A Voice for the Voiceless

Venezuela halts economic deals with Colombia

By Don Anque
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – Today, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared policy measures that would effectively halt trade between Colombia and Venezuela.  He also announced that he would halt the import of 10,000 cars from Colombia and ban a Colombian energy firm, Ecopetrol, from taking part in an auction to develop the heavy crude in Venezuela’s oil-rich Orinoco region.

The move comes after last week’s incident when President Chavez recalled his envoy from the Colombian capital of Bogota when President Chavez was accused that Venezuela had sold arms to the Colombian rebel group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).

“We absolutely deny that our government or our institutions are providing assistance to criminal and terrorist organizations,” Venezuelan Minister of the Interior and Justice Tareck El Aissami told reporters after Venezuela was accused of weapons trafficking. “It’s laughable, it sounds like a cheap film made by the American government.”

Currently, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is visiting Chile and Argentina to talk with South American leaders about the possible deployment of US troops in South America.  According to Washington DC analysts, the United States of America wants to increase its military capabilities in Colombia to counter drug traffickers and left-wing rebels.  Colombia has already agreed to open at least seven of its bases to US troops.

President Chavez called Colombia’s plan to host more US troops a “hostile act” and a “true threat” to Venezuela and its leftist allies.  Chavez also warned that a possible US military buildup could lead to the “start of a war in South America.”  Despite the lack of an official government declaration of military counter measures, President Chavez has announced that Venezuela will buy “several battalions” of tanks during his trip to Russia in September.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Chavez turns up heat on Colombia – 6 August 2009

Associated Press – Chavez: Venezuela to buy more tanks over US threat – 5 August 2009

CNN – Colombia: FARC arms traced to Venezuela – 27 July 2009

MSNBC – Chavez freezes diplomacy with Colombia – 28 July 2009

Georgia Accused of Stoking Tensions in South Ossetia

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
 
MOSCOW, Russia – Tensions in the South Caucasus are rising as the one-year anniversary of the war in South Ossetia and Georgia approaches.
 
On August 1, the Russian Defense Ministry accused Georgia of “aggressively rearming” and trying to incite violence in South Ossetia. The Ministry vowed that Russia would “use all means and resources available to protect the citizens of the republic of South Ossetia and the Russian servicemen.” The statements came after the South Ossetian government reported that two rounds of mortar fire entered from Georgian territory earlier that day.
 
Last summer, tensions between separatist government in South Ossetia and President Mikheil Saakashvili’s government in Georgia erupted into a five-day armed conflict that began on August 7, 2009. Georgia attacked the Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, in response to reports that South Ossetians had attacked ethnic Georgian villages in the province. Since French-brokered ceasefire, the region has been home to 240 members of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), which monitors signs of aggression between Georgia and the breakaway provinces.
 
Even with the EUMM observers, tensions have remained high. Russia has refused to fully withdraw its troops, as called for in the ceasefire agreement, and has said it plans to maintain its force of 7,000 troops in South Ossetia and Abkhazia indefinitely. Small skirmishes continue to plague the border regions, though the EU special envoy has downplayed the violence, vaguely calling the hostilities “more virtual” and posed little threat that any substantial violence would erupt.
 
In response to the Russian Defense Ministry statement, Georgia accused Russia of restarting “with enhanced vigor its information war against Georgia” on the eve of the anniversary of last year’s war.
 
On August 6, Russian Defense spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said that Georgia could not regain the trust of its regional neighbors until it signed a non-aggression treaty with South Ossetia and Abkhazia. After the August 2008 war, Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent republics, while the majority of the international community continues to recognize the areas as Georgian provinces.
 
For more information, please see:
 
China View – EU Envoy Dismisses Tensions in S Ossetia as “Virtual”– 6 August 2009
 
RIA Novosti – NATO’s Eastern Expansion Has Stopped Short– 6 August 2009
 
Al-Jazeera – Georgia Not “Aggressively Rearming”– 5 August 2009
 
Voice of America – Russian FM Lashes Out at Georgian President– 5 August 2009
 
New York Times – Russia Accuses Georgia of Raising Tension After Report of Attack in South Ossetia– 1 August 2009

India’s Police Culture Breeds Impunity

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGALORE, India – Police forces in India are accused of undermining democracy and breeding brutality.  Human Rights Watch is urging the Indian government to take major steps to rectify the police system that facilitates and encourages human rights violations, such as torture, illegal detention and extra-judicial killings.

Indian police (Source: AFP)

For example, in one case, a death of a woman killed while in custody was passed off as a suicide.  In other cases, suspects have been tied to wooden sticks and tortured until they fainted.

India’s dysfunctional police system is the result of poor working conditions and a culture that encourages impunity by allowing the police to commit human rights abuses so as to alleviate excessive workload and not create a backlog of cases. 

85% of the Indian police comprise low-ranking officers who work long hours and live in cramped quarters far from their homes.  Furthermore, most of the policemen are not trained to handle complex criminal investigations.  Indian police officers also receive immunity from prosecutions for actions conducted while on “official duty.”  For example, official figures from 2005 show that 23 policemen were charged with atrocities, but none were convicted.

“India is modernizing rapidly, but the police continue to use their old methods: abuse and threats.  It’s time for the government to…fix the system,” said Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch.  He also added, “Police who commit or order torture and other abuses need to be treated as the criminals they are.  There shouldn’t be one standard for police who violate the law and another for average citizens.”

Indian police2 (Source: AP)

Often, religious and sexual minorities, women, and lower-caste Indians are the victims of police abuse because they lack money and political connections.  Many Indians also avoid contact with the police out of fear.

A Supreme Court decision in 2006 mandated police law reforms, but the Indian government has failed to implement the court order.  The government elected in May has promised to actively pursue police reforms.
For more information, please see:

AFP – Indian police culture breeds brutality: report – 4 August 2009

BBC – Indian police accused of abuses – 4 August 2009

Human Rights Watch – India: Overhaul Abusive, Failing Police System – 4 August 2009

Reuters – India’s police undermine democracy, human rights – HRW – 4 August 2009

U.S. Disappointed with Kenya’s Fight Against Impunity

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – On Wednesday, the United States warned the Kenyan government that it must quickly implement delayed reforms and that the corruption, impunity, and human rights abuses are holding the country back. She also said that Kenya’s failure to investigate a bout of deadly violence after the 2007 election is disappointing to the U.S.

President Barack Obama’s father was Kenyan, therefore U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a personal message from President Obama to President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga that they must work harder to fully implement the power-sharing deal that ended the bloody violence which spawned from a disputed election in December 2007.

Even though at least 1,300 people were killed during the violence, the cabinet has resisted the many calls for a tribunal in order to hold those responsible for the violence accountable.

Clinton warned that investors would shun states on the continent that had weak leaders and economies which are riddled with corruption and crime.  In a press conference with Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula, she made her point abundantly clear.

“The absence of strong, effective democratic institutions has permitted ongoing corruption, impunity, politically motivated violence, human rights abuses and a lack of respect for the rule of law,” said Clinton.

Wetangula followed her remarks by saying that his government was doing everything it could.

“All sanctuaries of corruption will be destroyed to make Kenya a cleaner and safer place to do business,” he promised.

Clinton mentioned a few opportunities that Africa, specifically Kenya, has in making a change. For example, she mentioned that Africa has an opportunity to create its own “Green Revolution.”

“Right now, Africa suffers from a severe shortage of electric power and too many countries rely on oil as virtually their only source of revenue. But the capacity for producing renewable and clean energy is far and wide,” said Clinton.

She also mentioned that empowering women in Africa would be a valuable step in boosting development and decreasing the impunity that surrounds Kenya.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Kenya Impunity ‘Disappoints U.S.’ – 5 August 2009

Bloomberg – Kenya Committed to War on Corruption, Impunity, Minister Says – 5 August 2009

Daily Nation – Obama’s Warning – 5 August 2009

Reuters – Clinton Tells Kenya to Implement Delayed Reforms – 5 August 2009

Pambazuka News – Kenya: Impunity and the Politicisation of Ethnicity – 31 July 2009

Australia and New Zealand Comdemn Call for Fijian Uprising

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

SUVA, Fiji – Prime Ministers from Australia and New Zealand are speaking out against a call for Fijians to rise up against the country’s military regime.

Last week, at the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Cairns, Niue Premier, Toke Talagi, told the people of Fiji that if they want to restore democracy, they must rise up and claim it for themselves.

“The people of Fiji must be responsible for constructing their own destiny,” Talagi said. He added, “I wonder, sometimes, whether people realise you can’t shoot 500,000 Fijians.”

Meanwhile, New Zealand and Australia have shown their disapproval of Talagi’s message, despite their condemnation of Fiji interim PM, Commodore Frank Bainimarama for delaying democratic elections.

Mr. John Key, New Zealand PM, told reporters that he would not support Fijians in an uprising against the interim government.

“We have encouraged Frank Bainimarama to engage with former leaders in Fiji…and we think that’s the right course of action, not some sort of uprising against the military coup,” Key said.

Australian PM, Kevin Rudd, said “I would emphasise in absolutely clear-cut terms the importance of a peaceful solution to the problems which exist within Fiji.” He added, “They are real problems and that is one of the reasons why the countries of the Pacific Islands Forum agreed on a mechanism for the suspension of Fiji.”

But Talagi says he was not pushing violence, but rather, hoped the people of Fiji would find a way to peacefully protest the military regime.

The Pacific Islands Forum, an organization of Pacific leaders from 16 nation states, chose to suspend Fiji from the group after Bainimarama refused to hold elections by May 2009 as originally promised.

For more information, please see:
National Business Review – Key plays down call for uprising in Fiji – 06 August 2009

ABC News – Rudd plays down call for Fijian uprising – 05 August 2009

New Tang Dynasty Television – Pacific Leaders Express Concern over Fiji – 05 August 2009