Protests Against Ortega Elections Continue in Nicaragua

By Karla E General

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – The protests sparked by the 146 mayoral elections on November 9 continue to rage across Nicaragua. The opposition is taking to the streets and demanding a full recount to be overseen by impartial international and local observers. Supporters of the Sandinista government have responded by patrolling the capital of Managua with clubs and rocks to deter the opposition from mobilizing.

“This election has everything to do with whether Nicaragua remains a democratic nation or not,” said Francisco Aguirre, a former Nicaraguan ambassador to the United States and an opposition leader. “Until now, since 1990, Nicaragua has held open elections. Now something is rotten in the state of Nicaragua. They say we don’t want the gringos to sort it out for us. Okay. The Europeans then. Or Latin American observers. But they didn’t want anyone looking into this mess, because it stinks.”

The Sandinistas say the opposition is making a stink because its candidates were spanked at the polls. Bayardo Arce, a former top Sandinista commander said the elections were clean and the opposition “is just making a lot of noise…If the Sandinistas become successful entrepreneurs, it is because we are thieves. If we win an election, it is because of fraud. But we reject that.”

Preliminary results show the Sandinistas winning 106 of 146 municipalities.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Violence After Nicaragua Poll – 20 November 2008

Los Angeles Times – Voter Fraud Allegations Directed at Nicaragua’s Sandinistas – 20 November 2008

Washington Post – Democracy in Nicaragua in Peril, Ortega Critics Say – 20 November 2008

HRW Accuses Nepali Police of Torturing Children

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

Kathmandu, Nepal – Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Nepali police of torturing children in police custody for petty crimes. HRW had received over 200 credible claims of young boys and girls being tortured in Nepalese prisons. Some of the boys and girls were as young as 13 years old and many of the children were convicted of petty crimes or were working on the streets. Methods of torture included kicking, blows to the body, inserting sharp object under children’s toe nails and beatings to the feet, arms, and thighs with bamboo sticks and plastic pipes.

Torture is prohibited by the Nepalese Constitution and the torture of children is a criminal and civil crime. However, the maximum punishment for the torture of children under Article 7 of the Nepalese civil code is a fine and one year in jail. Asia researcher for HWR Children’s Rights Division, Bede Sheppard, said that police are supposed to protect children and “by torturing children in custody they are committing crimes against those they are supposed to be protecting.” Sheppard also added “it is surprising that not a single police officer has been prosecuted” despite the widespread allegations of torture of children in police custody.

HRW also expressed grave concern on the condition of surrounding of children in police custody because children are separated from their parents and adults in Nepalese prisons and could face assault from other prisoners. One 15 year old boy accounted being tortured by each of the three different police stations he was transferred to. The boy faced beatings, kicks, and was threatened with a gun to his temple to force him to confess to robbery. Sheppard said sometimes the purpose of torturing children was to force confessions or can be “purely for the entertainment of officials.”

November 20th marks Nepalese National Children’s Day and HRW urges the Nepalese government to stop the abuse of children under policy custody. A Nepalese police spokesman said that several police officers have been punished in the past for torturing children; however, the spokesman denied any ongoing torture claims. The foreign minister, Nabin Kumar Ghimire, joined the police spokesman and said the allegations of torture were “wrong and baseless.”

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Nepali Police Accused of Torturing Children – 20 November 2008

BBC – Nepali Police ‘Torture Children’ – 19 November 2008

HRW – Nepal: End Torture of Children in Police Custody – 18 November 2008

Mexico’s Interpol Liaison Arrested for Leaking Information

By Maria E. Molina
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – A senior Mexican police official who worked as Mexico’s Interpol liaison was arrested Tuesday in relation to an investigation involving information leaks from top law enforcement authorities to the nation’s drug cartels. Ricardo Gutiérrez Vargas was director for International Police Affairs and Interpol at the Federal Investigative Agency.  Vargas was one of the highest-ranking law enforcement officials in Mexico. However, Vargas was placed under house arrest pending the outcome of the investigation.

The authorities say that Vargas allegedly leaked information to the Beltran Leyva brothers, leaders of a powerful drug cartel, in exchange for large sums of money.

Interpol combats terrorism, money laundering and drug trafficking. Vargas could have had access to reams of sensitive intelligence gathered by Mexican and international law enforcement.  Interpol is dispatching a team of General Secretariats to Mexico. The purpose of their mission is to meet with relevant Mexican authorities in order to establish allegations of improper use of Interpol’s systems by any Mexican law enforcement official.

In the last year, about 4,000 people have died in the drug wars. Mexican President Felipe Calderón has made confronting the cartels a centerpiece of his administration.

The cartel’s penetration Interpol is an indication of the level of corruption within the Mexican law enforcement. The United States recently committed $400 million to aid in that battle, but many U.S. law enforcement officials remain wary of their Mexican counterparts, fearing that shared information flows quickly to cartel leaders.

For more information, please see:

Interpol – Interpol headquarters to deploy team to ensure compliance with INTERPOL rules and regulations by Mexican law enforcement officials – 19 November 2008

Latin American Herald Tribune – Interpol Mexico Chief Arrested in “Operation Clean-Up” – 19 November 2008

Washington Post – Mexico’s Police Liaison for Interpol Is Arrested in Drug Probe – 19 November 2008

Court of Appeals to Hear Fiji Coup Case in March

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – Fiji’s ousted Government has appealed a High Court decision validating the military coup of the government in 2006.

Today, Fiji Court of Appeal Judge Justice Ian Lloyd said that the parties’ attorneys will gather on Thursday to discuss substantive matters of the case. Among the parties’ lawyers are Former Attorney General, Qoriniasi Bale, and Suva lawyer, Tevita Fa. Both Bale and Fa are representing the ousted Prime Minister and leader of the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua Party (SDL), Laisenia Qarase.

In 2006, the Interim Prime Minister led a military takeover of Fiji’s Federal Government. In October, the High Court in Fiji ruled that the 2006 coup was legitimate. Mr. Qarase has challenged that decision, calling it a “miscarriage of justice.”

Justice Gates, who delivered the judgment validating the coup, has said that, “No one has suggested His Excellence failed to act honestly, impartially, neutrally and what he gauged was in the best interest of the nation; that is, of all of the inhabitants of Fiji, it is not for this court to inquire into the details of his act at that moment on whether one action would have been better done in another way but it is certainly open to conclude his intention were to unify the people of Fiji.”

The appeal is scheduled to be heard in March 2009.

For more information, please see:
FijiLive – 2006 coup appeal set for March 09 – 18 November 2008

Radio New Zealand International – Fiji coup case appeal to be heard in March – 19 November 2008

Junta Sends More Activists to Jail

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar – A special court set up by the Junta government in Myanmar handed out jail terms of up to nine-and-a-half years to 11 more activists, mainly from the opposition NLD party, according to the Associated Press.   Earlier this week, five monks were jailed for six-and-a-half years and at least 14 student activists were given 65-year jail sentences for participating in anti-junta protests last year.  The sentence of 11 activists brings the total number sentenced this week to more than 60.

It is unclear why the authorities have acted against the opposition now.  However, human rights groups say the government is intensifying efforts to curb dissent ahead of elections in 2010. “Now they won’t be able to participate in the election,” said Soe Aung, the spokesman for the National Council for the Union of Burma, a Thailand-based umbrella organization for exile groups. “The generals are trying to put the final nail in the coffin to keep themselves in power forever.”

Myanmar authorities also have split up pro-democracy activists who were given long jail terms this week and transferred them to different prisons around the country, relatives of sentenced activities said.  The sister of prominent activist Htay Kywe said she met her brother on Saturday at notorious Insein prison in Yangon, but when she returned on Sunday he had been transferred to a jail about 700 miles from Yangon.  “He is very thin and not in good health. I did not think they could be transferred very quickly like this, I am really sorry for this,” she cried.  Then, she added: “If we can appeal for him, I will do. He said they have just tried for peace and national reconciliation.”

Nyan Win, the spokesman for the National League for Democracy (NLD) party confirmed the transfers.  He told AFP that “It’s like increasing the sentencing. Not only family members but also the person himself or herself is in difficulty.”  He said that party lawyers Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein had also been transferred.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Myanmar activists moved to separate prisons: relatives – 16 November 2008

AP – Myanmar activists moved to separate prisons: relatives – 16 November 2008

AP – Myanmar courts imprison more democracy activists – 17 November 2008

BBC – Burma court jails more protesters – 14 November 2008

Impunity Watch – Myanmar Sentenced 14 Democracy Advocates to Jail for 65 Years – 12 November 2008