France Opens Criminal Investigation of Torture by Assad Regime

by Shelby Vcelka

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

PARIS, France–

Last week, France opened the first criminal inquiry into allegations of torture under the regime of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. Based upon tens of thousands of photographs taken by Syrian defectors, the evidence of torture is quite convincing. However, the investigation is still in the early stages, as a French torture victim or the arrest of a Syrian official will be necessary to move the charges forward.

Syrian defector “Ceasar” (blue hoodie jacket) took many of the 55,000 photographs that depict torture conducted by the Assad regime between 2011 and 2013. The photos are the basis of a French investigation into the crimes committed by the Assad regime, the first in the world against the Syrian government. (Photo courtesy of Yahoo!)

International human rights advocates have hailed the measure as necessary, despite the move being largely symbolic in nature. The problem, advocates state, is not the evidence, but rather the ability to get a live witness in front of a French courtroom.

“Faced with these crimes that offend the human conscience, this bureaucracy of horror, faced with this denial of the values of humanity, it is our responsibility to act against the impunity of the killers,” the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said while announcing the investigation to international press. Mr. Fabius asked prosecutors to move forward with the investigation on September 10th, immediately after the French government authenticated the photographs taken by the defectors. A unit in the prosecutor’s office that specializes in mass crimes will be in charge of the investigation.

France, along with the United States, believes that Assad is part of the problem in Syria, and that he cannot be part of the solution in the Middle East. The French insistence on this is based on the photographs depicting mass torture taken by the defectors. These photographs, taken between 2011 and 2013, portray victims with eyes gouged out, starved, beaten and maimed, as well as corpses piled up by the thousands. The scale of the problem is believed to have grown, as more people have been killed by the Assad regime than by ISIS since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.

Earlier in the week, the U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, called for the Syrian civil war to be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigation. France is the first country to act since this call has been made, and has since stated that their probe should not prevent other countries from acting, nor should the U.N. feel discouraged from beginning their own investigations.

For more information, please see—

The Telegraph–France ‘opens war crimes inquiry against Assad regime’ in Syria: UN debate— 29 September 2015

Economic Times– France opens probe into Assad regime for ‘crimes against humanity’: Judicial source— 30 September 2015

New York Times– France Opens Criminal Investigation of Torture in Syria Under Assad— 30 September 2015

Toronto Metro– France opens investigation into alleged crimes against humanity by Syria— 30 September 2015

Yahoo! News– France opens probe into Assad regime for crimes against humanity— 30 September 2015

Brazil: Former President Questioned in Scandal

By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil — The Federal Supreme Court has ruled that former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula) may be questioned in the Petrobras scandal. He may only be questioned as a witness and not as a target of investigation. Prosecutors say there is no evidence of tying Lula, who served as president of Brazil from 2003 until 2011, to any crimes. Should evidence of wrongdoing come to light, the Supreme Court would have to specifically authorize an investigation into Lula’s conduct.

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. (Photo courtesy of the New York Times).

The Federal Police motioned to question Lula, saying that he may have “obtained benefits for himself, his party, the still-governing PT (Workers Party); or his administration by maintaining a base of political support sustained at the cost of illicit business.” Investigators said that evidence that had already been obtained in plea bargain testimony from those already convicted implies that the scandal “reaches the political and partisan nucleus of his government.”

The scheme at the center of the Petrobras scandal is alleged to have run from 2004 until 2014. The scheme provided kickbacks for contracts and created the illusion of a competitive bidding process.

During at least part of the time when the scheme was in place, current President Dilma Rousseff was serving as Chairwoman of Petrobras. She has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

A number of high level officials who served under Lula have already been implicated in the scandal, including his former Chief of Staff, Jose Dirceu. Dirceu has been charged by federal prosecutors with corruption, money laundering and racketeering. He is believed to have started the scheme.

The former treasurer of the Worker’s Party Joao Vaccari was convicted of corruption, money laundering and conspiracy, and sentenced to over 15 years in prison. He accepted at least $1 million in bribes.

Additionally, charges have been brought against the current speaker of the lower house of congress, Eduardo Cunha, and senator Fernando Collor de Mello, who was president from 1990-1992.

As a result of the scandal, the Court has issued a prohibition on corporate entities providing funding to political candidates.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Brazil court allows allows Lula questioning in Petrobras corruption case – 2 October 2015

Wall Street Journal – Brazil Supreme Court Allows Police Questioning of Ex President – 2 October 2015

Agence France-Presse – Brazil high court: Lula can be questioned in Petrobras probe – 3 October 2015

Fox News Latino – Brazil high court OKs questioning of Lula in Petrobras corruption case – 3 October 2015

International Business Times – Petrobras Scandal: Brazil’s Highest Court Rules Authorities Can Question Former President Lula da Silva In Growing Political Kickback Investigation – 3 October 2015

Jurist – Brazil ex-president to be questioned in Petrobras case – 3 October 2015

 

 

 

Press Release: Sergei Magnitsky Posthumously Honoured by the Allard Prize Committee for International Integrity

5 October 2015 – Sergei Magnitsky, the Russian lawyer who exposed a $230 million corrupt scheme by Russian officials, has been posthumously honoured by the Allard Prize Committee for International Integrity. The recognition comes one month before the 6thanniversary of his murder in Russian police custody at the age of 37.

Sergei Magnitsky’s mother, wife and son attended the award ceremony held in Vancouver, Canada at the University of British Columbia’s Peter A. Allard School of Law.

On accepting the honourable recognition on behalf of Sergei Magnitsky, his mother said:

“I would like to thank all people who remember Sergei. Because when the person is remembered, that person is alive. I recently saw a person who said I am alive because of Sergei’s sacrifice.”

Valery Borschev, chair of the Moscow Public Oversight Commission, who investigated how Sergei Magnitskyhad been tortured and murdered in police custody, said:

“Magnitsky lived like Solzhenitsyn wrote – don’t be afraid, don’t beg. I think he is a hero.”

Sergei Magnitsky was one of four finalists for the 2015 Allard Prize for International Integrity. The other finalists included Indonesia Corruption Watch, and two recipients of the prize – John Githongo, who exposed a $1 billion corruption scandal in the Kenyan government, and Rafael Marques de Morais, a journalist writing on issues of conflict diamonds and army brutality in Angola. (View the Allard Prize short film about Sergei Magnitsky and the other finalists)

The Allard Prize for International Integrity recognizes individuals and organisations who show exceptional courage and leadership in combating corruption.

Sergei Magnitsky’s name has become synonymous with the lack of rule of law in Russia. His torture and killing in Russian police custody after he uncovered and testified about Russian officials involved in the $230 million theft has led to the adoption of the 2012 Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act in the United States which imposes targeted sanctions in the form of visa bans and asset freezes on those involved in his case, as well as in other gross human rights abuses. A Global Magnitsky Bill which would apply similar sanctions to cases of human rights violations around the world is currently under consideration in the U.S. Senate after its approval by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

For more information please contact:

 

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org  

website: www.lawandorderinrussia.org  

Facebook: http://on.fb.me/hvIuVI

Twitter: @KatieFisher__

 

Kunduz Takeover Underscores Taliban’s Threat in Afghanistan

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

KABUL, Afghanistan –

On Monday, Taliban militants captured Kunduz, a provincial capital in Afghanistan. Afghan military forces regained the center of Kunduz on Thursday, but Taliban soldiers still remain in other areas of the city.

Kunduz, a city of 300,000, was taken over by the Taliban before dawn on Monday, taking Afghan troops and police by surprise. The Taliban occupied Kunduz for three days before retreating as Afghan forces regained control of the city center.

The Taliban has been accused of committing extrajudicial killings and other atrocities including rape and torture against civilians during its three-day takeover. The militants also looted Kunduz’s banks and military weaponry and set fire to government buildings.

Taliban fighters hugging after their takeover of Kunduz (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

The capture of Kunduz was a victory for the Taliban’s new leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, because it is one of the most strategic and wealthy cities in Afghanistan and is the first provincial capital to fall to the Taliban since the U.S. intervened in 2001.

The Deputy Chief of Staff for the Afghan army, Murad Ali Murad, has stated that most Taliban fighters had fled Kunduz, but that some are hiding in the homes of the civilians. A spokesman for the Taliban told Reuters that Taliban forces had retreated to the edges of Kunduz in an effort to surround Afghan and U.S. soldiers.

Thousands of civilians are reported to have fled from Kunduz during the fighting. The number of civilians killed during the fighting in Kunduz is currently unknown. As of Wednesday, around 30 people had been killed and around 340 were wounded.

Hospitals in Kunduz are running low on supplies due to Taliban roadblocks on the route from Kabul to Kunduz. Medical professionals are unable to get to the hospitals due to continued fighting in Kunduz.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has doctors working in Kunduz, has expressed growing concerns about the welfare of Kunduz citizens and the lack of proper medical supplies and personnel. The ICRC has emergency medical supplies ready to be flown when it is safe to land at Kunduz airport, which has been the staging area for Afghan forces attempting to retake control of the city.

The Taliban has started to gain ground recently, raising the question of whether NATO-trained Afghan security forces are prepared to face the Taliban’s insurgency on their own. NATO forces ended their combat mission in Afghanistan last year, but there are currently around 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan who have the role of training, advising, and assisting Afghan security forces.

Before the Taliban regime was overturned by a U.S.-led intervention in 2001, its five-year-long rule over Afghanistan was characterized by acts such as public executions and the denial of rights to women.

 

For more information, please see:

New York Times – U.S. Strikes Positions in Afghanistan as Taliban Gain Momentum – 2 October 2015

Reuters – Afghan Forces Push Into Taliban-Held Kunduz City Amid Fierce Clashes – 2 October 2015

Reuters – Taliban Hold Out in Northern Afghan City, District in Northeast Falls – 2 October 2015

BBC News – Taliban Triumph in Capture of Kuduz – 1 October 2015

CNN – Why the Taliban Takeover of Kunduz is a Big Deal – 29 September 2015

 

 

 

 

 

Coalition Demands Russia Focuses Attacks on the Islamic State

By Brittani Howell

Impunity Watch Reporter, The Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria –On Friday, over the course of 24 hours, Russia launched 18 airstrikes in Syria. The Russian Defense Ministry reported 18 attacks against 12 Islamic State facilities.

Man rides past the rubble of Wednesday’s airstrike in northern Hama. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters).

There is doubt in the International Community that Russia is only attacking the Islamic State. Many of the targeted areas are located in the western and northern parts of Syria. The Islamic State is mostly present in eastern areas in Syria.

The US-led coalition urged Russians, “to immediately cease its attacks on the Syrian opposition and civilians and to focus its efforts on fighting ISIL.” It continued, “We express our deep concern with regard to the Russian military build-up in Syria and especially attacks by the Russian Air Force on Hama, Homs, and Idlib since yesterday which led to civilian casualties and did not target Da’esh.”

Da’esh, ISIL, and ISIS are all acronyms for the Islamic State.

Russian warplanes flew over the Homs province on Friday. Homs province, which was under attack earlier this week, is held by anti-Assad rebels, but lacks an Islamic State presence. Prayers were cancelled Friday in fear that the mosques would be targeted.

On Thursday, a mosque located in Jisr al-Shughour was destroyed by a Russian airstrike. The mosque had been taken over by Islamic insurgents earlier this year.

Khdaier Khushfa, a Syrian activist, spoke with CNN and reported 17 civilian deaths in Talbiseh and 11 civilian deaths in Zafaraniya, as a result of Russian airstrikes on Wednesday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, stated, “I would like to stress that there were no strikes against civilian infrastructure, especially against buildings where there could have been or were peaceful residents.”

The U.N. Special Envoy to Syria had to suspend humanitarian operations as a result of the attacks. The operation would have allowed for safe passage out of Zabadoni for Sunni insurgents and their families, in return for the safe passage for Shi’ite families in Foua and Kfarya.

Syrian rebel training camps were struck by two Russian airstrikes on Thursday. The rebel group in Idlib is backed by the CIA and is tasked with aiding in the fight against the Islamic State. No deaths were reported for the attacks on the training camps.

Russian’s support for Assad stems from ties between Assad’s father and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Russia believes Assad should be at the center of the efforts to fight militants. The coalition, on the other hand, blames Assad for attacking citizens, which led to radicalizations of the rebels.

It is alleged that Russia’s support for Assad may be a driver for the airstrikes that were conducted in areas with very little to no Islamic State presence.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Spokesman: Russia Launches 18 Attacks in Syria in the Last 24 Hours – 2 October 2015

Reuters – U.S., Allies Demand Russia to Halt Syria Strikes Outside IS Areas – 2 October 2015

The Associated Press – The Latest: Hollande: Only 1 of Russia’s Raids Hits IS – 2 October 2015

The New York Times – Russia Hits ISIS Territory in Syria with Airstrikes but Ignores Western Demands – 2 October 2015