Child Pornographers Arrested In Chile, Over 160000 Photos Seized

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – Chile made important steps in the fight against moral indecency this week with a series of arrests against child pornographers. The Investigations Police of Chile (PDI) arrested an interim official of the Superintendent of Education in the distract of Los Lagos for the crime of possession and distribution of child pornography. The investigation began last July after an anonymous tip on a YouTube video brought it to investigators attention.

Chile’s PDI arrested two child pornographers and confiscated thousands of videos and photos. (Photo courtesy of Terra)

Using a pseudonym, the official used websites to contact children between the ages of 6 and 14 in order to participate in sexual services for monetary compensation. The investigation led the commissioner of the Computer Crimes Squad of the PDI to vimeo.com which the accused maintained under the same pseudonym. Investigators searched through the sites history and identified at least 27 instances of explicit child pornography.

While the now former Superintendent has been arrested, and indicated that he would like to remain in custody – fearing community retribution – there is indication that he has been released on bail, subject to nightly check ins. Records indicate that when he was arrested at his home, police took from his hard-drives, CDs and DVDs more than 470 saved videos and about 160,000 images of child pornography. These materials will be used as evidence at his upcoming hearing where his charges will be formalized as distribution of child pornography in which he is expected to receive a 38 year sentence. Some of the photographs were of subjects under nine years old.

Along with the Superintendents arrest, the Cybercrime Brigade of the PDI arrested another man in Puente Alto for the storage and distribution of child pornography. Records indicate that that he lured two fifteen year old neighbors into his home under the guise of the use of his pool and gifts. He then forced them into a state of undress using death threats against them and their families. He was on parole for a 2010 charge of sexual abuse of a 14 year old. This event took place during a church retreat where the individual was serving as a catechist.

This is just the latest in Chile’s crackdown on predatory abuse of child exploitation rings. After President Sebasitan Pinera promised the creation of database and registry for child pornographers the PDI busted a large child prostitution ring in Santiago which lead to the arrest of numerous high-profile clients. Pinera has indicated that reports of child sex abuse increased 20 percent last year to 21,176.

For more information, please see:

Terra – Cybercrime Brigade Of PDI Subject Arrested Accused Of Producing Child Pornography – 21 February 2013

La Nacion – He Threatened Two Neighbors Of 15 Years And Forced Them To Produce Child Pornography – 21 February 2013

Terra – PDI Arrested Charged With Producing Child Pornography – 21 February 2013

Cronical Libre – PDI Public Official Arrested By Storing 455 videos And More Than 175,000 Child Pornography Photos – 21 February 2013

The Jakarta Post – Chile Announces Measures To Fight Child Sex Abuse – 19 July 2012

Kenya’s Chief Justice Threatened With “Dire Consequences”

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya—Kenya’s Chief Justice Willy Mutunga says that he has recently been threatened with “dire consequences” if the courts decide to bar presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta from contesting the next election which is to take place in March.

Uhuru Kenyatta, one of the frontrunners in the presidential polls. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

Muntunga made a public statement that he will not be cowed by these threats and harassment. Specifically, Mutungra said yesterday that he received a threatening letter. This letter not only mentioned Kenyatta, but also another one of the nation’s leaders who both face trial at the International Criminal Court. Mutunga further noted that he was almost prevented from travelling to Tanzania by an immigration official who believed that this trip was an act of politics. Mutunga concluded that this was deliberate harassment. He is convinced that it is political and noted that “public accountability requires” making it public.

The case before the International Criminal Court stems from certain allegations that Kenyatta fueled the violence that followed the disputed presidential elections in 2007. Kenyatta denies these allegations. Kenyatta and his running mate, William Ruto, are due for trial at The Hague about one month after the March 4th elections. More than 1,000 people died in this violence that swept through the country after the 2007 election.

Political pressure groups have asked Kenya’s high court to disqualify the pair from contesting the election because of the pending International Criminal Court case.

Mutunga commented on these threats saying, “These incidents evidence a pattern of emerging harassment against my person, the Office of the Chief Justice, and the judiciary.” He continued saying, “No fewer than five judges have been attacked in the recent past.” He also noted that judicial officers were being politically intimidated.

The Judge has announced that he has sent this letter to the Inspector General of Police, the Director of the Criminal Investigations Department, Director of the National Intelligence Service, and the Director of Public Prosecutions asking each of them to investigate the matter and give Kenya a progress report on the investigation. “I am also asking the inspector General of Police to take the necessary steps to enhance the security of judges and other judicial officers at this time,” he said.

Mutunga said that a total of five judges have been attacked recently before the March elections.

 

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Kenya’s Willy Mutunga Threatened Over Kenyatta Case – 20 February 2013

Bloomberg – Kenya’s Chief Justice Gets Death Threat Over Kenyatta ICC Case – 20 February 2013

Capital News – Kenya CJ Reveals Threat, State Intimidation – 20 February 2013

Fox News – Kenya’s Chief Justice Reveals Threats – 20 February 2013

Tribunal Starts Process of Land Restitution for Displaced Families in Colombia

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

 BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – A Colombian tribunal has restored land stolen from 32 displaced families as part of the country’s land restitution law. Residents of Córdoba have been the target of numerous threats and intimidation. A tribunal that specializes in land restitution issues ruled on February 13th for the restitution of 405 acres of land on the Santa Paula Farm.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signing the Victims and Land Restitution Law. (Photo Courtesy of EITAN ABRAMOVICH/AFP/Getty Images)

The land restitution office was created by the Victims and Land Restitution Law in 2011 which is supposed to return over 4.9 million acres to the displaced owners affected by the nearly 50 year conflict.The new law aims to return millions of acres that belonged to Colombians who have fled their homes due to violence in addition to financial compensation, all of these displaced Colombians are victims of human rights violations and infractions of international humanitarian law.

“This ruling restores victims’ ownership over land seized by one of Colombia’s most powerful paramilitary mafias, in a region where it continues to exercise influence. It is a milestone achievement for Colombia’s land restitution office and the victims who have courageously stepped forward to reclaim their land,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director at Human Rights Watch.

Mario Cuitiva, a member of one of the families claiming rights to the farm has been the target of threats and intimidation which caused him to flee in November 2012.  Cuitivia, is not the first member of these displaced families to experience repercussions. Yolanda Izquierdo, a former leader of the effort to reclaim the Santa Paula farm was shot in January 2007. The shooter is Sor Teresa Gómez, member of the AUC, the right winged paramilitary organization that planned the theft of the land. There are 49 members of the families who have had threats made against them.

There has been debate in Colombia by how successful the land restitution law has been. The Interclesial Commission for Justice (CIJP), a NGO, has accused associates for former president Uribe in blocking land restitution. Many of those associates have links to paramilitaries and are undergoing investigation. “Officials of the government of Uribe, and persons of his entourage are engaging in actions legal and illegal [to block land restitution]. For example people were fraudulently chosen as representatives of their communities. They are businessmen or put forward by businessmen – businessmen linked to paramilitaries,” said Jesus Alberto Franco, a spokesman for the CIJP.

The land restitution office has filed an additional 80 claims to the land and are awaiting the rulings.

 

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch — Colombia: Landmark Ruling for Land Restitution – 20 Feb 2013

Colombia Reports — Paramilitaries, Uribe’s Associates ‘Blocking’ Land Restitution: NGO – 15 Feb 2013

Amnesty International — The Challenges of Colombia’s Victims’ Law – 15 June 2011

Human Rights Watch — Colombia: Victims Law a Historic Opportunity – 10 June 2011

Militants Kidnap French Family of Seven in Cameroon

By Hannah Stewart
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

YAOUNDE, Cameroon — On Tuesday, Nigerian Islamic militants abducted a French family of seven, including four children in northern Cameroon.  Reports state that the family has been taken across the border into Nigeria.

President Hollande condemned the abduction of French citizens while visiting Greece. (Photo courtesy of The New York Times via Bertrand Langlois/Agence France-Presse)

Reports state that men on motorcycles, armed with Kalashnikovs, intercepted the family in their car near Waza National Park and forced them to drive to the nearby Nigerian border

Waza Park, a natural wildlife reserve in the Far North Region attracts mainly foreign tourists. However, the area suffers from abduction raids by groups in Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria; these bandits often kidnap locals for ransom.

Given France’s involvement in Mali to oust Islamic rebels in the north, the risk of attacks on French nationals and interests in Africa has risen in the last month.

French President Francois Hollande, speaking during a visit to Greece, warned French citizens in West Africa to avoid putting themselves in dangerous situations.  Hollande noted that while France is engaged in a military campaign in Mali, terrorists “are not just in Mali.”

As of today, a total of 15 French citizens are currently being held in western Africa: the seven abducted in Cameroon, one other in Nigeria, and seven thought to be held in northern Mali.

Moreover, the abduction of the French family came a day after an Islamist group in Nigeria claimed responsibility for taking seven foreigners hostage at a construction site in the northern state of Bauchi.

The group that calls itself Ansaru issued a short statement about the kidnapping in northern Nigeria over the weekend, hinting at political motivations for kidnapping what Nigerian authorities say are one British citizen, one Greek, one Italian, three Lebanese and one Filipino, who reportedly work for Setraco Nigeria Ltd.

This series of kidnappings have added to fears of instability and danger toward Westerners in the region.

For more information, please see:

Bloomberg – French Kidnapped in Cameroon Were Taken Into Nigeria – 19 February 2013

CBS – Militants Kidnap French Family of 7 in Cameroon, Officials Say – 19 February 2013

Chicago Tribune – Militants Kidnap French Family in North Cameroon – 19 February 2013

Reuters – Militants Kidnap French Family in North Cameroon – 19 February 2013

Syria Justice and Accountability Center: 19 February 2013