Brazil Extradites “Operation Condor” Suspect

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil-Brazil extradited a former Uruguayan army officer on Saturday to Argentina for the 1976 disappearance of an Argentine citizen. The extradition of Manuel Juan Cordero Piacentini, ordered on Tuesday, was delayed until Saturday because the officer’s lawyers argued that he needed to remain hospitalized due to poor health.

Cordero is thought to be involved in the disappearance of Argentine and Uruguayan citizens as a part of Operation Condor. Operation Condor was a collaboration between military dictatorships that ruled many countries in South America in the 1970s and 1980s. South American military regimes secretly cooperated in the torture and disappearances of each others’ citizens with CIA assistance.

Cordero was arrested in February of 2007 in Brazil near the border with Uruguay, where authorities believe he had been living since 2004. Since February, Cordero has been living under house arrest at that location, where he has a home. Cordero tried to avoid extradition by arguing that he was protected under a law in Brazil granting amnesty to Brazilian soldiers acting under that country’s military government.

Argentina, however has no amnesty law. Cordero is specifically suspected of being responsible for the disappearance of Adalberto Soba in Argentina. Uruguay unsuccessfully sought extradition, but because the crimes were committed in Argentina, Brazil only agreed to extradite Cordero to Argentina.

The head of a Brazilian organization called Justice and Human Rights said Cordero was believed to be third in command of a unit charged with “disappearances, torture, and murders.”

For more information, please see:

AFP-Operation Condor Suspect Extradited to Argentina-24 January 2010

BBC News-Brazil Returns Operation Condor Suspect to Argentina-24 January 2010

Washington Post-Brazil Extradites Uruguay Officer in Condor Case-23 January 2010

Position Open at the Public International Law & Policy Group for Chief of Party, Uganda

The Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which operates as a global pro bono law firm providing free legal assistance to states and governments involved in conflicts. To facilitate the utilization of this legal assistance, PILPG also provides policy formulation advice and training on matters related to conflict resolution. To date, PILPG has advised over two dozen states and governments on the legal aspects of peace negotiations and post-conflict constitution drafting, and over two dozen states and War Crimes Tribunals in Europe, Asia and Africa concerning the protection of human rights, self-determination, and the prosecution of war crimes.

PILPG’s Uganda project is designed to build the capacity the Government of Uganda to draft legislation that supports the establishment of transitional justice mechanisms and creates a sustainable domestic War Crimes Division that meets international fair trial standards.  As part of this effort, PILPG is training the judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys for the War Crimes Division, providing assistance to the Ugandan government officials on the creation of an International Criminal Court (ICC) Liaison Office to effectively manage communication with the ICC, preparations for the ICC Review Conference in Kampala, and the design of a national strategy for dissemination of information regarding the creation of transitional justice mechanisms.  PILPG’s legal assistance is intended to support the implementation of the Juba Peace Accords, in particular the establishment of a special division within the Ugandan High Court to try top Lord’s Resistance Army commanders for war crimes, thus meeting the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) regime of complementarity.

PILPG is working with Ugandan government officials, members of the judiciary, and legislators, as well as civil society to draft legal memoranda on key issues, engage in consultations and roundtables with officials, and facilitate capacity building and technical assistance workshops to support the development and implementation of key aspects of the Juba agreements on Accountability and Reconciliation.

Role of the Chief of Party

PILPG is seeking a professional with seven to ten years experience in the field of international law, with particular expertise in international criminal law, transitional justice, and rule of law, to serve as the Chief of Party for its Uganda project.  The Chief of Party is based in Kampala, Uganda and works under the supervision of the Project Director of the Uganda project.

Program Responsibilities

  • Build and maintain relationships with PILPG clients, including Uganda government officials, parliamentarians, judges, and civil society leaders.
  • Maintain relationships and respond to requests made by USAID Mission personnel.
  • Assist in the facilitation of workshops and trainings on war crimes prosecution and justice and reconciliation mechanisms.
  • Direct, manage, and undertake international criminal law and transitional justice research.
  • Oversee the drafting of legal memoranda for PILPG’s Ugandan clients.
  • Supervise the work of pro bono law firms and research associates providing legal assistance on the Uganda project.
  • Coordinate closely with PILPG’s Washington, DC office on the overall strategy and development of the project.
  • Develop and maintain strong partnerships with civil society, NGOs, and INGOs and other development organizations operating in the region.
  • Provide regular briefings to PILPG’s Washington, DC office on political developments and implementation of the program.

Administration

  • Draft materials on the Uganda project for PILPG’s website and annual reports at the request of senior staff.
  • Coordinate closely with the Project Director on the preparation of legal memoranda and other documents required to implement activities.
  • Assist in maintaining PILPG’s financial books related to the Uganda project in accordance with PILPG’s financial policies and procedures manual.
  • Develop quarterly project reports that detail project activities and measure and evaluate project results.
  • Maintain regular communication with the Project Director, as well as the research team, including conducting weekly Skype calls and drafting bi-weekly updates on project activities.
  • Coordinate closely with other PILPG field offices located in Nepal, Kenya, Somaliland, Tanzania, South Sudan on overlapping technical issues.

Educational and Professional Qualifications

  • A law degree.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of public international law, including international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and international human rights law.
  • A minimum of seven to ten years work experience in international law, including experience with international criminal law, post-conflict rule of law, and/or transitional justice.
  • Knowledge of East Africa and the Uganda conflict in particular is highly desirable.
  • Prior overseas field work is preferable.

Communication and Organizational Skills

  • Excellent political judgment and the proven ability to develop and carry out program strategy.
  • Strong analytic and organizational skills.
  • Fluent in English with proven legal writing and editing skills.
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and able to work closely with multiple team members located across the globe.
  • Ability to manage effectively multiple activities in a fast-paced environment.
  • Responsive, a self-starter, and able to solve problems independently.

How to Apply:

Send resumes, cover letter, and writing sample to brutherford@pilpg.org by Friday, January 29, 2010.  Include in the subject line: Application: Uganda Chief of Party

The Public International Law & Policy Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

War Crimes Prosecution Watch is prepared by the International Justice Practice of the Public International Law & Policy Group and the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center of Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Revealing Sri Lanka’s War Crimes

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, AsiaKOTTE, Sri Lanka- Sri Lanka officials have been unable to dismiss a shocking mobile phone video from last January showing Sri Lankan soldiers executing naked and bound captives.  The government has claimed the video is fake, without providing any evidence that the scene was staged or the footage tampered with.

Phillip Alston, the top United Nations envoy responsible for investigating extralegal executions worldwide has added his voice to those who believe the tape is real.  After commissioning experts in forensic pathology, video analysis, and firearms to review the tape, Mr. Alston said ” You cannot fake the precise sort of reaction which the human body makes when shot at close range by such a weapon.”

Sri Lanka’s public relations team denounced the “bias” of the UN expert, suggesting that he was on a “personal crusade” to force a war crimes investigation over the allegations.  The Sri Lankan authorities possess a list of “biased” organizations that includes anyone who reported critically on the final months of the fighting against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in which over 7,000 civilians died.  Some of these biased organizations include Human Rights Watch, other international human rights and humanitarian groups, the European Union, the BBC and many other media outlets.  The situation for Sri Lankan human rights journalists has been grave, where many have fled the country fearing for their lives.

However the Sri Lankan spin is beginning to fray.  General Sareth Fonseka, who was in charge of last year’s offensive said that the orders to execute surrendering Tamil Tiger leaders in the final days of the war had come directly from the defense secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaska, the brother of President Mahinda Rajapaska.  He later claimed to have misspoken.

The execution captured in the video was an all-too-common occurrence during the 26-year civil war.  Government forces and the Tamil Tigers have been responsible for summary executions and targeted killings for which no one has been punished.

The government’s record of investigating allegations of war crimes by either government forces or the Tamil Tigers has been minimal.  Human Rights Watch and others have reported incidents of indiscriminate shelling of civilians, and the blocking of humanitarian assistance to the trapped population in the war zone. One reason the government locked nearly 300,000 civilians from fleeing the fighting in closed camps was to keep their stories from coming out.

Although the Sri Lankan government still believe that denial is the best policy, their loss in credibility is rising. The European Union is considering ending textile trade benefits to Sri Lanka over its human rights record, while the International Monetary Fund took the step of delaying an emergency loan for months.

For more information, please see:

Guardian.co.uk-  Uncovering Sri Lanka’s War Crimes– 21 January 2010

BBC News- Sri Lanka Rejects UN Execution Video Claims– 8 January 2010

The Times of India- Lanka Execution Video Authentic, Says UN– 8 January 2010


Somali Al Shabaab Rebels Threaten to Attack Kenya

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – Somalia’s hardline al Shabaab rebels threatened on Thursday to attack neighboring Kenya following a crackdown on Somalis in the capital Nairobi, according to a recording posted on an al Shabaab Website.

The six-minute clip posted on the al Shabaab website stated, “We have arrived at the border, we will enter Kenya, and Inshallah we will get to Nairobi… when we get there, we will fight, we will kill, because we have weapons, enough weapons.”

Islamist al Shabaab have threatened to attack Kenya before, although anger has been rising over the past week among the Somali community after Kenyan security forces detained hundreds of Somalis living in a Nairobi suburb. Kenya rounded up and arrested several hundred Somali immigrants and refugees living in a mostly Somali neighborhood. Earlier this month, Muslim protesters clashed with police after Friday prayers, leading to one death and extensive property damage.

The Kenyan police crackdown followed a violent protest in Nairobi against the detention of Jamaican Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal, who was jailed in Britain for urging his audiences to kill Jews, Hindus and Westerners.

The website said the message had been composed by militants annoyed by Kenya’s decision to deport the cleric and the deaths of protesters last Friday. The chaotic demonstration resulted in the death of at least two people during nearly nine hours of mayhem in the heart of the capital. The security forces conducted raids on Somali-inhabited in the capital and other major cities in the country, leading to arrest of more than 700 people, mostly Somalis.

Many of the marchers were Somalis and some waved a black flag identified with al Shabaab, a group seen by Washington as al Qaeda’s proxy in the Horn of Africa nation.

Reclusive al Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, also known as Sheik Mukhtar Abdirahman Abu Zubeyr, was introduced on the recording by the men chanting. He is believed to be in close contact with senior foreign members of al Shabaab. The man they introduced called on Muslims in several sub-Saharan African nations to wage jihad, or holy war, against “infidels” and to destroy their interests around the world.

“Our brothers in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda and Chad, you have a chance to join the jihad in the name of Allah. Don’t you know whoever does not join the jihad today, will never join?” the man said in Arabic. “If we live on or die, we are between two victories.”

For more information, please see:

CNN – Somali Rebel Group Threatens Kenya as Tension Mounts – 22 January 2010

Reuters – Somali Hardline Rebels Threaten Kenya Attack – 21 January 2010

Garowe Online – Al Shabaab Threaten to Attack Kenya Capital – 21 January 2010

Iranian Nuclear Plant to be Operational by 2011

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MOSCOW, Russia – On January 21 Iranian and Russian officials said that Iran’s first nuclear power plant will be operating by mid-2011. Russian officials confirmed that the nuclear reactor would be started to be built in 2010. The plant will be located in the Iranian city of Bushehr. Russia’s nuclear chief, Sergei Kiryenko, commented that “2010 is the year of the Bushehr.”

Kiryenko also said that “all the work is going as scheduled. The tests are a success.” The Director of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, also commented on the plants creation. Salehi said that the Bushehr nuclear power plant will be operational by late September. He also explained that experts are conducting final tests and there would be no delays on the part of the Russians in the launching of the nuclear plant.

This development comes amidst rising tensions over Iran’s refusal to accept a proposal by the United Nations aimed at easing the international concerns over Iran’s nuclear program. The IAEA (nuclear arm of the united nations) plan calls for the Islamic Republic to ship low-enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment and then to France where it would converted into fuel for Tehran’s medical purpose reactor.

Iran’s refusal to accept this deal lead to Western nations in the UN Security Council to threaten to imposed further sanctions on the Islamic Republic. The other two members of the Security Council, Russia and China, have called for more restraint and patience. Iran insists that they only have peaceful intentions with their nuclear program. The West believes that these claims are a cover-up for a nuclear weapons program.

The Bushehr plant’s construction began in 1974 but was abandoned five years later after the Islamic Revolution led to upheaval in Iran’s government. Western companies reneged on their commitments and pulled out of the Islamic Republic and the project after political pressure from the United States federal government. Russia ultimately agreed to complete the project.

In 1992 the two countries signed a deal to complete the construction of the nuclear power plant. Russia started working on the plant in 1995 and its contract was estimated to worth close to one billion dollars. The plant was was originally scheduled to open in 1999 but has been repeatedly delayed.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Plant to Open in 2010 – 21 January 2010

Press TV – Russia: Bushehr Plant to Come on Stream in 2010 – 21 January 2010

RTT – Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Plant to be Launched by Mid-2010 – 21 January 2010

Washington Post – Russia Says to Start Iran Nuclear Plant in 2010 – 21 January 2010