President Obama Visits Europe in an Attempt to Bolster Eastern Europe’s Support for and Confidence in the West

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

WARSAW, Poland – President Barack Obama visited Poland today, the first of three European countries he will be visiting to show a sign of support and belief in security in the region. While there, President Obama promised help to the warring region.

Pro-Russian fighters attack a district control border headquarters in Luhansk. (Photo Courtesy of The New York Times)

Problems in Eastern Ukraine have worsened since the election of new Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Violence in Slovyansk continued to climb as Ukraine’s military entered the city and pushed through a new offensive against the pro-Russian rebels. Locals even reported hearing Ukrainian combat jets and helicopter gunships… and heavy artillery barrages…” At least one government helicopter has already been shot down since President Poroshenko’s election on May 25, 2014.

On Monday, the rebels also pushed forth a new offensive, attacking border guards base on the outskirts of Luhansk; both sides are reporting casualties.

Russia’s continued heavy military presence along the western border of Russia, in addition to the recent and current events that unfolded in Ukraine, have led nearby nations to worry about their future during or after the Ukraine conflict comes to an end. While in Europe, President Obama will stop in a few European countries in order to encourage and show US-backed support for the Eastern European nations.

While in Poland, President Obama called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to pull Russian troops off of Russia’s western border, encourage pro-Russian rebels to stop fighting, and back Ukraine’s recent presidential election.

In addition to verbal support and symbolic support, President Obama also swore to support Europe in other means, both financial and militaristic. He asked Congress to fund $1 billion to support security of NATO allies. President Obama also stated that he would be sending more military personnel to central and eastern parts of Europe. The US, however, still chooses not to supply weapons to western Ukraine.

While in Europe, President Obama will be meeting with French President Francois Hollande, while Russian President Putin will also be meeting with French President Hollande and also German Chancellor Angela Merkel, all in hopes that some peace agreement can be made.

As the body count continues to pile up, now with over 180 deaths according to Ukraine’s acting chief prosecutor, Oleh Makhnitskiy, nearby former-soviet nations like Moldova and Belarus are certainly feeling the heavy shadow of Russia extending over Eastern Europe. President Obama’s requested aid to NATO and the scheduled meetings between national leaders in Europe this week may prove to be positive steps towards stabilizing Europe.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Obama urges Putin to make choice over Ukraine 3 June 2014

Time – Ukraine Military Launches Offensive Against Rebels 3 June 2014

USA Today – U.S. Reaffirms: No Weapons Will go to Ukraine 3 June 2014

Washington Post – In Ukrainian Presidential Election, Chocolate Tycoon Poroshenko Claims Victory 25 May 2014

South Sudan’s Rebels out of Control

By: Danielle L. Cowan (Gwozdz)
Senior Desk Operator, Africa

JUBA, South Sudan – Former South Sudan Vice President and leader of South Sudan rebels Riek Machar stated that he is “not completely in control” of his rebel forces. The rebels have recently been accused of atrocities during a brutal six-month conflict.

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President Kiir (Left) and Former Vice President Riek Machar (Right) (photo courtesy of Reuters)

 

Machar further stated that he would “be lying” if he stated he was in control of the rebels. However, he also hoped that he will soon be in control of them because he hopes to train them, which is why they are disciplining them.

President Salva Kiir’s forces have been battling Machar’s rebel forces since December 15th. This fighting broke out in the capital of Juba.

The President is accused of starting the war by launching an eradication of his rivals. However, the President accuses Machar of attempting an overthrow.

Machar admits his forces have been patched together.

Machar told AFP that his rebels became an army when they were forced out of Juba. “It took us time to regroup them into a viable force under control and command.”

“We also have volunteer fighters; civilians who have their own guns who joined the war.”

In January, Machar and Kiir’s sides both agreed to a ceasefire. They also agreed to this earlier in the month. The truces, unfortunately, have not held.

This civil war has forced 1.3 million people to flee their homes and thousands have been killed.

The UN bases also are sheltering about 75,000 people in fear of ethnic violence.

Machar has stressed that he is “committed to peace” and that this was a “senseless war.” Peace talks are rescheduled to continue in Ethiopia this week.

This conflict began as a rivalry between Machar and Kiir. This conflict has divided the army and community along ethnic lines

Both sides have been accused of atrocities and revenge killings on civilians. The UN has called on both leaders to punish those responsible.

For more information, please visit:
Aljazeera – S Sudan’s Machar unable to control rebels – 1 June 2014
Africa News Desk – S Sudan’s Machar unable to control rebels – 1 June 2014
Business News – S Sudan’s Machar unable to control rebels – 1 June 2014
Got News Wire – S Sudan’s Machar unable to control rebels – 1 June 2014

Election Held in Government Controlled Regions of Syria Amidst Nation’s Civil War

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Managing Editor

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syrian Officials have reportedly begun counting votes cast in the country’s presidential elections. According to Syrian State media, polling stationed closed at Midnight on Tuesday. Thousands of Syrians turned out to vote at outside polling centers in government-controlled areas around the country on Tuesday. While many see the election as a re-coronation of the Assad regime, the government argues that the elections must be held to comply the nation’s constitution. While there were two other candidates on the ballot, marking the first time Syrians had the chance to vote for a Presidential candidate who was not a member of the Assad family in more than four decades. However, Assad is expected to win in a landslide.

Women walk past election posters of Syria’s President Bashar Assad on a Damascus street on Monday, one day before the election was held in Assad’s government controlled regions. Assad, who became president after his father’s death in 2000, is expected to be given another seven year term. (photo courtesy of National Public Radio)

“It’s a coronation of Assad, it’s a celebration of his ability to survive the violent storm and basically go on the offensive,” said Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. This “coronation” is taking place amid a violent civil war that has raged on for more than 3 years, killing at least 150,000 people and displacing about 6.5 million.

Bashar al-Assad won the past two presidential elections in Syria, each electing him to a Seven year term as the nation’s head of state. During his first election he carried more than 99% of the vote, despite facing opponents on paper he is expected to receive similar numbers in this year’s election, despite the fact that Syrian voters have experienced three years of civil war that has turn their nation apart.

The vote may reflect the regimes confidence, or at least the confidence it wants the world to perceive, in the amount of control it has won over the past year by crushing rebel held areas. The election “reflects trends of the last year of the regime being more successful,” says Chris Phillips, lecturer at the University of London and former Syria editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit. “At the very beginning of this, Assad quite cleverly changed the rules of the game by making out that just surviving this war is winning it.”

Syrian officials have claimed a large turnout for the elections. Assad is expected to claim another overwhelming victory despite facing two challengers. Syrian state media showed video of long lines of people waiting to cast their ballots outside of government controlled polling stations in regions of the state controlled by regime forces. While state media showed images of Syrians voting in relatively quite government held areas fighting was reported in Aleppo as well as Damascus Suburbs.

The election is largely seen as a farce by the international community and opponents of the Assad regime who see the election as an attempt by a brutal dictator and war criminal responsible for mass atrocities to legitimize his leadership. In some rebel held areas opposition groups held a mock election. Amateur video shows rebels voting for the removal of Assad, using their shoes as ballots.

In the rebel-held central town of Rastan, which has been under attack by government forces for more than two years, an anti-regime activist who goes by the name of Murhaf al-Zoubi said all the locals in the area “want Assad to go.” He said, “there are no elections here, this is a free, liberated area.”

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Syrian Election Vote Counting Begins – 4 June 2014

Euro News – Syria claims large turnout in presidential election set to bolster Assad regime – 4 June 2014

Syria Deeply – Election Shows Off Assad’s Confidence, Cements His Position in Power – 3 June 2014

National Public Radio – What Syria’s President Seeks From A Not-So-Democratic Election – 2 June 2014

Children Chained in Hostel by Father in South Africa

By: Danielle L. Cowan (Gwozdz)
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Operator, Africa

PRETORIA, South Africa – A South African man has been accused of keeping his children chained in a hostel room for eight years has been held in police custody.

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Children chained by father (photo courtesy of Daily Sun)

 

The South African man is 50-years-old. He appeared in court in Alexandra, a township north of Johannesburg and has been charged with child neglect. He was arrested on Friday. The man’s 46-year-old wife also was involved.

The children he chained are of the ages of 14, 18, and 24. Each child shows signs of abuse and injuries on their ankles and wrists.

The police found the children after the 24-year-old escaped, allegedly also mentally ill, police state. He escaped when his parents left the hostel.

The children were freed on Friday after the eldest child escaped. The children were brought to a hospital. The father claims he had to chain up the eldest son because of the mental illness.

The father stated that the eldest child “becomes very violent so I had to keep him chained in the house.”

Neighbors described the living conditions of the home as “appalling.”

A resident of the hostel of nine years stated she was “shocked” when the story was released. “I live right next door to them but I never saw or heard the kids. I see Emmanuel leaving for work. He makes sure his room is always locked.

The father further reported that the reason he locked up the other children is because the world was dangerous and he did not want them killed.

After the children were released from the hospital, they were taken to a place of safety.

When other residents heard of the locked-up children, cops had to stop them from attacking the 50-year-old father.

The police stated that the “room was full of dirty stuff lying everywhere. There was no room to walk in the passage and the children were kept in the back in a dark corner.”

For more information, please visit:
BBC News – South Africa man ‘chained children for years’ – 3 June 2014
Sowetan Live – Alex man held for locking his children up for 8 years – 2 June 2014
News 24 – Parents lock up children for 8 years – 2 June 2014
National Headlines – SA man ‘chained children for years’ – 3 June 2014
Daily Sun – KIDS LOCKED UP FOR 8 YEARS! – 2 June 2014