Thousands Protest in South Yemen For Independent Rule

By[VAC1] Ahmad Shihadah

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East Desk

ADEN, Yemen – Thousands have taken the streets in southern Yemen to demand the restoration of the region’s independence. Witnesses said more than 10,000 demonstrators marched in the city of Dhaleh while thousands more turned out in the Lahej and Abyan provinces. The protestors carried the flag of the former independent state while chanting anti-government slogans demanding the separation of the south of Yemen from the north.

Following the unification of Yemen in 1990, the people of the south claim that they [VAC2] have not received equal treatment from those in the north.  Abdullah al-Faqih, a professor of political science at Sa’na university stated “the southerners were turned unto second class citizens; they were marginalized politically, socially and economically.” Yemen is the Middle East’s poorest country and southerners complain they have fared even worse than their northern neighbors since the unification.

The demonstrations coincided with talks held in the Yemeni capital Sa’na between Arab League Chief Amir Mussa and Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh[VAC3] . The main thrust of the talks was Yemen’s security and stability. Mussa continued by saying, “the president has expressed openness in engaging in dialogue with the different political sides inside Yemen and abroad, no matter what the differences are, and he expressed his readiness to hold talks with them.

Yemen is currently facing considerable unrest as its army is currently waging a bloody campaign against Shi’ite rebels in the north. The conflicts have raised concern of the strategically located country’s stability and possible unrest spilling over to other nations.

For more information please see:

Al-Jazeera – South Yemenis rally for self-rule – 6 October 2009

APF – Thousands demonstrate for independent south Yemen – 6 October 2009

Gulf Times – Thousands demonstrate in S Yemen for independence – 6 October 2009

USA Today – Thousands protest in Yemen’s south – 6 October 2009

Two Argentine “Death Pilots” Arrested for Involvement in 950 Deaths

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Two suspected “death pilots” have been arrested and are being detained for their alleged involvement in the murders of 950 people during Argentina’s “dirty war” in the 1970s and 80s.

A Spanish judge ordered former Argentine Navy Lt. Julio Alberto Poch to remain in jail until a decision is made about whether he should be extradited to Argentina to be prosecuted.

Poch was arrested in Valencia, Spain after police found an Argentine army pistol in his home.  Poch holds Dutch and Argentine nationality and works for the airline Transavia. Poch reportedly told airline colleagues that he was involved in the death flights in 2007.  An international warrant for Poch’s arrest was issued in March of this year. A spokesperson said that the extradition decision could take several months.

In Argentina, police arrested former Navy Captain Emir Sisul Hess last week in the town of Bariloche, near the Chilean border. An initial hearing was held on Friday. Sisul also reportedly discussed his involvement in the “death flights” with colleagues. He was a helicopter pilot in Argentina from 1976-77.

Argentine federal Judge Sergio Gabriel Torres is pursuing the extradition of Poch and handling the arrest of Sisul Hess. The men are suspected not just of drugging, blindfolding, and dumping people into the sea or the Rio Plata, but also of being involved in murders at the Argentine Marine Academy. Poch denies any involvement, saying that “it is practically impossible” and that he was a jet fighter at the time. Sisul has also denied the allegations.

Executed prisoners included students, labor leaders, intellectuals and leftists who were politically opposed to the dictatorship. Most of the people were snatched off of the street or arrested and held without trial in secret prisons and subject to torture. As many as 30,000 people disappeared or were held in secret prisons during the dictatorship.

There have been four major “dirty war” convictions. The first was the 1984 conviction of Ex-President Jorge Videla for the murder, torture, and detention of thousands. He is currently serving a life sentence. In 2005, an ex-naval officer was sentenced to 640 years in prison for his involvement in the “death flights.” In 2006, an ex-police chief was sentenced to life in prison for human rights abuses and earlier this year Ex-General Santiago Omar Riveros was sentenced to life in prison for kidnap, torture, and murder.

Hebe de Bonafini, the well known president of the Association of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a group of mothers whose children went missing during the “dirty war” said that she found no joy in the arrests. She urged the government to find other criminals from the period, “there are several. They are not the only ones.”

For more information, please see:

Aljazeera – Argentine Held Over “Death Flights” – 7 October 2009

BBC – Jail Ruling for “Dirty War” Pilot – 6 October 2009

CNN International – Argentine “Death Pilot” Held In Spain – 6 October 2009

Dutch News – Pilot Suspected of Role in 950 Murders – 6 October 2009

United Press International – “Death Flight” Pilot’s Release Bid Denied – 6 October 2009

Most-Wanted Rwandan Genocide Fugitive Arrested

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda — Idelphonse Nizeyimana, one of the most wanted fugitives from Rwanda’s 1994 100-day genocide, was arrested in Uganda this week, Ugandan and Rwandan officials said Tuesday. Ugandan officials said he was caught using false documents to travel from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to Kenya and was subsequently detained. Nizeyimana was extradited to the international criminal tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in Arusha, Tanzania, which has charged him with genocide, complicity in genocide and direct and public incitement to genocide.

During the Rwandan genocide, Nizeyimana was second-in-command in charge of military and intelligence operations for the École des sous-officiers (ESO). The former intelligence chief, Nizeyimana is alleged to have participated in the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 which left about 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead in 100 days.

Besides helping draft plans to exterminate the Tutsis, and drawing up death lists of intellectuals and other influential figures, Nizeyimana is accused of creating secret units of extremist Hutus to carry out the killings. One of these units is alleged to have killed Queen Rosalie Gicanda, the widow of the former Rwandan king during colonial times, and a symbolic figure for Tutsis. During the 100-day massacres, Nizeyimana is said to have ordered the erection of roadblocks where Tutsis were stopped and killed, and is accused of personally sanctioning the killings of entire Tutsi families on account of their ethnicity.

Nizeyimana fled the country in June or July 1994 as the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front, led by the current president, Paul Kagame, advanced. On November 27, 2000, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) issued an indictment against Nizeyimana, charging him with genocide and crimes against humanity. The US had offered a reward of up to $5m (£3m) for his capture.

More recently, Mr. Nizeyimana was a top commander of a rebel army of former Rwandan soldiers hiding out in the forests of eastern Congo, Rwandan officials said. That force, the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda, or FDLR, has been blamed for some of the most atrocious attacks in eastern Congo and is widely seen as a threat to regional peace. “He [Nizeyimana] was an agitator, a handler, the chief killer in Butare,” said Rwandan justice minister, Tharcisse Karugarama. “The arrest of this man is a very big relief to survivors of the genocide.”

With Nizeyimana’s arrest, 11 top suspects remain with similar bounties on their heads for their alleged roles in the 1994 genocide.

For more information, please see:

AllAfrica – Top Rwandan Genocide Suspect Arrested in Kampala – 6 October 2009

Huffington Post – Idelphonse Nizeyimana, Rwanda Queen-Killing Genocide Suspect, Arrested In Uganda – 6 October 2009

The Guardian – Key Rwanda genocide suspect arrested in Uganda – 6 October 2009

New York Times – Rwandan Fugitive Is Captured in Uganda – 6 October 2009

Reuters – Uganda arrests most-wanted Rwanda genocide suspect – 6 October 2009

Date Set For Inspection of Iranian Nuclear Plant

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – On October 25, Iran’s newly disclosed Qom uranium enrichment plant will be inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The decision was announced by the head of the United Nations nuclear agency, Mohamed El Baradei. El Baradei emphasized the importance of the inspection as a moment where the situation with Iran would shift to a level of greater transparency and cooperation. The IAEA chief also “praised Iran’s cooperation” with the UN on the issues of its new nuclear facility.

The plant is located near the holy city of Qom. This is the second plant that Iran has built to enrich uranium and isolate isotopes of the metal to generate fuel used in a nuclear power reactor. Higher concentrations of enriched uranium can be used to make bomb. The United States has long suspected that the Iran’s goal is to create a bomb.

Iran’s disclosure prior to last week’s meeting in Geneva that it was building a second nuclear enrichment facility inside a mountain in Qom caused anger throughout the world. El Baradei made it clear that it was Iran’s responsibility to inform the IAEA that it was building the enrichment plant prior to beginning construction. This is based on a 1992 IAEA statute that required immediate notification of any planned nuclear sites.

The United States government remains cautiously optimistic with Iran’s concession. U.S. National Security Advisor James Jones explained that the Obama administration is encouraged with Iran showing some level of conversation. He did emphasize, however, that the world community expects to satisfied “within a short period of time.” The U.S. officials contend that Iran’s goal was to delay informing the IAEA of the new plant in order to deceive inspectors about a possible nuclear weapons program.

Prior to the IAEA’s inspection of the new Qom plant there will be a meeting between Iran and a number of countries, including the United States. The meeting will take place on October 19 and will be a discussion regarding the direction of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman emphasized that the nation’s nuclear program was peaceful, but explained the country would not be offering any guarantees.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Iran Vows ‘Positive’ Approach To Nuclear Talks – 5 October 2009

Los Angeles Time – Iran Sets Date For Inspection Of Nuclear Plant – 5 October 2009

Al Jazeera – IAEA Sets Iran Inspection Date – 4 October 2009

Bloomberg – Iran Inspection Set For Oct. 25, UN Atomic Chief Says – 4 October 2009

Italian Court To Review Prime Minister Immunity Law

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

ROME, Italy – The Constitutional Court in Italy began hearing arguments on Tuesday as to whether the legal immunity that was given to Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is in violation of the nation’s constitution.  The court’s final ruling could have far reaching political implications for the Prime Minister.

The law in question, also known as the Alfano Law, protects the top four national public officials, including the Prime Minister, President, and the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament, from prosecution while they hold office.  This law was passed by political supporters of the Prime Minister in the Italian parliament soon after his re-election.

Prior to the passage of the immunity laws, there were numerous legal proceedings pending against Berlusconi.  Those actions include an allegation that Berlusconi bribed a British lawyer to give false testimony to protect the Prime Minister’s business interests.  Other cases involved tax fraud, false accounting, and domestic corruption charges.  Yet another claim was concluded prior to the passage of the immunity law, where a Milan court imposed damages against Berlusconi’s family for attempting to bribe a judge.  Prosecutors in Milan and Palermo are also investigating the Prime Minister’s alleged ties to organized crime.  These legal actions will recommence if the Alfano Law is struck down.

The opponents of the immunity law allege that the law was passed with the specific intention to protect Berlusconi from looming legal entanglements.

Berlusconi has denied wrongdoing in all of the allegations against him and has expressed no intention of considering resignation in the event the immunity law is struck down.  Despite continued allegations of corruption through his term as Prime Minister, Berlusconi has maintained a domestic approval rating above 50 percent.

The 15-member Court is expected to announce its verdict within two weeks.  In the event that the Court upholds the immunity, political opponents have announced the possibility of pushing for a national referendum on the law.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Court to rule on Berlusconi’s immunity law – 6 October 2009

FINANCIAL TIMES – Italy’s top court weighs Berlusconi’s immunity – 6 October 2009

REUTERS – Italy’s top court debates Berlusconi immunity law – 6 October 2009

TELEGRAPH – Silvio Berlusconi’s lawyers: Italian PM is above the law – 9 October 2009

THE TIMES – Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi ‘could resign’ if immunity law struck down – 18 September 2009