BRIEF: Need for Kenyan Resolution

BRIEF: Need for Kenyan Resolution

NAIROBI, Kenya – More than 100,000 Kenyans have been displaced since the fighting began after the 2007 presidential election. According to a UN official in Nairobi, about 500,000 people are in urgent need. Many have sought refuge in police stations and churches but neither is equipped for the alarming humanitarian demand.

Since last weekend, hundreds have been killed, thousands are homeless and hungry and several children have died from exposure. The International Committee of the Red Cross has appealed for more than £7m of aid and the UN World Food Programme said it was struggling to get food to 100,000 hungry people.

The December 27 results, which re-elected President Mwai Kibaki over opposition rival Raila Odinga, has unleashed a wave of ethnic violence. Odinga, his Orange Democratic Movement party and his Luo tribe claims the voting was rigged and is demanding that Kibaki stand down as president and wants a new presidential election within three months. According to Alfred Mutua, spokesman for President Kibaki, Kibaki is willing to accept a re-vote only if it is ordered by a court.

Meanwhile, the mass rally schedule by Odinga to take place today was canceled after massive security forces halted the demonstration and many protestors failed to march on central Nairobi.

South African Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu has met with both sides and reports that Kibaki has agreed to a coalition government. Also, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer arrived in Nairobi overnight in an attempt at mediation in Kenya, which was once seen as one of the continent’s most stable democracies.

Britain, the US and France have all expressed belief that the election was rigged.

For more information please see:

BBC- Kenya’s Humanitarian Crisis Grows – 4 January 2008

Reuters: Africa – Kenya Government Ready for New Vote if Ruled By Court – 4 January 2008

Reuters: Africa – US Envoy in Kenya for Talks to End Crisis – 4 January 2008

UPDATE: Kidnapped Aid Workers Released

PUNTLAND, Somalia – The two female staff workers for the Medicins sans Frontieres (MSF) were released by their abductors on Wednesday. Spanish doctor Mercedes Garcia and Argentine nurse Pilar Bauza were kidnapped last Wednesday in Bosasso while driving to a hospital.

Although the kidnappers demanded a ransom, officials claim none was paid for the women’s freedom.  According to Spain’s Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, there were a lot of negotiations and persuasion. Witnesses report that the women appeared tired but in good spirits.

The women are currently in a hotel in Bosasso and hope to return to Mogadishu to continue their mission.

Their abduction occurred one day after kidnapped French journalist, Gwen Le Gouil, was released by Somali gunmen. For precaution, MSF Spain withdrew its foreign staff from southern and central Somalia on Tuesday.

For more information please see:

BBC- Two MSF Workers Freed in Somalia – 2 January 2008

Reuters: Africa – Somali Kidnappers Free Foreign Aid Staff – 2 January 2008

BRIEF: China Restricts Internet Video

BEIJING, China – China has announced that it will ban Internet video Web sites that are not run by the government, further tightening its grip on the Internet.

China already outlaws criticism of the state. Starting January 31, only state-owned or state-controlled companies can apply for a government permit for Internet broadcasting licenses to use video programming or allow users to upload videos.

The new regulations state: “Those who provide Internet video services should insist on serving the people, serve socialism…and abide by the moral code of socialism.” Websites will not be allowed “to offer material that promotes sex, violence, gambling, religious cults or reveals state secrets,” and providers are required to report questionable content to the government.

These new rules mark a fresh attempt by the Chinese government to limit the internet habits of its increasingly web-savvy population. For decades, officials have been able to ensure that traditional media, including television and newspapers, conform to what they believe Chinese people should know.

China is the world’s second-largest Internet market by users. It already blocks sites such as Amnesty International, and limits the scope of the Google Inc. search engine to exclude anti-government sites on its pages in China.

The status of sites such as YouTube, a popular video-sharing site, remains in question. Few analysts, however, expect popular Chinese video-sharing sites to disappear after January 31.

For more information, please see:

ABC News (AP) – China Limits Providers of Internet Video – 3 January 2008

The New York Times – CHINA: Restrictions on Web Video and Audio – 4 January 2008

Forbes – China Clamps Down On Internet Video – 3 January 2008

Rights Groups Want Egypt to Reinvestigate Sudan Refugee Deaths

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Five Egyptian and international human rights groups urged President Hosni Mubarak to set up an independent judicial committee to reinvestigate the December 30, 2005 police assault on Sudanese protestors that resulted 27 deaths.

The killings occurred when a force of nearly 4,000 Egyptian police and security officers attacked a makeshift camp erected by Sudanese refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants who had engaged in peaceful sit-in protest for past several months in front of the offices of the UN refugee agency. The protestors were demanding resettlement in a third country because of Egypt’s harsh living conditions and discriminations against them. According to media report at the time, police fired water canons at the crowd and beat them indiscriminately. The assault left 27 dead and dozens injured, including women and children.

Two years had gone by since the incident, yet no police officer has been charged for any crime. Initial investigation into the incident led by Dokki Prosecution Office found no evidence of police or official misconduct. Despite arresting hundreds of Sudanese refugees during the assault, investigators interviewed only one woman. Four eyewitnesses they did interview testified that the protestors themselves initiated the violence. Moreover, forensic experts claimed that serious head injuries from “stampede” led to many of the deaths rather than police “use of excessive force in assaulting them.” As a result, many of the arrested protestors were charged instead with crimes of manslaughter, unintended injury, resisting the authorities, and the deliberate destruction of property.

The five groups – Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), Hisham Mubarak Law Center, and the Nadim Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence – accused the Egyptian government of exercising “concerted effort to absolve the police of any wrongdoing.” Calling the public prosecutor’s total exoneration of the police lacking any semblance of credibility, the rights groups called on President Mubarak to use the second anniversary of the incident to “initiate a complete and transparent investigation of what really took place.”

For more information, please see:

Afriquenligne – Egyptian rights groups seek new probe of Sudanese refugees incident – 31 December 2007

AFP – Rights groups slam Egypt probe into Sudan refugee deaths – 30 December 2007

Human Rights Watch – New investigation needed into assault on Sudanese protestors – 29 December 2007

Increased Israeli Operations in Response to Palestinian “escalation”

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

NABLUS, West Bank – Early on January 3, hundreds of Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers entered the West Bank city of Nablus.  Then, the soldiers conducted house-by-house searches and arrested several people, including three high-ranking members of al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades.  Allegedly, the soldiers were following a lead in the deaths of two Israelis in the West Bank a week earlier.

During the arrests, local Palestinian youths demonstrated against the raid and clashed with the IDF soldiers.  The youth threw rocks, while the Israeli soldiers fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowds, which resulted in nearly 30 injuries, at least one of which is critical.  The demonstrators were expressing their discontent over the IDF raid despite Palestinian police forces already deployed in Nablus.  In addition to the raid, IDF imposed a curfew on the city.

On January 4, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad criticized the operation and claimed that it undermined the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to secure Nablus.  Nablus, the largest city in the West Bank, has been a hot-bed for militant groups.  Fayyad designed a plan to ensure security and rein in militant groups after Fatah lost control of Gaza this past summer.  The Palestinian Authority claims that the plan, which has been implemented in Nablus, Tulkarm, and Bethlehem, is working.  Fayyad stated that Israeli operations in the West Bank could negatively impact the effort to revive the peace process.

In addition, Israel launched several airs strikes against targets in Gaza.  Target included the homes of members of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas.  On January 3, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) hit the home of Mohammed Dadouh, a rocket-maker and a member of the Islamic Jihad, who was killed by the IDF in December 2007.  The home of Abu al-Murshed, a leader of the Islamic Jihad, was also targeted.  An IDF spokeswoman confirmed the strikes but did not comment whether any causalities occurred.

In an incursion near Khan Yunis, Israeli forces destroyed a house, killing two brothers, Ahmad and Sami Fayyad, and their sister and mother, and injuring their father, Sami’s wife and daughter.  The home was destroyed when Israeli soldiers and the brothers were engaged in a firefight and the brothers were firing from in or near the house.  The house was hit by at least tank shell.  Sami was a member of the Islamic Jihad.

These strikes were in response for what Israel calls “an escalation” in rocket attacks.  On January 3, Gaza residents fired a Katyusha rocket and it landed in northern Ashkelon, about 10 miles into Israel.  This is the deepest rocket attack from Gaza.  While the rocket did not cause any causalities or property damage, Ashkelon has a population of 120,000 people and may now be vulnerable to frequent attacks.  Members of the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the Katyusha rocket.

During a 24 hour period from January 3 to 4, Israeli operations resulted in the deaths of 11 Palestinians; including several civilians.  Israeli officials place the blame of the civilian deaths on the militants and state that militants endanger civilians when they seek refuge or engage Israeli soldiers near civilians.

For more information, please see:
The Daily Star – Israeli Forces Kill Two Hamas Men in Gaza, Wound Dozens in West Bank Raid – 5 January 2007

Al Jazeera – Israel Kills Hamas Fighters in Gaza – 4 January 2008

Associated Press – Broad Israeli Offensive Kills 11 in Gaza – 4 January 2008

BBC – Fayyad Condemns Nablus Incursion – 4 January 2008

BBC – Palestinians Killed in Gaza Raid – 4 January 2008

New York Times – Israeli Forces  Kill 9 in Gaza – 4 January 2008

Reuters – Palestinian PM Assails Israel Over West Bank Raids – 4 January 2008

Al Jazeera – Israel Bombs Gaza Homes – 3 January 2008

CNN – Israel Pounds Gaza in Response to “Escalation” – 3 January 2008

Reuters – Israeli Jets Bomb Islamic Jihad Buildings in Gaza – 3 January 2008

Yedioth – Report: 25 Palestinians Wounded in IDF Operation in Nablus – 3 January 2008