Two Palestinian Journalists Jailed for Violating Israeli Censorship Laws

Two Palestinian Journalists Jailed for Violating Israeli Censorship Laws

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

EAST JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – An Israeli District Court has sentenced two Palestinian journalists to two months in jail and six months of probation for reporting on the Israeli ground invasion in January 2009.  The pair was accused of violating Israel’s censorship laws, though some supporters of the journalists allege they were jailed because they work for an Iranian television station.

Khodr Shahine, a correspondent for Iran’s Arabic language station Al-Alam, and Mohammed Sarhan, a producer for Al-Alam, were accused of reporting on the military invasion nearly two hours before the Israeli government cleared the operation for press coverage on January 3. 

Israel rarely enforces its censorship laws, even though all accredited journalists have to sign a censorship form that requires them to clear any sensitive security information with a military censor before releasing that information.  The laws were widely ignored during Israel’s 2006 campaign in Lebanon, though no journalists were prosecuted.  The fact that Shahine and Sarhan’s sentencing came down in the same week that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected in Iran has fueled suspicions that the pair’s imprisonment was actually motivated by Israeli-Iranian political tensions.

Reporters Without Borders condemned Israel’s imprisonment of the Palestinian journalists as inextricably tied to Ahmadinejad’s reelection.

“Journalists should not be hostages to geopolitical developments,” read a statement from the press freedom organization.

Fares Sarafandy, the Al-Alam bureau chief in Ramallah, said Shahine and Sarhan were just doing their jobs.

“They reported what they saw, namely that tanks were beginning to move,” said Sarafandy.  “They didn’t say the invasion had started.  At heart, this issue is about Israel and Iran.”

For more information, please see:

The National – Israel Jails Two TV Journalists – 18 June 2009

Reporters Without Borders – Palestinian Journalists Working for Iranian TV Station Get Two Months in Jail from Israeli Court – 16 June 2009

World Bulletin – Israel Jails Palestinian Journalists for Gaza Invasion Report – 16 June 2009

Ha’aretz – Two East Jerusalem Journalists Jailed for Reporting for Iran – 15 June 2009

Ma’an News Agency – Palestinian Journalists Jailed for Violating Censorship During Gaza Invasion – 14 June 2009

Hate Fever: Arizona Anti-Immigration Activists Arrested for Killings Aimed at Getting Their Way

By Nima Nayebi

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Europe
ARRIVACA, United States – Shawna Forde, an outspoken anti-immigration activist, has be arrested in connection with the 30th May home invasion killings of Raul Flores and his daughter. Forde, 41, and two fellow members of her Minuteman American Defense group (MAD), stand charged with “two counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of aggravated assault,” according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona. The killings are said to have been premeditated and designed to steal money and drugs to fund MAD. According to her family, Forde had discussed using robbery as a fund-raising strategy for her anti-immigration group, but Forde denies this allegation. The Green Valley News and Sun reports that she stated: “No, I did not do it.” Forde’s mother, Rena Caudle, who lives in California, said she was not surprised to hear of her daughter’s arrest. Forde visited Caudle before going to Arizona, telling her she planned to stage home invasions.

The victims, Raul Flores, 29, and his daughter, nine-year-old Brisenia, were killed when armed intruders invaded their home. Brisenia’s mother, who traded gun-fire with the suspects, survived the attack, but required hospitalization due to gun shot wounds. Authorities said the threesome dressed as Border Patrol Officers and broke into the Flores’ home, looking for money or drugs to sell. The Pima Count Sheriff’s office revealed that Flores had been connected to Mexican drug cartels, and that the US Drug Enforcement Agency knew this. According to police, the intruders intended to kill the Flores’ other daughter, but failed to locate her in the residence.  According to Dawn Barkman, the Sheriff’s Spokesperson, Forde “was the ringleader of this group and of this attack. She made the order for Bush to go in and shoot these individuals. She’s just truly an evil person to do something like this.”

Forde’s group, MAD, claims that they conduct surveillance and investigations aimed at curtailing illegal immigration and drug-smuggling into the United States. According to the group’s website, “MAD is not responsible for the independent actions or the private agenda by Shawna Forde and her cohorts…. Shawna acted totally on her own person [sic] agenda and has caused a lot of pain embarrassment and humiliation to the total Minuteman movement and fellow members of MAD. MAD will cooperate totally and fully with any and all Law Enforcement agencies and the appropriate judicial system to bring this most terrifying event to a close.” Chris Simcox, the founder of the original Minuteman group, said, “We knew that Shawna Forde was not just an unsavory character but pretty unbalanced as well.”

In the past few weeks, a white supremacist allegedly killed a black guard at the US Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and anti-abortion activist allegedly killed a Kansas doctor who performed abortions.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that monitors hate groups through its “Intelligence Project,” estimates that the number of hate groups in the US has risen 54% since 2000. The increase has been fueled partly by the opposition to Hispanic immigration and the election of Mr. Barack Obama, America’s first black president.

Forde had been active in MAD for several years, but prior to heading to Arizona for another season of border patrolling, she e-mailed supporters, telling them: “I will stay the course and lead in this fight with every once [sic] of strength and conviction I have…. It is time for Americans to lock and load.”

Indonesian Government Delays Release of Five Detained Australians Till Next Week

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

JAKARTA, Indonesia – A supporter of the five Australians being detained in Papua for the last nine months, says the Indonesian government is delaying their release until next week.

The “Merauke Five,” as the five Australian detainees have been called, were arrested last September after they were caught flying their small aircraft over Papua without the requisite visas or flight clearance.

The Five were expected to be released over the weekend, but their lawyers fear that the Indonesian government may raise “further hurdles” before granting their release.

“There was a belief that the Indonesian government might not sign off on the Supreme Court decision, that they might not allow them to leave but I think that was more a misunderstanding. That seems to have been cleared. The pilot, (William) Scott-Bloxham, has taken the plane up for a test run for about fifteen minutes yesterday and that was fine. The plane’s ready to go. They’re ready to go. They’re just nervous about something going wrong,” Mark Bousen, editor of Torres Strait News, said.

Bousen said, however, that despite the delay, the Indonesian government is eager to release the five Australians, and put the matter behind them.

“A lot of the paperwork has been cleared now. They’re just waiting on the odd bit now. It seems that everyone’s been very co-operative: the Indonesian officials, the Australian bureaucracy at long last seem to be very proactive – they are very keen to have this case resolved and there seems to be a sense of co-operation between the two governments to have the five home as soon as possible,” Bousen said.

Bousen expects that the Five will be released by Monday.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – Supporters of five Australians in Papua fear hurdles will delay return home – 19 June 2009

Radio New Zealand International – Australians’ release from Papua delayed until next week – 19 June 2009

Thai rebels condemned for killing teachers

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – A human rights organization is demanding that Muslim insurgents in Thailand stop the “sickening trend” of killing teachers.  Since the separatist rebellion began in 2004 in Thailand’s three southern provinces, 115 teachers have been killed and more than 100 have been wounded.  200 schools have also been burned down.

Five teachers have been killed since a new school term began in May as a result of the recent escalation in violence in southern Thailand.  Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch said, “[S]eparatist insurgents are increasingly attacking teachers, who they consider a symbol of government authority and Buddhist Thai culture.  There is no excuse for such brutality”

On June 16, the insurgents shot a school teacher while she was riding her motorcycle from home to school.  Earlier this month, the insurgents also attacked a truck transporting school teachers, and singled out and killed two Thai teachers.

Thai teacher killed

Soldiers guarding the scene where teachers were killed (Source: Daily Mail Online)

Violence increased after 10 Muslims were killed in the June 8 mosque bombing in one of the southern provinces.  Although Thai government has strongly denied the accusation, rumors have spread calling Thai authorities as the mastermind behind the mosque bombing.

The insurgents are fighting to create an independent Muslim state, because they distrust the predominantly Buddhist Thai authorities.  This violence has led to more than 3,500 deaths since 2004 of both Buddhists and Muslims in Thailand.  36 civilians have been killed due to the insurgency so far in June.

“The attacks on teachers not only violate international law prohibitions against targeting civilians, but also threaten children’s basic right to education,” said Human Rights Watch.

The Group also asked the Thai authorities to hold those responsible in a lawful manner and to bolster security at schools. The government has promised to make schools safe and teachers secure at their workplace, but hundreds of teachers have requested that they be transferred from the region.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Thailand: Insurgents Target Teachers in South – 18 June 2009

Mail Online – Three Buddhist teachers killed in Thai Muslim south – 11 June 2009

MSNBC – Thai rebels blasted for killing teachers – 19 June 2009

Sri Lanka: 280,000 Tamil Civilians Detained

By Alishba I. Kassim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – After Sri Lanka’s final victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels, the country continues to grapple with the issue of postwar resettlement.

Approximately 280,000 Tamil civilians remain detained, finding themselves living inside barbed wire fences in large tents. Despite challenges to their detention from various human rights agencies, the government maintains that their detention is an imperative security measure. Security in the detention facilities continues to be tightened with limited humanitarian access. Vehicles of aid organizations have been barred after the military suggested they were smuggling out members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Resettlement remains an issue for the Sri Lankan government who have not yet produced a clear plan. No details have been shared with the UN who have ample experience in this area and are willing to provide greater assistance.

The Sri Lankan government has maintained a closed door policy on these matters and have publicly refuted accusations of mismanagement and human rights violations during and after the fighting. There has been little or no probe of the military’s tactics during the fighting, and claims implicating the army’s indiscriminate shelling of civilians have been swept under the rug. Earlier this week a presidential panel set up to investigate human rights abuses during the fighting was also shut down.

Sri Lanka maintains a firm stance on state sovereignty since it has often been undermined in developing countries by the world’s super powers. However that being said, some level of intervention is necessary in order to investigate and respond to matters of human rights – especially when 280,000 displaced civilians are at stake.

For more information, please see:

Christian Science Monitor – Sri Lanka’s Post-war Resettlement Stalls – June 19, 2009

NPR – Sri Lankan Tamils Ponder Future – June 19, 2009

Tamil Sydney – Rising Threat of Post-war Disappearances – June 19, 2009

The Hindu – Sri Lanka Not to Allow Visits to Tamil Camps – June 19, 2009