Argentine President expresses his solidarity with Cristina Fernandez: «Today an innocent person has been convicted».

Story by Daniel Stewart • Yesterday Provided by News 360

The president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, has expressed his solidarity with his vice-president Cristina Fernández Kirchner, after an Argentine court sentenced her on Tuesday to six years in prison and life disqualification from holding public office for the 'Vialidad case'.


File image of Alberto Fernandez, President of Argentina, with Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Vice President of Argentina. - Prensa Senado/telam/dpa

"Today, in Argentina, an innocent person has been convicted. Someone whom the powers that be tried to stigmatize through the media and persecuted through complacent judges who ride around in private planes and luxury mansions on weekends", criticized the Argentine president.

Thus, the leader of the country, who has shown his "solidarity with Cristina Fernández knowing that she is the victim of an absolutely unjust persecution", has denounced that the conviction "is the result of a trial in which the minimum forms of due process were not taken care of", a process in which even "the principle of not judging the same fact twice was violated".

Alberto Fernandez has maintained that, in this case, "politics has entered the courts". With this, "justice escapes through the window", he has lambasted, through a series of messages published on his Twitter account.

In addition, the president has urged the population to take Kirchner's side "for his innocence." "All good men and women who love democracy and the rule of law must stand by his side."

Fernández had been accused of participating in a scheme to defraud the state through the concession of public works in Santa Cruz province during her tenure as president (2007-2015) and that of former president and her late husband, Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007).

Fernández reacted immediately after the sentence by denouncing being the victim of a "parallel State" and of "a judicial mafia" and remarked that when she was president of Argentina she had neither "control of the laws that are approved" in the Legislative nor "nor did she administer the budget".

In her extensive response, Fernández pointed out that "the real sentence is not prison", but "perpetual disqualification to hold public office" and announced that she will not run in the 2023 elections. "They condemn a model of economic development and recognition of the rights of the people," he said.

Latin American leaders condemn sentence against Cristina Fernandez and express their support for her

 Yesterday 

Several Latin American political leaders have expressed their support for the vice-president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández Kirchner, while condemning the sentence of an Argentine court that sentenced her to six years in prison and perpetual disqualification from holding public office for an alleged corruption offense in the 'Vialidad case'.


File - File image of a rally in San Luis in support of Cristina Fernandez, vice president of Argentina. - TÉLAM/ELIAN OBREGÓN© Provided by News 360

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has enunciated his "broadest solidarity" with the Argentine vice-president. "I have no doubt that she is the victim of political revenge and anti-democratic vileness of conservatism," he said.

The Cuban leader, Miguel Díaz-Canel, wanted to reiterate his rejection "to politically motivated judicial processes", reaffirming "all" his "support and solidarity" to Fernández Kirchner "in the face of the judicial and media harassment against her". To this message, Díaz-Canel added two messages: "Cuba embraces you" and "All with Cristina".

The president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, has joined the solidarity and support sent to the Argentine vice-president, "who is now facing the attack of the 'lawfare' after surviving a failed attempt against her".

"The truth will prevail and the will of the Argentine people supports you", added the Honduran president before expressing "strength to Cristina".

In the same line, the president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, indicated that "they are trying to ban Fernandez de Kirchner from political life with an unjust sentence".

"We are sure that the truth will prevail over any attack against the dignity of the people and democracy in our great homeland", added Arce.

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales also condemned the sentence and expressed his support for the Argentine politician. "Our most vehement repudiation and condemnation against the judicial and rigged coup that tries to truncate the political rights of our sister Cristina Kirchner," he said on Twitter.

"After failing in their attempt to assassinate her, today they try to eliminate her politically. Strength sister Cristina, the fight goes on!", Morales criticized.

From Brazil, the president of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's Workers' Party, Gleisi Hoffman, has spoken out, indicating that Cristina is "victim of persecution and politicization of the Judiciary". "The PT is at her side, strength, the truth will win".

Honduras initiates 30-day state of emergency to fight gangs

Story by Daniel Stewart • Yesterday  Provided by News 360

The Honduran government has decreed a state of emergency that will last for at least the next 30 days, in an attempt to contain high crime rates, especially in the cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula.


A Honduran military officer and a policeman (file).

 - GILES CAMPBELL / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO

Authorities have put the spotlight on some of the most troubled neighborhoods in the two main Honduran cities, where gangs have been stepping up their criminal activities, such as robberies and extortion.

"We must be implacable against organized crime," said the director of the Honduran National Police, Gustavo Sanchez, during the launch of a special operation that began with an impromptu ceremony in a neighborhood in southern Tegucigalpa.

Hundreds of police have since been carrying out searches and arrests in some of these areas controlled by the Mara-18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs, the main targets of this operation, according to Sanchez, who asked the agents to fully respect human rights.

Related video: Honduras declares national emergency; President Xiomara Castro announces 'war on extortion' (WION)  Duration 2:32 View on Watch

Despite the measure, the authorities have explained that it will only affect those who are members of these types of organizations, so the rest of the citizens have full freedom of movement to carry out their normal activities, although they may be detained by the agents until their identities are verified.

Of the almost 300 municipalities in the country, only two, those of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, are under this measure. In the capital, 89 neighborhoods are being intervened, while in the second city there are 73, reports the Honduran newspaper 'La Prensa'.

On Thursday last week, the president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, announced the implementation of a state of emergency that would last at least until January 6 due to the "national emergency" faced by the country because of the increase in crime.

The decree approved by Castro stated that "by virtue of the serious disturbance of peace and security" in the country's main cities caused by criminal groups, it had been decided to "suspend the guarantees established in the Constitution" and empower the Police to arrest those they consider responsible "for associating, executing, or having links" with crimes and offenses.

The measure is reminiscent of a similar one announced by one of its also troubled neighbors, El Salvador, where its president, Nayib Bukele, has had a state of emergency for more than seven months now, amidst criticism and denunciations of human rights violations by international organizations.

Mexican Congress rejects president's electoral reform bid

Story by Reuters • Yesterday 

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The Mexican lower house of Congress on Tuesday rejected a controversial electoral reform backed by the president, after critics said the proposal had the potential to undermine the country's electoral independence.

Mexican Congress rejects president's electoral reform bid© Thomson Reuters

With 269 votes in favor, 225 votes against, and one abstention, the leading party and its allies fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the bill, which sought to convert the National Electoral Institute (INE) into a smaller and more powerful body of elected officials, alongside other political changes.


Mexican Congress rejects president's electoral reform bid© Thomson Reuters

Still, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has already initiated an alternative route to get his reform through, having hours earlier sent a new proposal to the lower house. This does not include constitutional changes, and therefore requires only the simple majority the ruling coalition holds.


Mexican Congress rejects president's electoral reform bid© Thomson Reuters

The new bill, as anticipated, is also somewhat less ambitious, with its main objective to reorganize and redefine the administrative tasks of the INE, as well as closing offices that will allow $150 million a year in savings.

Related video: Thousands protest in Mexico against electoral reform proposal (WION)   Duration 2:18   View on Watch

The rejected bill was seen by the political opposition as a threat to democracy and organizations such as Human Rights Watch said that the "regressive" initiative put at risk the continuation of "free and fair" elections.

Lopez Obrador, known by his acronym AMLO, has defended his proposal as a way to strengthen democracy and reduce the influence of economic interests in politics.

In mid-November, a massive protest against the president's electoral reform brought tens of thousands of people to the streets, prompting a counter-march led by the president to support it.



Mexican Congress rejects president's electoral reform bid© Thomson Reuters

Still, AMLO's insistence on approving his bill before he leaves office in 2024 has had an unexpected result of uniting a fractured opposition and emboldening it ahead of next year's regional elections.

(Reporting by Diego Ore; Writing by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Sandra Maler)


Mexican Congress rejects president's electoral reform bid© Thomson Reuters

NO SEX ON THE BEACH
Tourists 'think twice' about Indonesia following criminal code revisions

Story by Reuters • 

KUTA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesia's decision to outlaw cohabitation and sex outside of marriage may hurt the tourism industry in Bali, travelers and businesses said, just as the island destination gets back on its feet after the COVID pandemic.


Passengers arrive at the I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Badung, Bali© Thomson Reuters

In an overhaul of its criminal code that critics have called a step backwards for the world's third-largest democracy, Indonesia this week introduced a host of laws, including banning insulting state institutions and spreading views counter to the country's secular ideology, in addition to morality clauses.

Travelers and businesses warned the new laws could deter foreigners from visiting or investing in Indonesia.

"If I can't stay with my girlfriend in a hotel together, I'd think twice about it," said Wu Bingnan, a 21-year-old tourist from China who was visiting Bali.

Related video: Indonesia Passes Legislation Criminalizing Adultery (Newsweek)

Duration 0:38

View on Watch

Changes to the criminal code will only come into force in three years' time, but Maulana Yusran, deputy chief of Indonesia's tourism industry board, has said the new rules were "totally counter-productive".

Others sought to calm fears of a morality-related crackdown in Indonesia, a nation of 17,000 islands where citizens are predominantly moderate Muslim.

"The regulation just makes it clearer than what we have at the moment, that only certain people have the right to lodge a complaint. (As hotel operators) we are not worried and don't feel that it will impact our business," said Arie Ermawati, manager of Bali's Oberoi Hotel.

Currently, Indonesia bans adultery but not premarital sex. The new criminal code says such activity can only be reported by limited parties, such as a spouse, parent or child.

Foreign arrivals in Bali are expected to reach pre-pandemic levels of 6 million by 2025, the tourism association said previously.

(Reporting by Sultan Anshori; Editing by Crispian Balmer)

Warnock honored 5 civil rights 'martyrs' in his victory speech. Here are their stories

Story by Nicquel Terry Ellis •

Sen. Raphael Warnock’s re-election is being celebrated by supporters across the nation with many political observers crediting the work of voting rights groups for the consequential win.

Warnock delivered a victory speech to a fiery crowd in Atlanta on Tuesday night that touched on the power of faith, his deep Georgia roots and the perseverance of voters in the face of Republican-led voter suppression efforts. Election officials said a record number of voters showed up for early voting last week. And Black voters have been largely credited for Warnock’s win, signaling that Georgia is no longer a reliably red state.

In his speech, Warnock also honored the Black and White unsung heroes of the civil rights movement who died fighting for equal voting rights, making wins like his possible.

“Tonight, I want to pay tribute to all those, over so many years, who have put their voices, and their lives on the line, to defend that right,” Warnock said. “Martyrs of the movement like (Michael) Schwerner, (James) Chaney and (Andrew) Goodman, Viola Luizzo, James Reeb. And those who stood up and spoke up like Fannie Lou Hamer. John Lewis, who walked across a bridge knowing that there were police waiting to brutalize him on the other side. Yet, by some stroke of destiny mingled with human determination he walked across that bridge in order to build a bridge to a more just future.”

While Hamer and Lewis have been widely discussed by historians and journalists, Schwerner, Chaney, Goodman, Luizzo and Reeb are lesser known. But that doesn’t negate the significance of their work toward equality. All of them were killed by white supremacists or Ku Klux Klan members.

Here is what you should know about five “martyrs” of the movement:

Viola Liuzzo

Warnock honored 5 civil rights 'martyrs' in his victory speech. Here are their stories© Provided by CNNViola Liuzzo, 39, was killed by KKK members while driving her car on a stretch of road between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama on March 1965. - Bettmann/Getty Images

Liuzzo was a 39-year-old wife and mother of five of from Detroit who was killed by Ku Klux Klansmen in Selma on March 25, 1965.

Historical records show Liuzzo, a White woman, had been committed to fighting for economic justice and civil rights.

She was an active member of the Detroit NAACP chapter and the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Detroit. Family members say she decided to travel to Selma in 1965 after seeing televised news reports of peaceful protesters being beaten and tear-gassed by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

In Selma, Liuzzo marched and helped transport demonstrators in her car. She was ambushed and shot to death by KKK members while driving Leroy Moton, a Black man, to Montgomery. Within 24 hours of Liuzzo’s death, President Lyndon Johnson announced the arrests of the KKK members. They were all acquitted by Alabama courts, however a federal grand jury found them guilty of violating Liuzzo’s civil rights and they were sentenced to 10 years in prison

In 1991, a marker honoring Liuzzo was erected at the site where she was killed on U.S. Highway 80, about 20 miles east of Selma

Rev. James Reeb

Warnock honored 5 civil rights 'martyrs' in his victory speech. Here are their stories© Provided by CNNRev. James J. Reeb, 38, was attacked by a White mob in Selma in 1965 and he died from his injuries days later. - Bettmann/Getty Images

Reeb, a White Unitarian minister who lived in Boston, died after traveling to Selma, Alabama, in 1965 to answer Martin Luther King Jr’s call to clergy to join demonstrations for voting rights in the aftermath of “Bloody Sunday.”

The 38-year-old minister was beaten by a group of White men on March 9, 1965 as he and two other White clergymen left an integrated Selma restaurant after having dinner. He was hit in the head and died two days later at a Birmingham hospital.

His killing gained nationwide attention, prompted vigils in his honor and is believed to have contributed to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“The world is aroused over the murder of James Reeb. For he symbolizes the forces of goodwill in our nation. He demonstrated the conscience of the nation. He was an attorney for the defense of the innocent in the court of world opinion. He was a witness to the truth that men of different races and classes might live, eat, and work together as brothers,” King said as he delivered a eulogy for Reeb in 1965.

Three White men were indicted with murder in Reeb’s killing but their cases resulted in acquittals.

James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner

Warnock honored 5 civil rights 'martyrs' in his victory speech. Here are their stories© Provided by CNNAndrew Goodman, left, James Chaney, center, and Michael Shwerner, right, were killed in the summer of 1964. - MPI/Getty Images

Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were three civil rights workers murdered in Mississippi during the summer of 1964. The killings were among the most notorious of the civil rights era, and were the subject of the 1988 movie “Mississippi Burning.”

The three men, who registered African Americans to vote, had just visited the victims of the burning of a Black church in Neshoba County when a sheriff’s deputy took them into custody for speeding. The men were driving a car with license plates registered to the Congress of Federated Organizations (COFO), one of the most active civil rights groups in Mississippi, according to an FBI file on the case.

After their release from the county jail, a Ku Klux Klan mob tailed their car, forced it off the road and shot them to death. Their bodies were found 44 days later, buried in an earthen dam, after an extensive FBI investigation.

Chaney was a 21-year-old Black volunteer with COFO. Goodman, a White 20-year-old, was a college student and new volunteer from New York. Schwerner, a White 24-year-old former social worker, was an established civil rights organizer who was “particularly reviled by the Klan for his work,” according to the FBI file.

The killings fueled the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act the next year.

In 1967, prosecutors convicted eight defendants for violating the federal criminal civil rights conspiracy statute, namely the victims’ right to live. None served more than six years in prison.

No murder charges were filed at the time but nearly 40 years later, Edgar Ray Killen, a part-time Baptist minister and the plot leader, was found guilty of manslaughter in 2005 and sentenced to three consecutive 20-year sentences. Killen died in 2018.

CNN.com

New Zealand Navy idles ships as labour crisis hits

Story by By Lucy Craymer • Yesterday

A New Zealand Navy recruitment advertisement is displayed in Wellington© Thomson Reuters

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Three of New Zealand's nine naval ships are sitting idle in port as higher civilian salaries lure personnel out of the military, the country's Defence Force said on Wednesday, even as tensions in the Pacific rise between China and the U.S. and its allies.

The HMNZS Wellington, an offshore patrol vessel, headed back to New Zealand early from what was meant to be a three-month deployment in the Pacific and was taken out of operation in November because of shortages, the New Zealand Defence Force said.

The Wellington is the third ship to be put into "care and custody", with two other vessels - another offshore patrol vessel and a smaller patrol vessel for operating close to shore - pulled off the line and their crews reassigned last year. The vessels have crews of 24 to 42.

The bottom line is "workforce issues are impacting ship availability to deliver naval outputs," an August note from the Chief of the Defence Force Air Marshal Kevin Short to the Minister of Defence said. "Risks remain to Naval output delivery if attrition and hollowness cannot be addressed in a timely manner."

NZDF has just over 15,000 personnel, including civilian staff, and about 2,800 are in the Navy. The Defence Force said in May that it would spend 90 million New Zealand dollars ($57 million) over four years to raise the salaries of the lowest-paid workers. Officials hope personnel figures will significantly improve by 2026-2027.

Having so few ships available makes it harder for the navy to handle multiple challenges at once, a New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) spokesperson said.

The problem is especially acute as the U.S., Japan, Australia and other countries in the region square off against China and strive for influence. New defence spending plans, driven by lessons learned from Russia's invasion of Japan, are also taking shape.

New Zealand, which spends roughly 1.5% its of GDP on defence, this year announced it would review its own defence policy in light of regional geopolitics and climate change. The review is not expected to be completed until 2024.

In July, after China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the Pacific region could manage security issues on its own.

The number of people leaving the defence force is at its highest level - the Navy attrition rate was about 16.5% in the year to November - in decades as staff have quit for jobs in the private sector, where salaries have risen due to a tight labour market.

New Zealand's Defence Force is also dealing with ageing equipment and a large number of personnel being assigned to border quarantine facilities.

Minister of Defence Peeni Henare acknowledged in an email that staff losses were hurting the Defence Force, but said the government was committed to rebuilding it.

"There is more still to do," he said.

The country is replacing its fleet of C-130 cargo planes and P-3 maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), and the first of four Boeing P-8A Poseidon MPA is due to arrive this month. Plans for a new military vessel built for Southern Ocean and Antarctic conditions were shelved this year.

($1 = 1.5838 New Zealand dollars)

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

CANADA

Powerful new White Ribbon campaign focuses on men who become first-time fathers to girls

Story by Rita DeMontis • Yesterday 

Powerful new White Ribbon campaign focuses on men who become first-time fathers to girls© Provided by Toronto Sun

For some men, everything changes when they have a daughter.

And for many, it is one of the most terrifying experiences, not because they don’t love their child, but because the father knows what challenges his daughter is up against – basing it on his own past actions.

So is the powerful messaging of the White Ribbon ‘s new campaign called I Knew All Along, which captures in film a father’s distress and fear while lovingly holding his newborn daughter in his arms. The pain and remorse on the man’s face reveals that he knows what those challenges will be as he reflects on his own past behaviours with girls.

Coming so closely on the heels of the recent Montreal Massacre anniversary, the White Ribbon messaging (an organization founded by men in 1991 as a direct reaction to the massacre to bring awareness of the violence many women face in their lives) takes on an even more urgent appeal, given this abuse continues its relentless course, and traversing all levels of society.

“On December 6, 1989, fourteen women engineering students were killed in the École Polytechnique shooting, in a horrific act of gender-based violence and hatred,” said Humberto Carolo, White Ribbon executive director in a recent email. “Displays of harmful gender norms and stereotypes are so ingrained within our culture that it often takes personal experience, such as having a daughter, for many men to recognize these unhealthy behaviours,” explaining that “ I Knew All Along sheds light on the gender-based aggressions that men may have engaged in, whether verbal or behavioural, intentional, or unintentional, and reveals why they should not be ignored or minimized.”

Gender-based violence continues to be on the rise, White Ribbon organizers organizers say, “and it is important that men are part of the solution in changing systemic gender inequalities and promote healthy masculinities.”

Carolo explains that “displays of unhealthy masculinities … are learned behaviours and not something men and boys are inherently born with. Our mission with I Knew All Along is to highlight the experiences many people in our communities face and encourage male-identified individuals to become more conscious of and accountable for their actions.”

Gender-based violence – be it against girls, women, trans or non-binary people – can take the form of everything from name calling to pushing, hitting, stalking, sexual assault, rape, criminal harassment, manipulation – even death.



Serghei Turcanu/Getty Images© Serghei Turcanu

According to the Canadian Women’s Foundation , “it can happen between people in romantic relationships, in families, at work, and between friends and acquaintances and strangers … it often occurs in private places between people who know each other.”

Anyone can be abused, notes the site, regardless of background, identity, or circumstance. “But women, girls, and gender-diverse people are at high risk of gender-based violence.”

And it’s deadly: The Foundation reports “approximately every six days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner.”

Which makes the new White Ribbon campaign so critical: A 2022 study commissioned by the organization explores the concerns parents may experience after having a daughter. Three-quarters of moms of daughters and two-thirds of dads of daughters disclosed that having a daughter made them more concerned about the challenges that women often face in society. “Further, 70% of those who don’t have a daughter believe that if they had one, it would make them more aware or concerned,” notes a recent media release.

One man spoke about his own sense of identity as a new father: “As a new father to my first daughter, I want to do everything I can to build a healthy relationship with her and be a positive role model where she can learn and experience respect,” said Taylor Demetrioff, White Ribbon bilingual community engagement manager, in a recent media release. “It’s important to help my daughter grow up seeing her father being vulnerable and connecting with her emotionally so that she has a healthier sense of masculinity, security and respected boundaries.”

Carolo notes that White Ribbon “has always focused on highlighting the systemic and societal issues that lead to gender-based violence,” stating the White Ribbon campaign, which basically started as a grassroots operation, has spread to more than 60 countries, “becoming the largest movement of men and boys working to end violence against women and girls,” said Carolo, adding “its mission is to help men and boys understand the reality and dimension of this issue so they can become allies, challenge harmful behaviours, and make real change.”

The release of I Knew All Along addresses all these changes in a powerful film directed by TIFF 2022 People’s Choice Award winner Hubert Davis. The public service announcement “encourages men to act now, regardless of whether they have daughters or not, to be role models of gender equity and help create a violence and discrimination-free world.”

“Film has the power to present complex social issues in a way that is both compelling and universal,” said Davis in a recent media release. “To make an emotional impact, it was important for us to highlight a profound personal experience – like becoming a new parent. While not everyone may be a parent, many understand what it feels like to want to protect a loved one.”

Russian court upholds 22-year prison sentence against journalist Ivan Safronov for high treason

A Moscow court on Wednesday upheld the 22-year prison sentence imposed against journalist and State Space Corporation (Roscosmos) advisor Ivan Safronov for high treason, rejecting an appeal filed by his legal team.


Archive - Russian flags decorate the facade of a building located in St. Petersburg. - SERGEI MIKHAILICHENKO / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO© Provided by News 360

"The verdict of the Moscow City Court remains unchanged, the appeal is not admitted," the court has announced, according to court documents picked up by the TASS news agency.

Thus, the sentence has entered into force and can be executed as soon as possible, which would entail the transfer of the convict to serve his sentence, a decision taken after a session held behind closed doors.

The sentence against Safronov is one of the most severe imposed in modern Russian history under the article on treason against the state contained in the country's Criminal Code.

The journalist was arrested in July 2020 and accused of handing over secret data to one of NATO's intelligence agencies. Before being hired by Roscosmos, he worked for the newspapers 'Kommersant' and 'Vedomosti', where he wrote about military and space-related issues.

Prosecutors claim that Safronov had collaborated since 2012 with the Czech Republic's secret services, through which he allegedly delivered to the United States information related to the country's technical and military cooperation.

Subsequently, he was accused of handing over information on Russian military activity to a Russian-German dual national political scientist who, in turn, allegedly handed over the data to German intelligence. However, Safronov himself insists on his innocence and rejects all charges against him.

HRW denounces «widespread abuses» of human rights in El Salvador since the adoption of the state of emergency

The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced Wednesday that El Salvador's security forces are committing widespread human rights abuses since the adoption of a state of emergency against gang violence in March of this year.


El Salvador's Territorial Control Plan Security Strategy against gangs - 

PRESIDENCIA DE EL SALVADOR© Provided by News 360

A report released Wednesday with Salvadoran human rights organization Cristosal documents mass arbitrary detentions and torture, as well as deaths in custody or forced disappearances.

"Salvadoran security forces have brutalized vulnerable communities with widespread human rights violations in the name of public security," lamented Juanita Goebertus, HRW's Americas director.

"To put an end to gang violence and human rights violations, the government of El Salvador must replace the state of emergency with an effective, rights-respecting security policy that gives Salvadorans the security they so richly deserve," added the NGO's regional director.

They also criticized the fact that the country's president, Nayib Bukele, has publicly supported the security forces, promoting "a dehumanizing rhetoric against detainees and their families".

They have also pointed out that there are reasons to question the effectiveness of these measures, as gangs have in the past benefited from mass incarceration to recruit new members.

HRW and Cristosal have interviewed more than 1,100 people, including victims of abuse, family members, lawyers, witnesses and government officials.

With this documentation, the organizations have found that agents have committed similar violations repeatedly in different parts of the country.

In many cases, detentions appear to be based on the appearance and social background of the detainees, sometimes without warrants or arrest warrants.

In addition, the NGO accuses El Salvador's authorities of committing enforced disappearances under international law, as they have reported numerous cases in which agents have refused to provide information on the whereabouts of detainees.

SUPER POPULATION IN JAILS

 Police and soldiers have carried out hundreds of raids, particularly in low-income neighborhoods, since the state of emergency was adopted. Authorities have arrested more than 58,000 people, of whom more than 1,600 have been children.

Thus, the prison population has increased in nine months from 39,000 to 95,000 people, more than three times the official capacity, criticize human rights organizations.

In this context, at least 90 people have died in police custody in circumstances that have not yet been investigated.

INTERNATIONAL CALL 

Therefore, HRW and Cristasol have urged the country's authorities to take rights-respecting measures to dismantle the gangs and protect the population.

Along these lines, the organizations have called on the United States and the European Union, as well as Latin American governments, to generate multilateral pressure.

"The international community must redouble its efforts to help ensure that Salvadorans are safe from gang atrocity crimes, human rights violations by security forces and other abuses of power," added Goebertus.

Beyond this, they have asked financial institutions to suspend loans that benefit government agencies involved in these abuses, such as the National Police, the Armed Forces, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the prison system.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Mozambique ex-president's son, ex-spy bosses jailed for 12 years for graft

Story by AFP • 

A Mozambican court on Wednesday sentenced two ex-spy bosses and the son of a former president to 12 years each for their part in a corruption scandal in which the government sought to conceal huge debts, triggering financial havoc.


Former president Armando Guebuza, seated, greets his son Ndambi, a defendant, at the session on November 30 when verdicts began to be read out© Alfredo Zuniga

The former head of security and intelligence, Gregorio Leao; the head of the security service’s economic intelligence division, Antonio do Rosario; and ex-president Armando Guebuza’s son Ndambi Guebuza were among 19 defendants accused in the country's biggest graft scandal.

"The crimes committed have brought consequences whose effects will last for generations," said Judge Efigenio Baptista.

The scandal arose after state-owned companies in the impoverished country illicitly borrowed $2 billion (1.9 billion euros) in 2013 and 2014 from international banks to buy a tuna-fishing fleet and surveillance vessels.

The government masked the loans from parliament and the public.

When the "hidden debt" finally surfaced in 2016, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other donors cut off financial support, triggering a sovereign debt default and currency collapse.

An independent audit found $500 million of the loans had been diverted. The money remains unaccounted for.

Handing down the sentence following after a week of reading the verdicts, the judge said the scam "aggravated the impoverishment of thousands of Mozambicans."

"The country became famous for the worst reasons," he said.

Leao and do Rosario were found guilty of embezzlement and abuse of power, while Guebuza was convicted for embezzlement, money laundering and criminal association among other charges.

str-ub/sn/ri

Mozambique court finds former president's son, others guilty over $2 billion scandal

Story by By Manuel Mucari • Yesterday 


Verdict in the $2 Billion "hidden debt" case in Mozambique© Thomson Reuters

MAPUTO (Reuters) - A Mozambican court on Wednesday found a former president's son and 10 other people guilty on charges related to a $2 billion "hidden debt" scandal that crashed the southern African nation's economy, sentencing them each to more than 10 years in prison.

Eight of 19 individuals, including state security officials, who had been on trial on charges such as money laundering, bribery and blackmail were acquitted by the court.

Armando Ndambi Guebuza, son of former president Armando Guebuza, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the scandal, which saw hundreds of millions of dollars in government-backed loans disappear. Others who were convicted were handed sentences of between 10 and 12 years.


Verdict of the court relating to the $2 Billion "hidden debts" in Mozambique© Thomson Reuters

"Armando Ndambi Guebuza showed no remorse for committing the crime and he maintains that he has been targeted for political reasons," Judge Efigenio Baptista of the Maputo City Court said.

"Ndambi still does not reckon that he wrongfully benefited from $33 million that the Mozambican people badly need."

Two top intelligence service officials, General Director Gregorio Leao and head of the economic unit, Antonio Carlos do Rosario, were each sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The judge said those convicted had by their actions helped impoverish Mozambique's people.

"The defendants tarnished the good image of the country abroad and in the international markets, with enduring and hard-to-repair effects," he said.

In 2016, Mozambique unveiled hefty state-backed borrowing it had previously failed to disclose to parliament or donors like the International Monetary Fund. The scandal prompted the IMF and other donors to cut off support, triggering a currency collapse and debt default.

The debt, including an $850 million Eurobond dubbed the "tuna bond", was ostensibly raised to develop a tuna fishing industry and other projects, including maritime security.

An independent audit found in 2017 that the government had not done enough to explain how funds were spent and that roughly a quarter of the money was unaccounted for.

Much of the money raised for the fishing project was diverted via kickbacks to bankers and Mozambique officials.

In a separate case related to the loans, Credit Suisse Group agreed to pay about $475 million to American and British authorities to resolve bribery and fraud charges.

A London-based subsidiary of Russian bank VTB also agreed to pay $6 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges it misled investors.

"It is proven that the defendants swindled state funds loaned by Credit Suisse and VTB which were supposed to be used to protect the special economic zone," the judge said during sentencing on Wednesday.

(Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by James Macharia Chege, John O'Donnell and Catherine Evans)