Spanish Legislation Takes First Step Towards Easing Ban on Abortion

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MADRID, Spain – The lower-house of the Spanish parliament voted on Thursday to approve a bill that would legalize access to abortion.  Abortion has in almost all cases been categorizes as an illegal act.  This new legalization would all abortions to be legally carried out for the first fourteen weeks of the pregnancy without any government restrictions.

Currently in Spain abortions are only legal in cases of rape or out of concern for the health of the mother.  And while as a matter of law abortions are very difficult to obtain, in practice many of the 100,000 abortions that are legally performed in Spain are carried out under the mother’s health exception.  The bill will now be presented in the upper-house.  If it is approved there, this legislation will face a final vote by the whole parliament.

Legalizing a broader right to access to abortion has been a leading domestic priority for Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.  The current Socialist government under Zapatero was able to gather 184 votes in the lower house, Congress of Deputies, by eliminating the most controversial provision of the bill, which would have allowed any woman over the age of 15 the right to have an abortion without their parent’s consent.  In reaching the necessary number of votes, the Socialist government joined forces with smaller political parties in the lower house.

The movement towards legalization has been described by its leaders as a fight for women’s rights.  The Socialist Party’s spokeswoman Carmen Monton declared that this movement is about “…legislating women’s right to decide whether to be mothers.”

The Catholic Church and Popular Party (PP) have led the opposition to this legislation.  A leader of the PP noted at a rally outside the parliament that the legislation would “[banalize] the meaning of human life.”  The Catholic Church has declared that if abortion is legalized, anyone who participates in assisting abortion procedures may face excommunication.

A vote on this bill in the upper house of the parliament is expected to take place in early 2010.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Spanish lawmakers vote to legalise abortion – 18 December 2009

AP – Spanish lawyers vote to ease abortion law – 18 December 2009

EARTHTIMES – Spanish parliament approves liberalization of abortion – 17 December 2009

Forced Eviction Leads Man to Set Himself on Fire

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Xi Xinzhu, set himself ablaze when a demolition crew arrived at his home to move him out to begin tearing down his home. He is being hospitalized for the burns he suffered.

As striking as Xi Xinzhu’s actions may have been, he is not alone in those who set themselves on fire to protest the Chinese government mandating that civilians abandon their homes. Last month a woman died after setting herself alight in a similar protest. Analysts say the incident will add to already intense pressure to reform China’s rules on forced eviction.

The protest is just one of a series in a country where land is effectively controlled by the state. The law currently allows local governments to claim land and confiscate homes for urban development projects: a system which critics say is open to abuse. It is reported that residents often complain that the amount of compensation offered is far below the real value of their homes.

According to Beijing Times, Xi had already suffered from a leg fracture when he was beaten by “unidentified men.” It is said that violence is a form of intimidation commonly used in China. Despite his condition, Xi poured gasoline on himself, and proceeded to show a lighter, and threatened to ignite himself. “Neglecting his warning, the relocation people even said ‘go ahead, light up,’ his wife told Beijing Times.

Even though the flames were promptly put out, Xi suffered 10 per cent burns to his face, hands and body and is in a critical condition in a Beijing hospital.

Chinese legal experts have called for major changes, and in a sign that the government may be seeking to ease public anger, officials met nine of them recently to discuss the issue.  

When asked about his brother’s protest and the situation generally, Xi Xinqiang said, “We tried everything to raise legal questions about this demolition through normal channels, but nobody would do anything, although there are plainly problems.”

For more information, please see:

BBC World News – Chinese man sets himself on fire in Beijing – December 17, 20009 

Huffington Post – Chinese Man Sets Himself On Fire To Protest Demolition Of Home – December 20, 2009  

China News – Chinese Man Sets Himself on Fire to Protest Eviction – December 2009

Brazil Truth Commission Proposal Criticized

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will announce a proposal for a truth commission on Monday, aimed at answering questions about abuses that occurred during Brazil’s twenty year military dictatorship. Victims’ relatives have pointed out that the commission will only be effective if military archives are opened.

Victims’ relatives have also expressed concern that the draft version of the proposal called the new body a Truth and Reconciliation Commission rather than a Truth and Justice Commission. The draft proposal has to be approves by the Brazilian Congress. A member of the Torture never Again group expressed her concerns at a press conference saying “how can any of the families or anyone from civil society pardon or agree to reconciliation?”

Earlier this year Brazil granted amnesty and reparations to dozens of peasants who were “disappeared” in any army crackdown on a rebel movement in the Amazon. A justice ministry commission also toured Brazil this year and asked victims and their families for forgiveness and provided some compensation.

To date there have been no convictions in Brazil for participating in dictatorship-era murders and torture and has refused to make public the military archives from the period. The families of dictatorship-era victims argue that the opening of military files are key to “the showing of the truth and those responsible.”

The military and its leftists opponents both received amnesty by law in 1979. The Supreme Court is now considering a case that argues that torture is not covered by that law. Victims groups argue that the truth commission must have the power to investigate crimes, including the hiding or destroying archives. These investigations will aid in recommending criminal cases against suspects, and to send documents to courts. Brazil’s armed forces are opposed to further investigations or revisions of the amnesty law.

During the dictatorship, as many as 20,000 people were believed to have been tortured, often through the use of electric shocks and chemicals. Over four hundred Brazilians were murdered or disappeared. Victims groups have filed cases against Brazil with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, questioning the army’s role in the search for victims’ bodies in the Amazon and arguing that the Amnesty law impedes investigations of the dictatorship period.

In response to military accusations that victims’ families are seeking revenge, representatives said “we’re not looking for retaliation. What we want is justice. Brazil is the slowest country in Latin America on these issues.”

For more information, please see:

New Tang Dynasty Television-New Brazilian Human Rights Plan to Include Truth Commission-19 December 2009

Reuters-Brazil Torture Victims Want Army to Open Records-16 December 2009

New York Times-Brazil’s Lula to Propose Torture Truth Commission-14 December 2009

Australia asks Canada to Resettle Tamils

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia – Australia has asked the Canadian government to resettle a small number of Tamil refugees whose boat was found in international waters last October.

Australia has used “robust foreign diplomacy”, calling upon other countries to resettle the asylum seekers.

Canada has agreed to consider those refugees who have close family in Canada.

A representative of Australia’ Department of Citizenship and Immigration, Douglas Kellam, stated that “[t]he only cases Canada has agreed to consider – and none have been accepted so far – are those that can demonstrate that they have close family links to somebody here in Canada, that they have been referred by the UNHCR … and we’ll have to be satisfied that they are not otherwise inadmissible to Canada,”

In October, approximately seventy-eight Sri Lankan Tamil were rescued by an Australian customs vessel, the Oceanic Viking, and brought back to Indonesia.   The Tamils refused to disembark when they were brought back to Indonesia, where they had been living for a few years.

The result was a month long stand-off, with the Tamils refusing to leave the Oceanic Viking.

Last month, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), whose job is to find countries to resettle refugees, officially declared the Tamils to be refugees and prompted the Australian government to find homes for them.

Canada is not the only country involved in discussions to resettle the Tamil refugees.  Norway and New Zealand have also offered to support the United Nations to take in some of the refugees, and the U.S. may also be in discussions with Australia.

New Zealand refused to accept some of the Tamils last month.  However, New Zealand’s Immigration minister claims that it may reconsider.

Dr. Jonathan Coleman said, “If people from the Oceanic Viking were to be included as part of the normal refugee quota selection process facilitated by UNHCR, New Zealand would be prepared to consider them.”

The Department of Citizenship and Immigration official stated that Australia is unsure of the number of refugees that will resettle in Canada.

According to Kellam, “it is not a common thing” for Australia to ask other countries to take in refugees.

Australia will begin its resettlement program next weekend.

For more information please see:
National Post – Australia asks Canada to resettle Tamil refugees – 18 December 2009

New Zealand Herald – NZ considers accepting Tamil boatpeople – report – 18 December 2009

ABC News – Australia looks to friends to resettle Tamils – 17 December 2009

New Bombings in Two Major Iraqi Cities

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – A series of bombings killed nine people in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Mosul on December 15. The bombings come only one week after suicide bombings in the Iraqi capital killed one hundred twenty seven people. The new blasts have increased pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to improve security.

In Baghdad, three cars were packed with bombs and were parked near different entrances to the Green Zone. One was located near the Foreign Ministry while two were located near the Immigration Ministry. At 7:30am, when Iraqis were entering the area to come to work, the three vehicles exploded within minutes of each other. Five people were killed by the bombings in the Iraqi capital and at least sixteen were wounded.

The bombings in Baghdad were the fourth in recent months to target government buildings and hit near the Green Zone, Baghdad’s most protected neighborhood. The Green Zone contains the parliament, ministries and the United States Embassy. An Iraqi woman, Um Ali, questioned how it was possible for the three vehicles to enter and explode when “there were two military checkpoints using detectors at the beginning of the street.”

The bombing in Mosul, a city two hundred twenty five miles away from the Iraqi capital, took place approximately four hours later. Two car bombs and a roadside mine went off and killed for people. The bombings took place near a church in a busy neighborhood and wounded up to forty people. Mosul is the third largest city in Iraqi and has been a lingering urban foothold for al Qaeda despite an overall drop in violence across the country.

The recent rash in bombings in Iraq has caused Iraqi civilians the ability of the Iraqi government to provide security leading up the country’s much anticipated elections next year. The government has stepped up its efforts to catch those responsible for attacks and prevent future attacks by giving a cash reward for information. The Iraqi cabinet has approved plans to give as much at eighty five thousand dollars to informants who give-up bomb makers. The plan was announced by the Iraqi Prime Minister, who is running for re-election in March.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Iraq Offers Reward For Information On Bomb Factories – 16 December 2009

Los Angeles Times – In Baghdad, More Blasts Near Iraq Government Center – 16 December 2009

Al Jazeera – Iraq Bombings Leave Several Dead – 15 December 2009

AP – Explosions in 2 Major Iraq Cities Kill 9 People – 15 December 2009