Illinois Man Exonerated by DNA Evidence For 1984 Rape and Murder

February 13, 2015

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America –On Wednesday, an Illinois man who served 29 years in prison for the 1985 rape and murder of a high school girl was freed after DNA evidence cleared him of any link to the crime. Christopher Abernathy, 48, confessed to the killing of Kristina Hickey, 15, in 1984 in Park Forest, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago, was released on a court order last week.

Christopher Abernathy’s case was dismissed after he was exonerated by DNA evidence (Photo Courtesy of NPR).

Abernathy, who was 18 at the time of the crime, confessed to the murder, but suffered from a diminished mental capacity. Abernathy was diagnosed with learning disabilities, but nevertheless was allowed to sign a statement confessing to the murder of Hickey, then a sophomore at Rich East High School. Lauren Kaeseberg, of the Illinois Innocence Project, said that Abernathy was held for two days at the local police station while being persistently questioned, until he was “coerced” into signing a false confession.

At the time of the crime, law enforcement did not have the scientific technology, which made it possible to conduct DNA analysis. However, last year, Abernathy’s attorneys asked for DNA testing on eight pieces of critical evidence from the crime. The evidence was subsequently tested and the results showed that Abernathy’s DNA profile did not match any of the available evidence. With DNA evidence clearing him, the charges against Abernathy were dismissed. Abernathy has stated that he is “scared” to be let out of prison, but his attorneys said that he is ready to start a new life.

While the DNA results showed that all eight pieces of evidence suggested that there was a single killer, the DNA database found no matches. A cold-case team will now be put to work on the 30-year-old murder.

The number of people exonerated in the United States in 2014 has grown exponentially. The exoneration rate is now at a record high of 125, partly due to a growing number of prosecutors willing to admit their mistakes.

For more information, please see the following:

ABC CHICAGO – Christopher Abernathy Freed By DNA Tests in 1984 Murder of Kristina Hickey – 11 Feb. 2015.

CBS CHICAGO – Chicago Man Freed From Prison After Sentence Vacated In Illinois Teen’s 1984 Death – 11 Feb. 2015.

NPR – DNA Evidence Frees Illinois Man Convicted of Rape, Murder in 1984 – 11 Feb. 2015.

REUTERS – Illinois Man Freed By DNA After 29 Years’ Imprisonment For Murder – 11 Feb. 2015.

Colombia’s FARC Rebels Stop Recruiting Soldiers Under 17 Years

February 12, 2015

By Delisa Morris

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia — During peace talks in Cuba, Colombia’s leftist FARC guerillas announced on Thursday that they would stop recruiting soldiers under 17 years of age. Before a recruit had to be 15 years old to join the FARC.

Ivan Marquez, chief negotiator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), center / Photo courtesy of Fox News

This is just one of the latest in a number of conciliatory steps as peace talks to end five decades of conflict with the government advance. The two-year-old negotiations are taking place in Cuba’s capital, Havana.

Though Colombia’s government welcomed the move, they do not believe that it went far enough. International human rights law sets the minimum age for participation in any kind of combat at 18.

“First, I don’t understand why 17 years of age? The established norm is 18, and I don’t understand why they’ve only gone halfway,” President Juan Manuel Santos said in a speech in Colombia’s Caqueta province to inaugurate and electrification project.

“Colombian’s would have received it with greater joy, if they said they would not only stop recruiting children under 18 but they would free those they have recruited. … We will continue to insist upon that step,” he said.

The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, has allegedly been forcibly recruiting minors or taking on underage volunteers in remote rural areas with few opportunities for a long time.

Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said on Thursday that half of the FARC members who have been demobilizing from the rebel force are under 18 or were when they joined. They usually perform minor chores, such as cooking or clearing jungle paths while training as combatants.

The FARC’s ranks have been roughly halved to around 8,000 by a U.S.-backed military offensive that has run for over a decade and forced the group, and its lesser counterpart, the National Liberation Army (ELN), deeper in their jungle escapes.

The FARC initiated a unilateral ceasefire shortly before Christmas as both sides to de-escalate. The FARC and the government are negotiating a five-point agenda for peace.

Partial agreement has been reached on three of the agenda items: land reform, ending the illegal drug trade and political participation for the guerrillas. The remaining issues are disarmament and demobilization, and reparations for victims of the war, which has killed around 220,000 people.

For more information, please see:

Fox News – Colombia’s main rebel group vows to stop recruiting youths under age 17 – 21 Feb. 2015

Reuters – Colombia’s FARC rebels raise minimum recruitment age to 17 – 12 Feb. 2015

BBC – Colombian FARC: No recruitment of soldiers under 17 – 12 Feb. 2015

Yahoo News – Colombia rebels vow to stop recruiting youths under 17 – 12 Feb. 2015

Brazil Oil Ship Explosion: 5 Confirmed Deaths

February 12, 2015

By Delisa Morris

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil — On Wednesday, three workers had been killed and 10 injured in the explosion at an offshore oil and gas platform in Brazil. By Thursday the number had risen to five. The oil and gas platform was ran by state oil company, Petrobras was about 25 miles (40 km) off the coast.

This vessel exploded Wednesday killing five workers / image courtesy of the guardian

According to the company four of the 74 workers who were on the platform remain missing. The explosion occurred off the state of Espirito Santo. Currently rescue teams are searching for the four missing workers, according to The Oil Workers Union of the State of Espirito Santo. It also said that 10 workers were injured in the blast.

The union noted on its Facebook page that the two bodies were found inside the engine room of the vessel, one of many floating oil production, storage and offloading units that Petrobras employs in developing Brazil’s massive offshore oil fields.

The ship was leased by Petrobras from Norway-based BW Offshore, which confirmed the new death toll and the number of missing workers.

“It was a tragic day and we will not rest until we find the four workers who are missing,” BW Offshore’s CEO, Carl Arnet, said in a statement.

BW Offshore said that 65 workers were safely evacuated from the ship.

The Unified Oil Workers Federation, Brazil’s biggest oil industry union, has said that the blast was caused by a gas leak in the vessel’s engine room.

According to the Brazilian government’s National OIl Agency no oil leaked as a result of the accident and that it had begun an investigation. The agency noted the ship had passed a navy inspection earlier this year.

This accident could not come at a worse time for state oil company Petrobras, as federal investigators continue to probe a massive kickback scheme allegedly coordinated and ran by former executives of the oil company, which led to them receiving hundreds of millions in bribes from construction and engineering firms in exchange for giving those companies inflated contracts.

For more information, please see:

the guardian – Brazil oil ship explosion death toll rises to five – 12 Feb. 2015

Reuters – BW Offshore says five killed in Brazil explosion were its workers – 12 Feb. 2015

Forbes – Explosion Kills Three Aboard Petrobras Offshore Natural Gas Platform in Brazil – 11 Feb. 2015

CNN – Oil platform explosion kills 3 in Brazil – 11 Feb. 2015

Upcoming Conversation: Reconciliation Post-Conflict: Approaches, Practices and Realities

February 12, 2015

Newsletter |F ebruary 2015Upcoming Conversation:

Reconciliation Post-Conflict: Approaches, Practices and Realities

Join New Tactics in Human Rights for an online conversation on Reconciliation Post-Conflict: Approaches, Practices and Realities — February 23-27, 2015.

Daily headlines around the globe portray the numerous conflicts that arise as a result of heated points of contention. Seemingly disparate ideologies, unequal distribution of resources, political, ethnic, cultural and religious differences can all be contributing factors in the emergence of conflict between groups. In the aftermath of conflict, what role can reconciliation play as a path forward; toward healing, peaceful relations, improved communication and functioning societies?

Where does the process of reconciliation begin, with whom and when? These questions and more will be discussed in New Tactics in Human Rights Conversation – Reconciliation Post-Conflict: Approaches, Practices and Realities. This online conversation will seek to identify the role of reconciliation in post-conflict environments. Practitioners will share experiences, lessons learned, approaches and challenges with the reconciliation process from the perspective of reconciliation efforts around the globe.

New Tactics is looking for practitioners with experience in this area to be Conversation Leaders. Would you or someone in your network be perfect to take part as a Conversation Leader? Contact Brent Jensen at newtactics@cvt.org

The Latest From New Tactics

Ceasefire Deal reached for Eastern Ukraine

February 12, 2015

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

KIEV, Ukraine – a ceasefire deal was announced Thursday after more than 16 hours of discussions between the Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Putin, the leaders of Ukraine and Russia in Minsk, brokered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. The ceasefire is due to enter into effect on Sunday. The ceasefire is considered a breakthrough in the 10-month conflict which has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people, many of them civilians and relations between Russia and the West to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking alongside French President Francois Hollande, said that while more work remained to be done to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine “what we have on the table gives us great hope.” Merkel acknowledged that the agreement is not perfect but argued it is an opportunity for progress in addressing the tensions in the region and is “clearly preferable to the situation if we had done nothing.”

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. (photo courtesy of CNN International)

In a joint declaration, released by the German government, the four leaders stated “their full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” and sated that they “firmly believe that there is no alternative to an exclusively peaceful settlement.” The declaration stated leaders “will use their influence on relevant parties” to ensure the package of measures are put into place. “Leaders share the conviction that improved cooperation between the EU, Ukraine and Russia will be conducive to the crisis settlement,” it added.

During a press conference after the Minsk talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said all parties had agreed to the ceasefire starting February 15 and called for restraint before the ceasefire is set to go into effect. “I call on both sides to end the bloodshed as soon as possible” and come to a political solution to the conflict, he said. Putin argued that the talks between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany took so long, he said, because authorities in Kiev still refuse to have direct talks with separatists.

United State President Barack Obama issued a statement on the breakthrough ceasefire agreement “The United States welcomes the agreement reached today in Minsk” it said. “The agreement represents a potentially significant step toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict and the restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty.” However, the United States has continued to expresses concern that the spirit of the accord has been challenged by continued, intense frightening continued in the region.

A Ukrainian military spokesman said around 50 tanks, 40 missile systems and 40 armored vehicles had crossed the border between Ukraine and Russia overnight, accusations that were dismissed by the Putin regime. NATO, however, has said there is overwhelming evidence of Russian military equipment and personnel entering Ukraine but declined to comment on the latest report from the Ukrainian military “The intensity of fighting is evidenced by a sharp increase in the number of people trying to leave front-line towns,” said NATO spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty was a key issue going into the discussions. Russia annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine last spring, shortly before pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions declared independence from Kiev. “Ukraine will always be a unitary state. No federalization whatsoever! #UnitedForUkraine,” Poroshenko tweeted after the deal was announced. In Facebook post, he said that “we did not agree to a single ultimatum.”

For more information please see:

CNN International – Ukraine Ceasefire Deal Reached After Marathon Minsk Talks – 12 February 2015

The Guardian – Ukraine Ceasefire Aims To Pave Way for Comprehensive Settlement of Crisis – 12 February 2015

National Public Radio – Ukraine Cease-Fire Is Reached, Along With $40 Billion Aid Deal – 12 February 2015

Reuters – ‘Glimmer of Hope’ For Ukraine after New Ceasefire Deal – 12 February 2015