Guantánamo Bay, Cuba
Wrongfully held detainees: Over the past three months, courts or military tribunals have declared at least 24 Guantánamo Bay detainees to have been wrongfully held. In a typical case, a military panel last week ruled that Haji Bismullah, an Afghan, “should no longer be deemed an enemy combatant.” Bismullah actually fought against the Taliban, but he was denounced to American forces by enemies and languished in Guantánamo for six years before being sent home last week. “The government’s failure in case after case after case to be able to prove its case calls into question everybody who is there,” said Susan Baker Manning, a lawyer for some detainees. President Obama has vowed to close the detention camp as soon as possible.
Mexico City
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Improper execution: Mexican officials this week welcomed an International Court of Justice ruling that Texas improperly executed a Mexican man last year. The court, based in the Netherlands, said the U.S. is required by a 2004 ICJ ruling to review the cases of 51 death row inmates, all Mexican citizens, who were not given access to consular officials after their arrests. At the time of that ruling, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the ICJ had “no standing in Texas.” Perry allowed the execution of José Ernesto Medellin last August. Mexico, which outlawed the death penalty in 2005, called on the Obama administration to ensure that the U.S. honors the decisions of the ICJ.
Managua, Nicaragua
Ex-president freed: The Nicaraguan Supreme Court last week overturned the money laundering conviction of former Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Alemán. Independent Nicaraguan political commentators suggested the ruling represented a payoff to Alemán from current President Daniel Ortega, of the Sandinista party. Alemán is presumed by many to have pledged his party’s support for a constitutional amendment allowing Ortega to run for re-election when his term ends in 2012. Alemán served four years of a 20-year sentence for stealing nearly $100 million in government funds. “This is another mockery of the Nicaraguan justice system,” said former Attorney General Alberto Novoa.
São Paulo, Brazil
Church collapses: At least nine people were killed and more than 100 injured this week when a São Paolo church collapsed. The roof of the Renascer Church, a converted 1950s-era movie theater, fell in on a packed crowd of 600 just as evening services were ending. Authorities speculated that the accident may have resulted from excessively weighty air-conditioning ducts. Renascer, an evangelical sect founded in 1986, has attracted 1 million followers. Its flashy religious services, held in large venues, feature music and church staff zooming around on roller skates.
