Kenyans Grow Impatient as Negotiations Progress Slowly

Kenyans Grow Impatient as Negotiations Progress Slowly

By Myriam Clerge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Eastern and Southern Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenyans are eager to return to life before December 27, but Kenyan leader have yet to agree on a final resolution. President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga have agreed to a power sharing solution but the manner of that is still under debate. Even former UN boss Kofi Annan has expressed frustration at the slow progress, “I thought we could have moved much fast than we have.”

Returning back to normalcy will take years. It took only a few days to turn one of the most stable South African countries into a state of chaos. The post-election violence resulted in 1,000 dead, more than 600,000 displaced, extensive property damage, damage to the national image and economic structure, and the exposure of an ethnic resentment that may take years to repair.

Annan is hopeful that the parties will agree to a resolution soon. Both sides signed a 10-point preliminary agreement on Thursday to resolve their political crisis. Odinga and Kibaki agreed to an independent review committee, consisting of Kenyan and non-Kenyan experts, to investigate all aspects of the December 27 presidential election. The committee is expected to start work on March 15 and report their findings within three to six months. The agreement also calls for a new constitution. A rerun election and a court resolution has not been agreed upon.

At first, Odinga rejected all suggestions of a dual government and Kibaki insisted his position was non-negotiable. Now both parties have agreed to a power-sharing solution but are dead-lock as to the manner, whether through a prime minister post or another way.

Several Western diplomats have urged the power sharing resolution including the United States. US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is expected to accompany US President Bush on his trip to several countries in Africa. Rice will then travel to Kenya to back the mediation efforts.

Meanwhile, as the rival leaders slowly come to a solution, the violence continues. Although the looting, murder and arson has diminished, a less talked about violence continues: rape. Within three weeks after the December 27 election, 135 women and children, including a two-year-old child, was treated at Nairobi’s Women Hospital for a sexual assault. In the Mathare slum, Dr. Joseph Osoo treats up to 45 rape victims a day in his two-room clinic. It used to be one victim a week.

Most of the victims were gang raped, including one Kiyuyu woman who was raped in front of her 4-year-old son two hours after receiving a cell phone text message warning her of the impending assault. Many more rapes have likely been unreported, due to a lack of transportation. UNICEF reports that the escalating sexual violence will eventually show up in the country’s HIV statistic.

So as the leaders, talk, negotiate, and re-negotiate a resolution, women and children are used as a silent tactic against opposing ethnic groups in a crisis triggered by a disputed election.

For more information please see:

Yahoo News – Rape is Weapon in Kenya Violence – 13 February 2008

BBC- Bush to Send Top Envoy to Kenya – 14 February 2008

Yahoo News- Kenya Rival Agree to Review Election – 15 February 2008

Reuters: Africa – Annan: Kenya Rivals Closer to Agreement – 15 February 2008

Tunisian-Born Israeli Jews Win Holocaust Claim

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel – Tel Aviv District Court has ordered the Israeli Finance Ministry to compensate Tunisian-born Israeli Jews who suffered under Nazi occupation during World War II. After five years of litigation, 19 claimants have finally prevailed over the ministry who has refused to pay Tunisian Jews the same Israeli government stipends as European survivors of the Holocaust. Approximately 20,000 Tunisian Jews are now entitled to claim the monthly benefits of roughly $330.

German troops occupied Tunisia between November 1942 and May 1943. During the six month occupation, around 5,000 Jews were rounded up and were subjected to forced labor, and at least 20 Jewish activists were sent to extermination camps in Europe. Jews were also forced to wear infamous “yellow star” on their clothing, and were often harassed and forced to pay fines.

By 1960s, the vast majority of around 100,000 Jews who lived under the Nazi occupation left Tunisia. Most emigrated to Israel, but some moved to France, the former colonial ruler of Tunisia. Many of those who moved left everything behind. Today, only 1,500 Jews remain in Tunisia.

Up until the court’s decision, the Israeli government has maintained that Tunisian Jews did not qualify for payments from a fund set up from German reparations for Nazi victims because they were not forced to flee their homeland. The claimants, however, argued that they deserve equal standing to the European counterparts who received reparations under a German law, which provided compensation for those who were unable to flee Nazi persecution to a country of refuge.

The court agreed with the claimants, and said “no justification was found for denying the eligibility of the Jews of Tunisia for compensation.” David Etzion, an attorney for the claimants, said, “For more than five years our Finance Misnistry has rejected claims by the Jews of Tunisia. Now the Finance Ministry has to pay.”

For more information please see:

Associated Press – Tunisian Jews win Holocaust claim – 11 February 2008

Ynetnews – Tunisian Jews eligible for reparations – 9 February 2008

Infolive – Jews who lived in Tunisia to receive benefits given to Shoah survivors– 9 February 2008

BRIEF: Executed Chinese Prisoners Used in “The Body Exhibit”

BEIJING, China –Dr. Gunther von Hagens, who invented the process to preserve human bodies with a liquid plastic, has revealed that he no longer accepts bodies from China because he suspected they had been executed prisoners. After examining the bodies, he detected suspicious injuries and instead cremated the bodies. According to Dr. Gunther von Hagens, there is a black market providing bodies to Chinese companies that later export them oversees. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was investigating the allegations.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Exclusive: Secret Trade in Chinese Bodies – 14 February 2008

Hezbollah Leader Killed in Car Bombing in Syria

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – On February 13, Hezbollah announced that Imad Mughniyeh, an influential leader, was killed in Syria when a car bomb exploded.  Syrian state television stated that one person died in the explosion and Hezbollah identified that victim as Mughniyeh.  In the announcement, Hezbollah stated “With all pride we declare a great jihadist leader of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon joining the martyrs… the brother commander hajj Imad Mughniyeh.”  Residents report that an explosion took place in a residential area in Damascus on evening of February 12.

Prior to 9/11, Mughniyeh was on top of the FBI’s Most Wanted List for his alleged involvement in numerous terrorist attacks against Israel and the US.  He is said to be the mastermind behind the 1983 bombing of US Marine barracks in Lebanon, which killed 241 American.  He is also linked to two bombings of the US embassy in Beirut.  He was indicted for his suspected involvement in the planning of the 1985 TWA hijacking that resulted in the death of an American Navy diver.  It is also suspected that he was involved in the planning of the two bombings in Buenos Aires, Argentina; one of the Israeli embassy and another of a Jewish center.

Also, Mughniyeh is thought to be the mastermind behind the wave of kidnapping Westerners in the 1980s and 1990s.  Two famous incidences are the kidnapping, torture and execution of CIA station chief William Buckley and the kidnapping of Terry Andersen, a former Associated Press correspondent.  Andersen was held as a hostage in Lebanon for six years and was released in 1991.  Andersen told the Associate Press that he was neither surprised nor sad to hear of Mughnuyeh’s death and that it was appropriate that he “goes up in a car bomb.”

Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran all accuse Israel of involvement in Mughniyeh’s death.  Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran’s official state news organization, said that Israel and the US are the number one suspects in Mughniyeh’s death and called the action an example of “US and Israeli state terrorism.”

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office released a short statement; “Israel rejects the attempts of terror elements to attribute to Israel any involvement in this incident.”  US State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, also stated that the US does not know who carried out the bombing.  However, both governments hailed Mughniyeh’s death as a victory against terrorism.  Sean McCormack said that “the world is a better place without this man in it,” and that Mughniyeh was “a cold-blooded killer, a mass murderer and a terrorist responsible for countless innocent lives lost.”

Both US and Israeli governments were interested in the whereabouts of Mughniyeh, who has been in hiding since the late 1980s.  After indicting Mughniyeh in the 1985 TWA hijacking, the US offered a $5 million dollar reward for information that would lead to his arrest.  In addition, Mughniyeh’s brother was killed in a bombing in Beirut in 1994 and reports suggest that Mughniyeh was the actual target.

Mughniyeh’s funeral will be held on February 14 in southern neighborhoods in Beirut.  Also, on February 14, the anti-Syrian majority leader Hariri will be leading a demonstration honoring his father, who was assassinated three years ago.  There are concerns that violence may result between individuals who attend the events.

For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera – Israel Blamed for Hezbollah Killing – 14 February 2008

Arab News – Hezbollah No. 2 Assassinated – 14 February 2008

Associated Press – Top Hezbollah Militant Killed in Syria – 13 February 2008

BBC – Hezbollah’s Most Secretive Operative – 13 February 2008

BBC – US Hails Hezbollah Leader’s Death – 13 February 2008

International Herald Tribune – Top Hezbollah Terrorist Killed in Car Bomb – 13 February 2008

Islamic Republic News Agency – Mughniyeh Assassination, Example of Israeli State Terrorism – 13 February 2008

Middle East Online – Senior Hezbollah commander killed in Syria – 13 February 2008

Middle East Times – Top Hezbollah Commander Assassinated – 13 February 2008

Journalist Tortured for 22 hours in Bangladesh

By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Tasneem Khalil, a journalist with Human Rights Watch (HRW), CNN, and The Daily Star, has accused theBangladesh military of torturing him in retaliation for his media activity. In May 2007, the Directorate General Forces of Intelligence arrested Tasneem Khalil in his home and transferred him to a torture cell.

Tasneem Khalil recently shared his experience in the Bangladesh torture cell. In his report to HRW, Tasneem Khalil wrote, “…all of them started hitting the table with hands and sticks and started shouting at me. ‘How dare you write against our brothers in RAB? You are a burden on society. You are an immoral, unethical insect, an anti-state criminal.’ Someone came around the table and started punching me on my head again.”

After hours of beatings, Tasneem Khalil agreed to write a confession. When his blindfold was taken off, he saw for the first time the room he was being held in. He reported: “The room I was in was a torture cell. It was a small room with no windows, one doorway with a wooden door, and a second grill, like in a prison. The room was soundproofed with a wooden wall covered with small holes, like in an old recording studio. There were two CCTV cameras in the corners attached to the ceiling. There was a fan. I was sitting in front of a table and three batons were on the table, along with some stationery. One was a wooden baton, about a meter long. The other two were covered with black plastic. Poking out of the end of these two were metal wires which appeared to fill the plastic covers. … Then I glanced behind me and I saw what looked like a metal bed frame. It was the same size as a normal single bed, but it was placed on a platform with steps up to it. The bed had straps fitted at the top and bottom, presumably for tying people on to it. There was a wheel to change the angle of the bed to lift it up or down. There were spikes at the top of the bed. Right beside that there were ropes fitted to the ceilings with rubber loops for wrists to go through.”

Tasneem Khalil was released after 22 hours in captivity. International and national authorities pressed the Bangladesh interim government to free him. Tasneem Khalil then went into hiding for a month before international authorities again pressed Bangladesh leaders to allow him to leave for asylum in Sweden.

Bangladesh is currently under an interim government authorized by a reform agenda. Since January 2007, the interim government has campaigned to eliminate corruption and abuse of political power. However, in the name of reform, the government has used torture and executions to extract information and punish critics of the army’s role as de facto rulers.

HRW urged the country to make human rights a priority. Brad Adams, Asia Director of HRW, said, “While few would dispute that corruption, organized crime, politicization of the bureaucracy and political violence had to be addressed in Bangladesh, the interim government must realize that reform cannot be built on midnight knocks on the door and torture. A peaceful democratic society requires respect for basic rights.”

HRW also has questioned the motivation and purposes of the Bangladesh interim government. Brad Adams furthered stated, “The security forces have been arbitrarily detaining and torturing people, but there have been no serious attempts at holding those responsible for these criminal acts to account. Why hasn’t the government made the protection of Bangladeshis from this scourge a priority? Are they reformers, or do they just say they are reformers?”

For more information, please see:

HRW – The Torture of Tasneem Khalil: How the Bangladesh Government Abuses its Powers under a State of Emergency

HRW – Bangladesh: Tortured Journalist Describes Surviving Military Beatings –14 February 2008

News Report India – Military Torture of Bangladesh Journalist Alleged – 14 February 2008

Reuters India– Bangladeshi Tells of 22 Hours of Torture – 14 February 2008