Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – A string of attacks throughout Iraq on February 22 left over twenty people dead, including nine children. The attacks came in a series of bombings, shootings and beheadings. The attacks include rockets exploding in the Green Zone (Baghdad’s heavily fortified neighborhood), car bombings near government buildings, and killings of security officers and government. Iraqi officials have reportedly been able to detect a discernible pattern to the violence.

Among the attacks were the killings of two families in their homes in Baghdad.  With respect to one of the families, gunmen killed entire family, who were reportedly Shi’ite Muslims living in an area outside of the Baghdad that is majority Sunni. Neighbors found the six children and their parents dead in their home in the rural town of Wehda, a town that witnessed some of the first sectarian violence in 2005.

A Baghdad security spokesman confirmed the incident in a statement, saying “unknown gunmen killed eight members of the same family with silencers, and then cut the heads off some of the bodies. The spokesman confirmed that four arrests had been made in connection with the killings. The beheading of civilians has traditionally been associated with Sunni extremists linked to al-Qaeda.

Another attack came where a suicide bomber attacked a government building in Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar province. The attack killed five people. Anbar was previously an insurgent stronghold. The bombing was the latest in a string that have raised fears that Al Qaeda is attempting to regain control of the area.

Among the other attacks on February 22 was a car bombing that exploded outside the Internal Affairs Ministry in Baghad. The bombing killed two Iraqi policemen and three civilians. Another attack came when a sniper shot a policeman who was manning a checkpoint. A street cleaner, university professor, businessman, four policemen and two soldiers were also shot and killed in separate attacks in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk.

There was no immediate suggestion by Iraqi officials that the attacks are related the coming national election. However, the level of violence in the country has escalated as election day nears.

For more information, please see:

Los Angeles Times – 26 People Killed in Brutal Attacks Across Iraq – 23 February 2010

AFP – Eight Family Members Brutally Killed in Iraq – 22 February 2010

BBC – Iraq Gunmen ‘Behead Shia Family in’ Baghdad – 22 February 2010

New York Times – Spike in Iraq Violence as Vote Nears – 22 February 2010

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BRUSSELS, Belgium – European Union foreign ministers released a statement on February 22, saying they have “strongly condemned” the use of forged European passports by the alleged assassins of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a Hamas commander, in Dubai in January 2010. While the statement made no reference to Israel, it is widely assumed that the Mossad, Israel’s secret intelligence service, was behind the killing.

Al-Mabhouh was murdered in his hotel room in Dubai on January 19. On February 15, Dubai police released closed-circuit video from the hotel that showed dramatic footage of the eleven suspected assassins, all with forged European passports—six British, three Irish, one French, and one German. It later emerged that the hit-squad had stolen the identities of innocent people, seven of whom have dual Israeli citizenship and currently live in Israel.

Israeli officials have neither confirmed nor denied their country’s involvement with the assassination. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met with his counterparts at the European Union headquarters in Brussels after the E.U. statement was released. Michael Martin, the Irish Foreign Minister, told the press that Mr. Lieberman did not have any additional information on the assassination.

“He didn’t deny it,” said Mr. Martin, “but I don’t want that to be construed one way or the other. He said he didn’t have any information.”

On the Israeli Foreign Ministry website, a statement said that Mr. Lieberman told Mr. Martin that no report linked Israel with the assassination. The statement went on to say that if and when a report does so, beyond media reports, Israel would respond.

The incident has held ordinary Israelis to question the ethics of the Mossad. Israelis take pride in the organization’s stealth and ability to quietly take out what it believes are enemies of Israel, yet the use of Israeli citizens’ passports has thrown that pride into question. Many Israelis are immigrants from European countries and continue to hold passports from their countries of origin.

There are plenty of people who would have been willing to cooperate with that kind of a mission. So if they’re using these people’s identities unbeknownst to them, then it’s very problematic,” said Jean-Marc Liling, a Swiss-French human rights lawyer now living in Israel. “Using people’s identities without their consent is really intolerable.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – EU Condemns Passport Use in Dubai Killing – 22 February 2010

The National (UAE) – Europe Condemns Stolen Identities Used in al Mabhouh Killing – 22 February 2010

New York Times – E.U. Decries Passport Use by Assassins – 22 February 2010

Christian Science Monitor – Israelis Ponder Mossad Ethics, Role in Dubai Hamas Assassination – 18 February 2010