Impunity Watch: Middle East

Tensions Between Russia and Georgia Unresolved at Significant Anniversary

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TBILISI, Georgia – The status of the two South Caucasus regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remains uncertain as the region marked the one-year anniversary of Russia’s recognition of the breakaway regions’ independence on August 26.

Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia’s independence from Georgia on August 26, 2008, two weeks after intense fighting between Georgian military forces and separatists from the two regions, with support from the Russian military.  Abkhazia and South Ossetia have traditionally been ethnically mixed.  It is home both to those who claim Russian cultural identities as well as those who have cultural ties to Georgia.

International observers say that Abkhazia and South Ossetia remain in a legal gray zone:  Russia and Nicaragua remain the only two countries to recognize their independence.  They are a de facto part of Russia while remaining a de jure part of Georgia, though political power in the provinces is steadily slipping out of Georgia’s control and into that of Russia. 

Some experts speculate the situation may remain unresolved for the foreseeable future.  The situation is akin to situations in Cyprus and Taiwan.  On August 26, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said that Russia’s decision to recognize the breakaway provinces’ independence was “unavoidable” and “irreversible.”  It seems equally unlikely that policies of non-recognition by the European Union and the United States will shift.

The situation has caused uncertainty for those living in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.  Georgia has attempted to establish a naval blockade around the area, threatening to arrest anyone who enters either area without Georgian permission.  Russia has also staked an economic claim to the area, as the Russian state oil company set up a subsidiary in Abkhazia on August 25.  The Georgian government has accused Russia of exploiting its sovereign natural resources, as well as unlawfully continuing its occupation of Georgian soil.  For its part, Russia has pledged its support for the reconstruction in the breakaway regions.

For more information, please see:

Georgia Today – Kremlin’s Victory or Confession – 28 August 2009

China View – Putin Pledges Firm Support for South Ossetia, Abkhazia – 27 August 2009

The Messenger Online – Russia is Continuing its Occupation of Georgia – 27 August 2009

Anti War.com – South Ossetia, Abkhazia to Celebrate Independence Day – 25 August 2009

Radio Free Europe – One Year After ‘Independence,’ Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Legal Gray Zone – 25 August 2009

Sofia News Agency – Russia:  South Ossetia, Abkhazia Independence Irreversible 1 Year Later – 25 August 2009

Shift in Power in Tunisia's Journalist Union Causes Concern

By Ann Flower Seyse

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TUNIS, Tunisia- On August 19, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) announced that a group of pro-government reporters in Tunisia have taken control of the largest Tunisian union for journalists only two months before the general election. 

RWB stated their concern for the independence of the national union of journalists, and stated that this change does not "bode well" for the fairness of the upcoming election. 

Tunisia’s current president, Zine El Abdine Ben Ali, will be seeking a fifth term in this election. He has been in power since a bloodless coup in 1987.  In 2002, Ben Ali challenged the constitution so that he could have more time in office. He has also continued to poll ninety-percent in elections.

The new union president Neji Bghouri stated that he believes that the government took over an organization that was meant to be independent. The new president of the journalists’ union denies any government involvement with the vote that resulted in his placement.

These alleged problems with the press only add to several other human rights violations that human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) reported on August 20. 

Amnesty International's report documents continued abuse in the name of counter-terrorism and security. AI’s focus surrounds the continued reports of mistreatment and 'pervasive' torture in Tunisian detention centers. 

The report also criticizes other countries that continue to return prisoners to Tunisia against the prisoners’ wills, and with full knowledge of likely mistreatment.  Extraditing a person to a country where it is known they are likely to face mistreatment, a practice sometimes called ‘Extraordinary Rendition,’ is a violation of the Convention Against Torture, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment.  

Amnesty has called for the immediate end to torture and a clampdown on mistreatment and unlawful 'security' measures used in Tunisian detention centers.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International - Tunisia Continues Human Rights Abuses in the Name of National Security - 20 August 2009

Afrique en Linge - Tunisian Journalists Change Leadership- 19 August 2009

BBC - Tunisia Reporter Move 'Bodes Ill' - 19 August 2009

Reuters - Row as Tunisia Journalist Picks Pro- Government Boss - 16 August 2009

Fatah Denies Holding Political Prisoners

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East   

RAMALLAH, West Bank – On August 22, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad reiterated Fatah’s assertion that it did not hold any political prisoners.   

The Prime Minister spoke at a ceremony for Protect the Palestinian Flag in Ramallah. Fayyad’s statement contradicted claims by several human rights organizations, which have confirmed that prisons in both the West Bank and Gaza hold prisoners arrested for political reasons. Fatah’s rival party, Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has also claimed that several of its members have been detained by Fatah security forces because of political motivations.   

Hamas claimed earlier this month that one of its members, Fadi Hamarna, who was imprisoned in Jneid Prison in Nablus in the West Bank, died at the hands of Fatah security forces. The Palestinian government in the West Bank stated that Hamarna had committed suicide in his cell after interrogation.  
 
The Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) attributes many of the abuses within the Palestinian security system to its chaotic power struggles between the nine security forces operating under the Palestinian Authority (PA). The PA employs almost 40,000 people, one of the highest ratios of police to citizens in the world. The PA security forces are often characterized as having wide-spread corruption and little systematic regulation. The Gaza Strip, which is smaller than the U.S. state of Rhode Island, has at least twenty-four detention centers, the locations for which were kept secret until April 2009. According to MERIP, search and arrest warrants are rare, and mistreatment of prisoners is the norm rather than the exception.
 
On August 21, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with the Palestinian interior minister about security issues, focusing on the release of so-called “petty criminals” ahead of the end-of-Ramadan festival, Eid-al-Fitr. President Abbas also noted that the PA had already recently released approximately seventy prisoners, and he encouraged efforts to maintain order within the Palestinian Territories.   

For more information, please see:   

Ma’an News Agency – Fayyad: PA Has No Political Detainees – 22 August 2009  

International Middle East Media Center – Hamas Political Prisoner Dies at a Palestinian Prison – 11 August 2009

Middle East Report – Palestinian Political Prisoners – Fall 1996

Pregnant Women in Gaza Suffer Under Blockade

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East 

JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – The Israeli blockade on Gaza is having a disastrous effect on the health of pregnant women in the seaside region, according to a recently released study by the World Health Organization (WHO) office based in Jerusalem.  

According to the WHO’s July 2009 assessment, inadequate infrastructure, a lack of proper equipment, and a shortage in trained medical personnel have all led to a decline in the quality of hospital care provided to new mothers and their babies. The WHO attributes these conditions to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, which began in July 2007, when Hamas took control of the government in Gaza.  

"The Israeli blockade affects the supply of medical equipment and conditions in the maternity wards, and perpetuates the isolation of healthcare professionals, making it difficult to maintain international standards of practice," said Tony Laurence, head of the WHO West Bank and Gaza Office in Jerusalem.
  
Munir al-Bursh, head of Gaza’s Department of Pharmaceuticals, reported that ten types of medications essential for proper maternal care, such as Prostin gel, which induces labor, are completely out of stock in the territory. One pregnant woman reported sending her husband to search for a needed medication while she was in the delivery room.  

Pre- and post-natal care also suffers in Gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported that seventy percent of the nearly 1.5 million Gazans suffer from anemia, including forty-four percent of pregnant women. Additionally, women are typically discharged within two hours after giving birth, due to a lack of beds. In its report, the WHO advocated increasing the in-patient time to six hours. Compounding the problem is a lack of adequately trained midwives. The blockade has isolated midwives working in the Gaza Strip, leading to outdated medical knowledge and stifling the flow of information about medical advances.  

Israel’s Ministry of Defense has said that medical supplies have priority as imports into Gaza, but that Israel is not obliged to allow anything into the territory aside from basic humanitarian supplies needed for survival.  

For more information, please see:  

Ma’an News Agency – Gaza Mothers, Newborns Affected by Israeli Blockade (IRIN)– 20 August 2009 

Association of International Development Agencies – The Gaza Blockade: Children and Education Fact Sheet– July 2009  

The Guardian – No Gourmets in Gaza– 16 June 2009  

VOA News – Conditions for Palestinian Refugees in Gaza Deteriorating– 22 May 2009  

IslamOnline.net – Blockade Worsens Gaza Malnutrition– 2 June 2008

38 Islamists Arrested in Egypt

By Ann Flower Seyse

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt- On August 17, thirty- eight members of the opposition Muslim brotherhood were arrested in Egypt. According to a security official, the total number of Brotherhood members in detention is four-hundred fifty.  

Of those arrested on August 17, thirty members of the Muslim Brotherhood were detained in Suez when they had a meeting at a group member’s home. Another eight members were apprehended in the Nile River Delta the same day.  

The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood controls almost one fifth of the seats in Egyptian Parliament, even though the party is technically banned under the Egyptian Constitution, which bans political parties based on religious or class affiliation. The Brotherhood won these seats by fielding independent candidates in the 2005 election. Many Egyptians like the party because of the social services that the group provides.  

In 2007 Human Rights Watch accused Egyptian President Mubarak, and the governing National Democratic Party of using the law that bans parties based upon religious or class affiliation to maintain control of the government, holding a virtual monopoly.

Also on August 17, the Islam-affiliated party Al-Wasat al-Jadid (the New Center) was rejected for a fourth time in their application to become a legally recognized political party in Egypt. Al-Wasat al-Jadid has also had their application for party status denied in 1996, 1998, and 2006.  The government considers Al-Wasat al-Jadid a front for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Although the party would ban Coptic Christians or women from heading the country, their platform of peaceful rule through Islamic law is popular among many Egyptians who see the ruling National Democratic Party as corrupt.

Egypt has been cracking down on the Brotherhood, and subsequently, Al-Wasat al-Jadid.  In an interview with CBS news, President Mubarak claimed that the Brotherhood has connections with Lebanese and Palestinian groups Hezbollah and Hamas .

For more information please see:

AFP- Egypt Police Arrest 38 Islamists – 18 August 2009

Afrique en Lingue- Egypt Rejects Islamist Party – 18 August 2009

AP – Egypt Rejects Request for Moderate Islamic Party – 17 August 2009

Money Biz – Egypt Refuses to Recognize Moderate Muslim Party – 17 August 2009

Human Rights Watch Calls for Iraq to Act to Protect Homosexuals

By Nykoel Dinardo
Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – On August 17, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report titled “They Want Us Exterminated: Murder, Torture, Sexual Orientation, and Gender in Iraq” which details the attacks that gay men in Iraq have suffered in recent months.

According to the report, militias in Iraq are persecuting gay men, torturing and killing them.  Although there have been reports about attacks by several small militias, HRW believes that most of the attacks are being perpetrated by the Mahdi Army, a militia led by Moqtada al-Sadr.  To support this claim, HRW cites the facts that the attacks seem centered around Sadr City, a slum in Baghdad that is named after al-Sadr’s martyred father.  

Moreover, Sadrist Mosques and officials of the Mahdi Army have been spreading warnings about the “third sex,” a derogatory term for homosexuals in Iraq.  According to the report, men have been kidnapped, tortured and murdered for something small, such as wearing a tight shirt, tight jeans, or a certain hairstyle - fashions claimed to be worn by the “third sex.”  HRW describes the situation as “social cleansing.”

According to HRW, hundreds of men have been killed in the last few months.  A hospital employee interviewed by HRW after he fled Iraq described the stories he was receiving from colleagues, “a fellow doctor-a colleague, a classmate of mine, who works at al-Kindi hospital-told me over the phone that more were killed yesterday. Four were brought in with their genitals cut off. And some were brought in, not dead, with glue in their anuses.”  The report explains that injecting glue into the anuses of suspected gay men has become a common form of torture, and men who suffer its effects are brought into hospitals almost daily.

HRW explains that the most astounding aspect of the situation is the lack of action to stop the killings.  According to the report, government officials actually participate in the persecution.  The report details the story of a man in Baghdad who ran safe-houses for gay men who had been disowned by their families.  He told HRW that officials for the Ministry of the Interior has arrested him, tortured and raped him, and finally he was freed when he bribed one of the guards.  According to HRW, ministry members take these actions claiming that they are within the law, punishing those who have participated in “indecent acts.”

The report concludes by calling on the Iraqi government to take action s to stop the persecution of gay men.  HRW reminds Iraq of their international obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which require states to provide for the rights to Life and Security (Article 9), to Protection against Torture, and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment (Articles 7 & 11), and to Non-Discrimination and Fundamental Rights (Articles 26, 17, 19, and 21).   They ask the government to publicly condemn such action and to prosecute those responsible.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Gay Men Attacked, Executed in Iraq, Rights Group Says – 17 August 2009

Human Rights Watch – Iraq: Stop Killings for Homosexual Conduct – 17 August 2009

Human Rights Watch – “They Want Us Exterminated”: Murder, Torture, Sexual Orientation and Gender in Iraq – 17 August 2009

USA Today – Rights Group Reports Anti-Gay Death Squads at Work in Iraq – 17 August 2009

The Washington Post – Gay Men Targeted In Iraq, Report Says – 17 August 2009

UN Cites Human Rights Violations in Operation Cast Lead

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

GENEVA, Switzerland- United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has called for an in depth, transparent investigation of Israel's Operation Cast Lead. Pillay stated that “there is significant prima facie evidence of serious violations of international humanitarian law having been committed by the Israeli forces and Palestinian militants,” during the operation which took place between December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights reports that at least 1,400 Palestinians were killed, and at least thirteen Israelis, three of which were civilians during Israel's 22-day offensive on Gaza.

The allegations which warrant further investigation include Israeli attacks on Gaza civilians, civilian hospitals, schools, administrative facilities and 27,000 private homes. Of particular concern for the UN is the “targeting of the civilian population and wanton destruction of property and religious and cultural objects” according to a separate report by a UN investigative team, released on August 14. "While these violations are of deep concern in their own right, the nearly total impunity that persists for such violations (regardless of the responsible duty bearer) is of grave concern, and constitutes a root cause for their persistence," Pillay said.

Pillay's report to the UN Human Rights Council also calls for the immediate easing of Israeli restrictions in the Palestinian territories. She hopes that this easing will lead to a lifting of the blockade on Gaza, which has been economically devastating to the people living there. Pillay claims that the blockade and restrictions on movement of people and goods in the West Bank “amount to collective punishment.”  The alleged torture of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons and collective punishment both contravene the Geneva Conventions, to which Israel is a party.

Moreover, the report specifically calls for Israel to cease its settlement expansion immediately. It also asks Israel to cease evictions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, and address the persistent impunity for settler violence. Pillay remains concerned over Israel's disregard for the International Court of Justice's recommendation regarding the barrier wall that Israel is constructing to keep assailants out. The wall would enclose 9.5 per cent of the West Bank area.

Israeli Ambassador Aharon Leshno-Yaar rejected the findings of Pillay. Leshno-Yaar felt that the report failed to note recent moves by Israel to ease restrictions on Palestinians, and reflected an anti-Israel bias by the U.N. Human Rights Council.

The Arab News Network al Jazeera reports that Israel is now running an ad campaign to discredit human rights agencies that have reported negatively on Israel, including Human Rights Watch.

For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera - UN: Israel Had 'Impunity' in Gaza – 15August 2009

Al Jazeera - Israel Questions Gaza War Reports – 14 August 2009

Christian Science Monitor - Israel Killed Palestinians Waving White Flags, Report Says - 14 August 2009

Fox News- U.N. Human Rights Chief: Israel's Blockade of Gaza Strip Is Illegal- 14 August 2009

United Nations - Significant Prima Facie Evidence of Serious Rights Abuses in Gaza, UN reports - 14 August 2009

Jordanian Woman Killed for Marrying Without Family Permission

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

AMMAN, Jordan - A 23-year-old pregnant woman was reportedly killed by her brother for marrying without her family's permission.  On August 13, the 30-year-old man was charged with premeditated murder and illegal possession of weapons.

Jihad al-Diridi, the prosecutor who filed the charges, said the unnamed woman got married two years ago and had a baby boy.  The woman had reportedly reconciled with her parents, who invited her to another brother's wedding on August 12, where the woman was killed.  Al-Diridi said the charged brother shot his sister in the head and abdomen after the wedding reception.  The woman's husband was beaten by two other brothers, who were later charged with assisting in the crime.

After the killing, the brother who shot the woman walked to the nearest police station, turned himself in, and handed over his gun.  Sources said the man told police he had killed his sister "to cleanse his family's honor."

This "honor killing" was the second in two days in Amman.  The first such killing happened on August 11, when a 39-year-old man killed his 16-year-old niece.  The girl had been raped eleven months ago by two relatives and had become pregnant.  The uncle reportedly learned of the rape on August 8 and "decided to kill her in the name of family honor," according to a source.  The girl was shot nine times in the head in her family home.  The uncle was charged with premeditated murder.

Fifteen honor killings have been reported in Jordan so far this year.  An average of twenty Jordanian women are killed each year by relatives who claim to be protecting the family honor, despite government attempts to curb the murders.  The Jordanian Parliament has refused to strengthen the penal code to create harsher sentences for the crimes.

For more information, please see:

Richmond Times-Dispatch - Jordanian Man Charged with Killing Pregnant Sister - 13 August 2009

Straits Times - Man Charged for Killing Sister - 13 August 2009

Vancouver Sun - Jordan Woman Killed for Marrying Without Permission - 13 August 2009

Jordan Times - Man Charged with Premeditated Murder of his 16-Year-Old Niece - 12 August 2009

Huffington Post - Jordanian Man Accused of Stabbing Pregnant Sister - 12 April 2009

Allegations of Fraud in Fatah Leadership Vote

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RAMALLAH, West Bank - After the election for Fatah's leadership body, the Central Committee, many of Fatah's Gaza leaders have quit, citing massive voter fraud.  In addition, Fatah leaders in both Gaza and the West Bank have composed a memorandum to President Mahmoud Abbas, calling for the rejection of the August 12 elections.

The election determining Fatah's eighteen-member leadership council has come under scrutiny, as allegations have surfaced regarding last-minute ballot substitutions and unilateral decisions for or against candidates.  The election has also sparked underlying tensions between members of the older Fatah leadership, who came of age immersed in the ideologies of Fatah's founder, Yassir Arafat, and younger, more pragmatic locally-born leaders who have negotiated with Israel. 

One member of the "old guard" who lost his seat was top Palestinian negotiator and former Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei.  Qorei claimed that "interventions" marred the balloting, and said that he had formally complained to the Fatah leadership, "not only against the results but also against the entire process of elections."

Fourteen out of the eighteen seats on the Central Committee were won by individuals who had never previously served on the Committee.  Many Palestinians see the election as a response to Fatah's reputation for corruption, cronyism, and infighting, and the embodied hopes of Palestinians in favor of a more transparent, pragmatic approach to the Israel-Palestinian peace process.  Jailed leader Marwan Barghouti and Mohammad Dahlan, former head of the Fatah security forces in Gaza, were two of the most well-known newly elected members, and both are considered possible unifying, pragmatic leaders of Fatah.

Saeb Erekat, another leading Palestinian negotiator and newly elected member of the Central Committee said the August 12 election was "a coup against a leadership that had monopolized the movement for a long time without even presenting a report about its work."

President Abbas said that Fatah came out of the elections "energized" and dismissed any speculation that the party had suffered a split.

For more information, please see:

Jerusalem Post - Fatah's Gaza Leaders Quit, Citing Massive Vote Fraud - 14 August 2009

AFP - Abbas Rules Out Talks Unless Israel Halts Settlements - 13 August 2009

Ma'an News Agency - Angry Fatah Members to Deliver Rejection Memo to Abbas Over Elections - 13 August 2009

BBC News - Young Leaders Dominate Fatah Vote - 11 August 2009

New York Times - Fatah Party Election Brings in a New Generation - 11 August 2009

Intense Debate Continues Over Release of the Man Convicted for the Lockerbie Bombing

By Nykoel Dinardo
Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

GRENOCK PRISON, Scotland - As rumors arise that Scottish authorities will agree to release Abdel Basset Ali al Megrahi, the man convicted for the terrorist act known as the Lockerbie Bombing, debate continues over whether he should be released. 

Abdel Basset Ali al Megrahi was convicted for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the town of Lockerbie Scotland, which killed 270 people and is known more commonly as the Lockerbie Bombing.  He was sentenced to a minimum of 27 years in prison for his involvement in the terrorist act and has been serving his sentence in Grenock Prison in Scotland since his conviction.  However, in October 2008, after al Megrahi was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer, he filed for compassionate release. 

On August 12 Scottish Government Spokesman Kenny MacAskill made a statement to the press saying that no decision has yet been made on the request.  However, information from other sources has led to speculation that al Megrahi's request will be granted.  According to al Megrahi's wife, she has recieved confirmation from Libyan authorities that her husband will be released and that she will see him soon.  Other reports have said that al Megrahi will be released and returned to Libya before the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan begins on August 21. 

Following these reports, several relatives of those who were killed in the Lockebie Bombing have spoken out.  Susan Cohen, whose daughter Theodora, a member of a group of students from Syracuse University, who was on board Flight 103, stated that the thought of al Megrahi's release "makes [her] sick" and that it would be "vile."  An editorial written to Arab News argues that his release "is wrong" and that the way his case has been treated thus far is "a miscarriage of justice."  Kathleen Flynn, whose son was killed in the bombing told the BBC that al Megrahi "should never qualify for anything compassionate."

Others, however, have come out to speak in favor of his release.  Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing, stated that al Megrahi's release would be to Scotland's credit, and that "the sooner he is back with his family the better."  Moreover, tthers claim that al Megrahi was wrongly convicted and should not be in prison at all.  According to Bob Monetti, whose son was killed, the families should "understand that Megrahi was just a tool in this.  He wasn't the person who decided what to do." 

Regardless of the debate over his release, al Megrahi continues his appeal and his request for release.  He awaits a statement from the Scottish Government, expected to come out later this week.

For more information, please see:

Arab News - Editorial: Lockerbie Bomber - 14 August 2009

IOL News - Wife of Lockerbie Bomber Counts the Days - 14 August 2009

BBC - Lockerbie Bomber 'To Be Released' - 13 August 2009

Bloomberg - Scottish Government Has Yet to Decide on Al Megrahi - 13 August 2009

New York Times - Release of Lockerbie Convict is Debated - 13 August 2009

Telegraph - Lockerbie Bomber: US Says He Should Complete Sentence - 13 August 2009]

Impunity Watch - Libya Asks for Return of Terminally Ill Lockerbie Bomber - 28 July 2009