Mousavi’s Nephew Among the Dead in Anti-Government Protests in Iran

Mousavi’s Nephew Among the Dead in Anti-Government Protests in Iran

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Anti-government protesters clashed with Iranian security forces on December 27. The clash left at least eight protesters dead, including the nephew of opposition leader Mir Hussein Mousavi. Iranian officials deny opposition claims that police shot Seyed Ali Mousavi.

According to Mousavi’s website, Seyed Ali was shot in the back on the 27th as security forces fired on demonstrators in Tehran. The Mousavi family claims that Seyed Ali’s body had been taken without their permission from the hospital where it had been held. The official news agency of Iran reports that Seyed Ali and other bodies of people killed on December 27 were “retained in order to complete forensic and police examinations and find more leads on this suspicious incident.”

Opposition websites report that police fired tear gas on December 29 at a group of Mousavi supporters who were demonstrating outside of the hospital where Seyed Ali’s body had bee held.

Foreign media in Iran reports that the country is arresting opposition figures to stifle protests. Among those arrested on December 29 is Ebrahim Yazdi, leaders of the Freedom Movement of Iran, and his nephew. Yazdi’s son, Khalil, who lives in the US, told the BBC that Iranian authorities wanted to close down all opposition groups.

Also among the arrested was three aides to Mir Hussein Mousavi. A senior cleric from the holy city of Qom close to Mousavi, Mousavi Tebrizi, is also reported to have been arrested The Parlemannews website also reports that two aides to reformist former President Mohammad Khatami were among the individuals rounded up by authorities.

The violence on the streets of Iran’s major cities on December 27 were the worst since the protests immediately after the disputed presidential election. While state media confirmed eight deaths, other reports put the number as high as fifteen people. Mehdi Karroubi, another reformist candidate in the election, accused the Ahmedinejad regime of “dipping its hands in people’s blood.”

The Iranian government’s action towards the protesters has sparked controversy around the world. The US, UK, France, Germany and Canada all condemned the violence in Iran’s streets. President Barack Obama said that “the Iranian people have sought nothing more than to exercise their universal rights. Each time they have done so, they have been met with the iron fist of brutality.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Iran Rally Leaders ‘Enemies of God’ – 30 December 2009

Los Angeles Times – Iran Clamps Down on Protests – 29 December 2009

BBC – Iran Opposition Figures Arrested After Protests – 28 December 2009

Telegraph – Iran Arrests Key Opposition Figures in Effort to End Protests – 28 December 2009

Israel Continues Construction, Land Seizure Despite Settlement Freeze

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

EAST JERUSALEM, West Bank/Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a plan to build seven hundred new housing units in East Jerusalem and has invited construction contractors to bid on the project. The move has been widely condemned by the Palestinians and the broader international community, as East Jerusalem is predominantly Arab and is considered to be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

 

Several weeks ago, Mr. Netanyahu announced a ten-month freeze on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as a gesture to show Israel’s good faith effort in negotiating with the Palestinians. The Israeli government did not include East Jerusalem in the settlement freeze, and has said it considers East Jerusalem to be part of a unified Jewish Jerusalem.

 

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat denounced the planned construction, and said that it was further evidence that the Israelis do not intend to negotiate with the Palestinians as equals.

 

“With each individual action it undertakes on the ground, Israel is saying no to meaningful negotiations, no to a just and lasting peace and no to the two-state solution,” said Mr. Erekat in a statement released after the Israeli announcement. “Every decision Israel takes to construct more illegal settlements makes a mockery of its so-called ‘settlement moratorium.’ If this is what Israel means by a settlement moratorium, then one can only wonder what Israel intends to do once that moratorium has ended.”

 

Mr. Netanyahu’s government has also drawn criticism from conservative Israelis for imposing the construction freeze in the West Bank. A week prior to the announcement of construction in East Jerusalem, a group of rabbis signed a letter saying that Israeli soldiers’ loyalty to religious institutions and communities that build settlements takes precedent over any duty to carrying out Israel’s diplomatic agenda, including enforcing the settlement freeze.

 

In addition to the planned construction in East Jerusalem, the Israeli State Prosecutor’s Office notified the High Court of Justice on December 27 that Israel was considering seizing private Palestinian land in the West Bank, despite the moratorium on such activity. Lawyers advocating for the Palestinian land owners, many of whom have lived on the land for generations, called the move “nothing short of an outrage.”

 

For more information, please see:

 

Al-Jazeera – Israel Plans Settlement Expansion – 28 December 2009

 

Ha’aretz – U.S.: Israel Plan to Build in East Jerusalem Harms Peace Process – 28 December 2009

 

Ma’an News Agency – White House Criticizes New Israeli Settlement Plan – 28 December 2009

 

Press TV – Israel Invites Tenders for Expanding Settlements – 28 December 2009

 

Christian Science Monitor – Israeli Settlements: Rabbis Say Soldiers’ Loyalty to God Trumps Army Orders – 18 December 2009

Canada Condemns Iranian Violence Against Protestors

28 December 2009

Canada Condemns Iranian Violence Against Protestors

By William Miller

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

Lawrence cannon

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon condemned Iran’s use of violence against protestors on Sunday (PHOTO: Washington TV)

OTTAWA, Canada – Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon condemned Iran for attacks against protestors on Sunday, December 27. He expressed Canada’s concern for Iran’s use of violence against those who were simply utilizing their right to freedom of expression and added that he was particularly concerned that the crackdown occurred during a religious holy day.

In a public statement Cannon said “The government of Canada condemns the use of brutal violence by Iranian security forces and once again calls upon Iran to meet its human rights obligations.” He further said, “The people of Iran deserve to have their voices heard and to enjoy the rights to which they are entitled without fear of violence and intimidation.”

The violence occurred on Sunday during Ashura, a holy day of mourning on the Shia calendar. Iranian security forces attacked demonstrators in Tehran who were protesting against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the Supreme Leader in Iran.

Police attacked using tear gas and batons killing at least eight and arresting some three-hundred protestors. Among the dead was Ali Mousavi, the nephew of the leader of the reformist movement Hossein Mousavi. It has been reported that he died from a gunshot wound.

Iran’s state-sponsored television news had originally put the death toll at fifteen in Tehran but has since claimed only eight protestors were killed. They claim that many of them were members of “anti-revolutionist terrorist groups.” Police have denied any responsibility for the deaths and a senior police official denied any allegations that the police used firearms during the crackdown.

Canada has been joined by other countries in denouncing the crackdown in Iran. Among those denouncing the violence were the United States, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

For more information, please see:

Guardian.co.ck – Opposition Leader’s Nephew Among the Nine Dead Amid Rioting and Bloodshed in Iran – 28 December 2009

Press TV – West Condemns Iran Protest Crackdown -28 December 2009

Washington TV – Canada Condemns Violence Against Protesters in Iran – 28 December 2009

Lebanon Misses Deadline to Establish Torture Prevention Committee

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon– According to a number of human rights organizations, Lebanon has not met a December 22 deadline to establish a national institution devoted to preventing torture.

Last year, Lebanon signed the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT).  As part of that signing, Lebanon’s government was required to set up a mechanism within a year that would prevent torture through regular visits to the country’s detention centers.

A committee was set up June 20 under the direction of Former Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar.  The committee drew up a draft proposal to implement a torture monitoring program, and they eventually sent their proposal to the Justice Ministry on September 30.  However, since that date the government has not taken any further steps.

Human Rights Watch and a number of other human rights organizations issued a statement saying that “the Justice Ministry took an important step when it created the committee, but now it has to finish what it started.  The next step is to send the proposal to the Cabinet.”  These human rights organizations believe it is imperative for the government to act on the draft proposal as soon as possible.

Additionally, the human rights groups have urged the Lebanese government to amend the country’s penal code to criminalize all forms of torture, not just physical violence, regardless of the objective of such torture, and to make the crime of torture punishable by a heavier sentence than the current maximum of three years.

The UN protocol is the first international human rights attempt to prevent torture and other forms of ill treatment by establishing a system of regular visits to detention centers.

In Lebanon, torture is prohibited by law.  However, despite the ban, a number of detainees, including suspected Islamists and suspected spies for Israel, have told various human rights groups that their interrogators beat them and tortured them.

For more information, please see:

The Daily Star- Lebanon Misses Deadline to Help Prevent Torture– 24 December 2009

United Press International- Beirut Lax in Torture Measures, Groups Say– 24 December 2009

Human Rights Watch- Lebanon: Government Misses UN Deadline on Torture Prevention– 23 December 2009

Nigerian Radical Attempts to Bomb US Passenger Plane

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

LAGOS, Nigeria – Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was charged on Saturday with trying to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253, an American passenger plane carrying nearly 300 people.

Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old, London-educated Nigerian, boarded a flight in Lagos, Nigeria, changed planes in Amsterdam, and, as the flight was approaching Detroit, attempted to detonate a bomb.  Instead of exploding, however, the explosive device caught fire and burned the suspect.  He was treated for burns at a Detroit hospital before being transferred to a federal prison about 50 miles away in the city of Milan.

The suspect graduated from a prominent London university in June 2008 and soon after began showing signs of trouble.  He went to Dubai to continue his education but defied his family’s wishes and went to Yemen to study Arabic and Shariah law (Islamic law).

In May of this year, the UK denied Abdulmutallab re-entry because of the questionable nature of the university to which he said he was applying.

According to Nigeria’s Minister of Information Dora Akunyili, he entered and left Nigeria on December 24, the day before the bombing attempt.

“The man in question has been living outside the country for a while.  He sneaked into Nigeria on the 24th of December and left the same day,” she said.

His cousin Mohammed Mutallab claims that Abdulmutallab came into contact with extremist groups while studying in London and that he became influenced by these groups when he visited East London mosque.  The mosque has three times previously been accused of hosting Muslim extremist preachers.

Those in the town he grew up in blame his foreign education.

“Everyone knew about the Mutallabs and the father is honest, generous, helpful and above all a prominent banker.  I cannot see why his son should be involved in this act.  My only advice to the elite is to allow their children to mingle with the children of the masses so that he will have some of the traditional morals and values that (the elder) Mutallab himself enjoyed,” said Ibrahim Bello, a Funtua resident close to the Mutallab family home.

Abdulmutallab sent one final text message to his father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, in November saying he no longer wanted any contact with his family.  Mutallab and his wife applied for visas to Yemen to bring their son home but when they were denied, he alerted Nigerian and American officials.  He believed that his son had been “radicalized” during his trips outside the country.

Authorities in the United States, Europe, and Africa are all trying to figure out where Abdulmutallab has been in the past year and under whose influence he came.

“Nigerian security agencies are working hand-in-hand with international security agencies on this matter,” said Akunyili.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Plane Bomb Suspect ‘in Nigeria on December 24’ – 28 December 2009

Independent – Nigerian in Aircraft Attack Linked to London Mosque – 28 December 2009

Wall Street Jourmal – Suspect’s Privileged Existence Took Radical Turn – 28 December 2009

LA Times – Nigerian Accused of Trying to Destroy Northwest Airlines Flight Transferred to Federal Prison – 27 December 2009

Reuters – Nigeria Bomber’s Hometown Blames Foreign Schooling – 27 December 2009