53 Charged After Celebrating Gay Wedding in Nigeria

April 28, 2017

By Samantha Netzband

Impunity Watch, Africa Desk Reporter

LAGOS, Nigeria– 53 men have been arrested in the Nigerian state of Kaduna after celebrating a gay wedding. The group was charged with conspiracy, unlawful association, and unlawful society. Currently homosexual acts are illegal in Nigeria. If caught for performing homosexual acts one can face up to 14 years in prison.

Kenyan gay and lesbian organizations demonstrate outside the Nigerian High Commission in Nairobi on February 7, 2014. (Photo Courtesy of NBC News)

Upon being charged the group plead not guilty to the charges of conspiracy, unlawful assembly, and unlawful society. The groups defense lawyer, Yunusa Umar, claims that the group was illegally detained for 24 hours. He also said that most of the group is students. Gay rights group claim that the group was celebrating a birthday rather than a wedding. Maria Sjodin, deputy executive director of LGBTQ advocacy group OutRight Action International, said she believes the gay wedding story is just an “excuse” and part of the police’s attempt to “crackdown on an emerging LGBTQ movement” in Nigeria.

Homosexual acts were made illegal in Nigeria in 2014. The creation of this law came from the two conservative parts of the country: evangelical Christianity in the South and Islam in the North. Human Rights Watch and other rights group claim that the law was also created to legitimize abuse in the LGBT community. “Extortion, mob violence, arbitrary arrest, torture in detention, and physical and sexual violence” are common against people suspected of homosexual activities, Human Rights Watch said in a 2016 report. The country also bans gay marriage.

Currently the group is out of jail on bail pending a hearing on May 8th.

For more information, please see:

BBC Africa – Nigeria ‘gay wedding’ bust leads to charges – 20 April 2017

Deutsche Welle – Nigeria arrests 53 over Gay Wedding – 20 April 2017

The Journal – Nigeria charges 53 men with conspiracy to organise a gay wedding – 20 April 2017

NBC News – 53 Arrested in Nigeria for Celebrating Gay Wedding, Police Say – 20 April 2017

International Center for Transitional Justice: In Focus World Report

April 27, 2017

ICTJ World Report
April 2017

In Focus

Laundering the Corrupt Is a National Priority? Tunisian Civil Society Again Opposes the National Reconciliation Law

This is the third time that the Tunisian government, supported by several Members of Parliament, has put debate of the National Reconciliation Law on the political agenda. Rearranged in form but with the same substantial faults, this law has mobilized the opposition — for the third time — of approximately 20 civil society organizations that met yesterday and plan to soon hold a press conference.

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World Report

Africa

A court in Cote d’Ivoire cleared former First Lady Simone Gbagbo of war crimes and crimes against humanity charges after a trial on her alleged role in post-election abuses that led to the deaths of thousands. However, she must still serve 20 years in prison after being found guilty in 2015 of offenses against the state. The United Nations found 17 mass graves in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as gathered reports of rapes and killings by soldiers. The International Criminal Court said the violence may amount to war crimes. According to the International Criminal Court, Uganda will not withdraw from the Rome Statute. In Kenya police watchdog groups are investigating a video that appears to show police officers executing an alleged gang member in Nairobi. The Gambia held its first parliamentary elections since long-time leader Yahya Jammeh left power. The country is expected to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in upcoming months. The bodies of victims of Rwanda‘s 1994 genocide are still being discovered today, some with the aid of information from prisoners convicted for their involvement. Rwanda’s high court also convicted a man accused of leading and coordinating attacks on minority Tutsis during the genocide and sentenced him to life in prison. Protests in South Africa continued to call for honest and transparent governance. Former rebels in Mali agreed to attend a peace conference after previously saying they would boycott the talks.

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Americas

In Colombia, a truth commission has been officially launched to investigate what happened during the 52-year conflict that led to the victimization of 8 million people. Meanwhile, the demobilization and disarmament of FARC rebels continues with the building of “peace villages” to help facilitate their reintegration into society, which includes female combatants taking on the role of battling gender inequality. Former Guatemalan dictator Efrian Rios Montt will face a second trial on genocide charges for the deaths of around 200 people in the 1982 Dos Erres Massacre. Victims of Peru‘s forced sterilization program between 1996 and 2000 are seeking justice with the help of the Quipu Project, which hopes to change attitudes about the often taboo subject and help people speak out about their experiences. The number of “disappeared” in Mexico rose to 30,000 as of the end of 2016, according to the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH). The organization has also counted 1,143 mass graves containing 3,230 bodies in 30 Mexican states, all secretly buried within the last decade.

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Asia

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi denied that ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population was occurring, while a top official called a potential UN probe into alleged human rights abuses in Rakhine state an unwanted obstacle. Too many tourists visiting Cambodia’s “killing fields” has raised concerns that commercialism might compromise efforts to preserve memorials for the 2 million or so lives lost under Pol Pot. Meanwhile, the Khmer Rouge Tribunal is seeking funding for its reparation efforts. A retired police officer who testified to killing hundreds of people while working for a “death squad” under Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has fled the country for fear of his life. The people of Tamil Nadu in Sri Lanka continued their demand for justice for war crimes committed during the country’s civil war. In Thailand, a brass plaque commemorating the historic proclamation ending 700 years of absolute monarchy in Thailand was mysteriously removed and replaced by a new plaque honoring the monarchy. The Chinese National Party (KMT) proposed a transitional justice bill that urged the inclusion of compensation for those affected by wartime missions after 1949.

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Europe

Files archived by the United Nations with early evidence of Holocaust death camps were opened for the first time to the public and online. The UN urged Kosovo to investigate the threat of “ethnic cleansing” by a senior official. The Council of Europe also said the country must end impunity for the crimes committed during the conflict by ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to justice. Bosnia tried nine former Bosnian Serb soldiers and policemen on charges related to the capture, abuse, and murder of Bosniak civilians in 1992.

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Mena

In Tunisia, parliament today is debating a “reconciliation law” that would grant amnesty to businessmen accused of corruption during the rule of autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali – a bill already delayed two years by popular opposition. Meanwhile, the country’s Truth and Dignity Commission has made efforts to confront past horrors and bring some perpetrators to justice. US Senators introduced a bipartisan bill in a bid to investigate war crimes in Syria, including the creation of a “hybrid tribunal.” Witness testimony and documentation from Syria’s secret torture wards housed in military hospitals offered some of the most concrete evidence of crimes against humanity to date. In Lebanon, families of the missing urged the government to approve a project to collect DNA samples to try to trace victims’ whereabouts on the 42nd anniversary of the start of the nation’s civil war. A court in Egypt sentenced former interior minister Habib el-Adly, who served under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, to seven years in jail for corruption. Israel marked annual Holocaust Remembrance Day with the ritual wailing of sirens across the country.

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Publications

Assessing the Prospects for Transitional Justice in Georgia

Since Georgia’s independence in 1991, successive governments have struggled to deal with endemic corruption, organized crime, and various disputes along its borders, which sometimes sparked into armed conflict. Efforts to combat corruption and organized crime through its “zero-tolerance” policy on crime degenerated into extensive human rights violations.

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Media and Transitional Justice: A Dream of Symbiosis in a Troubled Relationship

In transitional contexts, reporting does not simply present the facts, but instead shapes the parameters for interpreting divisive political issues. Coverage in such polarized contexts can mitigate or obscure the substance of transitional justice efforts to establish what happened, who the victims were, and who was responsible for the violations.

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Upcoming Events

May 09, 2017

‘Adjudicating Rights’ – Manuel Cepeda in conversation with Octavio Ferraz and Sandra Fredman Location: University of Oxford View Details

June 08 – 09, 2017

Transnational and Global Dimensions of Justice and Memory Processes in Europe and Latin America Location: Paris View Details

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Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert

April 27, 2017

Atrocity Alert, No. 52, 26 April 2017	No Images? Click here

Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting and updating situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

Iraq

On 25 April a senior military commander in the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) reported that the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had been driven out of the al-Tanek neighborhood, the largest in western Mosul. The Iraqi government has been engaged in an offensive to militarily retake western Mosul from ISIL since 19 February.

Despite recent military gains, much of the western half of the city remains under ISIL control and up to 7,500 civilians continue to flee the city each day. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, over 382,000 people have been displaced from western Mosul since 19 February. The situation for hundreds of thousands of civilians who remain trapped inside western Mosul continues to deteriorate, with ISIL committing war crimes, including targeting civilians as they try to flee and using them as human shields. Members of the ISF and Kurdish Peshmerga forces have also carried out reprisals against Sunni civilians and have been accused of extrajudicial killings of captured ISIL fighters. Airstrikes by the United States-led coalition in densely populated areas have also resulted in increased civilian casualties.

While confronting ISIL and other armed groups, it is essential that the Iraqi government ensures the protection of all civilians, and addresses the underlying sources of conflict in Iraq. The UN Security Council, with Iraqi government support, should immediately establish an international investigative commission to collect and protect evidence regarding mass atrocity crimes perpetrated by ISIL in Iraq, including the genocide against the Yazidi. All perpetrators of atrocities in Iraq should be held accountable for their actions, regardless of their position or affiliation.

Photo credit: Reuters

Photo credit: Al Jazeera

Philippines

On 24 April Jude Sabio, a Filipino lawyer, filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing President Rodrigo Duterte and 11 other senior officials of crimes against humanity and mass murder.

Since President Duterte took office on 30 June 2016 almost 9,000 people have been killed during the government’s violent crackdown on alleged dealers and users of illegal drugs. While police have killed over 2,555 people in “anti-drug operations,” the rest have died in vigilante-style killings carried out by unidentified gunmen. President Duterte has publicly encouraged vigilante groups to join his violent campaign and has also threatened human rights lawyers and other critics.

If the Philippines government continues with its campaign of extrajudicial killings, and fails to hold perpetrators of possible crimes against humanity accountable, the international community should support calls for accountability under international law, potentially including via the ICC.

Photo credit: Mike Corder/AP

Photo credit: Getty Images

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Uruguayan Senate Approves Femicide Bill

April 27, 2017

By Cintia Garcia

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Montevideo, Uruguay—The Uruguayan Senate with thirty-one votes has unanimously voted in a favor of a bill that will make femicide a criminal offence. The bill is accompanied with two penal codes that will now be submitted and voted on in the House of Representatives. Furthermore, the senate is also working to approve a project that will target gender violence by modifying the penal code.

Women rejoice as the Uruguayan senate approves femicide bill. (Photo Courtesy of El Observador)

If a femicide is committed, an individual will be sent to prison for thirty years. The bill is a result of the increase of femicides in Uruguay. In February alone, there were five recorded femicides in a 37-day period. The rise in femicides led to large demonstrations in Uruguay. In addition to condemning the killings, demonstrators called for a femicide law that would make the killings a crime. The chairwoman of the Gender Equity and Diversity Commission at the Association of bank Employees stated, “We can’t say violence is over and decree it. We will not end the violence with law. But, we do understand every grain of sand, every decision we can make, and every unit of organization is a step towards a better society.”

The Frente Amplio and the National Party, two of the nations leading political parties that make up 80% of the Uruguayan parliament, called for action. They revisited a bill that was written in and sent to the senate in December of 2015 addressing Femicides—the bill has been dormant ever since. The gender violence bill was also submitted to the senate in April of 2016 with no action. Neighboring nations, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Brazil, have all instituted a penal code that criminalizes femicides. In many of these nations, femicides have been considered a crime of passion which is treated in a lesser degree. School teacher, Mary Nunez, stated, “We want femicide to be a specifically enshrined in our law, because in our law, there is only homicide. And homicide, as a word says, comes from man. And we are not men, we are women and men kill us.”

For more information, please see:

El Observador—10 Coasa que Usted Debería Saber Sobre la ley de Femicidio, y Bánquese la Reacción—19 April 2017.

Telesur—In Uruguay, Women Rejoice as Femicide Bill is Approved—19 April 2017.

El Observador—Senado Aprobó por Unanimidad Ley de Femicidios—18 April 2017.

Segundo Enfoque—Senado Uruguayo Aprobó ley de Femicidios—18 April 2017.

Human Rights Organizations Warn Against Vietnam’s Human Rights Offenses

April 26, 2017

By: Nicole Hoerold
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HANOI, Vietnam – The Vietnamese government is receiving international criticism for its human rights offenses. According to a study which measures global levels of human rights offenses, Vietnam is considered one of the world’s most authoritarian police states. Activists are concerned that too little attention is paid to the human rights abuses in Vietnam, despite the fact that its neighboring states are often criticized for their offenses.

Protesters hold signs calling for justice in the trials of dissident blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh and land protection activist Can Thi Theu in Hanoi, Vietnam in September 2016. Photo courtesy of Reuters.

One major human rights offense propagated by the Vietnamese government is the imprisonment of anyone voicing political opposition to the communist state. Amnesty International reports that Vietnam detained 91 prisoners for their political beliefs in 2016, eight of which were journalists.

Amnesty International has also called attention to Vietnam’s execution rate, as it is the third largest executioner over the last three years. The government executed 429 people between August 2013 and June 2016, the human rights organization reported. The high death toll raises questions about the victim’s cases, legal proceedings, as well as the nature of their crimes. The government, however, has yet to release answers to such probes.

Vietnam is a communist country, so the government is able to control much of society, culture, and political philosophy. Recently, citizens have begun to act out in protest against the government and in favor of more rights and liberties. Villagers in a Hanoi suburb are holding twelve police officers and more than a dozen others hostage over a land dispute. The government attempted to seize land for official use, but villagers were unhappy with the stipend they were paid in turn. Activists are applauding the effort and encourage more to speak out against oppressive state action.

For more information, please see:

The Diplomat – Vietnam’s Quiet Human Rights Crisis – 17 April, 2017

Foreign Policy – This Village In Vietnam Is Holding A Dozen Police Officers Hostage – 17 April, 2017

Asian Correspondent – Vietnam’s ‘conveyer belt of executions’ condemned by human rights watchdog – 11 April, 2017

Radio Free Asia – Detained Vietnamese Human Rights Attorney to Receive Award For His Work – 4 April, 2017