Impunity Watch: North America

Mexican Police Harass Crime Reporters in Ciudad Juarez

By Maria E. Molina
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - Reporters in Cuidad Juarez are complaining of intimidation by soldiers and federal cops.

The Mexican army and the Federal Police are opening files on reporters.  A number of reporters express fears that the harassment of journalists may be a prelude to physical attacks.

Several reporters in Ciudad Juarez when they go to the scene of an apparent mob hit are confronted by hooded police officers demanding multiple forms of identification and personal data.
 
Federal officers claim that the rigorous ID processes are security measures, as there are people who pretend to be reporters who come to verify if the work (the murder) is done.

The increased scrutiny has led to heated shouting matches at crime scenes and spread fear among news-gatherers, while the regional command of the Federal Police refuses to comment on the matter.

Several journalists have been slain in Ciudad Juarez.  Just this week, a dozen heavily armed federal police wearing ski masks invaded the offices of a publication to demand a photograph they said was needed for an investigation. Some reporters have opted not to send their news reports for fear of being attacked by the federal police.  

Mexico is the deadliest place in the Americas to be a journalist, and among the deadliest in the world. Mexico's independent National Human Rights Commission said last month that 45 journalists have been slain in the country since 2000, demanding that the government do more to track down and punish the perpetrators of those crimes.  Several of the murdered reporters were covering organized crime.

For more information, please see:

Latin American Herald Tribune - Mexico Drug Crime Reporters Denounce Police Harassment - 24 December 2008

Univision - Prensa denunció presiones en C. Juárez - 24 December 2008

El Financiero - Reportan 41 periodistas muertos en el mundo - 19 December 2008

Canada's First War Crimes Trial of Rwandan Man Comes to Close

By Maria E. Molina
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

The Canadian war crimes trial of a Rwandan man accused of leading attacks against Tutsis and moderate Hutus during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Desire Munyaneza was charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for his alleged role in the rape and slaughter of more than 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. He pleaded not guilty to all charges. Munyaneza is the first defendant to be tried under Canada's 7-year-old War Crimes Act, which permits Canada to conduct the trial of suspects for crimes that occurred abroad. The law allows the country to try Canadians anywhere in the world and non-citizens who happen to be living in Canada. Munyaneza could face life in prison in a Canadian jail.

Munyaneza, a Hutu, was living in Toronto when he was arrested in October 2005 after reports that he had been seen circulating among Canada's Rwandan community. At the time, African Rights, a Rwandan group that has documented the genocide, linked Munyaneza to key figures indicted by the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal.

During his trial, more than 66 witnesses testified in Rwanda, France and Kenya, often behind closed doors to protect their identity.  Many witnesses accused Munyaneza of being a ground-level leader in a militia group that raped and murdered dozens.  Much of the key testimony took place behind closed doors to protect Rwandans from potential reprisals. Key hearings with witnesses took place in France, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Belgium were also mostly held in secret. Retired Canadian general Roméo Dallaire gave chilling testimony about the scope of the bloodbath to establish for the court that genocide took place.

Canada denied Munyaneza refugee status in September 2000. He has since lost several appeals. Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board also found there were reasons to believe he had participated in crimes against humanity.

For more information, please see:

The Associated Press - Canada's war crimes trial of Rwandan man closes - 18 December 2008

The Globe and Mail - The complexities of Canada's first war-crimes trial - 18 December 2008

Canada.com - Canada’s first war-crimes trial wrapping up - 17 December 2008

US Supreme Court Orders Guantanamo Torture Case Reviewed

By Gabrielle Meury
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON DC, US- The US Supreme Court on Monday reviewed a lawsuit by four former detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The Court ordered a Washington DC appeals court to review its January 2008 ruling that quashed the lawsuit against former Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and 10 senior US military officers.

The Court said that the case should be reconsidered in light of its June 12 ruling that held that prisoners in Guantanamo Bay have a right to challenge their detention in civilian courts. In a 5-4 ruling, the justices said the Constitution's protection for the right of habeas corpus extended to all Guantanamo detainees. The decision cleared the way for prisoners to sue for their freedom before a judge.Citing that ruling, lawyers for the former prisoners at the U.S.-run detention center in Cuba appealed to the high court in August. "The torture, abuse and religious humiliation of Muslim detainees at Guantanamo Bay stands as a shameful episode in our history," their lawyer, Eric Lewis, wrote in his appeal.

In the present suit, the former detainees claimed they were protected against torture by a US constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. They also argued that their rights under the US Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the right to practice their religion, were violated at Guantanamo.  The alleged that during their detention they were beaten, threatened with dogs, shackled in painful positions, deprived of sleep, food and care, and subjected to extreme temperatures. They also alleged that guards harassed them in their religious practices by playing loud music at prayer time, confiscating prayer mats, and insulting the Koran by putting the holy book in a toilet bucket.

The four British men include Shafiq Rasul. He was the lead plaintiff in the 2004 ruling that first granted the right of habeas corpus to prisoners held at Guantanamo.
Rasul, a native of Tipton, England, traveled to Pakistan in 2001 to study computer science. He and three other men went to Afghanistan a few months later to help with a humanitarian crisis. The men were captured by warlords and turned over to U.S. forces. They held at Guantanamo for more than two years without being charged before they were freed and returned to England.

For more information, please see:

AFP- US Supreme Court orders review of Guantanamo torture case- 15 December 2008

Los Angeles Times- Supreme Court revives lawsuit by former detainees- 16 December 2008

Wall Street Journal- Gitmo lawyers are the latest in radical chic- 16 December 2008

Canadian Government Minimizes Importance of Violence Against Women Campaign

By Maria E. Molina
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

OTTAWA, Canada - The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women is held  annually on December 6. The day was designed to commemorate the anniversary of the killing of 14 women at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique in 1989.  On December 6, 1989, Marc Lépine gunned down 14 students at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal simply because they were women. The event served as a wake-up call to many Canadians about the seriousness of the issue of violence against women in Canada.  The national day represents a day on which communities can consider concrete actions to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.

Almost two decades later, statistics figures show that the situation for women has not improved. In fact, it has worsened for Aboriginal and immigrant women.  Emergency shelter, affordable housing and child-care programs are not in place for many women across Canada. 

Since coming to power, Canada’s current government has prohibited women's organizations from engaging in research or advocacy for women's equality, and eliminated provincial agreements for a national child-care plan.  In addition, Canada’s current government continues to refuse to introduce new proactive pay equity law despite the recommendations of the Pay Equity Task Force. Also, the Court Challenges Program has been cancelled and Canada’s Status of Women budget has been cut by almost 40%. Twelve Status of Women offices across Canada have been closed. Canada’s current government has also imposed new federal guidelines for funding for the Status of Women.

For more information, please see:

CNW Group - Gov't rallies 'drown out' victims of violence against women - 3 December 2008

The Canadian Press - With battle lines drawn in Ottawa, public rallies planned across Canada - 3 December 2008

The Gazette - The sweater comes off: Harper curbs pay equity - 3 December 2008

El Salvador's High Murder Rate a Result of Social Abandonment

By Karla E General
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - A recent report has categorized El Salvador as the murder capital of the world when it comes to youth violence. The report, the Map of Violence of Latin American Youth, was released by the Latin American Technological Information Network (RITLA) last month.

Based on data from 83 countries, the study found that a person aged 15 to 24 is fifteen times more likely to be murdered in Latin America than in Canada, thirty times more likely than Europe, and seventy times more likely than those youths in Greece, Hungary, England, Austria, Japan, or Ireland. For El Salvador, specifically, the murder rate is 92.3 per 100,000 and rising, earning it the title of "most dangerous country" in the world. Corresponding rates in Canada (2.5 per 100,000) and the United States (12.9 per 100,000) fall exceedingly far from El Salvador's murder rate.

The researchers blame Latin America's high rates on "injustices derived from the concentration of income and wealth" in the region, suggesting that family, school and social services are failing to meet the "demands and necessities of youth." The high rates of youth violence may also be a result of prominent gangs and rampant drug trade throughout the area. 

For more information, please see:

Latin American Herald Tribune - Latin America Leads World in Murders of Young - 25 November 2008

Canwest News Service - Murder Rate Highest in Latin America: Survey - 26 November 2008

St. Petersburg Times - Latin America Leads in Youth Murder Rates - 5 December 2008

Newsweek - By the Numbers - 6 December 2008

Venezuela Offers to Replace U.S. Aid to Nicaragua

By Karla E General
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MANAGUA, Nicaragua - The Venezuelan administration of Hugo Chavez has offered Nicaragua $100 million in aid to counter the effects of a $64 million freeze in anti-poverty aid by the United States. The U.S. freeze on aid to Nicaragua comes amid allegations of fraud in the November 9 mayoral elections where President Ortega's Sandinista party won 105 of the 146 mayoral seats. The European Union has also withheld $54 million in budget support.

The U.S. said it will freeze aid to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. development program that helps developing countries that show a commitment to good governance, economic freedom and the elimination of extreme poverty. "We had hoped, for the sake of the Nicaraguan people, that the government would continue the country's trend toward peaceful, democratic and credible elections," said Millennium Challenge executive director John Danilovich. "I am afraid recent evidence shows that this is not the case."

President Chavez offered the $100 million in aid to the poverty-stricken country with no conditions attached, but as an affirmation of solidarity against creating government free from U.S. influence. Chavez and Ortega have both stated that the U.S. halting MCC aid is akin to "taking the chains off" and Nicaragua is now a "little bit freer" as a result.

Venezuela's financial contribution is not the only alternative to U.S. aid. Nelson Artola, president of the government's Emergency Social Investment Fund states: "We have friends, we have allies who, with just one signature, can replace this charity the U.S. was giving to us to attack misery and poverty in the region."

For more information, please see:

Voices of America - U.S. Stops Aid to Nicaragua Over Election Concerns - 26 November 2008

Associated Press - U.S. Suspends Nicaraguan Aid After Disputed Election - 27 November 2008

The Tico Times - Ortega Says Nicaragua 'Freed' of U.S. Aid - 27 November 2008

International Herald Tribune - Nicaragua: Venezuela Has Offered to Replace U.S. Aid - 2 December 2008

 

Many Mexican Police Deemed Incompetent to Deal with Nationwide Crackdown on Drugs

By Maria E. Molina
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico - Almost half of Mexican police officers examined this year have failed background and security tests, a figure that rises to nearly nine of 10 officers in the border state of Baja California, the government reported.

Nationwide, 49% of officers scored "not recommendable" on the tests, compared with 42% that rated "recommendable." In Baja California about 89% of officers failed background and security tests while only 4% were judged "recommendable."

The tests -- which involved lie detectors, drug tests, psychological profiling and tests of personal wealth -- were intended to root out corrupt, incompetent and unfit officers.
Mexico's poorly trained and underpaid police are widely viewed as incompetent, and corruption has hampered campaigns against drug smuggling gangs.

Because police are still too corrupt to take over the nationwide crackdown on drugs, the country's leaders have urged the use of the army to proceed with the crackdown. Over 20,000 soldiers have been deployed across Mexico. As drug cartels lash back at the army and each other, violence has escalated and resulted in the deaths of 4,300 individuals.

In a human rights report to the United Nations, the Mexican army stated that it will eventually leave the fight against drug trafficking.  However, officials have not set a firm date for the start of the withdrawal.  The National Human Rights Commission says some of them have tortured, raped and even killed civilians.

For more information, please see:

Mail Online - Half of my country's police aren't up to the job, says Mexican president locked in bloody fight with drug cartels - 28 November 2008

News Agency Trend News - Mexico’s Spreading Drug Violence - 28 November 2008

The Star - Calderon deems half of police force incompetent - 27 November 2008