Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Illegal arms transfers: Another similar case in 2004, by Fabrice de Pierrebourg
The coincidence is uncanny. During his research, RueFrontenac.com came across another story similar to that reported by Mirabel Indian newspaper The Hindu and Asian Tribune.
End September 2004, Indian authorities have blocked for several days on the tarmac at the airport in Ahmedabad Antonov AN-12 of the same company Vega loaded with explosives (one tonne of a powerful explosive type "plastic" C4) and ammunition, while it was calling to Nepal.
Local authorities have sought more information before allowing the re-launch of the Vega plane to Kathmandu. It must be said that a few months earlier, the Indians had already intercepted another plane loaded with nearly 5 500 weapons acquired by the Government of Nepal in Belgium this time.
A commotion of battle
The case of September 2004, decided to leave rather dubious, India has caused quite a stir with the local press echoed.
A ballet telephone had undertaken between Indian and U.S. diplomats, in addition to involve the secret services of all kinds.
The spokesperson of the Embassy of the United States in the Nepalese capital was then argued that this 'equipment' non-military ships from the United States as part of its "assistance program for training of Nepalese police" to assist in its "fight against terror".
According to reports released thereafter, the Bulgarian cargo plane converted into a flying bomb had departed from Baltimore, Maryland (!), Had stopped at Gander, in Canada, then Shannon (Ireland), Plovdiv (Bulgaria) Oman and finally Ahmedabad.
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Labels: Belgium, Fabrice de Pierrebourg, Nepal, Terrorism
Arms transfers via Mirabel by the Americans to circumvent a ban, by Fabrice de Pierrebourg
Under the era of George W. Bush, the government of the United States has used Mirabel airport to ship in the greater discretion of weapons and ammunition to the monarchical dictatorship in Nepal to help crush the Maoist rebellion blood.
The following story, revealed by RueFrontenac.com is unclear. Nebula as all cases occurring in the universe opaque and murky network of arms sales.
This is further evidence that deliveries of arms to conflict zones warmer, whether initiated by states or traffickers shamelessly follow tortuous paths to muddy the waters, away from the curious, bypass embargoes or international treaties.
The actors, voluntary or involuntary, of this story worthy of a screenplay adventures are three states, several Canadian federal agencies, police, intelligence service and a former airline Bulgarian considered villainous. So many actors who lock themselves in a circumstance of silence when asked for explanations or comments.
The facts, as they are still carried by RueFrontenac.com, occurred at least twice during the summer and fall 2005. The last confirmed expedition took place at the end of October 2005.
The track of these weapons goes back to Maryland in the warehouse of a company that specializes in the packaging of dangerous goods or weak prior to shipment by air, land or sea. Founded by a veteran of Vietnam, it is one customers different official bodies, including the Department of Defense, the State Department and intelligence agencies.
How many times the company in question has intervened for the shipment of arms to Nepal or elsewhere via Canada? Unsurprisingly, the spokesman for the company declined to answer our questions because, says she, the identity of his client. "I can not reveal such information is confidential," she said.
From Maryland to Mirabel
At the end of October 2005, the first part of this long journey to Nepal was carried by road.
First step: Mirabel Airport. Protected by a sealed diplomatic, this shipment of weapons and ammunition had traveled under heavy guard. After the border of St. Bernard de Lacolle, there would have been escorted by agents from the Border Services Agency of Canada. The agency has also refused to issue a comment on this.
The plan provided that the lethal cargo would then be loaded immediately into the hold of an Antonov cargo plane belonging to the Bulgarian company Vega Airlines Ltd. A company in the roadmap lackluster, as you will see later.
Except at the end of October 2005, a grain of sand has slipped into gear, disrupting this scenario a priori perfect. For some reason, probably a permissions problem in formal Transport Canada, the Vega aircraft could land at the appointed hour. As result, it has been stored for a certain period of time the weapons and ammunition to their arrival in the United States. This was not without posing a serious security problem.
Emergency meeting
All this has not gone unnoticed by some on the tarmac at Mirabel. For its part, Aeroports de Montreal (ADM) had already been informed officially of setbacks. The regional representatives of relevant government authorities, that is to say, Transport Canada, RCMP, SQ and CSIS were in turn briefed. The case seemed so suspicious that these partners met to discuss the case as strange that embarrassing "felt the CIA," whispered in the corridors.
This event occurs when the scandal secret flights by the CIA to transport prisoners to countries subcontractor torture gathered momentum in the world. No wonder some people have even tried Mirabel examine more closely the contents of boxes loaded aboard the Antonov Bulgarian.
It was too late. Vega had succeeded in obtaining the necessary permits and had flown his plane in the Laurentians sky to its final destination. A long journey with stops in Gander, Shannon and Sofia.
ADM confirmed RueFrontenac.com these shipments of arms to a "foreign country". But contrary to claims not to have been "involved in the operation, while some binding procedures - and kept confidential - for special flights would otherwise be due to set in motion, we were told.
Anyway, this little trick has ceased thereafter.
A fierce repression
The case is emphasized when considering the political situation in Nepal at that time. Note that the local security forces had launched a brutal crackdown against the rebels of the Maoist Communist Party of Nepal. Several advocacy organizations Human Rights had repeatedly denounced the atrocities committed over the past decade.
In a report released in June 2005, Amnesty International denounced the "thousands of cases of arbitrary arrests, unacknowledged detentions, torture and" disappearances "attributed to security forces." He added: "The crisis of human rights has worsened in Nepal since 1 February when King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev has taken control of the executive."
Since the early 2000s, the United States, India, Great Britain and even China were among the main suppliers of weapons and ammunition Nepalese security forces. Following the complete takeover by King Gyanendra, India and the United Kingdom have decided to suspend all military aid to the government. On September 13, 2005, the spokesman of the Embassy of the United States in Kathmandu said that the Americans had just notify the Government of Nepal "> their intention to enforce the embargo and to suspend any provision of equipment which could cause death (lethal) as the situation would not be back to normal.
This was not the case in light of events in Mirabel few weeks later.
Unanswered questions
Today, many questions remain. Why, for example, have chosen Canada to ship weapons, ammunition and explosives to Nepal? Is there not enough airports in the United States? How many times has this happened?
We have joined the U.S. State Department to obtain more clarification. The agency has declined, suggesting RueFrontenac.com contact the Department of Defense ... who spent his tour and returned the ball in the State Department.
• In May 2006, Amnesty International and the organization TransArms denounced in a joint report that chain of illegal U.S. arms supply to Nepal. A road "very tortuous via Canada and Europe," we can read.
• The Antonov AN-12 Vega has also been seen several times on the tarmac at several Canadian airports, including July 8, 2005 in Hamilton.
(In collaboration with Valérie Dufour)
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Labels: Canada, Fabrice de Pierrebourg, Nepal, Terrorism, United States
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Nepal: End Torture of Children in Police Custody, by Renata Daninsky
(New York, November 18, 2008) – The Nepali government should urgently address the widespread torture and ill-treatment of children in police custody, Human Rights Watch said today in a statement marking Nepali Children’s Day on November 20. So far in 2008, Human Rights Watch has received credible claims of more than 200 cases of torture or abuse committed by members of the Nepali police against boys and girls, some as young as 13.
“The Nepali police have a duty to protect children and to prevent crime,” said Bede Sheppard, Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch’s Children’s Rights Division. “Instead, by torturing children in custody they are committing crimes against those they are supposed to be protecting.”
According to a large number of consistent and reliable reports, including first-person testimony from children, the most common methods of torture police use on children include: kicking; fist blows to the body; inserting metal nails under children’s toenails; and hitting the soles of feet, thighs, upper arms, backs of hands, and the back with bamboo sticks and plastic pipes.
Most children abused by the police are suspected of committing petty crimes, or are children living or working on the streets.
“Sometimes, the torture is inflicted to extract confessions from the children,” Sheppard said. “While at other times it appears to be carried out purely for the entertainment of the official.”
Torture is prohibited under Nepal’s Constitution, but is not defined as a crime under the country’s civil code (Nepal’s criminal law is part of its civil code). The torture of children is, however, illegal under article 7 of the Children’s Act, though the maximum penalty is just one year’s imprisonment and a fine.
Human Rights Watch said that despite the widespread nature of abuses against children in police custody, no government official has ever been prosecuted for the torture of children under the Children’s Act.
“It’s unusual to find a country where torture has not at least been recognized as a crime in its basic criminal law,” Sheppard said. “Given the widespread and credible nature of the allegations of torture in police custody, and the fact that the Children’s Act allows the government to prosecute torturers of children, it is also surprising that not a single police officer has been prosecuted for this offense.”
Human Rights Watch also expressed concern about the conditions children face while in custody. Children are generally not separated from adults while in detention as required under international law, and thus face a greater risk of being assaulted by other prisoners. Children also lack access to adequate medical facilities and legal assistance, and some face long periods – sometimes many days – of arbitrary detention.
One first-person testimony obtained by Human Rights Watch came from a 15-year-old boy who was routinely abused over a period of four days by police officers from three different police stations in Sunsari District in January 2008. The boy, who was arrested on suspicion of being involved in a robbery, explained:
“As I denied their accusations, [two unidentified police personnel] started beating me with a green plastic pipe and a bamboo stick on my hands, legs, and all over my body. Then, they forced me to lie on the floor with my legs on the table and started beating me on my feet. While beating, they asked some questions such as ‘Who was involved in robbery?’ and ‘What are their names?’…. They tortured and interrogated me for about one hour.”
The next day, the same boy was transferred to a different police station, where he said he was again abused:
“Some five or six unidentified police personnel asked me the same questions as [I had been asked the] previous day. As soon as I stated that I was not involved in the robbery, they started beating me with a plastic pipe, a silver pipe, and a bamboo stick all over my body. They even punched and kicked me with their boots. After a while, they placed a pistol on my temple and threatened to shoot me dead in an encounter. Then, they forced me to admit my involvement in the robbery.... They forced me to lie on the floor and one police man put his legs with boots on my chest and another sat on my head and the next police officer started beating me on my feet, legs, and all over my body with sticks. Then, they forced me to jump up and down on the floor for seven to ten minutes and again started beating me. I was beaten and interrogated simultaneously [over a two-hour period].”
Forcing victims to jump up and down is a tactic often used in Nepal to get blood circulating with the intention of lessening the physical evidence of torture.
Human Rights Watch urged the Nepali government to mark Children’s Day by making a clear statement that police torture is absolutely prohibited, and that any police officer involved should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
“If the government takes children’s rights seriously, then it should use Children’s Day to condemn police torture of children and bring the perpetrators to justice,” Sheppard said. “Nepal’s government should commit that by next year’s Children’s Day, torture will be a criminal offence, punishable with a proportionate penalty.”
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Labels: Children, Human Rights Watch, Nepal, Renata Daninsky
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