SNHR condemns the inhumane and immoral Russian attitude regarding its refusal to let the humanitarian aides enter the neighborhoods of Old City, and consider this attitude to be typical of bloody dictatorship totalitarian regimes, and we refuse to be among the five permanent members, which is supposed to protect security and civil peace around the world.
The international system should exceed the inhumane and immoral Russian attitude towards Syria, and find urgent face – saving solution to human rights agreements and treaties and international humanitarian law that have been developed over hundreds of years an and dissolved by Syrian and Russian regimes, and silence and inability rest of international parties, except for the Arab people in general and Syrian people in particular will not believe any more in humanitarian rule or treaty. This is what we warned about many times, the horrible international silence towards all those crimes against humanity that have been admitted by human rights council and Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. All of that is the main reason behind prevalence extremism thoughts and exploit their rights with their own hands.
By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
BOGOTA, Colombia – Italian drug lord Roberto Pannunzi, one of Europe’s most wanted drug traffickers and the world’s biggest cocaine importer, was arrested in Colombia on July 5th.
Roberto Pannunzi is escorted by police officers upon his arrival in Rome. (Photo Courtesy of AP/Angelo Carconi)
Roberto Pannunzi, 65, was caught in a Bogota shopping center and identified himself with a fake Venezuelan identification card bearing the name Silvano Martino, the Colombian Defense Ministry announced on Twitter. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) worked with Colombian police to find and arrest Pannunzi.
Less than 24 hours after his arrest in Colombia, he was deported and put on a plane from Bogota to Italy. An extradition order would have taken several months. Pannunzi was arrested by Italian police upon his arrival at Rome’s Fiumicino airport.
He was known as the “Pablo Escobar of Italy,” Colombian Defense Ministry said in a twitter post. Pannunzi is accused of importing between two and three tons of cocaine into Europe each month from South America, according to the defense ministry.
Pannunzi, known as Bebè (baby), is linked to the ‘Ndrangheta crime network which is based in the southern Italian region of Calabria. He is credited with soldering the link between the ‘Ndrangheta and Colombia’s Medellin cartels that has turned the ‘Ndrangheta into Italy’s richest and most feared organized crime syndicate according to Italian authorities.
Though often described as a mobster, Pannunzi is not known to have taken part in crimes of violence. Evidence pieced together from various investigations suggested his role was to collect guarantees of payment from various ‘Ndrangheta clans to pay for a shipment of cocaine from South America. Pannunzi would then broker the deal with the Colombians.
“He is the biggest cocaine importer in the world,” said Nicola Gratteri, deputy chief prosecutor in the Reggio Calabria province. “I hope there will be no more concessions, as in the past. And I say it because it is exhausting to have to go and search the world for Pannunzi every time he escapes,” said Gratteri.
Roberto Pannunzi was first detained in Colombia in 1994 and extradited to Italy but was released when his detention order expired. He was re-captured in 2004 in Madrid and handed over again to Italian authorities. He was tried and given a sentence of more than 16 years. In 2010, he staged a dramatic escape from a private hospital in Rome after being transferred there from jail on health grounds.
DEHUI, China –Eleven local Chinese officials have been detained as a result of a June 3rd fire at a poultry plant in China’s Jilin province that left 121 people dead and dozens of others injured. Investigators said an electrical short circuit ignited materials at the plant, causing the blaze which spread rapidly.
Fire crews searching for survivors at the poultry slaughterhouse
Those detained include the head of Dehui’s Mishazi township and the former head of the local construction bureau. Several fire department officials were also among those apprehended.
“Some of the suspects… falsified information to hide the facts that no serious fire safety inspections had been conducted and that proper fire safety equipment was not in place.” said the Xinhua news agency, citing the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
The poultry plant fire is China’s deadliest fire since 2000, when 309 people died in a blaze in a dance hall in Luoyang, in Henan province.
The deadly blaze has raised safety concerns after it has been suspected that local authorities are focusing on boosting economic development and ignoring workplace safety regulations.
Workers who escaped the fire at the Jilin plant said that the building’s narrow hallways made it difficult to reach the exits. It was also reported by local media that people struggled to escape because some exits were blocked.
The poultry plant is far away from chief regulators in China’s capital, making the plant’s operations difficult to oversee. “It is harder to regulate smaller companies in smaller cities and towns.” said Zhao Zhengbring, a lawyer working on health and safety issues with Beijing’s Haowei law firm.
In an effort to address these problems, China’s Communist leaders have created several competing industrial safety organizations. These efforts have had some positive results. Workplace accidents have dropped more than 33% in the past five years and the death toll from those accidents have dropped more than 29%, according to comments made by China’s then Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang.
Yet, fire accidents at construction sites and agricultural production factories are on the rise. Critics argue that factory managers are rarely punished for workplace accidents.
“Safety, unfortunately, still comes second to productivity and profits. There are, unfortunately, deaths at coal mines and factories pretty much every day, but no-one pays attention when it is one or two people.” Says Geoggrey Crothall, a spokesman for the Hong Kong based China Labour Bulletin.
Without public pressure, it is unlikely that significant changes will be implemented anytime soon.
NEW DELHI, India– A series of blasts tore through the Mahabodhi Temple, in the Bodhgaya district of India’s Bihar State this morning. The temple is one of India’s most revered sites, where Buddha himself first gained enlightenment, and attracts thousands of pilgrims daily. Reports thus far indicate that only two people were injured from the blasts.
The Mahabodhi Temple is one of India’s oldest and most sacred Buddhist temples. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)
Union Home Secretary, Anil Goswami, confirmed that the blasts were a terror attack. Bihar Police suspect the involvement of the Indian Mujahideen in the blasts. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar condemned the attack at the temple and demanded the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) be deployed to protect the famous Buddhist shrine.
“The serial blasts deserve strongest condemnation in strongest possible words as the perpetrators targeted the place of religious faith of crores of people with an aim to create fear among them,” he told reporters after inspecting the blast sites at the Mahabodhi Temple.
According to Gaya Police, the blasts occurred in quick succession between 5.30am and 6:00am in the temple complex near the Mahabodhi tree. One of the blasts erupted under the tree causing partial damage to the Buddha footprints in the shrine. Four blasts occurred inside the shrine, while another three blasts took place in the Tregar monastery area. Blasts also occurred near the great Buddha statue and a bus parked on the Sujata bypass. Arvind Singh, a member of Mahabodhi Temple Management Committee reported that two other bombs, one found near the massive Buddha statue and one at a bus stand were safely defused.
The Secretary of the Bodh Gaya Committee Dorji said, “There were four blasts inside the temple premises. Fortunately, there was no damage to the Bodhi Tree or the main temple structure. In the first blast which took place near the Bodhi tree, a table was blown up because of which two persons were injured. The second blast, I think, was inside the enclosure where books were kept. The furniture was damaged but there was no damage to the monuments or statues.”
Police have since sealed access to the temple, permitting only temple personnel and investigators access the premises. The daily prayers will continue as scheduled, though no members of the general public will be permitted to enter for some time.
The bombs were described as “low intensity” by police, and Indian security personnel have indicated that they had suspicions of an imminent attack at the temple. S K Bahardwaj, ADG, reported “We got information about six-seven months back that there may be a terror attack on the Mahabodhi temple. After that we had beefed up security and deployed extra forces”.
Generally the temple is guarded by minimal security personnel, with a pair of officers stationed at the entrance, and a handful of private security officers patrolling inside the shrine. At this time, no deaths have been reported.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh strongly condemned the blasts, saying “Such attacks on religious places will be never be tolerated.”
KIEV, Ukraine – In response to public outrage over the alleged rape of a woman by two policemen, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych promised that people in privileged positions will not escape justice.
Protest erupts after officials cover up rape of a woman by two police officers. (Photo courtesy of RT News)
On 26 June 2013, two police officers allegedly raped Irina Krashova on her way home. The 29-year-old mother received a fractured skull, cuts and bruises. Krashova provided a clear statement that identified her attackers. However, the first arrest took place four days later, and an accused officer remained free for much longer after claiming he was on duty.
“This is not true,” Krashova said. “I know 100 percent that he was there. Because he was the first to rape me; he beat me and called me all kinds of names.”
On 1 July, a police officer was released from pretrial detention. In response, 1000 protestors stormed a police station with Molotov cocktails. Police fought the protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Locals allege that, to produce better statistics, the initial investigators beat confessions out of innocent people.
Ukrainians are deeply frustrated with official corruption and a sense that the police and state officials sit above the law. Last year, a teenage girl was raped and set on fire in Krashova’s region. Protests were sparked after Ukrainians learned that two released suspects were the children of former government officials.
Many Ukrainians still believe the ruling elite dictates what constitutes justice. At the hospital where Krashova was treated, senior medical officials pressured professionals to falsify her medical records, downplay her injuries, and question her lifestyle. Public outrage intensified upon allegations that senior police officials also attempted to hide key evidence.
Since the protest, three suspects have been arrested, including two police officers.
“I will not tolerate impunity, especially when it comes to those who should protect people and not violate any laws,” President Yanukovych announced. “Those who are guilty have no place in law enforcement. They should be punished with all the rigour of the law.”
By 4 July, Yanukovych appointed Olena Lukash as the new justice minister. Lukash replaces Oleksandr Lavrynovych, who was recently elected as a member of the Supreme Council of Justice of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko fired a public prosecutor and two senior regional police officers. However, he offered no apology to the victim’s family.
Investigators believe Krashova’s case could assist several unsolved crimes in the Vradiyevka district. Thus far, investigators have arrested the deputy head of the regional police in connection with the Krashova case as well as four other murders over the past three years, including the murder of a 15-year-old girl.
While protests for Krashova initiated a stronger investigation, one wonders how long President Yanukovych’s promise will last, or if instead the promise will both last and spread to other regions of the country.
