See story below. The better question, however, is how on earth this alleged war criminal ever obtained residency status and eventually Canadian citizenship? What kid of investigations, if any, were conducted by the Canadian authorities before granting his applications? How did the system fail? So many questions, so few answers....This case is not unique, there hundreds of alleged, and even convicted, war criminals in Canada who manage to sty under the radar for years, and even after being detected, manage to fight extradition for many more years.
Witness: Canada should prosecute man facing Guatemala war crime allegations - The Washington Post
Witness: Canada should prosecute man facing Guatemala war crime allegations
By Associated Press, Published: November 28
CALGARY, Alberta — A Guatemalan immigrant whose entire family was murdered in a notorious massacre said Monday he wants Canada to prosecute an alleged war criminal and not let the man be extradited to the U.S.
Ramiro Cristales said Monday he witnessed Guatemalan soldiers kill nearly everyone in the village of Dos Erres during the country’s bloody civil war when he was 5 years old.
Jose Sosa, 53, who holds both Canadian and Guatemalan citizenship, was arrested in January in Canada on U.S. charges of lying on his citizenship application about his ties to the Guatemalan military.
In Guatemala, Sosa was a member of a special military unit called the “kaibiles” and was the commanding officer of a unit assigned to find and arrest guerrillas who had stolen military weapons, according to U.S. court documents.
The government claims in the indictment that on Dec. 7, 1982, he and several dozen soldiers stormed the village of Dos Erres, near Las Cruces, and systematically killed the men, women and children. The unit is accused of slaughtering villagers with sledgehammers and throwing people into a well. Sosa denies the allegations.
In the United States, Sosa is only charged with immigration violations in the U.S. — not carrying out the 1982 massacre. Activists in Canada are pressing their government to try him for crimes against humanity, noting the case has languished in Guatemalan courts.
“They took my father and my older brother to the school and my mother and younger brothers to the church,” Cristales recalled Monday through tears. “They were crying. Most of the people was praying.
“The next morning they started massacring the men and young kids from the school. When they finished with the men they started with the women from the church.”
Cristales is joining Lawyers Without Borders and the Canadian Centre for International Justice in asking the Canadian government to take a stand in the case, but so far have not received a response from the federal justice minister.
“I want him to stay here and he can pay for whatever he did in Guatemala,” Cristales said.
Matt Eisenbrandt, the legal co-ordinator for the Canadian Centre for International Justice, said the Canadian government has an obligation to do something.
“There are very strong laws in Canada that allow for the prosecution of crimes against humanity and war crimes even when they’re committed overseas,” he said. “This is a case that has a very close connection to Canada. There is a Canadian citizen who is a survivor and Mr. Sosa is himself a Canadian citizen.”
A Calgary judge ruled in September that there was sufficient evidence to approve the extradition request. Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has the final say on whether the extradition order goes ahead. Extradition case typically take years in Canada.
The civil war in Guatemala claimed at least 200,000 lives before it ended in 1996. The U.S.-backed army was responsible for most of the deaths, according to the findings of a truth commission set up to investigate the bloodshed.
The Guatemalan government opened an investigation into the killings in Dos Erres in 1994 and unearthed 162 skeletons. Authorities issued arrest warrants for 17 former kaibiles but for years the cases languished, prompting victims to seek justice abroad.
Showing posts with label Canada immigration extradition war criminal Guatemala US deportation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada immigration extradition war criminal Guatemala US deportation. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
ACCUSED WAR CRIMINAL ORDERED EXTRADITED
The better question in the article below is" How did he obtain Canadian citizenship?". Is Ottawa so incompetent that it grants citizenship without thorough background checks? How did he enter Canada? When? How did he obtain permanent residency? Who dropped the ball in this case? So many questions...so few answers. This seems ridiculous, in light of the fact that Canadian citizenship applicants are sometimes questioned at length about their residency and denied citizenship if they are even a few days short of the required 1095 days of residency. So how does an accused war criminal get the benefit?
Canadian judge orders accused Guatemalan war criminal extradited to U.S. - Winnipeg Free Press
The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION
Canadian judge orders accused Guatemalan war criminal extradited to U.S.
By: Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
Posted: 09/2/2011 1:32 PM Comments: 0 (including replies)g Last Modified: 09/2/2011 4:29 PM
CALGARY - A judge has ordered that an accused Guatemalan war criminal alleged to have killed villagers with a sledgehammer be extradited to the United States to face immigration charges.
Queen's Bench Justice Neil Wittmann ruled Friday that the burden of proof has been met to approve a request from the U.S. Justice Department to return Jorge Vinicio Orantes Sosa to stand trial.
Sosa was arrested earlier this year in Lethbridge, Alta., and is accused of lying to American immigration authorities when he applied for U.S. citizenship about whether he had committed a crime or been a member of a military organization.
The 53-year-old, who is a Canadian citizen as well, is also wanted by Guatemalan authorities for his alleged involvement in attacks on the village of Dos Erres in which 222 men, women and children were massacred in 1982.
Wittmann said he felt the Crown had provided evidence that Sosa committed perjury when he said he hadn't been in the military.
"The evidence from the massacre at Dos Erres clearly establishes that Sosa was present and involved and actively participated in the killings with a sledgehammer, a firearm and a grenade," Wittmann said.
"It is hard for this court to comprehend these murderous acts of depraved cruelty."
Sosa showed no reaction when the ruling was read. He earlier smiled and waved to family members who were sitting in the front row.
Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has the final say on whether the extradition order goes ahead.
Sosa has 30 days to appeal.
Lawyer Cynthia Dickins laid out in detail the legal case on behalf of the U.S. Justice Department at Sosa's extradition hearing in Calgary earlier this week.
Dickins said there was evidence that Sosa was a sub-lieutenant at the Kaibil School, which trained special commando units in Guatemala in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The hearing was told he was one of the commanders of a 60-man unit that surrounded Dos Erres in December 1982. The group believed the village was under rebel control and that villagers were responsible for an ambush on a military patrol and the theft of 20 rifles.
"They went from house to house separating the men from the women and children,'' said Dickins, who was quoting a statement from one of three confidential witnesses who were members of the commando unit.
The villagers were brought to a well, blindfolded and interrogated, the hearing was told. No weapons were found.
"The decision was made to kill all the villagers. I witnessed the man known as Sosa hit villagers on the head with a sledgehammer, including one as young as 13,'' read Dickins from the witness statement. "One man was alive in the well. (Sosa) fired his rifle into the well and then threw a grenade down as well.''
Infants and small children were killed first, Dickins said. Women and young girls were raped before being slain.
Sosa's lawyer, Alain Hepner, acknowledged the atrocities committed in Guatemala formed a backdrop for the hearing, but argued the key was to determine if Sosa committed perjury.
After the decision, he said he had prepared his client for worst.
"I spoke to him and the family before the hearing and braced them for the outcome," he said.
"It's like a preliminary inquiry. The Crown has to show that there's some evidence to reflect that an offence has been committed and there was some evidence and the judge so ruled."
Hepner suggested the questions asked by U.S. immigration officials were ambiguous and there is no proof Sosa committed any crimes.
The small courtroom was filled with onlookers including Wagner Avila, who is hoping to see Sosa eventually sent back to Guatemala.
"My family is back there and we're a small community," he said.
"We just need it for our people. I think it's a step forward just because of our heritage and what went on in that era. It will be a step forward for us."
The Canadian Centre for International Justice and Lawyers Without Borders Canada were hoping the judge would refuse the extradition request so Sosa could be tried under war crimes legislation in Canada. They feel that trying Sosa on immigration charges fails to send a message that people who commit such atrocities will be held accountable.
Canadian judge orders accused Guatemalan war criminal extradited to U.S. - Winnipeg Free Press
The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION
Canadian judge orders accused Guatemalan war criminal extradited to U.S.
By: Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
Posted: 09/2/2011 1:32 PM Comments: 0 (including replies)g Last Modified: 09/2/2011 4:29 PM
CALGARY - A judge has ordered that an accused Guatemalan war criminal alleged to have killed villagers with a sledgehammer be extradited to the United States to face immigration charges.
Queen's Bench Justice Neil Wittmann ruled Friday that the burden of proof has been met to approve a request from the U.S. Justice Department to return Jorge Vinicio Orantes Sosa to stand trial.
Sosa was arrested earlier this year in Lethbridge, Alta., and is accused of lying to American immigration authorities when he applied for U.S. citizenship about whether he had committed a crime or been a member of a military organization.
The 53-year-old, who is a Canadian citizen as well, is also wanted by Guatemalan authorities for his alleged involvement in attacks on the village of Dos Erres in which 222 men, women and children were massacred in 1982.
Wittmann said he felt the Crown had provided evidence that Sosa committed perjury when he said he hadn't been in the military.
"The evidence from the massacre at Dos Erres clearly establishes that Sosa was present and involved and actively participated in the killings with a sledgehammer, a firearm and a grenade," Wittmann said.
"It is hard for this court to comprehend these murderous acts of depraved cruelty."
Sosa showed no reaction when the ruling was read. He earlier smiled and waved to family members who were sitting in the front row.
Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has the final say on whether the extradition order goes ahead.
Sosa has 30 days to appeal.
Lawyer Cynthia Dickins laid out in detail the legal case on behalf of the U.S. Justice Department at Sosa's extradition hearing in Calgary earlier this week.
Dickins said there was evidence that Sosa was a sub-lieutenant at the Kaibil School, which trained special commando units in Guatemala in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The hearing was told he was one of the commanders of a 60-man unit that surrounded Dos Erres in December 1982. The group believed the village was under rebel control and that villagers were responsible for an ambush on a military patrol and the theft of 20 rifles.
"They went from house to house separating the men from the women and children,'' said Dickins, who was quoting a statement from one of three confidential witnesses who were members of the commando unit.
The villagers were brought to a well, blindfolded and interrogated, the hearing was told. No weapons were found.
"The decision was made to kill all the villagers. I witnessed the man known as Sosa hit villagers on the head with a sledgehammer, including one as young as 13,'' read Dickins from the witness statement. "One man was alive in the well. (Sosa) fired his rifle into the well and then threw a grenade down as well.''
Infants and small children were killed first, Dickins said. Women and young girls were raped before being slain.
Sosa's lawyer, Alain Hepner, acknowledged the atrocities committed in Guatemala formed a backdrop for the hearing, but argued the key was to determine if Sosa committed perjury.
After the decision, he said he had prepared his client for worst.
"I spoke to him and the family before the hearing and braced them for the outcome," he said.
"It's like a preliminary inquiry. The Crown has to show that there's some evidence to reflect that an offence has been committed and there was some evidence and the judge so ruled."
Hepner suggested the questions asked by U.S. immigration officials were ambiguous and there is no proof Sosa committed any crimes.
The small courtroom was filled with onlookers including Wagner Avila, who is hoping to see Sosa eventually sent back to Guatemala.
"My family is back there and we're a small community," he said.
"We just need it for our people. I think it's a step forward just because of our heritage and what went on in that era. It will be a step forward for us."
The Canadian Centre for International Justice and Lawyers Without Borders Canada were hoping the judge would refuse the extradition request so Sosa could be tried under war crimes legislation in Canada. They feel that trying Sosa on immigration charges fails to send a message that people who commit such atrocities will be held accountable.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
