BP Oil Pipeline Threatens Colombian Farmers

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LONDON, England-Colombian farmers are suing the oil company BP for damages arising from the construction of a 450-mile pipeline. The lawsuit alleges that the Ocensa pipeline caused landslides and damage to soil and groundwater, caused crops to fail, livestock to die, contaminated water supplies and made fish ponds unsustainable.

The pipeline was laid from the Cusian-Cupiagua oilfields, to the port of Covenas. The region has a significant amount of paramilitary activity. Farmers say that they have been harassed and intimidated by paramilitaries employed by the Colombian government to guard the pipeline. Colombian lawyers who initially were a part of the lawsuit claim that they were intimidated by paramilitaries as well.  One lawyer fled to Britain when she found out that her name was on a paramilitary hit list. She was granted asylum in 2002.

In this case, the environmental impact assessment, which BP conducted prior to pipeline construction, allegedly showed significant risk of damage to the land. However, mostly illiterate farmers were not informed about the risk. BP expressly promised compensation to the farmers for damages caused by the pipeline and that there would be no long-term environmental damage.

The lawsuit claims damages for breach of contract and negligence. If the court accepts evidence of environmental damage, advocates believe that that would allow similar claims by other communities in developing countries who say they have been adversely affected by oil pipelines.

One farmer stated, “Now that my land has been destroyed I realize that the money I was paid for the pipeline to be build across my farm was a mere pittance and that BP took advantage of my inability to read and write and my lack of understanding of technical language.”

BP denies all of the farmers’ allegations. It argues that the main cause of soil erosion and sediment is the removal of forests by farmers for cattle grazing. BP settled outside of court in a similar lawsuit in 2002. A court hearing date has not yet been set.

For more information, please see:

Business and Human Rights Resource Center-Case Profile:BP Lawsuit(Re: Colombia)-11 November 2009

Colombia Solidarity Campaign-BP and Pipeline Damage in Colombia-11 November 2009

The Guardian-BP Faces Damages Claim Over Pipeline Through Colombia Farmland-11 November 2009

Most Recent Clash in Mogadishu Leaves 6 Dead and Thousands More Searching for Solace

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Heavy fighting between Somali transitional government forces and rebel Al Shabaab militants have left at least six people dead and another 12 injured in Mogadishu.

The fighting broke out Saturday afternoon when heavily armed Al Shabaab militant fighters carried out attacks on government bases in the Mogadishu districts of Bondhere and Abdiaziz.

Residents said that most of the people who were killed and wounded were civilians. Those people who were killed died when mortar shelling and heavy weapons artillery landed in their Mogadishu neighborhoods.

The Somali capital has been ravaged in recent months by a string of deadly clashes between the Al Shabaab rebels and government troops backed by African Union troops. The Al Shabaab militants are intent on overthrowing the fragile UN-backed transitional government. Al-Shabaab and its allies currently control most of southern and central Somalia, while the government, helped by the AU force, just runs parts of Mogadishu.

Somalia has been crippled by over 18 years of civil war and has had no functioning government since the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991. The years of fighting and anarchy have left some three million people, more than half of the country’s population, dependent on humanitarian aid, with nearly 300,000 refugees crammed into a few square kilometers at the Dadaab camp in northeastern Kenya alone.

Al-Shabaab wants foreign peacekeepers out of the country while Somalia’s transitional government wants more foreign support. Should the AU forces leave, thousands of Somali’s will suffer with out the AU’s humanitarian aid. Should the AU forces stay and maintain their foreign fortification against the Al-Shabaab insurgents, Al-Shabaab will continue its attacks.

For more information, please see:

Garowe Online – Civilians Killed in Fresh Mogadishu Clashes – 8 November 2009

PressTv – At least 6 dead in latest clashes in Mogadishu – 8 November 2009

Shabelle Media Network – Fighting Kills Two, Wounds Five Others in North Mogadishu – 7 November 2009

New Zealand Refuses to Help Asylum Seekers

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – New Zealand rejected the Rudd Government’s plea to resettle some of the 78 asylum seekers refusing to leave an Australian customs boat, the Oceanic Viking, just off the coast of Indonesia. New Zealand’s refusal to help the asylum seekers has increased pressure on the Rudd Government as it tries to resolve the stand-off over the Oceanic Viking.

The Oceanic Viking consists of a group of Tamil men, women, and children. This group has been on board the Oceanic Viking since their boat was intercepted off Christmas Island over 3 weeks ago.

New Zealand’s Immigration Minister, Jonathan Coleman, announced that New Zealand will not grant the Rudd Government’s plea to resettle some of the asylum seekers.

Coleman further stated: “The New Zealand Government does not believe that an ad hoc approach to dealing with individual cases like the Oceanic Viking will send the right message…The broader issues aren’t going to go away. There are literally thousands of displaced people across the Asia-Pacific region.”

Further opponents argue that agreeing to resettle the asylum seekers would “set an unwanted precedent for New Zealand’s conservative Government.”

Coleman expressed his fear and wary for rewarding actions that seek to “jump the queue for entry to New Zealand.” He concluded that it is unlikely that New Zealand will offer settlement to asylum seekers on board the Oceanic Viking.

Coleman’s Australian counterpart, Chris Evans, also agrees that it is unlikely that New Zealand will offer settlement to asylum seekers on board the Oceanic Viking, but is hopeful to an ongoing co-operation with New Zealand regarding this matter.

Conflict between Indonesia and Australia continues. The chief military spokesman from Indonesia, Rear Marshal Sagom Tamboen, called the Oceanic Viking an “uninvited guest” and contends that its presence has undermined Indonesian sovereignty.

Tamboen expressed frustration with the inability of Australian officials to persuade the 78 asylum seekers to disembark. Angry with the presence of the Oceanic Viking, he stated: “It creates so much harm to us because we must do work that is not on our planned agenda, namely guarding an uninvited guest. It is harming our sovereignty. It has only brought troubles into our waters.”

Tamboen attacked Australia’s reluctance to solve the problem and questioned why such a wealthy country like Australia did not simply accept the asylum seekers on its own shores.

The Oceanic Viking security clearance to remain in Indonesian territory runs out on Friday, November 13. Indonesia announced that it is not inclined to extend that security clearance.

Australian immigration officials went on board the Oceanic Viking to negotiate with the asylum seekers, but they expressed that no deal had been reached. The asylum seekers would be happy with an offer of settlement on Australian soil, but if they were to be settled on Indonesian soil, they want to stay in regular housing. Many of the asylum seekers contended that when they stayed at an Australian-funded detention center in Indonesia they suffered physical and emotional trauma as a result.

The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, plan to attend the APEC conference in Singapore where they will seek progress on regional co-operation on people smuggling.

For more information, please see:
The Age – NZ rejects Rudd Government plea on refugees – 11 November 2009

Islands Business – NZ rejects Rudd Government plea on refugees – 11 November 2009

MyBIZ – NZ rejects Rudd Government plea on refugees – 11 November 2009

WAtoday – NZ snubs Rudd on asylum seekers – 11 November 2009

Yemen Rejects International Intervention in Rebel Conflict

By Ahmad Shihadah

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East Desk

SA’NA, Yemen – Yemen told outside powers Wednesday to stay out of its battle with the Hutis, a Shi’ite rebel group in its northwest. This came amid concerns that Iran and Saudi Arabia are being drawn into the conflict. The statement was issued by the official state news agency Saba, following a statement of concern for Yemen’s “national unity and territorial integrity” by Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki on Tuesday.

Yemen continued saying the fight between the government and the al-Huthi rebels was an internal issue and that Yemen was able to tackle its own problems without any interference or mediation from others. An unnamed Yemeni foreign ministry official issued a statement saying “as we welcome what Mr.Mottaki said about Iran’s stance towards Yemen’s stability and unity, Yemen affirms that it absolutely rejects any intervention in its internal affairs.”

Yemen has repeatedly accused Iran of supporting the rebels, and in October announced it had captured five Iranians attempting to smuggle a boatload of weapons to them, but no hard evidence was provided.  A Yemeni government official told CNN on Tuesday that Yemen’s navy was ‘on the highest state of alert.”

International concern continues to grow amid the conflict in Yemen, as many view the impoverished nation as a potential safe-haven for al-Qaeda. Further, the stage could be set for a proxy struggle between Shi’ite-dominated Iran and the Sunni-led Saudi monarchy. Yemen has signed an agreement with the United States for co-operation on military intelligence and training, according to Saba, Yemen’s official state news agency. The deal aims to strengthen co-operation in the “extermination of terrorism smuggling and piracy” according to Yemen’s chief of staff Ahmed Ali al Ashwal.

The United Nations continues to express alarm over the fighting and said there has been a “significant increase” in the number of people displaced in recent weeks. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimates as many as 175,000 people have affected by the conflict since 2004, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Tuesday.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Yemen Warns Against Intervention in Rebel Conflict – 11 November 2009

The National – Yemen ‘Rejects Outside Interference’ – 11 November 2009

WashingtonTv – Yemen Rejects Iran’s “Interference” in its Affairs – 11 November 2009

Sri Lanka and Australia Discuss Human-Smuggling


By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Officials from Australia and Sri Lanka recently began discussions to inhibit the extensive people-smuggling into Christmas Island and other regions of Australia.  The Australian and Sri Lankan foreign ministers met in Colombo on Monday to discuss maritime security with Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.  The issue of Sri Lankan refugees seeking asylum in Australian territory became more imminent while the two nations planned discussions on the social detriments and dangers of people-smuggling, as refugee boats bound for Australia were captured just this week.  Many of the Sri Lankan asylum-seekers are of the Tamil minority race, who endure increasing and persistent persecution in Sri Lanka due to the May defeat of the Tamil Tigers rebel group.  Although most of the refugees are civilian nationals with no actual affiliation with the Tamil Tigers, the Sri Lankan government has taken no measures to mitigate rights violations perpetrated against the Tamil minority.  Discrimination in employment and other fundamental rights further push the Tamil minority out of Sri Lanka to seek a decent mode of living.    

The Sri Lankan Tamil minority began emigrating to Christmas Island, which serves as a haven for many people of troubled countries.  However, accumulating an excessive emigrant population due to years of entering refugees, Australia’s border patrol elevated security around the island’s surrounding waters.  

Australian guards also solicited the assistance of the Indonesian border patrol to curtail the influx of refugees into Christmas Island and Australian land.  Indonesian vessels have captured numerous Tamil boats and escorted them to Indonesian docks.  Many passengers on the captured vessels refused to leave the docked boats until Australia granted them asylum, sometimes engaging in hunger strikes and other forms of protest.  

Although the Australian maritime security vessels have saved Tamil boats facing trouble in the water, Sri Lanka and Australia both explicitly express their contempt for human-smuggling.  Both nations argue that the operators of the refugee boats are simply opportunists capitalizing off the dire situation of the Tamil minorities.  Sri Lankan officials also suggest that the Tamils leaving Sri Lanka represent a poor class of people searching for a greater livelihood, denying any allegations of persecution.  

The Australian and Sri Lankan governments mutually agreed to prohibit the use of force to deter or detain Tamil refugee boats.  However, Sri Lanka’s denial of human rights violations raises issues concerning its motives for wanting to keep the Tamil minority within Sri Lankan borders.   


For more information, please see:   

Al-Jazeera – Boat people on Colombo talk agenda – 09 November 2009

The Australian – Tamil economic refugees: Sri Lanka – 12 November 2009

VOA News – Asylum Seekers Adrift on Boat – 27 October 2009