Impunity Watch: Europe

Human Rights Watch: African Children Abused at Canary Islands Emergency Centers

A recent report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleges that migrant children from Africa face squalid conditions and beatings from staff at emergency centers in the Canary Islands.  The centers were opened just one year ago to care for the more than 900 unaccompanied migrant children who arrive in the Canary Islands each year.  These children are mostly boys, ages 10 to 17, arriving from Senegal and Morocco.

As the closest European landmass to Africa, the Canary Islands are frequently the target of African migrants looking to work illegally in Europe.  Last year alone, some 30,000 migrants arrived illegally in the Canary Islands via makeshift rafts and fishing boats. 

Generally, when migrants arrive in the Canary Islands they are received by the Red Cross and then transferred to temporary holding centers.  From the holding centers, migrants are either sent back to Africa or flown to mainland Spain.  However, these children are being held indefinitely in overcrowded, prison-like facilities where they have no access to public education, are given little food, and have limited time for recreation.

HRW alleges that these conditions are contrary to Spain’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified by Spain in 1990.  Under the convention, the government should find a solution as soon as possible for the children and allow them to apply for asylum.  In contrast, HRW’s report reveals numerous accounts of ill-treatment and failure of the staff to protect the children from violence amongst the children.

The HRW report, entitled “Unwelcome Responsibilities: Spain’s Failure to Protect the Rights of Unaccompanied Migrant Children in the Canary Islands,” was based on 75 interviews from children at 11 residential centers across five islands.  Among the accounts of ill-treatment, the children described a “punishment cell” in which they were sometimes beaten and locked up for days.  The cell is a grimy, windowless room where children are forced to urinate and defecate for lack of permission to use the toilets.

Other children told stories of beatings in the showers by staff and even cases of sexual harassment.

While HRW has called for the immediate closure of all emergency centers, Spanish and regional authorities have refuted the report’s findings.  The regional Canary Islands government released a statement that it had conducted a two-month internal investigation of the centers that failed to produce any evidence of abuse.  However, it does concede that the emergency centers are not the best solution for the children.  It blames the centers' failure on both lack of funding from the Spanish government and failure to relocate the children to the mainland as promised by the Spanish government.

If the allegations against Spain prove to be true, it could tarnish what up until now has been a relatively positive reputation in Spain for managing widespread illegal migration to the Canary Islands.

For more information see:
African Migrant Children Beaten, BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6917039.stm, 26 July 2007.

Human Rights Watch Says Migrant Children Are At Risk in Canary Islands, International Herald Tribune, http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/26/asia/abuse.php, 26 July 2007.

Spain: Migrant Children at Risk in Government Facilities, Human Rights Watch, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/07/26/spain16449.htm, 26 July 2007.

Child Migrants Face Abuse, News Feed Researcher, http://newsfeedresearcher.com/data/articles_w30/idw2007.07.27.13.51.07.html, 27 July 2007.

Child Migrants Face Abuse in Spanish Centres-HRW, Reuters, http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL26757124.html, 26 July 2007.

Brown Proposes Tough New Anti-Terror Measures

In his first major speech on UK security as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown yesterday announced to Parliament that his government would attempt to widen police powers in order to combat terrorism.  The proposals, which include creating a border patrol force, have long been trumpeted by Conservative opponents, but were previously defeated by the Labor majority.  Several controversial tactics Brown proposed drew immediate criticism from human rights groups as well as Britain’s Muslim population who argued that the government risks violating human rights norms and further alienating ethnic minorities. 

Brown, whose first days in office were marred by failed terrorist bomb plots against the UK, stated that fighting terrorism would take “a generation.”  “Our priority,” said Brown, “is a Britain strong in security, robust in our resolve, resilient in response, so that as a nation we both defeat terrorism and isolate violent extremism, wherever we confront it and whatever its source.”  He cited 15 attempted terrorist attacks that have taken place in Britain since September 11, 2001 as justification for his proposals. 

Perhaps Brown’s most divisive request was increasing the time in which a terrorist suspect can be held without charge from 28 to 56 days.  He stated the increased detention time was necessary to allow police time to unravel complicated, multi-national terrorist plots.  Brown’s plan mirrors a failed request made by former Prime Minister Tony Blair two years ago in which he asked to extend the detention limit to 90 days.  "Blair's 90 days was too stark," said Paul Cornish, head of the International Security Program at Chatham House. "Brown is trying to find a flexible way out of the deadlock."

Amnesty International was quick to denounce Brown’s proposals, calling them “an assault on human rights and freedoms.”  The group recalled previous detention measures used on terrorist suspects in Northern Ireland, policies that are believed to have created anti-British sentiment.  Others feared that Britain’s 2 million Muslims would be unfairly targeted if Brown’s suggestions were enacted into law.  "These measures effectively mean the Muslim community will be the target, and in most instances, become the victims," said Ihtisham Hibatullah, a spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain.

For more information, please see:

“British Leader Seeks New Terrorism Laws” The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/26/world/europe/26britain.html 26 July 2007

“Brown Seeks Tougher Anti-Terrorism Laws” Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/25/AR2007072501630.html?hpid=sec-world 26 July 2007

“Brown Bids to Toughen Anti-Terror Laws” Guardian Unlimited
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6805149,00.html 25 July 2007

“Brown Bids to Toughen Anti-Terror Laws” ABC News
http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/WireStory?id=3412349&page=2 26 July 2007

“Brown security proposals anger Muslims” Reuters
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=United+Kingdom+%26+Europe&month=July2007&file=World_News200707263354.xml 27 July 2007

“Brown sets options for tougher terror laws” USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-07-25-britain-terror_N.htm 25 July 2007

Update: Libya Frees Bulgarian Medics

Five Bulgarian medics and a Palestinian doctor who have spent the last 8 years in a Libyan prison were released and sent back to Bulgaria on Tuesday after a deal was brokered between the EU and Libya.

Negotiations to free the medics have been ongoing for years and had intensified this month after Libya’s Supreme Court upheld a sentence of death against the medics on July 11th.  The medics had been convicted of deliberately infecting 426 Libyan children with HIV-contaminated blood.  56 of those children have since died

Throughout the ordeal, the medics had proclaimed there innocence and made allegations that they were tortured to confess to infecting the children.

Last week, their death sentences were commuted to life in prison after the families of the HIV-infected children agreed to a settlement of $1M per child.  Although the EU and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have denied making payments to ensure the release of the medics, Libya’s foreign minister Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgram said both the EU and France have made payments to the Gaddafi Foundation which is funding the compensation program.

Also part of the deal is an offer by the EU to treat the infected children in European hospitals and to rehabilitate two hospitals and a medical center in Benghazi, the city which was home to the outbreak.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso commented that trade and political ties can now be normalized between the EU and Libya.

In fact today, Sarkozy traveled to Libya to initiate the normalization process.  He met with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in a tent where the two signed an accord to cooperate on a peaceful nuclear energy project to desalinate sea water into drinking water.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian medics are adjusting to the shock of their newly-acquired freedom.  One nurse, Kristianai Valcheva commented on the attitude shared by her fellow medics throughout the ordeal.

“You know that hope dies last.  We always had hope, although we were quite skeptical and were afraid to say it.”

Upon their arrival in Bulgaria, President Georgi Parvanov pardoned the medics.  The families of the infected children in Libya were angered by this gesture and demanded the medics be re-arrested.  The  Libyan Association for the Families of HIV-Infected Children referred to the release and pardoning as absurd and disrespectful.

For more information see:

HIV Medics Released to Bulgaria, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6912965.stm, 24 July 2007.

Medics Freed After Libya-EU Deal, CNN, http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/07/24/bulgaria.nurses/index.html, 24 July 2007.

HIV Medics Freed From Libya After 8-year Ordeal, Reuters, http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L24922386.htm, 24 July 2007.

Hope Remains For Bulgarian Medics Despite Death Sentence, Impunity Watch, http://www.impunitywatch.net/impunity_watch_europe/2007/07/hope-remains-fo.html, 15 July 2007.

Sarkozy Courts Oil-Rich Libya, CNN, http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/07/25/france.libya.reut/index.html, 25 July 2007.

Sarkozy Signs Deal With Gaddafi, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6914857.stm, 25 July 2007.

Freed Medics Describe Libyan Captivity, International Herald Tribune, http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/25/europe/nurses.php, 25 July 2007.

Spanish Judge Denies Child Custody to Lesbian Mother

A Spanish judge has stripped a mother of the custody of her two daughters for being a lesbian, according to local media outlets.  The judgment, from the southeastern city of Murcia, was handed down early last month, but only became public today.  The ruling drew instant criticism from gay and human rights groups, and placed controversial judge Fernando Ferrin under renewed scrutiny.  The judgment was seen as unusual in Spain, a country that has some of the most liberal gay rights in the world.

The case was initiated when the father of the two girls initiated divorce proceedings after learning his wife was a lesbian.  Ferrin granted custody to the father, while at the same time comparing homosexuality to drug abuse, prostitution, and child abuse.  Ferrin argued that if the children were raised by their mother it would impede their education and put them at greater risk of becoming homosexuals themselves.  He also stated that the mother might be able to retain custody is she were able to find another male partner.  “The mother will have to chose between her daughters and her new partner,” said Ferrin.

The decision drew the immediate ire of women and gay rights groups, who argued that the ruling was contrary to European standards on human rights and the Spanish constitution.  They also pointed to legislation mandating that the child custody be decided regardless of a parent’s sexual orientation and called on Murcia’s Supreme Court to launch an inquiry into Ferrin’s actions.  The ruling is not the first time Ferrin has provoked controversy: he is currently under investigation for trying to block the adoption of a child by a homosexual woman and for ordering the arrests of two nudist bathers. 

Homosexuality was decriminalized in Spain in 1979, shortly after the collapse of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.  Gay marriage was passed by the ruling Socialist party in 2005, making Spain one of only three countries that allows the practice.  In his decision Ferrin criticized gay rights legislation along with a recently passed law against domestic violence.  The laws were “a mistake by the parliament controlled by the ruling party,” according to Ferrin.

For more information, please see:

“Judge orders lesbian mother to give up daughters or find a male partner” Expatica News
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=81&story_id=42159 23 July 2007

“Spanish judge strips lesbian of daughters' custody” Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070723/wl_nm/spain_lesbian_dc;_ylt=Ao.ZCRa0QLcm_Cu_37JzwDB0bBAF 23 July 2007

“Murcia judge removes custody from mother because she is lesbian” Typically Spanish
http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_11621.shtml 23 July 2007

“Spanish judge strips lesbian of daughters' custody” Reuters India
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-28620420070723 24 July 2007

France Arrests Two Rwandans on Genocide Charges

French police arrested two Rwandans on Friday who are wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on charges of genocide, rape, and murder.  The arrests could perhaps ease tensions between Rwanda and France which have lingered since Rwanda severed diplomatic ties with France in November 2006.   Rwandan President Paul Kagame has long accused France of training and supporting the soldiers who carried out the 1994 massacres in Rwanda.  Just last month, Kagame said that France was “dragging its feet” in cooperating with the ICTR.

But on Friday, Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Murigande called the news “a very positive and encouraging development.”  “Undeniably, there’s a new government in France,” he said, referring to the new Sarkozy government.  “We had asked for the arrest and extradition of those people who were living peacefully in France.  The previous government was obviously not listening.”

The two suspects, Cleric Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, a Roman Catholic priest, and Laurent Bucyibaruta, a former government official, have been living in exile in France for the past couple of years.  International arrest warrants were issued by the ICTR for the two men back in June 2006.  Now sitting in a Paris jail, the two face extradition to Tanzania where the ICTR is based.

However, French officials suggested that the men could be judged in France where a formal investigation has already been brought against the two by a group of Rwandans who managed to escape the genocide.

The genocide in Rwanda began after President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane was shot down over Kigali.  The President was a Hutu.

Hours later, Hutu extremists launched a massacre of minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus.  The result was 800,000 deaths in the span of 100 days.

Munyeshyaka is charged with killing three young Tutsis in his home parish during the massacre.  He is also accused of raping four young Tutsi women and inciting the rape of others by the extremist Hutu Interhamwe militia.

Bucyibaruta is accused of “direct and public incitement to commit genocide.”

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters that “these arrests illustrate the firm desire of the French authorities to fully cooperate with the ICTR.”

For more information see:

France Detains Two Rwandan Genocide Suspects, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2122638020070721, 21 July 2007.

2 Rwanda Massacre Suspects Arrested, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070721/ap_on_re_eu/france_rwanda;_ylt=AlAp8_52zhDxo9jJulG6ZuR0bBAF, 20 July 2007.

Two Rwanda Massacre Suspects, A Priest and Prefect, Arrested in France, http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/20/europe/EU-GEN-France-Rwanda.php, 20 July 2007.

Two Rwanda War Crimes Suspects Arrested in France, http://www.eux.tv/article.aspx?articleId=11699, 21 July 2007.

Two Men Arrested in Connection With the Genocide, http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/news/africa/20070720-rwanda-ictr-arrest-genocide-1994-munyeshyaka-bucyibaruta.html, 20 July 2007.

Rwandan Roman Catholic Priest Charged With Genocide, Yahoo News, http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070621/wl_africa_afp/rwandagenocidetribunal, 21 June 2007.

Chirac Questioned in “Fake Jobs” Scandal

A French magistrate questioned former President Jacques Chirac yesterday on the role he allegedly played in a political fundraising scandal.  Chirac, who served as mayor of Paris from 1977-1995 before becoming president, is believed to be at the center of a plot to divert government funds to political allies as well as party coffers.  The investigation is the first in what many believe will be a series of corruption probes Chirac will face and comes just over a month after his presidential immunity expired. 

The scandal concerns millions of dollars of salaries that were distributed by the mayor’s office to Chiracs’s conservative party allies in bogus positions.  A related plot in which local businessmen bribed housing affairs officials, resulted in the 2004 conviction of Alain Juppe, Chirac’s former prime minister.  Chirac took the extraordinary step of maintaining his innocence in a column written in Thursday’s edition of the French newspaper “Le Monde.”  In the article Chirac explains that campaign laws during his term as mayor were uncertain, and that he had fought for reform and transparency while in office.

The questioning marks the first time in the history of the French Fifth Republic that a president has been subjecting to such an inquiry.  The former president was called to testify as an “assisted witness” and not as an ordinary witness, leaving open the possibility that a formal criminal inquiry will be initiated. Chirac, who was afforded the presence of his attorney, Jean Veil, was questioned for a total of four hours.  “The former head of state explained himself very completely, very calmly, in a climate of great courtesy and simplicity," Veil told reporters.

Chirac also faces potential investigations for a number of other alleged scandals.  Along with former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, he has refused to speak on the “Clearstream Affair” the code name given to a plot to smear the image of current President Nicolas Sarkozy.  It is also believed the Chirac had a hand in the 1995 killing of a French judge in Djbouti.  Chirac’s office however maintains that his constitutionally derived immunity shields him from testifying on matters that occurred when he was president. “The president of the republic shall incur no liability by reason of acts carried out in this official capacity,” said Veil.

For more information, please see:

“Chirac quizzed in corruption probe” CNN.com
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/07/19/france.chirac.ap/index.html 19 July 2007

“Judge questions Chirac on party scandal” Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070719/ap_on_re_eu/france_chirac;_ylt=As4A9SU3anrnf4.Q14WXAUB0bBAF 19 July 2007

“Jacques in the box” The Economist
http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9530551 19 July 2007

“Chirac faces Paris scandal judge” BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6906120.stm 19 July 2007

“Judge Questions Former French President in Political Funding Case” New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/world/europe/19cnd-france.html 19 July 2007

“Chirac defends actions as 'customary' fund-raising” International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/19/news/chirac.php 19 July 2007

Former Argentine Naval Officer Faces Trial in Spain Over "Dirty War" Crimes

The Spanish Supreme Court ruled today that former Argentine naval officer Ricardo Miguel Cavallo will be tried in Madrid for genocide, terrorism and other crimes against humanity.  The ruling overturns a 2006 decision by the Spanish High Court which held that Spanish courts lacked jurisdiction over Cavallo.

Cavallo, a.k.a. “Serpico,” was a key figure in the military juntas that ruled Argentina from 1976-1983.  An estimated 30,000 people disappeared and over 9,000 people were tortured during that period which is often referred to as the “dirty war.”

Many victims were taken to the notorious Navy Mechanical School, ESMA, which served as a detention center where torture and executions were carried out against left-wing activists.  One popular method of killing at ESMA was “flights of death” in which opponents to the regime were thrown from helicopters and airplanes into the Rio de la Plata or the sea.

Cavallo is specifically accused of participating in 227 abductions, 110 acts of torture, and 16 kidnappings of babies who were taken from their mothers serving time in prison.

Proceedings against Cavallo were initiated by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon in 1999.  Cavallo was living in Mexico at the time, operating a motor vehicle registry, until a Mexican newspaper printed his picture on its front-cover, revealing his true identity.  In August of 2000 he was arrested at the Cancun airport as he tried to flee to Argentina where he would have been immune from prosecution thanks to the Amnesty Law and Due Obedience Law.  Those laws, which shielded human rights abusers, were finally declared unconstitutional by the Argentinean Supreme Court in 2005.

In 2003, Cavallo was extradited from Mexico to Madrid where he has remained in prison.  His case was brought before the High Court in 2006, which ruled that Spain lacked jurisdiction over Cavallo and agreed to extradite him to Argentina.

Today’s ruling overturned the High Court and accepted the prosecution’s argument that Cavallo should be tried in Spain because the investigation was farther along there than in Argentina.  Furthermore, the Supreme Court held that Cavallo could be tried under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction, which allows a state to try a suspect for crimes against humanity, even if they occurred outside the state’s territory.

According to Expatica, Cavallo is “the second former Argentine military officer to stand trial in Spain for crimes committed during the dictatorship.”  Adolfo Scilingo was convicted in 2005 for human rights violations and is serving a sentence of 1,084 years.

If convicted, Cavallo would face a prison sentence of 13,000 to 17,000 years.

For more information see:

‘Dirty War' Trial Backed in Spain, BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6905100.stm, 18 July 2007.

Argentine 'Dirty War' Suspect to be Tried in Spain, CNN, http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/07/18/argentine.spain.reut/, 18 July 2007.

ROUNDUP: Spanish Judiciary to try Argentine Torturer Suspect, EUX.TV, http://www.eux.tv/article.aspx?articleId=11590, 18 July 2007.

Argentine 'Dirty War' Suspect Faces Trial in Spain, Expatica, http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=81&story_id=42022, 18 July 2007.

Ricardo Miguel Cavallo, Trial Watch, http://www.trial-ch.org/en/trial-watch/profile/db/legal-procedures/ricardo-miguel_cavallo_48.html, 18 July 2007.

Croatian Policeman Extradited to Face War Crimes Charges

A Croatian man was extradited from Australia to Croatia over the weekend where he faces retrial for the killing of three fellow police officers in the opening days of the 1991 Serb-Croat war.  Antun Gudelj, who holds both Australian and Croatian citizenships, was previously tried and convicted by a Croatian court but was later granted amnesty.  The killings have been blamed for raised tensions in the region between Serbs and Croats and foreshadowed armed conflict that would last for over four years.

At the time of the killings Gudelj was serving as a reserve policeman manning a checkpoint in then volatile eastern Croatia.  Apprehension was high between ethnic Serbs and Croats following Croatia’s recently declared independence from the former Yugoslavia.  On July 21, 1991 Police Chief Josip Reihl-Kir, along with two ethnic-Serb associates, decided to meet with Serb rebels who opposed independence, in an effort to quell violence in the region.  Gudelj allegedly stopped the men on their way to the meeting, removed them from their vehicle, and executed them. 

Despite the high amount of publicity the murders received, Gudelj and his family were allowed to flee to Germany without being arrested or stopped by police officials.  As a result, many believe that the killings took place under orders from allies of the late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman.  In the 17 years since the incident, Gudelj has repeatedly denied taking orders from government authorities and has insisted that he acted alone.

Gudelj was tried in absentia in 1994, where he was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.  He was arrested in Germany in 1996 but was granted a pardon only a year later by wide reaching legislation that granted amnesty to hundreds accused of war crimes.  The case was reopened in 2001 by Reihl-Kir's widow, a member of Croatia's Social Democratic Party.  A vocal critic of the amnesty bill, she was able to take the case to Croatia's Constitutional Court.   The Court overruled the pardon and reinstated murder charges.  Gudelj who had been living in Australia since 2001, was arrested in Sydney by local authorities late last year.

For more information, please see:

“Croatian wartime suspect extradited” Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070716/ap_on_re_eu/croatia_war_crimes;_ylt=Asu8fDHHmJ5v.6oweNyoGYt0bBAF 15 July 2007

“Man extradited to Croatia for retrial in wartime murders” International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/15/europe/EU-GEN-Croatia-War-Crimes.php 15 July 2007

“Australia extradites convicted murderer to Croatia” ABC News
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/16/1979155.htm?section=world 16 July 2007

“Accused murderer sent to Croatia” The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22085251-601,00.html 17 July 2007

“Croatian Extradited for Retrial in Police Killing” Javno News
http://www.javno.com/en/croatia/clanak.php?id=62635 16 July 2007

“The Unpleasant Arrest” Vreme News Digest Agency
http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/serbian_digest/218/t218-7.htm 3 December 1995

Hope Remains For Bulgarian Medics Despite Death Sentence

A death sentence imposed on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor for infecting children with HIV was upheld by Libya’s Supreme Court on Wednesday.  However, there is hope that the nurses may be spared as part of a deal between Libya’s Gaddafi Foundation and the families of the infected children. 

According to Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam, Libya’s High Judicial Council, a government-controlled mediating body, will review the case on Monday.  The High Judicial Council has the power to overrule the Supreme Court and may pardon the nurses or commute the sentence.

The imprisonment and subsequent death sentences have caused a fair amount of international outcry over the years.

The medics’ saga dates back to 1999 when originally 19 Bulgarian medics and a Palestinian doctor were arrested after an outbreak of HIV/Aids among children at the Benghazi hospital.  Thirteen of the medics were later freed while the others were charged with deliberately infecting 426 Libyan children with HIV-contaminated blood.  56 of those children have since died.

In 2004, the medics were convicted and sentenced to death for infecting the children, but in 2005 the Supreme Court overturned the convictions and ordered a retrial.  In December of 2006 the medics were once again sentenced to death and on Wednesday the Supreme Court upheld that sentence.

The medics have consistently proclaimed their innocence and allege that they were tortured into giving false confessions to the crime through beatings and electric shocks.  One doctor, who helped isolate the virus at the Benghazi hospital, testified that the epidemic began before the medics even arrived to help at the hospital.  Scientists from Europe and the U.S. believe that negligence and poor hospital hygiene are more likely the source of the HIV-outbreak and that the doctors are merely the scapegoats.

The European Union and the United States have urged for the release of the medics.  Recently, on Thursday, the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy traveled to Libya to meet with Muammar Gaddafi, the medics, and the families of the victims.  Mrs. Sarkozy offered the children treatment in France and expressed her hopes that this ordeal would soon be resolved.

Today, there are reports that a deal to compensate the victims a total of $400-million, roughly $1 million per victim, has been reached.  The deal was confirmed by the Gaddafi Foundation, although details concerning who will participate in the compensation and whether it will indeed be called “compensation” are unresolved.  Bulgaria has rejected calling any monetary settlement “compensation” because it would imply that the medics are guilty.

Seif al Islam, Muammar Gaddafi’s son and leader of the Gaddafi Foundation, told French newspapers that “the indemnities are financed by international contributions in the form of debt remission.  The concerned countries are Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia, and the Czech Republic.”

The idea is that these eastern European countries would forgive Libya of its debt owed dating back to the Cold War.  However, spokespersons for these countries have either declined to comment or have denied any participation in such a compensation program.

Regardless, the deal, if true would be significant to the medics.  The families of the victims have said they will drop the right to pursue the death penalty if a settlement was reached.  Also, $1 million per child is far more manageable than the $13.3 million the families were originally asking for.

The true outcome will be seen tomorrow when the High Judiciary Council issues its final and irreversible decision.  Financial compensation and time served by the medics are factors considered by the Council.

For more information see: 

Libya HIV death sentences upheld, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6290112.stm, 11 July 2007.

Sarkozy's wife visits HIV medics, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6896305.stm, 13 July 2007.

Death Sentence Upheld for Libya Medics, Namibian,
http://www.namibian.com.na/2007/July/world/07A415EFCB.html, 12 July 2007.

Libya Confirms Compensation Deal, IOL, http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20070715102115859C514773, 15 July 2007.

Libya: Deal or Not?, FOCUS News Agency, http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n117244, 15 July 2007.

Austria Announces Reward for Help in Capture of Nazi War Criminals

The Austrian government yesterday announced a $69,000 reward for tips leading to the arrest of two former Nazis wanted for their alleged roles in the Holocaust.  Photographs and descriptions of Alois Brunner and Aribert Heim were posted on the Justice Ministry’s website, along with the two men’s possible whereabouts and suspected crimes.  The move, which has been applauded by Nazi hunters and human rights groups is considered a last ditch effort to bring Brunner and Heim to justice, who today would be in their 90s.

Alois Brunner, the world’s most wanted Nazi war criminal, is accused of arranging the deportation of thousands of Jews from Hungary and Greece to extermination camps in Austria.  He was known as “Eichman’s best man” a reference to the Gestapo agent widely regarded as the architect of the Holocaust.  The website states that Brunner has only one eye and mutilated hands due to a mail bomb attack purportedly carried out by Israeli intelligence agents.  Brunner was last seen in Syria in 2001 where he has reportedly been living under government protection for decades.

Heim, who if alive would be 95, worked as a doctor in the Mauthausen concentration camp in Northern Austria.  According to the website he is "strongly suspected of murdering numerous prisoners" there by injecting poison into their hearts and performing organ removals without anesthesia.  Heim continued working as a doctor in Germany after the war ended, but fled the country in 1962 when charges were filed against him.  The human rights group Simon Wiesenthal center predicts that today Heim lives in Spain or South America.

In the past Austria’s previous administrations have been criticized for not being more vigilant in attempting to track down former Nazi war criminals.  Justice Minister Maria Berger in a radio interview Friday acknowledged this criticism and recommitted her department to bringing the two men to justice.  "I know the odds aren't the greatest, but in particular given the ages and indications that both are possibly still alive, I think one should seize this potentially last opportunity," Berger said.  "For me it's important that we now do all that can still be done."

For more information, please see:

“Austria renews hunt for Nazi fugitives” Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070713/ap_on_re_eu/wanted_nazis;_ylt=Au8TItQG8xvneg0FkO9WOHd0bBAF 13 July 2007

“Austria offers 50,000-euro reward for fugitive Nazis”  Eux.tv
http://www.eux.tv/article.aspx?articleId=11412 13 July 2007

“Austria Offers Rewards For Tips Leading To Arrest Of 2 Fugitive Nazi Criminals” Combined Jewish Philanthropies
http://www.cjp.org/page.html?ArticleID=151998 13 July 2007

“Austria offers rewards for tips leading to arrest of 2 fugitive Nazi criminals” International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/13/europe/EU-GEN-Austria-Wanted-Nazis.php 13 July 2007

“Alois Brunner” Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alois_Brunner 13 July 2007