Justice for Argentina’s “Dirty War” Victims

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-A series of investigations and trials are underway in a renewed attempt to confront the legacy of the 1976-1983 dictatorship. Fifteen policemen and officers are on trial before a three-judge panel for their roles in the “dirty war” deaths of over 30,000 people.  DNA test are being used to determine the origin of children thought to have been stolen from “disappeared” parents. 

Military and police defendants are charged with running clandestine torture centers known as the Athletic Club, the Bank, and Olimpo. The defendants are some of the dictatorship’s most notorious figures. They include the leader of the junta that governed Argentina after the 1976 coup and Reynaldo Bignone, Argentina’s last dictator.

Individuals charged with involvement in “Operation Condor” are expected to stand trial next year. “Operation Condor” was a cooperative effort between South American dictatorships in hunting down and killing leftists. The courts have requested declassified US cables that contain information about what the United States knew about Argentine military operations. The Argentine ambassador to Washington is petitioning the CIA and other agencies to open their files on Argentina.

Meanwhile, DNA tests are being used in the pursuit of justice for the estimated 500 children that were stolen from their leftist political prisoner parents and given away to regime supporters. The process has been difficult because many of the children do not know their origins or remain loyal to their adoptive parents. As a result, the Congress supported a bill that required the extraction of DNA from suspected stolen children, even if they did not want to know the results. 

DNA testing is also being used to identify bone fragments found in graves across Argentina. Over 600 skeletons have been compared with samples supplied by relatives of disappeared leftists. There have been forty-two matches made and another 100 waiting confirmation.

Argentine prosecutors have convicted sixty defendants since 2005 for violations of human rights through the use of the ordinary penal law and the criminal courts. 627 former military officers, policemen, and officials were charged with a total of 325 cases open nationwide. The resurgence in investigations and trials comes after the Argentina Supreme Court withdrew amnesty laws, which were in effect through most of the ’80s and ’90s.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian-Argentina’s Authorities Order DNA Tests in Search for Stolen Babies of the Dirty War-30 December 2009

PressTV-Argentine “Dirty War” Defendants on Trial-28 December 2009

The Washington Post-Argentina Puts Officials on Trial Over the Abuses of the Dirty War-28 December 2009

Serbian Official Resigns Due To Failure To Catch War Criminal

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BELGRADE, Serbia – The failure to capture war criminal Ratko Mladic and bring him to justice has resulted in the resignation of the Serbian government official responsible for capturing him.

Rasim Ljajic had indicated earlier in the year that he would resign if he was unable to capture Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military chief, and deliver him to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ITCY) by the start of the new year.  Until this development Ljajic had held the responsibility within the Serbian government of tracking down the war criminal who was first indicated by an international tribunal of the Hague in 1995.

Serbian unit chief

Photo: Official Rasim Ljajic has led the Serbian unit in charge of capturing war criminal Ratko Mladic.
Mladic is charged with ordering the killing of approximately 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica and orchestrating the 43-month siege of Sarajevo during the Yugoslavia-Bosnian War.  He is indicted for charges of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity relating to the massacre.

In his resignation letter to the Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Ljajic indicated that despite his decision to step down he had confidence that the unit he has headed for four years would achieve their objective.  “The past year has been the most successful so far.  We have never worked so hard…and I am certain that such an effort must have results.”

After the war between Yugoslavia and the breakaway republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina ended in 1995, Mladic lived free from prosecution in Serbia until recent years, when he then allegedly went into hiding.  The effort to capture Mladic began when a specialized unit was formed, with Ljajic in charge.  In the addition to the formation of a unit created for the purpose of capturing Mladic, the Serbian government has also offered a reward of 1 million euros for his capture.

The efforts of this Serbian unit to track down Mladic and deliver him to the ICTY has been seen as a sticking point in the possibility of Serbia receiving European Union membership in the future.  The government of the Netherlands has blocked Serbia’s entry into the EU, demanding that Serbia first must prove its commitment to capturing Mladic and others charged with crimes in the war.

Ljajic will remain in his posts as the Serbian Social Affairs Minister and as president of the National Council for Cooperation, which coordinates Serbian government efforts with the Hague.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Serbian official hunting genocide suspect Mladic resigns – 29 December 2009

AP – Serbian official quits over failure to get Mladic – 29 December 2009

BCC – Serbia minister quits for failing to catch Ratko Mladic – 29 December 2009

EPOCH TIMES – Serbian War Criminal Investigator Steps Down – 29 December 2009

NEW YORK TIMES – Serbian Minister Quits War Crimes Team – 29 December 2009

Burma Allows Repatriation by Rohingya Muslims

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

DHAKE, Rohingya  – The Burmese government has recently conceded to the repatriation of 9,000 of an estimated 28,000 Rohingya Muslims.  The Muslims who have just been granted access into Burma are among an alienated group of peoples who have been fleeing from religious persecution perpetrated by the Burmese junta.  Since the 1970’s, Bangladesh has experienced an increasing influx of Rohingya Muslims escaping mistreatment and discrimination by the state and civilians of Burma.  Escape into Bangladesh has proved the most effective means for Rohingya Muslims desperate to evade maltreatment and unequal consideration in social aspects such as employment and trade. 

The respective Foreign Secretaries of Bangladesh and Burma met recently to discuss the terms and scope of the repatriation agreement.  During the discussion, the two figures seemed to conclude that repatriation should begin as soon as possible so as to give at least some of the over 30,000 Rohingya Muslims an official residence nation.   

Apart from the approximately 30,000 living under derisory conditions in Bangladeshi refugee camps, over 300,000 Rohingya Muslims originating from Burma reside illegally in other nations throughout Asia.  The Rohingya repatriation plan appears also to extend a welcome to Rohingya Muslims who have ventured beyond Burma to find peace in life. 

The repatriation of Burma by Rohingya Muslims has been a point of contention between the Burmese and Bangladeshi governments since the beginning of the 1990’s.  Although Bangladesh has established numerous camps to house the Rohingya refugees, human rights groups have often voiced concern over the inadequate living conditions of the refugee camps.  Essentials such as food, clothes, and shelter are apparently scarce in the camps, which are not readily supplied so as to tend to the needs of the refugee dwellers.  

However, despite the unfavorable situation of staying in refugee camps, a majority of the Rohingya Muslim refugees seem to prefer Bangladeshi shelters than returning their homes in Burma.  Although no reports discuss whether the issue of significant discrimination against the Rohingya Muslim group was considered in repatriation talks, refugees themselves have stated their desire to remain in Bangladesh where they are at least safe from state mistreatment. 

While these issues continue to be raised by human rights groups, it remains to be seen how many Burmese Rohingya Muslims will actually grasp the opportunity to return, supposedly without prejudice, to their native state.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Bangladesh to send home thousands of Burmese refugees – 29 December 2009

Irrawaddy – Bangladesh, Burma Agree on Repatriation of Some Rohingya -30 December 2009

Silobreaker – Burmese Muslims to be repatriated – 29 December 2009

Gay Couple Arrested in Malawi

By Jonathan Ambaye
Impunity Watch Journal, Africa Desk

BLANTYRE, Malawi-Today, two men, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, were arrested and jailed after participating in Malawi’s first same-sex public wedding ceremony over the weekend.  The ceremony took place on Saturday.  The two men are set to appear in court soon, to face charges of gross indecency. Homosexuality is banned in the conservative southern African country where discussions involving sexual orientation are still very taboo. The country’s penal code outlaws homosexuality and sodomy, which are both punishable by a maximum of fourteen years in jail.

Hundreds of people attended the ceremony. It was held at a guesthouse in Blantyre, which included traditional and hip-hop music and consisted of the two men wearing traditional robes. “I went there to see for myself a gay couple, “Finiasi Chikaoneka, one of the hundreds of people who attended the ceremony told, AFP.  “There were many people who were just curious about the whole affair because this was the first time that gays have come out openly,” he added.

The Malawi law society, composed of around 150 lawyers in Malawi, has condemned the wedding, saying it was illegal and “against the order of nature.” Gift Trapenze, who is in charge of the centre for the Development of People (“CEDEP”), which is in an advocate for gays, prostitutes, and prisoners, defended the couple, saying “they were expressing their legal rights.” Trapenze claims the wedding was aimed at challenging the Malawi laws which were silent on these issues. “the two individuals were expressing their sexual orientation as human beings. The police should not interefere in this matter,” he told AFP.

For more information please see:

AFP – Malawi Arrests Newly-Wed Gays For Gross Indecency – 29 December 2009

BBC – Malawi Gay Couple To Face Court After Engagement – 29 Decemeber 2009

NY Times – Malawi Police Arrest 2 Men for Engagement Ceremony – 29 December 2009

Mousavi’s Nephew Among the Dead in Anti-Government Protests in Iran

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Anti-government protesters clashed with Iranian security forces on December 27. The clash left at least eight protesters dead, including the nephew of opposition leader Mir Hussein Mousavi. Iranian officials deny opposition claims that police shot Seyed Ali Mousavi.

According to Mousavi’s website, Seyed Ali was shot in the back on the 27th as security forces fired on demonstrators in Tehran. The Mousavi family claims that Seyed Ali’s body had been taken without their permission from the hospital where it had been held. The official news agency of Iran reports that Seyed Ali and other bodies of people killed on December 27 were “retained in order to complete forensic and police examinations and find more leads on this suspicious incident.”

Opposition websites report that police fired tear gas on December 29 at a group of Mousavi supporters who were demonstrating outside of the hospital where Seyed Ali’s body had bee held.

Foreign media in Iran reports that the country is arresting opposition figures to stifle protests. Among those arrested on December 29 is Ebrahim Yazdi, leaders of the Freedom Movement of Iran, and his nephew. Yazdi’s son, Khalil, who lives in the US, told the BBC that Iranian authorities wanted to close down all opposition groups.

Also among the arrested was three aides to Mir Hussein Mousavi. A senior cleric from the holy city of Qom close to Mousavi, Mousavi Tebrizi, is also reported to have been arrested The Parlemannews website also reports that two aides to reformist former President Mohammad Khatami were among the individuals rounded up by authorities.

The violence on the streets of Iran’s major cities on December 27 were the worst since the protests immediately after the disputed presidential election. While state media confirmed eight deaths, other reports put the number as high as fifteen people. Mehdi Karroubi, another reformist candidate in the election, accused the Ahmedinejad regime of “dipping its hands in people’s blood.”

The Iranian government’s action towards the protesters has sparked controversy around the world. The US, UK, France, Germany and Canada all condemned the violence in Iran’s streets. President Barack Obama said that “the Iranian people have sought nothing more than to exercise their universal rights. Each time they have done so, they have been met with the iron fist of brutality.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Iran Rally Leaders ‘Enemies of God’ – 30 December 2009

Los Angeles Times – Iran Clamps Down on Protests – 29 December 2009

BBC – Iran Opposition Figures Arrested After Protests – 28 December 2009

Telegraph – Iran Arrests Key Opposition Figures in Effort to End Protests – 28 December 2009