and was surprised at the controversy surrounding the pictures.

The pictures show Abergil posing in provocative positions near the blindfolded prisoners. They were part of an album she posted entitled, “Army – the best time of my life.” The pictures were discovered by a blogger who circulated them around the Internet. The images prompted comments from many users, and her Facebook account quickly became blocked to outside users.

In one of the photos, in which Abergil is shown smiling in front of blindfolded prisoners, a friend of hers posted about the photo, “That looks really sexy for you.” Abergil posted a response – “I wonder if he is on Facebook too – I’ll have to tag him in the photo,” referring to one of the prisoners in the background.

Abergil says that she did not intend to make a political statement or spark such outrage. In an interview with Israeli Army Radio, Abergil claimed that the images had no “political significance.”

“There was no violence in the pictures, there was no disrespect,” she said. “I did it out of excitement, to remember the experience.”

Yet both Palestinian and Israeli groups have attacked her actions. The incident highlights a pattern of claims of alleged abuse of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

“This shows the mentality of the occupier, to be proud of humiliating Palestinians,” Ghassan Khatib, Palestinian Authority spokesman, told the Associated Press. “All aspects of occupation are humiliating. We call on the international organisations, starting with the UN, to work hard to end the occupation, because it is the source of humiliation for Palestinians and a source of corruption for the Israelis,” Khatib said.

The Israeli army has attempted to distance itself from the controversy. IDF spokesman Barak Raz said that the pictures did not “reflect the spirit of the IDF, our ethical standard to which we all aspire.”

Because Abergil was discharged from the army last year, future legal action is still unclear.

Yet Jawad Amawi, director of legal affairs for the Palestinian government’s prisoners ministry, told CNN, “She did this act while she was in military service, so in retrospect the Israeli occupation is responsible for her acts. This is a breach of international law, clearly a breach of human rights.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Storm over Israeli ‘abuse’ photos – 17 August 2010

BBC – Israeli woman soldier denies Facebook photos wrongdoing – 17 August 2010

CNN – Israeli in Facebook incident dismisses criticism – 17 August 2010

Haaretz – ‘Facebook photos of soldiers posing with bound Palestinians are the norm’ – 17 August 2010

New York Times – Ex-Israeli Soldier’s Photos Condemned – 16 August 2010

Egypt Unifies Call to Prayer Sparking Concern Over Government Interference in Religious Affairs

By Alyxandra Stanczak
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Photo of mosque in downtown Cairo. (Courtesy of egypttourinfo.com)

CAIRO, Egypt – Up to 730 muezzins, men who transmit the call to prayer five times daily in each mosque, face unemployment after the Egyptian government instituted a uniform call to prayer earlier this week.  Religious scholars are also worried that this government-mandated regulation of call to prayer could constitute a further intrusion by the Egyptian government in religious affairs.

Officials at the Ministry of Religious Endowment have said that the regulation is necessary to restore the dignity of the azan, the Islamic call to prayer. Although the government has stated that the muezzins would be able to maintain their salary, their tasks around the mosque would become much less prestigious and could include anything from leading prayers to custodial work. Muezzins are generally paid a  small wage, roughly $55 per week in some instances, but that wage goes far in a country with a yearly per capita income of  $2,161.

Sheik Youssef al-Badri, a religious conservative, opposes this regulation on the basis that “the Prophet Muhammad never ordered people to unify their calls to prayer in (his home of) Medina, so we shouldn’t do the same in Cairo.” Other conservatives are worried about the fact that the regulation tampers with an age-old Islamic ritual.

The Ministry of Religious Endowments hopes to regulate all of Egypt’s over 100,000 government-funded mosques after successful implementation of the program in Cairo. However, muezzins in impoverished areas of Cairo are worried that this regulation would mean that non-government funded mosques would be prevented from transmitting a call to prayer, which could possibly result in many people missing the five-times daily prayer ritual.

Other religious scholars have said that they are not worried about the governmental interference on religious affairs. Mohamed el Shahat el Gindy, Professor of Islamic Law at Helwan University, indicated that this decision could lessen the confusion caused by the mix of voices heard during the call to prayer.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Egypt’s unified call to prayer – 12 August 2010

USA Today – Cairo mosques begin unified call to prayer – 12 August 2010

NPR – In Cairo, and end to the cacaphony of calls to prayer – 5 August 2010

Egypt then and now – Unified call to prayer will be first activated in Greater Cairo – 2 August 2010