Uruguay Court Declares Military Amnesty Unconstitutional

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay-The Supreme Court held that a law providing amnesty to military officials accused of murders, disappearances, and other human rights violations during the eleven year dictatorship is unconstitutional. The ruling comes just days before Uruguay goes to the polls in a national plebiscite to determine if the amnesty law should be overturned, as a part of the national elections.

The Supreme Court ruling was in the case of Nibia Sabalsagaray, a twenty-four year old literature professor and social activist who kidnapped, taken to a military base, and turned up dead on June 29, 1974. Sabalsagaray’s death was declared a suicide at the time, despite clear signs of torture.

A challenge to the law in the late 1980’s was upheld by the Supreme Court in a split decision. The government refused to change the law, despite pressure from the victim’s family.  The new ruling found that the amnesty law violated Uruguay’s separation of powers and was not passed by the required super-majority.

The ruling of the Supreme Court is tied to the facts of the case and therefore, the precedent coming out of the decision is unclear. A plebiscite, to be held on Sunday of this week, will determine whether the law is officially overturned. Current polls show the laws not being overturned, though there is hope that the Supreme Court ruling will turn the tide. A simple majority vote would overturn the amnesty law.

Amnesty laws were considered as key to enabling transitions from dictatorship to democracy in South America, but have been subject to increasing scrutiny. The Uruguay amnesty law was passed by a congressional majority in 1986 and reaffirmed in 1989 with fifty-four percent of the vote in a plebiscite. One argument for the law is that it balances against another amnesty law on the books for leftist guerrillas accused of attacks.

The amnesty law applies only to crimes committed in Uruguay. Individuals have been accused of rights violations in other countries as a part of Operation Condor, a joint campaign by military regimes to remove leftist movements in the Southern Cone. Former Dictator, Juan B. Bordaberry is currently under preventive detention in a case involving the murders of four Uruguayans in Argentina.

Amnesty International estimates that ninety-nine percent of political prisoners who were interviewed during the eleven year dictatorship claimed that they had been tortured. During the peak of political strife in Uruguay, the number of political prisoners was estimated to be 7,000.

The America’s Deputy Director of Amnesty International commented, “This law was designed as a get-out-of-jail-free card for those who tortured, killed, and disappeared people in Uruguay . . . now it is time for Uruguay to show that it will not permit impunity for these crimes.”

Brazil and Chile currently have similar dictatorship-era amnesty laws in force.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International-Uruguay Must Annul Law that Protects Police and Military Torture Suspects-20 October 2009

AP-Uruguay Supreme Court Rules Out Dirty War Amnesty-20 October 2009

BBC-Uruguay Dirty War Amnesty Illegal-20 October 2009

Earth Times-Supreme Court Strikes Blow Against Uruguayan Amnesty Law-20 October 2009

Retaliatory Expulsions Have Caused Humanitarian Disaster

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

LUANDA, Angola – A rapidly expanding humanitarian crisis among the tens of thousands of people expelled by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to neighboring Angola is beginning to unfold. Nearly 30,000 Angolans recently expelled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), who are now seeking refuge in overcrowded camps in northern Angola, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Shelter, food, medicine and sanitation facilitation are among the most pressing needs, according to UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic. “The supply of clean water is insufficient,” said Mahecic. “Some of the expelled drink from the nearby contaminated rivers.” Diarrhea and vomiting have been reported among those living in camps, where many are sleeping in the open air.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has expelled more than 20,000 Angolans from its territory this month alone in order to retaliate against Angola’s expulsion of illegal Congolese diamond miners, an Angolan official said. “We hope the expulsion of Angolans from the Congo ends soon,” said Angolan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abreu de Breganha, adding that the recent expulsions were to retaliate for the regular expulsion of thousands of illegal Congolese diamond miners from Angola.

During Angola’s almost three decades of civil war, which ended in 2002, the DRC hosted more than 100,000 Angolan refugees; since then, thousands of undocumented Congolese migrants – mostly thought to be illegal diamond diggers – have been working in Angola.

The ebb and flow of people expelled from both sides of the border has become a common spat between the neighbors. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) there have been six major waves of expulsions since 2003, in which a total of 140,000 Congolese were deported from Angola.

Tit-for-tat expulsions since August 2009 by the governments of Angola and DRC have led to more than 32,000 Angolans being repatriated to Angola, and about 18,800 Congolese nationals being deported from Angola. Following talks on 13 October in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, both countries agreed to “immediately stop the expulsions of citizens of their respective states,” said the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) representative, Bohdan Nahajlo

Nahajlo told IRIN that providing humanitarian assistance to the displaced was becoming a race against time, as the rainy season was closing in and would make the roads from the Angolan capital, Luanda, impassable, and the M’banza Congo airport in Angola’s northern province of Zaire was not an option because it was closed for renovation.

“Besides addressing the immediate humanitarian and protection needs, we should also prepare for a continuous flow of Angolans into the country,” who were crossing the border out of fear, and the hope of being reunited with their families in Angola, warned Nahajlo. A recent UNHCR assessment of Angolan refugees in the DRC found that about 43,000 were willing to be repatriated voluntarily, but “in this atmosphere people will be encouraged to return,” and the refugee agency was expecting a second wave of about 50,000 people, Nahajlo said.

For more information, please see:

All Africa – Almost 30,000 Angolans Expelled From Country Need Help – UN Refugee Agency – 20 October 2009

UNNews- Almost 30,000 Angolans expelled from DR Congo need help – UN refugee agency – 20 October 2009

IRIN – Humanitarian crisis now unfolding – 20 October 2009

Reuters – Congo expels over 20,000 Angolans in tit-for-tat – 12 October 2009

Joint Effort Undertaken to End People Smuggling

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia –Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd agreed to cooperate on people smuggling after meeting today in Jakarta.

At a meeting following Yudhoyono’s inauguration to a second five-year term, Australia sought Indonesia’s assistance in controlling the number of refugees attempting to enter the country.  The two countries anticipate that asylum seekers will continue to seek refuge in Australia as the year comes to a close.

Cooperation is necessary because people smuggling involves the entire region, not just one or two countries.  Not only must the country of origin be involved, but the transit and destination countries must also be involved in order to settle the problem.

Over the next few weeks, officials from the immigration office, navy and the police will set forth guidelines to deal with boats intercepted in international waters.  The framework will provide a way for the governments to facilitate the resolution of people smuggling issues in the future so that they may avoid doing so on an ad hoc basis.

Officials will report to the President and the Prime Minister at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit to be held in Singapore this November.

The countries did not establish the type of assistance that Indonesia would need to prevent people from trying to enter Australia.

There have also been reports that Australia will pay Indonesia incentive payments in order to stop people smuggling, but Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans has dismissed these reports as “speculation”.

The Government claims that Indonesia has used its police, immigration department and other agencies in the past to assist Australia in putting an end to people smuggling.

Evans indicated that Australia would provide funding to the UN’s refugee agency.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s administration and the opposition party have engaged in serious debate over the appropriate measures to address people smuggling.

Currently, there are approximately 255 Sri Lankans being held in Indonesia.  Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that it is up to Indonesia, not Australia, to determine the fate of these individuals.

For more information, please see:
ABC News – Asylum seekers deal temporary: Indonesia – 21 October 2009

The Australian – Asylum-seeker incentive offer ‘speculation’ – 21 October 2009

Kompas.com – Framework Needed by Australia and Indonesia over People Smuggling – 21 October 2009

Bloomberg – Indonesia, Australia Boost Cooperation Against People Smuggling – 20 October 2009

Basque Protests In Spain Following Arrest of ETA Members

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain – Thousands of people marched through the streets of the San Sebastian in northern Spain on Saturday to protest the arrests of ETA members and call for their release.  Members of the Basque region’s nationalist political movements, unions, and militant groups were among those who participated in the protest.

A Spanish judge ordered the arrest earlier this week of five men whom are accused of attempts to revive Batasuna, which was the political arm of the Basque-separatist movement ETA.  Among those arrested were Arnaldo Otegi, the former spokesman and leader of Batasuna, and Rafael Diez Usabiaga, a leader of the Basque movement.  They are alleged to be a part of a terrorist sect.  According to the Spanish Interior Ministry the police had been watching the suspects for months.  They were “[following] ETA directives.”

Batasuna has been banned in Spain since 2003 due to alleged links to ETA.  ETA has operated in southwestern Europe for over four decades and is responsible for conducting terrorist attacks, resulting in the deaths of approximately 825 people.  The goal of this decades-old organization has been the independence of the Basque region of northern Spain and southwestern France.  Both the European Union and the United States list ETA as a terrorist organization.

A 15 month cease-fire that the ETA had agreed to in 2005 was called off after talks between the separatist group and the Spanish government broke down.  After the collapse of the negotiations, the Spanish Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero has refused in re-engage the Basque separatist movement.  This new stance towards ETA comes at a time when both the Spanish and French governments have increased their efforts at dismantling ETA.

For more information, please see:

BBC – France detains ‘top Eta leader’ – 19 October 2009

SPANISH NEWS – Protests Against Basque Militants Arrests – 19 October 2009

EITB – Thousands turn out in San Sebastian to protest against arrests – 18 October 2009

AFP – Thousands protest arrests of Basque nationalists – 17 October 2009

EXPATICA SPAIN – Basque separatist leader jailed in Spain – 17 October 2009

TAIWAN NEWS – Spain jails 5 outlawed Basque party members – 17 October 2009

Voting Fraud Results in Run-off Election in Afghanistan

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia  KABUL, Afghanistan- Following weeks of mounting international pressure, Afghanistan will hold a final and deciding round of its problem-laden presidential poll on November 7, which will pit President Hamid Karzai against rival Adbullah Adbullah.  This news comes a day after Afghanistan’s Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC); a UN-backed panel posted its findings on its website which stated it had clear evidence of fraud in August’s first round.  This confirmed what has been known for many days; that President Karzai scored less than the 50% which is necessary to avoid a second round with Abdullah, his main challenger.  As a result of the report, the ECC ordered that ballots from 210 polling stations be invalidated.

Article 21 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that, “Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.”  This article also declares, “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government, this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine election which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.”

After weeks of intensive Western lobbying of Afghanistan’s leaders to resolve this crisis and the announcement of the final round, Mr. Karzai gave his reaction to the run-off at a news conference.  “I call upon our nation to change this into an opportunity to strengthen our resolve and determination, to move our country forward and to participate in the new round of elections.”  

The BBC’s Martin Patience, in Kabul, says that even with the new vote, there is no guarantee that any new vote will be free of the fraud that dogged the first round of elections.  White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Afghans must work out their election process in a way that is seen as fair.  “The onus is clearly on this to be legitimate in the eyes of the Afghan people,” Gibbs said

For more information, please see:

BBC News- Endgame for Afghanistan’s elections? – 19 October 2009

Reuters- Karzai seen open to Afghan run-off-Western Sources – 19 October 2009

Bloomberg.com- Karzai May Open Path to Disputed Afghan Vote Solution-20 October 2009

BBC News- Afghan Election Goes to Run-Off – 20 October 2009

United Nations- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights