Human Rights Group Urges Kenyan Government to Step Up Security Forces

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – A human rights organization has called on the Kenyan government to improve security in northern Kenya in order to prevent killings and cattle rustling.

The Kenyan government’s human rights watch dog, the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) accused state agencies of being too lenient in dealing with the insecurity in the Upper Eastern region and challenges them to step it up.

KNCHR condemned the recent killings that occurred in Isiolo, Samburu, Tigania, Igembe, Garbatula and Laisamis, and announced that security forces have not taken appropriate action to detain those responsible.

“Insecurity in the region has brought development to a near standstill and we need to note that when people already have very little, the impact of insecurity in terms of the clashes takes them back to step one,” said KNCHR Commission Vice-Chairman Hassan Omar Hassan.

The insecurity has been fueled by increasing allegations that cattle rustling has been commercialized.  Sources say that more than 70 people, including security agents, have been killed and over 5,000 livestock stolen since December 2007. The commission also alleged a cover up by the local provincial administration and other security officials who are trying to make the situation appear less serious than it actually is.

There are currently thousands of cattle and goats grazing in the Shaba National Reserve and they are being protected by local militiamen.  The Kenya Red Cross said tension was also high between communities in Gambela where close to 10 people were killed and more than 1,700 families were displaced last month.

“The government must nip this crisis in the bud,” Hassan added. “This insecurity is further aggravated by alleged militia harbored in the park which endangers safety of the tourists,” he said.


For more information, please see:

Capital News – KNHCR Condemns Killings in Upper Eastern – 9 August 2009

Daily Nation – Boost Security to Avert Raids, Urges Group – 9 August 2009

Kenya Broadcasting Corporation – KNCHR Condemns Killing in North Eastern – 9 August 2009

Iranian Official Acknowledges Torture of Prisoners

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
 
TEHRAN, Iran – On August 8, a top judiciary official in Iran acknowledged that some of the protestors detained after the June 12 presidential election had been tortured.  This was the first such acknowledgement by a senior government official.
 
Qorbanali Dori-Najabadi, Iran’s prosecutor general and the official who made the acknowledgement, said that “mistakes” were made during the interrogations, and “those who were involved should be punished.”  Dori-Najabadi’s statement was made as the government held the second day of hearings for the approximately one hundred jailed protesters.
 
Protests broke out after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of the presidential election.  Many Iranians believe the election was rigged, and that those who were jailed were tortured in attempts to elicit “confessions” implicating Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading reformist presidential candidate, and Mehdi Karroubi, another reformist candidate, for trying to incite a “velvet revolution.”
 
Mousavi has gained the support of many of the country’s reformist clerics, including former president Mohammad Khatami.
 
After the first day of hearings on August 1, Khatami questioned the legitimacy and constitutionality of the trials, and said that the court erroneously relied on “confessions taken under certain circumstances which are not valid.”
 
Many of the arrests and interrogations were carried out by the Revolutionary Guard and the Basij militia.  In the past, the Iranian judiciary has been unable to hold members of either group accountable, and it is unclear whether it will be able to do so in this instance.
 
For more information, please see:
 
New York Times – Iranian Acknowledges Torture of Some Protesters – 8 August 2009
 
ABC (Australian Broacasting Corporation) – Iran Protesters Suffered “Medieval Torture” – 3 August 2009
 
Al-Arabiya – Iran Protesters Confessed After Torture:  Mousavi – 2 August 2009
 
BBC News – Torture Claim Against Iran Trial – 2 August 2009
 
The Guardian – Jailed Iran Reformists “Tortured to Confess Foreign Plot” – 26 June 2009

Under Specter of War, Chavez Buys Russian Weapons to Defend from American Bases in Colombia

By Mario A. Flores
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chávez announced a new purchase of weapons from Russia arguing that the use of seven Colombian military bases by the United States is forcing his hand. Chávez said he would like to spend “not one cent in weapons,” but he must under the circumstances.

Chávez announced that the transaction would be in September but did not disclose the weapons involved or the amount he is spending.

“It’s going to be a series of agreements not just on weapons, although weaponry will be a significant component in order to enhance our operational capacity, our defense system and antiaircraft defenses,” Chávez said during an international press conference.

The announcement comes as the President of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe, just completed a lightning visit to seven Latin American nations to explain Colombia’s decision to allow the United States to use the bases and address some of the concerns in the region. Uribe’s trip did not include Ecuador and Venezuela.

Although Uribe’s tour generated some understanding, it did not quell the uneasiness of neighboring states. Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay expressed reservations over the Colombia-United States agreement. Bolivia remains its harshest critic while Peru supports it, and Chile and Paraguay said Colombia has the right to make sovereign decisions, such as who it allows on its territory.

Chávez’s weapons purchase announcement also comes on the backdrop of Colombian accusations that the Venezuelan administration has been supporting the terrorist group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a Colombian guerrilla group financed mostly by proceeds from the drug trade.

Evidence has surfaced in the last two weeks that ties Venezuela to weapons seized from the rebels and to collaboration between the guerrillas and high-ranking military and intelligence officials in Chávez’s government.

Chávez reacted to the accusations by freezing bilateral relations. This week, he accepted to meet with former Colombian president Ernesto Samper to discuss the quickly deteriorating situation between the two nations.

At the end of the meeting, Chávez said that “there are no mediators here, no possible mediation. The only way for calm to return is for Colombia to back away from its decision to hand over its territory to the United States so that it [the United States] can continue its aggression against us. There’s no other way.”

The Venezuelan leader warned that the use of military bases in Colombia by the United States, whom he calls “the Yankees, the most aggressive nation in the history of humanity,” can lead to war in the region.

For more information, please see:

El Pais – Chávez alerta del riesgo de guerra en Suramérica por el acuerdo militar entre Colombia y EE UU – 06 August 2009

RCN Radio – Chávez subraya al recibir a Samper: “No hay mediación posible” con Uribe – 06 August 2009

El Pais  – Chávez anuncia otro pacto de rearme con Rusia – 07 August 2009

Chávez Deescalates Spat with Colombia in Apparent Move to Preserve Oil Production

By Mario A. Flores
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela — In a surprising about-face, the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, ordered the return of his ambassador to Colombia just a few days after recalling him from Bogotá.

Chávez had retaliated against Colombia by suspending diplomatic relations and ordering a freeze of bilateral relations with the neighboring nation after Bogotá said weapons found in the possession of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were originally sold by a Swedish company to the Venezuelan armed forces and reacting to Colombia’s announcement that it would allow American troops to use its military bases.

Chávez had also threatened sanctions against the Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol saying the company would not be allowed to participate in the tender of its Carabobo heavy crude blocks in the Orinoco oil-rich belt because of the diplomatic dispute. This is the first tender since the government nationalized several projects in the Orinoco belt.

But on Saturday, the Venezuelan leader said, “[Our] ambassador Gustavo has given [the Foreign Minister] all the reports he was going to, let him go back to Bogotá. Return to Bogotá Gustavo.”

The shift comes after discrete reminders that Venezuela depends on natural gas from Colombia to keep its oil wells running.

During a recent interview, Colombia’s Energy and Mines Ministry said that the natural gas supply to Venezuela would continue, “for now.”

The Colombian gas is essential for keeping the oil flowing from many of Venezuela’s aging oil wells. Without the gas injections, many of the wells in the oil-producing state of Zulia would cease to work and Venezuela’s oil output, exports and dollars would rapidly collapse at a time when the government is grappling with a sharp decline in oil revenue and mounting debts

An Ecopetrol spokesperson chimed in with the Colombian Ministry saying that, “We have complied with our contract since the beginning of 2008 without regard to the political situation between Colombia and Venezuela,” referring to the natural gas exports. “We expect to maintain those sales to that market,” the official added.

Colombia began natural gas exports to Venezuela in January 2008 through a new pipeline.

But Chávez challenged Colombian President Álvaro Uribe to show up to the regional summit of Unasur (Union of South American Nations) being held this week in Ecuador to explain Colombia’s decision to allow the United States to use seven of its military bases.

“Uribe should show up, come and face the music and let’s sit down and talk,” Chavez told local Colombian television RCN.

Uribe just completed a whirlwind South American tour to defend his plans to expand the U.S. military’s presence in Colombia, a prospect that worries even friendly nations in the region.

The purpose of Uribe’s trip was to allay fears that the U.S. military could become too powerful on the continent if given long-term leases on Colombian bases. Colombia maintains that the American presence is necessary to combat drug-trafficking operations.

The overall success or failure of Uribe’s trip will be evident in Quito when most of the continent’s leaders will attend the summit. Colombia is an important member of Unasur but announced it will not attend the meeting, in a clear sign of the tense diplomatic relations between Colombia and Ecuador

Quito and Bogotá have been embroiled in a smoldering feud that dates back to last year when the Colombian army raided a terrorist camp in Ecuadorian territory that killed a guerrilla chief and twenty-five other people. Ecuador reacted by breaking off diplomatic relations.

Colombia has also leveled allegations that documents found on computers at the rebel camp showed the guerrilla had at least tried to help finance Rafael Correa’s first presidential campaign. Correa, now president of Ecuador, has vehemently denied the charges.

For more information, please see:

El Comercio – Venezuela bajó el tono de la crisis – 09 August 2009

Latin American Herald Tribune – Latin American Realpolitik: Chavez Returns Ambassador to Bogotá As Colombia Focuses on the Natural Gas Sent to Keep Venezuela Oil Wells Pumping – 09 August 2009

RCN Television – Chávez ordena retorno de su embajador a Colombia – 09 August 2009

Reuters – Chávez pide a Uribe que “dé la cara” en reunión de Unasur – 08 August 2009

Colombia Reports – Chavez returns envoy to Colombia – 08 August 2009

The Union of South American Nations – UNASUR

Commonwealth Urges Fiji to Restart President’s Political Dialogue Forum

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – The Commonwealth Secretary General says that Fiji’s interim government should resume its discussion of the President’s political dialogue forum.

The forum would address Fiji’s position in the group since the Commonwealth has threatened to suspend Fiji unless the interim prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, makes progress toward holding democratic elections.

Bainimarama had planned to hold the forum to discuss Fiji’s position among South Pacific nations, but Commonwealth Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma, says it is unclear when the forum will take place.

“At some point it was announced that this process was being not pursued anymore, and what CMAG is saying, is that it should be revived, but with a very clear target of elections in October next year,” Sharma said.

Meanwhile, Bainimarama says he will consider the Secretary General’s request to restart discussions on holding the President political dialogue.

“My government will consider the proposal of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to revive the President’s Political Dialogue Forum. And I will provide an answer to that suggestion – when [I] write to the Secretary General and the UN Secretary General,” Bainimarama said.

The interim PM added that if the Commonwealth chooses to suspend Fiji from the group, there is nothing the interim government can do.

The Commonwealth has given Bainimarama until September 1st to develop a plan for elections, otherwise, the country will be suspended from the group.

For more information, please see:
FBCL – PPDF will continue says PM – 10 August 2009

Radio New Zealand International – Commonwealth Secretary General says political dialogue in Fiji essential – 09 August 2009