On the Site
The Price of Silence
Report Finds News Censorship, Abuse of Public Money, across Latin America
Rampant government interference with press freedom threatens editorial independence and access to unbiased news in seven Latin American countries, according to a groundbreaking new report, The Price of Silence: The Growing Threat of Soft Censorship in Latin America. The study catalogues abuses in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Peru, and Uruguay, including the widespread use of public funds to reward or punish news coverage.
Authorities in Latin America have long used violence, legal harassment, and intimidation to silence outspoken journalists. The report uncovers a less obvious but growing trend of officials using financial incentives and regulatory powers to control the press.
The Price of Silence documents various types of interference, including evidence of direct government payments to journalists in Colombia and Peru; local authorities in Chile dictating what journalists can write about; and a high-ranking official in Costa Rica attempting to use advertising contracts to influence the outcome of a protracted political battle.
Click here to read more and download the full text or the executive summary, available in English or Spanish.
Report Assesses Impact of Yugoslavia Tribunal
A groundbreaking new report published by the Open Society Justice Initiative examines the impact in Serbia of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Shrinking the Space for Denial: The Impact of the ICTY in Serbia is the most comprehensive analysis to date of the court's impact in a country directly affected by its work.
The 134-page report provides a detailed look at the ICTY's role and challenges in:
• Dispelling the impunity of Serbians accused of playing a key role in atrocities committed in the Balkan wars of the 1990s;
• Contributing to Serbian society's progress in acknowledging and condemning Serbian leaders' and institutions' role in those atrocities; and
• Strengthening the rule of law in Serbia.
The report, by Diane Orentlicher, professor of international law at American University's Washington College of Law and special counsel to the Justice Initiative, is being published in conjunction with the fifteenth anniversary of the ICTY's founding.
The report is based on interviews with scores of key figures from the ICTY and knowledgeable sources in Serbia, as well as an extensive review of the court's history and jurisprudence.
Click here to read or download Shrinking the Space for Denial: The Impact of the ICTY in Serbia.
Recent Activities
German Employment Case Focuses on Religious and Ethnic Discrimination
In July, the Open Society Justice Initiative challenged religious and ethnic discrimination in a brief the organization filed in an employment case in Hamburg, Germany.
The case concerns a Christian charity, Diakonisches Werk Hamburg (DWK), which refused to hire a non-Christian woman unless she converted to Christianity. The applicant, a German citizen of Turkish ethnic origin, does not observe or practice any religion and refused to convert. The woman was applying for a non-religious position counseling immigrants, as part of a secular advice service that DWK provides on behalf of the German state. DWK acknowledges that the applicant met all substantive requirements for the job. Under German and European Union antidiscrimination law, religious institutions may treat individuals differently on the basis of religion only when religious faith is a genuine occupational requirement for a job, such as that of a pastor or a religious teacher. But this exception clearly does not apply in the DWK case, the Justice Initiative asserted in its filing. Click here to read the Justice Initiative’s brief, available in English or German.
Justice Initiative Calls for Investigation of Torture Allegations in Kazakhstan
The Open Society Justice Initiative in June called for a government investigation into recent allegations of torture and ill-treatment in Kazakhstan. The victim, Denis Polienko, alleges that he was illegally detained by police and tortured into confessing to the murder of his neighbor. According to Polienko, he was severely beaten, suffocated with a plastic bag, and threatened with rape and harm to his wife. As a result, he sustained facial fractures, damage to his eyesight, and now suffers post-traumatic stress disorder.
According to statements submitted by Polienko, he was seized by police on Nov. 21, 2006 and held for more than 36 hours at the Schuchinsk Department of Internal Affairs, where he was tortured into confessing to murder. His confession was then used as evidence of his guilt in a criminal trial. Although a court halted the trial—citing “gaps in the investigation”—and returned the case to prosecutors for additional investigation, Polienko still faces charges. Click here to read more about the case.
Rights Groups Demand Investigation of CIA's Extraordinary Rendition Program
The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Open Society Justice Initiative, met in Berlin in June with lawyers from Germany, Macedonia, and the United Kingdom to discuss the latest developments in the CIA rendition case of German citizen Khaled El Masri.
El Masri was seized by Macedonian authorities on December 31, 2003. He was detained incommunicado for 23 days, then handed over by the Macedonians to CIA agents who videotaped, blindfolded, and injected him with drugs, then flew him in chains to Kabul, Afghanistan. In Kabul he was tortured in a prison that his lawyers believe was the infamous CIA-run "Salt Pit" detention center. The CIA soon realized they were holding an innocent man, yet El Masri was held for more than four months before being released without charge. On May 28th, 2004, El Masri was flown by the CIA to Albania and dumped on an isolated roadside in the middle of the night. Albanian authorities thereafter placed him on a return flight to Germany. At the meeting, participating attorneys presented further legal actions already filed or being prepared in the USA, Macedonia and Albania. In addition to the lawsuit against Germany filed today, these include a petition against the United States at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an upcoming criminal complaint in Macedonia, and freedom of information requests in Albania and Macedonia. Click here to learn more.
Latest Khmer Rouge Tribunal Report Covers New Crime Site and Progress on the Five Cases
The Open Society Justice Initiative released in May its latest report on current challenges and progress at the Extraordinary Chambers in Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the court established to try surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge. The 25-page report provides an overview of recent developments in the cases of all five defendants now in the court’s custody: Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, Kaing Guek Eav, and Ieng Thirith. The report also looks at developments outside the courtroom, including the appointment of a UN expert advisor to help revise the court’s budget and streamline administrative operations of the UN’s side of the court. The report is available here.
New Book Examines the Global Cost of Pretrial Detention and Efforts to Reform and Reduce the Practice Worldwide
The Open Society Justice Initiative in April released a new publication examining pretrial detention—the practice of jailing criminal suspects, sometimes for years, before trial—and efforts to reform its use. Justice Initiatives: Pretrial Detention examines the global costs of the practice, as well as efforts to reduce its use. The excessive and irrational use of pretrial detention wastes public resources, undermines the rule of law, disrupts families and communities, and endangers public health. By definition, pretrial detention only affects people who have not yet been judged and are presumed innocent. In 2006, an estimated 7.4 million people around the world were held in pretrial detention, yet it remains an overlooked area of criminal justice. Abuses are common: conditions are often worse for pretrial detainees than for sentenced prisoners and torture more widespread. Fortunately, innovative approaches to reform, documented in the publication, are beginning to emerge. Click here to download or order a copy of the book.
New Report from Turkey Finds Accused Lack Legal Representation
Only ten percent of criminal defendants in Istanbul are represented by a lawyer, according to a report released by the Justice Initiative and Istanbul Bilgi University in April. The report, Alone in the Courtroom: Accessibility and Impact of Criminal Legal Aid before Istanbul Courts, presents astonishing results of an empirical study of legal aid in Istanbul, including:
• Although legal aid is free, less than two percent of defendants made use of it during their trials.
• Approximately 75% of defendants who were sentenced to prison were never represented by a lawyer.
• In only 7.3% of cases were lawyers present during police interrogations of suspects.
The study, which examined more than 600 case files opened in 2000-2001 and closed before 2005 and observed 173 court hearings in Istanbul courts, is available here.
Justice Initiative Commends Ruling on Prisoners’ Rights in Kazakhstan; Calls for Investigation of Torture
The Justice Initiative in March welcomed a ruling by Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council overturning a legal provision limiting the rights of prisoners who protested against widespread torture in prison. However, the group called on Kazakhstan's authorities to ensure a thorough investigation of complaints of widespread torture. The law criminalized self-mutilation as disruptive of prison operations. Two dozen inmates had been charged with violating it after nearly 100 cut themselves to protest torture and officials' failure to address their complaints. The Justice Initiative called on Kazakhstan's government to investigate fully the prisoners' claims of torture and demonstrate that it is improving its systems for preventing, investigating, and punishing torture. Click here to learn more about the case and read the Justice Initiative’s brief.
Justice Initiative Finds Racial Discrimination in Dutch Database
In March, the Justice Initiative urged the Dutch government to end its discriminatory gathering and processing of sensitive racial and ethnic data. The government-compiled database, known as the "Reference Index of Antilleans," violates both European and international legal norms, according to the Justice Initiative. The Justice Initiative's brief argues that the use of ethnic or racial data linked to a risk profile is a form of unlawful ethnic profiling amounting to racial discrimination. Click here to learn more about the case and read the brief.
Justice Initiative Highlights Progress, Promise in Mauritania
The progress and potential of Mauritania’s year-old, democratically-elected government was examined at a March 2008 colloquium organized by the Justice Initiative. The event, which featured Mauritania’s ambassador to the United States, a Mauritanian refugee, and anti-slavery activists, explored a new law criminalizing slavery, as well as efforts to repatriate thousands of black Mauritanians who were expelled in 1989. Audio highlights from the event, as well as excerpts from “Faces of Change,” a documentary about slavery in Mauritania, are available here.
Lawsuit Seeks Greater Freedom of Expression in Sierra Leone
In March, journalists in Sierra Leone challenged laws that criminalize free speech and authorize prison terms of up to seven years for those who criticize the government. Sierra Leone's criminal libel and false news laws allow prison sentences for expression that "excite(s) disaffection" against the government or "injure(s) the reputation" of the government or individual officials. The Justice Initiative, in partnership with West African groups, provided assistance with the suit. A brief filed in the case describes the repressive effect of the laws, which can provide severe criminal penalties even for true statements and entirely peaceful expression. Click here to read more or download the brief.
New Khmer Rouge Tribunal Report Gives Updates on Five Cases, Budget Needs, More
A new report on the Extraordinary Chambers in Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) covers several major events from January and February of 2008, including:
• The beginning of civil parties' participation in the ECCC;
• The announcement of a revised budget for the court, seeking an additional $113.7 million, amid reports that the Cambodian side of the court could exhaust its budget in a matter of months; and
• The participation of investigating judges in community outreach meetings held in Pailin, the former Khmer Rouge stronghold.
The 18-page report examines recent developments in the cases of all five defendants now in the court's custody and also looks at action outside the courtroom, including expansion of the Victims Unit, which will help victims become involved in the trials. Click here to read or download the report.
Rights Groups Applaud Torture Ruling
In February 2008, the European Court of Human Rights reaffirmed the ban on deporting people to countries where they are at risk of being tortured. In Saadi v. Italy, the court ruled unanimously that no circumstances, including the threat of terrorism, can justify exposing an individual to the genuine risk of torture or ill-treatment. The Justice Initiative joined with 10 other human rights and anti-torture groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in hailing the ruling. Click here for the groups' press release or the full text of the court's judgment.
Justice Initiative Hails German Court Judgment on Religious Discrimination
In February, the Justice Initiative welcomed a judgment from Germany's Hamburg Labor Court that a Christian organization engaged in discrimination when it refused to hire a non-Christian. The case concerned a Christian charity, Diakonisches Werk Hamburg (DWK), which refused to hire a non-Christian. While DWK acknowledged that the applicant met all substantive requirements for the position, which had no religious component, DWK required the applicant to convert to Christianity before it would consider her eligible for the position. The Justice Initiative supported the plaintiff's German lawyer and will submit a brief on the plaintiff's behalf if, as expected, DWK appeals the Hamburg Labor Court judgment. Click here for more.
Rights Groups Denounce Greek Prosecutor’s Racist Statement
Human rights groups in February 2008 denounced as racist a statement by Greece's top prosecutor suggesting that certain ethnic groups are involved in crime. The Open Society Justice Initiative and Greek Helsinki Monitor reacted to a statement made by Supreme Court Prosecutor George Sanidas in December 2007. Sanidas, in describing crime in a section of Athens, singled out as perpetrators "foreign women of African and non-African origin" and "athinganoi." The latter term is a pejorative reference to Roma. Sanidas has not amended or retracted his statement in the weeks since he made it. Click here to read more.
Website Tracks Resumption of Taylor Trial
After a six month delay, the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor resumed in January 2008—as did coverage by the trial monitoring website, www.CharlesTaylorTrial.org. The website provides daily updates from the courtroom, as well as expert analysis and background information regarding Taylor’s trial on war crimes and crimes against humanity. With the trial taking place in The Hague, the website—established by the Justice Initiative, the International Senior Lawyers Project, and the law firm Clifford Chance—is intended to be especially valuable for audiences in West Africa. Click here to go to www.CharlesTaylorTrial.org.
