Dozens of Asylum-Seekers Feared Dead After Boat Sinks

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia — Rescuers in Australia said late Thursday that dozens of asylum-seekers are believed dead after their boat capsized on the way to Christmas Island.

An asylum-seeker is searched as he arrives at Christmas Island. (Photo Courtesy of The Australian)

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said 110 survivors had been rescued, but the agency confirmed the deaths of at least three people.  About 40 people were seen clinging to the hull of the overturned vessel, and as many as 75 were believed to have drowned.  A spokesperson said about the Sri Lankan refugees were headed to Christmas Island when they encountered trouble some 200 kilometers north of the Australian territory.

“We don’t know the full details yet, but clearly we have lost a number of lives in a very dangerous journey from Indonesia to Australia,” said Australian Prime Minister Julia Gilliard from a United Nations conference in Rio de Janeiro.  She confirmed that she and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had spoken on the phone and agreed to have their agencies work together to co-ordinate the search and rescue operation.

A 13-year-old boy was reportedly among the survivors, who were otherwise believed to be adult men.  Three merchant ships were helping with the rescue efforts.

“The objective is to save as many lives as possible,” said Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare.  “We’re still in that critical window where more lives could be saved.  People can survive out there for up to 36 hours if they have life jackets or debris to hang on to.”

Clare said some people were seen holding onto debris as many as three nautical kilometers away from the capsized boat.

Meanwhile, authorities were trying to confirm whether another boat also might be in trouble.  Australia’s Rescue Coordination Centre told Indonesian authorities that the second distressed vessel was possibly in the area.  The maritime safety authority, however, said only one troubled boat has been confirmed.

Three other boats carrying about 240 refugees have been intercepted near Christmas Island over the past two days.  But Thursday’s disaster was the latest in a string of disasters to impact asylum-seekers at sea.  Last November, 200 refugees died off the coast of Java when their boat capsized on the high seas.  In December 2010, four dozen drowned in a wild storm off the Christmas Island coast.

So far this month, more than a thousand people have sought asylum in Australia, marking the second consecutive month the number has eclipsed 1,000.  To date this year, 4,494 refugees have made the journey to Australia.

For further information, please see:

The Australian — Mass Asylum Seeker Drownings Feared off Indonesia — 22 June 2012

News.au.com — Asylum Seeker Boat Capsizes North of Christmas Island, Survivors Plucked from Ocean — 22 June 2012

ABC — Asylum Seeker Boat Capsizes South of Australia — 21 June 2012

The Sydney Morning Herald — Asylum Seekers Clinging to Hull of Boat — 21 June 2012

Yahoo! 7 News — Asylum Seeker Disaster North of Christmas Island — 21 June 2012

Pressure on British Government for Complete Boycott of Eurocup 2012, Protest Host Ukraine’s Human Rights Record

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

LONDON, England – The British government is being pressured by the Labour party to continue its current boycott of the Eurocup 2012 tournament. The soccer tournament is being jointly hosted by Poland and Ukraine. Due to deteriorating human rights violations and the actions of Ukranian President Yanukoyvch in the trial of Yulia Tymoshenko, a political rival, several European governments have announced their boycott of the tournament. All of the participants in Group D of the tournament, England, France and Sweden boycotted the group stage.

David Lidington, Europe minister (Photo Courtesy of Press)

The Labour party wants Prime Minister David Cameron’s office to completely boycott the entire tournament, as opposed to their current decision of only boycotting the early stages.

Emma Reynolds, shadow Foreign Office minister said, “Why does the Government still take the position that human rights don’t seem to matter in the knockout stages of the European Championships? Is it that they don’t have confidence in their own policy or they don’t have confidence in our team?”

The British Europe minister David Lidington has commented that the government will review the attendance by ministers at later stages of the tournament under review.  “We have made it clear in every conversation at official and ministerial level with our Ukrainian counterparts that if they want to have the democratic future, the closer links with Europe that the Ukrainian government says it wishes to see and we believe needs to happen, then they have to show that they are serious about democratic as well as about economic reform.”, Lidington has said.

David Cameron’s office also faces pressure from Eugenia Tymoshenko, Yulia Tymoshenko’s daughter who is calling for the Prime Minister to rescind President Yanukoych’s invitation to the opening ceremonies for the   2012 Olympics this summer. She also calls for visa bans on high ranking Ukrainian officials and for their assets to be frozen.

President Yanukoyvch’s handling of the Tymoshenko case has caused concern for the country’s human rights record. Tymoshenko was convicted for abuse of power charges and is currently undergoing investigation after Yanukoyvch linked her to a 16 year old murder case.

For further information, please see:

ITV News — Labour Urge Government to Boycott Euro 2012 – 20 June 2012

United Kingdom Press Association — Government Under Euro 2012 Pressure – 20 June 2012

The Guardian — Yulia Tymoshenko’s Daughter: Bar Ukraine President from Olympics – 18 June 2012

Syrian Network for Human Rights: Syrian People’s Casualties Exceeds 15,000

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) and Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS) observe rigorous documentation standards to verify each piece of information by seeking testimonies from two people, who do not know one another, before it is included in the casualties’ record.

Syrian citizens killed by the Syrian regime; from the start of the revolution on 18 March 2011 until 16 June 2012

  • Confirmed death toll (documented by name): 15,163
  • Children: 1,114
  • Women: 957
  • Killed under torture: 579

Victims killed by the Syrian regime, throughout the duration of the suspended UN observers’ mission, between 12 of April 2012 and 16 June 2012

  • Total figure of victims documented by name: 3,087
  • Children: 277
  • Women: 193
  • Under torture: 137

 

Statistics and information provided by Syrian Network for Human Rights and Damascus Center for Human Rights  Studies.  For further information, please see:

Syrian Network for Human Rights – Confirmed Death Toll Report – 19 June 2012

Syrian Network for Human Rights – UN Observers’ Death Toll Report – 19 June 2012

US Religious Groups Call on the U.S. Congress to Impose Magnitsky Sanctions

Press Release
Hermitage Capital

18 June 2012 – A number of US religious organizations from different denominations have called on the U.S. Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act. The leaders of nine US religious organisations have written to members of Congress urging the swift passage of the Magnitsky Act in its current form. In their letter, they point out that the Magnitsky Act gives the United States an important and effective policy tool to address serious human rights abuses around the world.

“It is one thing to talk about the human rights and religious freedoms and quite another to actually do something about it. Because of the well thought out terms of this legislation, we believe that this bill will become an effective lever that the United States will have in dealing with this pernicious and growing problem of human rights abuses around the world,” said the religious groups in their joint letter.

“Magnitsky’s sacrifice will hopefully lead to an important and new method for fighting human rights abuses which could have a dramatic effect everywhere,” said the letter.

The letter is signed by religious groups of various faiths and denominations, including the Action for Post-Soviet Jewry, the Union of Councils for Jews in the former Soviet Union, American Islamic Congress, Hindu American Foundation, International Institute for Religious Freedom, Church of Scientology, United Macedonian Diaspora, Partners for a Progressive Israel, and Human Rights Law Foundation, as well as prominent figures in the field of religious freedom.

“As representatives of a wide number of religions and faiths across the United States, we do everything possible to make sure that all people can practice their faith around the world without restriction or interference. For this reason, we strongly support the passage of the ‘Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act’,” says the letter.

Under the Magnitsky Act currently in front of the U.S. Congress, visa bans and asset freezes will be imposed on those involved in the torture of 37-year old whistle-blowing lawyer and the corruption he had uncovered in Russia, as well on those who kill, torture and otherwise repress the defenders of freedoms of religion, expression, association and assembly and of the right to a fair trial and democratic elections.

“Coming to America is a privilege and not a right, and when foreign officials are involved in torture, murder, restrictions of religious freedom or other human rights abuses, they should have that privilege taken away. We believe that this law would not only create an effective punishment for people who have violated human rights, but also a powerful deterrent for people not to do these things in the future,” says the religious freedom activists.

“As discussions on the Magnitsky bill progress in the U.S. Congress, we are seeing more and more outpouring of support for this legislation inspired by the courage and dignity of a young Russian man who gave his life for his belief in truth and justice,” said a Hermitage Capital representative.

 

For further information please contact:
Hermitage Capital
Phone:              +44 207 440 17 77
E-mail:              info@lawandorderinrussia.org
Website:           http://lawandorderinrussia.org
Facebook:        http://on.fb.me/hvIuVI
Twitter:             @KatieFisher__
Livejournal:       http://hermitagecap.livejournal.com/

Puerto Rico Police Accused of Human Rights Violations, Police Brutality

By Stuart Smith
Impunity Watch, North America

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The American Civil Liberties Union, in a June 2012 report, lambasted the Puerto Rico Police Department, the second-largest municipal police force in the United States, asserting that “the police force is plagued by a culture of violence and corruption.”

Puerto Rico Policia
Puerto Rican police clash with civilians. (Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press)

“These abuses do not represent isolated incidents or aberrant behavior by a few rogue officers. Such police brutality is pervasive and systematic, island-wide and ongoing,” the report stated. According to CNN and Fox News, the ACLU report alleged routine use of excessive force, failure by the PRPD to crack down on sexual assaults and violations of civil and human rights, particularly against low-income people, Puerto Ricans of African descent and Dominican immigrants.

Additionally, the Huffington Post reported that, from 2004 to 2010, nearly 27,400 complaints against police officers alleging misconduct were filed by civilian, causing the department to recommend the expulsion of 884 officers. And according to department statistics, 1,768 of those complaints alleged excessive or unjustified use of force.

Ruth Jimenez was among those who filed a complaint against the PRPD. When her son Jorge Polaco Jimenez was shot eight times by police officers, in October 2007, while unarmed, Ruth Jimenez filed a complaint with the PRPD, reported the Washington Post. Police maintain they acted in self-defense.

Yet, despite filing numerous complaints, she only recently obtained a received a copy of her son’s autopsy. “I have had zero answers. Zero,” she said in a phone interview. “I want the truth.”

In response to ACLU’s report, Fox News reported that Hector Pesquara, PRPD’s superintendent, in a radio interview, said that the report is not an accurate reflection of reality, proclaiming it to be incorrect and irresponsible.

However, reports of violence and corruption within the ranks of the PRPD are not new. The ACLU’s report comes nine months after a DOJ report describing similar abuses on the island and stating that “the path toward lasting reform will require nothing less than federal judicial intervention.”

Similarly, the ACLU report called on the PRPD to implement a series of reforms, including: developing and implementing policies on the use of force, creating comprehensive procedures for investigating allegations of police abuse and other civilian complaints, and taking measures to address the problems with policing of domestic and sexual violence.

The ACLU’s report, affirming the recommendation of the DOJ, also recommended that the Department of Justice, to ensure the full implementation of these reforms, take control of the PRPD.

Jennifer Turner, the ACLU human rights researcher who authored the report, explained, “there’s clearly no will by the police force there to change its ways,” reported Fox News. “There’s also no leadership in Puerto Rico that’s interested in effective and real reform. That’s why it’s so necessary for the Justice Department to act.”

For further information, please see:

Washington Post – ACLU accuses Puerto Rico police of excessive force and other abuses, urges US to take control – 19 June 2012

CNN – ACLU report blasts Puerto Rico Police Department – 19 June 2012

Fox News Latino – Puerto Rico Police Brutality Against Residents Remains Persistent, ACLU Says – 19 June 2012

Huffington Post – Puerto Rico Police Department Faces Human Rights Crisis Of ‘Epic Proportions’, According To ACLU – 19 June 2012

ACLU – Island of Impunity: Puerto Rico’s Outlaw Police Force Executive Summary – June 2012

Department of Justice – Investigation of the Puerto Rico Police Department Executive Summary – 5 September 2011