Human Rights Watch and Citizens Criticize Mexican Military Abuses

By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its 4 year report on Mexico’s human rights record on Thursday.  The Mexican Military was found to be ineffectively investigating reports of rapes, killings, and torture.  In particular, HRW criticized the military’s use of only “dysfunctional” military tribunals to investigate allegations against soldiers, rather than civilian courts.

HRW researchers said that Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission, an autonomous government agency, received 1,230 abuse complaints against the military in 2008, as compared with 182 in 2006.  HRW pointed out that until two months ago the government could not provide a single example of a soldier being convicted of human rights violations for the past 10 years.

Since 2006, President Felipe Calderon has deployed more than 45,000 soldiers in his fight against drug cartels which supply the U.S. drug market.  The U.S. Government has supplied Mexico with $700 million dollars in training and equipment. Some of the aid is conditioned on State Department confirmation that Mexico meet human rights and police corruption goals.

Local sentiment in areas with high military presence appears increasingly hostile to the military.  Three months after the military surge in the border town of Juarez, the military have been blamed for at least four deaths, eight disappearances, and the torture of many more.

Individuals who claim to have been abused by soldiers have similar stories.  Among the dead is 21 year old Javier Rosales who was picked up by the military with his friend while walking to buy beer. The men were blindfolded, taken to a building, stripped, beaten with boards and dumped on a dirt road.  Rosales was found dead from the beating the next day.

There have been more than 500 abuse complaints against federal forces since March, and all from individuals who are not on any arrest list.  A lawyer who represents abused citizens says that the more impoverished areas are those most affected by abuse, as the military presence is greatest there.  In these areas homes have been ransacked and possessions stolen by military.

As far south as Michoacan state authorities are furious that the federal government has arrested a slew of state officials and community members, including the mayor of Apatzingan without consulting the governor.  Protesters have occupied the town hall and are demanding that the mayor be released.  Protest signs read ” We demand the authorities respect individual rights”.

A military spokesman claims that 85 percent of the complaints have been resolved, though no details or time frame has been provided.

Transgender Abuse Condoned in Honduras?

By Nima Nayebi

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras – Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Honduras to end an epidemic of violence against transgender people in that country. HRW has also called on the Honduran government to repeal certain “public morality” and “public scandal” laws that give police the power to abuse their authority.

HRW’s new report chronicles rapes, beatings, extortion, and the arbitrary detention of transgender people by Honduran authorities. Approximately 17 transgender people have been killed since 2004, including the high profile murder of transgender rights activist Cynthia Nicole Moreno this past 9 January.

Nicole Moreno, 32, a member of Colectivo Violeta, was shot four times by three men who were never identified. Her killing was reportedly linked to her activism in the area of transgender rights.

On 9 May, two men beat Barbára Paola, a worker for an LGBT organization, but neither was identified or apprehended. Transgender people report being raped and beaten by police in Honduras. The HRW report also identifies incidents where police have stood by and watched transgender abuse without pursuing the perpetrators.

Honduras has stated that it is committed to ending violence against its LGBT community. In June of last year it voiced support for the Organization of American States (OAS) “Resolution on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity.” HRW states that these public statements have not been translated into “local action.”

A photo essay on the struggle for transgender rights in Honduras is available from HRW.

Celebrities Tweeting for Freedom

By Alishba I. Kassim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANKGKOK, Thailand – A movement started by several Hollywood celebrities and human rights activists around the world aims to finally free Myanmar’s democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is approaching her 64th birthday. She has spent 14 of them in detention.

Sui Kyi will likely spend her birthday in Yangon’s notorious lnsein prison, facing charges of violating the terms of her house arrest. Suu Kyi harbored an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside home.

Although the ruling junta is expected to deliver a guilty verdict, several activists and celebrities are standing in unison to stop the Nobel laureate from spending up to five years in prison. “We must not stand by as she is silenced again. Now is the time for the international community to speak with one voice,” Julia Roberts wrote as part of the campaign.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been largely controlled by the military since 1962, and prior similar campaigns have failed to illicit any real change. “Burma’s generals think they can act with impunity. We’ll have to wait until after the trial verdict to see if this time will be any different,” said Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK.

In a parallel campaign, the organizers have gathered the signatures of over a 100 former and current political prisoners from over 20 countries calling for the release of political prisoners in Myanmar. They have also called upon the U.N. Security Council to impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar.

A collective message sent out by the organizers, celebrities, and activists read, “The continued denial of your freedom unacSUU KYIceptably attacks the human rights of all 2, 156 political prisoners in Myanmar. As those also incarcerated for our political beliefs, we share the world’s outrage.”

Although the united front put up by the campaigners is commendable, it makes one wonder if the collective international voice has the power to illicit change, or whether the power lies with a handful of government leaders talking over whiskey in a smoke-filled room.

For more information, please see:

AP – Celebrities Tweet for Suu Kyi’s Release – June 14, 2009

The New Nation – The Future of Democracy in Myanmar – June 14, 2009

Yemen Arrests Alleged al Qaeda Financier

By Nykoel Dinardo
Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen – Yemeni officials announced on June 14 that they had arrested the leading financier of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.  Yemeni Security forces arrested Saudi-national Hassan Hussein Bin Alwan in the Marib Province, which is located approximated 190 km north of the Yemeni capital Sana’a.  However, very few details about the arrest itself have been released.

According to a Yemeni Interior Ministry official, Bin Alwan is the biggest and most important financier of al Qaeda’s operations in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.  The Defense Ministry has described him as “one of the most dangerous al Qaeda terrorists.” 

Yemen has intensified its search efforts for al Qaeda members within its region since the terrorist organization announced in January 2009 that it would be merging al Qaeda groups in Saudi Arabia and Yemen to form ‘Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.’  However, political unrest in the region has made it easier for al Qaida to operate unnoticed within the country. 

Militant activity has increased in the past few months, and much of it has been the fault of groups other than al Qaeda.  For instance, on June 13, a group of nine travelling in Yemen was abducted by a Shi’ite militant group in Sadaa.  The group included seven Germans, a Briton, and a South Korean woman; all three of these countries have been communicating with Yemen in attempts to free these hostages and return them to their countries.  This kidnapping followed just one day after a gunman in Amran province abducted twenty-four medical workers.  The group was later released unharmed.  These acts of violence are signs of Yemen’s instability, a characteristic which attracts terrorists. 

Although Yemeni security officials state that their fight against terrorism in the region has had many recent successes, an article published in the New York Times on June 11 claims that al Qaeda members who have been hiding out in Pakistan are relocating to Yemen and Somalia where the social and political turmoil allows for easier operation.  Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Leon Panetta explained in the article that the CIA is focusing on locations like Yemen because they may act like safe havens for terrorists.  Yemeni security officials deny these claims, arguing that Yemen is not suitable to act as a safe haven.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Al-Qaida Financier Arrested in Yemen: Official – 14 June 2009

Associated Press – Yemen Arrests Suspected Al-Qaida Financier – 14 June 2009

News Yemen – Yemeni Security Arrests Lead Financer of al Qaeda – 14 June 2009

Reuters – Yemen Says Arrests Saudi Financer of al Qaeda – 14 June 2009

Thaindian News – Al Qaeda Financier Held in Yemen – 14 June 2009

UPI – Nine Kidnapped in Yemen – 14 June 2009

News Yemen – Yemen Denies al-Qaeda Infiltration from Pakistan – 13 June 2009

New York Times – Some in Qaeda Leave Pakistan for Somalia and Yemen – 11 June 2009

Syria Continues to Repress Ethnic Minorities

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – Amnesty International recently released its annual report on Syria, reporting that the Middle Eastern nation continues to stifle freedom of expression and free association, particularly among its ethnic minorities.

As recently as April, the Syrian Supreme State Security Court reaffirmed its nation-wide ban on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a  Kurdish separatist group, and sentenced five members to seven to eight years of imprisonment for plotting to “detach part of Syrian territory,” according to the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria (NOHRS).  The Supreme State Security Court is a special court that operates outside of the criminal justice system, with the purpose of prosecuting those challenging the government.  Syria has been under an official state of emergency since 1963, which has given government security forces broad powers to arrest, detain, and imprison those it views as dangerous dissidents.

Ethnic Kurds make up approximately ten percent of the Syrian population, and suffer restrictions on use of the Kurdish language and culture.  In September 2008, the Syrian government placed restrictions on Kurdish property and housing rights in sensitive border areas.   While confrontations between Arabs and Kurds receive the most media attention, Syria is home to many other ethnic minority groups, including Kurmandji and Aramaeans, all of whom are subject to the same restrictions on their cultural heritage.

The persecution of ethnic minorities may be part of a larger dialogue that has resumed between Syria and the United States, signaled by the meeting on June 12 between President Bashar al-Assad and U.S. envoy, former-Senator George Mitchell.  Relations between the two nations had chilled in 2004, when the U.S. imposed economic sanctions on Syria for accusations that Syria sponsored terrorism.  The sanctions had been extended several times.  Mitchell said he hopes Middle East peace talks will resume shortly.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Syria welcomes US envoy Mitchell – 13 June 2009

American Chronicle – Amnesty International Report 2009 on Syria – 31 May 2009

Amnesty International – Report 2009—Syria – May 2009

Syria Today – Syrian state security court jails banned PKK members – May 2009

Human Rights Watch – Syria:  Dissolve the State Security Court – 24 February 2009