Peru Ponders Pardon for Former President As Tragedy Unveils Slavery Like Conditions for Peruvian Workers

July 31, 2017

By: Max Cohen
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – At least 2,000 Peruvian citizens protested July 7^th, urging President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski not to pardon the country’s ex-leader Alberto Fujimori, who is currently serving 25 years in prison for human rights violations.

Protesters in Peru display photos of victims as they march against a possible pardon for former president Alberto Fujimori. Photo courtesy of Reuters.

One of President Kuczynski’s chief promises that allowed him to win the election against Fujimori’s daughter Keiko, was that he wouldn’t pardon Fujimori. However, Kuczynski proposed a potential pardon for Fujimori last month for health reasons, just after Kuczynski’s finance minister was ousted by a Congress dominated by Fujimori’s supporters.

Fujimori held office from 1990-2000, and was convicted in 2009 for leading groups which had massacred civilians and kidnapped journalists during his tenure. Despite this, Fujimori has an enormous amount of support due to his role in fixing Peru’s economy and stopping a bloody leftist insurgency. In fact, a May Ipsos poll found that 59 percent of Peruvians back a humanitarian release for him.

President Kuczynski meanwhile, has said that he will follow the recommendation of the doctors evaluating Fujimori, as to whether a pardon should be given for medical reasons. However, in 2013 a medical team which was then evaluating Fujimori said his condition didn’t warrant a pardon, so it is possible that history will repeat itself.

On June 27^th, President Kuczynski had condemned the conditions some workers were living in after a fire killed four people imprisoned inside a shipping container by their boss. They had been locked inside to prevent theft, and detection by municipal inspectors. Since then Peru’s public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into human trafficking and labor exploitation. The International Labor Organization described the conditions in which the workers died and 17 others were injured as akin to modern day slavery.

After only Mexico and Colombia, Peru has the third highest rate of cases of forced labor and human trafficking in the region and is 18^th worldwide, per the Walk Free Foundation’s Global Slavery Index. Jorge Toyama, a labor lawyer, claims that the country only has 500 labor inspectors when it needs four times as many, and that many workers in Peru are not aware of their rights.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Peruvians protest against possible pardon for jailed Fujimori – 7 July, 2017

Human Rights Watch – Peru: Don’t Give Fujimori Special Treatment – 6 July, 2017

The Guardian – Peru launches investigation as fire kills workers ‘locked inside container’ – 27 June, 2017

Syria Deeply: Battle updates from Arsal outskirts, a good week for Russia in Syria and thinning ties between the U.S. and rebels

July 30, 2017

Jul. 28th, 2017

Welcome to our weekly summary of Syria Deeply’s top coverage of crisis in Syria.

Battle in Arsal outskirts: Hezbollah and an al-Qaida-linked militant group reached a cease-fire agreement on Thursday, a week after the Lebanese group and the Syrian army launched a joint offensive against militants in the rugged mountainous area along the Lebanese and Syrian border.

Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, the head of Lebanon’s general security agency, reportedly brokered the truce, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA). Under the terms of the deal, which extends to al-Qaida’s former Syria affiliate but not to fighters from the so-called Islamic State, fighters will be granted safe passage to Idlib province in Syria.

At least two dozen Hezbollah fighters and some 150 militants have been killed in clashes since the battle began last week, according to Al Jazeera.

But the battle in the outskirts of Arsal is not yet over. The next phase of the joint operation is expected to target nearby ISIS-held territory.

Russia’s wins in Syria: Four battalions of Russia’s military policy have been deployed around the proposed de-escalation zones in Syria, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russian media on Wednesday.

Moscow had been in talks for several weeks about deploying its military police to buffer zones on the edges of the four de-escalation zones. At the last round of Astana talks earlier this month, however, Moscow, Turkey and Iran failed to reach a definitive agreement about “which specific forces” would police the zones, Russia’s chief negotiator Alexander Lavrentiev said. In addition, the opposition delegation told Reuters that they remained skeptical of the proposal.

Less than three weeks later, on Monday Russian military police set up “two checkpoints and four monitoring posts” in the Eastern Ghouta suburbs outside the capital, according to Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi, the chief of the Russian general staff. This followed an earlier deployment in southwest Syria over the weekend, where Russia’s forces set up two checkpoints and 10 observation points.

The deployment comes after two individual cease-fire declarations in the respective areas. Violations have been reported in southern Syria and the cease-fire between government forces and opposition groups in Eastern Ghouta crumbled on Sunday after only 24 hours.

Russia further solidified its role in Syria later in the week, when President Vladimir Putin approved an agreement with the Syrian government that would allow Moscow to deploy at the Hmeimim airbase in Latakia province for the next 49 years, with the option of extending the agreement for a further 25 years, according to documents seen by Reuters.

Thinning ties between U.S. and rebels: Days after news broke that President Donald Trump had ended the covert CIA program that provided arms and training to Syrian rebel groups, the U.S.-led coalition urged its Syrian allies to only fight the so-called Islamic State.

“We have made it very clear time and again our goal in Syria and Iraq is to fight ISIS and fight ISIS only [and] we’ve asked [our partner forces] to be committed to that same mission,” coalition spokesperson U.S. Army Col. Ryan Dillon told reporters in Washington on Thursday.

Ending the CIA program was a “signal to Putin that the administration wants to improve ties to Russia,” a U.S. official told Reuters last week. According to the New York Times, the decision came more than a month ago and revealed that ousting President Bashar al-Assad was no longer a U.S. priority.

The move has led at least one U.S-backed rebel group to split off from coalition forces and pursue independent operations against the Syrian government. In response, Dillon said Washington had begun the “process of ceasing our support,” for Shohada al-Quartyan, a local rebel group that had been fighting ISIS in southern Syria.

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International Center for Transitional Justice: World Report July 2017 – Transitional Justice News and Analysis

July 29, 2017

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July 2017

In Focus

A Noble Dream: The Tenacious Pursuit of Justice in Guatemala

Bring General Rios Montt and other high ranking members of the military to trial in the Guatemalan courts for genocide? In 1999 it was a noble dream for justice, but one with little apparent possibility of ever coming true. On International Justice Day, walk the long path to justice that led to this historic trial?

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Africa

Victims of past election violence in Kenya demanded compensation before the next election. In the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, soldiers were convicted for the murder of militia members, which is also where authorities found a dozen more mass graves. The UN denounced the decision by a DRC military tribunal to not prosecute seven soldiers for crimes against humanity. South Africa’s African National Congress political party declared support for the country’s withdrawal from the ICC following a corresponding court decision. An inquiry into the death of an apartheid-era activist has been re-opened. Uganda’s Amnesty Commission failed to reintegrate and resettle ex-rebels. A bishop in Liberia encouraged the establishment of a war crimes court to preserve and ensure the nation’s democracy. In the Gambia, a draft bill on Truth and Reconciliation was beginning to be reviewed by the country’s judiciary. On July 4th, Rwanda celebrated Liberation day, commemorating the day the 1994 genocide ended, while UN court proceedings continued the review of a criminal’s case who had requested exoneration. A parliament member of Zambia called for the inclusion of peace and conflict resolution studies into national education curriculum.

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Colombia’s FARC rebel group disarmed after decades of war. The UN Security Council agreed to monitor Colombia’s peace process until 2020, while the ICC is pushing for prosecutions of members of various generals, corporals and the country’s Armed Forces commander. In Argentina, four former military officers were arrested for crimes against humanity committed in 1976. The former dictator of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, is having his case reviewed after his daughter claimed that he was falsely sentenced. Canada apologized and gave a reparations payment to a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, after a court concluded that his rights were abused. In Mexico, dozens of NGO’s requested an ICC investigation of crimes against humanity in a prison in the state of Coahuila.

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In Nepal, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) began looking into rights violations. The TRC and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons called on the Prime Minister to extend their term until the probe into war-era cases concludes. Nepalese families of war victims will receive a reparations payment through the Relief and Rehabilitation Unit under the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction. In Myanmar, a tribunal will be held this fall to highlight atrocities committed against the Rohingya. The country also released child soldiers that fought under the former junta. In Cambodia, a production honoring victims of the nation’s conflict will begin on a global scale and a peace museum will open to acknowledge the country’s history. The UN-backed Cambodian tribunal trying Khmer Rouge atrocities admitted that only some perpetrators will face justice. Prosecutors delivered closing arguments in the case against Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, focusing on the genocide charges they face. Taiwan will declassify records to continue transitional justice efforts. Additionally, a Taiwanese act took effect in order to protect indigenous languages and cultures.

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In the Netherlands, a Hague Appeals Court confirmed that Dutch UN peacekeepers were partly liable for a 1995 massacre near Srebrenica. An Amsterdam city hall named for a Nazi accomplice is in the process of being renamed. On July 11th, Bosnia remembered the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court confirmed the conviction of a former military policeman for committing crimes against humanity in the Bihac area in the summer of 1992.In Croatia, victims are awaiting justice for crimes committed at a prison camp in Serbia. In Scandinavia, a Truth Commission began in Finland to unveil discrimination of the Sámi people. In France, a former judge was selected to aid the UN in prosecuting Syrian war crimes. Meanwhile, a family seeks in the United States seeks to regain a painting they say was plundered in Nazi Germany. A 98-year old Minnesota man who was accused of Nazi war crimes in Poland. In Kosovo, a court will charge former guerrillas for crimes committed in the country’s war. Elsewhere, holocaust survivors in Romania became eligible for reparations. In Spain a court began investigating a war crime in Syria, on behalf of the victim’s family member in Madrid.

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In Syria, victims of a chemical weapons attack demanded accountability for the crime, and hundreds of refugees returned to their Syrian homes after unsafe conditions arose in Lebanese refugee camps. Lebanon’s human rights minister called for an investigation into the deaths of four Syrian refugees. In Afghanistan, the ICC delayed investigating war crimes due to “substantial” new information from Kabul. Australian special forces are being investigated for war crimes committed in two Afghan provinces. In other news, Israel paid compensation to Turkish victims of a 2010 raid on a flotilla. Regarding Saudi Arabia, British arms sales will continue following a decision from the London high court, despite their use in alleged war crimes in Yemen.

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Rise For Syria: Syrian Conflict Through an Artist’s Eyes

July 26, 2017

Syrian Conflict Through an Artist’s Eyes

Jacob Devaney | Blogs | No comment

Social media gives voice to creative expression in ways that news media could never convey. Photographers may capture destroyed buildings and bloody casualties but through an artist’s eyes you feel the story in a way that is truly personal. Art can be disturbing and healing both in its’ creation and through the experience of the viewer. Artist Moustafa Jacoub of Syria has a profound way of contrasting the humanitarian crises with the universal desire to dream and play.

Whatever your personal interpretation may be, the feelings are universal within each of us.

We experience earthly angst and sublime beauty with a backdrop of sun and stars as our planet floats through time.

We may be refugees from our place of origin, immigrants traveling across eternity, but there is a place within each of us that is home…

In that place we are all connected despite the circumstances of our personal lives.

Compassion is the thread that stitches the seams of our torn reality.

Rise for Syria is a powerful, citizen-driven initiative to alleviate suffering for those who have lost their homes and are traumatized by the war. Even the smallest amount of generosity will go a long way to helping people heal and rebuild their lives!

Myanmar Denies Human Rights Violations Against Rohingya Muslims

July 25, 2017

By: Brian Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar – Myanmar’s government stated that it will not allow members of the United Nations to enter the country to investigate potential human rights violations against Rohingya Muslims.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s leader, led the National League for Democracy party to a majority win in 2015. Photo courtesy of Reuters.

The United Nations Human Rights Council report which was prepared in February stated that thousands of civilians are getting killed and raped by Myanmar’s soldiers. Then in March, three legal experts and human rights advocates were appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to lead the operation to investigate the alleged violations.

Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, denied the Council’s request to investigate in May and stated that it is not in keeping “with what is actually happening on the ground.” She further denied “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya Muslims and stated that “ethnic cleansing is too strong an expression to use for what is happening.” The government has previously denied human rights violations by stating that it was “propaganda.”

Aung San Suu Kyi has been condemned for failing to protect more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine. Historically, Myanmar has not recognized Rohingya Muslims as an ethnic group and treated them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The Rohingya Muslim minority suffers from discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. In 2012, around 140,000 – mostly Rohingya – were forced to leave their homes.

Myanmar officials maintains that a domestic investigation is being conducted under the leadership of the former lieutenant general and Vice President, Myint Swe. He has stated that the United Nations fact-finding mission will not contribute to their current internal investigation.

For more information, please see:

Independent – Burma says it will not let outside world investigate Rohingya ‘genocide’ claims – 30 June, 2017

AP – Myanmar to bar UN human rights investigators from entering – 30 June, 2017

Reuters – Myanmar says it will refuse entry to U.N. investigators probing Rohingya abuses – 30 June, 2017