Gunmen Kill Rwandan Peacekeepers in Darfur

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – For the second time in two days, an attack in western Sudan’s war-torn region of Darfur killed two Rwandan peacekeepers and wounded another.  Rwandans are serving in the joint United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

On Friday there was an ambush in the northern town of Saraf Umra near a market and a government checkpoint.  A UNAMID platoon of 20 Rwandan peacekeepers in three land cruisers were escorting a water tanker when a group of armed men attacked.  Three Rwandan soldiers were killed and two others were injured.  The UNAMID team returned fire and an assailant was wounded but the attackers escaped.

Another attack on Saturday killed two Rwandan peacekeepers and wounded another in Shangil Tobaa in northern Darfur.

“Rwandan soldiers were distributing water at the gate of a camp for the displaced in Shangil Tobaa when one or two armed men fired at them.  Two soldiers were killed and one was wounded,” said an anonymous UN source.

Both attacks were confirmed by UNAMID head of communications Kamal Saiki.

“There is no indication on the motives of the attackers, but we suspect that it was an attempt to carjack the vehicles,” Saiki said.

The latest killings bring the total number of peacekeepers killed since the mission’s launch in 2004 to twenty-two.

“The UNAMID condemns in the strongest terms this criminal attack against its forces,” said a statement released Saturday.

The violence began in Darfur in 2003 when separatist rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government in Khartoum.  A campaign of violence began soon after when pro-government Arab militias targeted the black African population.

Clashes have eased but since the indictment of President Omar al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur, insecurity has been growing with a string of kidnappings of foreign aid workers.

According to the UN, up to 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine, and disease, and more than 2.7 million have fled their homes since the conflict began in 2003.  The government claims only 10,000 deaths.

The United Nations issued a statement following Friday’s attack that said, “The Secretary-General deplores this attack on AU-UN peacekeepers in Darfur and calls on the Government of Sudan to do its utmost to ensure that the perpetrators are swiftly identified and brought to justice.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – Two More Rwandan Peacekeepers Killed in Darfur – 05 December 2009

AP – Gunmen Kill 3 Peacekeepers in Darfur Ambush – 05 December 2009

BBC – Rwandan Soldiers Killed in Darfur – 05 December 2009

Xinhua – Unknown Gunmen Kill 3 UNAMID Peacekeepers in Darfur – 05 December 2009

Boomberg – Sudan Attack Kills Two Rwandan Peacekeepers in Darfur, UN Says – 04 December 2009

UN News Centre – Three UN Peacekeepers Killed After Attack in Sudan’s Darfur Region – 04 December 2009

Revised Olympic Bylaws Still Concern Activists in Toronto

06 December 2009

Revised Olympic Bylaws Still Concern Activists in Toronto

By William Miller

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

TORONTO, Canada – The Vancouver City Council approved changes to the Olympic bylaws on Thursday, December 3, in response to concerns of civil rights advocates who feared the bylaws would place too heavy a burden on free speech rights. The Council has reduced the impact of the rules considerably. However; many feel the rules are still too restrictive of free speech.

The bylaws are provisions set up by the Vancouver City Council to serve as temporary measures during the Olympic Winter Games to be held there in 2010. The bylaws will make it easier for authorities to curb public disturbances during the games and quickly remove illegal signs. Anti-Olympic and free speech activists however have raised concerns that the temporary changes could be used to curb decent and limit the ability of protestors to convey their message.

Vancouver originally passed the bylaws in July. After public outcry over the provisions the city decided to revisit the rules and change some of the provisions.

One of the revisions has changed restrictions on sign posting so it only applies to commercial signs designed to capitalize on the game illegally. Originally, the rule applied to all signs and would have made it easy for police to remove any sign in a few days, a task which could take a month to accomplish under the city ordinances. Activists feared that this would be used to remove any signs used by protestors during the games.

The revised provision will have no effect on any protestor materials. Any signs used by protestors can only be removed under the city ordinance. As a result any protestor sign sought to be removed would remain up until after the games had ended.

Other provisions which had generated concern still remain in place. A ban on megaphones and noisemakers in designated Olympic areas remains unchanged and a ban on creating public disturbances was changed slightly to read to a ban on unreasonably interfering with the ability of others to enjoy the games.

City Manager Penny Ballem said “If somebody is creating a huge disturbance or disrupting entertainment or disturbing people who are there to enjoy the legitimate activities that we put into place, then we would have the ability, as you would in any other public place, to ask them to leave and if they persist to actually be able to remove them from the property.” The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and local police have both said that they will not use the bylaws to target protesters.

The failure to revise these provisions continues to generate concern among activist. David Eby of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association raised concerns at the City Council meeting  that criminal codes are already in place to deal with public disturbances and the new bylaws are unnecessary.

Two groups have previously filed lawsuits over the restrictions posed in July. Eby said that the new rules have addressed most of the issues raised in the complaint but did not say if the lawsuit would be dropped.

For more information, please see:

Xtra.ca – Vancouver City Council Somwhat Relaxes Olympic Security Bylaws – 4 December 2009

Canadian press – Vancouver Passes Bylaws Critics Say Will Limit Speech During 2010 Olympic games – 3 December 2009

Metro  News – Vancouver Passes Bylaws Critics Say Will Limit Speech During 2010 Olympics – 3 December 2009

Rights Group Wants North Korean Leader on Trial

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – A rights group in South Korea is planning to file a petition demanding the arrest of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il with the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.

This group, the Antihuman Crime Investigation Committee, is acting on behalf of 150 North Korean refugees who have defected to South Korea and wants the ICC to determine whether the systematic and widespread human rights abuses in North Korea constitute crimes against humanity.

Kim, the leader of a nation of 24 million people, rules with brutality.  According to U.S. State Department statistics, North Korea operates numerous political gulags with an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 inmates.

Jung Gyoung-il, member of another North Korean human rights activist group, spent three years in one of the gulags, in North Korea’s infamous Yoduk prison.  He said the soldiers beat him so badly that he falsely confessed to being a spy.

Yoduk prisonPrisoners carrying pails of human waste at Yoduk Prison in North Korea.  Courtesy of Fuji TV.

Jung said, “I once asked why veterinarians treat us, and the solders said, ‘You are animals, so medical treatment can’t be offered by doctors.’”

He added that prisoners lost their sense of humanity because the conditions are so cruel.

In addition to the harsh treatments in the gulags, defectors who are caught are also abused.  Lee Kyung-hee said when she was caught and brought back to North Korea from China, she was eight months pregnant.  After she gave birth, she was told by a soldier to kill her own baby. 

When she refused, she was beaten, and the soldier stood beside her prison bed and suffocated her baby. 

The refugees who belong to the activist group acknowledge that their chances of brining the North Korean leader to justice are slim, but they want the world to know about the atrocities that take place inside the isolationist state.

Furthermore, critics say that even if Kim is never brought to trial, the efforts of the activists would be a success.  Heo Man-ho, a political science professor at Kyungpook National University said, “Their actions are meaningful in awakening public opinion in the international community.”

Once the petition is filed, ICC officials said they would consider launching a preliminary examination on the alleged abuses in North Korea.

For more information, please see:

AP – Seoul activists want probe on Nkorean rights abuse – 3 December 2009

Los Angeles Times – North Korean rights groups want Kim put on trial – 4 December 2009

Times of the Internet – Group alleges Jong Il abuses rights – 4 December 2009

Alleged Police Brutality Puts Jordan in Spotlight

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

AMMAN, Jordan– The recent death of two Jordanians as a result of alleged police brutality has put the spotlight on human rights in Jordan.  These deaths have resulted in local and international human rights groups calling for excessive use of force cases to be tried in civil rather than closed police courts.

The National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) in Jordan has warned that existing measures are not enough to deter policemen from using excessive force to impose public law and order.  Nisreen Zreiqat, the director of the NCHR’s criminal justice unit, has said that “we have recommended several times in our reports that cases of torture should be referred to a civil court instead of a police court to ensure the independence and transparency of the decisions.”

Maj Mohammad Khatib, the Public Security Directorate’s (PSD) spokesman, dismissed the NCHR’s concerns and noted that police resort to the use of force only when the situation dictates such.  Khatib has said that “the beatings only occur out of necessity, like when police need to take control of suspects.”  He also noted that “the PSD holds accountable those who resort to excessive use of force outside the law.”

Amnesty International said last week that the deaths of the two men at the hands of police within one week are a “very worrying development.”  They further went on to say that the police courts in Jordan are neither sufficiently independent nor transparent in their conduct.  Since the court decisions are not disclosed and the sessions are closed to the public, Amnesty International and other human rights groups fear that the current system in place serves as no deterrent to police brutality.

In response, the PSD defended itself.  They released a statement saying that “the trials take place within a court as a sign of respect to the uniform which we revere.  The police court decisions related to crimes are further reviewed by the court of cessation, which is an independent body.”

Nonetheless, the recent deaths have sparked a wave of anger throughout Jordan.

For more information, please see:

The National Newspaper- Deaths Put Spotlight on Human Rights in Jordan– 6 December 2009

The Seattle Times- Second Police Beating Raises Alarm in Jordan– 16 November 2009

Al Bawaba- Jordan: Second Citizen Dies by Police Beating– 15 November 2009

Suriname Dictator’s Trial Resumes With New Testimony

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOXEL,Suriname-The trial of Desi Bouterse, Suriname’s former dictator, resumed last week with new testimony. Bouterse is charged with ordering the execution of fifteen political opponents in December 1982. Eleven other individuals are also charged for these killings.

Prosecutors claim that Bouterse ordered the killing of four lawyers, four journalists, two university lecturers, two military officers, two businessmen, and a labor leader. The army claimed that it shot at the opponents because they tried to escape from the Fort Zeelandia, where they were being held after Bouterse’s security forces detained them.

Everyone who has testified at the trial so far has dismissed the army’s explanation that they were trying to escape. “Why do they have gunshot wounds on their chests and heads?” said witness Heydi de Miranda, “You would have been shot in the back.” De Miranda’s husband was killed for criticizing Bouterse’s regime.

Sali Blik, a former cameraman for a state-owned television station, testified that he saw Desi Bouterse at Fort Zeelandia sitting beside one of the victims after forcing him to make an on-camera statement. This was just hours before the man was shot.  Onno Flohr, a member of the firing squad, testified that Bouterse was present during the executions, but did not kill anyone.

The trial has been going on for over a year with numerous delays, including witnesses who fail to appear in court. Bouterse denies any direct involvement in the killings, though he has made a public apology and accepted “political responsibility” for the killings.

Bouterse seized control of Suriname in 1980, just five years after it gained independence from the Netherlands. He resigned in 1987, but briefly took power again in 1990. Bouterse is currently the chairman of Suriname’s main opposition party.

For more information, please see:

Caribbean Net News-Witness Describes Suriname’s Former Dictator as a Psychopath-3 December 2009

AP-Witness: Suriname Ex-Dictator at Execution Scene-2 December 2009

Caribbean Net News-Widow Testifies in Suriname Mass Murder Trial-2 December 2009