A Voice for the Voiceless

Aboriginals Want Better Recognition in Australia

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia — Aboriginal leaders called on the United Nations this week to deny Australia a seat on the Security Council because of the country’s record of treating indigenous Australians.

Michael Anderson of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra is calling on the United Nations to deny Australia’s bid for a seat on the Security Council. (Photo Courtesy of the National Indigenous Times)

Michael Anderson, the last surviving founder of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra 40 years ago, wrote a letter to UN ambassadors, urging them to reject Australia’s bid for council membership.

The move came on the heels of a new report on aboriginal relations that human rights lawyers called “concerning.”

In an interview with the New Lawyer, Stephen Keim, president of the Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, said the government should “work with Aboriginal peoples in the (Northern Territories) to promote and build representative institutions that will allow self-determination through self-government.”

Keim said Australia needs to more closely follow the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  According to Keim, UNDRIP gives native peoples the right of self-determination and the autonomy to achieve that through regulating their internal and local affairs.

But the report highlighted the diminished self-governance Aboriginals have, including the downfall of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, the concentration of local government, and the proliferation of indigenous advisory committees that have ineffective decision-making authority.

The report also identified key areas of concern, including transparency, development in the Northern Territories, lack of long-term planning in Aboriginal towns, and marginalization of Aboriginals’ decision-making.

According to the New Lawyer, Keim said the report called attention to “the importance of culture as a social determinant of health, which, as outlined in the UNDRIP, protects the maintenance and practice of indigenous cultures.”

This all comes in the wake of Australia deciding last month to shelve the Act of Recognition, which, if passed next year, would have acknowledged the role of indigenous Australians in the country’s history.  Now, the referendum will not be considered for at least three years.

A sunset clause on the act prevents the parliament from entirely neglecting the issue, however, said Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin.

But recent numbers indicated not many Australians knew about the proposed act.  Macklin said a poll by Reconciliation Australia found fewer than 40 percent of the non-indigenous population knew or heard about the referendum.

“The Australian government agrees with the findings of the expert panel that it is important a referendum is held at a time when it has the most chance of success,” Macklin said.

But Press TV reported that the treatment of Aboriginals may be improving, albeit slightly.

In the Northern Territories, greater involvement to protect the indigenous population from discrimination, human rights violations, and other abuse has been a central theme.  Since elections in August, government organizations have begun to cut down on racial stereotypes of Aboriginal Australians.

For further information, please see:

The National Indigenous Times — Australia Doesn’t Deserve a Seat on United Nations — 11 October 2012

Press TV — Indigenous Australians Demand Better Recognition — 11 October 2012

The New Lawyer — Report Spotlights Indigenous Rights — 8 October 2012

The Australian — Julia Gillard Switch on First People Referendum — 20 September 2012

Islamist Rebels Use Drug Money to Maintain Control Over Northern Mali

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

BAMAKO, Mali – On Wednesday, a top U.N. Human Rights official accused radical Islamist rebels in northern Mali of using intimidation, and money from ransoms and drug trafficking to maintain control over the region.

Fighters from Ansar Dine, one of the groups that has taken control of northern Mali. (Photo courtesy of The Telegraph)

Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Šimonovic made these remarks at a news conference in the U.N. Headquarters in New York, following his recent visit to Mali. The Islamists benefitting from the black market revenues have been enforcing an extremist interpretation of Sharia (Muslim law) and restrictions particularly targeting women since they took over the region in March.

“They are buying loyalty. They have tremendous resources to buy loyalty because they are now having kickbacks from narco-traffickers in the region,” said Šimonovic. Mali is a transit corridor for cocaine and other drugs from South America to Europe.

“There is also substantial ransom money that is being controlled by them,” Šimonovic said. However, Šimonovic added that this did not translate to support from the civilian population as “the overwhelming majority of people in the north are not supportive of the rebels and dislike what is happening.”

Šimonovic enumerated a whole laundry list of human rights abuses in his report which included: “very drastic punishments,” the recruitment of child soldiers, public executions, amputations, mutilations, and enforced marriages that are actually a smokescreen for enforced prostitution, terming the whole situation as “very bad.”

Šimonovic emphasized that children are particularly vulnerable to enlistment as child soldiers. Often children are enlisted to plant improvised explosives, with their families being given $600 for enlistment, and then $400 a month in a country where over half the population lives on $1.25 a day. Many teachers have also fled, fearing the imposition of this strict interpretation Sharia, which means many children are also missing out on education.

With respect to women’s rights, Šimonovic  said, “The number of enforced marriages is increasing, the price to buy a wife is less than $1,000. After getting out of their families, the women, once forcefully married, quite often are by their so-called husbands married to other men after a very short while, which is in fact then a smokescreen for enforced prostitution and rapes that are taking place,”

One displaced woman he interviewed in the northern town of Mopti said she could no longer return to her hometown of Gao, where she had been a merchant, because women are not allowed to work under the strict interpretation of Sharia.

“Everybody is banned from listening to music, from smoking, women have to be covered but the women are also targeted in the sense of restricting their ability to work,” Šimonovic said.

Šimonovic  said that “These were appalling violations of human rights,”. “But they were largely ad hoc in nature.” However, since Islamic groups such as Ansar Dine, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA), and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) took over the region, it witnessed human rights abuses of a “different character,” he noted.

The rebels captured the region in late March amid the chaos triggered by a military coup, and have since declared independence for the region they call ‘Azawad.’

 For further information, please see:

RTT News – Islamists Accused of Using Intimidation, Drug Money to Control Northern Mali – 11 October 2012

ANGOP – Mali Extremists Abusing Rights, Targerting Children, Women – 11 October 2012

UPI – Mali Rebels Tied to Drug Trade – 11 October 2012

BBC News – Mali Islamists ‘Buying Child Soldiers, Imposing Sharia’ – 10 October 2012

All Africa – Mali: Islamists Use Fear, Drug Money to Maintain Control of Northern Mali – UN Rights Official – 10 October 2012

UN News Centre – Women Primary Victims of Violence in Nothern Mali, says UN Rights Official – 9 October 2012

 

Yemeni Security Official for U.S. Embassy Killed by Motorcyclist

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen – While the reaction to the American-made film Innocence of Muslims has certainly cooled down when compared to the massive riots that swept the Middle East a month ago, anti-American sentiment is still alive and well in Yemen. Qassem Aqlan, a Yemeni security official to the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a, was killed Thursday. Many believe he was overseeing the investigation into last month’s attack on the embassy.

Aqlan was investigating the mid-September protests at the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, such as those depicted here from September 13. (Photo Courtesy of the Guardian)

Aqlan had been a security official there for almost two decades. He was assassinated by a masked gunman on a motorcycle. Aqlan was on his way to work and was not far from his home. The shooting occurred on Siteen, a main street in the capital that many consider to be one of the safest in the entire country.

“We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident involving a Yemeni employee of our embassy in Sana’a, and we are working with Yemeni authorities,” a senior official in the U.S. State Department told reporters.

It is still unknown who was behind the killing. Yemeni officials believe it to be the work of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), who have been blamed for many attacks that have taken place in in the coastal country. A senior Interior Ministry official stated that “[m]otorcycle attacks are currently al Qaeda’s main tactic” because they, “are easier for terrorists to coordinate and plan for.” The U.S. government currently regards AQAP as the most dangerous offshoot of the al Qaeda network.

Backed by the United States, Yemen has been on the offensive to push AQAP out of the mountainous areas in the south, where the group has been performing murders and suicide missions. The government believes the recent assassination of Aqlan to be a means of retaliation. It also also thinks that AQAP has been behind numerous other recent attacks on Yemeni intelligence, military, and security officials. Just two weeks ago, Colonel Abdullah al-Ashwal, a top intelligence official, was murdered in a drive-by assassination.

The anti-Muhammad film, Innocence of Muslims, incensed Muslims all across the Middle East. AQAP has attempted to use that sentiment to its advantage by calling for attacks on U.S. embassies. When Christopher Stevens, the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, was killed at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, AQAP extolled it as, “the best example” for those attacking embassies to follow.

It appears as if no one is safe from harm if you are connected to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, or an investigation into attacks on it. It does not matter if you are Yemeni or Muslim.

An official was quoted saying that Aqlan’s death, “sends a message that if you’re working with the Americans you’ll be targeted no matter who you are.”

For further information, please see:

Alsahwa – Investigation Officer of U.S. Embassy Assassinated in Sana’a – 11 October 2012

CNN – Security Official for U.S. Embassy in Yemen Killed – 11 October 2012

Guardian – Yemeni Security Official for US Embassy Killed in Drive-by Shooting – 11 October 2012

Middle East Online – Gunmen Kill Yemeni Security Staff at U.S. Embassy – 11 October 2012

Guinea Creates New Cabinet Position Dedicated to Human Rights

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

CONAKRY, Guinea—Human rights organizations and groups today applaud the African country of Guinea. Guinea has just created a Cabinet position dedicated only to human rights in Guinea, which has one of the worst records in that part of the continent. The reputation developed after a violent and shocking massacre several years ago in 2009. During this incident, peaceful protesters were physically mowed down in the country’s national soccer stadium and dozens of women were gang raped.

The Stadium Where the Massacre Took Place Three Years Ago. (Photo Courtesy of Human Rights Watch)

Hundreds of victims of this massacre and rapes are still awaiting justice. Human Rights Watch said that the Guinean government should increase their support for domestic investigations of these crimes in order to hold those responsible for their actions without any more delay.

Elie Keppler, the senior international justice counsel for Human Rights Watch said, “The victims and loved ones of those who perished have yet to see the men who carried out the horrific crimes that took place on September 28, 2009, brought to book.” Keppler also noted that, “the persistent failure of the government to hold human rights violators to account over decades of repressive rule in Guinea has fueled further abuses.”

Two years ago, in February 2010, a panel of judges from Guinea were appointed to investigate these crimes and made important advances in the investigations by interviewing more than 200 victims and filing charges against more than 7 people who were connected to the crimes. However, today, still more than 100 victims are waiting for their chance to give their own statements and several mass graves have yet to be investigated.

Thierno Sow, who is head of Guinea’s largest human rights group, said that with this new Cabinet position, it is the first time that human rights occupy such an important place in the Guinea government system.

In October 2009, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor placed the massacre under preliminary examination, however it did not actually open its own investigation. This new Cabinet position, however will finalize the transition the Guinean government to civilian rule and give the government its own autonomy to make sure that human rights are protected.

This post was created and implemented just last week during a Cabinet reshuffle which also finalized the purging of the last remaining three members of the military also holding positions in the government.

 

For further information, please see:

Boston.com – Guinea Creates 1st Human Rights Ministerial Post – 11 October 2012

JournalStar – Guinea Creates 1st Human Rights Ministerial Post – 11 October 2012

Yahoo – Guinea Creates 1st Human Rights Ministerial Post – 11 October 2012

Human Rights Watch – Guinea: Stadium Massacre Victims Await Justice – 27 September 2012

 

Gaddafi Defense Warns ICC That He ‘Would be Hanged’ in Libya

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TRIPOLI, Libya — Last Wednesday, a lawyer representing Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, warned the International Criminal Court (ICC) that he would be hanged if he is tried in Libya instead of at The Hague.  Melinda Taylor, a court-appointed lawyer for Gaddafi, said in a public hearing in the Netherlands, that the Libyan courts will “not be motivated by a desire for justice but a desire for revenge, and there is no right for revenge under international law.”  A hearing to determine whether Gaddafi should be tried in Libya or at The Hague convened on Tuesday.

If tried in Libya, Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi could be hung. (Photo Courtesy of Naharnet)

The ICC has wanted to try Gaddafi since June of 2011, but the new Libyan regime has repeatedly refused to hand him over and would rather try him in its own courts.  Libyan lawyers say that they have enough evidence to convict Gaddafi for crimes against humanity.  They also said that although Libya will be committed to granting him a fair trial, a “complicated process” exists in the country that requires “more time.”

Taylor believes that Gaddafi’s right to a fair trial will be violated if he is tried in Libya.  He has been held in isolation in the hilltown of Zintan since November 19, 2011.  Taylor told the ICC that if it allows Libya to try him, there would be a risk of the trial’s being rigged to secure his conviction. She believes that such a decision would risk harming the ICC’s reputation. Taylor also cited a law passed by the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) that said that “no child of Gaddafi will ever benefit from leniency.”

The case against Gaddafi tests the principle foundation of the ICC: that it is the court of last resort, to used when a country is unwilling or unable to prosecute defendants.  Judges must weigh the new regime’s desire to try Gaddafi against its ability to do so.  The nation continues to rebuild after more than four decades under Muammar Gaddafi’s rule.  Foreign Policy reports that if the judges are to side with Libya in this matter, it will signify their recognition that the country’s ability to keep Gaddafi in custody also shows that it is willing and able to prosecute him.  Siding with Libya could also be viewed as an implicit endorsement of the death penalty.  Deciding where Gaddafi should be tried could take weeks or months for the judges to determine.

The UN believes that 15,000 people were killed during the revolution, but the new Libyan regime estimates that figure to be as high as 30,000.  The ICC is the only permanent criminal tribunal established to try genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Gaddafi Lawyers fear ‘Revenge’ Trial in Libya — 10 October 2012

BBC News — Libya Trial for Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi ‘Would Damage ICC’ — 10 October 2012

Naharnet — Seif Al-Islam ‘Would be Hanged in Libya’, Defense Tells ICC — 10 October 2012

Foreign Policy — No Winners in ICC – Libya Standoff — 8 October 2012