Former Pinochet-era Agents Sentenced to Prison

By Cintia Garcia
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Santiago, Chile—A Chilean court of appeals in Santiago has condemned and sentenced eleven agents of the Intelligence Services of former president and dictator General Augusto Pinochet. The cases brought before the court involved the murder and disappearances of Maria Alvarado Borgel and Martin Elgueta Pinto.

The Chilean Court has sentenced former agents to prison. (Photo Courtesy of Telesur)

The victims disappeared on July 15th 1974 and were killed in the facility that the intelligence service called “Londres 38.” According to testimony, both Maria Alvarado Borgel and Martin Elgueta Pinto were tortured prior to being killed in the facility. Maria Alvarado Borgel was twenty-one years old and worked as a secretary. She was apprehended by agents of the Intelligence Service as she walked with a friend. On July 17th, 18th, and 25th, the agents took Ms. Borgel to the home of her mother and other family members who testified seeing her in deplorable conditions, including burns to her body. The other victim, Martin Elgueta Pinto was twenty-one years old and a student at the University of Chile studying commercial engineering. Mr. Pinto was interrogated and suffered physical abuse by the agents.

The sentences imposed on the agents by presiding Judge, Leopoldo Llanos,  ranged from fifteen to four years in prison. In addition to the sentences, the Chilean state must pay seventy-seven thousand dollars to the brothers of the victim and all the activists belonging to the Revolutionary Left Movement.

In addition to the eleven agents, six other agents of the intelligence service under the Pinochet era have been sentenced for disappearances and murders during the dictatorship. These cases included the murder of Arturo Barría Araneda and Jorge Pardo Aburto.

For more information, please see:

La Patria—Condenado en Chile Oficial que Mató a Adolescente en Protesta Contra Pinochet—5 March 2017.

La Nacion—Dictan Condena Contra 11 Exagentes de la Dina por el Secuestro Calificado de dos Jóenes—27 February 2017.

Telesur—Chilean Court Sentences 11 Pinochet-Era Intelligence Agents—27 February 2017.

El Diario—Condenan en Chile a Cinco Agentes de Pinochet por una Victima de la Operación Colombo—13 February 2017.

Thailand Urged to Criminalize Torture and Enforced Disappearances

By: Nicole Hoerold
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – On February 28, the UN human rights office urged the government of Thailand to criminalize enforced or involuntary disappearances and the torture of individuals. Thailand has a prolonged history of disappearances, including that of lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit in 2004, and human rights activist Pholachi Rakchongcharoen in 2014. A UN working group on enforced disappearances recorded a total of 82 cases of disappearance in Thailand since 1980.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha at a cabinet meeting in May 2016. Photo courtesy of: Reuters.

Currently, Thailand does not legally recognize torture and enforced disappearances as criminal behavior. In May 2016, Thailand’s government did announce its intention to submit a bill to criminalize the behaviors. Importantly, the proposed bill would be the first Thai law to recognize the illegality of torture and enforced disappearances with absolutely no exceptions for political or national security circumstances. However, the government failed to provide a plan or frame for taking action on the matter.

Torture in Thailand has become increasingly severe since the military coup in May 2014, with many reports of individuals being taken into military custody and being tortured or mistreated. Reports allege that individuals have undergone torture through beatings, electric shocks, and near suffocation. Not only has the government vehemently denied these allegations, but it has blamed individuals for making false statements with the intention of damaging the country’s reputation.

Since October 2007, Thailand has been a party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Convention requires governments to investigate and prosecute instances of torture and the like. Now, organizations like the UN and Human Rights Watch are urging states to press the Thai government on this issue and protect and enforce fundamental human rights and liberties.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – U.N. says Thailand leaves legal loophole for torture, disappearances – 28 February, 2017

United Nations – UN rights office disappointed with with Thai Government’s refusal to criminalize enforced disappearances – 28 February, 2017 

Human Rights Watch – World Report: Thailand – 2016

Bangkok Post – The faces of the disappeared – 3 February, 2017

Houthi Rebels Recruiting Young Boys for Battle in Yemen

by Yesim Usluca
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen— According to a statement released by Amnesty International on Tuesday, February 28th, the Houthi militia in Yemen are recruiting child soldiers as young as age fifteen to fight in the frontlines of the war in Yemen. The United Nations (“UN”) High Commissioner for Human Rights noted that approximately 1,500 child soldiers had been enlisted by the militia thus far, but that the actual number of boys who had been drawn into the war was most likely higher.

The boys are reportedly “excited to shoot Kalashnikovs . . . and wear military uniforms[.]” (Photo courtesy of Middle East Eye)

Amnesty International stated that Houthi rebels have been recruiting boys between the ages of fifteen and seventeen in the city of Sana’a, after taking it in September 2014. The rights group indicated that activities and lectures held at religious centers are being used to encourage young boys to join the battle to protect the country against Saudi Arabia.

A Yemeni reporter, Ms. Afrah Nasser, further stated that the Houthis also go door-to-door, knocking and demanding that boys in their teenage years “join the jihad.” She indicated that two of her cousins were moved out of Sana’a by their families and therefore avoided being recruited. She noted, however, that the families are now displaced, with one being in Saudi Arabia and the other in Ethiopia.

Deteriorating conditions in Yemen are allegedly contributing to the ease with which the children are recruited. The UN stated that the young boys are tempted by the rebels through promises of “financial rewards or social status.” They are then quickly sent to the frontlines or assigned to guard checkpoints. Witnesses claim that the boys are “excited to shoot Kalashnikovs . . . and wear military uniforms[.]” Amnesty International noted that the Houthis promise to pay the families a fee of $80 to $120 per child if he becomes “martyred” by dying on the frontlines in an effort to silence them. The families of the children, however, are reportedly afraid to speak up or search for their children for fear of being detained. The rights organization further stated that parents are typically unaware of their children’s recruitment. The families of four boys were alerted to the situation only after local residents informed them that they had seen their children boarding a bus at a Houthi center.

Mr. Samah Hadid, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s regional office in Beirut, called the Houthi forces’ act of taking young boys from their homes and placing them on the frontlines of battle “appalling[.]” Citing violations of international law, Mr. Hadid stated that the Houthis
“must immediately end all forms of recruitment of children under [eighteen] . . . [.]” The UN, moreover, demanded an immediate release of all child soldiers in Yemen.

The Houthis have a history of recruiting young children into their forces. In 2015, the UN had discovered that approximately 72 percent of children that were engaged in fighting were doing so on behalf of the Houthi militia.

For more information, please see:

Daily Sabah—At least 1,500 boys exploited as child soldiers in Yemen war, UN says—1 March 2017

Amnesty International—Yemen: Huthi forces recruiting child soldiers for front-line combat—28 February 2017

UN News Centre—Yemen: UN verifies nearly 1,500 boys recruited for use in armed conflict—28 February 2017

Middle East Eye—Houthi rebels recruit children to fight in Yemen’s war: Amnesty—28 February 2017

Huffington Post—Boys As Young As 15 Are Being Recruited For Front-Line Combat In Yemen—28 February 2017

Report Shows 10 Hate Crimes Per Day on Refugees in Germany in 2016

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

 

BERLIN, Germany — According to a report conducted by the German Interior Ministry, over 2,500 migrants in Germany were attacked in 2016 as the result of hate crimes.  560 migrants were injured, including 43 children.  Nearly 1,000 of the attacks were on migrant housing, and 217 of the attacks were on refugee organizations and volunteers.  An average of 10 attacks per day occured.

Police in Heidenau secure a refugee center from attacks from far-right extremists opposed to asylum accommodation (Photo Courtesy of The Independent)

In February 2016, a neo-Nazi was sentenced to eight years in jail for burning down a sports hall which housed refugees and caused $3.7 million worth of damage.  In another instance, a group of onlookers cheered as an asylum shelter in eastern Germany was engulfed in flames.

German authorities have recently tightened their refugee procedures, practicing stricter benefit rules, speeding up the process of removing failed asylum seekers, and paying refugees to voluntarily return to their home countries.  Though the country is still struggling with a backlog of asylum applications, Germany’s intake of refugees fell in 2016 to 280,000 from 890,000 in 2015.

The German government issued a statement strongly condemning the violence on refugees, commenting that “people who have fled their home country and seek protection in Germany have the right to expect safe shelter.”

A left-wing politician with the Die Linke party, Ulla Jelpke, blames the violence on far-right extremism, and called upon the government to take stronger action to eliminate the violence.  Jelpke asked whether “people have to die before the right-wing violence is considered a central domestic security problem and makes it to the top of the national policy agenda” and called on the government to “stop giving the impression through new tougher asylum laws that refugees are a threat.”

International human rights group Amnesty International commented that “there are structural problems in Germany with how it prevents and deals with hate crimes.”  Amnesty called for “better risk assessments, more protection at certain locations and prosecutions of these appalling racist crimes.”

2016 was the first year in which data was collected on the amount of attacks on refugees, so the total number of attacks cannot be compared with those of previous years.

 

For more information, please see:

Aljazeera — ’10 Attacks a Day’ Against Refugees, Shelters in 2016 — 26 February 2017

BBC — Germany Hate Crime: Nearly 10 Attacks a Day on Migrants in 2016 — 26 February 2017

The Independent — Nearly 10 Attacks on Refugees a Day in Germany in 2016 — 26 February 2017

International Business Times — Germany sees Hate Crimes Against Migrants Surge in 2016 to 3,500 — 26 February 2017

Kim Jong Nam Killed By Illegal Chemical Nerve Agent

By: Nicole Hoerold
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEPANG DISTRICT, Malaysia – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half brother, Kim Jong Nam, was killed on February 13 in a Malaysian airport. Surveillance footage shows two young women smearing a substance in the estranged brother’s face, which led to his immediate death. Officials have now identified the substance as VX nerve agent, a chemical nerve gas derived from organophosphate pesticides.

A VX nerve agent stockpile at the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana, 1997. Photo courtesy of: AP.

VX nerve agent is internationally recognized as an illegal chemical weapon, and stockpiles have been largely destroyed throughout the globe since the enforcement of the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997. The chemical agent inhibits the functioning of glands and muscles by blocking an important enzyme which allows the muscles to relax. Only a few milligrams are enough to kill someone in minutes’ time.

The two women who facilitated the attack told officials that they were approached by foreign men and were paid $90 to smear what they thought was a harmless substance in the man’s face. Many believe that the attack was carried out on behalf of Kim Jung Un himself, who has apparently felt threatened by his half brother. The fact that the murder was carried out using a highly toxic and illegal substance encourages the belief that the North Korean government is responsible.

If this is the case, the incident raises new concerns about North Korea’s stockpile of chemical weapons, in addition to long-term concerns regarding the state’s nuclear weapons program.

For more information, please see:

CNN – VX nerve agent used to kill Kim Jong Nam, police say – 24 February, 2017

NY Times – Woman Held in Death of North Korean Leader’s Kin Says She Was Duped – 25 February, 2017

NY Times – In Kim Jong-nam’s Death, North Korea Lets Loose a Weapon of Mass Destruction – 24 February, 2017

NY Times – What Is VX Nerve Agent? A Deadly Weapon, Rarely Seen – 24 February, 2017

Washington Post – Kim Jong Un’s half brother was killed by VX nerve agent, Malaysian police say – 23 February, 2017

Chicago Tribune – Kim Jong Un’s brother was killed by banned chemical nerve agent, police say – 24 February, 2017