ICJ: Jose Medellin’s execution “breached” order

The execution of a Mexican national by the U.S. defied an International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision according to an ICJ ruling emitted today.

In 2004, the ICJ decided that the U.S. should review the sentences of 51 Mexicans facing the death penalty. Despite pressure from the U.N., the Bush administration, and legal maneuvers by the Mexican government Jose Medellin (image) was executed in August 2008 in Texas. Texan authorities got the green light to execute Medellin last July after the U.S. Supreme Court decision claimed that President George W. Bush lacked the power to delay the pending executions.

Medellin was convicted along with five other teen gang members for the rape and murder of two teenage girls in 1993. The others involved with Medellin were convicted and are serving sentences ranging from forty years in jail to being on death row.

In anticipation of today’s ICJ decision, the State Department said that they can do nothing to help other foreigners on death row:

The U.S. State Department's chief advocate said Sunday the ruling will not help other inmates on death row because Washington cannot force individual states to comply…

State Department legal adviser John Bellinger III said Bush had done all he could, and it was up to Congress to enact legislation giving precedence to international law over U.S. state law…

"The court has no enforcement powers," he told a small group of reporters. "It is not the role of the court" to issue a reprimand.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, AP, Guardian UK, The Australian, AFP,

Bush urges against death penalty for Mexican killer

As Governor of Texas, George W. Bush denied clemency to 152 “Death Row” inmates who would eventually be executed. In 1999, Bush said the following months before a Canadian national was executed in Texas:

“Foreigners can't expect to get away with murder in the state of Texas.”

Yet as he nears his last term as president, Bush is interceding in the legal case of a convicted killer from Mexico. Bush has asked the Supreme Court to prevent the execution of Jose Ernesto Medellin on the basis that his execution would violate international law.

Texas solicitor-general Ted Cruz- a “close political ally” of the president- argued on Wednesday that the president cannot use executive privilege to override state law after the International Court of Justice ruled in 20004 that Medellin should receive a retrial. However Medellin’s attorney will contend that lawyer said the president had the power to issue the order under the U.S. constitution.

The legal status of nearly 50 other Mexican nationals awaiting execution in various states would be affected by the high court ruling.

Naturally, conservative commentators are up in arms against Bush’s involvement; as Ramesh Ponnuru concluded:

“Critics of executive power have cried wolf many times during the Bush administration. This time, however, President Bush really has gone too far, and the Supreme Court should not cooperate.”

Sources- The New York Review of Books, Canada.com, Guardian UK, BBC News, MSNBC, Reuters, CNN, National Review Online

Image- Jurist

Colombian Cartel Killer Put on Parole (Updated)

One of the worst killers in Colombia’s modern history could be freed from prison as soon as today despite committing hundreds of homicides.

Jhon Jairo Velásquez Vásquez is expected to be paroled today after having spent twenty-three years behind bars for the crimes he committed as the security chief of the Medellin drug cartel.  As a result, the former hitman for the late capo Pablo Escobar will have only served three-fifths of the near four-decade sentence handed down against him.

Update: Velásquez was officially placed on parole by a Colombian judge on Tuesday evening.

Nicknamed “Popeye”, his prison sentence has been whittled down a result of his cooperation with the authorities and good behavior while behind bars at the tough Combita prison. He is expected to be put on parole after meeting a series of conditions including paying an approximately $4600 fine and ensuring that there are no further judicial processes against him.  As a part of his potential parole, he is reportedly prohibited from leaving Colombia and will be placed on probation for almost five years.

Since receiving his prison sentence in 1992, “Popeye” has voluntarily admitted to killing some 300 people, arranging an additional 3000 murders under Escobar’s orders and planning the kidnappings of high-profile politicians and even a former beauty queen. Hundreds of Colombians died as a result of over 150 car bombings   planned by Velásquez and he confessed to participating in the 1989 bombing of Avianca Flight 203 that killed 110 people.  (In contrast to Velásquez’ fate, one of his cohorts is currently in a U.S. maximum security prison serving ten life sentences plus forty-five years for crimes like planting the explosive device in the Avianca bombing.)
Mixed reactions have been shown by those most affected by Velásquez' actions: families of the victims of violence caused by the now-defunct Medellin Cartel.

Update: Mexico denounces Texas execution

The Mexican government, along with UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon, have denounced the state of Texas' Tuesday execution of Jose Ernesto Medellin, the Mexican national convicted for his involvement in the 1993 gang rape and murder of two teenaged girls.

From a prepared statement by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Relations yesterday:

"The government of Mexico sent the U. S. Department of State a diplomatic note of protest for this violation of international law, expressing its concern for the precedent that it may create for the rights of Mexican nationals who may be detained in that country...The Ministry of Foreign Relations reiterates that the importance of this case fundamentally stems from the respect to the right to consular access and protection provided by consulates of every state to each of its nationals abroad."

In Mexico, muted outcries followed Medellin's execution, mostly in his hometown of Nuevo Laredo. One Texas news station's coverage of reactions in Mexico City depicted interviewees that suggested many Mexicans are upset by rampant violence in interested by the adoption of the death penalty by Mexico.

For details on the case and it's controversial proceedings, see Erwin C's post earlier this week.

Sources: CNN, All Academic, SCOTUS Blog, Amnesty USA, KHou

Death row Mexican to be executed

Update (11:45pm): Despite the Supreme Court's intervention, Medillin was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday night.

Update (10:00pm): Medillin's execution was halted at the last minute as the U.S. Supreme Court considers his appeal.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously voted yesterday against a reprieve for José Medellin- a Mexican national whose death row case has complicated U.S.-Mexico relations. Medellin is scheduled to be executed tonight despite appeals from his lawyers and a recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) request to halt the executions of Mexican nationals on death row.

At the heart of the matter is the argument that the executions of Mexican nationals in Texas violates international law; even U.S. president George W. Bush attempted to intervene by using executive privilege. However, that claim has been denied by Texan officials as well as by a March Supreme Court decision.

One of the biggest Spanish-language dailies in the U.S.- La Opinion- gave its two cents on the issue:

The execution in Texas of Mexican national José Medellín scheduled for today violates international treaties…

The core issue is the violation of a treaty that has been in effect for decades, under which, when a foreigner is arrested, the authorities are obligated to notify the consul of that person’s country. The idea behind this process is to prevent local authorities from committing procedural abuses against a detainee…

Federalism is important, but international treaties ratified cannot be ignored. Other states of the Union have respected the ICJ’s decision. Texas should do likewise and cease acting as if it were independent. Its refusal to review the case is an aberration and affects the credibility of the United States as a country.

Image- Wall Street Journal

Sources- The Latin Americanist, La Opinion, AFP, Guardian UK, DentonRC.com

Daily Headlines: October 19, 2015

* Colombia: In the latest pact between the Colombian government and the FARC rebels, both sides agreed to work together and provide information on the tens of thousands of people missing due to the armed conflict.

* Bolivia: Bolivian officials claimed that spy planes have crossed into national territory and, thus, the government will buy some $229 million in radar equipment from France.

* Argentina: For the first time Argentina made it through to the final four of the Rugby World Cup after Los Pumas blitzed Ireland by a score of 43-20 in the quarterfinals.

* Brazil: President Dilma Rousseff backed beleaguered Finance Minister Joaquim Levy despite mounting pressure against her proposed austerity measures designed to boost the weakened Brazilian economy.

YouTube Source – AFP (“Thirteen years after Medellin was rocked by violence when the government decided to recapture a sector of the city disputed by right-wing paramilitaries and militias, family members and others take part in commemoration events.”)
 
Online Sources – BBC Sport, Voice of America, Fox News Latino, Reuters

Today’s Video: Dark Knights

Former Medellin Cartel chief Pablo Escobar is remembered by very few residents of that city as the man who built houses and soccer fields for the poor. His efforts to give the image of a benefactor failed among most Colombians hurt by his greed, ruthlessness and sanguinary nature.

Much like the late Escobar, Mexico’s Knights Templar drug gang are also attempting to trick others and portraying themselves as modern-day Robin Hoods. The drug gang distributed flyers and hung banners last week in Michoacán claiming that they helped “achieve” a drop in food prices.

Daily Headlines: September 12, 2013

* Brazil: The Brazilian government is reportedly looking into creating its own network equipment in order to protect information privacy and prevent alleged surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency.

* Mexico: Thousands of striking teachers took to the streets of Mexico City as part of their protests against government-backed educational reforms.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan officials rejected a recent World Bank arbitration panel decision claiming that the South American country had “failed to act in good faith or properly compensate” ConocoPhillips for the 2007 nationalization of oil projects.

* Colombia: John Leguizamo was selected to play the late Medellin Cartel boss Pablo Escobar in a Hollywood biopic set to begin shooting this January.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- The Guardian; USA TODAY; Reuters; Bloomberg; The Latin Americanist

Today’s Video: Execution (Update)

Should the state of Texas go through with the planned execution of Mexican national Humberto Leal Garcia? The main issue is not over the death penalty, per se, but regarding the likelihood that his legal rights were not met. Federal officials determined that Texas authorities did not tell Leal Garcia of his right to immediate help from Mexican consular officials as they are required to under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

In recent weeks numerous figures including the governments of several Latin American countries have tried to intercede on behalf of Leal Garcia who is scheduled to die by lethal injection today. As was the case under the Bush administration with death row inmate Jose Medellin, the Obama administration has sought to suspend the execution of Leal Garcia.

For one diplomat, the possibility that the state will kill Leal Garcia could have serious consequences for U.S. citizens residing abroad:

“If we do not comply with our obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the U.N. Charter,” said John B. Bellinger III, who was the State Department’s top lawyer in the administration of President George W. Bush, “we put at risk Americans, including Texans, who travel and may be arrested overseas. It is surprising that Texas does not recognize the risks it may be creating for its own citizens.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has presidential aspirations and could run next year, is expected to go through with the execution. Regardless of the outcome, the Leal Garcia case will likely not quell the controversy over the application of the death penalty on foreign nationals:


Update: Humberto Leal Garcia was executed via lethal injection on Thursday night. In a 5-4 vote that ran along ideological lines the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal seeking a stay of execution for the Mexican national who was convicted in 1994 of raping and murdering a minor.

After the court's decision Texas Gov. Rick Perry allowed the application of the death penalty to go ahead. According to The Guardian the office of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's "argued that Leal Garcia was guilty of a heinous crime and deserved to die." While that may be the case, such reasoning detracts from "Obama administration lawyers and a broad cross-section of legal and foreign policy experts" who argued that Texan officials violated international law. (As we mentioned in the original post, he was denied their right to immediate legal help from the Mexican consulate).

A bill proposed last month by Sen. Patrick Leahy would provide federal courts the "jurisdiction to review cases of foreign nationals awaiting execution who were denied consular access".

Leal Garcia became the 26th person to be executed in the U.S. so far this year and the 18th in Texas. According to Human Rights Research (via AFP) there are"at least 132 foreign nationals
from 34 countries on US death rows."

Video Source - RT via YouTube
Online Sources - The Latin Americanist, Monsters & Critics, Al Jazeera English, New York Times, The Independent. (Huntington Post, New York Times, AFP, chicagotribune.com and The Guardian in the update).

ICJ orders U.S. to halt executions of Mexicans

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a temporary injunction against the executions of five Mexican nationals on death row in Texas. The ruling by the United Nations' highest court said that the U.S. should "take all measures necessary" to ensure that the Mexicans do not get executed.

Despite the decision Texan authorities claimed that the executions will go on as scheduled such as that of Jose Medellin on August 5^th:

"This court ruling does not change anything," said Allison Castle, a spokeswoman in Gov. Rick Perry's office. "Those who come to Texas and commit crimes will have to pay the consequences"…

"(Mexico) hopes for proper enforcement of the injunction because of its legally binding nature," the country's Foreign Affairs Minister Patricia Espinosa Cantellano said in a statement written in Spanish.

The ICJ’s decision was the latest in a five-year dispute between the U.S. and its southern neighbor with Mexico arguing that nationals on death row have been denied their right to consular access.

The international court’s ruling contradicts the U.S. Supreme Court who ruled in March that states did not have to abide by a previous ICJ ruling in favor of Mexicans waiting execution.

Image- Javno

Sources- Voice of America, TheMonitor.com, El Paso Times, The Latin Americanist, CBC.ca

Rights group warns against Colombian “neo-paramilitaries”

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published yesterday highlighted the resurgence of criminal groups linked to Colombia’s rightist paramilitaries.

The HRW study entitled points out the crime and abuses by criminal groups that have emerged from the demobilization of the country’s AUC paramilitaries between 2003 and 2006. Most of the 30,000 demobilized soldiers have never really left the AUC structure and new recruits have taken their place according to the
scathing report.

The report also warned about the sharp increase in violence in urban areas as a result of paramilitary successors and comes after public backlash against president Alvaro Uribe’s unusual plan to pay Medellin schoolchildren as informants.

As to be expected the government’s reply was to strongly denounce the report; a Defense Ministry statement claimed “Colombian paramilitaries have been extinguished.” Such a shortsighted view was rebutted by HRW:

"Whatever you call these groups - whether paramilitaries, gangs, or some other name - their impact on human rights in Colombia today should not be minimized," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "Like the paramilitaries, these successor groups are committing horrific atrocities, and they need to be stopped."

The HRW report comes at a sensitive time for a proposed U.S.-Colombia free trade pact that has been stalled due to the concern of Democratic lawmakers over violence and human rights abuses.

Image- CBS News (“A member of the right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) raises his weapon during a demobilization ceremony in Tibu, northeast of Bogota, December 10, 2004.”)
Online Sources- UPI, CNN, Human Rights watch, Colombia Reports, Reuters, El Espectador

Wild weather hits Americas

Tropical storms, torrential rains and other weather phenomena have wrecked havoc for several Latin American countries over the past few days. For example:

• Tropical Storm Barbara left over eight thousand people homeless in the Dominican Republic and caused moderate material damage in Mexico and Guatemala.
• Mudslides killed at least seven people in Medellin, Colombia (image).
• A cold wave caused rolling blackouts in Argentina and energy shortages in Chile, while over fifty children were killed in mountainous areas of Peru.

Sources- CBBC, Earthtimes.org, Reuters UK, Washington Post, People’s Daily Online, Bloomberg

Image- CBBC

Honduran executed in Texas

A convicted Honduran murderer was killed by lethal injection in Texas roughly 48 hours after a Mexican national met the same fate. “God forgive them, receive my spirit” 29-year-old Heliberto Chi reportedly muttered before he died in front of a small audience including his relatives and the sons of the man he was convicted of robbing and killing in 2001.

Chi was scheduled to be executed last year though that was delayed while the U.S. Supreme Court (USSC) decided on the constitutionality of death via lethal injection. (Their verdict allowing lethal injection was announced in April.)

Much like the defense behind Jose Medellin- who was executed on Wednesday- Chi’s lawyers tried to argue that international law was broken. They argued that local authorities neglected Chi's rights; that notion was ultimately nixed by the USSC:

Chi's lawyers argued in a final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court that he should be granted a stay because he had not been notified of his right to consular services.

The court denied the appeal, paving the way for Chi's execution by lethal injection in the state's death chamber in Huntsville…

In Chi's case, separate from the World Court proceedings, the state argued that upon his arrest, Chi had not immediately identified himself to police as a foreign national.

Chi thus becomes the second foreign national to be executed by Texas this week despite interventions by the International Court of Justice and President George W. Bush.

Image- BBC News (“Chi was the 411th Texas inmate to die by lethal injection.”)

Sources- New York Times, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, JURIST, MSNBC,

Daily Headlines: July 21, 2016

* South America: The Copa Libertadores title is up for grabs and will be decided in Medellin next Wednesday as Independiente del Valle of Ecuador and Colombia’s Atletico Nacional tied 1-1 in the first leg of the finals.

* United States: A federal appeals court ruled that that the voter ID restrictions in Texas violated the federal Voting Rights Act by discriminating against the poor and minorities like Latinos.

* Mexico: Pedro Rosas Tamayo, a Mexican journalist who received death threats and was purportedly under police protection, was shot and killed at his home in Veracruz.

* Puerto Rico: Several hedge funds who are bondholders of Puerto Rico’s multi-billion dollar debt filed a lawsuit against the Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla and the government of the commonwealth.

YouTube Source – Fox Deportes

Online Sources – SBS, Fox News Latino, teleSUR English, Bloomberg

Today’s Video: Colombians united against kidnappings

On Colombia’s Independence Day over four million people marched in Colombia and around the world against violence committed by criminal groups. The rallies in cities like Bogota, Washington, Medellin, and Paris were done in solidarity with the hundreds of kidnapped people who remain trapped in the Colombian jungle. Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt led the event in the French capital and called on the FARC to free all their captives, while Colombian president Alvaro Uribe hosted his Brazilian and Peruvian counterparts in the Amazonian city of Leticia.

It was in Leticia where musicians Shakira and Carlos Vives performed as part of the rally there:

Sadly, the clamor and cries for peace have been largely ignored by Colombia’s criminal groups; “we will never be the ones…to lay down our weapons” said a communiqué issued today by a pair of FARC commanders. Meanwhile, five rural farmers were gunned down on Sunday in an area where “new paramilitary groups and narcotraffickers” battle for the control of coca growing lands.

Sources- RCN, YouTube, Monsters & Critics, AFP, Reuters

CIA links Colombian army chief to paramilitaries

An article in Sunday’s edition of the Los Angeles Times cites U.S. intelligence information linking the head of Colombia’s armed forces (image) to right-wing paramilitary groups. The report cites recent CIA data suggesting that:

“(Army chief General Mario) Montoya and a paramilitary group jointly planned and conducted a military operation in 2002 to eliminate Marxist guerrillas from poor areas around Medellin, a city in northwestern Colombia that has been a center of the drug trade.

At least 14 people were killed during the operation, and opponents of Uribe charge that dozens more disappeared in its aftermath”.

A CIA spokesman did not confirm or deny the authenticity of the report, though a communiqué from the Colombian government categorically denied any ties between General Montoya and paramilitary groups.

On a related note, Colombia’s former intelligence chief was freed “on procedural grounds” after being accused of aiding paramilitaries during his time as head of the DAS.

Links- Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, ABC News, International Herald Tribune, Al Jazeera

Image- School of the Americas Watch

Daily Headlines: July 5, 2013

* Brazil: A Brazilian judge placed under house arrest Rayfran das Neves Sales, the convicted murderer of U.S. nun and environmental activist Dorothy Stang, after serving only eight years in prison.

* Bolivia: “This was an open provocation toward a continent, not just a president,” declared Bolivian President Evo Morales regarding the forced diversion of his presidential plane in Europe this week.
    
* Ecuador: A British security firm denied allegations that they bugged the Ecuadorian embassy in London where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been residing in.

* Argentina: Buenos Aires, Argentina beat out Medellin, Colombia and Glasgow, Scotland to win the chance to host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

Video Source – YouTube via user sisterdorothy (Trailer for a documentary on murdered U.S. nun and environmental activist Dorothy Stang).
 
Online Sources- France24; The Latin Americanist; Reuters; Al Jazeera English; SI.com

International condemnation against Colombian hostage killings

On Friday four hostages held against their will by Colombia’s FARC rebels for over ten years were gunned down during a failed rescue attempt. Over the past few days, members Colombians blasted the guerillas for their cruel and senseless actions, while families of the victims grieve and lament their loss.

Numerous public figures from around the world also expressed their condemnation of the massacre by the FARC. Pope Benedict XVI said that he was in “pain” over the deaths of the hostages and urged for an end to violence in Colombia. "The Holy Father received this tragic news with sorrow and sends his prayers to the families of the victims and the beloved people of Colombia at this time of suffering," read a letter from the Pontiff.

Organization for American States chief José Miguel Insulza claimed that the deaths were a “crime against humanity” and a serious violation of “international humanitarian rights.” Insulza also called for the immediate release of all prisoners held by the FARC and said that freeing them is a “necessary precondition for peace (talks).”

The United Nations human rights representative in Colombia, Christian Salazar, said that “the
atrocious assassinations reflect a terrible lack of humanity and complete disrespect for life.”

José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, labeled the deaths as a “war crime,” while a statement from the U.S. embassy in Colombia deemed the incident as a “terrorist act.”

Catherine Ashton, the head of the European Union’s diplomatic division, said on Tuesday that the FARC should “lay down their arms” and join the “process of political reform and modernization in Colombia.” That doesn’t seem like it will be the case according to Andrés Mejía Vergnaud in the Americas Quarterly blog:

Peace with a group that commits such acts will be hard to swallow in Colombia and abroad, especially if, as FARC leaders have made it clear, they will not accept convictions or prison terms. Growing international demands for the prosecution of crimes against humanity and war crimes make blanket pardons impossible; something that Colombians would hardly accept, in any case.

A police sergeant held by the FARC for nearly twelve years narrowly escaped being executed by the rebels on Friday. “I felt the impact on my face and neck, the shots were at me, the only thing I could do was run,” said Luis Erazo to the local press over the weekend.

Image Source – Flickr user equinoXio (“Every life is sacred” reads this banner at a 2008 anti-FARC protest in Medellin, Colombia). (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources – AFP, Colombia Reports, Noticias Caracol, Radio Santa Fe, EFE, Human Rights Watch, Voz de America, Reuters, Americas Quarterly blog

Daily Headlines: December 6, 2010 (Updated)

* Colombia: At least 174 people died and 1.5 million people have been affected by one of the wettest rainy seasons in Colombian history. (Update: The death toll has grown to 188 after a dozen bodies were recovered after a landslide near Medellin).

* Latin America: According to more documents divulged by Wikileaks the U.S. government is working closely with Mexican marines and Brazil sought the technology to build French military jets for sale to other Latin American countries.

* Chile: Scientists discovered what is believed to be the oldest mine in the Americas - a 12,000-year-old Chilean iron oxide mine.

* Uruguay: Rest in peace Maria Esther Gatti de Islas; the Uruguayan human rights activist died on Sunday at the age of 92.

Online Sources - MSNBC, Sydney Morning Herald, Voice of America, Reuters, PRESS TV, USA TODAY
Image - MSNBC ("Residents wade through a flooded street Saturday in Puerto Santander, a town on Colombia's northeastern border with Venezuela.")

Colombia to Investigate U.S. Military Sex Abuse Allegations

The Colombian government pledged on Tuesday to thoroughly investigate allegations into fifty-four suspected cases of child sex abuse by U.S. military personnel and defense contractors.

“We request through diplomatic channels and bilateral cooperation that U.S. authorities report on the progress of their investigation,” according to a statement from Jorge Armando Otalora of the Ombudsman’s office.  Otalora condemned the rumors that sex acts with minors was videotaped and distributed as pornography.

“Since child pornography is a transnational crime, there exists mechanisms to guarantee justice and prevent impunity regardless of the diplomat immunity of the accused,” emphasized Otalora.

While Otalora called on the prosecution of those behind the suspected abuse, the head of Colombia’s child welfare agency, Cristina Plazas, urged potential victims to come forward.

Furthermore, Plazas also suggested the establishment of special commissions in the Cundinamarca and Tolima provinces where the supposed abuse took place in order to “actively seek girls and teens that were victims of abuse at the hands of soldiers.”

A truth commission seeking details on the decades-long armed conflict in Colombia authorized the “Historic Commission of Conflict and its Victims” study. The section by Renan Vega, a history professor of the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional de Bogotá, describes the fifty-four cases of alleged abuse committed between 2003 and 2007 in a small part of the 809-page study.

“There is abundant evidence of sexual violence and total impunity, thanks to bilateral agreements and diplomatic immunity of U.S. officials…(It is) part of sexist and discriminatory behavior known as ‘sexual imperialism’ similar to what happens in other places where U.S. military forces are stationed,” wrote Vega.

Spokespeople for the U.S. military and defense contractors claimed that there is insufficient evidence to prove Vega’s claims, while an investigation by the Fusion television network concluded that his allegations were “unsubstantiated.” Yet evidence appears to exist of the 2007 case of a 12-year-old girl purportedly raped by a U.S. sergeant and defense contractor: