Impunity Watch: North America

Controversial Guantanamo Official Transferred

By Gabrielle Meury
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, United States- The Pentagon has transferred Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann, a controversial senior official involved in overseeing the war-crimes trials at Guantanamo. The move has been anticipated after military judges in three separate instances barred Hartmann from further participation in the military commissions. The judges who barred Hartmann from participation ruled that he had improperly influenced prosecutors by pressing them to move to trial quickly and, over their objections, used evidence obtained from interrogations that involved coercive techniques.  Hartmann was the legal adviser to the Covening Authority, a Pentagon office that is required to exercise a neutral role in the commissions. His responsibility was to oversee, but not dictate, the work of prosecutors.

The Defense Department said in a statement yesterday that Hartmann will remain involved as director of operations, planning and development for military commissions. Military defense lawyers, human rights groups and the former lead prosecutor expressed concern that Hartmann’s new position will give him the opportunity to continue influencing cases.

Col. Morris Davis, a former chief military prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay, stated “Elevating his deputy and leaving him in the process, I’m afraid, will be like the Vladimir Putin-Dmitry Medvedev relationship where there’s some real doubt over who pulls the strings.” Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, military defense counsel for Canadian defendant Omar Khadr, echoed Davis’ distaste for the Pentagon’s decision. “Hartmann’s reassignment should be seen for what it is- a thin veneer for what amounts to being fired for his excessive and unlawful interference in the military commissions process.”

Defense attorneys for high-profile defendants at Guantanamo Bay, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged operational mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, are working to have charges against their clients dismissed on the grounds that Hartmann pushed the prosecution’s timing for political purposes. Hartmann stated that his zeal was apolitical and only intended to jump-start a sluggish legal system.

For more information, please see:

Washington Post- Guantanamo trials’ overseer reassigned- 20 September 2008

Rueters- U.S. reassigns Guantanamo court’s top lawyer- 19 September 2008

Seattle Times- General stripped of legal authority at Gitmo- 20 September 2008

 

Tijuana Prison Riot Sparked Due To Alleged Abuse By Prison Officials

By Andrew Benfield
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, North America

TIJUANA, Mexico – On September 16, 2008, inmates at La Mesa prison broke into a riot that left three inmates dead.  The riot allegedly began after a routine cell inspection.  Three guards searched the cell of a 19-year-old inmate, Israel Marquez Blanco.  After finding confiscating marijuana, heroin and cellular phones from Blanco’s cell, the prison guards became involved in an altercation that ended with the death of Blanco.

Inmates gathered on the roof of the prison and hung banners to protest the alleged abuse La Mesa prisoners suffered at the hands of the guards.  Specifically, one banner read: “No more dead.  The guards are assassins.” 

Currently, only one guard is in police custody in connection with Israel Marquez Blanco’s death.  Two other top La Mesa officials are fugitives in the wake of the alleged prisoner abuse. 

Only three days after the initial riot, prisoners at La Mesa broke into a riot on September 18, 2008 due to the fact that inmates have not received food or water since the previous riot.

Baja California Governor Jose Guadalupe Osuna has suspended La Mesa’s warden, the director overseeing state prisons and the deputy secretary of the state’s penitentiary system in coordination with an investigation into suspicions that prison officials were involved in the “second melee.” 

For more information, please see:

The Associated Press – 3 dead, 31 injured in Mexican prison riot – 16 September 2008

The Associated Press – 19 killed in second Tijuana prison riot in days – 19 September 2008

Los Angeles Times – 3 dead in Mexican prison riot – 16 September 2008

San Diego Union Tribune – Inmate’s death may have sparked Tijuana prison riot – 16 September 2008

Haiti's Child Laborers, the Restaveks, are the Poorest of Haiti's Poor

By Karla E General
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

GONAIVES, Haiti - In a country that is already heavily dependent on food imports and plagued by political turmoil, the children of Haiti are suffering in the wake of hurricanes and tropical storms that have devastated the area.

Women and children fight for rice

at a distribution center in Gonaives.

Ariana Cubillos/Associate Press

While thousands of women waited in line last Thursday for relief food, thousands of young Haitian children were left to find food on their own.  Many of these children are known throughout Haiti as the Restaveks, a Creole term used to describe Haiti's child laborers.  The Restaveks are children who have been given up by their poor parents to families who are better able to care for them.  The Creole term translates to "stay with," and the Restaveks do just that - they stay with families and work as their domestic servants in exchange for shelter, food, and education.  However, it is anything but a fair trade-off as the Restaveks are easy prey for exploitation.  Human rights advocates say the children are usually beaten, sexually abused, and denied access to education.  One United Nations official explained the dire situation: "They are second-class citizens, little slaves.  You feed them and they clean your house for nothing."

With the onslaught of the treacherous hurricane season, UNICEF estimates that 300,000 Haitian children, many of them child laborers who are already on their own, have been forced to relocate to shelters or rooftops.  These children have been forced to compete with mothers and wives for relief food, but only women are allowed in the lines when food is distributed.  The Restaveks are left to pick up the crumbs of rice and beans left in the streets by the hungry crowds.

The problems in this desolate country run much deeper than the lack of aid for struggling families.  With the country claiming the Western hemisphere's highest mortality rate for children younger than age five, the future generations of Haitian children are not guaranteed, or even likely, to see their tomorrow in Haiti.

For more information, please see:

New York Times - Children in Servitude, the Poorest of Haiti's Poor - 13 September 2008

National Public Radio - Relief Operations Under Way in Devastated Haiti - 12 September 2008

United Press International - 300,000 Haitian Children Hit by Hurricanes - 7 September 2008

Honduran President Refuses U.S. Ambassador in Support of Bolivia and Venezuela

By Karla E General
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Honduran president Manuel Zelaya stated yesterday that he will not be receiving the new United States ambassador to Honduras for the moment.  His decision follows the recent decisions of Bolivian president Evo Morales and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to oust the U.S. ambassadors in their respective countries.  The removal of the U.S. ambassadors in Bolivia and Venezuela is the result of violent clashes over domestic governmental affairs that have resulted in the deaths of eight people.  Morales and Chavez claim the violence stems from actions of the U.S. ambassadors to incite the people of their respective countries.

Zelaya voiced support for the decisions of his South American counterparts in refuting U.S. interference in their governmental affairs, but claims to not want to break relations with the U.S.  Zelaya's decision to refuse the U.S. ambassador is likely a result of his belief that the small nations need to stick together and that "[t]he world powers must treat us fairly and with respect."

South American allies have also demanded that Washington stay out of their domestic affairs, including Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa who issued the following statement: "The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales and the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, have enough reasons to label [as "persona non gratas"] the U.S. ambassador in La Paz, Philip Goldberg and that in Caracas, Patrick Duddy.  I respect those countries' decision and I am sure that they had their concrete and verified reasons."  Nicaragua president Daniel Ortega has yet to announce whether he will oust the U.S. ambassador in Nicaragua.

U.S. officials have responded to the actions of Morales and Chavez by kicking out the Bolivian and Venezuelan ambassadors, but claim that the sanctions are unrelated to the actions of Morales and Chavez.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press -- U.S. stops being polite as spat with Venezuela grows -- 13 September 2008

Jersey Journal Stories -- Honduras postpones accrediting U.S. ambassador -- 13 September 2008

SINA English -- Ecuador, Honduras support Bolivia, Venezuela in expulsion of U.S. envoys -- 12 September 2008

Hearing Begins for US Soldiers Charged with Murdering Iraqi Detainee

By Gabrielle Meury
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

CAMP SPEICHER, Iraq - A pretrial hearing was held on Saturday for a US soldier charge with murdering an Iraqi detainee by shooting him and then burning him with an incendiary grenade. Staff Sergeant Hal Warner and First Lieutenant Michael Behenna have been charged with the premeditated murder of Ali Mansur Mohammed. Warner and Behenna also face charges of  assault, making a false official statement and obstruction of justice. Additionally, Warner is being charged with being an accessory after the fact.

According to the charges, on May 16, Warner and Behanna shot Mohammed and later set his body on fire in the back of a military vehicle with a thermite grenade. Thermite grenades burn “fiercely” but do not explode; the grenade was placed under Mohammed’s head. Mohammed was originally thought to have been freed on May 16.

The hearing opened with a local police officer testifying as the first witness. He stated that he found Mohammed’s body in a tunnel, naked, partly burnt and lying in a pool of blood. Four more witnesses testified at the hearing, including US soldiers and an Iraqi doctor.

The military said that the men could face life in prison without parole if tried and convicted.

For more information, please see:

AFP- US soldier accused of murdering Iraqi in pre-trial hearing- 13 September 2008

AP- Hearing for US soldier charged with killing Iraqi- 13 September 2008

Press TV- US soldier trial begins in Iraq- 13 September 2008

Federal Agent Arrested in Abduction of Fourteen-Year-Old Boy

By Maria E. Molina
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

TIJUANA, Mexico - Lorena Gonzalez was arrested Monday in connection with the kidnapping of Fernando Marti. Marti, fourteen years old, was the son of a prominent Mexican businessman. Marti’s decomposed body was found on August 1, 2008 after his family paid a ransom.

His abduction outraged Mexicans and led to anti-crime marches across Mexico. Gonzalez was an active-duty federal agent and member of the gang that allegedly abducted and murdered Marti. Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna confirmed that Gonzales was an active member of the Federal Agency of Investigations. 

Garica Luna has rejected any accounts that police have kept hidden any information related to Gonzalez and Marti’s abduction. Garcia Luna said, “The idea is to clean and purge the federal and municipal forces.”

News of Gonzalez involvement comes at a time where police raids throughout Mexico have become all too common. The police raids are a component of police tactics to crack down on drug trafficking. They have resulted in the deaths of 2, 682 including elderly bystanders, schoolchildren and pregnant women.   

For more information, please see:

El Universal – Rechaza SSPF haya ocultado de Lorena Gonzalez – 11 September 2008

The Miami Herald – Mexico says kidnapper was federal agent – 11 September 2008

The New York Times – Drug Violence Alters the Flow of Life in Mexico – 31 August 2008

Khadr Trial Delayed After Lawyers Were Unable To Confront Witness

By Andrew Benfield
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, North America

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – Today, military court Judge Col. Patrick Parrish postponed Omar Khadr’s war crimes trial scheduled to begin on October 8. 

Khadr, a Canadian citizen, has been held at the United States’ military base in Guantanamo Bay on allegations that he threw a grenade at United States forces in Afghanistan.  Khadr has been detained at the military base since the age of fifteen.

In delaying Khadr’s trial, Judge Parrish criticized the “slow pace” at which the United States government has turned over evidence, information and witnesses to Khadr’s defense lawyers.  Specifically, Khadr’s lawyers claim that they have been denied access to a witness of the alleged grenade incident. 

The witness, identified this week as an United States government employee, has said that Khadr “was not the only one alive in the compound” at the time the grenade was thrown. 

This report is said to conflict with several other “post-battle” reports and could be a key piece of evidence in the Khadr’s trial.

Judge Parrish has not yet set a new date for the trial to commence.

In addition to the trial delays, newly released documents show a Canadian government representative complaining that her attempts to ensure proper medical care for Khadr have been quashed by military personnel.  The representative reported that her attempts to provide Khadr with a pillow, blanket and sunglasses were denied because they presented security concerns.   

For more information, please see:

The Canadian Press – Canadian officials frustrated in efforts to ensure care for Omar Khadr – 11 September 2008

International Herald Tribune – Documents criticize Canadian’s care at Guantanamo – 11 September 2008

The Star – Khadr’s war crimes trial delayed beyond federal election – 11 September 2008

Mexico Expresses Concern Over Use of Excessive Physical Force By Border Police

By Maria E. Molina
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

TEXAS, United States – The Mexican Counsel in El Paso has expressed concern over the excessive use of force by United States frontier police at the United States-Mexico border and a federal grand jury's failure to press charges against border police in the death of Alejandro Ortiz, a 23-year-old naturalized Mexican immigrant.

Ortiz drove two men and one woman from Mexico to the United States border when they were stopped by police. After police detained the woman, Ortiz approached them with scissors in one hand and a rock in the other. Police claimed that they fired at Ortiz out of fear. Ortiz was injured by the police shots but was able to travel back to Mexico where he died near Rio Bravo.

Earlier this year, a federal grand jury failed to indict border police in the shooting death of nineteen-year-old Juan Patricio Peraza. The grand jury found that police were justified in the shooting of Peraza.  Peraza held a metal pole while being surrounded and accosted by border police agents. 

The Mexican Counsel expressed his disapproval of both decisions.

For more information, please see:

Univision.com- Mexico preocupado por migrantes - 8 September 2008

Noticias ABC Mexico- Mexico preocupado por migrantes - 8 September 2008

Metro Noticias de Tamaulipas- Mexico preocupado por migrantes - 8 September 2008

U.S. to Review Civilian Death Toll Evidence in Afghan Raid

By Gabrielle Meury
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

AZIZABAD, Afghanistan - According to the Afghan government and the U.N,  a U.S. led military operation in the village of Azizabad killed 90 civilians. Of those 90, 60 were children and 15 were women. These figures are backed up by The Afghan government, human rights and intelligence officials, independent witnesses and a United Nations investigation.

The U.S. originally said that the Aug. 22 operation killed 30 militants, but a subsequent military investigation concluded that the operation killed up to 35 militants and seven civilians. The military investigation was based on “convincing technical evidence” documenting fewer graves than the villagers had reported, a thorough sweep of the village and a building-by-building search a few hours after the air strikes, as well as a return visit on August 26. Villagers insist that the investigation never happened.

Sunday the U.S. military said that it has “new information” about the attack and is sending a military officer to Afghanistan to review its initial investigation. The U.S. military did not say what new information had emerged, but Afghan and Western officials say that they both have video of the aftermath of the airstrike that reveals dozens of dead women and children. A U.N. official who has seen one video of Azizabad told The Associated Press it shows rows of maimed children. A second official has said one video shows bodies of "tens of children" lined up and he called the video "gruesome."

Capt. Scott A. Miller, a U.S. military spokesman, said he couldn't comment specifically on the report."I assure you that civilians are never targeted, and that our forces go to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties," Miller said. "It is unfortunate that the enemy continues to hide among non-combatants and place innocent lives at risk."

For more information, please see:

Associated Press- Video shows dead Afghan children after US Raid- 8 September 2008

Los Angeles Times- U.S. will review Afghanistan death toll investigation- 8 September 2008

New York Times- Evidence Points to Civilian Toll in Afghan Raid- 7 September 2008

New York Times- Cellphone Video of Afghan Casualties- 8 September 2008

Former Prison Official Sentenced to 1,035 Years After 69 Inmates Killed in Massacre

By Karla E General
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- The Honduran Court of La Ceiba province has announced a largely symbolic verdict Saturday against prison official Dimas Antonio Benitez for his involvement in the massacre of sixty-nine people during a jail riot.  Those killed include sixty-five inmates, one guard, and three visitors.  Although defendants cannot be imprisoned for more than thirty years under Honduran law, the three-judge panel in this recent decision has sentenced Benitez to 1,035 years for his involvement.

Benitez was one of the El Porvenir prison directors in 2003, when the armed clash developed between inmates.  The inmates were suspected members of the “Mara” street gang.  Benitez was among those prosecuted who were responsible for the deaths after inmates were either intentionally shot or burned alive in their cells.  In addition to Benitez, the Honduran Court also sentenced ten other prison employees and ten inmate trustees to lesser jail terms.      

The incident in 2003 is not the only time Honduras’ prisons have experienced problems.  Violent clashes are common between inmates and prison guards in the overcrowded Honduran criminal justice system.  On 4 May 2008, at least eighteen people were killed after a fight erupted between gangs in a prison in the city of Tamara, located thirty kilometers from Tegucigalpa.  Similarly, on 27 April 2008, eight inmates were killed in another gang shootout at a prison in San Pedro Sula, two-hundred-fifty kilometers north of Honduras’ capital.

National Commissioner of Human Rights of the Republic of Honduras Ramon Custodio expressed his satisfaction with the sentence against Benitez.

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune - Honduras issues 1,051-year sentence in massacre - 6 September 2008

New Kerala - Honduras jail massacre convict gets 1,035 years in jail - 7 September 2008

Thaindian News - Prison clash leaves 18 dead in Honduras - 4 May 2008