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Business Standard
18 hours ago
- General
- Business Standard
Salvador court convicts 3 ex-army officers in 1982 killing of 4 journalists
Three former Salvadoran officers were convicted by a five-person jury late Tuesday for the 1982 killings of four Dutch journalists during the Central American nation's civil war. A jury made up of five women convicted the three men of murder in a lightning trial that began Tuesday morning in the northern city of Chalatenango, said Oscar Perez, lawyer for the Foundation Comunicandonos that represented the victims. Perez said prosecutors requested 15-year prison sentences for all three. Convicted were former Defence Minister Gen. Jose Guillermo Garcia, 91, former treasury police director Col. Francisco Moran, 93, and Col. Mario Adalberto Reyes Mena, 85, who was the former army commander of the Fourth Infantry Brigade in Chalatenango. Garcia and Moran are under police guard at a private hospital in San Salvador, while Reyes Mena lives in the United States. In March, El Salvador's Supreme Court ordered that the extradition process be started to bring him back. The Dutch TV journalists Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemson had linked up with leftist rebels and planned to spend several days behind rebel lines reporting. But Salvadoran soldiers armed with assault rifles and machine guns ambushed them and the guerrillas. Garcia was deported from the US in 2016, after a US judge declared him responsible for serious human rights violations during the early years of the war between the military and the leftist Farabundo Mart National Liberation Front guerrillas. The prosecution of the men was reopened in 2018 after the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a general amnesty passed following the 1980-1992 war. It moved slowly, but in March 2022, relatives of the victims and representatives of the Dutch government and European Union demanded that those responsible for killing Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemson be tried. The United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador, which was set up as part of a UN-brokered peace agreement in 1992, concluded there was clear evidence that the killings were the result of an ambush set up by Reyes Mena with the knowledge of other officials, based on an intelligence report that alerted of the journalists' presence. Other members of the military, including Gen. Rafael Flores Lima and Sgt. Mario Canizales Espinoza were also accused of involvement, but died. Canizales allegedly led the patrol that carried out the massacre of the journalists. Juan Carlos Sanchez, of the nongovernmental organisation Mesa Contra la Impunidad, in comments to journalists, called the trial a transcendental step that the victims have waited 40 years for. An estimated 75,000 civilians were killed during El Salvador's civil war, mostly by US-backed government security forces. The trial was closed to the public.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Killer gangs are inches from ruling all of Haiti
The collapse of Haiti's government in April last year was a challenge but also an opportunity. An interim government called the Transitional Presidential Council was installed. A UN-brokered, Kenyan-led security mission arrived soon after. But a year later things are worse than ever. 'We are approaching a point of no return,' María Isabel Salvador, the UN's top official in Haiti, told its Security Council at a meeting on April 21st. Tasked with preparing for elections that in theory will be held in November, the council is now mired in allegations of corruption. The security force of around 1,000 people (less than half the number originally planned) has not been able to stem the chaos. Its funding runs out in September. The council is a 'transitional authority that controls nothing', says Claude Joseph, a former prime minister. 'It's an unsustainable catastrophe. We could lose Port-au-Prince at any time.' Port-au-Prince, the capital, now sees daily gun battles in which police and civilian vigilantes face off against a gang coalition called Viv Ansanm ('Living Together'). It has seized control of much of the city. The international airport has been all but shut down; the only way in or out is by helicopter, or by a barge that skirts the coast to bypass gang territory to the south. On May 2nd the United States designated Viv Ansanm and a sister organisation as terrorist groups, opening the door to tougher criminal penalties for those who provide them with money and weapons. The collapse of public life is accelerating. Most schools are shut. Cholera is spreading. The Marriott, one of the last functioning hotels, has closed its doors. Gangs have surrounded the offices of Digicel, Haiti's main cellular network, through which most people connect to the internet. 'If Digicel goes down, the country goes dark,' warns a security expert. The gangs don't need it. Increasingly sophisticated, they use Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system to communicate, organising themselves to the extent that they have been able to keep control over access to Haiti's ports. They also extort lorry drivers and bus operators moving along many of the country's main roads. The UN reports that in February and March more than 1,000 people were killed and 60,000 displaced, adding to the 1m, nearly 10% of the population, who have fled their homes in the past two years. Circulating videos show gang members playing football with severed heads, bragging: 'We got the dogs.' Central Haiti, once relatively peaceful, is fragmenting into fiefs. Mirebalais, a city which lies between Port-au-Prince and the border with the Dominican Republic, is now controlled by gangs. 'The country has become a criminal enterprise. It's the wild, wild West,' says a foreign official. Patience is running thin at the UN Security Council. The United States has already committed $600m to the security mission, but is unlikely to offer more. 'America cannot continue shouldering such a significant financial burden,' said Dorothy Shea, the US ambassador to the UN. Few other countries want to donate. The Transitional Presidential Council is so desperate that it is exploring deals with private military contractors. It has been talking to Osprey Global Solutions, a firm based in North Carolina. The founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince, visited Haiti in April to negotiate contracts to provide attack drones and training for an anti-gang task force. The council declined to comment. The Haitian police are overwhelmed; an estimated 12,000 officers police a population that approaches 12m, barely half the UN-recommended ratio. Weak leadership, poor co-ordination with the Kenyan-led force, and calls for the ousting of the police chief point to deep institutional rot. In Canapé-Vert, one of Port-au-Prince's last gang-free pockets, a former policeman known as 'Commander Samuel' leads a vigilante group called Du Sang 9 ('New Blood' in Creole). Gangs have thinned its numbers. It is all that stands between them and the prime minister's office. Clarification (June 3rd 2025): Paragraph eight of this article has been amended to make clear that the council exploring deals is the Transitional Presidential Council. Sign up to El Boletín, our subscriber-only newsletter on Latin America, to understand the forces shaping a fascinating and complex region. Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines to 100 year archives.
Morocco World
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
New Report Urges US Attention to Polisario Terror Threats Against Americans, Regional Security
Rabat – The Polisario Front and its supporter and sponsor, Algeria, are facing more pressure for their involvement in destabilizing the region, especially in light of the group's terror attacks against Americans. The Daily Signal issued a comprehensive piece, in which it detailed that Republican Congressman Joe Wilson recently vowed to introduce legislation to designate the Algeria-based separatist group as a terrorist organization. Criticizing the US administration for its ignorance of Polisario's threats, the report recalled how Polisario missiles struck two aircraft owned by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1988. The attack killed five Americans. 'And the U.S. failed to respond with sanctions,' Robert Greenway and Amine Ghoulidi, the authors of the report, remarked, noting that now Wilson's proposed legislation forces Washington to finally recognize the Polisario Front as the proxy threat it has become. Notably, the report mentioned Polisario's war threats, and its unilateral decision to withdraw from the UN-brokered ceasefire of 1991 in 2020, when Morocco peacefully ended weeks of blockade that hampered a trade route launched by the Polisario separatists. 'Polisario's threats rest on a foundation of Algerian sanctuary plus three mutually reinforcing pillars: Iranian military assistance, a growing Russian influence network, and a mature trans-Sahel illicit economy that overlaps with jihadist financing streams,' the report said. Algeria, a dangerous safe haven for terror The report further zoomed in on Algeria's role in the Western Sahara dispute and its direct aid to the separatist group, both logistically and financially, as the North African country harbors the terrorist organization on its soil, providing them with multi-billion-dollar financial and arms support within the Tindouf camps. 'This safe haven allows the group to stockpile ordnance, experiment with new systems, and cultivate external sponsors at minimal risk,' the report stressed. In 2018, Morocco cut ties with Iran, accusing its proxy of training and providing military logistics and support for the Polisario Front. Iran denied this collusion, but Morocco stressed that it has provided a detailed report, with evidence, showcasing this collusion that could never happen without the Algerian regime's support. Notably, several reports resurfaced, doubling down on evidence showing Algeria's interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Algeria's global interference This interference does not stop with Morocco, as Algeria's regime has also interfered in the domestic affairs of Syria under Bashar al-Assad's rule. In April, the Washington Post highlighted the deeper collaboration between Algiers and Iran-backed Hezbollah, in which it was using the Polisario Front to undermine not only Morocco's territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces but also meddle in Syria's domestic affairs. The news outlet quoted sources who confirmed that Hezbollah trained Polisario separatists to advance its interests. 'Over the years, Iran has fostered a wide array of proxy groups to advance its interests,' the report said, quoting a regional official and a third European official who said Iran trained fighters from the 'Algeria-based Polisario Front' that are now detained by Syria's new security forces. This is not the first report that documented Polisario's incursion in Syria. In December 2024, a highly confidential document that reportedly was an official correspondence from the former Syrian government shows that Polisario sent militants to undergo military training with the Syrian Arab army. The document, which dates back to January 2012, shows a series of communications between Algeria's Ministry of Defense, Syria's Ministry of Defense, and Polisario's leadership. Wilson's remarks and the new report by the Daily Signal are part of a growing outcry calling on the US and other countries to declare the Polisario a terrorist group. Liam Fox, former Secretary of State for Defense in the UK, also joined the chorus of politicians who emphasize the importance of labeling Polisario as a terrorist group. 'Like Hamas and Hezbollah, the Polisario Front is an Iranian proxy organisation. For the sake of our Moroccan allies, Western governments must move quickly to designate this group as a terrorist organisation,' Fox wrote on X. Ireland's first independently elected senator, Gerard Craughwell, made the same appeal on his X, in which he also described Morocco as a 'beautiful, peaceful country.'
Shafaq News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Tripoli erupts: Clashes intensify as civilians call for safe corridors
Shafaq News/ Armed clashes escalated on Wednesday in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, between forces affiliated with the Government of National Unity and rival units from the Special Deterrence Force. Fighting broke out in several neighborhoods, including Janzur, Al-Riqata, and Garyan. Civilians, including children and patients in need of medical care, issued urgent appeals for the establishment of humanitarian corridors. A source from the Ministry of Defense in the unity government pointed out that a gradual truce had begun to take hold in certain areas in an effort to ease the security situation. According to the Libyan Ambulance and Emergency Service, the ongoing clashes have severely disrupted evacuation and medical response efforts. Officials reported receiving multiple distress calls from trapped civilians but said many areas remained inaccessible due to the intensity of the fighting. EgyptAir canceled its scheduled flight from Cairo to Tripoli's Mitiga International Airport, citing instability in the capital. It is the first airline to suspend service since the current round of violence began. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) condemned the clashes and the continued mobilization of armed groups, calling on all parties to uphold international humanitarian law, protect civilians, and pursue dialogue aimed at resolving disputes peacefully. The escalation follows the May 12 assassination of Abdel Ghani al-Kikli, known as 'Ghnewa,' head of the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA). His killing—reportedly by forces linked to Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbaiba—triggered some of the heaviest fighting Tripoli has seen in years. Dbaiba-aligned units responded by dismantling SSA positions, taking control of key areas, and arresting dozens of fighters. Libya has remained mired in conflict since the 2011 uprising that ended the rule of Muammar Gaddafi. The power vacuum that followed led to the rise of competing governments and armed factions. In 2014, the country effectively split between rival administrations in the east and west, each backed by local militias and foreign actors. Despite a UN-brokered ceasefire in 2020, political divisions persist. The internationally recognized Government of National Unity is based in Tripoli, while a parallel administration continues to operate from the east.
Economist
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Economist
Killer gangs are inches from ruling all of Haiti
The collapse of Haiti's government in April last year was a challenge but also an opportunity. An interim government called the Transitional Presidential Council was installed. A UN-brokered Kenyan-led security mission arrived soon after. But a year later things are worse than ever. 'We are approaching a point of no return,' María Isabel Salvador, the UN's top official in Haiti, told its Security Council at a meeting on April 21st.
