A Voice for the Voiceless

Update: Charles Taylor Trial

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – During trial proceedings on August 4, Charles Taylor denied the existence of any secret bank accounts.  He is accused of hiding large sums of money in secret bank accounts around the world.  The money is said to have been gained through illicit diamond trading with Sierra Leonean rebels from the RUF (Revolutionary United Front).

“I challenge the prosecutor to bring any evidence of a bank account that I have — they know it’s a lie but they keep repeating it.  I ask anyone on this planet, if you know of any account that I opened or if you know anyone who was acting in my interest, you are obliged to come forward and say it,” said Taylor.  Adding, “What bank account has the UN found out for me?  Nobody ever brings factual evidence but it is repeated, repeated and repeated, and you can never put things straight.”

The prosecutor is and has been working with the UN Sanctions Committee to discover and recover any moneys and assets that might be hidden.  Taylor maintains that they will not find any and evidence proving his innocence might take a while to emerge.

“I may be dead and gone before somebody will say Taylor did not have any money or assets all over the world,” he said.

Taylor also denied allegations that he aided RUF in attacking diamond fields.  When questioned by lead defense counsel Courtenay Griffiths about what he had to gain from helping the rebels, he said, “absolutely nothing. The allegation is false. I had everything to lose in the process if anything like that happened.”

The former Liberian President also called on the United States and Britain to declassify and release radio intercepts.  He says that these recordings could clear him of the crimes charges and that the US has the power to “unravel this case.”

Charles Taylor is facing 11 counts of murder, rape, sexual enslavement, torture and recruiting child soldiers and of aiding Sierra Leonean rebels during the civil war that lasted from 1991-2002.

For more information, please see:

CharlesTaylorTrial.org – Taylor Tells Court He Has No Secret Bank Accounts; Says He Did Not Give Orders to RUF Commander Sam Bockarie – 08 August 2009

AP – Ex-Liberian Chief Pushes Back at US Government – 07 August 2009

AP – Ex-Liberian Prez Wants to Hear US Radio Intercepts – 06 August 2009

CharlesTaylorTrial.org – Taylor Dismisses Allegations of His Hidden Wealth as Lies – 04 August 2009

Nepal Widows Protest Cash Incentives for Marriage

By Alishba I. Kassim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KATHMANDU, Nepal – 200 Nepali women marched through the capital to publicly denounce a government scheme that offers to pay cash incentives to men for marrying widows.

The government says the scheme seeks to help widows who face social and cultural barriers in a majority Hindu society. Moreover, it has been deemed necessary in part because of the 10-year-long civil war that claimed up to 13,000 lives and widowed many women. Often widows are ostracized and discriminated against due to religious and cultural beliefs. The government believes cash incentives will help persuade men to marry them and re-integrate them into society.

Several women and human rights agencies in Nepal strongly disagree saying the payments “reduce widows to a source of cash.” They propose the money should be spent improving education and healthcare for widows and their children.

One of the protest organizers and founder of the group, Women for Human Rights, Lily Thapa, said “We are totally against the government’s decision to give 50,000 rupees as an incentive for couples to marry. This goes against the principles of human rights. That’s why we urge the government to bring in other social security measures to empower women who are widowed.” Many campaigners have also expressed concern that the cash incentives could encourage men to marry widows and later abandon them. They further warned that the scheme would turn women into cash cows and open up a portal for human traffickers.

“It is the right of single women to live as they want. But society does not treat them properly. They are looked down on, and we want to change that” said finance ministry spokesman, Shankar Adhikari.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Nepal Widows Dismiss Marriage Cash Incentive – August 10,   2009  

Reuters India – Widows Protest Marriage Incentive  – August 10, 2009

The New Zealand Herland – Nepal Offers $970 to Marry Widows – August 10, 2009  

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