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WORLD NEWSTuesday 29 March 2016
China’s Xi arrives in Prague en route to US Colombia arrests army general
over role in extrajudicial killings
PRAGUE (AP) — Chinese Czech President Milos Zeman, right, poses with his Chinese
President Xi Jinping arrived counterpart Xi Jinping, left, at the balcony of Czech President´s JOSHUA GOODMAN
in the Czech Republic on residence Lany Chateau near Prague, Monday, March 28, 2016. Associated Press
Monday for a visit aimed Xi Jinping arrived for a three-day official visit to the Czech Re- BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia has arrested
at boosting economic and public. an army general for his role a decade ago in the
political ties, a visit that’s extrajudicial killing of civilians presented as guerrillas
prompted protesters to (Michal Krumphanzl/Pool Photo via AP) killed in combat, the highest-ranking military officer
fly the Tibetan flag along to ever be detained for such crimes.
a key stretch of road to port to downtown Prague and the Prague 6 district Gen. Henry Torres, who currently holds an adminis-
downtown Prague. with Tibetan flags. where the Chinese em- trative position in the armed forces, turned himself in
Xi’s visit — his only stop- In another sign of protest, bassy is located was flying Monday as soon as the arrest order on charges of
over in Europe before fly- a billboard with Havel and the Tibetan flag to mark the homicide against him was issued.
ing to the U.S. — is a result the Tibetan spiritual leader anniversary of the 1959 up- The chief prosecutor’s office also announced it
of a more business-ori- Dalai Lama was placed rising against the Chinese would seek the detention of retired Gen. Mario Mon-
ented Czech approach along the route Monday, rule. q toya, a close ally of former President Alvaro Uribe
to China than the one that who headed the army when the so-called “false
prevailed under the late positives” scandal broke in 2008. The revelation that
President Vaclav Havel, a security forces killed thousands of civilians to inflate
prominent proponent of body counts on which bonuses and vacations were
human rights. President Mi- based tarnished the U.S.-backed military but so far
los Zeman was the only Eu- has led to only a handful of charges against high-
ropean Union leader to at- ranking officers.
tend China’scelebrations Torres’ arrest comes as a leading human rights group
of the end of World War II. warned that a deal between the government and
Zeman has come under fire the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia to end
for telling Chinese state-run the country’s decades-long conflict would allow top
broadcaster CCTV that re- officers to escape jail time, or avoid prosecution al-
lations between the two together.
countries had suffered in Human Rights Watch said in a report Monday that
the past because Czech many of those accused of implementing or carrying
foreign policy had been out the extermination policy will likely have their cas-
overly pressured by the es heard in a special peace tribunals set up to imple-
United States and the EU. ment a peace accord being negotiated in Cuba.
Miroslav Kalousek, chair- Under the proposed terms of the accord already
man of the opposition agreed to by both sides, rebels and state agents who
TOP 09 conservative party confess their crimes will be spared jail time and sen-
called Zeman’s remarks tenced to a maximum eight years of labor in projects
“repulsive” and said they to rebuild communities torn apart by the conflict.
went counter to the coun- Given the agreement’s ambiguities, there’s a high
try’s long-term foreign poli- risk of impunity and some perpetrators currently de-
cy as a member of the EU tained could even be released, Human Rights Watch
and NATO. said.
Xi’s visit has irked many “The agreement is a checkmate against justice,”
and police said they had Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human
detained a dozen activists Rights Watch, said in a statement.
Monday for replacing Chi- President Juan Manuel Santos, in a January interview
nese national flags along with The Associated Press, was skittish about whether
the main road from the air- army officers accused of civilian killings should be
judged by the peace tribunals, saying it’s up to indi-
After Trump remark: vidual judges to decide.
“If it had nothing to do with the conflict, then it’s not
Japan sticks to non-nuclear arms pledge subject to transitional justice. If it has in any way to do
with the conflict, then it will be in transitional justice.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s gov- Korea having their own portant basic policy of the And that’s for the new courts that we are creating to
ernment said Monday that atomic arsenals. Japanese government.” Trump said in determine,” he said.
it will stick to its policy of not Chief Cabinet Secretary an interview with The New Between 2002 and 2008, army brigades across Co-
possessing nuclear weap- Yoshihide Suga told report- York Times published Sun- lombia systematically executed more than 4,000 ci-
ons, after U.S. presidential ers that the country’s “three day that asking Japan and vilians to make it appear they were killing more rebel
hopeful Donald Trump said principles” of not owning, South Korea to pay more for fighters in combat. q
he would be open to the making or allowing nuclear their own defense “could
idea of Japan and South- weapons “remain an im- mean nuclear.”q
