ICTJ In Focus October 2012 Issue #25
Battle Free Speech: Brazil v Google
By Margaret Janelle R. Hutchinson
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
BRASÍLIA, Brazil – As a young, vibrant, democratic nation, it seems counterintuitive that Brazil would be a leader in digital censorship. Brazil submitted 418 requests, more than any other country, to block or remove content from Google’s various servers last year.
Attempts to censor content were elevated to another level last week when a judge ordered the arrest of Google’s most senior executive in Brazil, Fabio Jose Silva Coelho, after the company failed to take down YouTube videos attacking a local mayoral candidate.
A different Brazilian judge ordered Google to remove versions of the “Innocence of the Muslims” video that has sparked deadly riots across the Middle East from Brazilian YouTube within 10 days or face fines.
The cases are reviving a debate about Brazilian laws that hold services such as YouTube responsible for the videos posted on them, making the country a hotbed of attempts to stifle digital content.
Brazilian law currently treats content on the internet like material in newspapers, television and radio. Consequently, Google is considered responsible for user posted material.
Brazil carefully monitors racial issues and has strict electoral laws that limit criticism of candidates in the run-up to elections. There are lawsuits in at least 20 of its 26 states seeking deletion of Google content. The video that drew controversy last week aired paternity claims against a mayoral candidate in Campo Grande, a state capital in Brazil’s interior.
Google says it resists restrictions it regards as illegitimate but complies with lawful requests from government officials. The company appealed the ruling in the Campo Grande case but blocked the video after the court rejected the appeal and police arrested Coelho.
“Our goal with YouTube is to offer a community that everyone can enjoy and, at the same time, is a platform for freedom of expression worldwide,” Coelho said in a blog post after his brief detention. “This is a great challenge, mainly because content acceptable in one country may be offensive — or even illegal — in others.”
Many Brazilians criticized the government’s handling of the Campo Grande case and what they see as elevating the rights of political candidates over the free-speech rights of their constituents.
“It’s a step back in terms of freedom of expression, something like we see happening in countries like China,” said Monica Rosina, professor at Fundaçao Getulio Vargas Law School. “It’s bad for the Brazilian image abroad.”
In the video case, the judge said Google would be fined 10,000 Brazilian reais ($4,926) per day if it doesn’t comply with his order. Still, the judge acknowledged the complexity of policing videos on YouTube.
There is pending legislation in Brazil that would provide some protection for intermediaries such as Google. The legislation, known as Marco Civil, would not fully prevent the kind of case that resulted in Coelho’s arrest, which was brought under Brazil’s more specific electoral laws.
Maria Clara Garcaz, a 20-year-old university student in Rio de Janeiro, expressed worries about the court action.
“It’s like we live in a silent, disguised dictatorship. When we had our real dictatorship, at least you knew for certain what you could and couldn’t say,” Garcaz said. “Political speech can be censored at any time and it’s moving into the Internet, exactly where people speak out.”
For further information, please see:
The Independent – Governments in young democracies fret over social media – 4 October 2012
PKKH – Google’s Brazil Chief Detained; Court Bans Anti-Islam Video – 27 September 2012
Yahoo Finance – Arrest of Google Brazil head stirs debate over Web – 27 September 2012
The Guardian – Google executive in Brazil faces arrest over video – 25 September 2012
Human Rights Watch publishes Report over Torture in Gaza
By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
GAZA STRIP — “Abusive System: Criminal Justice in Gaza,” A Human Rights Watch (HRW) Report released on Wednesday, said that Hamas has routinely subjected Palestinian detainees to torture and abuse. The report says that since 2007, Hamas has executed at least three men over “confessions” obtained through torture. HRW now calls for an immediate moratorium on capital punishment in the Gaza Strip, and also for Hamas to cease the prosecution of civilians in military courts.
HRW’s report describes extensive violations by Hamas security services, including warrantless arrests, failure to promptly provide families of detainees information of their whereabouts, and also accounts of torture. HRW also reported about human rights violations within Hamas’ court system, such as the denying detainees access to a lawyer. HRW also discovered instances of detainees being deprived of their due process through warrantless arrests and abusive interrogations.
The Independent Commission for Human Rights, a non partisan Palestinian rights group, says it received 147 complaints of torture by the Internal Security Agency, the drugs unit of the civil police force in Gaza, and also by police detectives.
In a statement accompanying the report, Joe Stork, the deputy Middle East director of HRW, said that Gaza’s “ [c]riminal justice system reeks of injustice, routinely violates detainee’s rights, and grants impunity to abusive security services.”
The report charges Hamas for failing to prosecute any abusive security officials, and have essentially granted Internal Security service officials impunity from prosecution in particular.
Journalists also criticized Hamas for its reporting restrictions. A Palestinian press freedom group recanted a scene that occurred last Sunday, where they were warned of restrictions and threatened journalists with abuse for attempting to cover a rare demonstration, which criticized Hamas officials for their failure to put out a fire that killed a three year old boy. “We often receive threats when we cover events. I’m calling on Palestinian authorities to provide a safe working environment for journalists,” journalist Husein Jamal said.
In a response to a claim made by HRW regarding their lack of access to detention centers, the Ministry of Interior in Gaza said in a statement, “[w]e assure you that our detention centers are open for human rights centers.” The Ministry of Interior also accused HRW of being politically biased, and also for failing to address human rights violations in the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
Hamas officials claim to have disciplined hundreds of security service members for abuses since 2007, yet it has yet to publish the details about those who have been punished.
For further information, please see:
Bikya Masr — Gaza Sees Continued Arbitrary Arrests, Torture, Unfair Trials — 3 October 2012
The Guardian — Hamas Accused of Routine Torture of Detainees in Gaza Strip — 3 October 2012
Human Rights Watch — Gaza: Arbitrary Arrests, Torture, Unfair Trials — 3 October 2012
Ma’an News Agency — Hamas Ministry Rejects Torture Allegations — 3 October 2012
Ma’an News Agency — HRW: Hamas Should Urgently Reform Justice System — 3 October 2012
New York Times — Human Rights Watch Report Critical of Hamas Justice System in Gaza — 3 October 2012
Second Human Rights Attorney Killed in Honduras in As Many Days
By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Unknown gunmen killed a second human rights lawyer in as many days last week, according to a progressive blog on human rights abuses.
World War 4 Report reported that gunmen shot and killed Eduardo Manuel Diaz Mazariegos, who was a Honduran Public Ministry prosecutor in the country’s southern department of Choluteca. The blog reported Mazariegos’s background included criminal and human rights cases.
Mazariegos’s killing on Sept. 24 came two days after another lawyer was killed at a wedding near the capital of Tegucigalpa. Antonio Trejo Cabrera, whom the BBC described as “a prominent lawyer who represented peasants in disputes with large land owners,” was shot and killed after he stepped outside the church to answer a phone call.
“We asked the police and the prosecutor’s office for protection, and they never responded,” said Enrique Flores Lanza of the Honduran Bar Association.
Cabrera’s family said he had asked for government protection because of safety concerns, including various threats.
“Nobody cared,” his brother, Rigoberto, told the Associated Press.
Cabrera had said before his death that if he were killed, billionaire Miguel Facusse—one of Honduras’s richest men—would be responsible, according to the AP. Facusse owns Dinant Corporation, one of the landowners in disputes with peasant cooperatives represented by Cabrera.
“Even though we had differences with [Cabrera], we mourn his death,” said Dinant Executive Director Roger Pineda, who denied that Facusse was behind Cabrera’s death.
The AP also reported that the U.S. Embassy was helping Honduran investigators piece together what happened. According to an anonymous source, the help included “a U.S. law enforcement advisor already embedded with a specially vetted unit of Honduran police.”
The two murders brought the total number of prosecutors killed since 1994 to seven, according to World War 4 Report. But statistics from the Honduran Bar Association showed 74 lawyers have been killed in a little more than the past three years, with little response from authorities.
United Nations special rapporteurs called the attacks on human rights defenders “totally unacceptable.”
“It is imperative that the government establishes a national protection program for human rights defenders as soon as possible,” said UN Special Rapporteur Margaret Sekaggya, who met with Cabrera during a visit to Honduras in February. Sekaggya said Cabrera, who was active in the media denouncing abuses by landowners and politicians, repeatedly received death threats because of his work.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has called on Honduras to combat impunity for crimes against lawyers and journalists, which she said is thriving in a “menacing climate of insecurity and violence in Honduras.”
“It is essential that the people who commit these crimes are brought to justice,” she said. “Failure to do so will only exacerbate what is already a dire situation.”
For further information, please see:
United Nations News Centre — UN Experts Voice Shock at Killing of Prominent Rights Defender in Honduras — 1 October 2012
World War 4 Report — Honduras: Second Human Rights Attorney Murdered — 1 October 2012
United Nations News Centre — Honduras: UN Official Urges Action to Tackle Chronic Insecurity for Lawyers, Journalists — 26 September 2012
The Washington Post — US Aiding Honduran Authorities in Assassination of Prominent Human Rights Lawyer — 24 September 2012
BBC News — Antonio Trejo, Honduras Rights Lawyer, Killed at Wedding — 23 September 2012
Gay Pride Parade Banned in Serbia
By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
BELGRADE, Serbia – Citing security concerns and called upon to do so by Patriarch Irinej, head of Serbia’s Orthodox Christian Church, Serbia’s Interior Ministry has banned the Belgrade Gay Pride Parade planned for Saturday to cap off Pride Week.
Along with the parade, all other public events scheduled for Saturday have been banned in order to preserve the peace and security of citizens, according to the government.
“Conflicts and victims are the last thing Serbia needs at the moment. All conditions to ban public meetings scheduled for October 6 are in place, including the rally which is part of the so-called Pride Parade, as well as all rallies against the parade,” said Ivica Dacic, the Serbian Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.
Tensions were heightened on Wednesday afternoon, as 2,000 police in riot gear were deployed to the Center for Cultural Decontamination where a controversial exhibit opened: “Ecce Homo.” the same evening. The art exhibit received threats from right-wing groups, angry at the exhibit’s portrayal of Jesus Christ.
Serbia has a strong orthodox Christian tradition. Acceptance of homosexuality has been slow, and many gay rights events have ended in violence.
Patriarch Irinej, called Saturday’s planed parade a “parade of shame” that would cast a “moral shadow” on Serbia. He characterized it as a threat to Serbia’s centuries-old Christian culture and the model of the heterosexual family as the foundation of humankind.
The LGBT community in Serbia has attempted pride rallies in the past, but has been met with violence, when the rallies were not banned outright. In 2001, a small gathering was broken up by ultranationalists. In 2009, gay activists wanted to hold a pride parade, but authorities canceled at the last minute due to safety concerns.
In October 2010, the Pride Parade went forward. 5,000 police in riot gear were deployed to protect a fraction of as many marchers. They were met with violent right-wing, anti-gay protestors. About 100 police were injured; dozens of right-wing protestors were arrested. There was also extensive property damage across the capital Belgrade.
Officials banned the Pride Parade last year, fearing a repeat of violence.
There is concern that the government should be doing more, or is even obstructing reform. “The state isn’t doing enough to educate, to take a stand,” Aleksandar Skundric, a 28-year-old gay Belgrade native says. “A lot of politicians said they were eager to take the ‘blame’ for canceling the [2011] pride parade.”
Part of Serbia’s application for European Union membership is a pledge to respect human rights. However, there is concern by activists that the government, headed by former nationalists, has little interest in protecting the LGBT community.
Goran Miletić, program director of the Civil Rights Defenders and an organizer of the Pride Parade, has condemned the government’s failure to carry out the parade. “If last year [the decision to ban the pride] represented the capitulation of the state, today it shows an open coalition [of the state] with hooligans because the authorities have fully adopted the arguments of the extremist organizations, as well as their demands,” Miletic said.
Before the parade ban was announced, Miletić had said that the LGBT community “will not just sit” this year, and planned to take certain steps if the parade was banned.
For more information, please see:
B92 – “All Eyes on Serbia Ahead of Gay Pride Parade” –3 October 2012
B92 – Serbian Authorities Decide to Ban Gay Parade – 3 October 2012
Balkan Insight – Serbia Bans Gay Pride Amid Security Concerns – 3 October 2012
Global Post – Serbia Bans Gay Pride Parade – 3 October 2012
The Independent – Gay Pride March Banned in Serbi – 3 October 2012
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty – Belgrade Braces Itself for Gay-Pride Parade – 3 October 2012
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty – Serbian Officials Ban Gay-Pride Parade – 3 October 2012
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty – Serbia Bans Gay Parade, Other Gatherings – 20 September 2011
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty – In Serbia, Gay Activists Prepare For the Worst – 10 October 2010