Freed Prisoners tell stories of torture

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

Burma– Around the various jails in Burma, about 120 political prisoners have been released, as part of the Burmese military regime’s amnesty granted to 7,114 prisoners, on humanitarian grounds.  However, many of the detainees have given reports of torture that they experienced during interrogation. The physical and mental injuries caused during this time period were either not adequately or not treated at all during their time in prison, causing some of them lifelong damage. 

Ko Myo Yan Naung Thein, a technical institute student, was assaulted and taken from a March during September 2007.  While in Sittwe Prison, Thein reportedly suffered injuries to his nerves during torture under interrogation and did not get adequate treatment. He said “I was blind folded and was taken somewhere.  As soon as I reached the interrogation centre, they all started kicking me.” He is now unable to walk.  

Ko Moe Kyaw Thu, a former student leader had been imprisoned since 1992.  In an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA) he said that after his arrest he was taken to Rangoon where a military intelligence unit hooded and repeatedly assaulted him, denied him water and refused access to restrooms. Thu stated “ I was kept in a closed dark room. Sometimes, the prison authorities slapped and tortured me without asking any questions.  But sometimes they questioned me the whole night without giving me any food.”  In addition he also stated that he was often tied and given electric shocks.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has stated that cases of ill-treatment in the prisons across Burma are wide-spread but the situation has worsened since 2005 when the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)’s prison visits were halted.  Between 1999 and 2005, the ICRC carried out regular visits to detainees in prisons and labor camps, but suspended it because of the government’s failure to respect its internationally-recognized conditions.

The AHRC is calling for the ICRC prison visits to be implemented, noting there is no reason for the government of Burma to object to the visits since the agency is bound by confidentiality and the visits cost nothing to the government.

For information, please see:

Asian Human Rights Commission- Burma: Released prisoners tell stories of torture; ICRC role needed– 24 September 2009

Mizzima- ICRC should revisit Burmese Jails: AHRC– 25 September 2009

Human Right Watch- Burma: Surge in Political Prisoners– 16 September 2009

Former Head of Truth and Reconciliation Commission Threatened in Peru

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – Dr. Salomón Lerner Febres, former president of Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been the victim of intensified threats and harassment in recent days.  Peru’s National Coordinator for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch are calling on the Peruvian government to investigate the threats and ensure Lerner’s safety.

On September 5, 2009, Lerner reported that his dogs were poisoned and died at his home in Lima.  This week, he received anonymous phone calls at his house and at his office at the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights at the Catholic University of Peru.  The caller left a message saying, “What we did to your dogs, we will do to you.”

Peru’s Ombudsman, Beatriz Merino, stated that she is in “complete solidarity” with Lerner.  She said that the threats should be strongly denounced by the state because they demonstrate an intolerance of advocacy for human rights and democracy.

Lerner has been the victim of threats and harassment since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its report in 2003. In addition to presiding over the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Lerner is the vice president of a high level commission creating a Museum of Memory, which will focus on human rights abuses in Peru.  That commission is headed by renowned writer Mario Vargas Llosa.

Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established in 2001 to investigate massacres, forced disappearances, terrorist attacks, and violence against women committed in the 1980s and 1990s by the Peruvian government and two rebel groups. The commission held meetings, collected testimonies, and did forensic investigations. It also made recommendations for reparations and institutional reforms.  An estimated 69,280 people were killed during that period.  The formal work of the commission ended with the 2003 publication of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report.

The Americas director of Human Rights Watch stated that “this is still a delicate time for human rights defenders in Peru, given the longstanding lack of action to stem abuse.”  He called the conviction of former President Alberto Fujimori a “fragile gain”, saying that “the government needs to show clearly that harassment and threats against human rights defenders are not permissible.”

For more information, please see:

Derechos Humanos Peru – Solidaridad Con Salomon Lerner – 25 September 2009

El Comerio – La Defensoría Exhortó a Interior Dar Protección a Salomón Lerner – 25 September 2009

Human Rights Watch – Peru: Investigate Threats Against Rights Defender – 25 September 2009

Los Andes – Salomón Lerner, Ex Presidente de la CVR Recibe Amenazas– 25 September 2009

International Criminal Court Upholds Charges Against Congolese Militia Leader

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Yesterday the appeal chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled to uphold charges against Germain Katanga, commander of a Congolese militia, and a trial against him may proceed.

Earlier this year Katanga challenged the admissibility of the case before the ICC saying that the case should be dropped because he is also under investigation by authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo).  He argued that the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity that he faces in the ICC could not be upheld because he is being tried for the same crimes in the DR Congo and the ICC case violated complementarity.  The appeals court chose to uphold the trial court’s decision to hear the case.

“The appeals chamber is convinced that the (trial) court decided rightly that the case against the accused can be heard,” said Judge Daniel Ntanda Nsereko.

DR Congo Justice Minister Emmanuel-Janvier Luzolo and other officials took part in the hearing at the ICC and insisted to the court that all charges in the DR Congo had been dropped.  They believed that the appropriate place to try Katanga was in the ICC.

“The DRC has made it clear that it wished for him to be prosecuted before the ICC,” Nsereko said.

Katanga is the former leader of the Front for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri (FRPI).  He is being tried with fellow defendant Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, who is the former leader of the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI) rebel group.  They are both facing trial for murder, rape, and other atrocities committed in February 2003 when their forces jointly attacked Bogoro in Ituri, a mineral-rich village in northeastern DR Congo.  Katanga is also accused of using women as sex slaves and enlisting child soldiers.  He faces three counts of crimes against humanity and six counts of war crimes.

The joint trial is set to begin on November 24, a postponement from the original start date of September 24 because of the lost appeal and the prosecution’s need for more time to prepare its 1,000 pages of evidence and witness details.

So far, the ICC has issued four arrest warrants for war crimes in the DR Congo.  The other two men accused are Thomas Lubanga, ex-militia chief who is currently on trial in The Hague, and Bosco Ntaganda who is still at large.

For more information, please see:

AFP – DR Congo Warlord to be Tried at War Crimes Trial – 25 September 2009

ICC – Appeals Chamber Upholds the Decision on the Admissibility of the Case Against Germain Katanga – 25 September 2009

Jurist – ICC Upholds Charges Against Accused DRC Rebel Leader – 25 September 2009

UN News Centre – Trial of Congolese Militia Leader Can Proceed, International Criminal Court Rules – 25 September 2009

Panama Dismantles a Protest Camp Site of Naso People as They Seek Protection of Their Land and Human Rights

By Brenda Lopez Romero

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

PANAMA CITY, Panama – An Indigenous group of Panama, Naso, established a permanent camp site (“street sit-in”) in front of the Cathedral Plaza of San Felipe, until yesterday when it was dismantled by police units under the direction of the Ministry of Government and Justice.

Panama
Naso protesting at their camp site (PHOTO: The Star of Panama)Luis Gamarra, activist for Indigenous rights, gave an interview where he indicated that the Director of the National Police, Gustavo Perez, approached the camp site to request they abandon the camp site, because it gave the place and the city a negative image. Perez stated he had orders from the Ministry of Government and Justice and that in exchange for the abandonment, on Wednesday, there would be a negotiation meeting to hear their grievances. The director of Indigenous Policy also placed pressure on the group to leave the camp site on the condition of a meeting.

However, on Wednesday, the meeting was canceled and postponed to Thursday. The Wednesday timeline to abandon the camp site by the Naso, however, was not postponed, and the National Police started the dismantling of their camp site.

Panama2

Naso marching (PHOTO: The Star of Panama)The Naso people argue that their Indigenous rights are being trampled by the Government. The claim includes disrespect of their ancestral rights, an end to Ganader Bocas activities on their lands, and a suspension of concessions to hydroelectric plants that are encroaching on their land.  The United Nations has stated that Panama has violated the rights of indigenous peoples by allowing concessions to AES Changuinola to build a hydroelectric plant without the consent of the communities living nearby, and for forcibly removing Naso residents from their land.

Furthermore, the Naso want the legislation “Comarca Naso” (demarcation of their lands), that is pending in the Commission of Indigenous Affairs in the National Assembly of Representatives, to be debated openly and inclusive of the Naso people. The Environmental Defender Law Center is bringing a case against the Government for its failure to grant all its Indigenous peoples the right to their traditional lands. Pursuant to the Panama Constituion and the American Convention on Human Rights, which Panama ratified, Indigenous peoples of Panama are entitled to a legal mechanism to be able to hold land title.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (CIDH) has on two occasions found Panama in violation of human rights. The Court will, again, consider claims regarding violations of twelve articles of the American Convention of Human Rights

The Naso people have being waiting for the legislation “Comarca Naso” since early 2005. Gamarra warned that if the Government continues to turn deaf ears to their demands “this would reach extreme consequences.”

For more information, please see:

La Estrella de Panamá – Pueblo Naso en pie de guerra, 25 Septiembre 2009

AFP – Indígenas panameños caminan 500 km para pedir fin a proyectos energéticos, 17 Septiembre 2009

La Prensa – Denuncian operativos contra los nasos en Bocas, 5 Abril 2009

Iraqi Prisoner Possibly Killed in Revenge by British Soldiers

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

LONDON, United Kingdom – Baha Mousa, an Iraqi detainee who died in the custody of British soldiers, may have been killed in an act of revenge. The allegation came from Baha Mousa’s father, a police officer in Basra. Daoud Mousa claims that his negative comments and allegations about British soldiers led to his son being treated more poorly than other prisoners and ultimately dying in the hands of British military forces.

Baha Mousa, a father of two children, was arrested in September 2003 during a raid of hotel in Basra by British soldiers. The soldiers were in search of supporters of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Mousa was arrested along with nine other individuals. Guns were found with them and the men were held for possibly being insurgents. . Daoud Mousa arrived in time to see that his son and the other detainees on the ground and the hotel surrounded by military vehicles.

Daoud Mousa believes that what he saw next led to the violent treatment that his son received. After arriving at the hotel, the elder Mousa alleges that he saw a British soldier stuff bank notes in his pocket from the hotel’s safe. He informed the soldier’s superior of this, hoping that this would procure his son’s release. Daoud Mousa pointed out his son to the soldiers, but believes that this action may have led to the soldiers punishing Baha.

Baha Mousa was taken to the detainment center at the Battle Main Group camp. Two days later he was dead. An examination of Baha’s body after his death showed that he suffered asphyxiation and had at minimum ninety three injuries all around his body. Among those injuries were a broken nose and a number of broken ribs. Witnesses have come forth and said that the soldiers took particular joy in abusing civilians. They told of an incident where the soldiers attempted the coordinate the screams of detainees in order to create music.

An official inquiry was ordered by the British government in order to investigate Mousa’s death. The inquiry was told that British soldiers were using techniques that had been banned by the country in 1972. Four soldiers plead guilty to treating civilians inhumanely. Daoud Mousa is not ready to accept an apology, noting that he “will not accept the apology of a criminal.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Iraqi ‘Killed in UK Revenge Attack’ – 24 September 2009

Associated Press – Father: Iraqi Perhaps Slain in UK Revenge Attack– 23 September 2009

BBC – Iraq Detainee Death ‘Was Revenge’ – 23 September 2009

Guardian – Baha Mousa Inquiry:  Father Alleges ‘Revenge’ by UK Troops – 23 September 2009

Telegraph – Baha Mousa Inquiry: Iraqi Civilian Died After ‘Revenge Abuse’ in British Military Custody – 23 September 2009