Paraguayan Government Refuses to Disclose Contaminated Aquifers

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay-Consumer advocacy groups report that the Paniño aquifer, depended on by forty percent of Paraguay’s population, can no longer be relied on for water that meets quality standards. The National Food and Nutrition Institute issued a press release in late November finding that faecal coliform bacteria was found in samples of eleven aquifers. In response, consumer advocacy groups called on the government to release the names of firms being monitored. The government refused.

Consumer associations have urged the public not to buy mineral water until the government guaranteed the safety of the water. The Inspector General claimed that the contamination findings were blown out of proportion by the press and that there is no threat to water safety.

The Paniño aquifer supplies 360 registered industrial water wells, used by hundreds of water bottling plants, soft drink and dairy companies, cold-storage plants and car wash firms. Only sixty-five percent of households in Paraguay receive piped drinking water from the national grid, while others rely on wells.

Advocates argue that the quality of groundwater is declining due to domestic and industrial waste, lack of controls and monitoring of wells, increased number of companies drilling wells, and a lack of oversight and regulation. Members of the Paraguayan Association of Water Resources, comprised of experts and professors report that since 2000, there has been a significant increase in nitrate levels, indicating contamination by sewage. Thirty-four percent of water samples analyzed by this group had bacteria levels above the acceptable level.

The study highlights the lack of sanitation in the area of the Patiño aquifer, where twenty-three percent of households are connected to the sewage system, and seventy-seven percent use cesspools. Cesspools often leak into groundwater. Aquifers in Paraguay’s Chaco region and the Guaraní Aquifer are also threatened by contamination. The Guaraní aquifer is the third largest subterranean aquifer in the world.

The Environment Ministry says that the public has not been completely aware of the threats to the country’s groundwater. “Today we have more information on the aquifers, but we don’t have the resources to undertake government plans to protect them,” stated one official. He pointed out that the 2007 law on water resources has not been enforced due to lack of resources.

For more information, please see:

IPS-Paraguay: Bottled Water Scare Exposes Threat to Groundwater-24 December 2009

La Ultima Hora-Todas las Aguas Superficiales Están Contaminadas-15 December 2009

ABC Digital-Instituciones Verifican la Calidad del Agua Mineral-14 December 2009

UN Suspends Peacekeeping Units in DRC Due to Increased Human Rights Violations

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NEW YORK, New York– United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have suspended support for units of the National Armed Forces (FARDC) due to evidence showing their operations have contributed to human rights violations in the conflict ridden region.

In January the Congolese and Rwandan governments began joint military operations against a Rwandan Hutu militia, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), in a five-week operation known as Umoja Wetu. It was followed in March by a second military operation, Kimia II, conducted with the support of the UN peacekeepers, which continued until this month.

A reported 1,400 civilians between January and September 2009 had been killed by Congolese or Rwandan troops and by rebels in eastern DRC as a result of the Kimia II military operations launched with the cooperation of the UN Mission in DRC, known as MONUC. The report is based on 23 Human Rights Watch fact-finding missions this year and interviews with over 600 victims, witnesses, and family members.

The Congolese government said the military operations were intended to bring peace and security to this volatile region. UN peacekeepers made important efforts to protect civilians in this complex and difficult terrain, Human Rights Watch said. But the peacekeeping force’s role as a joint player in the military operations, providing substantial support to the Congolese army, has implicated peacekeepers in the abuses and undermined the mission’s primary objective, which is to protect civilians.

Congolese army soldiers and FDLR rebel combatants have attacked civilians, accused them of being collaborators, and “punished” them by chopping many to death with machetes. Both sides also shot civilians as they tried to flee or burned them in their homes. Some victims were tied together before their throats were, according to one witness, “slit like chickens.” The majority of the victims were women, children, and the elderly.

“Continued killing and rape by all sides in eastern Congo shows that the UN Security Council needs a new approach to protect civilians,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. Over the first nine months of 2009, the UN recorded over 7,500 cases of sexual violence against women and girls across North and South Kivu in eastern Congo, nearly surpassing the figures recorded during all of last year, and probably representing only a fraction of the total. Most of the women and girls were gang raped, some so violently that they later died. Many women and girls were held as sex slaves by both the Congolese army and the FDLR for weeks or months at a time; they were raped repeatedly and some were mutilated and then killed by machete or shot in the vagina.

“Many UN Security Council ambassadors have visited Congo and expressed outrage at the massive sexual violence,” said Van Woudenberg. “Yet rape is increasing – not decreasing – in eastern Congo. That outrage needs to be translated into bold and effective action to help protect these women and girls.”

In responding to the UN’s recent suspensions, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated, “MONUC continues to give the highest priority to the protection of civilians, which is something I strongly value. We have always acted in accordance with the mandate provided by the Security Council.” “Unfortunately, the Kimia II operation has been proved to be where many civilian casualties have happened, and that is why we have immediately suspended our military operations and cooperation with some parts of the Congolese national forces.”

The Secretary-General pointed out that MONUC’s mandate is to help the Congolese Armed Forces, but stressed: “I made it, and we made it, quite clear that whenever there [are] grounds for violation of the human rights situation, then we will suspend these military operations.” “There is an overall important mission that MONUC has to carry out in accordance with the Security Council mandate to preserve peace and security and to protect the civilian population,” said Ban Ki-moon. “I am not sure whether it is desirable to suspend the whole peacekeeping operation there. That is what the Security Council has to decide, in closely following the situation, as well as assessing the situation there.”

For more information, please see:

UN News Service – UN Has Suspended Cooperation With Army Units Accused of Rights Abuses – 14 December 2009

Human Rights Watch – UN – Act to End Atrocities in Eastern Congo – 12 December 2009

Institute for War & Peace Reporting – Lubumbashi Tackles Abusive Officers – Better Training and Working Conditions Seen as Key to Ending Police Violations – 11 December 2009

Reuters – U.N. suspends support to Congo army units in east – 2 November 2009

Iranian Police and Protesters Clash at Montazeri Memorial

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ISFAHAN, Iran – On December 23 Iranian security forces clashed with opposition supporters demonstrating in the central city of Isfahan. The clashes occurred reportedly as large crowds gathered to mourn the death of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. Opposition websites claim that pro-reform protesters had been injured by the police in the clashes.

The violence erupted when thousands of Iranians attempted to gather for a memorial to Montazeri at a mosque. Security forces and hard-line militia men beat opposition protesters and fired tear gas into crowds. Alireza Ronaghi, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Iran, said that witnesses allege that they had not heard shots fired. Opposition websites report that over fifty opposition supporters had been arrested.

The government’s crackdown marked the first time that clerics who supported the opposition had been targeted. Basij militiamen surround the house and office of two prominent religious figures. They shouted slogans and broke windows, opposition websites reported.

The death of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri gave new push to the opposition protests. Montazeri was a sharp critic Iranian leaders, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He died December 20th at the age of 87 and a funeral held the following day in Qom  that drew tens of thousands of Iranians onto the streets.

Mehrad Khonsari, an Iranian affiars analyst in London and a former diplomat in Iran explains that “the government cannot allow for great celebrations of (Montazeri’s) life to be carried out given the fact that that would be counter the kind of policies they been making in the course of the last 20 years.” He says that in an increase in government pressure is inevitable as the opposition has been incrementally increasing their pressure.

The United States government expressed concern with how Iran’s security forces acted in the clash. State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley told reporters, “Iran is increasingly showing itself to be a police state.” Crowley explained that the Iranian government’s security forces are attempting to eliminate the fact that “clearly the aspirations of the Iranian people (are) for a different relationship with their government.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – Iran Behaves Increasingly Like a ‘Police State’: US” – 23 December 2009

Al Jazeera – Clashes Reported at Iran Protests – 23 December 2009

Associated Press – Police, Protesters Clash in Southern Iran – 23 December 2009

BBC – Clashes at Montazeri Ceremony – 23 December 2009

General Takes Back Comment on Pregnant Women in Iraq

22 December 2009

General Takes Back Comment on Pregnant Women in Iraq

By Stephen Kopko

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Last month, United States Major General Anthony Cucolo issued a statement saying that troops under his command in Iraq would be subject to court martial if they were found to be pregnant or that they have impregnated a women. This week, Cucolo issued a statement that he would never actually subject a violator of the the regulation to a trial but wanted to echo the seriousness of the situation.

General Cucolo commands more than 22,000 troops in Iraq. The troops under his command are stationed throughout the northern provinces in Iraq. This includes cities such as Tikrit, Kirkuk, and Mosul. Of the 22,0000 troops under Cucolo’s command, 1,682 are female.

The military has a policy of sending women home within fourteen days after finding out they are pregnant. The levels of troops within the ranks are lessened by sending these women home in the time of war. This diminishing of the troops within units places strain and stress on the unit to compensate for those who are are sent home to the United States because of the pregnancy.

According to army regulations, each commander of a unit has the option to create supplemental rules that govern the unit troops. Each general is not allowed to lessen the rules of the General Order but can add rules to the General Order. Cucolo stated that his order of court martialing pregnant women and the men who are also involved was implemented after great consultation. He stated that he consulted with his commanders, lawyers, and two female soldiers before implementing the regulation. The two female officers supported the measure fully.

Since coming out with the order, General Cucolo has faced a great deal of criticism. National Organization of Women’s president, Terry O’Neil stated that she is going to lobby Defense Secretary Robert Gates and President Obama to change the order. She likened the order to the discrimination perpetuated against women in the 1800’s. Also, four U.S. Senators have written letters to General Cucolo asking him to rescind the order. The letters state “We can think of no greater deterrent to women contemplating a military career than the image of a pregnant women being severely punished simply for conceiving a child.” The letter was signed by Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Barbara Mikulski, Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

For more information, please see:

ABC – Four Senators Demand General Rescind Order on Pregnant Soldiers – 22 December 2009

CNN – Pregnant Soldiers Won’t be Court-Martialed, Commander Says – 22 December 2009

MSNBC – General: No Trials of Pregnant Soldiers in Iraq – 22 December 2009

European Human Rights Court Finds Discrimination In Bosnian Constitution

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch, Reporter

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina – The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that the national constitution of Bosnia-Herzegovina discriminates against Jews and Roma and must be amended.

Currently in Bosnia only Muslim Bosniaks, Roman Catholic Croats, and Christian Orthodox Serbs are allowed to run for political office, while Jews and Roma are forbidden.  This ruling by the European Court of Human rights came about after two activists, Jakob Finci, a Bosnian Jew and the current Bosnian ambassador to Switzerland, and Dervo Sejdic who is of Roma ethnicity, filed a complaint in the Court in 2006.  Past attempts by both men to run for national office in Bosnia were thwarted by the constitutional provision that the Court ruled on.

Following the ruling, Finci applauded the Court’s action.  “I am delighted that the European Court has recognized the wrong that was done in the constitution 14 years ago.  The Bosnian politicians need to right the wrongs in the constitution quickly.”

Bosnia, as a party to the Convention that established the European Court of Human Rights, is now obligated to amend its Constitution.  In making its decision, the court noted that “authorities must use all available means to combat racism, thereby reinforcing democracy’s vision of a society in which diversity is not perceived as a threat but as a source of enrichment.”  Bosnia had previously agreed to modify its election laws to put them in line with the European Convention on Human Rights, a requirement for EU membership.

The Bosnian Constitution was drafted as a part of the broader Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the nearly four year war in the former Yugoslavian republic between Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian ethnic groups.  The constitution currently separates the population of the nation between “constituent peoples”, including Bosnians, Croats, and Serbs, as opposed to “others”, including Jews and Roma.

Past attempts to amend Bosnia’s election laws have had little success.

For more information, please see:

AP – Court: Bosnia discriminates against Jews and Roma – 22 December 2009

DW – European Court rules Bosnia’s constitution is discriminatory – 22 December 2009

EUROPEAN VOICE – Human rights rebuffs Bosnia – 22 December 2009

RADIO FREE EUROPE – European Court Condemns Bosnia Over Jews – 22 December 2009

VOA – European Court: Bosnia’s Constitution Unfair to Jews, Roma – 22 December 2009