Monday Memo: AQ’s Top Expected Stories for the Week of May 7

May 7, 2012

Top stories this week are likely to include: Mexico’s presidential candidates debate; Dilma and the forestry law; Humala and Santos travel to Asia; and Venezuela proposes an alternative to the IACHR. 

Challengers Hammer Peña Nieto in Presidential Debate: The leading presidential candidates in Mexico held their first debate last night, and frontrunner Enrique Peña Nieto of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) was the biggest target of attacks from  candidates Josefina Vázquez Mota (Partido Acción Nacional) and Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Partido de la Revolución Democrática). Peña Nieto’s challengers painted him as a corrupt politician who oversaw a poor economy in Mexico state. During the debate, Peña Nieto noted that Vázquez Mota and López Obrador “seem to have come to an agreement… they’re coming with knives sharpened.” However, political analyst Jorge Zepeda opined that “Peña Nieto survived…I don’t think the debate will have a big impact.” Adds AQ Senior Editor Jason Marczak: “Without a clear winner in last night's debate, look for the campaign to turn increasingly hostile as candidates seek to make up ground against Peña Nieto.” Now that the candidates have squared off in their first debate—the next one will be held in June—look for how the Mexican electorate responds on the campaign trail. 

Dilma May Partially Veto the Forestry Law: In a political setback to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s legislature approved a controversial forest code on April 26 at the urging of the powerful farmers’ lobby. The code gives way for further deforestation of the Amazon and provides an amnesty from being fined for illegally clearing trees. Rousseff is now being pressured by environmentalists to veto the law, especially ahead of next month’s Rio+20 global summit on sustainable development. Advisors in Brasilia are now indicating that the president may issue a partial veto to two particularly controversial clauses: one on amnesty from prior deforestation and another on reducing vegetation on the margins of the rivers. Look for news this week.

Humala to Asia: Peruvian President Ollanta Humala will make his first official trip to Asia this week, aiming to sell his country as a trans-Pacific destination for trade and investment. Humala arrives in Japan tomorrow for trade talks with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Emperor Akihito, then continues to South Korea where he will sign a declaration of strategic association with Prime Minister Lee Myung-Bak. “Coming on the heels of nationalizations in Argentina and Bolivia, Humala will likely use the trip to exhibit the stability for investments in Peru,” notes AQ’s Jason Marczak.

Santos in Singapore and China: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos landed in Singapore yesterday for a six-day trip to Asia that will also include a state visit to China. Santos is accompanied in Singapore by a business delegation and his ministers of commerce, mining, transport and agriculture, and foreign affairs. He lands in China tomorrow to build “a much closer framework of cooperation between the two countries,” according to Xinhua and will depart on Saturday.

Venezuela Proposes IACHR Alternative: After suggesting last week that his country should withdraw from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and his administration have proposed an alternative human rights body for Latin American states that would exclude the United States. Chávez has accused the IACHR, under the aegis of the Washington-based Organization of American States, of being a tool of the U.S. government. However, the informal proposal of an alternate commission issued over the weekend in Cartagena, Colombia, by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro should bring cause for concern that Venezuela is flouting its international commitments. The move has been criticized by Venezuelan human rights groups and the United Nations. Look for formalized proposals going forward.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Argentina Permits Abortions for Rape Victims

March 14, 2012

The Argentine Supreme Court ruled unanimously yesterday to decriminalize abortions in cases of rape. The landmark decision came out of a case where a 15-year-old girl was raped by her stepfather, a senior officer of the police force in the Argentine province of Chubut. In 2010, a Chubut court had ruled in favor of the adolescent having an abortion, which meant that yesterday’s decision formally backed the original ruling. The victim went forward with the abortion after the initial court decision.

Prior to Tuesday’s ruling, abortions were only considered legal in cases where the woman was mentally ill or if her life is threatened by birth.  Doctors who performed illegal abortions could have faced between one and four years in prison. But the Supreme Court’s decision now permits doctors to perform abortions with the legal permission of the rape victim without having to seek court orders.

Read More

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Death of Cuban Hunger Striker Part of Larger Wave of Repression in Cuba

January 23, 2012

Another Cuban, Wilmar Villar, died in a hunger strike on the island last week protesting the abuses of the Castro regime.  His wife was not permitted to see his body.  Yoani Sanchez, the Cuban blogger who has received several international awards and who is not permitted to travel abroad, reported his death on the Internet.

For weeks Cuban exiles had been calling on governments and  human rights organizations for help. We do not know if Cardinal Ortega Alamino, who has access to General Raúl Castro, interceded privately with him on behalf of Wilmar who is the father of two children;  or if the Cuban Cardinal, who participated in the arrangement where Cuba released political prisoners and forced many of them and their families, including children, into banishment in Spain, alerted the Holy See about the impending death.

The Cuban regime can no longer murder in secrecy; it fears the Internet and the Cubans who are willing to die demanding respect for human rights. But the regime continues to enjoy international impunity for its unspeakable deeds. The opening to Havana sponsored by the Obama Administration has emboldened the Castro brothers who are engaged in a widespread human rights crackdown.  Right now Senator Richard Durbin is in Havana, presumably discussing ways of further lessening of U.S. sanctions with Cuban authorities.

Read More

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Chinese Labor Record in Peruvian Mines Questioned

November 9, 2011

An article in the fall issue of Americas Quarterly, released today, explores the record of Chinese state-owned mining corporations on labor and the environment. In “Do Chinese Mining Companies Exploit More?” three researchers from the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) explore the impact of China’s foreign direct investment in natural resource extraction in Peru—underlining China’s increasing economic footprint in emerging regions like Latin America.

The article highlights an issue that is of growing concern. Just this month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a 122-page report outlining labor abuses by Chinese firms operating in copper mines in Zambia. The HRW paper states that the Chinese firms clamp down on union activity, promote low pay compared to the international average of copper mines, enforce 18-hour workdays, and operate mines with workplace safety concerns. The Chinese embassy in the Zambian capital of Lusaka has flatly denied HRW’s charges.

In comparing the practices of two OECD-owned companies to those of two Chinese companies, the PIIE scholars note some alarming differences in adherence to international labor and environmental standards. For example, the Shougang Corporation, which purchased the Hierro Perú mine in 1992, “angered the local population by cutting the Peruvian workforce in half and bringing in Chinese laborers. It reduced the quantity and quality of workers’ housing, while leaving blocks of homes once occupied by workers vacant in a town with an acute housing shortage.”

Nonetheless, Chinese firms may be treading a different path since the days of their earliest investments. According to the PIIE research, the Aluminum Corporation of China “appears to be working to avoid the behavior of Shougang.” It has not imported labor from China, has conducted public hearings with members of the local community, and has invested in infrastructure and community development.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Human Trafficking Persists in Latin America, Report Finds

June 28, 2011

The U.S. Department of State yesterday released its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, which evaluates states’ actions to combat human trafficking around the world. The 2011 report shows an increase over 2010 in the number of countries that fail to take adequate steps to prevent human trafficking. In Latin America, Venezuela joined Cuba on a list of Tier 3 violators—a status given to countries that do not make sufficient efforts to address the problem.

Of 13 states cited for insufficient action in last year’s report, the Dominican Republic is the only country to be reclassified due to progress. In April, 2011 Dominican President Leonel Fernandez met with leaders of the U.S. armed services’ Southern Command to develop a plan for an Antinarcotics War Coordination Center—to be headquartered in the Dominican Republic—which will also combat human trafficking in the Caribbean.

The report also honors ten individuals for their extraordinary efforts in the fight against human trafficking. Two TIP Report “Heroes” hailed from Latin America: Leonel Dubon, founder of El Refugio de la Niñez (Children’s Refuge House), a Guatemalan NGO that provides shelter to underage sex-trafficking victims and human trafficking specialist Dilcya Garcia, a former deputy prosecutor in Mexico City’s Attorney General Office.

The TIP Report was first published in 2001 following the passage in the United States of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000. Its classification system also includes Tier 2 countries, which do not currently meet TVPA standards but are making significant progress, and Tier 1 countries—like the U.S.—that are fully compliant with anti-human trafficking standards. Of the 184 countries evaluated in 2010, 23 were given the lowest, Tier 3, designation.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Human Rights Reforms in Mexico

June 10, 2011

Mexican President Felipe Calderón yesterday signed into law 11 articles that will reform the Mexican constitution to increase protections for human rights and bring Mexico into conformity with international human rights agreements. According to reports, the reform is designed to grant greater power to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) by broadening its authority to investigate reports of human rights violations. It will also allow any Mexican to challenge the constitutionality of federal and local laws that might violate the rights of any citizen. The signing ceremony included Juan Silva, president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Manlio Fabio Beltrones, president of the Senate and Raúl Plascencia, president of the National Commission on Human Rights.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay lauded Calderón’s decision in a press release saying, “This tangible and positive reform ought to take Mexico towards better and stronger recognition and implementation of the human rights contained in the constitution and international treaties.”

Reactions by human rights groups have been mixed. Some question whether the Calderón administration, whose security policies have led to an upsurge in drug-related violence in recent years, will permit stronger scrutiny of its actions. Other groups claim that ambiguities in the new law will make enforcement difficult.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Uruguay Senate Invalidates Amnesty Law

April 13, 2011

Uruguay’s Senate voted yesterday to annul the Ley de Caducidad, or Expiry Law, which since 1986 had granted military officers immunity from prosecution for crimes against humanity committed during the country’s military dictatorship from 1973 to 1985.  The vote effectively overrules two prior national referendums in 1989 and 2009, which had upheld the Expiry Law, and opens the door to the possible prosecution of former military officials. The measure keeps intact amnesty for crimes committed during the same period by left-wing militants.

The vote fulfills a major demand of the left-wing members of the Frente Amplio (FA) governing coalition and complies with a 2009 Uruguayan Supreme Court ruling that found the Expiry Law unconstitutional.  The measure faced opposition from right wing political party leaders, retired military officials, and even some members of FA like retired Colonel Jose Carlos Araujo, who says repealing the law despite two referendums shows a lack of “respect [for] the decisions of the people.” 

In 2003, an independent peace commission found that 175 political opponents were killed during the 12-year dictatorship, including 26 in clandestine torture centers. Only about a dozen officials have been prosecuted for those killings.  The repeal passed by a 16-15 vote after a 12-hour debate. It is backed by President José Mujica and will now move to the Uruguay’s lower house for amendments and a vote, which could come as soon as May 20.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Former U.S. President Carter in Cuba to Meet With Raúl Castro

March 29, 2011

Jimmy Carter arrived in Cuba yesterday afternoon for a three-day visit to the island by invitation of the Cuban government.  Carter’s travel to the island, billed as a private trip, will include meetings with Catholic and Jewish authorities as well as a meeting with Raúl Castro.  The former President is expected to address U.S.-Cuba relations, Cuban economic reforms and the upcoming sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba scheduled to meet from April 16 to 19. 

There is also speculation that the former President will also seek to gain the release of imprisoned U.S. government contractor Alan Gross, who was sentenced two weeks ago to a 15-year prison term for providing satellite communication equipment to Jewish groups in Cuba. Authorities claim this was an attempt to provide Internet access to dissidents to destabilize the island. 

This trip marks the second time Carter has visited the island and he remains the only sitting or former U.S. President to visit Cuba since Fidel Castro took power in 1959.  Carter’s last trip to Cuba was in 2002 during which he pressed Cuban authorities to improve human rights and to introduce democracy.  Upon his return, the President urged U.S. authorities to lift the trade embargo against Cuba.  As in 2002, Carter will once again be accompanied by his wife, Rosalynn. 

Yesterday, Carter met with the head of the Council of the Hebrew Community of Cuba and with Cardinal Jamie Ortega of the Catholic Archdiocese of Havana.  Today, he is scheduled to visit the Belen Convent in downtown Havana followed by a meeting with Cuban President Raúl Castro.  A press conference will be held at the Havana Palace of Conventions before returning to the United States.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Argentine Ex-General Sentenced as Country Remembers “Dirty War”

March 25, 2011

On the day before Argentina marked the 35th anniversary of the military coup that installed a seven-year dictatorial regime, an ex-general was sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity. Luciano Menendez, 83, was head of the army’s Third Corps during the dictatorship period of 1976-1983. This was his sixth life sentence.

According to a verdict released by Argentina’s judiciary branch, Menendez was found guilty of homicide and unlawful entry in an army and police assault in a home in Tucumán province on May 20, 1976. A group of Montoneros, a leftist urban guerrilla group, was meeting inside the house before the forces launched explosives and entered. Five people were killed and buried in a common grave.

The verdict, which also found former Tucumán province police intelligence chief Roberto Albornoz guilty in the same case, is part of a recent series of trials that have taken place after the 2007 decision of then-president Néstor Kirchner to annul pardons against former junta members. In a particularly high-profile case, General Jorge Rafael Videla, the former leader of the military dictatorship, was sentenced to life in prison in December 2010 for crimes against humanity.

On March 24, 1976, a military junta led by Videla overthrew the elected government and began a period of military rule in Argentina that lasted until 1983. During this period, Videla and the generals that succeeded him undertook a “national reorganization process,” more commonly known as the Dirty War, to maintain social order and eradicate any political subversion. Human rights groups estimate that as many as 30,000 individuals were killed or disappeared as a part of this war, with still others tortured and/or forced into exile.

Yesterday—the National Day of Memory, Truth and Justice—thousands of people marched on the streets of Buenos Aires and other cities to remember those lost during the Dirty War and to celebrate the work of human rights groups since then. Marchers included human rights activists, including the famous Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, as well as ordinary citizens, both young and old.

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was at her family’s home in the town of El Calafate in Santa Cruz province and did not participate in any of the rallies.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Mexican Senate Vows Legislation to Protect Migrants

February 16, 2011

In a meeting with diplomats from various Central American countries yesterday, Mexican Senate president Manlio Fabio Beltrones promised to draft new immigration legislation that will protect and guarantee the human rights of undocumented migrants in Mexico.  The new legislation proposes to resolve issues not yet addressed by current law including protections for migrants who witness crimes, higher penalties for human trafficking and increased access to health, legal and financial services. These changes are directed toward undocumented immigrants who have already settled in Mexico as a means of normalizing their status.

Estimates are that approximately 300,000 Central Americans travel through Mexico on their way to the United States annually.  Mexican authorities apprehend and deport less than a third of those undocumented migrants.  At the same time, the systematic abuse of undocumented migrants is on the rise in Mexico with reported assaults and kidnappings increasing in recent years including the most recent murder of 72 undocumented migrants last August by drug cartels.

Mr. Beltrones’ proposal was met with praise by the ambassadors and consuls from Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica.  Speaking on behalf of the Central Americans, Ambassador Hugo Roberto Carrillo of El Salvador thanked the Mexican authorities for their efforts on behalf of undocumented migrants while noting that transgressions against migrants were being perpetrated by both Mexican authorities, in overly aggressive efforts to control the flow of immigrants, and by organized crime.  Despite this announcement, human rights activists and the United Nations demanded that the disappearances of migrants and past abuse of migrants to date be investigated and resolved. 

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Por el Derecho a No Ser Desaparecido

February 10, 2011

En diciembre pasado entró en vigencia la Convención Internacional para la Protección de Todas las Personas contra las Desapariciones Forzadas. ¿Qué significado tiene este instrumento internacional para los países del Cono Sur?

En Argentina dicen que el término “desaparecido” es una palabra en español que se hizo conocida en todas las lenguas por cuenta de la brutal dictadura que sumió al país entre 1976 y 1983. Treinta mil desaparecidos fue el saldo de un plan sistemático de violencia contra la oposición política, víctimas sobre quienes alguna vez el dictador Jorge Videla se refirió con total despojo de identidad: “¿Qué son los desaparecidos? Son solo eso, desaparecidos, o sea nada.”

“Nosotros sabemos que siempre fueron, pero hoy 25 años después, ya son reconocidos por el Estado de Derecho con la entrada en vigencia de la Convención,” asegura Pablo Barbuto, coordinador del área jurídica nacional de la secretaría de derechos humanos (DDHH) de Argentina.

El país fue junto a Francia uno de los grandes impulsores del tratado que entró en vigencia el pasado diciembre luego de la ratificación de 21 países, 9 de ellos latinoamericanos (Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, México, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay y Argentina). Aunque para todos ya existía la Convención Interamericana contra la Desaparición Forzada, firmada en 1994 en el marco de la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), por primera vez un instrumento internacional reconoce el carácter continuo de la desaparición, y el derecho de las víctimas a la verdad y la reparación.

Read More

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Indigenous Protests Lead to Legal Victory in Ecuador

February 9, 2011

Following two days of protests over last week’s arrest of Pepe Luis Acacho, the leading candidate for head of the Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador (CONAIE), Ecuador’s main indigenous organization, Acacho was released by Justice María Cristina Narváez yesteday. In her ruling, justice Narváez called his detention and that of two other Shuar leaders “illegal, arbitrary and illegitimate.” 

Read More

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Cuban Dissident Wins EU Award

December 17, 2010

Earlier this week, Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas was awarded the European Union’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.  Mr. Fariñas, however, was unable to accept the award in person after Cuban authorities denied him papers to leave the country.  In his place, the presenters of the Sakharov Prize left Mr. Fariñas chair empty with just a Cuban flag draped over it and his prize.

The Sakharov Prize is awarded to each year to “exceptional individuals who combat intolerance, fanaticism and oppression.”  In awarding this year’s prize to Mr. Fariñas in absentia, European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek noted that the purpose of the prize was to eliminate exactly the situations that prevented Mr. Fariñas from traveling to the award ceremony.  “Even though activists like Guillermo Fariñas are persecuted and are imprisoned, their voice cannot be silenced.  The role of the European Parliament is to amplify that voice,” President Buzek said.

Mr. Fariñas was able to address the attendees at the award ceremony through a recorded video message in which he urged the EU to “not allow themselves to be deceived by the siren songs of a cruel regime practicing ‘wild communism.’”

This year’s award to Mr. Fariñas marks the third time in the past eight years that the award has gone to Cuban citizens.  Mr. Oswaldo José Payá  Sariñas won the prize in 2002 and the Ladies in White won the award in 2005.

Tags: European Union, Human Rights, human rights in Cuba

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Justicia y Derechos Humanos en Argentina

December 14, 2010

Cinco años después de la declaración de inconstitucionalidad de las leyes de Obediencia Debida y Punto Final que reabrió los Juicios por crímenes de lesa humanidad cometidos en la dictadura argentina, son gratificantes los avances para las víctimas que de a poco van encontrando las anheladas justicia y verdad, pero también muchos los retos que enfrenta un sistema judicial desbordado que juzga a represores que se están muriendo sin siquiera tener condenas firmes.

El 29 de abril de 1977 el Diario la Opinión registraba un enfrentamiento entre subversivos y Ejército, con un saldo de cinco guerrilleros muertos. El pasado 16 de noviembre Patricia Bernardi, una de las fundadoras del Equipo Argentino de Antropología Forense (EAAF), entró al tribunal donde se sigue el juicio a los represores del Centro de Detención el Vesubio y pruebas periciales en mano, demostró que no, que no eran subversivos, que habían sido secuestrados y luego asesinados a balazos en Juncal y Rivadavia a las 2:30 a.m., según consta en sus actas de defunción.

“Era mostrarle a la justicia que eso que se leyó como un tiroteo, era un traslado y un asesinato de gente”, cuenta Patricia quien por cuarta vez declaraba como testigo pericial en los juicios reactivados en 2005, en algunos de ellos incluso frente a represores, a quienes paradójicamente les tiene que explicar qué es un orificio de bala. “Me parece que son una madera, nada los moviliza. Pero no es mi objetivo sensibilizarlos, sino que el juez crea que la prueba científica es válida y el familiar crea en la identificación”.

Patricia habla desde las oficinas del EAAF, creado en 1984, en las que a partir de perfiles biológicos de los esqueletos (exhumados en fosas comunes de cementerios municipales o predios militares), evidencias balísticas, análisis de documentación (libros de cementerio, testimonios y archivos policiales que registran simples NN o nombres de guerra), y el avance de la genética, se ha logrado hasta la fecha la identificación de 300 personas. De un promedio de 1000 exhumaciones aún hay 600 restos sin identificar que reposan en el laboratorio de Buenos Aires y otras provincias como Córdoba y Tucumán donde la represión fue fuerte.

Read More

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Yoani Sánchez Awarded Liberty Prize

November 18, 2010

This week, while teaching a group of people how to upload blog posts, Cuban blogger and dissident Yoani Sánchez learned she was to receive yet another award. This time it was the $50,000 (40,000 euro) Liberty Prize granted by Denmark’s Center for Independent Research (CEPOS). Sánchez said that “the news came when I was doing what I like best, providing people with wings to fly in the IT sky.”

CEPOS’ Liberty Prize is given to individuals who demonstrate a sustained commitment to the ideas of individual freedom and human rights. Sánchez, 35, founded the blog “Generación Y” in 2007 and has since used it as a platform to share the realities of daily life in Cuba. She recently compiled select blog posts into a book titled Cuba Libre: Vivir y Escribir en La Habana. For her elegant prose, brave criticism and dedication to empowering others through digital media, Sánchez was previously awarded the Spanish Ortega y Gassett Prize for Digital Journalism (2008) and Maria Moors Cabot Prize for outstanding reporting on Latin America (2009). Sánchez was also named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2008 and was selected as a 2010 World Press Freedom Hero by the International Press Institute.

Sánchez has been invited to formally accept the Liberty Prize at an upcoming ceremony in Copenhagen, but it remains to be seen whether the Cuban government will grant her an exit visa to travel abroad. She has been prohibited from leaving the island eight times in the past three years.

For Sánchez, her isolation by the Cuban government allows her to keep in touch with Cuban realities and has not stopped her from writing or sharing her knowledge of Internet tools. “Finding people who read what I write and seeing new faces appear” are sufficient compensation, she says.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Haitian Protestor Killed by Peacekeeper

November 16, 2010

At least one Haitian was killed in a clash with UN peacekeepers on the outskirts of Cap Haitien, Haiti, on Tuesday. The man was shot amid mass protests in response to the rapidly spreading Cholera epidemic that has killed more than 1,000 people and which many Haitians believe was spread by the mostly Nepalese UN forces. Haitians protesters in Cap Haitien and Hinche reportedly threw stones and set up burning barricades to which the UN troops responded by firing tear gas. According to the UN, the protestor who was shot had first fired at a UN soldier, who fired back in self defense.

The protesters were demanding the departure of peacekeepers and the end of the MINUSTAH stabilization mission, which has been a presence in Haiti since 2004. However, the confirmation of Cholera cases in Port-au-Prince and all of Haiti’s 10 provinces is largely responsible for the unrest. As Haiti nears the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake, many of its social services are provided, not by the government, but by the multitude of non-governmental organizations that are currently on the ground. Given the damaged and largely decentralized health care system, access to adequate care is still scarce.

Though fear and anger surrounding Cholera is no doubt the primary agitator behind this week’s protests, the UN believes violence and political manipulation surrounding the presidential elections could also be responsible. The Haitian elections commission may choose to postpone the elections, scheduled for November 28, given the heightened risk of Cholera contamination and Haitian people’s reluctance to leave their homes to vote.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Former Argentine Junta Leader Dies

November 9, 2010

Navy Admiral Emilio Eduardo Massera, a leader in Argentina’s military junta from 1976 to 1978, passed away on Monday in Buenos Aires at age 85. Massera collaborated with Jorge Rafael Videla and Orlando Ramón Agosti to stage a coup d’etat that overthrew Isabel Perón in 1976. The repressive dictatorship that Masserra and his colleagues established in Argentina, and the Dirty War they waged against leftist insurgents and dissidents, lasted from 1976 to 1983.

Nicknamed Admiral Zero, Massero was in charge of the Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada (Navy Mechanical School)—perhaps the most symbolic, clandestine detention and torture facility in of the dictatorship era. Many of the individuals who disappeared and were tortured by the junta—estimates range from 9,000 to 30,000 people—passed through the walls of Massera’s Escuela.

After the country’s return to civilian rule, Massera was found guilty of murder, torture and invasion of privacy by the trial of the Juntas reconciliatory body in 1985. Despite being sentenced to life in prison, Massera received a pardon in 1990 for these charges as well as for his involvement in Operation Condor by then-President Carlos Menem. In 1998 he was again convicted, this time of concealing and changing the identities of the children of the disappeared, and was sentenced to house arrest due to his age. 

Massera died of cardiac arrest, which was related to a history of neurological problems.

Tags: Argentina, Crime and Security, Human Rights, law enforcement, military junta, political protests, transnational justice

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Uruguayan Amnesty Law Unconstitutional

November 3, 2010

Uruguay’s highest court ruled that a law providing amnesty for human rights violations committed during the 1973-1985 dictatorship and protected former military and law enforcement officials from prosecution is unconstitutional.  The ruling comes as the case for human rights abuses and the deaths of 20 people comes to trial against Juan María Bordaberry, the former Uruguayan president and dictator. 

The so-called Expiry Law has been upheld by referendums held in 1989 and again in 2009 and requires that all judicial investigations into alleged crimes committed by security force members during the dictatorship be approved by both the executive branch and the Supreme Court.  No such investigations had been approved until the election of then-President Tabaré Vázquez, a Frente Amplio (FA) candidate, in 2005. 

Proponents of the repeal of the Expiry Law have submitted a bill for approval of the Senate that would recognize all international human rights conventions that the country has signed to be protected by the constitution.  Passage of this bill would also invalidate the Expiry Law as it would also broaden prosecutorial powers for prosecuting human rights violators.  Opponents of the bill argue that it is an attack on Uruguay’s institutions. 

Monday’s ruling allows an investigation into Bordaberry for the deaths of 20 people brought against him by various human rights groups.  Bordaberry is currently serving 30 years for constitutional violations and an additional 30 years for extrajudicial killings. He is under house arrest due to health concerns. 

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Cuban Dissident Awarded Top Human Rights Prize

October 21, 2010

The European Parliament has awarded Cuba’s Guillermo Fariñas—psychologist, journalist and political dissident—the 2010 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in recognition of his defense of human rights. Fariñas is well-known in the international arena for staging more than 20 hunger strikes, leading to prison sentences totaling 11 years.

In announcing the awarding of this year’s prize to Mr. Fariñas, Parliament President Jerzy Buzek explained: “Guillermo Fariñas is an independent journalist and political dissident who was ready to sacrifice and risk his own health and life as a means of pressure to achieve change in Cuba… carrying the hopes of all of those who care for freedom, human rights and democracy.”

Mr. Fariñas is not the first Cuban laureate of the Sakharov Prize. Oswaldo Payá, perhaps the county’s most prominent political dissident, won the award in 2002, followed by Damas de Blanco in 2005—a group of women whose husbands are jailed in Cuba for protesting the regime. Damas de Blanco have been consistently barred by the government from collecting their prize in person, and Mr. Fariñas is not expected to be permitted to travel to Strasbourg, France, to receive this year’s award.

In his most recent hunger strike, Fariñas fasted for 135 days from February to July 2010 to pressure the Cuban government to free dozens of imprisoned political dissidents. He ended the strike when President Raúl Castro promised the Catholic Church that he would free 52 of the prisoners.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Chilean National Deputies Join Hunger Strike

September 10, 2010

Four Chilean congressional representatives from opposition parties announced today that they are joining an ongoing hunger strike by 34 indigenous Mapuche prisoners, who are protesting the use of Pinochet-era anti-terrorism laws to charge indigenous civilians for their role in land disputes with the government. The protesters say they are political prisoners and should not be treated as terror suspects or have to face trial in military courts.

According to congressional aides, the leftist lawmakers are members of a human rights commission in the lower house of the national congress and have demanded that President Sebastian Piñera's government begin talks with the inmates.

Reports indicate that Mr. Piñera this week introduced legislation that aims to ensure that civilians cannot be tried in military courts, and to reduce sentences under the anti-terror statutes. The Piñera administration has so far declined, however, to enter direct talks with the protestors. In response to the lawmakers’ decision to join the hunger strike, Minister of the Interior Rodrigo Hinzpeter has said the legislators are acting like “kindergartners” and should return to congress to press their case.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Calderón Defends the Military

January 21, 2010

The Mexican government issued a strong rebuttal yesterday to a recent Human Rights Watch report that criticizes President Felipe Calderón’s use of the military for policing and other civilian matters. The report contends that “Mexico's armed forces have committed serious human rights violations, including killings, torture, rapes, and arbitrary detentions.”

Read More

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

December 9, 2009

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

Mercosur Rejects Honduran Elections, Stalls on Other Matters

Leaders of the Mercosur countries—Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay—along with Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez gathered for a two-day presidential summit in Montevideo. They rejected Honduras’ November 29 elections, saying the elections took place in an illegal context. The presidents also agreed to move forward on free-trade negotiations with the EU but made little headway on their external tariff code, infrastructure projects for smaller countries, or a mechanism for the body’s Parliament to approve legislation. Leaders from the bloc also said they expect Venezuela to become a full member of Mercosur, pending approval by Brazil’s Senate and Paraguay’s Congress. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he expected his country’s Senate to approve Venezuela’s accession as early as December 9.

Latin Americans Worry over Climate Change

With Copenhagen climate change talks underway, a BBC and Globescan poll found that global warming concerns most Latin Americans. Eighty-six percent of Brazilians and Chileans, 83 percent of Costa Ricans, 81 percent of Mexicans, and 72 percent of Panamanians thought it was a “serious problem.” But far fewer believed their government should play a leadership role in setting targets to address the issue. For example, only 53 percent of Brazilians and 25 percent of Panamanians answered affirmatively. This news comes as Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pushes for international agreements to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent compared to 1990 levels.

The Fall 2009 issue of Americas Quarterly explores environmental priorities for the Western Hemisphere.

Read More

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Brazil to Investigate Abuses under Military Dictatorship

November 5, 2009

On December 9, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will formally announce the establishment of a Brazilian Truth Commission.  Brazil is the only country in Latin America that has not yet held trials or investigated deaths, disappearances and torture under military rule. 

While there were fewer abuses in Brazil under dictatorship than in Argentina or Chile, nearly 500 people were killed by security forces or disappeared between 1964 and 1985. 
A 1979 Amnesty Law has effectively prevented any Brazilian officials from being criminally charged for human rights abuses, though the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concluded on April 9, 2009, that amnesties and statutes of limitations cannot be applied to crimes against humanity committed by the dictatorship. 

Although there has been no formal investigation, Catholic and Protestant priests covertly wrote and released “Brasil: Nunca Mais” in 1986.  Once released, the report led to city-based inquiries, local reparations programs and communities honoring victims.  President Lula's government also released a report based on an 11-year investigation in 2007, but has done little to hold human rights violators accountable.

President Lula, who was jailed for union organizing efforts under the dictatorship, announces the commission with just one year remaining in office.  Some members of the coalition government are reportedly opposed to reopening the past.  Defense Minister Nelson Jobim has called the prior efforts of families and torture survivors to obtain justice merely seeking "revenge."

Tags: Brazil, Dictatorship, Human Rights, Truth Commission

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Fujimori Handed Fourth Sentence

October 1, 2009

Already facing the rest of his life in prison, former President of Peru Alberto Fujimori, 71, received an additional six years on Wednesday for charges of corruption.  At Fujimori’s fourth and final trial in two years, the Lima court also fined him $9 million for authorizing wiretapping and bribes during his 10-year rule that ended in 2000.

Fujimori had plead guilty to the corruption charges on Monday, cutting short a trial at which 60 Peruvians were prepared to testify against him.  By pleading guilty, critics believe Fujimori sought to avoid further embarrassing his daughter Keiko Fujimori, considered a frontrunner in the country’s 2011 presidential race.

Fujimori also avoided probing into an era in which the government is thought to have set up a vast spy network to combat the Shining Path terrorist organization, and then used the network for political gain.

Last April, Fujimori received a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses including murders at Barrio Alto and La Cantuta University.  Under Peruvian law, multiple sentences are not accumulative, rather guilty parties serve the longest they have received.  Peru’s Supreme Court is currently reviewing Fujimori’s appeal over the 25-year sentence, though observers say the verdict is not likely to be commuted.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Extradition of Former Venezuelan President Requested

September 30, 2009

The attorney general of Venezuela, Luisa Ortega Díaz, requested on Tuesday that Interpol seek the detention of former President Carlos Andrés Pérez (1974—1979, 1989—1993) for his role in the deaths of 300 people during the Caracazo street protests in 1989. These protests were sparked by Pérez’ economic reform package and its elimination of gas subsidies.

The detention order is “included in Interpol’s code red, but this is not a guarantee that he will be captured. This depends on the government of the country where he is residing at the moment,” Ortega said last night.

The 87-year-old Pérez resides in the United States. He was accused by the attorney general for his “responsibility in the instruction and implementation of Plan Ávila”—a military plan to squash the protests that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights later found had resulted in massive human rights violation.

President Hugo Chávez led a failed coup attempt to overthrow Pérez in 1992.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

In Appreciation: Ted Kennedy's Latin America Legacy

August 31, 2009

As Americans eulogized Senator Edward Kennedy over the weekend, I also want to take pause and remember his contribution to our nation’s relations with Latin America.

He will be remembered as an effective liberal senator who knew how to work the Capitol, a flawed person who came to grips with his inner demons, and a man who used his name imbued with all its power and mystique of the Kennedy dynasty to tirelessly defend human rights and social justice—both here and abroad.

Read More

4 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Weekly News Roundup from Across the Americas

July 22, 2009

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

Second Round of Talks Falls Short in Resolving Honduran Crisis

This latest round of mediated talks between representatives of Honduran interim leader Roberto Micheleti and deposed President Manuel Zelaya ended with little solution. Costa Rican President and negotiations mediator Óscar Arias’s proposed a seven-point plan to peacefully reinstate Zelaya, but the Micheleti delegation firmly rejected it. The New York Times’ Ginger Thompson reported Wednesday that a new round of talks would be postponed after Honduras’ current Foreign Minister Carlos López Contreras failed to convince the de facto government to accept terms that would allow Zelaya’s return to power.  Rumors of another attempt by Zelaya to return to Honduras repeatedly crop up; CNN Expansión reported Wednesday morning that Zelaya himself is planning his return in upcoming days.

In an AQ blog post, AS/COA’s Christopher Sabatini takes a look at the negotiations, Arias’ plan, and the increasingly isolated situation Honduras finds itself in as countries and multilateral institutions cut large swathes of aid. On Monday, the European Union followed suit, suspending $92 million in financial aid to Honduras, reports the European Voice.

Access AS/COA’s resource guide to the Honduran crisis.

Read More

2 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Press Freedom Under Attack in Honduras

July 16, 2009

More than two weeks after a military coup ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, a superficial calm has returned to the country: protests have slowed and the interim government has repealed the curfew in place since June 28.    

However complaints of censorship and mistreatment toward members of the foreign and local press continue to surface.

A series of arrests, a media blackout and attempts at censorship have been denounced by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Reporters without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other human rights groups.

Read More

3 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Versus the Human Right of Private Property

May 18, 2009

You wouldn’t know it the way the media and most human rights groups have covered Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s recent seizure of land on May 11, but the right to private property is protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Most have treated President Chávez’s most recent policy move as a rich person’s problem. In reality, most journalists and human rights activists are loath to appear that they’re coming to the defense of rich, pampered Venezuelan landowners.

But in not defending this internationally recognized right they are weakening human rights in the hemisphere—something they would be equally loath to do if it were judicial due process or freedom from torture.

Now, I’m not one to defend the egregious excess and avarice of Venezuela’s once-ruling class. In fact, few are, and President Chávez knows this. And that’s where the problem lies: no one wants to be the one appearing to defend a group of Latin American elite that had become infamous in the hemisphere for its excess. (As one friend, a professor at an Ivy League university, once said, “I don’t feel sorry for all those people I used to see in the duty free shops in Miami airport buying Rolex watches by the dozens.”) But this isn’t about whom you’re defending. It’s about what you’re defending. Private property is a human right, enshrined and endorsed by the UN General Assembly. And rights, whether the freedom against torture or the freedom against the seizure of one’s property, are seamless. The same government that will arbitrarily invade your land for some higher good is the same one that will detain and torture outspoken opponents for the same supposed good.

Read More

10 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Daily Focus: UN Commission to Investigate Guatemalan's Murder

May 14, 2009

On Wednesday the Organization of American States (OAS) gave its support to the Guatemalan government as approximately 1,000 protested outside the National Palace in response to the murder of a prominent lawyer. Rodrigo Rosenberg was killed on Sunday by gunmen, leaving behind a videotape stating that the President of Guatemala, Álvaro Colom, was to blame for his death.

The Guatemalan government denied having any link to the murder, and handed the case over to the United Nations to investigate the killing. It is estimated that up to 98 percent of criminal investigations in Guatemala go unsolved.  As protests increase countrywide, the United Nations International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) will begin an investigation into the killing in hopes of stabilizing the political unrest.  The administration blamed criminal organizations for the murder, stating that the action was retaliation for recent measures taken by the government to reduce the influence of organized crime in the country.

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Obama at the Summit of the Americas: What to Do with Venezuela?

April 9, 2009

On April 17-19, President Barack Obama will travel to Trinidad and Tobago for the fifth Summit of the Americas that will convene all 34 democratically elected heads of state from the hemisphere.  To see a U.S. president focus so much attention on the region so early in his administration (in only his third international forum) is historic—and positive.

But beyond symbolism and a president’s rare attention it’s unclear what he can concretely achieve.  One thing he can do is reject the Venezuelan government’s blatant attempt to throw into question the human rights system in the Americas that for 50 years has protected and defended the rights of citizens, journalists and activists against disappearances, murder and censorship in places like Argentina, Chile and Peru.

Read More

2 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Colombian Reporter Jenny Manrique Gives a Voice to Victims of Political Violence

April 3, 2009

The folding of several important newspapers throughout the U.S. has caused many to lament the “end of journalism” as we know it, and has left many would-be journalists to pursue other career paths. Jenny Manrique is not one of those would-be journalists. Her fearless, investigative reporting on topics such as post-traumatic stress disorder among political refugees and Boston’s asylum-seeking Colombian community has attached faces and names to the often-forgotten victims of political violence in her native Colombia and elsewhere in the region.

Manrique, 28, is the 2008-2009 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow, an award established by the International Women’s Media Foundation given to one woman each year to focus “exclusively on human rights journalism and social justice issues.” The recipient of the award, which was founded in honor of a Boston Globe reporter who died in Iraq in 2003, spends nine months as a research associate in residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for International Studies and interns both at the Boston Globe and The New York Times.

Read More

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

What to Expect of the Summit

January 22, 2009

After almost two years of parsing first candidate then President elect and now President Barack Obama’s words for his ideas on Latin America, the world will finally get a view in April 17, 18 and 19 in Trinidad and Tobago at the Summit of the Americas. Certainly President Obama’s recent interview with Univision caused some consternation among Venezuelan public officials who saw his statements regarding Venezuela as an affront to national sovereignty and dignity. But beyond the usual sensitivities, President Obama’s meeting in the Caribbean with the 33 other elected heads of state, coming on the heels of his first international meeting with NATO allies, will provide a rare moment for the President to focus on the region—in the midst of a multitude of other demands on his time and attention—and begin to articulate a new vision for the hemisphere.

In contradiction to a recent response to an earlier blog post of mine, I really do believe that President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to the Summit of the Americas is worthwhile. (I agree with Richard Feinberg that this is our opportunity to recast our relations in the hemisphere in a new and more positive light. I just believe that we—including the hemispheric community—need to be more cautious about the goals of the process and not build in multiple unfunded mandates, a series of meaningless discussion forums, and endless reams of recommendations—that often amount to little more than platitudes and demands that states do something, though what and how is never clear. (Though I’ll confess Nicole Kidman and fireworks would be nice too)

Let’s just scale back our expectations and use this as a modest opportunity to reach out to a new freshman class of elected heads of state and a way to broaden the agenda beyond (but still including) free trade.

Read More

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Crime in Mexico and Cell Phones. Mexico’s Fight Against Insecurity Moves to Congress.

December 18, 2008

Security is one of Mexicans’ top concerns. Since taking office, the government of President Felipe Calderón has responded. Troops and federal police are one answer, but the government now has a new weapon: a law that creates a national cell-phone registry. Cell phones are not AK-47s but they are used by criminals for kidnappings, organized crime and extortions.

The registry—passed by the Senate on December 9 along with other measures to widen police powers—mandates substantial changes to the way telecoms operate. But in the English-language media, the registry received just passing attention.

Its goal is laudable: to help police in cracking down on ransom demands made from often untraceable cell phones.

Read More

1 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink

Jamaica: Defending Human Rights in a Country with One of the World’s Highest Homicide Rates

December 17, 2008

Jamaica reported 1,500 homicides last year. In such environments of high insecurity, citizens’ rights often take a back seat to in the demand for government action and security. Carolyn Gomes, the executive director and co-founder of Jamaicans for Justice, has emerged as an outspoken leader for defendant’s rights, dedicating specific attention to exposing and lowering the incidence of extrajudicial killings, which JFJ estimates to number around 1,250 between 2000 and 2007.

Last week, Dr. Gomes and six other activists were awarded the UN Human Rights Prize for demonstrating firm commitment to the advancement of human rights worldwide.

Read More

0 comments Login or register to post comments Permalink