Taylor Denies Ordering Bockarie Execution

By Jonathan Ambaye
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa Desk

THE HAGUE, Netherlands-After a three week judicial break, Charles Taylor took to the stand again on October 26, 2009. On this day Charles Taylor found himself denying allegations that he ordered the execution of a key Sierra Leonean rebel commander, Sam Bockarie, during Sierra Leone’s civil war. In response to the allegations, Taylor said, “The last person on this planet that I wanted killed was Sam Bockarie. I did not order him, killed.”

This statement came after  one of the prosecution’s witnesses testified in September 2008 that commander Sam Bockarie, also known as “Mosquito”, was executed as a result of an order by Taylor. Taylor denied these claims. Continuing his testimony regarding the allegations Taylor said, “I never wanted him dead. I liked him as a son. I never gave such an order that Bockarie should be killed.”

Taylor later gave an explanation of how Bockarie was actually killed. He claims Bockarie was killed in a cross-fire with Liberian government troops who were trying to prevent him from entering Liberia with armed men from the Ivory Coast.  Taylor also had to respond to the 2008 testimony of a former Sierra Leonean member of Taylor’s Anti-terrorist Unit (ATu), Jabati Jaward. Jaward testified that he was one of many others sent by Taylor to the Ivory Coast under the command of Bockarie.  Taylor denied this claim saying that members of the ATU disbanded and traveled on their own to different places, leaving some to go to the Ivory Coast.

Taylor made additional statements in regards to Bockarie’s death to further discount the allegations that he was involved in his death. Taylor said in court, “I was very hurt when Vice Presiden Blach, told me that Bockaries was killed. I sent Blah there because I did not want that boy killed,” Taylor said. Taylor would later also say, “Blah lied here, to say that he was just in the area when Bockarie was killed. I sent him there.”

For more information please see:

All Africa – Taylor Says He Did Not Order the Execution of Sierra Leonean Rebel Commander Mosquito – 26 October 2009

Charles Taylor Trial,org – Taylor Says He Did Not Order the Execution of Sierra Leonean Rebel Commander “Mosquito”– 26 October 2009

Impunity Watch – Taylor Continues to Deny Allegations – 1 October 2009

Rohingya Muslims Face Further Government Oppression

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COX’S BAZAAR, Bangladesh – Enduring a 30-year history of persecution in their native land, members of the Rohingya Muslim minority continue trying to elude human rights abuses under the Burmese junta.  The Rohingyas, who generally reside in the state of Myanmar, have been able to cross into neighboring nations such as Bangladesh and Thailand to escape impunity.  However, the recent construction of a razor-wire fence along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, across which many Rohingyas traverse in search of freedom from subjugation, further undercuts the Muslim minority groups’ reach for liberation.

The razor-wire barrier effectively eliminates one of the Rohingya peoples’ only routes to less hostile territory.  Though the Bangladesh government neither recognizes nor welcomes the Rohingyas, hundreds of thousands of them reside in makeshift camps in Bangladesh.  Although the U.N. attempted a repatriation into Myanmar for the Rohingyas in 2005, government threats of higher oppression of the minority Muslim group ended the initiative.

By keeping the Rohingyas within Myanmar borders, the government may continue to exploit and abuse them.  The Burmese government persistently denies Rohingya Muslims any form of national citizenship and continues to force the minority group into labor.  The Myanmar government also has a history of executing military operations against civilian Rohingyas.  In 1978, an army operation called “Nagamine” targeted Rohingya civilians living illegally in Myanmar and entailed the destruction of schools, mosques, and other structures.    

Considering the disposition of the ruling powers of Myanmar, Rohingya refugees in Thailand and Bangladesh cannot return to their homes.  Effectively disallowed from re-entering Myanmar borders, the Rohingyas must live under derisory, unsanitary conditions of refugee camps with a scarcity of food and clothing.

Bangladeshi authorities have also taken measures to prohibit more Rohingyas from entering the country.  Border patrol used to arrest and imprison Rohingya peoples attempting to cross into Bangladesh illegally.  However, given the significant number of refugees attempting to cross, Bangladeshi jails quickly became filled with Rohingya escapees looking for solace in Bangladesh.   Operations recently began to send new Rohingya refugees back to Burmese land.

Bangladeshi officials released statements saying that the Rohingya minority places a social and economic burden upon Bangladesh.  Although relief funds from Germany and numerous human rights organizations help maintain the refugee camps, the Bangladeshi government refuses to allow the Rohingyas to indefinitely remain within the nation’s borders.

Without a home to find peace, it seems the plight of the Rohingyas will continue to plague the group until the international community devises an effective means to secure the minority groups’ rights.   

 

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Rohingya suffer in Bangladesh camps – 28 October 2009

Burma Library – Bangladesh-Myanmar Relations and the Stateless Rohingyas – June 2001

Mizzima – Germany donates $430,000 for Rohingya relief in Bangladesh – 17 October 2009

ReliefWeb – Bangladesh expels Rohingyas – 16 October 2009

Saudi King Pardons Journalist

By Ahmad Shihadah

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has issued a pardon for Saudi journalist Rossana al-Yami. Al- Yami was sentenced to 60 lashes and a two-year travel ban for her involvement in a television show in which a Saudi man detailed his sexual exploits. Al-Yami told the Reuters news agency, “the king has vindicated me. I am satisfied with the king’s order and I accept the decisions of the sovereign.”

The man at the center of the case, Mazen Abdul Jawad, is also seeking a pardon from the King. On the episode in question, Abdul Jawad bragged about his sexual exploits.  As a result, he was sentenced to five years in prison and 1,000 lashes. Abdul Jawad’s attorney Suleiman al-Jumeii maintains his client was duped by Lebanese Broadcast Company, which ran the episode, and was unaware in many instances that he was being recorded. Further, he urged the information minister to intercede with the King to include all those involved in the case under the same ministry committee. This was done in the hopes his client could be pardoned as well.[VAC1] Al-Jumeii issued a statement saying, “justice should not be divided as long as it is one case.”

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), King Abdullah’s decision sent an important message to the country’s courts regarding punishment of freedom expression. However, HRW still calls for real reforms in the legal system that will address the repeated attacks on the media by Saudi courts.

For more information please see:

Al-Jazeera – Saudi King Spares Journalist lashes – 27 October 2009

CNN – Royal Pardon for Saudi Journalist Sentenced to Lashes – 27 October 2009

Human Rights Watch – Saudi Arabia: King Overturns 60-Lashes Verdict Against Journalist – 27 October 2009

Colombia’s Security Policy Compromises Human Rights

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA,Colombia-Colombia’s National Planning Council blames the government’s “Democratic Security” policy and fight against drugs for the systematic increase in human rights violations. The National Planning Council is a constitutionally mandated body tasked with formulating, monitoring, and evaluating government policy.

President of the council, Adolfo Atehortua, called Colombia’s anti-drug policy a failure. He pointed out that drug production has not decreased and spraying to kill illicit crops has increased poverty in rural areas. “The general and indiscriminate aerial spraying of crops damages farmers who have no other options, the helpless producers . . . but does not eliminate the persistency of the drug plantations,” Atehortua said.

Atehortua further stressed that Colombia has become a consumer of drugs in addition to its exporting role. He recommended that soft drugs be legalized as part of an international campaign. Atehortua argued that legalizing the production of soft drugs, such as marijuana, would provide an opportunity for many farmers to “come out of hiding to develop real centers of agricultural production.”

Atehortua denounced the government’s security policy and the collaboration with the U.S. State Department.  The main point of criticism was the large number of “false positive cases”, where members of the armed forces have executed civilians and then presented them as guerrillas killed in combat in order to boost success figures. These acts have been denounced by the United Nations.

Atehortua called the “humanitarian crisis” the “dark side” of the Democratic Security Policy. Colombia is slated to sign a controversial security pact with the United States to enhance its war on “narcoterrorism” this week.

For more information, please see:

Colombia Reports-Council:Government Security Policy Caused Increase in Human Rights Violations-27 October 2009

El Pais-Colombia Avanza en Seguridad, pero no en derechos humanos-27 October 2009

El Espectador-Consejo Nacional de Planeación insiste en legalización de la droga-27 October 2009

Khmer Rouge Trial Ends, Sentencing for the Deaths of 12,000 Awaits

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PHNOM PEHN, Cambodia — The Khmer Rouge prison boss, Kaing Guek Eav, more commonly known as Duch, admitted personal responsibility for the torture and murder of more than 12,000 people. He shocked the war crimes court by asking to be acquitted and released.

Duch Khmer Rouge prison boss, known as Duch, stands beside a security guard during the closing arguments of his trial. Curtesy of The Guardian,

Duch is one of five aging senior cadres facing trial in the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians who were murdered or died of starvation or overwork. From 1975 to 1979, before being removed after an invasion by the Vietnamese, the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge regime sought to create an agrarian utopia by abolishing religion, money and schools and forcing most of the population onto collective farms.

Duch’s nine-month trial concluded with Duch asking the judges to consider his co-operation with the court, and proceeded to ask that the 10 years he had already served in jail be used as his sentence, and set him free. In the last statement of his concluding remarks, he said: “I would ask the chamber to release me, thank you very much.”

The statement reportedly came only two days after he told the court he was ultimately accountable for the deaths that occurred while he headed the Khmer Rouge’s Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh. Duch had admitted, “I am solely and individually responsible for the loss of at least 12,380 lives.” Duch was claimed to be responsible for the thousands of deaths, most of whom were tortured detainees at the notorious S-21 prison, where Duch was commander, before inflicting death in the nearby “killing fields.”

Officials involved in the proceeding seem skeptical. Prosecutor, William Smith, said outside of the court, that he was surprised by Duch’s last-minute change of heart. Smith stated, “The fact that he entered a request for an acquittal reinforces in our mind that his remorse is limited.” The prosecution has asked for 40 year’s jail for Duch, 67.

The judges are expected to deliver a ruling in March of next year. The maximum penalty they can impose is life imprisonment.

For more information, please see:

Sydney Morning Herald – Killing fields accused may not live to face court – November 27, 2009

The Times Online – Please release me begs Khmer Rouge torturer-in-chief – November 27, 2009

The Guardian –Cambodia torturer Duch – killer of 12,380 – asks court to set him free – November 27, 2009

CNN – Closing arguments end in Khmer Rouge trial – November 27, 2009