Impunity Watch: South America

UPDATE: Correa Pardons Drug Couriers; FARC’s Power Diminished after Rescue; Suriname Former Dictator on Trial

By Jessalyn Mastrianni
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO, Ecuador- President Rafael Correa has followed through on his promise from last year to pardon low-level drug couriers in an attempt to rework drug-sentencing laws. 

The couriers affects by this mass pardon are low-level “mules” that often swallow or carry drugs across the border for money.  Although Ecuador produces very little coca, it is a popular route for drug-traffickers from Colombia and Peru.

Parliament has been ordered to pardon about 2,000 of these couriers who are now serving disproportionate sentences (such as 10 years for 100 grams of cocaine).  The pardoned prisoners are the ones who were first-time offenders carrying less than 2 kilos of drugs and have already served at least 10% of the sentences.

President Correa, showing his leftist ways, has shown a personal sympathy toward the couriers because his own father was jailed for three years before he died for a similar crime.  Correa has expressed that these people are not criminals, “[t]hey are single mothers or unemployed people who are desperate to feed their families."

The mass pardon will allow these prisoners to walk free later this year.

For more information, please see:

AP – Ecuador pardons small-time drug couriers – 7 July 2008
Reuters – In Latin America, some leaders reject U.S. drug war – 23 June 2008

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BOGOTA, Colombia – After the heroic rescue of 15 high-profile hostages from the Colombian jungle, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia seems to have lost its leverage against the government.

Last week, Colombian agents posed as members of the rebel organization and freed hostages from within.  These cracks in the movement, in addition to losing the “trophy hostages” that seemed to carry more weight with the government, have been a disaster for FARC.

With reports showing the horrible conditions under which these hostages lived, in addition to the label “terrorist” that has been used to describe the group by governments as well as former hostages, FARC seems to have no positive publics relations.

FARC still holds 700 hostages.  However, it seems that with the recent deaths of its leaders and decreases in militants and supporters the Colombian government, led by its popular president, is close to winning the 44-year-old struggle against the Marxist rebels within its country.

For more information, please see:

Los Angeles Times – FARC power, status in downward spiral – 6 July 2008
PBS Newshour – U.S. Hostages Speak Out After Captivity in Colombia – 7 July 2008

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PARAMARIBO, Suriname – Ex-dictator Desi Bouterse’s trial began on Friday.  He is charged in connection with the “December Murders” in 1982 when fifteen political opponents were tortured and then killed by firing squad.

The victims were lawyers, journalists, professors, military officers and businessmen.  Since they were accused of plotting against the government, the firing squad was given strict orders to fire at them under the threat of their own deaths. 

The first witnesses in the trial, including one former bodyguard, have testified that Bouterse was present at the massacre contrary to his fierce denials.  Bouterse has only accepted political responsibility for the deaths.

The former dictator was convicted abroad for cocaine smuggling but benefited from Suriname’s laws against extradition.  He now leads an opposition party that has been petitioning for amnesty for suspects in the killings of the 1980s.

Bouterse faces up to 20 years in prison for his involvement in the 1982 deaths.

For more information, please see:

Jurist – Suriname ex-military dictator goes on trial for 1982 killings – 5 July 2008
Pan-African News -Former Suriname Leader was Present for 1982 Political Killings, Says Witnesses – 5 July 2008

Castro Calls on FARC to Release Hostages; Americans Rescued from FARC Recovering in San Antonion; FARC Hostages were Chained by the Neck

By Christopher Gehrke
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, South America

HAVANA, Cuba – Fidel Castro has called on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to release all of its remaining hostages.  The former leader made these comments after the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and others earlier this week.

Castro, in an internet message, said that he had energetically criticized the “cruel methods of kidnapping and holding prisoners in the jungle.”  He added, however, that the rebels should not lay down its weapons, noting that rebel groups who did yield “did not survive to see the peace.”

Castro’s Cuban revolution was an inspiration to FARC when it formed in the 1960’s.

For more information, please see:
BBC News – Fidel Castro in Farc hostage plea – 6 July 2008

Malaysia Sun – Fidel Castro sends message to Betancourt kidnappers – 6 July 2008

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SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Three Americans rescued from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are well today.

“Words alone can never possibly express the thrill and excitement we feel to be back home in the United States of America with our families at our side,” a Friday statement said.

Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves, and Thomas Howes are being treated at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.  They had been held hostage by FARC for over 5 years after their plane crashed in Colombia.  FARC members killed another contractor, Tom Janis, shortly after the crash.

The Americans were rescued along with more than 10 other hostages, including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.

For more information, please see:
CNN – Freed American hostages ‘overwhelmed with emotion’ – 6 July 2008

UPI – 3 U.S. hostages thank Colombian government – 5 July 2008

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PARIS, France – Hostages recently rescued from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) told stories of their treatment this week.

CNN reports that they were chained by their necks to trees or to each other as punishment.  CNN also reported that there was little food and poor conditions in the jungles of Colombia.

“I reached a moment where I understood that death was a possibility,” newly freed hostage Ingrid Betancourt said in a recent interview.  “I had seen my companions die.  I knew that death arrives very, very quickly in the jungle.”

Betancourt was chained to the neck after an escape attempt.  “When you have a chain around your neck, you have to keep your head down and try to accept your fate without succumbing entirely to the humiliation, without forgetting who you are,” Betancourt said.

For more information, please see:
CNN – Hostages chained by the neck, slept in mud – 4 July 2008

The Scotsman – ‘Mission impossible’ in the jungle – 6 July 2008

BREAKING NEWS - Betancourt, American Contractors, and other FARC Hostages Rescued

By Christopher Gehrke
Impunity Watch, Senior Desk Officer, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – Colombian operatives disguised as rebels rescued fifteen high-profile hostages today.  The liberated captives include Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian politician and former presidential candidate who had been held for 6 six years, and three American military contractors – Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Thomas Howes -  who had been held for 5 years.  The other hostages were freed soldiers and police officers.

Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said intelligence agents had infiltrated the guerilla ranks and led the commander in charge of the hostages to think they were going to take them to Alfonso Cano, the guerrillas’ leader.

According to the New York Times, Ms. Betancourt described the operation as “perfect.” (See Betancourt’s reaction in her press conference on CNN.)  What appeared to be rebel helicopters landed around dawn in the jungle where the hostages were held.  The captives were led to believe that it simply a change of location, and Betancourt said she was handcuffed and “humiliated” before going on board the helicopter.  After takeoff, the crew told their passengers they were free.

“The helicopter almost fell because we were so excited.  We screamed, we cried, we hugged,” said Betancourt.  “We couldn’t believe it.”

The three Americans were taken captive in 2003 after their plane went down on a mission for the U.S. Defense Department.  As of this evening, they were en route back home to the U.S., reported the New York Times.

Ms. Betancourt was captured while campaigning for president in 2002.  Her plight had attracted attention worldwide, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy made several attempts to have her freed since he entered into office.  She was reunited with her family today.

This figures to be another major blow against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), whose key leaders have been both killed and apprehended in recent months.

Santos indicated that Colombia had infiltrated the rebels’ ruling secretariat, but would not elaborate, reports AP.

“The government reiterates to them that if they want to enter into serious negotiations in good faith, we are offering a dignified peace,” he said.

For more information, please see:

New York Times – 15 Hostages Held by Colombian Rebels Are Rescued – 2 July 2008

CNN – Betancourt, U.S. contractors rescued from FARC – 2 July 2008

LA Times – Colombia’s Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans among hostages rescued by soldiers – 2 June 2008

AP - Betancourt: Rescue in Colombia was 'impeccable' - 2 July 2008

The Independent – Hostage free after six-year jungle ordeal – 2 July 2008

Uribe Calls for a New Election; Mining Strike in Peru Seeks to Push Bill; Sentences come in for Prats Murder Trial

By Jessalyn Mastrianni
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – Accusations stemming from a Supreme Court decision have erupted regarding the corrupt presidential election of 2006.  The Supreme Court of Thursday found that a former lawmaker was bribed to change her vote regarding the constitutional amendment that would allow President Alvaro Uribe to run for re-election in 2006.

President Uribe, in response to the ruling, has called for a referendum to decide if there should be a new election.  He will ask the congress to approve this referendum.

The President’s response is controversial because, due to his popularity rating of eighty percent, he is almost sure to win another election.  However, a new election in his favor would extend his term to last until 2012.  Without this new election, Uribe would be ineligible to run in the 2010 election.  He would keep power for two extra years in addition to overruling the Supreme Court’s decision.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Colombia’s Uribe calls for repeat of ’06 election – 27 June 2008

AP- Colombia’s president wants vote on new elections – 27 June 2008

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LIME, Peru – A mining strike entered its second day in Peru on Tuesday.  Metal miners working in Peru produce silver, copper, and zinc.  These workers marched to Congress to promote a bill that would “give workers a greater share of profits from sky-high metals prices” according to Reuters.

Workers have been demanding a fair share of elevated profits in their own industry.  Leader of the mining union said that miners will meet with legislators to discuss the demands. 

With the economic boom and the wealth discrepancy, President Alan Garcia is facing a low approval rating.  He needs to spread the wealth before he loses support before the 2011 election.

The strike has also started to affect copper prices.

For more information, please see:

FN Arena News – The Overnight Report: Saluting the General – 2 July 2008

Reuters – Peru mining strike goes into second day – 1 July 2008

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SANTIAGO, Chile – Manuel Contreras, the head of the secret police during the Pinochet Caravan of Death, was sentenced to two consecutive life terms by Judge Alejandro Solis yesterday.  Contreras, 79, was found guilty of killing retired army chief Carlos Prats and his wife in 1974 by using a car bomb in Buenos Aires.  He had already been convicted of murder, torture and kidnap.

According to The Patagonia Times, “In addition to sentencing Contreras and Espinoza, Judge Alejandro Solís announced that José Zara, Juan Morales Salgado and Christoph Willeke will each spend 20 years and two days behind bars for their involvement in the Prats case.”

Four other men have also been sentenced in the Prats case.  Pedro Espinoza Bravo was sentenced to serve 40 years for planning the political assassinations, while “Raúl Iturriaga and Mariana Callejas received sentences of 30 years and 10 years and one day, respectively. Judge Solís also handed down two 541 day sentences to DINA sub-official Reginaldo Valdés.”

For more information, please see:

The Patagonia Times – Chile’s Contreras Gets Life Sentence in Prats Car-Bomb Case (Seven Other Former DINA Officials Receive Sentences) – 1 July 2008
BBC News – Life terms for Chile ex-spy chief – 1 July 2008

Key Witness to be Called in Fujimori Trial; Gap Between Rich and Poor Widens in Brazil; Allegations of Corruption Hinders Chavez' Opponents from Running for Office, Aids Drug Smugglers

LIMA, Peru – Six months into the human rights trial of ex-President Alberto Fujimori, prosecutors will call their key witness, Vladimiro Montesinos, on Monday.

Montesinos was head of Peru’s intelligence service during Fujimori’s administration, and allegedly organized the Colina group, a squad of killers who murdered 25 civilians.  He was accountable to none but the president.

“Montesinos controlled the armed forces, the judicial system, the attorney general’s office.  He had immense power,” said Fernando Rospigliosi, a political scientist.

Fujimori faces up to 30 years in prison and a $33 million dollar fine if found guilty.  He has denied any knowledge of the Colina group’s existence.  In other cases, Montesinos said he was acting on the ex-president’s orders.

Carlos Orellana, Fujimori’s speechwriter and close aide, said that Montesinos manipulated Fujimori by “fabricat[ing] enemies” and then promising “that he would take care of it.”

Dennis Jett, the U.S. ambassador to Peru from 1996-99, disagrees:

“[Fujimori] was in charge at all times.  I think he created Montesinos.  He kept Montesinos there as long as he was useful, and he gave him a lot of discretion to do things.”

Montesinos is currently serving a 20 year sentence for arms smuggling.

For more information, please see:
AP – Peru trial sensation:  President versus spymaster – 29 June 2008

Tehran Times – Fujimori to meet ex-henchman Montesinos at trial – 30 June 2008

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BRASILIA, Brazil – The gap between rich and poor has widened since 2002, a government study showed last week.  Brazil is recognized as one of the world’s least equitable societies.

Between 2002 and 2008, the gap between the highest and lowest salaries fell by 7 percent, said the government’s Institute for Applied Economic Research.

According to IPEA president Marcio Poochmann, in most industrialized countries, salaries account for more than two-thirds of national income.  Salaries accounted for in Brazil in 2007 was only 39.1 percent.  The wealthy earned 27.3 times more than the poor in 2003.

President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva hopes to use oil revenues to help the poor.

For more information, please see:
Reuters – Brazil salary gap narrows, rich-poor divide same – 23 June 2008

Oil & Gas Journal – Brazil sets sights on increasing oil production – 29 June 2008

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CARACAS, Venezuela – Thousands of Hugo Chavez’ political opponents gathered in Caracas last Saturday to protest a ruling they say is aimed at them.  Almost 400 people have been barred from running in November’s elections.

According to the government, they are being investigated for corruption, and are therefore ineligible to run for office.  Eighty percent of the names on the list are from the opposition.

The corruption may be within Chavez’ own administration.  Anti drug officials estimate that nearly half, possibly two-thirds, of the cocaine in the U.K. has been trafficked through Venezuela. 

It is thought that senior commanders in Venezuela’s security forces are helping the smugglers, most notably by allowing them to use military airfields.  Drug runners are relatively safe from arrest inside Chavez’ country, reports the Telegraph.

In the year before Chavez came into office, Venezuela’s security forces made 11,581 drug-related arrests, this year, only 1,979 such arrests have been made, over an 80% drop.  Experts note that reasons include his deteriorating relationship with Colombia, his unwillingness to work with the U.S., and his close ties with rebel groups in Colombia, namely the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Last June, smugglers were arrested at the main airport on Venezuela’s Margarita Island with 2.2 tons of cocaine.  Five police officers from the CICPC, an elite investigative unit, were part of their gang and had escorted them into the airport.

One official had “no doubt” that senior figures in Venezuela’s security forces were helping the smugglers.

For more information, please see:
Telegraph – Venezuela ‘supplies half of Britian’s cocaine – 27 June 2008

BBC News – Testing times ahead for Chavez – 27 June 2008

Chile Remembers Killing of Allende; Bolivia Strong with Indigenous and Agricultural Reforms; Rio de Janeiro Militia Accused of Torture

By Oscar J Barbosa
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile-  South American people remember and celebrate the 100th anniversary of Salvador Allende’s birth. Current Chile’s President Bachelet opened the ceremony by calling Mr. Allende the first Socialist leader, “comrade and colleague, President” forerunner of a new America.

President Allende was considered part of the "Chilean road to socialism" but he was also aware of the U.S. ideals and objectives to impede any socialist government from flourishing in Latin America.

Cuban News Paper Granma also remembers Allende “not as a utopian or a dreamer, he was a revolutionary entirely committed to the cause of the working class in Chile, to which he devoted and sacrificed his heroic life”. (Photo:  La Nacion)

Allende was killed on September 11th 1973. It wasn’t Pinochet alone, US President Richard Nixon, Kissinger and the Central Intelligence Agency had also been linked to the assassination. After Allende’s death and the US engineered coup, one of the darkest periods in South American History began, with the Operation Condor, the systematic and institutionalized disappearances and mass killings thought out South America. Killings sponsored by fascist governments against its people.

For more information please see:

Granma International - Allende: a predecessor – 26 June, 2008

La Nacion - Bachelet encabezó el principal acto por natalicio de Allende – 27 June, 2008  -------------------------

LA PAZ, Bolivia – The Santa Cruz movement for independence that attempts to alienate its resources and capital from the central Government in La Paz, has caused more incidents and confrontations.

The opposition protesters launched a strike against Morales over his attempt to control a national assembly in charge of rewriting the country's constitution. Also, the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista (Cruz’s Youth Union), accused of killings of indigenous, vandalism and an attempt of assassination of President Morales, has lead multiple incidents, including the attack on a Police Station in Viru Viru. This group burned police cars and stroke in the roadways. Upon detention of some members, its leaders proceeded to attack the detention center and police officers.

Those strikers "are against the policies of nationalization of hydrocarbons, against the new land policies and the agricultural revolution," Morales said. President Morales accused the US of being behind the opposition’s efforts against stability in Bolivia. The media has also stated that US driven efforts against Morales, resemble the attacks made against Allende’s government in Chile.

Morales was making a one-day stopover in Guatemala to push for indigenous rights and political power before continuing his to Cuba and later New York.

For more information please see:

Radio Fides Virtual - Unionistas intentan tomar retén en Viru Viru y queman una patrulla policial – 26 June, 2008

Times NOW - Bolivian Pres slams the US – 27 June, 2008
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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – A group of journalist moved into the neighborhood of Batan to cover the situation lived there. The group believed that an area controlled by a militia (which included off-duty police), would be safer than an area controlled by drug dealers.

In May 14^th, masked men entered the rented house where the journalist, photographer and driver were staying; they were kidnapped and tortured for over Six hours. 

The New York Times reported that the group was forced to play Russian roulette, were nearly suffocated with plastic bags, suffered electric shocks and slapped and kicked. The female reported was also threatened to be sexually assaulted.

The Minister of the Brazilian Secretariat of Human Rights has expressed the intentions of judging the involved militants for torture. 

For more information please see:

The New York Times - In Rio Slum, Armed Militia Replaces Drug Gang’s Criminality With Its Own – 13 June, 2008

O Globo Online - Justiça Militar fará primeira acareação com os militares envolvidos na morte de jovens da Providência - 26 June, 2008

Massacre in Guyana; Paraguay Prison Riot Solved; Second Venezuelan Journalist Murdered this Month

By Jessalyn Mastrianni
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

 

 

 

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - Eight people were shot and killed and their bodies were set on fire in a small diamond mine. The assailants and the motive remain unknown, and police are only fairly certain the massacre occurred on Saturday.

 

The owner of the mine, George Arokium, discovered the destruction Saturday afternoon. His son and his brother were among the victims. Police continue to investigate and compare this massacre to the others earlier this year. Of course, the most wanted man in the country, Rondell Rawlins, has been mentioned in all the same articles but has not yet been connected to the massacre.

 

For more information, please see:

AP - 8 massacred at Guyana mine - 22 June 2008

Reuters - Eight Shot and Burned in Guyana Mine - 23 June 2008

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ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay - Prisoners at the Esperanza industrial prison rioted for four hours on Friday. The prisoners submitted a list of demands that included more conjugal visits and an end to the alleged abuse from prison guards.

 

Conjugal visits are visits allowed to family members that are private and extended. These usually occur with a legal spouse and are known to include sexual relations.

 

At the time of the riot, Esperanza prison allowed conjugal visits only during the day. Authorities have agreed to allow conjugal visits after working hours as well as promising to investigate accusations of abuse within the prison.

 

No deaths or injuries occurred as a result of the riot.

 

For more information, please see:

Sydney Morning Herald - Riot over sex in prisons - 22 June 2008

AP- Paraguay prison agrees to inmates' demand for more sex - 20 June 2008

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CARACAS, Venezuela - Javier Garcia, evening anchorman for Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) was killed this weekend. His body was found by his brother with multiple stab wounds to the abdomen and right leg. His brother found him in his own bed on Sunday, after he had been missing for two days.

 

The murder's surrounding circumstances are very unclear; prosecutors are investigating.

 

The doorman of Garcia's building stated that an unidentified man tried to leave the apartment with a suitcase on Saturday night. When security told the man he could not take the suitcase with him, he returned it and then left. Three packed bags were found near the front door of Garcia's apartment.

 

RCTV spokesperson has stated that it is too early to connect Garcia's death with his work in the media. However, this is the second journalist killed in Venezuela this month. The first was Pierre Fould Gerges, killed on June 2, 2008 by an unidentified gunman following numerous death threats of the Reporte Diario de la Economía, the paper of which he was vice president.

 

Violence against the press in Venezuela is rare (only four deaths since 1992), however the government has repressed the local press.

 

For more information, please see:

Committee to Protect Journalists - RCTC anchor found dead in Caracas - 16 June 2008

AP- Venezuelan prosecutor investigates killing of journalist - 17 June 2008

Xinhua - Venezuelan RCTV journalist stabbed to death - 17 June 2008

 

Police Hostages in Peru Freed; FARC Releases Hostage Video; US Links Venezuelans to Hezbollah, Chavez Protests

By Christopher Gehrke
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, South America

LIMA, Peru – Last Monday, protesters objecting to mining revenue injured at least 20 civilians, 40 police officers.  At least 60 police officers were held hostage in southern Peru.  They were freed about a day later.

Protestors in the state of Moquegua took hostages during demonstrations calling for greater share of mining revenue.  They also blocked parts of the Pan American Highway for almost a week.

President Alan Garcia said Tuesday that he expects the individuals responsible for any violence to be held responsible for their crimes.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Reports:  Police hurt, held hostage amid Peru protests – 17 June 2008

CNN – Police hostages freed in Peru – 18 June 2008

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CALI, Colombia – The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) released what a appears to be a recent video of kidnapped politician Sigifredo Lopez, the only survivor of a group of 12 politicians who were killed by the rebels in 2002.

A BBC correspondent reported that Colombia refused to deal with the rebels and intends to destroy them with their military.  The video showed Lopez wearing a crucifix, telling is family not to worry.  He also said that FARC’s position had not changed, that they were still demanding a safe haven to discuss the release of hostages in exchange for rebels in prison, which President Alvaro Uribe has refused.

Lopez called for the government to meet with the rebels, calling both sides’ refusal to compromise on the safe haven issue an example of “showing the world their cruelty and barbarism.”

Colombia is known as the “kidnap capital of the world.”  One person per day is kidnapped, down from 10 per day in 2002, reports the BBC.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Farc rebels release hostage video – 22 June 2008

AFP – Colombian hostage calls for rebel-government talks – 22 June 2008

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CARACAS, Venezuela – The United States charged a Venezuelan official and others with helping Hezbollah.  Washington considers the Lebanese group a terrorist organization.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday that the U.S. is using these accusations against Diplomat Nasr al Din and Lebonese born businessman Fazwi Ka’an to “see if the world will make a move” against him.  He also said that the US is trying to bring him before an international court.

The U.S. said Wednesday that it was freezing the assets of the two Venezuelans and accused the government of protecting the two men.

For more information, please see:

AP – Chavez refutes US Hezbollah charges – 22 June 2008

Taipei Times – US Hezbollah charge is a pretext, Chavez says – 22 June 2008

Bolivia Struggles Against Indigenous Forced Labor; Brazilian Industry Confronts Amnesty International Accusations; Colombian Ex-Paramilitary Leader Involved in Multiple Crimes

By Oscar J Barbosa
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LA PAZ , Bolivia - The Bolivian Guarani Indians have been exploited for generations on ranches, until the current government began initiatives to change the status quo.

"About 90 percent of the land in Bolivia is in the hands of 10 percent (of the population) ... (and most land owners) are neither indigenous nor farmers" In the Alto Parapeti region of eastern Bolivia landowners have forced landless Guarani Indian families into labor.

After investigating the matter, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reported that Guaranies live in a condition "reminiscent of slavery"; urging the government to address the problem.

Morales’ Government aims to help some of the thousands of Guarani people from eastern Bolivia by creating a 390,000-acre reservation, but this initiative has been strongly opposed by the landowners. Some accuse these landowners of firing workers for taking part in associations of Indians, and for demanding better conditions and salaries. These conditions have perpetuated through time, and the babies are born in dept to the landowners, forced to work their whole lives.

For more information please see:

Reuters - Refile-Bolivian Guarani resist forced labor on ranches – 18 June 2008

ABI - CIDH muestra al mundo la vergonzosa servidumbre en Bolivia; latifundistas callan – 18 June 2008

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BRASILIA, Brazil - Amnesty International report in Human Rights worldwide accused the biofuel industry in Brazil of exploitation of forced labor, and degrading treatment of the workers.

In 2007, over a half of 6,000 workers rescued by the government from slavery conditions were sugar cane cutters. In big cane-growing areas, Nort-Easter States, and Mato Grosso do Sul, Guarani Indians and other groups, who have lost their land to cattle ranchers, provide cheap labour.

In Brazil, more than 300,000 workers are seasonal cane cutters in. It has been stated that their work and general conditions are rarely basic and mostly deplorable servitude.

"Brazil has a great climate, great land and technology, but a lot of the competitive edge for biofuels is due to worker exploitation -- from slave work to underpayment," said Leonardo Sakamoto, a political scientist who runs a nonprofit labor watchdog group in Sao Paulo. In the Last year, at least 18 cane cutters have died of dehydration, heart attacks or other ailments linked to exhaustion in this region, where the forests long ago gave way to agriculture.

For more information please see:

Los Angeles Times - Human cost of Brazil's biofuels boom – 16 June 2008

Acoriano Oriental - Amnistia denuncia "trabalho forçado" nas plantações de cana no Brasil – 29 May 2008

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BOGOTA, Colombia – As part of the peace process with the Auto Defensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), and the Process of “Peace and Justice”, the Paramilitary leaders receive reduced sentences by cooperating with the justice department in searching for the disappeared and by testifying against others involved in the atrocities.

AKA ‘El Iguano’ former commander of the AUC’s Catacumbo bloc, accused Former deputy director of Colombia’s intelligence agency DAS, José Miguel Narváez of instigating AUC leader Carlos Castaño to murder journalist and comedian Jaime Garzón and ordered the kidnapping of Senator Piedad Córdoba. It was also said that Narváez visited AUC camps and lectured the militants on why it was legal to kill communists in Colombia.

During hearings, the ex-paramilitary also mentioned that 680 million pesos were paid by the electric company Termotasajero, as well as transporting companies, rice growers, and gas stations. 28 million pesos were paid by the Colombian Gas company, Ecopetrol, and the money was used for a communications tower installed next to the police and military towers in the town of Ricaurte.

The exleader also revealed to have had agreements with 10 municipalities to receive Money from public Works. The money received was used to buy weapons and also to bribe clinics to attend the wounded militants without leaving records. Upon confessions linking various companies and various public servants, the ex-paramilitary’s attorney was threaded and security measures have been taken.

For more information please see:

Radio Caracol - “El Iguano” salpica a Termotasajero y Ecopetrol – 19 June 2008

El Tiempo - Perfil del ex jefe de DAS vinculado al asesinato de Jaime Garzón – 19 June 2008

UPDATE: Police Make Arrests in Attempted Assassination; Ecuadoreans Linked to Cocaine in Four Separate Incidents; OAS Approves Resolution to Protect LGBT Community

By Jessalyn Mastrianni
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO, Ecuador - Three Colombians and one Ecuadorian have been arrested in Ecuador for plotting against President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa.  The leftist president had been informed of the plot that included contracts for the attack.

In the accused men’s hotel rooms, police found photographs and maps of the presidential palace and surrounding area.  According to BBC News, “[President] Correa raised the possibility that the plot was the work of conmen seeking to extort cash out of the authorities.”

This alleged attempted assassination may raise tensions between Ecuador and the neighboring Colombia only a few a months after the nations butted heads regarding a Colombian raid on a FARC rebel camp in Ecuador.

For more information, please see:
Netherlands Worldwide – Ecuadorian police foil plot to assassinate president- 13 June 2008
BBC News – Three Colombians Arrested in Ecuador in Alleged Assassination Plot – 13 June 2008
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QUITO, Ecuador – Ecuadorian Antinarcotics police seized 165 kg of cocaine.  The cocaine was kept in packs hidden in 28 crated of ivory nut palm wood with false bottoms.  The drugs were in route to Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Alvarado Jorge was also found with 65,000 U.S counterfeit dollar notes.  This incident occurred in the Jose Joaquin de Olmeda airport in the western coast city of Guayaquil.

In other recent incidents, María Cristina Alvarado Jorge, a Spanish national as well as Jaime Arturo Ubano, a Colombian national were arrested for carrying cocaine internationally.  Ubano was carrying a fake Ecuadorian identification card with the name of Jose Melinton Santos Vera.

Finally, Russian customs authorities in St. Petersburg confiscated 21kg of cocaine on a ship coming from Ecuador.  A crew member aboard the ship admitted the drugs were his and now faces up to seven years in prison.

For more information, please see:

Xinhua – Ecuadorian police seize 165 kg of cocaine – 13 June 2008

Russian News and information Agency - Russian customs officers seize 21 kg of cocaine on Ecuador ship – 9 June 2008

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New York, United States – The Organization of American States (OAS) unanimously adopted a resolution, The Resolution on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, on June 3, 2008 condemning human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.    At least 10 OAS countries have domestic laws protecting against these types of crimes, however this resolution is a bold step in the international community.  Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina are now discussing national laws that would protect the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual (LGBT) community.

The LGBT Rights Program at Human Rights Watch has called for changes in law and policy in order for the resolution to have an impact.  Its director has praised the resolution, reminding us that “sexual rights are human rights.”

For more information, please see:
Pink News -  Progress on gay rights in the Americas – 11 June 2008

Human Rights Watch – OAS Adopts Resolution to Protect Sexual Rights – 6 June 2008