About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 Hum. Rts. Brief 1 (1994)

handle is hein.journals/huribri1 and id is 1 raw text is: HUMAN RI6HTS The Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law B R I E Wa\;Ihigion ikJg t~aw *The Anjeir( i(Ytni v~'ii Suriname Faces Past Human Rights Violations by Claudia Martin and Franfoise Roth s in most Latin American countries, the newly elected Surinamese government is con- fronted with past human rights viola- tions perpetrated under the previous military regime., While, to date, it has failed to bring human rights abusers to justice, Suriname was recently the subject of a decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (the Court). The Aloeboetoe et al. case, rendered on September 10, 1993, determined the compensation to be paid to the sur- vivors of seven Saramaca Maroon men killed by the military in 1987. The troubled political situation experienced by this former Dutch colony following its independence in 1975 ended, in May 1991, with the inauguration of a democratically elect- ed President. The election took place five months after a December 1990 army putsch overthrew what was the first democratically elected govern- ment in the South American republic since 1980. Nevertheless, as recently reported by the U.S. State Department, the Government took no action to investigate past human rights viola- tions. See pages 6-7 for Point/Counterpoint on the War Crimes Tribunal During the last years of Dersie Bouterse's dictatorship, former army sergeant Ronny Brunswijk launched an uprising in the eastern and southeast- ern provinces to overthrow the military government. His guerilla group, known as the Jungle Commando, was com- prised mostly of Maroons (descendants of escaped African slaves who fled into the interior between the 16th and 18th centuries to avoid recapture). In the final years of conflict at least 200 peo- ple, mostly civilians, were killed, over 10,000 refugees were driven into neigh- boring French Guiana, and the med- ical and educational infrastructure of the region were destroyed. The events that gave rise to the Aloeboetoe et al. case took place on December 31, 1987 during this period of turmoil when a group of soldiers attacked unarmed civilian Maroons in a counterinsurgency operation in Atjoni in the north of Suriname. Seven of the Maroons were dragged, blind- folded and driven off in a military vehi- cle on suspicion of belonging to the jungle Commando. A few kilometers continued on page 10 Vohuine 1c NI~ e Xt 1 I S;pr ill 19) Commission Evaluates Administration of Justice in Peru by Antonio Maldonado and Diego Rodrique he United States and Peru recently reached an unprece- dented agreement permitting an independent commission of human rights experts to examine the adminis- tration ofjustice in Peru following the April 5, 1992, auto-coup by Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori. In an effort to concentrate power in the executive branch, Fujimori dismissed the Peruvian congress, the majority of judges and public prosecutors, and the Tribunal de Garantias Constitucionales (Tribunal of Constitutional Guarantees). The United States responded to the coup d'etat by freezing most U.S. aid to Peru. The agreement worked out by key congressional leaders and the Clinton administration calls for the restoration of aid to Peru if, inter alia, it implements the commission recommendations. This has never been done before, says American University professor Robert Goldman, who was selected to chair the commission. Other people in Congress are looking at the commission continued on page 9 F 1

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most