By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza – Hamas’ deputy leader, Mousa Abu Marzook, has publicly criticized the executions of six individuals who were allegedly “caught red-handed” in collaborating with Israel on Tuesday. Marzook declared his disdain for the killings through a post on the popular social media website, Facebook.

Marzook was not against the killing of the six individuals as much as he was promoting the use of law and expressing anger towards vigilantism. He stated that, “[w]e endorse punishments to spies and especially to those who took part in the death of our commander and undermine our resistance but they should only be punished by law.”

He added that, “[t]he way these collaborators were killed and the images after their death are totally unacceptable and those responsible must be indicted.”

Ultimately, it was Hamas’ military wing, Izzedine al-Qassam, who claimed responsibility for the executions. It was said that the six men were caught using hi-tech equipment to film Palestinian military positions. They were alleged to have given Israel intelligence regarding Palestinian fighters and rocket launching locations.

The six informants were not shot on sight by the four gunmen, but rather murdered as a demonstration in the streets of Gaza City. Salim Mahmoud, a local of the Sheik Radwan neighborhood, watched as the six men were ousted from a van and made to lie face down in the street before they were each shot. One of the dead bodies was then connected to a motorcycle and dragged through the streets for all to see.

Twenty-four-year-old local bystander Ashraf Maher believes that, “[t]hey should have been killed in a more brutal fashion so others don’t even think about working with the occupation (Israel).”

Once these six men were caught there was little doubt that they were going to be killed whether it be by court sanction or not. Palestinians have become used to such killings. The public killing of informants has been the regular practice in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank since the First Intifada in the late 1980s.

The last time Israel held an offensive against Gaza was four years ago, and seventeen collaborators were unlawfully shot and killed. Since then, four other informants were sentenced to death by firing squad, and many more wait on death row in Gaza.

For further information, please see:

Jerusalem Post – Hamas Leader Decries Killing of Alleged Spies – 21 November 2012

Y Net News – Hamas Official Criticized Execution of Suspected Collaborators – 21 November 2012

Daily Mail – Six Israeli ‘Spies’ Executed Before Baying mob in Gaza City, Before Motorbike Gang Drags one Bloodied Victim Through the Streets – 20 November 2012

Haaretz – Hamas Executes 6 Suspected Israel Collaborators – 20 November 2012

By Emily Schneider
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East Desk

JERUSALEM, Israel – Egyptian President Mohammed Morsy said today that “The travesty of the Israel aggression on Gaza will end in a few hours.” Israel has not confirmed any plans to cease it’s operations.

It’s been over seven days since the exchange of rocket fire began and the number of rockets fired and casualties has been increasing. At least ninety-four Palestinians and three Israelis have died since last Wednesday, including nine members of a Gaza family apparently killed by mistake. Attacks Tuesday showed that there was no sign of either side slowing down.

According to Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal, morale in Gaza was high despite Israel’s response and that anyone who attacked Palestinians would be “buried.” He went on to praise those he considers “resistance fighters” and said Hamas politicians fully supported them.

“We do not want escalation nor do we call for a ground war,” Meshaal told reporters at a news conference. “But we are not afraid of it nor will we back down.”

The Arab League met in an emergency session in Cairo this past Sunday and planned to send a delegation of foreign ministers to Gaza Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he was ready to expand the operation, even after Israel mobilized around 75,000 reservists.

However, Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi will not tolerate any ground invasion from Israel, saying that an Israeli ground operation in Gaza would have “serious repercussions.” He said Egypt would never accept it “and neither will the free world.”

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon arrived in Cairo Monday night to see what he could do to encourage truce talks. His arrival comes hours after Egypt’s intelligence chief gave an Israeli delegation a letter from Hamas, outlining its conditions for a cease-fire. Tuesday, Ban Ki-Moon visited Jerusalem to promote a cease-fire. He was among those who had to take cover after a rocket was fired into Jerusalem. That rocket did not reach Jerusalem, but it did strike an open area in  Palestinian village, according to the IDF’s twitter.

Both President Barack Obama and Israeli President Shimon Peres agreed that the first step toward ending hostilities is for militants to end all rocket attacks on Israel. U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is on her way to the region.

Clinton will “meet with regional leaders, beginning with our Israeli partners, to consult on the situation in Gaza,” said Ben Rhodes, deputy national security director.

He said the visits are supposed to support the “de-escalation of the violence and a durable outcome that ends the rocket attacks on Israeli cities and restores broader calm in the region.”

“They can stop any suffering in one second,” Peres said. “Stop shooting and that’s it.”

For more information, please see:

Egypt Independent – Morsy: Israel to End Aggression Tuesday – 20 Nov. 2012

JPost – Clinton to Arrive in Israel, Push for Cease-fire – 20 Nov. 2012

CNN-  No Slowdown in Gaza-Israel Hostilities; U.N. Chief Arrives to Push for Cease-fire – 19 Nov. 2012

BBC – Gaza Crisis: Deaths Soar Amid Fresh Israeli Strikes – 19 Nov. 2012

 

 

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TRIPOLI, Libya – On November 14, 2012, Libya swore in its new government. The new Prime Minister is Ali Zeidan, a former human rights activist. The new justice minister is Salah Marghani, a former human rights lawyer.

“I take full responsibility for the safety and security of all Libyans equally, including those who sided with the former regime,” said Zeidan. The new Prime Minster is committed to running a country where the rule of law and conceptions of justice are central to the government. With justice as an important tenet to the new regime, the government seeks to place special emphasis on human rights.

If the new government is going to make good on its claims, it is going to have to address the current detainee crisis which plagues Libya. Currently, there are eight thousand individuals who are held in illegal detention. Four thousand of these individuals are under government detainment. Many of those four thousand held by the government have yet to been charged with anything and are denied access to legal consultation and representation. The other four thousand detainees are being held by armed groups who have no legal right to hold anyone within their control.

Those currently in custody are mainly men and most have been detained for more than a year. Most of these men held various affiliations with the Gaddafi regime. Many others though are foreign nationals from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International believes that, “[i]t is shameful that Gaddafi-era abuses against foreigners, especially those from Sub-Saharan Africa, have not only continued but worsened. The Libyan authorities must acknowledge the extent of the abuse by militias and put in place measures to protect all foreign nationals from violence and abuse.”

Currently, the amount of armed forces groups in Libya, many of which hold detainees, far outnumbers the amount of actual official armed forces employed by the government. A law was passed four months ago during the transitional government that stated that “all supporters of the former reigme” detained by militia should be brought before judges and charged. It is roughly four months later, and practically no one has followed this transitional decree.

Libya’s Criminal Procedure Code clearly restricts non-governmental groups from holding the authority to arrest and detain others. Moreover, such detentions are also disallowed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights under international law. There is only an exception made for when there is a national emergency in which the country’s criminal codes are insufficient to deal with the matter. This is not the current case with Libya.

Those in detention are not subject to the greatest of treatment. Since May of last year there has been some reports of torture and at least three men have died while under militia custody.

If Libya’s new government is going to be as just as it purports to be, then these detainees are either going to have to be charged or released.

For further information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Libya: New Government Should end Illegal Detention – 16 November 2012

Magharebia – Libya Inaugurates new Government – 16 November 2012

Tripoli Post – Human Rights Watch Urges New Libyan Government to Free Illegal Detainees – 16 November 2012

Amnesty International – Libya: foreign Nationals Face Abuse and Exploitation – 13 November 2012

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Never before has an amendment restricted internet freedom in the United Arab Emirates like the most recent federal decree has. Not only does the law forbid copyright infringement, pornography, and gambling, but it also punishes those who criticize the nation’s rulers online.

Anyone who publishes news, photographs, information, or caricatures that “pose threats to the security of the state and to its highest interests or violate its public order” may face sanctions such as deportation or a multi-year jail sentence. Such interests of the state include defending the Constitution, laws, rulers, and religion of Islam from criticism. Additionally, one who attempts to organize an unauthrotized demonstration online can also face jail time or deportation.

The minimum jail sentence for a crime under this law will be a three-year term. The jail sentences will be enforced against citizens of the United Arab Emirates. Those who are foreign nationals and are convicted under this law will be deported.

Such policies are not rare in the Middle East. Similar policies restricting and punishing those who exercise their international right to freedom of expression, by criticizing the government, exist in countries like Iran, Qatar, Bahrain, Tunisia, and many others.

While the United Arab Emirates do not normally experience the regular uprisings and protests that some of its neighbors do, it has nonetheless detained sixty advocates since March. These individuals are believed to be connected to al-Islah, an advocacy group dedicated to Islamic tenets that is made up of students and human rights lawyers.

One prominent human rights activist who has been punished by the Emirati government for his outspoken blogging has been Ahmed Mansoor. Mansoor managed a website uaehewar.net that criticized government officials, and was a member of the Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa Advisory Committee.

Mansoor was sentenced to a three-year prison term but was pardoned after just seven months after engaging in a sixteen day hunger strike. Since being released, Mansoor claims he has been subject to physical attacks, defamation, death threats, and illegal government hacking of his computer and e-mail account. Mansoor’s passport was also confiscated so that he could not leave the country.

Middle East director at Human Rights Watch Sarah Leah Whitson finds it, “hard to dissociate the verbal and physical attacks against Mansoor from the government’s widespread campaign of intimidation, fear and arrests against all of the country’s reform activists.”

She added that, “[i]t’s becoming clear that anyone who exercises their right to free speech and criticizes the status quo faces an uncertain future in the UAE.”

Mansoor refuses to be affected by the new law. “The only limits that I put to myself are the ethical limits. . .I believe free speech is the prerequisite for any development to happen in any place and any country, and I’m driven totally by my passion and my love to this country,” said Mansoor.

For further information, please see:

International Business Times – United Arab Emirates Clamps Down on the Internet Freedom. . .Before it’s a Problem – 14 November 2012

BBC – UAE Places Restrictions on Online Dissent – 13 November 2012

Free Speech Debate – Ahmed Mansoor on Blogging his way into a UAE Prison – 18 October 2012

Human Rights Watch – UAE: Investigate Attacks on Rights Defender – 3 October 2012

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

AMMAN, Jordan — Protests in Jordan became more violent on Wednesday as they entered their second day.  In response to rising household gas and petrol prices, which increased by 53 percent and 12 percent respectively, protesters gathered last Tuesday night to denounce the monarchy.  The Jordanian government also announced sudden 11 percent increase in public transportation fares.  About several thousand Jordanians poured onto the streets after learning of the increases by state television.

In the city of Karak, witnesses and police said that about 2,000 protesters had marched through the streets, smashing shop windows and chanting “Down, down with you Abdullah,” and “Get out and leave us alone.”

Protesters blame the increase on King Abdullah II, who has the final say in all civic matters.  Protesters also demanded the resignation of the prime minister, a top aide of the king, and also chanted against Jordan’s intelligence forces in slogans that personally attacked the royal family and were never heard of prior to the Arab Spring.

Islamists see the protests as an opportunity to start a revolution.  They had planned to demonstrate near the Interior Ministry, where 24 people were arrested last Tuesday among more than 2,000 protesters.  “The street is seething with anger and an explosion is coming,” Zaki Bani Irsheid, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Jordan’s most powerful opposition group, said.  “We want to create a Jordanian Spring with a local flavor – meaning reforms in the system while keeping our protests peaceful.”

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour warned the Muslim Brotherhood against exploiting the price increases for political gain, also saying that the increases were unavoidable.  “If the move was delayed we would have faced a catastrophe and insolvency,” he said during an interview.  Ensour said that the budget deficit could rise to $3.5 billion this year, but he did not say how much would be saved if Jordan cuts subsidies, which it currently spends $2.3 billion, almost a quarter of its budget, on annually.

Ensour also said that the Arab Spring is partially to blame for the rising prices.  Specifically, he referred to the bombing of a pipeline that provided gas from Egypt, and how it forced Jordan to switch to costlier fuels so that its people would continue to receive power.  Also, Saudi Arabia declined to send Jordan $1.4 billion to assist its economy, which has been on the brink of collapse.

At least two Jordanian police men were seriously injured during the protests after being shot by demonstrators in the city of Irbid. In the city of Madaba, rioters fired live rounds at police squadrons, and in Theeban, protestors stormed a police station.

For further information, please see:

Al Arabiya — Strikes, Protests as Anger Over Jordan Fuel Hike Spreads — 14 November 2012

Al Jazeera — Violent Protests Continue in Jordan — 14 November 2012

Gulf News — Protests Erupt in Jordan After Fuel Prices Rise — 14 November 2012

Jordan Times — Vandalism, Arrests as Fuel Riots Continue — 14 November 2012