Colombia and FARC Agree to De-escalate

By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia has agreed to de-escalate attacks against FARC rebels, so long as FARC maintains their unilateral ceasefire. FARC representatives announced on July 8th that they would initiate a ceasefire starting July 20th. The Colombian government agreed to de-escalate actions against FARC. Representatives of the two parties announced the agreement in a joint press release from the ongoing peace conference, held in Havana, Cuba.

Colombian lead negotiator Humberto de la Calle and FARC lead negotiator Ivan Marquez at Havana peace talks. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

Talks have been ongoing for about two and a half years, but have recently suffered set-backs caused by a significant escalation of violence between the parties in recent months. The most recent ceasefire (called for by FARC in December 2014) ended after 11 Colombian soldiers were killed in April. FARC officially ended the ceasefire on May 22, and relations between the parties (and the quality of the peace talks) have deteriorated since.

Following the initial April incident, Colombia resumed bombing campaigns against FARC-held positions. FARC responded by targeting Colombian oil pipelines. June was the most violent month in the Colombian/FARC conflict since 2012, with the Conflict Analysis Resource Center (in Bogota) logging 83 armed attacks during the month.

Although FARC has called for bilateral ceasefires in the past, the Colombian government has rejected the notion each time. The lead negotiator for the Colombian government, Humberto de la Calle, has emphasized that this agreement does not constitute a bilateral cease fire.

Speaking following the announcement of the agreement, de la Calle said, “We are not going to just paralyze government forces for a simple illusion that will later prove frustrating.” He specified that Colombian forces will continue to respond to any instances of violence coming from FARC rebels.

Talks have been ongoing between Colombia and FARC in Havana since November 2012. Cuba and Norway are both acting as guarantors to the peace process, and have each called for a truce. Pope Francis has also offered Vatican assistance in the peace process.

Colombian President Santos has pledged that the government and FARC will work together towards a final peace agreement “without delay.” He also announced that he will make a decision in four months on whether to continue the process, or not.

220,000 people have died in the 50 year conflict between the government and the rebels, and millions of civilians have been displaced.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Colombia agrees to reduce attacks against the Farc – 12 July 2015

International Business Times – Colombia and FARC Agree on De-Escalation Plan, Removing Roadblock to Historic Peace Deal – 12 July 2015

REUTERS – Colombia says to de-escalate war if rebels uphold ceasefire – 12 July 2015

TeleSur – FARC and Colombian Government Agree to Ease Hostilities – 12 July 2015

ABC News – Pope Offers Vatican Assistance to Colombia Peace Process – 13 July 2015

 

Russia Blocks UN Security Council Resolution Recognizing Srebrenica Massacre as “Genocide”

by Shelby Vcelka

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

UNITED NATIONS–

UN Security Council held a session last Wednesday on a resolution that would have condemned the Srebrenica massacre of 1995 as a “crime of genocide.” The text of the resolution stated that the “acceptance of the tragic events at Srebrenica as genocide is a prerequisite for reconciliation.” Of the fifteen members of the Security Council, four members abstained from the vote, while ten voted in favor. Only Russia voted against the resolution. The resolution’s failure to pass marks a new low in international politics and relations among the Western powers.

In 1995, 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica. Approximately 7,000 bodies have been recovered since the incident; about 1,000 victims are still missing. (Photo courtesy of dw.com)

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb troops in the worst massacre since the Second Word War. The victims were shot and buried in a mass grave after Serbian forces overran a safe zone watched by Dutch United Nations peacekeepers during the final months of the Bosnian War.

The Russian ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, described the resolution as “counter productive, confrontational and politically motivated.” He claimed that the resolution blamed the Bosnian Serbs for atrocities that were committed by all parties involved in the conflict. The resolution would further “doom the region to tension,” Mr. Churkin claimed, as Serbia was opposed to the motion. Russia and Serbia have close political ties.

Prior to the vote, the United States, Russia, and Britain attempted to come to a compromise on the language of the text. The American ambassador, Samantha Power, stated that the writers of the draft attempted to tackle many of Russia’s concerns, but Russia spurned the definition of genocide offered by the resolution. The vote had been pushed back a day to address other issues Russia had, but to no avail.

Serbia, who does not have a seat on the Security Council, has denied the allegations that the massacre was a “genocide,” and asked ally Russia to block the resolution. The denial is in spite of a UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague and other international courts recognizing the event as a genocide. Serbia admits that a “grave crime” was committed as it created closer ties with the West, but refuses to call acknowledge the legal definition of genocide.

For more information, please see–

BBC– Russia vetoes UN move to call Srebrenica ‘genocide’— 08 July 2015

Business Insider–Russia blocks U.N. condemnation of Srebrenica as a genocide— 08 July 2015

DW.com– Russia blocks UN resolution condemning Srebrenica ‘genocide’— 08 July 2015

New York Times– Russia Vetoes U.N. Resolution Calling Srebrenica Massacre ‘Crime of Genocide’— 08 July 2015

The Telegraph– Russia blocks UN resolution condemning Srebrenica massacre as genocide— 08 July 2015

President Obama Grants Clemency to Non-violent Drug Offenders

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America — On Monday, as a part of a renewed effort to reform the criminal justice system, President Barack Obama has commuted the prison sentences of 46 drug offenders. Obama said the move was part of his larger attempt to reform the criminal justice system, including reviewing sentencing laws and reducing punishments for non-violent crimes.

President Obama Expresses the Rationale for Granting Clemency. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

The prisoners will all be released by Nov. 10.

“I believe that at its heart, America is a nation of second chances,” President Obama stated, “and I believe these folks deserve their second chance.” Furthermore, the President went on to say, “Their [the prisoners] punishments didn’t fit the crime, and if they had been sentenced under today’s laws, nearly all of them would have already served their time.”

President Obama’s action brought the total number of commutations he has issued to 89, exceeding that of any president since Lyndon B. Johnson, who commuted 226 sentences. In fact, President Obama has now commuted more sentences than the last four presidents combined.

Of the 89 commutations Obama has granted while in office, 76 have gone to nonviolent drug offenders who met criteria set by the Justice Department last year. The commutations come as the administration is working to reduce costs and overcrowding in federal prisons and to provide relief to inmates who were sentenced under the harsh guidelines put in place in the late 1980s as the country was grappling with the crack cocaine epidemic.

The president also called on Republicans and Democrats in Congress to change anomalies in federal sentencing laws, kicking off a week of presidential events devoted to the criminal justice system. Noting that Republicans have also expressed interest in criminal justice reform, Obama said, “The nation is spending too much money on incarceration of individuals who received long sentences for relatively minor drug crimes.”

This week’s focus on criminal justice signals a renewed bid by President Obama’s administration to tackle what he sees as a lack of fairness in the system. On Thursday, President Obama is expected to become the first sitting president to visit a federal prison when he goes to the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution outside of Oklahoma City.

For more information, please see:

BBC News — Obama frees drug offenders whose terms ‘didn’t fit crimes’ – 13 July 2015

CNN — President Barack Obama commutes sentences of 46 drug offenders – 13 July 2015

NY Times — Obama Commutes Sentences for 46 Drug Offenders – 13 July 2015

USA Today — Obama’s clemency grant largest since the 1960s – 13 July 2015

Washington Post — Obama commutes sentences of 46 nonviolent drug offenders – 13 July 2015

 

Several Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Believed to be Detained by Police

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

HONG KONG, China—

Chinese authorities detained human rights lawyer Li Heping on Friday. Police searched Mr. Li’s home in Beijing, seizing computers and documents. They then took Mr. Li away. His detainment is only the latest in a series of crackdowns on lawyers who defend dissidents and human rights advocates.

Mr. Li has worked on behalf of some of China’s most well known dissidents and rights advocates. His clients included Chen Guangcheng, a blind civil rights activist and legal advocate who escaped house arrest in 2012 and later moved to the United States.

Within the 24 hours preceding Mr. Li’s detainment, three other human rights attorneys disappeared, as well as a paralegal. It appears that the lawyers were detained as part as a growing investigation by Chinese authorities, but the details surrounding their disappearances remain unclear. Police have yet to confirm that they have the four lawyers and paralegal in custody.

Zhou Shifeng, Wang Yu, and Li Shuyun, all lawyers at the Fengrui Law Firm, disappeared on Thursday and Friday. The Fengrui Law Firm’s offices were searched, and police carried away at least three computers. As of Friday afternoon, some of the firm’s other lawyers had also gone missing, as well as its financial director and driver.

Mr. Zhou had just successfully won the release of a client, a news assistant for a German newspaper who had been detained by authorities for nine months. He is said to have been led away from his Beijing hotel by what appeared to be plainclothes police. His colleagues and wife have not heard anything from him since.

Ms. Yu, a human rights attorney, disappeared from her home on Thursday. Before being taken, Ms, Yu made it known through texts and social media that her power and internet had been shut off and that people were attempting to enter her home. Security guards at Ms. Yu’s apartment complex stated that police surrounded Ms. Yu’s building, saying that it was a drug bust. About a week before, while representing a client, Ms. Wu was thrown out onto the street by court bailiffs because she insisted on being at a cross examination.

Ms. Yu. (Photo courtesy of the Epoch Times)

Maya Wang, a Human Rights Watch researcher, has stated that Fengrui’s lawyers and paralegal could have been detained because of the Fengrui Law Firm’s employment of Wu Gan, an activist who publicized controversial cases on the internet. Mr. Wu was detained by police in May.

Other lawyers and human rights advocates in the region believe that the crackdown on human rights lawyers is part of the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to use criminal investigations to destroy China’s rights defense movement. The movement has challenged restrictions on freedom of expression as well as restrictions on the Chinese legal and political systems.

 

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – Chinese Authorities Appear to Detain 4 Human Rights Lawyers – 10 July 2015

Radio Free Asia – Beijing Rights Lawyer ‘Missing’, Believed Detained: Lawyer – 10 July 2015

The Epoch Times – Chinese Rights Lawyer Taken From Home By Police – 9 July 2015

Amnesty International – Urgent Action: Seven Missing in Feared Attack on Law Firm – 10 July 2015