By Alyxandra Stanczak
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Photo of Emadeddin Baghi. (Image by Payvan News).

TEHRAN, Iran - On Thursday, July 29, 2010, Emadeddin Baghi, acclaimed author and human rights activist, was sentenced to one year in prison for “acting against [Iran's] national security through the spreading of propaganda against the regime,” “disclosing classified documents about [Iran's] prisons,” ”visiting political prisoners’ families and providing them with financial and legal help,” and ”having relations with human rights organizations abroad.”  Along with his jail sentence, Baghi was sentenced to a five-year ban from political and media activities.  Read more...

PEACE NEGOTIATIONS WATCH

Friday, July 30, 2010
Volume IX, Number 27

In this issue:

CONFLICT UPDATES

Afghanistan
Burma
Cameroon: Southern Cameroons
Cyprus
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Georgia
Kashmir
Kenya
Kyrgyzstan
Nagorno Karabakh
Nepal
Philippines
Somaliland
Sudan: Darfur
Sudan: Southern Sudan
Tanzania
Thailand
Uganda
Zimbabwe

Afghanistan

UN Security Council Hails International Conference on Afghanistan
Xinhua, July 24, 2010
The United Nations (UN) Security Council released a statement congratulating the Afghan government on the recent international conference in Kabul, which included national governmental, regional, and international representatives.  The representatives met and discussed strengthening regional and international cooperation, Afghan leadership and governance, security, and economic growth.  The UN Security Council stated that the conference is another step in the political, economic, and security improvement process in Afghanistan, as well as the peace process.  Read more...

By Tristan Simoneau
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PARIS, France - On Wednesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered authorities to expel Gypsy illegal immigrants and dismantle their camps.  This announcement comes after last week’s riot in the town of Saint Aignan where dozens of Gypsies armed with crude weapons attacked a police station and burned cars after police shot dead a Gypsy during a car chase.  In response to the violence in Saint Aignan, Sarkozy stated that some members of the migrating minorities pose security “problems.”

FBI Website photo of "Nacho Coronel" or Ignacio Coronel Villareal

By Erica Laster                    Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – In a raid on a drug trafficking house in a wealthy suburb of Guadalajara Thursday night, soldiers shot and killed Ignacio Coronel Villareal (Nacho Coronel), a top Mexican drug cartel leader.  His death comes the same day as the United States embassy in Mexico City announced the closure of the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, a city located across the border from El Paso, Texas.  Read more...

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

PUBLIC STATEMENT

AI Index MDE 15/017/2010

26 July 2010

Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories: Accountability must be paramount as UN considers investigations on Gaza conflict

Amnesty International has reiterated its urgent call for accountability for alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed by the parties to the conflict in Gaza and southern Israel as the UN Secretary-General prepares to assess domestic investigations.  Read more...

By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Mohammad Mostafaei, the Attorney for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani in 2009.

TEHERAN, Iran - Mohammad Mostafaei the human rights attorney who represented Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the mother of two whose death by stoning sentence was stayed after international outcry over her case, has gone missing.  Amnesty International reported that Mostafaei was called in on Saturday for questioning at Teheran’s Evin prison and appears to have gone missing after his release.

Mostafaei’s collegues have said that they believe he is currently in hiding.  Read more...

President Kagame is slated to win Rwanda's next presidential election; Photo courtesy of Reuters

by Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch Reporter
Africa Desk

Kigali, RWANDA- The Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling for an independent autopsy of André Kagwa Rwisereka, whose body was found near his home in southern Rwanda July 14th, his head nearly decapitated just weeks before Rwanda’s next presidential election.  Rwisereka was vice president of the Democratic Green Party, the main opposition to current Rwandan president Paul Kagame.  The police have an unidentified suspect in custody and several different motives have been put forward as an explanation for Rwisereka’s murder.  While the police have stated that he may have been the target of a mugging or killed by an individual he was in a financial dispute with, Rwisereka’s colleagues in the Democratic Green Party say he had been receiving death threats since February because of his views opposing the current government.  Read more...

Anti-Pinochet Protesters in Chile (Photo Courtesy of Center for American Progress)

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – The Roman Catholic Church recently called on conservative Chilean President Sebastian Piñera to pardon long-serving human rights violators. 

Specifically, The Chilean Bishops’ Conference urged President Piñera to show clemency to prisoners who showed repentance from human rights violations that occurred during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.  Many of the longest-serving prisoners are elderly and ill, including ex-military officials who were directly responsible for abuses.  The proposed pardon would have pardoned 60 individuals.  The Church’s actions come while Chile is set to commemorate 200 years of Chilean independence.  Read more...