Educators Bear the Brunt of “Shocking” Level of Political Violence in Colombia

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

PARIS, France – Education International, a global union federation, released a report today finding that Colombian teachers face the highest rates of political violence against teachers in the world. The detailed report, entitled Colombia’s Classroom Wars details incidences of murder, disappearances, torture, death threats, forced displacement, arbitrary detention, and other violations of human rights..

The Colombian National Trade Union School reported that 816 Colombian trade unionists were killed between 1999 and 2005. That represents more than half of the 1,175 trade unionists killed during that period worldwide. The Education International report points out that many violations go unreported because the environment is so politicized and dangerous. As a result, the estimates of human rights violations are thought to be conservative.

Over half of the trade unionists murdered in Colombia are teachers. Teachers working in rural areas are seen as community leaders, which can bring them into conflict with powerful local, national, and international interests. For example, teachers in Arauca, an oil-rich region, campaigned for multinational oil companies to finance social investment.

The report finds that political violence disproportionately affects teachers in Colombia because they represent the majority of unionization in the country. Findings of the report indicate that due to repression, and the massive growth in the informal sector, trade union representation is extremely low in Colombia. The majority of state employees are unionized and the biggest trade union in Colombia is the FECODE – the National Teacher’s Federation. FEDCODE has a strong presence and leadership in the Colombian Labor Federation.

Education International attributes the majority of the assassinations to right-wing paramilitary organizations with links to the Colombian state. People responsible for the assassinations “committed their crimes with impunity.” Dr. Mario Novelli, of the University of Amsterdam prepared the report and will present it at a UNESCO – sponsored seminar today in Paris. Dr. Novelli argues that “the violation of the political and civil rights of educators in Colombia by state and state-supported paramilitary organizations is carried out precisely with the intention of silencing the very organizations and individuals that are actively defending the economic, social, and cultural rights of their members and the broader Colombian society.”

Colombian labor union leaders spoke at the ALF-CIO meeting in Pittsburgh earlier this month. They expressly stated that the government and employers are responsible for violence against unionized workers. They argued that violence against unions rises to the level of governmental policy, saying that the government “uses its own agencies to murder trade unionists.”

Two U.S. corporations have been accused of being involved in anti-union “death squads.” The Organization of American States said that 3,000 automatic weapons and 2.5 million bullets were shipped through Chiquita Brands International’s private port and picked up by death squad operatives. Drummond Coal executives are currently being investigated for allegedly conspiring with paramilitaries to kill three union activists. Trade unionists in Colombia are hoping that violence against trade unions will be considered as the United States and Canada negotiate a Colombian Free Trade Agreement.

Dr. Novelli traces the violence to “a highly unequal development model favoring a small minority of wealthy elites at the expense of the vast majority of the population.” Novelli and Education International are urging the international community and labor movements around the world to call on governments to hold Colombia accountable for crimes; to stop giving financial support to the Colombian military; and to prioritize improvement of human rights in Colombia over the interests of foreign-based corporations.

For more information, please see:

Agencia Latinoamericana de Información – Colombian Teachers Face Highest Rate of Political Violence – 29 September 2009

Education International – Colombian Teachers Face Highest Rate of Political Violence – 29 September 2009

People’s Weekly World – Trade Unions to Colombia: Stop Murdering Labor Activists – 24 September 2009

Former Mayor Denies Rwanda Genocide Charges

By Jonathan Ambaye
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ARUSHA, Tanzania – After 15 years of being on the run from Rwandan authorities, former Mayor of the small Rwanda town of Kivumu, Gregoire Ndahimana, was finally arrested this past August.  Much talk has been made about the eventual detainment of a man who is alleged to have been the primary executor of a plan leading to the deaths of 2000 Tutsi’s in a small church in Kivumu, Rwanda.  After fleeing Rwanda for the neighboring country of the DR Congo many in Rwanda feared Ndahimana, and many others involved in the Genocide who also fled to the Congo, would never be brought to justice.

In a surprise move thought to be an encouraging sign of reconciliation between Rwanda and the Congo, the Congolese deported Ndahimana to Arusha, Tanzania where the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda is located, and where he will be tried.  Ndahimana’s deportation is hoped to lead to both countries releasing rebels who have fled to each respective country.  The Congolese specifically hope for the transfer of Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda who is believed to be currently under house arrest in Rwanda.

On the verge of trial, Ndahimana claims his innocence and denies any involvement in the genocide and denies all charges brought against him.  As prosecutors continue their investigation and prepare their case, many are hoping new witnesses will step forward. In hopes to encourage the forwarding of information regarding Ndahimana’s case, a five million dollar reward has been offered by the United States, and has yet to be collected.

If Ndahimana is convicted it will be a huge victory for many invested in the situation because he is thought to be one of the last major offenders involved in the 1994 genocide.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Ex Mayor Denies Genocide Charges – 29 September 2009

MSN-UK – Accused Denies 1994 Rwanda Genocide – 28 September 2009

BBC – DR Congo Deports Genocide Suspect – 20 September 2009

Serbian Court Convicts Bosnian Officer of Attacks that Killed 50 Soldiers

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BELGRADE, Serbia – On Monday a Serbian court convicted Bosnian security officer Ilija Jurisic of ordering an attack that killed approximately 50 soldiers in 1992.  Jurisic was sentenced to 12 years in prison for war crimes.

The War Crimes Chamber of the Belgrade District Court for War Crimes concluded that Jurisic, a citizen of both of Bosnia and Herzegovina, had ordered the attack on a column of Serbian soldiers as they withdrew from the Bosnian town of Tuzla in May, 1992.  This decision, which found improper battlefield conduct, killed 50 Yugoslavian soldiers while injuring another 44.

Bosnian officials have claimed that it was the Yugoslavian soldiers that first fired in this event.  Jurisic’s lawyer has labeled the court’s verdict ‘scandalous’.

Jurisic’s trial has strained already fragile relations between Bosnia’s Muslim and Serbian populations.  The Bosnian war, which continued the breakup of the old Yugoslavia, began in 1992 after Croats and Muslims in Bosnia voted to split off from the Serbian-led Yugoslavia.  Fighting came to an end in 1995 through the Dayton Accords.  Since he capture by Serbian authorities, Bosnia has demanded Jurisic’s release from a trial that it believes is politically motivated.

Jurisic maintained throughout the trial that he was innocent of the charges.  Prior to the start of the trial in February of 2008, Jurisic was detained for two and a half years.  He had been arrested by Serbian authorities while on a business trip in Belgrade.

Following the Serbian court’s verdict there were protests on Tuesday involving thousands of ethnic Bosnians in Tuzla.

For more information, please see:

B92 – Protests in Tuzla over Jurisic verdict – 29 September 2009

BALKANINSIGHT – Jurisic Sentenced to 12 Years – 29 September 2009

BLIC Online – Jurisic sentenced to 12 years in prison – 29 September 2009

SETIMES – Serbia sentences Bosnian for war crimes – 29 September 2009

AP – Bosnian jailed in Serbia for war crimes – 28 September 2009

REUTERS – Serbia jails Bosnian Croat for 1992 war crimes – 28 September 2009

Pakistan Releases Iranian Detainees

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MASHKHEL, Iran – The Pakistani government recently released the eleven alleged members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRG) whom border police detained for illegal entry into Pakistan.   Although the Pakistan initially identified the arrested individuals as members of the IRG, they later confirmed their status as security guards.  It is unknown how this reclassification informed the government’s decision to release the prisoners. 

Pakistani border control was patrolling the area for drug-dealers crossing into Pakistan.  Suspecting the eleven men were drug-dealers, border control pursued them after they crossed the Pakistani border.  Pakistan’s border police arrested the men in the Baluchistan province. 

Pakistan and Iran do not have a general history of hostility concerning borders.  However, last week’s suicide-bomb attack in the Mashkhel region of the Pakistan-Iran border, which left over 50 dead, incensed tensions between the neighboring nations.  Furthermore, the small insurgency operations occurring along the southwestern border region over the past decade caused an increase in patrolling activity. 

A Sunni Muslim group known has Jundallah, or God’s Soldiers, claimed responsibility for the suicide-bomb attack in Mashkhel.   The Iranian government criticized the Pakistani government for unreasonably detaining members of the IRG.  Military personnel asserted that it is the protocol of the Iranian law enforcement to chase suspects into Pakistani borders has there been actually been an instance of drug-dealers fleeing from Iran into Pakistan. 

Iranian personnel stated that the Pakistani border control’s brazen actions represent counterintuitive acts of hostility in a time when both nations face insurgent attacks.  They also pleaded that Pakistan be more cooperative with Iran instead of committing wrongful acts against them.  The regions constituting the border between Pakistan and Iran signify a zone of neutrality between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims.  Considering the interaction between the two groups at the borders, Iranians have voiced a concern that the recent friction between the two states may compromise the rare peace among members of the two opposing groups. 

However, not all Iranians plead to the sensibilities of the people.  A senior commander of the IRG recently stated his desire to meet Pakistan militants within Pakistan’s borders with the IRG.  Also, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejhad publicly announced that some members of Pakistan’s intelligence agency have been colluding with the Jundallah to perpetrate many of the suicide bombings. 

While the strife continues between the Iran and Pakistan, the fate of each states’ respective civilians lies in the cross-fire.  Until both nations recognize their common cause against insurgency in the area, it seems peace will not settle in the border regions.

 

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Pakistan Frees Iranian Guards – 27 October 2009

CBS News – Pakistan Frees 11 Iran Security Officers – 27 October 2009

VOA News – Pakistan Frees 11 Iranian Guards Arrested Near SW Border – 27 October 2009

After Years of Poor Prison Conditions, the UN Human Rights Council Reports that Vanuatu is Finally Taking Steps to Improve the Situation

by Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

PORT VILA, Vanuatu – Since the 1990s, Vanuatu has been criticized by the international community for its reckless treatment of prison inmates and its disregard for human rights. After years of pressure from the international community, Vanuatu is finally taking steps to improve its prison conditions.

According to various reports in the years of 1995-1998, the prison conditions in Vanuatu were especially degrading, and posed serious international human rights violations. The Ombudsman of Vanuatu investigated the prison conditions during this time period, and found them severely unsatisfactory. The Ombudsman requested further inspection and new construction for the prisons. However, because of the severe lack of funding, Vanuatu disregarded many of the complaints.

These reports stated only some of the horrible incidents that were happening within the prisons of Vanuatu, such as overcrowding, earthquake damage and rain water seepage, leaks, and dangerous electrical wiring.

Amnesty International was also prompted to report on the severe prison conditions in 1998, and described it as “men held in conditions amounting to cruel inhuman and degrading treatment in decaying, overcrowded former colonial prison.” A delegate for Amnesty International visited one of the prisons and found that several hundred prisoners were held in a prison built for only 63 people.

During a mass arrest, military and police officers abused their powers and assaulted numerous prisoners. They faced criminal charges of international assault for beating and kicking the prisoners. Approximately 500 officers were arrested and faced prosecution. The effect of this event was massive. There was widespread rioting and looting. Amnesty International reported that the criminal prosecution of the human rights abusers sent “an important signal that ill-treatment of prisoners must not be tolerated, that police and prison officers are not above the law, and that national emergencies do not excuse officers’ taking the law into their own hands.”

In April 2006, a report from Marc Neil-Jones, a publisher of the Vanuatu Daily Post newspaper, reported that human rights abuse was still present in the prisons of Vanuatu. Mr. Neil-Jones was jailed for five hours for a mere traffic offense, and witnessed other inmates chained in shackles. Some inmates told Mr. Neil-Jones that they had been chained for eight months.

However, recently this year in May 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review met with the Vice Chairperson of the Vanuatu UPR Committee to help work towards improving the conditions. Vanuatu invited the United Nations to assist it in meeting its human rights obligations, and also extended an open invitation to the international community to help continue its efforts in reaching its goals of realizing human rights.

Several recommendations were suggested to Vanuatu during the meeting. In general, these recommendations included: continually working on improving the structural conditions of prisons, conducting more investigations, taking measures to reduce discrimination, implementing more training for law enforcement officials, and combatting corruption.

More recently, on September 28, 2009 the UN Human Rights Council has been told that Vanuatu has taken further positive steps to improve conditions in prisons. Members of the international community and sponsors for Vanuatu, such as Australia, New Zealand, and Amnesty International, expressed their support for Vanuatu’s progress.

Specifically, Vanuatu has now enforced a separation of minors and adults in its correctional facilities. Vanuatu hopes that this small but important step will reduce not only the overcrowding of the facilities, but also reduce the conflict and tension between inmates.

For more information, please see:

Radio New Zealand International – Vanuatu improving prison conditions, UN told – 28 September, 2009

Amnesty International – Human Rights Council adopts Universal Periodic Review outcome on Vanuatu – 25 September, 2009

Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review – Universal Periodic Review for 12 May 2009 – 12 May, 2009

Radio New Zealand International – Amnesty urged to inspect Vanuatu prison conditions – 3 April, 2006

Amnesty International – Dangerous prison conditions prompt Amnesty International report – 28 September, 1998

Digested Reports of the Vanuatu Office of the Ombudsman – Report on prison conditions and mismanagement of prison budget – 16 September, 1999