East Timor’s parliament rejects Australia’s proposal to build an asylum-seeker center

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SYDNEY, Australia – East Timor’s parliament has unanimously passed a resolution to reject Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s proposal to establish an offshore asylum seeker detention centre on the country.

Prior to the passage of the resolution, Ms Julia Gillard has said she hopes to cooperate with other nations in the region to establish a processing center for asylum seekers, with the possibility of setting up one in East Timor.

The Prime Minister has backed away from suggestions the centre would be located in East Timor. As it turns out, she had only discussed the plan in a phone conversation with East Timor’s president, Jose Ramos-Horta.

President Jose Ramos-Horta acknowledged that he had discussed with Ms Gillard the “possibility” of hosting a processing centre. He further stated, however, that the purpose of any centre in Timor would be to process asylum-seekers who were in danger on the high seas and had not found safety in another country. Also, he specified that it should be the UN, not Australia or Timor that should administer any holding facility in East Timor.

The resolution comes after the parliament in Dili last week formally condemned Ms Gillard’s idea as unworkable. East Timor’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao last week allowed his own party to join in a unanimous condemnation of the plan in parliament.

Ms Gillard has currently refused to set a date for the rollout of any policy.

For more information, please see:

ABC News, East Timor MPs reject asylum centre proposal, 12 July 2010

The Australian, East Timor’s parliament rejects Gillard plan for regional asylum-seeker centre, 12 July 2010

Sky News, East Timor rejects asylum seeker centre, 12 July 2010

Bangladesh Charges 824: Aftermath Post Blood Bath A Year Ago

David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Police in Bangladesh have charged 824 people for the massacre of 74 senior military officers during a mutiny by border guards in February last year.   All suspects could face the death penalty if found guilty.

Prosecutors say the border guards rebelled over low wages and poor treatment
Prosecutors say the border guards rebelled over low wages and poor treatment

Seventy-four people, including 57 senior army officers, were killed during the siege of a military base in Dhaka, the capital, in an uprising that briefly threatened the government of Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister.

Prosecutors announced the charges on Monday and the trials against the mutiny’s ringleaders and participants are expected to take at least one year to complete in Bangladesh’s civil courts.

“We have charged 824 people with murder, conspiracy, aiding and abetting murder, looting military weapons and arson,” Mosharraf Hossain Kazal, the state prosecutor, said.

Rebelling soldiers were allegedly angry about their superiors’ refusal to increase their pay and improve working conditions.

“They mowed their officers down in cold blood, using semi-automatic weapons and rifles they’d looted from the barracks,” Akhand, the police investigator, said of  mutineers who took control of BDR headquarters on February 25, 2009.

The violence has spread nationwide and Bangladesh appeared to be on the brink of civil war.

The case will be handled by Bangladesh’s civil courts in what will be the largest trial in the country’s history.

In parallel prosecutions, some 3,500 soldiers who had joined the rebellion are being tried in military courts on lesser charges.

At least 200 guards have already been convicted by the tribunals with jail sentences ranging from four months to seven years.

The mutiny erupted at the BDR headquarters in Dhaka and lasted 33 hours, during which officers were killed and their bodies dumped in sewers and shallow graves.

“A senior officer was taken to the roof of a four-storey building and thrown to the ground. The dead bodies of a few officers were set on fire.”

The mutiny took place just two months after the country returned to civilian rule under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

She had originally offered an amnesty to some mutineers but this was rescinded when the extent and nature of the bloodshed became clear.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Bangladesh charges 824 people over deadly mutiny – 12 July 2010

Al Jazeera English – More charged over Bangladesh mutiny  – 12 July 2010

Radio Netherlands Worldwide – Bangladesh charges 824 for deadly munity murders – 12 July 2010

Thousands Gather to Commemorate the 15th Anniversary of Srebrenica Massacre

By Yoohwan Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

Photo: Relatives gathered to mourn the deaths of their husbands and sons, victims of the 1995 Srebrenica Massacre. [Source:  AP]

SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina – On Sunday, July 11, more than 50,000 people gathered for a ceremony at the Potocari cemetery near Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina to commemorate the 15th anniversary of one of the worst atrocities in Europe, when Bosnian Serb paramilitaries executed nearly 8,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys.

Relatives of the victims, religious leaders, and foreign dignitaries were among those who gathered at the Centre Potocari, the official Srebrenica Massacre Memorial where 3,749 victims are already buried.  The 64 minute memorial ceremony included the burial of 775 recently identified victims, who were laid in coffins draped in green cloth and were carried by relatives for at least a mile.

The Srebrenica Massacre Memorial was built in 2003 across the road from the former U.N. military base where about 30,000 Bosniaks gathered in 1995 to seek refuge during the Serbian-Bosnian conflict.  On July 11, 1995, a few days after the fall of Srebrenica to Bosnian Serb troops, Bosnian-Serb General Ratko Mladic led forces that overran the UN-protected enclave, and separated out Bosniak men and boys.

The men and boys were taken away, shot, and buried in mass graves during the course of five days.  Several months following the massacre, the Serb troops excavated the original mass graves and reburied the victims in over 70 other sites in an attempt to cover up any evidence of war crimes.

The Srebrenica Massacre is the only episode of Bosnia’s 1992-1995 war that has been ruled as genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice.

In 2009, the European Parliament declared the massacre “the biggest war crime in Europe since the end of World War II” and “a symbol of the international community’s impotence to intervene and protect civilians.”

July 11 is now marked all across Europe as a day of commemoration in honor of the victims, and all Western Balkan countries, except for Bosnia, have adopted resolutions that condemn the massacre.

Several foreign officials addressed the crowd on Sunday and spoke against the atrocity that occurred 15 years ago.  “We have a sacred duty to remember the cruelty that occurred here and to prevent such atrocities from happening again,” stated Charles L. English, U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia, during Sunday’s ceremony.  “We have responsibility to future generations all over the globe to agree that we must refuse to be bystanders to evil whenever and wherever it occurs.  We must be prepared to stand up for human dignity.”

The U.S. delegation also read a statement from President Obama, in which President Obama calls on all governments to “redouble their efforts” to find and prosecute those responsible for the massacre, particularly key suspect Ratko Mladic.

President Obama stated, “Justice must include a full accounting of the crimes that occurred, full identification and return of all those who were lost, and prosecution and punishment of those who carried out the genocide.  This includes Ratko Mladic, who presided over the killings and remains at large.”

On June 16, the family of Ratko Mladic filed a motion in a Serbian court to officially declare Mladic dead.  The family asserts that they have not seen him in seven years and that Mladic was seriously ill when he disappeared 15 years ago.

Despite the motion, Serbian authorities say they will continue to search for Mladic, who is not only responsible for the Srebrenica Massacre, but also for the 44 month siege of Sarajevo that left 10,000 people dead.  Mladic still remains a fugitive and is believed to be hiding in Serbia.

For more information, please see:

CNN – World Leaders Mark 15th Anniversary of Srebrenica Massacre – 12 July 2010

AFP – Obama Urges Mladic Capture on Srebrenica Anniversary – 11 July 2010

AP – 775 Coffins: Bosnia Marks 1995 Srebrenica Massacre – 11 July 2010

BALKAN INVESTIGATE REPORTING NETWORK – Thousands Converge on Srebrenica to Commemorate Massacre Anniversary – 11 July 2010

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY – Srebrenica Massacre Remembered on 15th Anniversary – 11 July 2010

VOICE OF AMERICA – Thousands Mourn Srebrenica Massacre Victims, Criticize UN – 11 July 2010

VOICE OF AMERICA – Mladic’s Family Asks Serbian Court to Declare Him Dead – 16 June 2010

Fraud Delays Guinea’s First Democratic Run-Off Election

by Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa Desk

Voted Counted in Guinea Capital Conakry; Image courtesy of Luc Gnago/Reuters
Votes Counted in Guinea Capital Conakry; Image courtesy of Luc Gnago/Reuters

Conakry, Guinea– The next stage of Guinea’s presidential election, originally scheduled to take place July 18th, has been postponed amid allegations and confirmed instances of voter fraud with no new date set.  The first round of voting on July 27th, in which 77 percent of registered Guinea voters took part, occurred without violence.  However, since the results were announced by Guinea’s Supreme Court, many of the 24 candidates that did not make the run-off have made official complaints of voter fraud.  The electoral commission charged with investigating voting irregularities has confirmed “many cases of fraud,” in addition to the claims being made.

Slated to face each other in the run-off election are candidates Cellou Dalein Diallo, who garnered 40 percent of the first round vote, and opposition leader Alpha Conde,  who came in second with 21 percent.  Guinea’s election rules state that a second round is needed if no candidate wins at least 50 percent of the vote.  With the delay, observers are afraid the election may not take place before August 1st, which falls in the middle of the rainy season.  Due to the rains effect on the roads in Guinea, the logistics of a second round of voting at this time could create difficulty for voting and vote collecting.

This last Wednesday, US President Barack Obama offered praise for Guinea’s peaceful first round of elections.  In his statement, Obama spoke about the upcoming election saying, “They can continue to count on the support of the United States as they move forward.”

For more information, please see:

The Seattle Times–Guinea Presidential Runoff Delayed–9 July, 2010

AFP–Guinea Presidential Run-Off Election Postponed–9 July, 2010

BBC–Guinea’s Presidential Run-Off Delayed Over Fraud Claims–9 July, 2010

Deadly Prison Fire Kills Twelve, Injures Eight

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Police carry a body bag out of Rocha Prison. Photo courtesy of Press TV.
Police carry a body bag out of Rocha Prison. Photo courtesy of Press TV.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay—A prison fire killed twelve people and injured eight early Thursday morning in Uruguay.  Three of the victims are in critical condition.  The deadly fire is considered one of the worst prison tragedies in the country.

According to a report by the Ultimas Noticias newspaper, the blaze began in Rocha Prison around 3:30 a.m. in Wing No. 2.  Mattresses, blankets, and wooden beds were quickly engulfed in flames, and gave off toxic smoke that damaged victims’ lungs.

“We’ve practically ruled out the possibility that this was an intentional blaze,” Deputy Police Chief Celso Sosa told the Buenos Aires Herald.  “Initial information tells us it may have been started by a short-circuit or by a piece of clothing catching fire on one of the heaters.”

Rocha Prison was designed to hold 60 inmates, but 120 are packed inside its walls.  Prison Commissioner Alvaro Garce told The Associated Press that such overcrowding is typical of Uruguay’s 28 prisons.

On Tuesday, President Mujica lamented poor prison conditions, stating, “Clearly, the growth of the prison population in recent years has caused overcrowding that goes against human rights.  How can we speak of rehabilitation if we have all kinds of inmates housed together and the better part of our prisons have become places where people are piled up?”

Mujica is no stranger to Uruguay’s prisons.  He was once a leftist guerrilla who escaped twice from prison during the country’s dictatorship.  Mujica wants to increase the military’s role in prisons and plans to send 600 troops to guard and regulate prison security.

An investigation will look into complaints that prison officials were slow to react to the fire.  The father of one victim blames the officials for the disaster, citing their “negligence.”  Ruben Cardoso, the father of a prisoner named Fernando, told CNN, “When the fire broke out, they delayed too much in opening the door.  If they had opened the first two locks, all the prisoners would have gotten out.”  When Cardoso last saw him, Fernando expressed fears about living in the prison.

Lethal fires are common in Uruguay’s overcrowded prisons.  Last August, five inmates perished as a result of a similar disaster, and two were killed in a different incident last December.  The UN has pressured the government to increase safety in the country’s prisons.

Interior Minister Eduardo Bonomi admitted that Uruguay’s prisons are in a “critical situation” and noted that the government had previously considered an emergency law to improve conditions in facilities.

The Uruguayan government is debating whether to build nine new detention centers, renovate jails, and hire 1,500 new employees to work inside the nation’s prisons.

For more information, please see:

CNN-Uruguay officials to investigate deadly prison fire-9 July 2010

Press TV-Uruguay prison fire kills twelve-9 July 2010

AP-12 inmates die in Uruguay prison fire-8 July 2010