Chechen Human Rights Activists Detained

Chechen Human Rights Activists Detained

By Kenneth F. Hunt

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SHALI, Russia – Police in a Shali, a small town in the Republic of Chechnya in Russia, “arbitrarily” detained three human rights activists overnight on Sunday February 7.

According to Human Rights Watch, the three men were questioned separately through the night, not given access to an attorney, and allowed to make phone calls to human rights colleagues outside of Chechnya. Although the men were never under arrest, they were not allowed to leave the Shani precinct.

According to Aleksandr Cherkasov of Memorial Human Rights Center, a rights watchdog based in Moscow, claims that activists were not provided with an explanation for the basis of their detention.

Allegedly, the activists were detained because they met with a Shali citizen who had pertinent information about a local abduction victim. But no official explanation for the detention has yet been given. Moreover, Shanli police did not officially process any of the detentions.

The three prominent activists, Dmitry Yegoshin, Roman Veretennikov, and Vladislav Sadykov, were involved in an investigation of numerous abductions and killings of Chechens over the past years.  In particular, the activists were investigating the abduction and murder of Natalya Estemirova, a member of a Memorial branch in Chechnya. Ms. Estemirova was abducted by unidentified masked kidnappers. Her body was found dead in a vehicle that was shot at and struck dozens of times.

Human rights groups, including Memorial, claim that Ramzan Kadyrov, the President of the Republic of Chechnya, ordered Ms. Estemirova’s kidnapping and killing. Mr. Kadyrov has since dismissed these allegations as “slanderous”.

Human rights activists have accused Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov of ordering kidnappings and murders in the republic. Kadyrov has dismissed the allegations, calling them slanderous.

International human rights groups, including Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders, Front Line, and Human Rights Watch, have since released a statement to probe the detentions further.

The groups decried the detentions as continuing examples of Russian impunity. Specifically, Holly Cartner, the Europe and Central Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, said that “[t]his arbitrary detention clearly demonstrates that the Chechen law enforcement agencies continue harassing human rights defenders despite Prime Minister Putin’s recent call for a healthy working environment for human rights groups.”

For more information, please see:

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH – Watchdogs Call For Probe Into Chechen Detentions – 09 February 2010

MOSCOW TIMES – Rights Activists Detained in Chechnya – 09 February 2010

RADIO FREE EUROPE – Watchdogs Call For Probe Into Chechen Detentions – 09 February 2010

Turkey Voices Displeasure with Armenian Genocide Bill

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ANKARA, Turkey– Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu strongly denounced a U.S. congressional committee over the weekend for scheduling a vote on an Armenian genocide resolution.  Davutoglu said that passage of a resolution would severely hamper Turkey’s relations with both the United States and Armenia.

Davutoglu reportedly suggested that Washington is using the prospect of passing the resolution to force Turkey to ratify its fence-mending agreements with Armenia.  “The draft’s inclusion on the agenda is not in the interests of the United States, Turkey and Armenia.  This process can lead both our bilateral relations with the U.S. and Turkey’s rapprochement with Armenia into deadlock,” said Davutoglu.

The resolution, before the U.S. House of Representatives, was introduced by pro-Armenian U.S. lawmakers a year ago.  The resolution strongly urges President Obama to “accurately characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.”  It is believed, based on comments by the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman that the resolution will come to a vote early next month.

The resolution vote will come almost two months before the 95th anniversary of what many believe was the start of mass killings and deportations against the Armenians.  In the past, Turkey has vehemently condemned similar bills that were passed in committee, but that never were put to a full House vote.  Turkey contends that the killings occurred on a smaller scale and were not part of a premeditated government effort to exterminate Turkey’s Armenian population.

On Saturday, Davutoglu said that he raised Ankara’s concerns with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg at a meeting held in Munch which addressed international security concerns.  Davutoglu claims that Armenia is in some ways behind the scheduling of the congressional committee vote.  Meanwhile, Armenian officials have voiced their satisfaction with the progress of the “genocide resolution.”

For more information, please see:

Armenia Diaspora- Turkey Unhappy with U.S. Over Armenian Genocide Bill– 9 February 2010

Armenia Now- Genocide Resolution is “Element of Pressure;” would “Hamper” Protocol Process– 9 February 2010

Radio Free Europe- Turkey Slams U.S. Over Armenian Genocide Bill– 8 February 2010

Serbian Government Considers Resolution to Officially Condemn the Srebrenica Massacre without using the Term ‘Genocide’

By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch, Europe

BELGRADE, Serbia – Serbia’s parliament is considering the adoption of a long-awaited resolution whereby the Serbian government would officially condemn the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The speaker of the Serbian parliament, Slavica Đukić-Dejanović, said that the resolution should be ready by March, despite wrangling in the Serbian parliament over use of the term ‘genocide’ to describe the mass killings.

The massacre at Srebrenica is the largest mass-murder to have occurred in Europe since the end of the second world war. Despite its designation as a U.N. ‘safe-zone,’ Bosnian Serb forces under the command of General Ratko Mladić murdered roughly 8,000 Muslim men and boys at the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in July of 1995. Mladić, wanted by the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for charges of genocide and war crimes, still remains at large.

The Srebrenica massacre was designated as a genocide by the ICTY and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In its ruling, the ICTY did not hold Serbia responsible for the genocide, but said that it was responsible for doing nothing to prevent the massacre.

In an interview with the newspaper Blic, Đukić-Dejanović said that sixty-seven percent of Serbians condemn the massacre. “It is our duty to respect their opinion and adopt a resolution [condemning the massacre]. I think it will be done between now and early March.”

Lawmakers in the ruling coalition are reportedly working on the text of the resolution. Opposition Liberal Democrats have singularly insisted that the term ‘genocide’ be used, while other parties have sought alternate terminology. The Serbian Progressive Party’s (SNS) deputy leader, Aleksandar Vučić, indicated that his party may not support a resolution incorporating the term ‘genocide.’

 When asked whether she would support a resolution incorporating the term ‘genocide,’ Đukić-Dejanović said that she would vote the way her parliamentary coalition voted, and that they were currently satisfied with the term ‘crime.’

 Nenad Prokić, of the Opposition Liberal Democratic Party, said:

 “We are the first country that is entering the EU with genocide in our suitcase – [a] limited territorial genocide. That is a very serious thing in a union based on peace…It is most important for us to recommend to our society and enter it into our schooling…so no one will ever do that in our name again.”

 For more information, please see:

B92 – Still no consensus on Srebrenica resolution – 8 February 2010

Blic – The adequate expression for Srebrenica is ‘crime’ – 8 February 2010

BSANNA – Resolution on Srebrenica to be adopted in early March – 8 February 2010

Javno – Serbian parliament to mull Srebrenica resolution – 8 February 2010

Egyptian Police Arrest Muslim Brotherhood Leaders

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Egyptian police forces have detained at least thirteen prominent members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition political party, ahead of parliamentary elections later this year.

Those arrested on February 8 include Mahmoud Ezzat, the Muslim Brotherhood’s deputy leader, and two members of the party’s Guidance Council, Dr. Essam el-Erian and Abdul Rahman el-Bir. A spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior confirmed the arrests, only saying the men had been detained for “illegal activities.”

The Muslim Brotherhood has been banned in Egypt since 1954, though government officials have allowed it to operate somewhat openly, yet members have been frequent target of government arrests. The party is part of the wider Muslim Brotherhood, which operates throughout the Middle East and advocates establishing Islamic states under the rule of Islamic law. The group’s aim has often been seen as a threat to Egypt’s secular, often authoritarian government. Arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members became more frequent in 2009 as they publically opposed the Egyptian government’s decision to keep its border with the Gaza Strip sealed, even as the Israeli blockade on Gaza tighetened.

Since parliamentary elections in 2005, Muslim Brotherhood representatives have held twenty percent of the Egyptian Parliament, under an “independent” party classification, making the group the largest opposition block in the Parliament. A statement on the Muslim Brotherhood’s website called for the leaders’ release, saying, “[s]uch arrests will not deter them from the way they have chosen for attaining the country’s welfare.”

On January16, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt appointed a new leader, Mohammed al-Badie, a 66-year-old veterinary professor. Prof. al-Badie has since expressed his wish for a peaceful relationship with the current Egyptian government, headed by President Hosni Mubarak: “We affirm that the Brotherhood is not for one day an adversary to the regime.”

After Prof. al-Badie was appointed, he emphasized the Muslim Brotherhood’s well-known public rejection of violence, saying his goal was to “show the world the true Islam, the Islam of moderation and forgiveness that respects pluralism in the whole world.”

After news of the February 8 arrests became known, Amnesty International called on Egyptian authorities “to stop their crackdown on peaceful political dissent and uphold the rights to freedoms of expression, association and assembly.”

For more information, please see:

Wall Street Journal – Egypt Arrests Opposition Leaders – 9 February 2010

Al Jazeera – Egypt Arrests Brotherhood Members – 8 February 2010

BBC News – Egypt Detains Muslim Brotherhood Leaders – 8 February 2010

Voice of America – Egyptian Police Arrest Top Muslim Brotherhood Figures – 8 February 2010

Belarusian Journalist Imprisoned After Clash With Police

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MINSK, Belarus – Ivan Shulha, a journalist for one of the few remaining independent media outlets operating in Belarus, was convicted of disorderly conduct and sentenced in ten days of jail after he allegedly clashed with police this past week.

Shulha, also a member of the nongovernmental organization Belarusian Association of Journalists, was arrested on Wednesday while police were attempting to enter the Minsk apartment of Michal Janczuka, a reporter for a Polish television network and coordinator of Belsat TV in Belarus.  When the police arrived at the apartment, those journalists present, including Shulha, initially refused to allow the police to enter.  After they eventually entered the apartment, Shulha was placed under arrest.  He was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after he allegedly struck one of the officers at the scene.

Belarus reporter
Photo: Belsat TV journalist Ivan Shulha [Source: RFE]

Shulha is employed by Belsat TV, a media outlet based in Poland.  Belsat was created in 2007 by the Polish Foreign Ministry as a way to provide news coverage within Belarus that would not be under the control of the Belarusian government.  Belsat employees independent journalists to work in and cover free speech issues in Belarus.  By being a journalist accredited in Poland, Shulha is able to avoid having to go through the same process in Belarus.  An Belarusian accreditation process was recently enacted by the federal government as a way to control the remaining independent media outlets.

Belarusian law enforcement authorities have stated that they were attempting to enter Janczuk’s apartment after they had received noise complaints concerning that apartment.  Critics, however, point to this action by the police as just another example of the Belarusian government attempting to gain greater control over any opposition forces in the country.  They point to the recently enacted legislation giving the federal government the authority to monitor the internet use of individual in the nation as evidence of this.

In response to Shulha’s arrest, Belsat’s director Agnieszka Romaszewska declared that “the actions by the Belarusian authorities towards Belsat TV channel are another attempt to impede journalistic activity and discredit independent journalists.”

For more information, please see:

FROM THE OLD – Belarus – Authorities step up pressure on independent journalists – 5 February 2010

CHARTER 97 – Agnieszka Romaszewska: Repressions won’t influence our position – 4 February 2010

POLSKIE RADIO – Belsat TV journalist accused of assaulting policeman – 4 February 2010

RADIO FREE EUROPE – Belarusian Journalist Jailed For Hooliganism – 4 February 2010