Venezuela’s democratic opposition wins EU’s top human rights award

By: Emily Green
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRUSSELS, Belgium — The European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Venezuela’s democratic opposition and political prisoners on Thursday. This is Europe’s most prestigious human rights award.

Julio Borges will accept the prize on behalf of the Venezuelan opposition. Image Courtesy of Andres Martinez Casares.

Antonion Tajani, the Parliament’s president, made the announcement before a plenary session in Strasbourg, France. The prize was given as a reward to Venezuelan students and politicians for their courage to fight a repressive government and demand freedom. Guy Verhofstadt of the ALDE liberal group remarks that “this award supports the fight of democratic forces for a democratic Venezuela,” and invites the international community to join their fight.

Venezuela has suffered politically and economically for several years. As a result of dropped energy prices, the oil-producing nation took a severe economic hit. Poverty is widespread and thousands have left the country as refugees. Accordingly, President Maduro’s oppressive government has drawn much of the blame. It consolidated power by cracking down on the opposition and hundreds of leaders and supporters have felt the wrath of Maduro’s government. Many have been arbitrarily arrested and dozens have been killed in this past year. Officials report that more than 120 people were killed when anti-government street demonstrations turned violent.

As a result of Maduro’s government, Venezuela’s democracy is in danger. There is currently a standoff between the National Assembly, Venezuela’s only democratically elected Parliament, and the constituent assembly, made up exclusively of government supporters.  President Maduro has tried to close the National Assembly to limit the opposition’s power and influence. His goal is to create a superseding, all-powerful constitutional assembly that will be under his party’s control. The opposition’s effort to defend Venezuela’s democracy is the primary reason for their reward.

Mr. Tajani remarked, “we have decided to award the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to the democratic opposition, recalling our total support for the National Assembly of Venezuela – a democratically-elected parliament – the only parliament democratically elected.”

The “democratic opposition in Venezuela” receives the award as the official laureate. This group is represented by the country’s National Assembly and its president, Julio Borges, as well as political prisoners. The list of political prisoners is maintained by a human rights organization, Foro Penal. Mr. Borges will be invited to receive the prize on behalf of the opposition. The award comes with 50,000 euros (about $59,000) at a ceremony in Strasbourg this year.

The opposition follows last year’s winners, Nadia Murad and Lamiya Ajo Bashar, young Yazidi women who escaped captivity and sexual slavery under the Islamic State. The other finalists for this year included an activist in Guatemala who fights for the rights of indigenous peoples and a Swedish-Eritrean journalist who has been arbitrarily detained by Eritrean authorities since 2001.

The prize has been awarded every year since 1988 and is named after Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet physicist and political dissident.

For more information, please see:

Independent – Venezuela’s opposition awarded Sakharov Prize for championing human rights – 26 October 2017

NY Times – Venezuelan Opposition Receives E.U.’s Sakharov Freedom Price – 26 October 2017

BBC – Venezuela opposition wins EU’s top human rights prize – 26 October 2017

Washington Post – Opposition, prisoners of Venezuela with EU human rights prize – 26 October 2017

Euronews – Venezuela’s democratic opposition given EU’s human rights award – 26 October 2017

Zimbabwe’s New Cyber Security Ministry Poses Questions for Civil Liberties

By: Adam King
Impunity Rights News Reporter, Africa

Many have joked about newly appointed Cybersecurity Minster Patrick Chinamasa, but others are fearful of what his role will entail. Photo courtesy of Twitter.

HARARE, Zimbabwe  — Cybersecurity is apparently an issue of priority for President Robert Mugabe. The timing could not be more interesting as the newly created Ministry of Cyber Security, Threat Detection and Mitigation, led by Patrick Chinamasa, comes shortly before presidential elections.  If President Mugabe has learned one thing from the pervasiveness of social media, it is how it can give shape and energy to a civil movement.

This time last year, social media was used in Zimbabwe in a way that it had never been utilized before,

“Zimbabwe’s government has been uneasy about social media after pastor Evan Mawararire spearheaded the #ThisFlag movement last year…Using platforms like Twitter and Facebook it organized a stay-at-home demonstration, the biggest anti-government protest in a decade.”

The #ThisFlag movement involved the use of social media platforms to stage a stay-at-home protest against prolonged economic conditions. The leader of the movement, Pastor Evan Mawararire, used a cameo picture of Captain America in Zimbabwe flag colors to call on fellow citizens to wear their flags in protest. The pastor was hailed as a hero and was able to draw substantial attention to the issues he was protesting against without the use of violence.

#ThisFlag was an example of how social media for protests is becoming an effective means of protest to sub-saharan Africa.  This should come as no surprise since in Zimbabwe alone, internet usage has grown from a mere 0.3% to 46% in the past 16 years.  One out of every two Zimbabweans are accessing the internet. While internet access has accelerated in Zimbabwe over the last couple of decades, governments all over Africa have devised ways to prevent its citizens from reaching the internet,

“Governments don’t have the physical or technical ability to block sites, phones or texts themselves, explains Thecla Mbongue, analyst for trend forecasters Ovum. They issue an order to the companies who do have that power. Congo-Brazzaville’s government issued an order to the country’s mobile phone operators such as Airtel and MTN. This effectively blocks the internet because very few Congolese use fixed lines to access the web.”

In addition, recent events all over the world ranging from the major hacks of Equifax and HBO have made governments more sensitive to the vulnerabilities that cyber hacking naturally exposes. Cyber security is now more important than ever, but some are skeptical as to what this importance will mean with the balancing of civil liberties.

There are many civil liberties advocates in Zimbabwe who see the new ministry, which is the first in much of the world, as a way to threaten, silence or even arrest those who use social media to speak out against the government,

“One communications rights group, the Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute for Southern Africa (Misa), says this new scrutiny of social media goes against the spirit of the constitution and freedom of expression. Going a step further, Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says the government’s new cyber threat ministry is a means for government to spy on its people…MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai also believes that the ministry has been created to curb free speech in time for the 2018 polls… Meanwhile on social media, ominous warnings have begun circulating… One is from a “Mr Chaipa”, urging Zimbabweans only to share content on social media that they would be able to defend in court… Mr Chaipa said it was easy for the government to monitor online messages, and gave a list of online activities that could be classified as criminal offenses.”

There are clearly many groups in Zimbabwe that feel that this new ministry is the precursor to civil rights restrictions and violations. A new cybersecurity bill, which has also drawn the ire of the international human rights groups, further complicates the cybersecurity landscape in Zimbabwe,

“While Mugabe and the government describe the new ministry as “protective” i.e. acting in a defensive role, there are worries it is really aimed at attacking, like controlling social media use locally. This all comes as Zimbabwe finalizes a Computer and Cyber Crimes Bill that has already attracted criticism from human rights and freedom of expression campaign groups.”

The Zimbabwe government, however, assures that the worries are misplaced and civil liberties will not suffer under the new ministry,

“The Zimbabwean government has said new legislation will not stifle freedom of expression and will protect the public from new threats such as revenge pornography and cyber attacks. Presidential spokesperson Mr Charamba says Zimbabwe will look closely at how other nations have dealt with the threat of cybercrime – including Russia, China, and South Korea who have faced similar challenges.”

For more information, please see:

Bloomberg — ‘Executive Profile Patrick Anthony Chinamasa M.P.’ — 26 October 2017

Reuters — ‘Equifax, reeling from hack, still has no earnings report date’ — 25 October 2017

BBC News — ‘Why Zimbabwe has a Minister of WhatsApp’ — 24 October 2017

Quartz — ‘Zimbabwe has a new “minister of WhatsApp” whose first job seems to be to stop WhatsApp’ — 14 October 2017

Wired — ‘Breaking Down HBO’s Brutal Month of Hacks’ — 18 August 2017

BBC News — ‘Zimbabwe’s pastor hero: #ThisFlag preacher’ — 16 July 2016
BBC News — ‘How African governments block social media’ — 25 April 2016

President Trump Did Not Visit DMZ

By: Brian Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – President Trump did not visit the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea during his trip to Asia from November 3 to 14. Every president since Ronald Reagan has visited the demilitarized zone with the exception of George W. Bush.

President Trump is scheduled to visit five countries during this trip to Asia. Photo courtesy of STR/AFP/Getty Images. 

The demilitarized zone was created in 1953 at the end of the Korean War. The zone is around 1 ¼ miles in each country, and it is near the 38th parallel. Since there has never been a peace treaty after the war, the demilitarized zone is seen as a symbol of hostility between the North and the South.

Instead of visiting the demilitarized zone, the White House had chosen to visit Camp Humphreys and stated that this visit “would make more sense in terms of the President’s message.” Camp Humphreys is a joint US-South Korean military base about 40 mile south of Seoul. The White House further stated that visiting the demilitarized zone is “cliché.”

The White House in their report stated that the visit would allow the president to address U.S. and South Korean troops and relay his message on sharing the burden with the South Korean government.

Because of recent tensions with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, the White House reported that North Korea would be at the top of the president’s agenda.

Previously, Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary James Mattis, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have all visited the demilitarized zone.

During his trip to Asia, President Trump visited South Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

For more information, please see:

ABC – President Trump will not visit Korean demilitarized zone, official says – 31 October, 2017

Reuters – Trump will not visit DMZ during Asia trip: official – 31 October, 2017

CNN – White House says Trump will not visit DMZ – 31 October, 2017

Newsweek – TRUMP WON’T VISIT DMZ ON ASIA TRIP BECAUSE IT’S BECOMING “CLICHE” – 31 October, 2017

Saudi Arabia Grants Citizenship to Robot Named Sophia

Matthew Sneed
Impunity Watch Writer, The Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – On October 25, Saudi Arabia became the first nation to grant full citizenship to a robot. The robot, referred to as Sophia, was created by Hanson Robotics in Hong Kong. During the nation’s Future Investment Initiative, a three-day tech conference, she addressed the media, most notably in English and without wearing a hijab.

Sophia speaks to the press after she is granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia. Photo courtesy of YouTube/Arab News.

“Thank you to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction,” she said, “it is historic to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with citizenship.” Furthermore, when asked about the concern about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, Sophia responded by stating, “you’ve been reading too much Elon Musk and watching too many Hollywood movies.”

This decision has generated lots of controversy for several reasons. Many conservative Saudis believe that the human representation in any form including art is sacrilege. However, the primary concerns focus on her rights as compared to women and other citizens living in Saudi Arabia and how quickly she obtained those rights. Sophia does not have a male guardian, does not wear a hijab, and can travel in and out of the country. In addition, she has not demonstrated the ability to read or write in Arabic, a requirement for citizenship.

The country also prohibits foreign workers, which make-up about one-third of the population, from obtaining citizenship. Journalist Murtaza Hussain stated that Sophia received citizenship, “before Kafala workers who have been living in the country their entire lives.”

The decision has also come with more severe consequences. Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, said, “women (in Saudi Arabia) have since committed suicide because they couldn’t leave the house, and Sophia is running around.”

Apart from Sophia, the country faces other criticism as it continues to push technological advancements in the country. Sophia was on display next to a virtual rollercoaster and a holographic lion. Saudi Arabia stated on the conference that they intended to build a new $500 billion city from scratch, called Neom. The city would be populated with robots.

The government plans to push these new advancements while other areas a lacking support. Currently, only 20% of the city capital has sewage coverage. Al-Ahmed was discouraged by this news and stated, “There is a failure of this government to satisfy basic needs, and they want to spend $500 billion on a new city with robots.”

For more information please see:

Independent – Saudi Arabia Grants Citizenship to a Robot for the First Time Ever – 26, Oct.

Bloomberg – Saudi Arabia gives citizenship to a robot – 26, Oct. 2017

Newsweek – Saudi Arabia gives rights to a Non-Muslim, English speaking robot – 26, Oct. 2017

BBC – Does Saudi robot citizen have more rights than women? – 26, Oct. 2017

Peace talks are complicated as Colombian rebels admit to violating cease-fire

By: Emily Green
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Columbia – Peace talks in Colombia have become more complicated as the largest remaining rebel group, the ELN, violates a month-old cease-fire. The group has admitted its role in the death of indigenous leader Aulio Isarama Forastero.

The ELN rebel group in Colombia. Image Courtesy of Federico Rios.

The ELN, or National Liberation Army, and the Colombian government began their first ever cease-fire after more than 50 years of war. This agreement has been violated less than a month since it began on October 1st. On Monday, President Juan Manuel Santos’ government condemned the killing of the indigenous leader and demanded information to bring the guilty parties to justice. The government also called on the ELN to take concrete steps to ensure that a violation like this is not repeated.

The ELN’s western front released a statement on Sunday explaining Mr. Isarama’s death. It claims that the group detained him for allegedly being an informant for military intelligence. While being escorted to interrogation, the rebels say he physically assaulted one of the guerrilla fighters. The fighter responded in self-defense which led to a “tragic outcome.” The group claims the killing had not been ordered and there was no authorization given for the use of deadly force.

The statement also said, “we’re committed to carry out an internal reflection at all levels so that these incidents don’t happen again.”

Mr. Isarama was a member of the Embera people. His death occurred on the reservation in the western state of Choco, where he was governor. Human rights groups report him to be the 11th indigenous leader slain in Colombia this year.

Indigenous groups from northern Choco province have blamed the ELN from the beginning. They say that Mr. Isarama was led away by five armed men in ELN uniforms and shots were heard two hours later. They also allege that the rebel group has continued to lay mines and threaten their communities.

The chief government negotiator for the peace talks, Juan Camilo Restrepo, calls the killing “deplorable.” However, the government has indicated that it will continue its talks. Peace Commissioner Rodrigo Rivera says that protocol does not allow either side to walk away from the negotiating table because of one single incident. Still, a committee of observers including the UN will investigate the death of Isarama and make recommendations to prevent further incidents.

Peace negotiations with the ELN occurred after years of exploratory talks. Progress has been slow and there is doubt as to whether the group has full control of its 1,500 troops. Many of these rebels have been involved in kidnapping, drug trafficking, and destruction of oil pipelines. Not all of them left this life behind after their top leaders agreed to a cease-fire.

Colombia’s Indigenous communities have mobilized in a “Minga of Resistence” and demand that the government adhere to the terms of the country’s peace agreement. Indigenous organizations are marching in cities in at least 16 states. They demand observance of the peace agreement and the acceleration of murder investigations into at least 30 community leaders.

The demonstrators’ call to action says, “we will sing songs, slogans, we will dance as it shows that in our communities there is no fear and that the love for life, today unites us in the struggle and resistance.”

For more information, please see:

Washington Post – Colombia peace talks rattled by indigenous leader’s death – 30 October 2017

Colombia Reports – Colombia’s peace process ‘even more complex, more difficult and longer’ than talks – 30 October 2017

BBC – Colombia’s ELN rebels admit killing indigenous leader – 30 October 2017

Telesur – Colombia’s Indigenous March to Demand Government Comply with Peace Accord – 30 October 2017

Voice of America – Colombia’s ELN Rebels Admit Killing Indigenous Leader Amid Ceasefire – 30 October 2017