Déjà vu in Venezuela

Rubén González, a Venezuelan labor leader has been in a military jail for 17 months (on a sentence of 5 years and 9 months) having been convicted by a military court on charges of insulting a sentinel and insulting the armed forces. His appellate hearing has now been postponed because of the coronavirus. Details here.

Human rights jurisprudence strongly disfavors the trial of civilians by military courts. Venezuela is a prime Western Hemisphere violator of this principle.

Where should this Chilean case be tried?

Ministra Romy Rutherford

This one's about Chile. A major investigation has been underway concerning alleged chicanery by now-retired former Army Commander-in-Chief General Humberto Oviedo. The charges relate to embezzlement and travel fraud and involve significant sums. Some of the specifics can be found here.

One issue has concerned the fact that the prosecutor, Ministra Romy Rutherford, is on loan from another court, and that appointment was time-limited. This led to legislation, known as the Rutherford Law, amending the Code of Military Justice to afford her additional time to proceed with the cases. Approval by the Supreme Court was also necessary, and was granted unanimously.

This is not the first time Chile has prosecuted a retired officer in a military court. Is there some reason the charges against General Oviedo cannot be tried in the civilian courts?

Recruiter fraud in Myanmar

Every country that relies on volunteers to fill its military ranks has experienced recruiter fraud to a greater or lesser extent -- or so one imagines. Myanmar is cracking down, with the focus on recruitment of underage applicants. Anthony Davis of Jane's Defence Weekly writes:

Myanmar's Ministry of Defence (MoD) revealed in an April report that the country's armed forces (Tatmadaw) have tried and punished 65 military personnel over the past four years who had been found guilty of recruiting under-age youths.

Highlighting a rare example of the military justice system in action, the report noted that of the 65 soldiers disciplined, 28 were officers while the remaining 37 had other ranks. It did not, however, specify the nature of the punishments meted out, according to the local media reports.

Use of the military in El Salvador's state of emergency during the Covid-19 pandemic

Beginning March 21, 2020, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele closed the country's borders and mandated stay-at-home orders.  1,500 members of the police and military were dispersed throughout metropolitan San Salvador to enforce the stay-at-home orders.  During the first 24 hours of the order, 269 persons were detained for not staying in their homes.  These orders have been extended every 15 days and violators face arrest and transfer to quarantine centers run by the police and military, where they are subject to at least 30 days of detention.  The policeman or military official decide who carries out the detention decides whether the individual is violating the stay-at-home orders or falls within one of the decreed exceptions.   One family member is permitted to go out and purchase food or medicine but it has not been clarified what criteria a policeman or military official should use when an individual who is being stopped makes this argument.  The presumed illegality of these detentions led to action by the courts.   El Salvador's Supreme Court (Constitutional Chamber) issued three rulings against such detentions but Bukele said he "could not follow" orders that would allow thousands of Salvadorans to die.

On April 23, by tweet, Bukele closed down the legislature as it met to override presidential vetoes by declaring, without presenting any evidence, that the Covid-19 was present on the legislative floor.

FY19 sexual assault data released

Sig Christenson

Sig Christenson of the San Antonio Express-News has this report on the Pentagon's latest sexual assault data. "The Defense Department said 6,236 reports were filed by service members in fiscal year 2019, which ended Sept. 30. It was 6,053 in 2018. The Air Force saw a 9 percent jump from the previous year, a continuation of a long-term trend." Mr. Christenson adds:

The report stated a sexual assault offense warranted discipline in 1,630 cases in the 2019 fiscal year, with 795 cases seeing court-martial charges preferred, 363 going to trial and 264 ending in conviction.

Charges were dismissed in 91 cases. One in five, 360 cases in all, were settled in nonjudicial punishment, where outcomes remain secret. Another 29 percent, 475 cases, ended in administrative discharge or other adverse administrative action.