By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain — Last Tuesday, Bahrain imposed a temporary ban on all protests and gatherings.  Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa said that the ban was established to ensure public safety and prevent violence.  Al-Khalifa also said that the ban was necessary since violence that accompanied previous protests, disrupted traffic, affected trade and the economy, and damaged private property.

During his press conference, Al-Khalifa mentioned Omran Mohammed Ahmed, a 19 year old police officer, who was killed in an explosion in Al-Eker village when his patrol was attacked by rioters.  “Citizens of any country in the world will understand the necessity of implementing security measures to control, but not close, the entrances to the village in order to conduct a thorough investigation into Omran’s death,” he said.

Amnesty International says that the ban on all rallies violates the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and must be lifted immediately.  Al-Khalifa says that no one’s right is violated as long as they comply with the limits prescribed in the ban. Amnesty International reports that within the last few months, scores of people have been arrested for “illegal gatherings,” where prisoners of conscience were jailed solely for exercising their right to peaceful assembly.

“Even in the event of sporadic or isolated violence once an assembly is underway, authorities cannot simply declare a blanket ban on all protetsts…” said Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

Wefaq, Bahrain’s leading Shia opposition party, believes that the ban is an attempt to silence it.  “We reject this decision and consider it against our constitutional right.  There is no reason for it because all our events are peaceful,” said Wefaq official Sayed Hadi Al-Mousawi.  Al-Mousawi also said that he believes the ban goes against international human rights.  Bahrain banned many protests organized by Wefaq in the past few months.

Al-Khalifa also said that the ban is justifiable since organizers have failed to keep protesters from engaging in violence.  He believes that a temporary ban is an “opportunity for everyone to take a step back, calm down and gain some perspective.”

Prior to the ban, organizers had to go through a process to gain consent to hold a demonstration.  Bahrain’s Code on Public Meetings, Processions and Gatherings imposes significant restrictions, and is in breach under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  The code requires that at least 3 organizers with a clean police record must apply for permission, specifying their activity and its subject, and the venue and time.  Organizers must be residents of the area where the activity will take place.  If permission is not granted then the activity is considered illegal.  Several rallies were banned this year due to the location and timings of the rallies since they could have potentially disturbed traffic.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Bahrain bans Protests and Gatherings — 31 October 2012

Amnesty International — Bahrain’s Protests ban Condemned — 31 October 2012

Bahrain News Agency — Ban on Marches and Rallies is Temporary, Interior Minister says — 31 October 2012

Reuters — Bahrain Must Lift ban on all Protests — 31 October 2012

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel — Human Rights Watch (HRW) and two NGO’s, the Hotline for Migrant Workers, and Physicians for Human Rights, report that the Israeli military have turned away dozens of African asylum seekers, mostly made up of Eritreans, from its border with Egypt since June 2012.

HRW published a report last Sunday, saying “Israeli soldiers allegedly denied food and water to migrants, beat them with fists and guns, and pushed them across the Israel-Egypt border with long metal poles.”

HRW claims that Israel’s actions puts asylum seekers at risk of enduring prolonged detention in Egyptian prisons and police stations, where they are unable to claim asylum.  Also, Eritrean migrants risk a forcible return to Eritrea, and also face abuse, torture, and rape by traffickers in the Sinai region.

The number of rejected asylum seekers has increased at the Egypt-Israeli border since Israel began construction on a 250 km fence that runs the length of the border.  “Building a border fence does not give Israel a right to push back asylum seekers,” said Gerry Simpson, senior refugee researcher and advocate at HRW.  Simpson believes that Israel is failing to follow international law, and should only reject asylum seekers when their claim for asylum is not valid.

In a letter written to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Justice Ministry, Interior Minister Eli Yishai said that Israel must resume the arrests of African migrants.  Yishai, who in his letter only mentions the Sudanese and not the Eritreans who comprise the majority of migrants that cross from Egypt, said “as you know, the problem of infiltration to Israel is one of the most difficult and complicated problems which Israel has dealt with since the founding of the state, [it is] a problem which threatens our identity, character, and future.”

A source close to Yishai said that his letter is directly related to the elections that will occur in January.  The Shas, the political party which Yishai is associated with, fear losing potential voters that commonly vote for the Likud and are frustrated with Netanyahu’s handling of the illegal immigration issue.

Last May, rising tensions over illegal immigration erupted when protesters marching through the streets of south Tel Aviv started smashing African-run shops and property, chanting “Blacks out.”

Currently, more than 60,000 Africans are estimated to be living in Israel illegally, mostly in the run-down neighborhoods of south Tel Aviv.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera — African Migrants ‘Denied Entry’ to Israel — 29 October 2012

Gulf News — Israel Turns Back Dozens of African Migrants — 29 October 2012

Human Rights Watch — Israel: Asylum Seekers Blocked at Border — 28 October 2012

The Jerusalem Post — NGO’s Reject Israeli Asylum Policy to Migrants — 28 October 2012

By Emily Schneider
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel – An informal truce in place since Thursday came to an end Sunday as militants in Gaza fired rockets into southern Israel. Reports vary, but anywhere between 7 and 26 rockets were fired into Israel on Sunday from Gaza in the worst outbreak of violence in the area in months. Reports say that 18 rockets were fired on Monday alone.

An Egyptian-brokered truce paused fighting in the Gaza strip area since Thursday.  Although no formal agreement had been reached with Hamas, the Islamist faction which controls the Gaza Strip, an Israeli defense official said that Egyptian defense officials had been instrumental in restoring calm.

“The Egyptians have a very impressive ability to articulate to (Hamas) that its primary interest is not to attack and use terror against Israel or other targets,” Amos Gilad, an Israeli defense official, told Israeli Army Radio. However, he made sure to acknowledge that there was no direct agreement with Hamas.

“It can be said categorically that there is no agreement with Hamas, there has never been and there will never be. … The only thing that has been set and said is that there will be calm. We are not interested in an escalation,” Gilad added.

An Israeli spokeswoman said that 86 projectiles had been fired at Israel from Gaza between Tuesday and Wednesday, but noted that the Iron Dome system had intercepted eight of them. There was nevertheless damage to several homes in southern Israel and three agricultural workers were wounded when a Palestinian rocket exploded near them on Wednesday. That same day, Israel killed a Hamas militant in an air strike, the purpose of which was to prevent rocket launches from Gaza. On Tuesday, Israel killed three Hamas members who, allegedly, were involved in launching the previous attacks or planning future ones.

Before Sunday, the last known rocket launched from Gaza occurred on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m., according to that spokeswoman.

The latest surge of violence occurred Sunday, following the killing of a Gazan who Israel claimed had fired mortars at Israeli troops. That militant died near the southern town of Khan Younis and reportedly belonged to the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, which is the armed wing of Hamas. Hamas responded by firing rockets and were answered by Israeli airstrikes that took out several targets in Gaza. Israeli officials say that seven rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza on Sunday alone.

Hamas has refused to renounce violence or recognize Israel’s right to exist, and is ostracized by the Quartet of Middle East mediators comprising the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia.

For further information, please see:

Arutz Sheva – Barrage Continues: 18 Rockets Since Midnight – 29 October 2012

BBC News – Violence Ends Israel-Gaza Truce – 29 October 2012

Haaretz – IAF Strikes Gaza After Rocket Barrage Hits Southern Israel – 29 October 2012

Rueters – Egypt Brokers Informal Israel-Gaza Truce: Israel Official – 25 Octover 2012

By Emily Schneider
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – The agreed upon cease-fire in Syria for Eid al-Adha fell apart Saturday with bombings and outbreaks of violence across the country. Each side has accused the other of breaking the truce.

The government accepted the cease-fire proposed by Lakhdar Brahimi, an international envoy that has been trying to negotiate a peace deal. However, the government did say that it reserved the right to resume military activity to respond to any so-called terrorist gangs.

On Friday, the first day of the four day Muslim Feast of Sacrafice,  the level of violence throughout the country seemed to lessen. Demonstrators walked the streets in the larger numbers than had been feasible for weeks. Activists said that there were planes circling above the crowds, but they did not fire any weapons.

But by Saturday, almost every violent hot spot reported resumed hostilities. The most outrageous disturbance of the truce occurred when a warplane fired missiles into a residential building in Arbeen, a suburb of Damascus. That attack killed eight men, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Although that attack has not been confirmed yet, it marks the first aerial attack since the truce began Friday morning. In pictures posted on Facebook, the residential building was shattered and a large crater filled with rubble was clearly visible.

“There is a clear breach of the truce,” Ahmad Kadour, an Idlib activist, said. According to him, government convoys of reinforcements were moving up the road to Wadi al-Deif, the site of a military base and fighting the day before.

In Aleppo, an activist who uses the nickname Abu al-Hassan claimed government tanks had resumed shelling in areas around the airport. Other activists said that towns around Aleppo and Idlib were shelled as well.

Residents in the central city of Homs sad there was no sign that  the fighting was diminishing.

“There are regime snipers shooting at us from several fronts, and the city remains under siege, as it has been for 141 days,” activist Abu Bilal said. “This siege alone is considered a military operation, so with or without the truce, this criminal regime obviously does not care.”

SANA, the official news source of Syria, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights both reported firefights between government forces and the opposition in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour. Multiple car bombs exploded near a military headquarters and in front of the Syriac Orthodox Church. At least five people were killed. Airplanes also shelled Deir al-Zour, activists said.

Although, there were areas where there was no fighting.

“It kind of depends on the area…it has been calm over here” said Iyas Kadoni, a civil-society activist from Saraqib, near Aleppo. He said that area was much quieter than other areas, like Homs.

 

For further information, please see:

CNN – Reports of Renewed Fighting Unravels Temporary Syrian Truce – 27 October 2012

Daily Star – Syrian Warplanes Stage 1^st Airstrike Under Truce – 27 October 2012

SANA – Gatilov: Armed Opposition in Syria Has Thwarted Eid al-Adha Truce – 27 October 2012

NY Times – Syrian Protestors Emerge Amid Clashes and Bombing During a Holiday Cease-Fire – 26 October 2012

 

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – The Sakharov Prize is one of the top honors awarded to those annually for their contributions to human rights and freedom of thought. Previous winners include figures like Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi. This year the award was given to Nasrin Sotoudeh and a fellow Iranian, film director, Jafar Panahi.

Nasrin Sotoudeh is a member of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre and is a jailed attorney who previously was known for defending children facing the death penalty, prisoners of conscience, human rights activists, and child victims of abuse. Currently, she is serving a six-year sentence for “acting against national security” and “spreading propaganda against the regime.” Many believe her arrest to be completely arbitrary and understand her imprisonment to be part of the Iranian government’s plan to suppress human rights lawyers.

Sotoudeh has been imprisoned since September 2010. For much of her detainment she was held in solitary confinement and tortured in attempts to make her confess. During this time she was kept away from her family and lawyer. Sotoudeh is no longer in solitary confinement, however, she is still often denied contact with her family.

“The conditions of detention imposed on Nasrin Sotoudeh are unacceptable and clearly aim at imposing additional punishment on her for her human rights activities,” stated Souhayr Belhassen, President of the International Federation for Human Rights.

Sotoudeh was caught writing her legal defense on a tissue, and ever since she has been denied face-to-face meetings with her family. Now she can only see her thirteen-year-old daughter and five-year-old son from behind a glass wall.

Authorities have taken other measures to punish the Sotoudeh family. One action they took was to change her visiting day from Sunday to Wednesday without proffering and real reason. The authorities have also placed travel bans on Nasrin’s daughter and husband and have held the husband in jail, overnight, for peaceful protests of his wife’s detention.

Ann Harrison, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa programme believes that, “[b]y harassing the family members of prisoners solely in order to stop their legitimate public campaigning, the Iranian authorities are trampling wholesale on their international human rights obligations.”

In reaction to the harassment her family was facing, Sotoudeh began a hunger strike on October 17th which still continues. She wrote to her children in a letter, “I know that you require water, food, housing, a family, parents, love, and visits with your mother. . . However, just as much, you need freedom, social security, the rule of law and justice.”

For further information, please see:

Amnesty International – Health Fears for Imprisoned Sakharov Prize Winner in Iran – 26 October 2012

Daily Beast – Iran’s Crackdown on Human Rights Lawyers – 26 October 2012

Guardian – Nasrin Sotoudeh and Director Jafar Panahi Share top Human Rights Prize – 26 October 2012

Iranian – Nasrin Sotoudeh: Prisoner of the day – 22 October 2012