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SWITZERLAND
Argor: case closed
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office has decided to end legal proceedings against Argor Heraeus SA. In 2013, TRIAL had alerted the Swiss authorities that the precious metal company may have been complicit in pillaging and money laundering.
The Prosecutor’s Office acknowledged that looted gold had been refined by Argor and that the company had infringed its duty of due diligence. Notwithstanding, it ruled that it could not be substantiated that Argor knew the criminal nature of the gold’s origin.
The decision has prompted the skepticism of the NGOs that led the investigation (TRIAL, Open Society Justice Initiative and Conflict Awareness Project). Indeed, they presented proof that the company had refined more than three tons of dirty gold from the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the time when the fighting was at its fiercest in the country.
According to the NGOs, there cannot be any justice if economic actors shun their responsibilities. Unfortunately, some companies propagate some of the most violent conflicts in the world for the sake of exploiting mines and fostering trade in international markets. They would rather ignore the cues that evidence the criminal origin of raw materials.
If the authorities fail to penalize them, such decisions will be perceived as a real encouragement to pursue such reprehensible activities.
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BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Criminal Code up to international level!
The Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina finally made decisive changes to the Criminal Code in May 2015. After some amendments adopted in urgent procedure, the national laws on torture, enforced disappearances, wartime rapes and sexual violence are now in line with international human rights standards.
For years, international mechanisms such as the European Commission or the UN Committee against torture have drawn Bosnian authorities' attention to the inconsistency of the national criminal law with international norms, but to no avail.
Due to the slow reaction of State authorities, TRIAL has advocated and actively participated in the amendment process since 2011. It now welcomes the amendment of the Criminal Code and urges BiH to bring all the national legislation in line with international standards.
Proper codification is a significant step towards better accountability and prevention for crimes committed during the 1992-1995 war in BiH. The freshly amended criminal code will help tackle widespread impunity and provide reparations to thousands of wartime victims who are still waiting for justice to be served.
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Human rights trodden under foot
Burundi is currently the scene of grave human rights violations. The political and electoral crises affecting the country are generating headlines in the news, but the violations of human rights, although conspicuous, are frequently ignored.
Since two months, the population has manifested its opposition to the third mandate of President Nkurunziza, facing gunshots from Burundi police.
The victims of the State’s untold violence are many. According to the latest estimates, more than 20 people were killed, at least 500 were wounded, arbitrary detentions are on the rise and torture is proliferating. Not to mention that nearly 100’000 Burundians have taken refuge in neighbouring countries.
Human rights defenders are also paying a price in this repression: many have been threatened, tracked and forced to go into hiding. As for the independent media, the majority have had their offices ransacked and closed by law enforcement agents. Others have had to go into exile or temporarily cease their activities.
In the context where so much of the local media and human rights defenders have been muzzled and impeded from documenting the abuses, the risk that the violence could spread without the knowledge of the international community is immense.
The latter must therefore remain vigilant and ready to pressurize the State so that these grave human rights violations may cease and be prosecuted.
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DRC
Torture victim defended by TRIAL awarded temporary release
On a December day, early in the morning, three unknown men stormed into Mister E.’s apartment in Bukavu. Arrested on the spot and taken to the office of the national intelligence agency, he was systematically tortured for a month.
The charges held against him? A fabricated accusation of theft, for which there is absolutely no proof.
Although he complained many times about the torture inflicted on him, he was transferred in January 2015 to the central prison of Bukavu and held in detention under inhumane conditions. His request to be released was turned down in February 2015.
TRIAL and a lawyer from Bukavu brought Mister E.'s story before the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Relentlessly, the NGO asked for the victim's release, given the arbitrary nature of his dentention and the violation of his most fundamental rights.
A first step in the long path towards justice was achieved this month: Mister E. was finally granted temporary release and could at last reunite with his family. However, he now bears the devastating consequences of the torture suffered and needs to be treated by a doctor.
Although Mister E. is out of prison, the fight has not come to an end. TRIAL will continue assisting him until he receives full reparations and will keep pushing for his torturers to face trial.
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SWITZERLAND
Erwin Sperisen: sentenced again to life imprisonment
On 12 May, the Geneva judiciary convicted again Erwin Sperisen to life imprisonment. Accused of seven extrajudicial killings, the former Guatemala police chief was sentenced in Geneva for the first time a year ago by the Court of First Instance. This year, his sentence was confirmed in second instance by the judges, who found him guilty of ten extrajudicial executions.
For the Geneva authorities, there was no doubt that such executions were commonplace among the law enforcement agents in Guatemala. The Court thus dismissed allegations that Erwin Sperisen and his forces had clashed with the detainees of Pavón and Infiernito and upheld that the executions were planned.
The Court additionally ruled that Carlos Vielman, former Minister of the Interior, played a determining role in encouraging the development of parallel criminal structures within the Guatemala National Police. In charge of the penitentiary system and the National Police at the time, he will soon be judged in Spain for the same crimes.
For the Swiss NGOs that reported Erwin Sperisen’s acts, this verdict proves that it is possible to determine the involvement of State representatives in serious human rights violations and to hold them accountable. They hope that the sentencing of Erwin Sperisen will encourage Spain and Guatemalan authorities to continue the fight against impunity.
Discover the Sperisen case seen from Guatemala by watching these videos (in French and Spanish)
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NEPAL
«I feel like the earth is always moving where I am standing»
More than a month after a deadly earthquake hit Nepal, destruction and fear remain in the mind of most Nepalis. Thousands of survivors, among them many children, still camp out in open fields while the upcoming monsoon season gets closer, with more threats to stir.
While the government still struggles to build a central authority in charge of coordinating the reconstruction efforts, individuals and civil society organisations have taken the lead. Local communities are very active in providing immediate relief to those most affected, despite the bureaucratic hurdles.
The quake had significant impacts on TRIAL’s programme in Nepal and most of all on all its beneficiaries and partners. The NGO is therefore now in the process of closely assessing the situation on the ground, in order to be able to adapt its activities to the new reality of the country and its population.
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