Suriname lawmakers grantimmunity for 1982 murders

April 05, 2012 1:08 PM

PARAMARIBO - Lawmakers in Suriname granted amnesty on Wednesday to the killers of fifteen opponents of President Desi Bouterse thirty years ago in a move that is certain to draw fresh criticism of the South American leader.

Bouterse, who previously seized power in two coups and is wanted in the Netherlands to serve an 11-year prison sentence for drug trafficking, still faces trial in his own country for the 1982 murders.

He has refused to attend those court sessions for four years and it is unclear whether the prosecution will proceed after the vote by the National Assembly, which approved the amnesty bill 28-12 after three days of debate.

"We did this in the belief that the people stood behind us and will stand behind us," said Ricardo Panka, a member of President Bouterse's Mega Combination coalition in Parliament.

Ronald Venetiaan, an opposition member and former president, said he had voted against the bill: "It underlines lawlessness and gives lawlessness a false legal basis," he told Parliament.

Unions and other local rights group said they were planning a silent march next Tuesday in protest.

Rights groups had appealed to legislators not to pass the bill, which is an amendment to an earlier 1989 amnesty law and offers immunity for human rights violations committed between 1982 and 1992 during Bouterse's military rule.

Relatives of some of the 15 victims killed in 1982 and the multi-faith Inter-Religious Council in Suriname also had urged Parliament not to back the amendment.

"Amnesties cannot be applied to those responsible for crimes under international law and gross human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions," Amnesty International said.

It remains to be seen now whether the prosecution of Bouterse (66) for the three-decade-old murders will continue. It began in November 2007 and after 30 sessions, none of them attended by Bouterse, the prosecutor had been scheduled to give his closing speech on April 13.

One suspect testified last month that he had seen Bouterse at the Fort Zeelandia military base on the day in December 1982 when 15 of the coup leader's opponents were killed there.

(Reuters)