Iran Urged to Abolish Execution by Stoning

Iran Urged to Abolish Execution by Stoning

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Iran to abolish the “grotesque and horrific” execution of people by stoning to death. At least three people in Iran are said to have been stoned to death since 2002. Eleven more – nine of them women – are waiting to face a similar fate.

Under Iranian Penal Code, execution by stoning is the penalty for adultery by married persons. According to the Code, men are buried up to their waists and women up to their breasts before being pelted with stones until they die. Stones are deliberately chosen to be large enough to cause pain, but not so large as to kill the victim immediately. Victims typically die within 20 minutes.

The majority sentenced to death by stoning are women. According to Amnesty’s report titled “Iran: End executions by stoning,” women suffer disproportionately because “they are not treated equally before the law and courts… and they are particularly vulnerable to unfair trials because they are more likely than men to be illiterate and therefore to sign confessions to crimes they did not commit.” For example, one of the nine women facing execution was allegedly forced into prostitution by an abusive husband who was a heroin addict. She was sentenced to eight years in prison for being an accomplice to the murder of her husband by one of her clients, and is scheduled to be executed by stoning for adultery.

Despite the harsh reality, human rights activists in Iran are hopeful that international publicity can help bring an end to stoning. Amnesty says Iran’s parliament is already discussing an amended Penal Code that would permit the suspension of at least some stoning sentences. However, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa director Malcolm Smart believes the Iranian government should take further steps and ensure “that the new Penal Code neither permits stoning to death nor provides for execution by other means for adultery.”

Iran has one of the highest rates of execution in the world, but the Iranian authorities deny that executions are carried out by stoning.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – End death by stoning, Iran urged – 15 January 2008

Guardian Unlimited – Amnesty demands Iran ends ‘grotesque’ stoning executions– 15 January 2008

Amnesty International – Campaigning to end stoning in Iran – 15 January 2008

Reuters – Amnesty urges Iran to stop stoning executions – 15 January 2008

AFP – Amnesty calls on Iran to abolish death by stoning – 14 January 2008

Escalation in Gaza Following Talks on Core Issues

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter

GAZA CITY, Gaza – On January 17, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak closed Israel’s border crossings into Gaza.  This decision follows a week of Israeli escalation, mainly in the form of air strikes, aimed at stopping rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel.  Such escalation includes an air strikes on January 18, that destroyed the building that housed the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza.

The closure not only prevents people from traveling in and out of Gaza, but it also prevents the delivery of essential supplies.  Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, stated that they were unable to deliver necessary humanitarian aid to Gaza, which only adds to the “already dire situation.”  In addition to humanitarian aid, the closure also prevents the delivery of fuel, which Gaza is dependent on Israel for.

According to Israeli officials, this closure is a demonstration of possible actions that Israel will take if the rocket attacks continue.  A spokesman for the Defense Ministry, Shlomo Dror, stated “It’s time that Hamas decide to either fight or take care of its population.  It’s unacceptable that people in Sderot are living in fear every day and people in Gaza are living life as usual.”  Israeli officials indicate that the closure will be reviewed on Sunday.  In a statement on January 17, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated that while Israel does not desire to harm the residents of Gaza, that Israel will continue its campaign against militants “without compromise and without pity.”

The border closure ends a week of Israeli escalation that resulted in the deaths over 30 Palestinians. While most of Palestinians causalities were militants at least five were civilians.  The escalation began on January 15, when the Israeli military conducted a pre-dawn raid, described as “a routine operation to distance terrorists from the fence.”  The raid involved both ground operations and air strikes.  The air strikes targeted two groups of militants launching mortar shells and one car carrying militants and weapons.  One militant that was killed was the son of Mahmoud Zahar, a senior leader in Hamas.

In retaliation to the Israeli operations, militant groups launched an increased number of rockets into Israel; over a 150 since Tuesday.  Several landed in the town of Sderot, injuring four people.  Also, in a rare sniper attack, one Ecuadorian volunteer farmer was killed.

In addition to the operation in Gaza, Israel also conducted a raid in the West Bank, on the Balata refugee camp in Nablus.  On January 18, Israel’s Security Service personnel surrounded the home of Ahmed Senakreh in the Balata camp.  He is wanted by the Israeli government for his involvement in the planning and implementation of suicide attacks.  Senakreh was killed during the incident.

Many Gaza residents called for vengeance as they attended funerals; Zahar vowed “to answer Israel in the only language that it knows.”  Abbas deplored the operation as a “massacre” and “a slaughter against the Palestinian people.”  Abbas called on the US to intervene in order to preserve on-going peace talks.  Earlier this week, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators meet to discuss core issues and US President Bush stopped in Israel and the West Bank to promote the peace talks.

For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera – Israel Orders Gaza Lockdown – 18 January 2008

BBC – Israel Closes Crossings With Gaza – 18 January 2008

CNN – Israel Closes Gaza Border, Raids West Bank Camp – 18 January 2008

Reuters – Israel Flattens Hamas Ministry in Gaza Strip – 18 January 2008

Telegraph – Ehud Olmert: “We are at War with Hamas” – 18 January 2008

AFP – Palestinians Urge US to Intervene Over Israeli Raids – 17 January 2008

Associated Press – 3 Civilians Die in Israeli Strike – 17 January 2008

Telegraph – Israeli Attack Kills 18 Palestinians in Gaza – 17 January 2008

YouTube – Gaza Violence Escalates – 17 January 2008

BBC – Fresh Gaza Air Strike Kills Three – 16 January 2008

Daily Star – Abbas Deplores Israeli “Massacre” in Gaza – 16 January 2008

Reuters – Palestinians on Strike over Israel’s killing of 18 – 16 January 2008

BBC – In Pictures: Gaza City Raid – 15 January 2008

Washington Post – 20 Palestinians, Mostly Fighters, Killed in Israeli Raids – 15 January 2008

Men in Cameroon Detained on Charges of Homosexuality

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

YAOUNDE, Cameroon – Three men in Cameroon were sentenced to six months of hard labor due to a criminal conviction of homosexuality. Last August, Lazare Baeeg, Emmanuel Balep, and Tony Dikongue were arrested. Police did not catch the men committing an act of homosexuality.

According to a lawyer, Alice Nkom, these men have spent close to six months in a detention center in Douala, a port city in Cameroon. In Cameroon, the penalty for a conviction of homosexuality carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a fine of up to $450. In the last two years, more than 30 people have been arrested on charges of homosexuality.

Presently, their lawyer has plans to appeal the conviction and sentence if the men are found guilty. Alice Nkom stands by the assertion that since the police did not catch the men committing the act of homosexuality,  they should not be found guilty of an offense that they did not do.

International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Campaign Programme Associate Joel Nana, who has been monitoring the cases stated, “As soon as the shadow of homosexuality enters into a case due process goes out of the window.”

For more information, please see:

Yahoo News – 3 Sentenced in Cameroon for Being Gay – 16 January 2008

The AP – Three men sentenced to hard labour for being gay in Cameroon – 16 January 2008

Pink News – Cameroon men get six months jail for being gay  – 16 January 2008

Extrajudicial Killings Decrease, Prosecutions Remain Nonexistent in the Philippines

By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MANILA, Philippines – According to a report released by the Interior Department, the number of extrajudicial killings of activists and journalists has decreased by eighty-three percent from the previous year. The Philippine National Police recorded seven killings in 2007, compared with forty-one in 2006. The Interior Department stressed that the sharp decrease “underlines the Arroyo government’s strong commitment to human rights and its firm resolve to put an end to these unexplained killings.”

The killings have been suspected to the work of the Arroyo administration in order to silence critics and leftists. The Human Right Watch has described the extrajudicial killings as a “dirty war” against leftists and journalists.

Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, said the Filipino authorities “are much more interested in discussing numbers, but we really have not seen one of the most important developments we’re waiting for, and that’s the prosecution of senior members of the military.”   Richardson added that the lack of prosecution demonstrates that the “culture of impunity” has not changed at all.

The culture of impunity is quite apparent in Bicol, Philippines. In Bicol, there have been 157 cases of extrajudicial killings since 2001, and none have been solved. Sonia Sta. Rosa, widow of murdered activist pastor Isaias Sta. Rosa, said, “I cannot trust government agencies to pursue justice for us. Of course, they will not cook themselves in their own oil. We do not know who to turn to now.” Sta. Rosa’s case was one of two that made it to the court system, but it was junked anew by the Albay Prosecutor’s Office.

Victim’s families have other recourses for their cases with the United Nations Tribunal and Joint Monitoring Committee of the government and the communist-led National Democratic front. However, the other venues have been criticized for giving “orchestrated and planned results.”

The Philippine government has charged persons in twenty-two cases thus far. Most of those accused are former members of the Communist New People’s Army, while only one soldier was charged. The Philippine government has contended the Communists were behind the murders. United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings, Philip Alston, had earlier stated the claim is “unconvincing.”

Several human right groups like Karapatan, Promotion of Church People’s Response, and Hustisya-Bikol have sponsored the first series of meetings to be held across the country to unite victim’s families and basic sectors in order to achieve justice.

For more information, please see:

Inquirer – Extrajudicial Killings Victims’ Kin Losing Hope – 14 January 2008

International Herald Tribune – Killing Activists and Journalists Drops in Philippines – 14 January 2008

The New York Times – Philippines: Decline in Killings – 15 January 2008

Georgian Presidential Opposition Candidate Rejects Compromise

By Vivek Thiagarajan
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

A crowd of 30,000 protesters gathered to show their disapproval of the results of the presidential election.  The main opposition candidate, Levan Gachechiladze, reaffirmed his commitment to them to fight for their democracy.  “We will not compromise.  We will not take a single step back. We will not let them falsify the election.” (AP)

Last week, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was reelected president.  However, his main opponent Gachechiladze contends that votes were not tallied correctly, because he contends that Saakashvili should not have received more than 50% of the vote.  The Georgian election law usually allows for two rounds of presidential election.  This allowance was created to account for the multiple numbers of candidates who run for the presidency, which this year was nine candidates running for president.  Typically, the top two vote getters will move on to a final round of voting, which would have really helped Gachechiladze since the seven candidates that were eliminated probably would have supported Gachechiladze.  However, in this election Saakashvili received a majority vote (53.5%) and so it was not necessary to hold a second round vote.

The outright election of Saakashvili caused opponents such as Gachechiladze to assert that the votes were miscounted. Therefore, he began discussions with the acting president of Georgia, Nino Burjanadze.  Burjanadze was made president by Saakashvili to enable Saakashvili to be able to run for another term in office.  However, Gachechiladze has promised that he will continue to fight for the democracy of his country without compromise as he talks with the president.

Gachechiladze has rejected the idea that he would take a government post as a payment to stop protesting the legitimacy of the election.  “Making deals on government positions is not going to happen. I am one of those who do not recognize [Saakashvili as President],” he said.  (Civil Online Magazine)

The resolution of this election and the preservation of the democratic process is essential in Georgia as it tries to deepen its ties with the European Union and the West. If the election is not resolved quickly it could lead to a possible bitter rivalry between the opposing parties.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press- Georgia Opposition Holds Protest Rally- 15 January 2008

Civil Online Magazine- Gachechiladze on ‘Speaking’ with Authorities- 16 January 2008

Reuters- Georgia opposition vows court move to win recount- 15 January 2008