Mayor in the Philippines Pleads Not Guilty to Massacre

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MANILA, Philippines – Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr., a mayor in southern Maguindanao province, is accused of acting as a leader and rallying over 100 government-armed miltia, as well as police, at asecurity checkpoint outside Ampatuan township, where they shot and buried 57 individuals in mass graves. The slain group included 30 journalists and their staff.

Maguindanao is part of an autonomous region in predominantly Muslim Mindanao, which was set up in the 1990s to quell armed uprisings by people seeking an independent Muslim homeland in the predominantly Christian Asian nation. Authorities have said the killings were part of a politically motivated attempt to keep an opponent of the politically powerful Ampatuan family from running for governor. Thirty journalists were among those killed.

Ampatuan Jr. is a prime suspect in what is said to be one the worst cases of political violence. The former mayor pleaded not guilty to murder charges to the murders which took place last November. Although the deaths of the victims happened months ago, the charges are only now being read against Ampatuan Jr.

Ampatuan Jr. denied any involvement in the incident, and his father, the former provincial governor, in addition to several other close relatives have been accused of involvement in the killings. They also deny any affiliation, but have yet to be indicted. unlike Ampatuan Jr.

In November when the killing spree took place, there was an international outcry. In turn, Philipean President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, announced martial law in Maguindanao for a short period, to crack down on the powerful Ampatuan clan and its private army. Arroyo has appointed a retired judge to head an independent commission tasked to dismantle private armies controlled by dozens of political warlords across the country and reduce election violence. Arroyo gave the commission authority to use the military, police and other agencies to disarm and disband an estimated 132 private armed groups. Troops have seized more than 1,100 assault rifles, mortars, machine guns, bazookas, armoured vehicles and more than half a million rounds of bullets from the Ampatuan clan in the government crackdown on the family’s private army since last month.

Ampatuan Jr.’s trial began in December. In reports and images of the fomer mayor, he was handcuffed and flanked by armed guards, and appeared tired during the hearing. Dante Jimenez, head of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, a citizens’ group, said that, “It seems he was very insensitive to the proceedings.”

Despite the pain of the massacre felt by victims,dozens of armed police and members of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) stood guard inside the courtroom as lawyers, journalists and families of the massacre victims sat just a few yards away from Ampatuan Jr. The court barred live news coverage of the proceedings. Even anti-riot police and fire trucks were posted at the police camp’s three main gates.In the midst of the judicial proceedings,Myrna Reblando, wife of one of 30 journalists killed, stated, “We hope for a speedy trial and swift justice for the death of my husband.”

For more information, please see:

The Jurist – Philippines mayor pleads not guilty to massacre murder charges – January 6. 2010

CNN – Mayor accused in Philippines massacre – December 10, 2009

CNN – Philippines mayor pleads not guilty to murder – January 5, 2010

Bloomberg News – Philippines Says Mayor Linked to Massacre Surrenders – November 26, 2009

The Guardian – Mayor denies Philippines massacre charges – January 5, 2010

Abuse in Chinese Drug Rehab Centers

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – According to a report released by the Human Rights Watch, drug offenders in compulsory drug detention centers in China are denied access to treatment for their addictions and are exposed to physical abuse and unpaid labor.

The UN announced that as many as half million Chinese are held at these centers at any given time where the maximum sentence is two years, but that period can be extended to seven years by the authorities.

Chinese government enacted “Anti-Drug Law of 2008” by amending their old drug laws to a more “people centered” approach where the offenders were to be sent to professional detox centers and thereafter to community-based rehabilitation centers.

However, guards at the detention centers use electric prods, and the detainees are not provided with adequate meals and are allowed to shower only once a month.  Some are forced to work up to 18 hours a day without pay.  Other detainees work at chicken farms or shoe factories that are contracted with the local police.

Those incarcerated are detained without trials, and the Chinese law does not define mechanisms where people can appeal their detention.  Furthermore, the law does not have means to ensure “evidence-based drug dependency treatment.”

Joseph Amon of Human Rights Watch said, “They call them detoxification centers, but…[t]he basic concept is inhumane and flawed.”

Criticizing the Chinese law which subjects suspected drug users to cruel and arbitrary treatment, Amon added, “The Chinese government has explained the law as a progressive step towards recognizing drug users as ‘patients,’ but they’re not even being provided the rights of ordinary patients.”

Due to this “flawed model” of drug rehabilitation, Amon also said, “[P]eople who want to get off drugs have very, very few choices.  No one is going to sign up for three years of forced labor and detention as a strategy for reducing their drug use.”

One Chinese drug offender confessed, “I’ve tried to get clean and have been in compulsory labor camps more than eight times.  I just cannot go back to a forced labor camp – [it is] a terrifying world where darkness knows no limits.”

Amon said, “The Chinese government should stop these abuses and ensure that the rights of suspected drug users are fully protected…Warehousing large numbers of drug users and subjecting them to forced labor and physical abuse is not ‘rehabilitation.’”

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – China: Drug ‘Rehabilitation’ Centers Deny Treatment, Allow Forced Labor – 6 January 2010

NYT – China Turns Drug Rehab Into a Punishing Ordeal – 7 January 2010

Radio Free Asia – China’s Drug Treatment Slammed – 6 January 2010

African Migrants Trafficked Through Colombia to the U.S.

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia-Three Colombian citizens and an Ethiopian were arrested and accused of running an international ring for trafficking Africans to the United States and Canada. Traffickers charged between $3,000 and $5,000 to take African citizens to the United States via Colombia.

The individuals in custody were charged with migrant trafficking, criminal conspiracy, and forgery of public documents.Johenes Elnefue Negussie, an Ethiopian living in Colombia with refugee status, is thought to be the ring leader. Negussie’s network allegedly has branches in the Colombian cities of Pasto in the South and Cartagena and San Andres in the North.

Colombia is considered a growing hub for people trafficking to the United States due to links to powerful drug traffickers. Two weeks ago, Marines rescued seventy undocumented Africans from the Caribbean, who later sought refugee status on Colombia’s northern coast. A member of the group told local media “we dream of arriving in the United States.”

Colombia deported 285 African and Asian citizens in 2009, and expelled forty-one other foreigners. The majority of migrants reaching Colombia are from Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Benin, Zimbabwe, the Ivory Coast, and Liberia. Mobile patrols have been set up at various points along its border with Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil to end the flow of migrants.

Migrants arrive penniless, often ill, and in debt. The director of the Department of Administrative Security said that the migrants are “victims” that “deserve all the attention, respect and assistance from the Colombian authorities. But behind it lies a very elaborate network that seeks to create links with local drug lords for new routes.”

The director of a local rights group told the press that “its ironic that these people seek refuge in Colombia, one of the countries with the highest rate of displacement and asylum requests in other countries.”

For more information, please see:

Latin American Herald Tribune-Colombia Arrests Four for Human Trafficking-10 January 2009

AFP-Colombia Police Arrest Ethiopian for Human Trafficking-9 January 2009

AFP-Colombia, Neva etapa en el periplo de inmigrantes africanos hacia EEUU-8 January 2009

U.S.-Jordanian Partnership Out in the Open

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

AMMAN, Jordan– Last week’s suicide bombing in Afghanistan that killed seven CIA operatives and one Jordanian intelligence officer has exposed the partnership between Jordanian and American intelligence sources.

Despite Jordan’s involvement in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations since 2001, they have worked hard to keep their involvement secret due to the high unpopularity of both wars in the Arab world.  However, with last week’s bombing in which a distant relative of Jordan’s King Abdullah II was killed, the intelligence partnership between the two countries has been forced into the open.

In such conflicts, the CIA has a long history of turning to local intelligence agencies for their ability to provide human resources.  Most notably, in 2006, Jordan’s intelligence service, the General Intelligence Directorate (GID), provided the U.S. military with crucial intelligence that led to the airstrike which killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian born leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Yet, despite the intelligence collaboration, the GID has a fearsome reputation in the Arab world.  They have been accused of human rights abuses as well as cooperation with the CIA’s extraordinary rendition of al Qaeda suspects.

In light of the suicide attack last week, Jordan’s minister of foreign affairs, Naser Judeh, not only acknowledged his country’s presence in the Afghanistan war, but pledged that such a role was going to expand.

In comments to Secretary of State Clinton last week in Washington, Judeh said that “our presence in Afghanistan today is two-fold: number one, to combat terrorism and the root causes of terrorism, but also to help out in the humanitarian effort that is needed there.”  He further commented that “our presence in Afghanistan will be enhanced and increased in the coming phase. This is something that is ongoing.”

With the increased presence, there are fears among those in Jordan.  A senior official, who specializes in Islamic movements, said the announcement is expected to heat up Jordan’s war with al Qaeda.  As the analyst noted, “it will widen the war with al Qaeda where Jordan was formerly not a priority target.”

For more information, please see:

The National- Jordan Reveals Growing Role in Afghan War– 9 January 2010

Christian Science Monitor- CIA Killings in Afghanistan Spotlight Jordan as Key U.S. Intelligence Partner– 6 January 2010

BBC News- Afghanistan CIA Killings a Major Blow to U.S. and Jordan– 5 January 2010

UN to Continue Giving Somalia Food Aid Despite Insecurity

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
MOGADISHU, Somalia – According to the top US military official, al Shabaab rebel group’s disruptions of the UN World Food Program’s (WFP) operations could worsen Somalia’s humanitarian crisis.

“(The situation) is a great concern because over an extended period of time, the potential for a humanitarian crisis is pretty significant,” said Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  He also called the al Shabaab a “growing terrorist organization.”

Al Shabaab militants threatened the WFP, causing it to suspend operations in much of southern Somalia.  According to WFP Spokeswoman Emilia Casella, the rebels demanded that the agency remove all women and pay protection money to guarantee the safety of its staff.  Nevertheless, the agency has said that the lines of communication are open and that it has no intention of leaving Somalia.

“We have not closed any doors.  We have not closed any lines of communication,” said Casella.  “What we are hoping is that a resolution can be found so that we can have assurances that humanitarian principles will be respected and that the safety of our staff willbe respected and guaranteed so that we can return to working in the southern part of Somalia as we are continuing to work in the rest of Somalia.”

Nearly three quarters of the country’s 3.76 million who are in need of aid are concentrated in central and southern Somalia.  The WFP has emphasized that the suspension is only temporary and that aid to the rest of the country is still in operation.

“We do anticipate that it is possible there will be movement or could be movement to other parts of Somalia by some people who have been affected or towards the borders,” said Casella.  “And, so for that reason, the staff and the supplies and equipment that were in our six offices in the southern part of Somalia have already been moved from that area to areas of Somalia where we are continuing to work.”

WFP is anticipating demand increasing in certain areas and is working with its partner organizations to pre-position supplies in those areas.

Despite WFP’s suspension of operations, several UN agencies remain in operation in southern Somalia, although they are facing difficulty, said Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Byrs did say that there has been a steady decline of humanitarian staff following incidents of looting, extortion, assaults, and kidnappings of aid workers.

“Discussions are also under way to determine whether and how other programs, such as nutrition, could be adjusted to mitigate any potential negative effects in the area under suspension,” she said.

Over the past year, the number of people in need of aid has risen over half a million bringing the total number of people in need to well over half of the population.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – UN Food Aid Trouble in Somalia ‘a Great Concern’: US – 09 January 2010

UN News Centre – UN Aid Agencies Will Not Abandon Somalia Despite Insecurity, says Official – 08 January 2010

VOA – WFP Sees No Quick Solution to Somalia Crisis – 08 January 2010