Child Prostitution Network Uncovered in Chile, Famous Clients Revealed

By Brendan Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – Early Thursday, a four month investigation came to a head when Chile’s Investigative police (PDI) raided, uncovered and shutdown a child prostitution ring in downtown Santiago.

Police uncover a child prostitution network in downtown Santiago. (Photo Courtesy of Profesor Baker)

The network prostituted girls from the ages of 12-17. They were then sent to clients’ homes and neighborhoods to engage in their illicit business.

While prostitution is not technically illegal in Chile, the prostitution of children is, as is the operation of a brothel. And police shut down two underground brothels in conjunction with their investigation. Subsequent raids were launched throughout the night, with a strike force of about 60 officers who began arresting clientele.

This raid and subsequent arrests are due to President Sebastian Pinera’s much lauded mandate to combat child sex abuse. To effectively combat this, they have begun a system similar to the United States convicted sex offenders database, along with banning convicted pedophiles from working with or near children.

A client list was also uncovered, and those listed on its rolls should be worried. Whether intentional or through negligent leaks, the names of famous clients have been revealed to the media. Ranging from former mayoral candidate of the Christian Democrat Party to the creator of a popular children’s’ comic book, who when arrested and questioned denied all allegations to having relations with a minor. He insisted that he paid the brothel for “a girl over 18 years of age.” However the big name seems to be Jaime Román, a local television personality and music producer. According to police reports he was actively having sex with a minor when police broke down his door. These infamous individuals were arrested during the subsequent raids which raised the arrested number up to 19.

Of the 19 arrested, five were arrested at the brothel and will be subsequently charged for obtaining sexual services from minors, while the owners will be charged with the prostitution of minors.

The Christian Democracy party has formally denounced the formal mayoral candidate, and if found guilty noted that “[W]e declare that any member of the Christian Democracy involved in this kind of case, will be expelled from the party.”

The shocking information revealed by the investigation is that many of the girls abused and active in the child prostitution ring were there with their parents’ knowledge, and their parent’s permission. The Interior Minister has condemned the actions of all those involved, but it is uncertain at this moment what levels of liability the parents may face.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Chile Police Raid ‘Child Prostitution Ring’ in Santiago – 16 November 2012

I Love Chile News – Child Exploitation Ring Busted In Santiago – 16 November 2012

Santiago Times – Chile’s Investigate Police Uncover Child Prostitution Ring – 16 November 2012

La Segunda Online – Thwart Child Prostitution Ring: Today Formalized 19 Arrested – 16 November 2012

I Love Chile News – My Two Cents: Cafe con Piernas – Legs with your Coffee? – 26 October 2012

 

Children’s Health Book Chastises Meat-Eaters in India

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India – New Healthway, a book focusing on health and hygiene, is stirring public criticism against the government.  The book, which aims at eleven and twelve year olds, accuses meat-eaters of “easily cheat[ing]” and “commit[ting] sex crimes.”

The cover of New Healthway. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

This has led academics pressing the Indian government to exercise more caution in regulating press and activists protesting in response to such infringement against press.

“The strongest argument that meat is not essential food is the fact that the Creator of this Universe did not include meat in the original diet for Adam and Eve.  He gave them fruits, nuts and vegetables,” reads the chapter entitled “Do We Need Flesh Food?”

The book further examines the alleged benefits of vegetarianism and continues to list characteristics found in non-vegetarians.  “[Non-vegetarians] easily cheat, tell lies, forget promises, they are dishonest and tell bad words, steal, fight and turn to violence and commit sex crimes,” read an except from New Healthway.

Another passage reads, “The Arabs who helped in constructing the Suez Canal lived on wheat and dates and were superior to the beef-fed Englishmen engaged in the same work.”

According to a 2001 consensus, approximately 80 percent of India’s population is Hindu and 13 percent are Muslim, and due to religious purposes, Hindus do not consume beef and Islam forbids pork consumption.

It is unknown the extent to which New Healthway has been purchased and circulated amongst schools in India.  Nonetheless, faculty are more worried that such a book is available to their students.

“This is poisonous for children,” shared Janaki Rajan, a faculty member at Jamia Millia University, to BBC News.  “The government has the power to take action, but they are washing their hands of it,” continued Ms. Rajan.

However, others have stated that schools have the utmost responsibility to monitor and regulate textbooks in the classroom.

According to the Huffington Post, a representative for India’s Central Board for Secondary Education relayed to NDTV that schoolbooks are not monitored for content.

Moreover, Principle Annie Koshy of St Mary’s school in New Delhi, where New Healthway is not used, further relayed to NDTV that although the CBSE recommends some publishers, such do not produce particularly good books.  “It’s a great way for us to actually see whether teachers are reading the books and teaching what the books say,” said Mr. Koshy.

Although BBC News has requested to speak to the publishers, S. Chand, no response was given.

 

For further information, please see:

BBC News – India textbook says meat-eaters lie and commit sex crimes – 16 November 2012

CBS News – India text teaches meat-eaters “commit sex crimes” – 16 November 2012

Huffington Post – ‘Meat-Eaters Lie, Cheat And Commit Sex Crimes,’ Claims Indian School textbook – 16 November 2012

 

Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill Likely to be Passed Before the End of This Year

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda – Uganda’s speaker of parliament promised that the controversial anti-homosexuality bill will pass by the end of the year as an “early Christmas gift”.

A gay rights activist holds a banner outside Uganda House in London in 2010. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

If enacted into law, the bill will impose harsher punishments on homosexual behavior.

According to The Examiner, the bill will effectively separate homosexuals into two groups. “Aggravated homosexuality” covers  homosexual acts committed by authoritive figures, parents, pedophiles, or individuals who are HIV positive.

On the other end of the spectrum is the “offense of homosexuality,” a charge that applies to consenting adults in a same sex relationship.

The bill would compel doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professionals to report a homosexual or face arrest.

Parliamentary speaker Rebecca Kadaga said that the bill will become law this year as Ugandans “are demanding it”.

“Who are we not to do what they have told us? These people should not be begging us,” Kadaga said. She added that a decision will likely be made within two weeks.

Homosexuality is already criminalized under the Ugandan penal code. However, in 2009 a lawmaker with the ruling party said the Uganda needed a stronger law to protect it’s children from homosexuals.

The proposal has drawn widespread international criticism. President Barack Obama calls it “odious” and some international donors threaten to cut off aid to Uganda should the bill be signed into law.

James Nsaba Buturo, the former ethics minister and a coalition leader, is confident of the bill’s speedy approval.

“I can tell you it has 99 percent chance. It will pass. No question about it,” Buturo said. “If there was any leader in this country who sympathizes with homosexuality, he will not say it in public. Because he knows that Ugandans, by and large, do not support that way of life.”

Buturo adds that non-Ugandans who criticize the bill are engaging in a “culture war” with Uganda. He says the bill’s re-introduction after being shelved by the last parliament shows the  country will not be deterred by threats of aid cuts.

“We are saying to the world and to those who are supporting this way of life of theirs, ‘Come what may.’ They have no right whatsoever to impose their preference on this nation,” Buturo insists.

Gay rights activists in Uganda, although opposing the bill, point out that it has helped their fight for equality by putting gay rights, a taboo subject in Uganda, on the national agenda.

On the other hand, Kikonyogo Kivumbi, executive director of civil rights organisation Uhspa-Uganda, says that the anti-gay legislation is being used as a “political weapon” for the Ugandan government to influence the UN.

“Uganda is using the bill to threaten and blackmail the West,” he told IBTimes UK. “They know that respect of human rights is a sensible subject in the West and they are using it to blackmail the international community.”

 

For further information, please see:

Voice of America – Uganda Moves Forward on Anti-Gay Bill – 14 November 2012

The Inquisitr – Uganda Anti-Gay Bill Described as ‘Early Christmas Gift’ to The Country – 12 November 2012

The Huffington Post – Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill to Pass This Year: Official – 12 November 2012

International Business Times – Uganda Uses Anti-Gay Bill to ‘Blackmail the west’, Leading Activist Tells IBTimes – 12 November 2012

Syrian Revolution Digest – Thursday 15 November 2012

For Country!

Syrian Revolution Digest – November 15, 2012 

Now that we have come so far, it might be worth remembering that we started this revolution to topple the regime, not help tear the country apart. For this, we should be ready and willing to enter into dialogue whenever a real chance becomes available, even as we pursue our armed struggle. It’s not an either/or situation: we fight when there is no other choice, but when there is a chance for real dialogue we should be willing and ready. Let international mediators do what they can to create the opportunity for dialogue, and let’s support their effort by producing our vision for change in Syria, beyond the usual platitudes about citizenship and justice. Since the devil is in the details, as well know, it’s time we began providing some of these details and wrestling with the real demons standing between us and achieving our goals. 

Today’s Death Toll: 130 (including 11 children and 5 women)

59 in Damascus and Suburbs
21 in Aleppo
17 in Homs
10 in Idlib
8 in Daraa
5 in Raqqah
5 in Hama
3 in Deir Ezzor
2 in Lattakia

Random Shelling: 206 points

146 by artillery
46 by mortars
23 points by missiles
21 by fighter jets (including 6 uses of explosive barrels)
6 of Thermobaric bombs

Clashes: 84 points

Developments: MiG shot down in Alboukamal, Alboukamal declared a liberated city (LCC).

The Christian village of Tal Nasri in Hassakeh Province in northeast Syria, with its majority Assyrian population was pounded by MiGs on Thursday making it the first Christian village to be targeted by the regime since the beginning of the revolution. Locals say that they don’t understand the reason for which they were attacked as their village does not harbor armed groups. But the Assyrian community in Syria has sided with the revolutionaries from the very beginning, and may now be targeted as part of a regime strategy to punish its enemies in the region and foment troubles among the region’s diverse population.

 

News

Securing Chemical Arms in Syria a Vast Task, Pentagon Says The Pentagon has told the Obama administration that any military effort to seize Syria’s stockpiles of chemical weapons would require upward of 75,000 troops, amid increasing concern that the militant group Hezbollah has set up small training camps close to some of the chemical weapons depots, according to senior American officials… The Pentagon has not yet been directed to draft detailed plans of how it could carry out such a mission, according to military officials. There are also contingency plans, officials say, for securing a more limited number of the Syrian chemical weapons depots, requiring fewer troops. 

Turks Grant Recognition to Coalition of Syrians

Brotherhood cannot dominate post-Assad Syria: deputy leader

Britain could intervene in Syria as David Cameron considers no-fly zone

UK police charge 2nd man with taking Western journalists hostage in Syria

William Hague to meet opposition leaders

Syrian Authorities Arrest Red-Crescent Board Member Raed Al-Tawil

 

Special Reports

Rebels capture Ras al Ayn, 1st town to fall in Syria’s Kurdish region

Rebels said they’d captured heavy machine guns from the base but that the soldiers had rendered heavier weapons inoperable before the base was stormed. Residents said the rebels carted off anti-aircraft guns and artillery nonetheless.

Despite Political Divides, Syria’s Kurds Want Autonomy

The conflict in Syria has brought a measure of self-rule to one of Syria’s marginalized minorities, the Kurds, and especially in Afrin – which means “fruitful creation” or “blessing” in Kurdish. Since the Syrian government withdrew its forces from Kurdish areas several months ago, the Kurds – despite their own political divisions – have taken responsibility for local security and claim autonomy. Kurds in this area near Turkey strongly oppose the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and say they have suffered detentions and bombings because of it.

Syria’s Neighbors Have Few Options as Security Concerns Over Refugees Grow

Syria’s neighbors are “trying to move refugees away from the border and get them registered,” White said. “But their capacity to deal with the problem, with numbers approaching half a million refugees, is beyond the capacity of states like Jordan or Lebanon to deal with.”

 

Analysis: Why Britain could intervene in Syria

The deepening humanitarian crisis on Turkey’s border with Syria, together with fears that the Syrian conflict is threatening to destabilise other parts of the region, are the factors that are driving the Government’s determination to adopt a more pro-active stance.

The Hackers of Damascus

The Syrian conflict illustrates the extent to which the very tools that rebels in the Middle East have employed to organize and sustain their movements are now being used against them. It provides a glimpse of the future of warfare, in which computer viruses and hacking techniques can be as critical to weakening the enemy as bombs and bullets.

Nicholas D. Kristof: The men are vanishing in northern Syria

There are dangers with greater involvement, and Syria is a more difficult arena in which to intervene than Libya was, but let’s acknowledge that the existing hands-off approach has failed. Western passivity has backfired and accelerated all that Washington fears: chaos, regional instability, sectarianism and growing influence of Islamic militants. The United States certainly shouldn’t send boots on the ground. But there are steps we can take to save lives, hasten an end to the war, reduce the risks to the region and protect American interests as well. A sensible menu includes a NATO-backed no-fly zone over parts of northern Syria, transfers of weapons and ammunition (though not anti-aircraft weapons) to the Free Syrian Army, training and intelligence support, and cooperation with rebels to secure chemical weapons.

Syria and Turkey: A Complex Relationship

Turkey’s role in helping the opposition has made things more difficult within the country, said Landis. Uncontrollable militias and other hardline fighters are among those battling Assad, and Turkish citizens don’t like their involvement, particularly Shiite Turks, he said. “Even if they don’t all sympathize with the Alawites (an offshoot of Shiite Islam of which Assad is a member), they don’t like the muscular Sunni militant aspect of this insurgency.”

Syria needs a twin-track negotiation

Since 2011 three failed strategies have been attempted, with weapons provision bringing up the rear. The regional politics of the conflict make the dangers of massive escalation imminent: it is time to find a transition acceptable to both sides.

The Economist: Higher Hopes – Can Syria’s new opposition coalition make a difference?

But the new body’s impact on the war in Syria is less certain. “Its influence on the situation inside the country depends in great part on its ability to get supplies to the rebels and rebel communities,” saysAmmar Abdulhamid, a dissident based in Washington, DC. “If it fails in this, it loses everything.” Mr Khatib has called for more than humanitarian aid to help cement his coalition’s authority, but officials from warier countries, including Britain and the United States, say recognition will come only if the new lot sets up effective technical committees, proves its popularity with Syrians on the ground, and brings most of the rebel groups under its umbrella.

Mapping Syria’s armed opposition: A sketch of rebel units, leaders and organizations — in military parlance, the ‘order of battle’.

While so much focus is usually given to Jihadi videos with their sounds tracks of religious songs reflecting Sunni doctrine, we rarely get a chance to see the other side doing the same. But, it has been clear since the beginning of the revolution that for many Alawites at least, the Assad-orchestrated crackdown was their version of jihad, one aimed at Syria’s Sunni community. This is an element of doctrine is beginning to get more prominence at this stage, as Assad tries to recruit the poorer classes in the Alawite community to join his militias. This video found on the mobile of a fallen Alawite militiaman, shows the militia lobbing missiles against enemy targets, but it’s the religious song inspired by Alawite doctrine that is notable here: Talk of conspiracy against the resistance and Assad’s speeches are no longer sufficient to motivate Assad’s Alawite supporters, the doctrine needs to be called in as well. This is rapidly becoming a confessional war with all the trimmingshttp://youtu.be/QDYGzHTd-bA

It’s for this reason, that we should take the advice offered by Simon Adams, the executive director of the Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect, to heart:

The real choice in Syria today is not between Alawites or Sunnis, or between Mr. Assad and Al Qaeda, but between action enabling further crimes against humanity to take place and action dedicated to ending impunity for such crimes once and for all.

 

Video Highlights

A recently released detainee shows signs of severe malnutrition: he says he is 18 years old and was imprisoned in the Air Force Security compound in Hama. He was 80 Kg. (170 Lbs.) when first detained and he spent 4 months in detention. He is now less than 50 Kg (110 Lbs). He says he was accused of being a rebel, which he was not, but, he says, he will be joining the rebels once he is healthy enough to do it. Over 1,000 other people were detained with him, and everyday 7 or 8 of them died of torture or hunger. http://youtu.be/k7oVlryrZz4

The battles in the Eastern Ghoutah Region in Damascus continues to heat up, rebels managed to destroy an entire convoy near the village of Bouydahhttp://youtu.be/115ibVObfIc ,http://youtu.be/8THYcG3rp9M Clashes began earlier in the day http://youtu.be/U1IWZE2ZpGM But many civilians were killed in the pounding http://youtu.be/Na2SUzdJs0Y Assad’s tanks forced to withdraw from Harastahttp://youtu.be/6N5KuPCP6lg Meanwhile, MiGs continued with their daily routine of bombardment: Kafar Batnahttp://youtu.be/DxCgvAOt_QQHamouriyehhttp://youtu.be/CMeAq8-ckgUSaqbahttp://youtu.be/I0TkqYV71qQ People in Jisreen rush to save the wounded and retrieve the bodies from under the rubble after a raid http://youtu.be/3KOfdoJsU7k , http://youtu.be/r88o_3q_vn4

Pro-Assad militias torturing captives in Yalda, Damascus http://youtu.be/KuufacDHlpQ

The pounding of the town of Zabadani in Damascus resumes http://youtu.be/de-I54eUDWA ,http://youtu.be/3_jpLneFkqg

Leaked video shows the pounding of Haffeh District in Lattakia by pro-Assad militiashttp://youtu.be/Jfaiv-HzOIs

Rebels salvage the wreckage of a MIG that they have downed in Alboukamal, Deir Ezzor Province  http://youtu.be/Eo8IySFqFrQ , http://youtu.be/6LWUZukMUX8 The pro-Assad militias that were captured by the rebels http://youtu.be/bwctb9kD9Io Major sections of the towns have been captured by rebels http://youtu.be/e85s9UPfV08

The pounding of the town of Rastan in Homs Province continues http://youtu.be/XLyFsftRfw0 ,http://youtu.be/kt-Jdne5BpQ , http://youtu.be/qELXtNQXw3E

Putin Signs Treason Bill into Law Despite Promise to Reconsider

By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, sitting before his newly expanded Human Rights Council, promised to review a new bill expanding the definition of treason, which potentially threatens anyone working for a foreign or international organization, in order to avoid overly broad interpretations of treason.  However, the following day he signed the bill into law and the legislation went into effect on Wednesday.

President Putin signed into law a bill expanding the definition of treason, potentially criminalizing sharing information with foreign and international organizations, such as Amnesty International or the European Court of Human Rights. (Photo Courtesy of The Telegraph)

Under the new law, which amends Article 151 of the Criminal Code, it is possible to be convicted of treason for passing state secrets to any foreign or international organization.  Furthermore, even if no secrets are passed, merely providing “other assistance” believed to be “directed against Russia’s security” may trigger a treason charge.  Even receiving secret information with no intention to use it carries the potential of being a treasonous act.

Unintentional acts of treason carry a fine of between £3,700 – £9,900, or imprisonment of up to four years.  Willing treason carries a prison sentence of up to eight years.

The bill has been gaining steam in the Russian parliament for some time (see Legislation Expanding Treason Definition in Russia Could Criminalize Foreign Funded Organizations for further background information).  On October 23, the Duma passed it with only 2 out of 375 adverse votes.  On October 31, in the Federation Council, 138 out of 166, with 2 abstaining voted for the bill.

Human rights groups have rallied against expanding the definition of treason, a move they see as motivated by a desire to distance Russians from Western non-governmental organizations, more specifically NGOs, to the detriment groups such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.  They further fear that between a lack of clarity and its criminalization of the unsuspecting, courts will use the legislation to convict, for example, those opposed to the government or irritate authorities.

Initially on Monday, Putin expressed a “read[iness] to return” to the amendments to look at them more “carefully.”  He seemed specifically concerned with making sure that “[t]here shouldn’t be any broader definition of state treason, [and] it shouldn’t address issues that have nothing to do with the instance of state treason.”

However, on Wednesday, his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, explained to reporters that Putin actually meant that amendments to the bill could be adjusted if “problem areas” were to arise.

Lyudmila Alexeyeva, 85, former Soviet dissident and veteran human rights activist, expressed her concern that the legislation is a step back for Russia: “It’s an attempt to return not just to Soviet times but to the Stalin era, when any conversation with a foreigner was seen as a potential threat to the state.”

Yabloko opposition leader party, Sergei Mitrokhin, explained: “Anyone can be charged under the new bill – the average activist as well as a Federal civil servant disliked by the government.”  He further charged that “[t]he Russian secret service is interested in having a legal basis for arresting dissidents or people who are simply inconvenient. Charges can be brought against any organisation or person deemed to be dangerous. The fact that the bill has been passed is yet another indication of the appearance of totalitarian tendencies in Russian politics.”

For further information, please see:

The Independent – Postcard from… Moscow – 15 November 2012

The Independent – Russia’s Broadened Treason Law Denounced as Stalinist – 15 November 2012

BBC News – Russia Treason: Putin Approves Sweeping New Law – 14 November 2012

The Moscow Times – Treason Law Expanded Despite Putin’s Pledge – 14 November 2012

RFE/RL – Controversial Russian Treason Law Comes into Force – 14 November 2012

The Telegraph – Vladimir Putin Signals Willingness to Review Russian Treason Bill – 13 November 2012