Montenegrin Political Opposition Leader Attacked

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PODGORICA, Montenegro – The opposition political leader in Montenegro was attacked outside of his home in the capital city of Podgorica on Saturday.

Nebojsa Medojevic, the leader of the political party Montenegro Movement for Change (PZP), has been an outspoken critic of current Prime Minister Milo Dukanovic.  Among the allegations that Medojevic has made against the Prime Minster is that he has been protecting the former Yugoslavian republic’s organized crime elements and its illegal drug trade.

According to police reports the attacker threatened to kill Medojevic and warned him “to stop mentioning the name of Branislav Micunovic”, one of the nation’s wealthiest individuals.  In the past Medojevic as described Micunovic as having control over the country’s police forces and being “the most powerful person in Montenegro”.  Shortly after the attack the local police announced that they had captured the individual who carried out the assault on Medojevic.  The PZP reported that the suspect in custody is a relative of Micunovic.

Following the attack Medojevic declared that he will not stop continuing his fight against organized crime in Montenegro.  “I am in fear of being killed and I expect there will be more attacks in the next few days, because the attack on me is a message from the mafia to stop my fight against crime-generating organizations and organized crime.”  Medojevic also commented that he thought the attack on him was an example of “classic Mafia-style intimidation.”

The Police Director of Montenegro,Veselin Veljovic, has stated that the “police have no information on the well-known…businessman Branislav Micunovis having any connections to Drako Saric, or the cocaine smuggling business.”

For more information, please see:

NOVINITE – Montenegro Opposition Leader Allegedly Attacked by Mafia – 21 February 2010

RADIO MONTENEGRO – Montenegrin opposition seeks security council session after attack on party head – 21 February 2010

SETIMES – Montenegrin opposition leader assaulted – 21 February 2010

B92 – Montenegrin politician attacked and threatened – 2o February 2010

The Vanuatu Free West Papua Association Still Plans to March for Independence

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

PORT VILA, Vanuatu – The Vanuatu Free West Papua Association (VFWPA) says it hopes to re-schedule a march in support of independence for the West Papuan people of Indonesia within the next two weeks.

The VFWPA had planned a march for West Papua on February 22, 2010, which is Vanuatu’s public holiday, Lini Day.

The VFWPA has been collaborating with the Vanuatu Christian Council (VCC), the National Council of Chiefs, the Vanuatu Council of Trade Unions (VCTU), and other civil society groups to organize a peaceful march in Port Vila to demonstrate the continued support of the people of Vanuatu for the independence of West Papua, and to present a petition to Prime Minister Edward Natapei and the Vanuatu government urging greater support for West Papuan independence.

The VFWPA has been working closely with the VCC and other civil society representatives to raise awareness through church networks about the march in support for West Papuan independence.

The VCTU has also been urging all union members to participate in the march and the petition.

The mach was planned to start at Chantilly’s on Fatumaru Bay at 9:00am on Monday, February 22, and would end at Seafront Stage, where Prime Minister Edward Natapei was to receive the petition. Members of the stakeholder organizations which are co-sponsoring the action, and members of the general public, were invited to assemble at Fatumaru Bay by 8:00am on Monday.

The march was scheduled for Lini Day in recognition of the late Father Walter Lini’s famous statement that “so long as any Pacific Islands remain colonized, none of us are free.”

The march would have been the first time in many years that a public rally was staged in support of the West Papua cause.

Despite the efforts of the VFWPA, the march was cancelled because the organizers failed to submit a permit application to the police in time. The VFWPA plans to re-schedule the march within the next two weeks.

The chairman of the VFWPA, Alain Nafuki, says that the march for West Papuan self-determination could be the biggest in Vanuatu’s history.

He stated: “The government has diplomatic ties with the Indonesian government and they’re maybe a little bit too reserved on that. But we, the people from the street, we are free to decide on what we want to deliberately say to the government about the situation in West Papua.”

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – More plans for West Papua march in Vanuatu despite police cancellation of today’s event – 22 February 2010

Islands Business – March in support of West Papua’s struggle for independence – 19 February 2010

Pacific.Scoop – Peaceful march for West Papuan Independence – 17 February 2010

ICC: Crimes Against Humanity in Guinea

By Kylie M Tsudama

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

CONAKRY, Guinea –  An International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation has revealed that Guinea’s military junta committed crimes against humanity during last year’s massacre of more than 150 opposition supporters.

ICC Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda went on a three-day mission to Conakry.

“As the Deputy Prosecutor of the ICC, I end this visit with the feeling that crimes of the order of crimes against humanity were committed,” she said.  “On the basis of the information that we have received from this visit, we will pursue our preliminary investigation.”

Bensouda spoke of “atrocious crimes” that had been committed, adding “men in full uniform attacked civilians, they killed and wounded.  In full daylight they mistreated, violated and submitted women to unprecedented sexual violence.”

Guinea security forces attacked the protestors, shooting, stabbing, and beating them, and publicly raping women at a protest rally opposing the military junta at Conakry Stadium on September 28.

On Thursday, Bensouda promised families of the victims that they would have justice.

The UN has found that Captain Moussa Dadis Camara had “direct criminal responsibility” for what happened.  He was the junta chief at the time of the attack.

The Guinean people have high hopes that the ICC will bring justice, but the ICC has no police power to arrest those who are responsible for the attacks.  It must rely on the police in each individual country.

According to Bensouda, however, “If the Guinean authorities are not seen to be doing something… [then] the ICC will do it.  The bottom line is that there will not be impunity.  The victims of these crimes will have justice one way or another.”

Captain Moussa Dadis Camara is now in exile in Burkina Faso.  Prime Minister Jean Marie Dore is the transitional authority overseeing the country’s movement from a military government to democratic elections.

“The judiciary is a problem in Guinea, the way it is organized, the training of the magistrates and some of their behavior presents problems between the Guinean authorities and their internal and external partners,” said the Prime Minister.  “If we are honest, there are difficulties to overcome so that Guinea is up to the job of properly judging those responsible for what happened on 28 September.”

Guinea could set an example if it is willing to bring the main perpetrators to justice.

“These few days working in Guinea confirmed that Guinean institutions and the ICC can work in a complementary way: either Guinean authorities can prosecute the main people in charge themselves, or they will turn to the court to do it,” Bensouda said.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Guinea Massacre a Crime Against Humanity: ICC – 20 February 2010

Al Jazeera – ICC Outrage Over Guinea Massacre – 20 February 2010

Reuters – ICC Finds Crimes Against Humanity in Guinea – 20 February 2010

BBC – Guinea PM Says Judiciary Incapable of Judging Killers – 19 February 2010

BBC – No Impunity for Guinea Massacre, Says ICC – 18 February 2010

Impunity Watch – Guinea to Probe Violence Against Protestors – 10 October 2009

Public Discontent with Argentine Government

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Photo Courtesy of CNN
Photo Courtesy of CNN

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina- Recent increases in food prices, coupled with shortages of electricity and other outages, have led to a dramatic increase in public discontent with the government. Increases in beef prices, Argentina’s dietary staple, has led to numerous protests by farmers.

Other governmental failures allegedly include the lack of progress on poverty reduction programs for Argentina’s outlying areas. Additionally, the public is angry about charges that the President’s spouse and former president, Nestor Kirchner was involved in insider trading while buying $2 million in U.S. currency soon after the 2008 financial crisis.

“Most of the Argentine population is paying for the Kirchners’ mistakes.” said Eduardo Buzzi, head of the Argentine Agricultural Federation and an outspoken critic of the government. Farmers are worried because many producers have allegedly lost their livestock and have had to give away their cows due to drought and because “someone from the government decided what the highest prices would be and forced them to sell their cattle.”

Farmers deny the government allegation that they have been holding back on livestock sales to fatten their cattle and create a shortage of beef. Farmers say that the problem dates back to when the president’s husband ruled the country from May 2003 to December 2007. “Nestor Kirchner is responsible of endless mistakes in economic and productive matters.”

The president of one farming cooperative alleged that the government is “trying to blame someone, and attack the weakest link, in this case the farming producers.” Criticisms of the government have also reportedly come from within the government, though that has been weak due to “Kirchners’ sensitivity to any criticism.”

Close to six hundred farmers rode their tractors in a protest march in central Argentina to demand changes to government farming policies. The leader of the Agrarian Federation said that policies of the government are planned to concentrate production in a few hands. Groups are pushing to toughen the stance of the agricultural sector by “putting a stop to sales if that becomes necessary.”

There have been eight trade strikes in Argentina’s rural sector this year in protest of the government since it tried, in March 2008, to establish adjustable taxes on exports of soybeans, corn, wheat, and sunflower seeds.

For more information, please see:

Latin American Herald Tribune-Argentine Farmers Protest With Tractors-21 February 2010

Meat Trade Daily News- Argentina- Farmers Promise Drastic Measures Against Government-18 February 2010

UPI-Argentina’s Fernandez, Farmers Locked in Row Over Beer Prices-11 February 2010

Canadian Courts Refuse Refugee Claim of Rwandan Ambassador

By William Miller

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

OTTAWA, Canada – A Canadian federal court refused to give former Rwandan ambassador to Canada Maximin Segasayo a hearing to determine whether he was complicit in war crimes on Thursday, February 18, 2010. The court held that Segasayo could not receive a hearing because he was a senior official and was presumed to be complicit.

Segasayo came to Canada in 1991 to serve as Rwanda’s ambassador to Canada. He served in that position until 1995 when Rwanda ordered him to return. Segasayo refused to return and was granted refugee status in Canada.

In 1998 Canada declared that the Rwandan government had “engaged in gross human rights violation, genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity” during the 1994 genocide. During the genocide, members of the Hutu tribe killed 800,000 members of the Tutsis tribe. The genocide ended when a rebel group overthrew the Hutu controlled government and seized control of Rwanda.

Seqasayo was denied status as a landed immigrant in 1998 because he was a senior member of the Hutu tribe. The Canadian government has been trying to deport him ever since.

On Thursday, Federal Judge Sean Harrington found that Segasayo was not entitled to a federal hearing because there was an irrebuttable presumption that senior officials in a regime were complicit in war crimes. As a result, Segasayo a senior member of the Hutu tribe was not eligible for a hearing to determine if he was complicit in the war crimes.

The judge also held that the case was not ripe for adjudication in court because Segasayo had not yet exhausted all avenues of appeal.

This is the third time Segasayo has lost in federal court during his twelve year fight to stay in Canada. During that time he has also sought a ministerial exemption stating that he was not implicit in any of the atrocities that took place during the Rwandan genocide. An attempt to obtain refugee status from the immigration board claiming that as a member of the Hutu tribe he would be subjected to persecution if returned to Tutsis controlled Rwanda.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Canadian Court Denies Rwandan Envoy’s Refugee Bid – 19 February 2010

Montreal Gazette – Former Diplomat Loses Fight to Stay – 19 February 2010

Ottawa Citizen – Former Rwandan Ambassador Loses Key Court Fight to Stay In Canada – 18 February 2010