International Outcry Over Sri Lanka Execution Video

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

UNITED NATIONS – A graphic video footage of a naked, blindfolded Tamil civilian sitting on dirt ground who is kicked and then shot in the back of his head by a Sri Lankan soldier aired on British television last week and has outraged the international community. 

The Tamils have been fighting for independence from Sri Lanka but were defeated this May.  The decades-long conflict killed at least 70,000 people, and the Sri Lankan government has been accused of extrajudicial killings in violation of international law in the past.  However, the government had prevented the international media from covering the conflict zone, but this video clip could be the most graphic evidence of Sri Lanka’s war crime allegations.

The High Commission of Sri Lanka claims the video is a fabrication and released a statement saying that they “categorically deny that the Sri Lankan armed forces engaged in atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamil community.”  Nonetheless, the UN wants an independent investigation to verify the authenticity of the video.

UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston said, “These images are horrendous and, if authentic, would indicate a serious violation of international law.”  He added, “The government clearly has nothing to lose and everything to gain by inviting an independent international investigation…and say look, these are fabrications….”

Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, who holds the presidency of the UN Security Council during September, also expressed her concerns saying, “These reports are very disturbing….”  Rice said the allegation against Sri Lanka is not currently on the Security Council’s agenda, but this could change.

Sri Lanka has repeatedly denied that its military has committed war crimes or breached international human rights laws during the fighting.  Nevertheless, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the UN takes all human rights violation reports seriously and the recent execution video will not be an exception.
For more information, please see:

CNN – U.N. envoy seeks probe into ‘horrendous’ Sri Lanka video – 2 September 2009

Reuters – U.S. voices “grave concern” about Sri Lanka video – 2 September 2009

Telegraph – Sri Lanka accused of war crimes after ‘Tamil execution’ videos emerge – 25 August 2009

Scandal over Alleged Bribe Scheme that may Involve Presidency in Ecuador Lawsuit

By Mario A. Flores
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO, Ecuador — Chevron announced that it obtained recordings of meetings in Ecuador this year that appear to reveal a bribery scheme connected to a $27 billion 16-year-old lawsuit the company has been battling over environmental damage at oil fields it operated in the Amazon forest in Ecuador.

The audio and video recordings reveal a $3 million bribe scheme implicating the judge presiding over the environmental lawsuit currently pending against Chevron, Juan Núñez, and individuals who identify themselves as representatives of the Ecuadorean government and its ruling party, including possibly Pierina Correa, the sister of Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa.

Judge Núñez appears in the video released by Chevron explaining that he plans to rule against the oil giant later in the year or in January at the latest for an award of $27 billion, “more or less.” In that part of the video, the Judge says he will only discuss the verdict, not “the other stuff,” which Chevron contends is a $3 million payoff request. The video later implies that Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa will benefit from the bribe amount.

Correa, a left-wing economist who rose from obscurity to become Ecuador’s strongest president in recent years, has sided with the plaintiffs in the case, prompting Chevron to lobby Washington to strip Ecuador of American trade preferences. But the Obama administration allowed the preferences to continue as a chance to improve ties with Correa.

The release of the recordings is sure to focus more scrutiny on Correa, who has come under pressure over his clashes with the media and accusations of corruption involving another family member, his brother Fabricio Correa, a prominent businessman.

In one of the recordings made in June, the political operative negotiating the bribe identifies himself as an official in Correa’s political party, and refers to $3 million in bribes to be split equally among the judge, the presidency and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

In the same meeting, the operative explains how to approach the president’s sister about the bribe. “Tell Pierina clearly, ‘Madam Pierina, what we came to do beyond anything else is to participate, participate in the remediation. That’s why I want to make you part of this,’” he said.

The recordings, obtained by businessmen using spy watches and pens implanted with bugging devices, are not clear on whether any bribes discussed were actually paid or whether Judge Núñez was even aware of plans to try to bribe him. The tapes are also unclear as to whether the president’s sister was aware of the scheme or had participated in it. Nor is there confirmation that the political operative was in fact in contact with her.

Alexis Mera, a legal adviser to the president, dismissed the recordings as “approaching the level of defamatory libel,” and said Chevron’s was a “terrible legal strategy.”

This is not the first time Correa is plagued by accusations of alleged bribes. Earlier this year, the Colombian military seized a set of three laptops from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which were alleged to contain at least one video with evidence that the guerrilla group may have contributed money to Correa’s first election campaign in 2006.

President Correa has vehemently denied allegations that he received election funds from the Marxist FARC rebels. He has said evidence had been fabricated to destabilize his left-wing government.

For more information, please see:

San Francisco Chronicle – Chevron Ecuador Judge Nunez bribery scandal – implications – 31 August 2009

The New York Times – Chevron Offers Evidence of Bribery Scheme in Ecuador Lawsuit – 31 August 2009

Los Angeles Times – Chevron, Ecuador and a clash of cultures – 29 August 2009

The Wall Street Journal – Report: Chevron seeking probe of judge in Ecuador suit – 1 September 2009

Human Rights Watch Issues Report on Zimbabwe’s Inability to Implement Reforms

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

Zimbabwe – Human Rights Watch has issued a report declaring that South African leaders need to press Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government to end the ongoing human rights violations and to implement legal reforms.

This report, titled “False Dawn: The Zimbabwe Power-Sharing Government’s Failure to Deliver Human Rights Improvements,” focuses on the new government’s lack of progress in the many areas of human rights where reform is needed.

More than six months after the formation of a transitional, power-sharing government in Zimbabwe between the Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), there has been little progress in instituting any promised human rights reforms and in demonstrating respect for the rule of law.

Human Rights Watch reports that his transitional government has demonstrated a lack of political will to create change. Police, prosecuting authorities, and court officials who are aligned with ZANU-PF continue to conduct politically motivated prosecutions of MDC legislators and activists.  MDC is the former opposition party and is now a partner in the government.

Local sources say that President Zuma, who was inaugurated six months ago, has failed to satisfy the expectations of both the public and the politicians alike because no agreements have been reached from the negotiations between President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and the two MDC’s led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara.

“Southern African leaders should stop looking at Zimbabwe through rose-colored glasses…The region’s leaders need to press Zimbabwe openly and publicly for human rights reforms to prevent the country from backsliding into state-sponsored violence and chaos,” said Georgette Gagnon, the Africa director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In order to fulfill the demands of human rights groups, heads of state from members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are holding a summit meeting in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on September 7th, 2009.  At the summit meeting they are exptected to assess Zimbabwe’s compliance with a number of rulings by the SADC Tribunal on illegal actions.  President Zuma of South Africa, SADC’s current chairman, is also expected to update leaders on the progress made by the power-sharing government.

“Without these necessary changes, Zimbabwe’s inclusive government will continue to be built on sand,” says Gagnon.

The HWR report recommends a range of fundamental reforms that the power-sharing government should undertake to improve the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – False Dawn: The Zimbabwe Power-Sharing Government’s Failure to Deliver Human Rights Improvements – 31 August 2009

Reuters – SADC: Press Zimbabwe to Implement Human Rights Reforms – 31 August 2009

The Zimbabwe Times – Mutambara is Correct on Zuma’s Role – 31 August 2009

Civilian Peacekeepers Kidnapped in Darfur

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

DARFUR, Sudan – Two civilians working with the joint UN-African Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping mission in Darfur went missing after a raid on their residences.  Sources say they were kidnapped at gunpoint.

Noureddine Menzi, a spokesman for the United Nations-African Union (UNAU) peacekeeping forces, said that early Saturday morning a gunmen stormed into the town of Zalingei and seized a man and a woman.  He says this is the first kidnapping of staff members who work for the peacekeeping force.  The nationality of the hostages or there captors is still yet to be verified, although sources close to the case say the man was Nigerian and the woman was a Zimbabwean.

Abdel Wahid al-Nur, the leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), lives in Zalingei.  SLM is one of Darfur’s main rebel groups responsible for contributing to the violence in the region.  Al-Nur, criticized the kidnapping and also denied that the SLM was involved in any way.  He said it showed the weakness of the peacekeeping mission.

The UN-AU force has contacted the kidnappers, and the outgoing political chief, Rodolphe Adada, has appealed for the release of the captives.   Sources say that Adada had previously angered Western diplomats by calling the situation in Darfur, “a low-intensity conflict.”

Human rights groups describe the situation in Darfur as genocide.  The UN puts the death toll up to 300,000 over the six years of fighting between rebel groups and government forces.  Clashes between rival ethnic groups break out frequently in Sudan, and the UN says at least 1,000 people have been killed in the wake of inter-tribal violence this year alone.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Darfur Peacekeepers Say 2 Civilians Kidnapped – 29 August 2009

AP – Darfur Peacekeepers Say 2 Civilians Kidnapped – 29 August 2009

BBC – Two Peacekeepers Seized in Sudan – 29 August 2009

VOA – Peacekeepers Kidnapped in Sudan – 29 August 2009

Sweet Sixteen Marriages in Malawi Protested

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

LILONGWE, Malawi – A bill that was recently passed in the Malawi legislature allows 16 year olds to marry with parental consent.  Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika is facing pressure from civil society groups to scrap the bill.

Parliament amended the Constitution.  This new legislation is an improvement on the law it replaced which allowed oarental consent to marriage at the age of 15.  Clause 9 in the Constitution (Amendment) Bill passed with over two-thirds support, although some Members of Parliament (MPs) from both the support and the opposition voted against it before it went through.

Article I of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Children defines the word “child” as “every human being below the age of 18.”  Activists are calling for the minimum age to be raised to 18 while some MPs asked the Minister of Justice to consider changing the marriage age to 18 or even 21.

MP Lifred Nawena said marriage at 16 goes against the government policy of youth education.  MP Chimango Mughogho said marriage requires girls to give birth and they are not mature enough at 16.

Minister of Justice Peter Mutharika, however, sees the increase in age as a positive.  He will not take a position on the matter saying only that Malawians should decide together how to move forward.

“Eighteen would be fine but 21 might be too old.  We could say 18 with parental consent or 21 without, but that is a matter of policy,” he said.  “Let the people and all the stakeholders, including boys and girls, debate the issue and agree on whether the marriage age should be 18, 21, or 25 as some people are proposing.  After the consensus, the matter will go back to parliament.”

People interviewed after the vote all agree that Parliament could have raised the age to 18 and that it would have been the appropriate age, as it is the minimum age when one can vote and make one’s own decisions.

Gender and children’s rights activists have called on the country’s leadership to protect and ensure girls’ rights not to marry so young to protect them from maternal death.  MacBain Mkandawire, Executive Director of NGO Youth Net and Counseling, says mental and physical health will be sacrificed if allowed to marry at 16.

Marriage at 16 is contrary to the government’s policy to educate the youth and reduce maternal deaths.

For more information, please see:

Angola Press – Protests at Proposed Law Backing Sweet 16 Marriages – 29 August 2009

Catholic Information Service for Africa – Malawi: Protests at Proposed Law Backing Sweet 16 Marriages – 28 August 2009

Daily Times – Law Commission Defends Marriage Age – 26 August 2009

Africa News – Malawi: Marriage Age Pegged at 16 – 03 August 2009