Secretary General Concerned About Hezbollah Arms

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon– In remarks issued on Friday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said that the continued presence of Hezbollah’s weapons in Lebanon threatens to undermine any progress made by Israel and Lebanon in the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701.  Ban told reporters “I am worried about Hezbollah’s possession of arms.  I hope this will be resolved.”

Resolution 1701 was drafted in 2006 shortly after Israel’s July-August war against Lebanon.  The resolution stipulates that there are to be no arms within Lebanon outside of state control.  Despite the resolution, the U.N. has repeatedly stated that Hezbollah’s arsenal of rockets constitutes a serious violation of international law.

In a recent report on the implementation of the 1701 Resolution, Ban said that greater enforcement action was necessary to curb the flow of arms into Lebanon across its porous borders with Syria.  In his Friday interview, Ban stressed the importance of strict border enforcement by saying that “There is arms smuggling into the Lebanese territories and this should be stopped through patrolling the Syrian-Lebanese borders.  I have called on the Lebanese and Syrian authorities to resolve this issue through appointing a committee tasked with monitoring the borders.  I know borders are being breached and they should be watched.”

During his remarks, Ban also addressed Israeli violations of the resolution, including repeated incursions by Israeli forces into Lebanese territory.  Ban added, “There is another issue, having to do with continuous Israeli flights in Lebanese airspace, which hinders the work of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in addition to violating Lebanon’s sovereignty.”

The National News Agency in Lebanon reported on Thursday that a team of Israeli soldiers crossed a fence between Israel and Lebanon and planted espionage devices in the vicinity of Wazzani, a move that prompted the UNIFIL to be put on high alert.  In a statement released by the Presidential Palace in Baabda, a presidential spokesperson commented that “The crossing by Israeli enemy forces of the technical fence represents new, flagrant evidence of Israel’s continuing violation of Resolution 1701 and reveals its aggressive intentions in direct fashion, frustrating the orientations of the international community.”

For more information, please see:

The Daily Star- Ban Worried Over Hezbollah Arms, Sleiman Raps Israeli Breaches– 27 March 2010

NOW Lebanon- National Dialogue Will Consider Resistance’s Arms a Guarantee for Lebanon– 27 March 2010

United Press International- Hezbollah Arms a Deterrent, Officials Say– 23 March 2010

North Korea to Put American on Trial

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – An American from Boston is to go on trial for illegally entering North Korea.

Aijalon Mahli Gomes, 30, had been teaching English in South Korea for several years. Acquaintances described him as a devout Christian who was dedicated to his students.

His family spokeswoman said that it is unclear why Gomes went to North Korea. 
However, activists in South Korea did comment that Gomes was an acquaintance of Robert Park, another American missionary who was detained and then released by North Korea last month.

Days after Park’s arrest, Gomes attended rallies calling for Park’s release where a Seoul-based activist said he saw Gomes weep.  Jo Sung-rae, a South Korean activist, said that Gomes contacted Jo about working in his rights group and met Park in Seoul last summer.

Jo said, “I felt [that] he may have gone to North Korea after being inspired by Robert Park.”

Although a trial date has not been set, Gomes is believed to be the fourth American North Korea said it detained back in January.  In addition to Gomes and Park, two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were arrested a year ago and sentenced to twelve years of hard labor.  However, the two journalists were freed after former U.S. President Bill Clinton made a high-profile humanitarian visit to North Korea and negotiated their release.

U.S. State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said on Tuesday that the United States had not been formally notified regarding charges against Gomes.  However, Crowley did say that Swedish diplomats have been in contact with Gomes.

North Korea’s announcement that Gomes is to go on trial also comes at a time when Pyongyang’s neighbors have been pressuring North Korea to rejoin international talks concerning dismantling of its nuclear weapons program.

Gomes’ family spokeswoman Thaleia Schlesinger said, “The family is praying for him and for his speedy return home.”
For more information, please see:

AP – US man held in NKorea rallied against Pyongyang – 25 March 2010

Guardian – North Korea to put US citizen on trial for illegal entry – 22 March 2010

USA Today – North Korea to try American on trespassing charge – 22 March 2010

Journalist Murdered in Colombia

By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia-Clodomiro Castilla, a Colombian magazine editor and radio reporter was shot dead at his home in the city of Monteria. An unidentified gunman reportedly shot Castilla eight times before being picked up by another man on a motorcycle.

CPJ spoke with a local journalist who stated that Castilla had been receiving threats for four years for disclosures of links between local politicians, landowners, and illegal right-wing paramilitary groups. Castilla declined government protection. However, Castilla was under protection for threats from 2006-2009.

An anonymous journalist told CPJ that just before his death, Castilla was reporting on the participation of a local landowner in the murder of a local lawyer, corruption in local government agencies, and links between paramilitaries and local government officials. The Colombian National Police have not yet discussed possible motives.

A new report published by the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on “The Safety of Journalists and the Risk of Impunity”  highlights acts of violence against journalists in Colombia. Four reporters were killed in the last four years according to the AFP. This is higher than Brazil, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Venezuela, and Honduras.

The report found that the bulk of reporters killed world wide operate in outside of war zones are typically covering local stories on corruption, human rights abuses, and drug trafficking.

For more information, please see:

Colombia Reports-UN Report Highlights Journalist Murders in Colombia-24 March 2010

CPJ-Colombian Journalist Shot Dead by Unidentified Gunman-22 March 2010

Latin America News Dispatch-Journalist Killed by Gunman While Reading on his Terrace-20 March 2010

Washington Post-Colombian Journalist Shot and Killed-20 March 2010

Chinese Rights Lawyer Alive

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – After being missing for over a year, any presumed dead by many, China’s well known rights lawyer, Gao Zhisheng, appears to be alive.

After defending members of China’s banned Falun Gong spiritual organization, and writing openly about China’s public leaders and their “brutal and illegal persecution of Falun Gong members,” Gao disappeared on February 4, 2009. He was abducted by an unknown group from a relative’s home in Shanxi province. At the time of Gao’s disappearance, his wife and children had already escaped from their home, and were en route to Bangkok where they applied for asylum in the United States.

Initially, Gao’s family had feared he was dead, after a cryptic comment from police that he had “lost his way and gone missing” in September. China’s government has been under international pressure to say where Gao Zhisheng is and whether he is alive and well. Despite repeated requests, Chinese authorities have provided little information about his fate.

Gao gave a telephone interview with Reuters and another dissident lawyer, and he stated that he was released about sixth months ago after his initial disappearance. He confirmed that he had survived difficult circumstances, and that he was living near Wutai mountain, a sacred Buddhist landmark in coal-rich Shanxi province.

Reuters reported that another human rights lawyer, Li Heping, who had a lot of contact with Gao before he was jailed, confirmed that he spoke with Gao, and that the voice was in fact his. Gao’s brother, Gao Zhiyi also claimed to have spoken to his brother on the telephone within the past three weeks and said:, “I know that he’s fine.” Gao Zhiyi said the conversation was brief, and his brother did not say where he was. He claimed to have had three or four such calls since Gao Zhisheng vanished.

Gao’s account of surviving the harsh conditions and torture imposed on him is in stark contrast with a recent public press conference given just one week ago. When asked about the whereabouts of Gao, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said, “Gao Zhisheng was sentenced for subverting state power. His personal rights have been protected according to Chinese law. There is no so-called torture upon him.”

Conflicting statements and murky accounts of the past year make it clear that there remains a large amount of uncertainty and mysteriousness about the events surrounding Gao Zhisheng disappearance and recent resurface.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Well-known missing Chinese rights lawyer alive – 27 March 2010

The Associated Press – Missing lawyer says he is living in northern China – 27 March 2010

BBC World News – Missing Chinese lawyer Gao Zhisheng ‘is fine’ – brother – 17 March 2010

Russia Poised to Upgrade Prison System

By Kenneth F. Hunt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – In a long overdue effort to upgrade antiquated prisons, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has ordered that career criminals be isolated from the general population of prisoners and placed in cell blocks instead than barracks.

Over 70 years ago, when Joseph Stalin ruled the USSR with an iron-fist, a penal system for prisoners was developed where inmates are arbitrarily separated into barracks with around 100 men regardless of the nature or severity of the crime committed.

Through today the vast majority of Russian prisoners are forced to live in these inhumane and over-crowded barracks or penal colonies often in remote areas in Siberia, no different from the prison camps instituted by Stalin in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Of Russia’s 862,000 prisoners, 724,000 today are housed in barracks.

President Medvedev, who went to law school, has ordered a gradual, three-stage plan to rid Russia of its barracks housing system. Ultimately, all 755 penal colonies will be abolished as a result of these reforms.

The first stage involves moving recidivists, the so-called “career” or “hardened” criminals, to separate colonies in order to isolate the general prison population. According to one press account, 64,000 of the 149,000 recidivist prisoners have already been transferred.

The second stage, which will not be complete until 2016, involves separating petty criminals from violent first-time offenders.

Finally, by 2020, the third stage will be completed when recidivists are moved into newly constructed prisons that have cell blocks.

All of these changes replace a system where prison wardens and guards used social groupings within the barracks to self-enforce order in the barracks.

Human rights groups praised the decision. The Deputy Director of the Center for Criminal Justice Reform, Lyudmila Alpern, expressed pleasure at getting rid of penal colonies where conflicts were “resolved through a crude hierarchy” and where prisoners lived like “male tribe[s]”.

For more information, please see:

THE CRIME REPORT – Russian Prison Upgrade to Take Career Criminals Out of Barracks – 24 March 2010

SCOTSMAN – Stalin’s Gulags facing reform – 24 March 2010

NEW YORK TIMES – Russia to Alter System of Penal Colonies – 22 March 2010