By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s Supreme Court has ordered a new trial over the death of an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist who died four years ago in a Tehran prison.

Zahra Kazemi, who was 54, was arrested in June 2003 while taking photographs outside notorious Evin Prison in the north of the capital. There, she endured more than three days of interrogation and eventually died in jail. She was never formally charged with any crime.  Read more...

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo – An 11 month baby girl has died following her rape in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The alleged rapist is a twenty year old man, who faces a life sentence.

The brutal rape and death come after a Red Cross hearing in Geneva that denounced the “systematic violence” against girls and women in DR Congo.

ICRC official, Dominik Stillhart stated, “What really shocked me personally the most, was the systematic violence especially against women and girls which is producing immense suffering.”  Read more...

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

HEBRON, West Bank – On November 28, thousands of members from Hamas and the Islamic fundamentalist Hizb al-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) attended the funeral of Hisham al-Baradi in Hebron.  Baradi, a member of the Party of Liberation, was killed at an anti-Annapolis demonstration on November 27.  Demonstrators claim that Baradi’s death was caused by gun fire from the Palestinian Authority security forces.  However, the police deny these allegations.  Read more...

By Vivek Thiagarajan
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

MIDYAT, Turkey- Father Daniel Savici’s car was found abandoned on Wednesday in south eastern region of Mardin, Turkey.  The Syraic priest was kidnapped and is being held captive.  His kidnappers demanded 300,000 Euros as ransom for his safe release.

Lately, the Turkish Christians have faced many attacks.  Last week marked the beginning of trial for men accused of brutally murdering three Protestant Christians during a Bible study in April.   (See Story)  Also, last year a Catholic Priest was shot and killed by a young zealous nationalist.  Read more...

KONO, Bougainville – Bougainville is an autonomous province in Papua New Guinea, and it experienced civil war during its fight for independence from PNG.  Jacob Naisi, deputy commander of the Bougainville Resistance Force (BRF), was shot dead at close range last Sunday afternoon in his village while walking home from the bakery with his two neices.  It is believed that the shooters are the same group who commandeered a UN vehicle in the area last week.

Naisi, who was instrumental in the peace process, died as he was being rushed to the village.  Donald Hamau, regional chairman for the BRF, said that Naisi’s death highlights the need for the Bougainville government to address lingering reconciliation and weapons disposal issues.  Read more...

By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Deployment of a joint UN-AU peacekeeping force to Darfur may be delayed due to several challenges in the region.  On Tuesday the head of UN peacekeeping, Jean-Marie Guehenno, “complained that Sudanese government red tape and lack of resources are delaying the deployment of an international force to protect civilians in the war-stricken region of Darfur.”  Read more...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon – Rival factions engaged in a gunfight in Shiraa Square in the Abu Samra neighborhood of Tripoli.  Members from the Islamic Unification Movement (IUM) and from the Tripoli Brigades exchanged automatic fire for about 30 minutes.  IUM is close to the pro-Syrian opposition while the Tripoli Brigades is linked to the anti-Syrian March 14 political coalition and leader Saad Hariri.

The fighting resulted in one death, allegedly the son of the leader of IUM, and six other injuries.  There are also unconfirmed reports of the death of a member of the Tripoli Brigades as well.  Read more...

By Sarah C. LaBelle
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

HONIARA, Solomon Islands – Earlier this month, nine high-level government ministers in the Solomon Islands defected to the opposition, creating an opening for the opposition to call for a no confidence motion against Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.  Both sides maintain that they have the numbers to rule, causing a political stand off, and rumours are still flying over alleged defections from both sides.  (For more on the initial events, please see the Impunity Watch report here.)  Read more...

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

ABECHE, Chad – According to the Chad army, several hundred rebel fighters were killed near the eastern border. The present clashes have ended the month- long cease fire. The clashes took place near the volatile border of Sudan’s Darfur region, an area where 4,000 European Union peacekeepers are expected to be sent next year.

A rebel leader of the Union Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) has confirmed that seventeen of his armed militants were killed. The leader also claimed that 100 government soldiers were killed in the fighting that took place in the small towns of Forchana and Hadjer Hadid, located 70 kilometers east of Abeche. The UFDD has also stated that they will abandon the peace agreement signed with the government.  Read more...

GAZA CITY, Gaza – Thousands of Palestinians gathered in cities across Gaza and in the West Bank to protest the peace conference currently underway in Annapolis.  At the largest rally, in Gaza City, leaders of Hamas spoke amongst chants of “Death to Israel” and “Death to America”.  Hamas, who is labeled as a terrorist organization by the US, was not invited to the conference, and has been protesting against the conference for several days.  At the Gaza City demonstration, Haniya, the former Palestinian Prime Minister, stated that the “conference cannot change the reality of history and geography,” and that any conference that denies this reality is “doomed to failure.”  Read more...