Iran Arrests Grandson of Former President Rafsanjani

Iran Arrests Grandson of Former President Rafsanjani

By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – On March 21, Iranian authorities arrested the grandson of former Iranian President, Akbar Hashemi Rafasnjani, as he attempted to enter the country. Hassan Lahouti, 23, was arrested as he arrived in Iran. Rafsanjani currently holds a number of powerful positions within Iran’s government, but backed a reformist candidate in the 2009 election. The election was controversy filled and led to protests as opposition supporters contended that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection was the result of voter fraud.

Lahouti was returning from London when he was arrested at the Tehran airport. Lahouti had left Iran for London, where he keeps his permanent residence, ten days prior to the protests that followed the disputed June 12, 2009 presidential election. Lahouti, according to the opposition website Rahesabz.com, was taken to Evin prison in Tehran on the orders of a judge.

Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi explained the charges against Lahouti to the Fars news agency. Dolatabadi said that the for President’s grandson was arrested “on orders from the judiciary on suspicion of committing some security crimes.” Rahesabz.net reports that Lahouti was actually arrested for “insulting the supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei). The website alleged that telephone conversations Lohouti had from London was listened to by Iranian security forces. During one of these conversations, according to the website, Lahouti insulted the Supreme Leader of Iran. Insulting government officials can incur a jail sentence.

Lahouti was released from Evin prison on March 22 after posting seventy three thousand dollars in bail. Dolatabadi explained that the former president’s grandson’s case was sent to court for further investigation

Lahouti’s mother, Faezeh Hashemi, was herself briefly detained after opposition protests began in June 2009. Hashemi, the daughter of Rafsanjani, has been accused of being involved in the incitement of officials.

Former President Rafsanjani was President of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1989 to 1997. He currently leads both the Assembly of Experts, which has the power to replace Khamenei, and the Expediency Council, which serves as the arbitration body. Rafsanjani has been a fierce critic of Ahmadinejad and backed opposition candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi in his bid to unseat Ahmadinejad in the 2009 election.

For more information, please see:

AFP –  Iran bails Ex-president Rafsanjani’s Grandson Prosecutor – 23 March 2010

Al Jazeera – Iran’s Ex-leader’s Grandson Arrested – 23 March 2010

BBC – Grandson of Iranian President Rafsanjani Held – 22 March 2010

UNDP Urges More Women Political Participation in Pacific Region

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

THE PACIFIC – A representative from the United Nations Development Programme, Knut Ostby, says that a more-open-minded approach to electoral systems will help Pacific countries get more women into parliament.

Women members average only 3.5% across the Pacific region. Four countries have no women politicians at all.

Compared with the global average of women parliamentarians, which is 18.5%, this small number of women politicians in the Pacific region shows the underrepresentation of women in the governments of the Pacific countries.

According to the UNDP, countries of the Pacific region have the lowest levels of women’s representation in parliaments. The Inter-Parliamentary Union has reported that Pacific women’s contribution as citizens and leaders is significant but it has generally remained informal and is not sufficiently recognized in mainstream political processes and power sharing with men, especially in national decision-making institutions.

While electoral systems such as New Zealand’s MMP system, which gave women the right to vote and has resulted in two female Prime Ministers, has proven to be successful in representing women in the Pacific region, other parts of the Pacific have much more difficulty introducing measures. These countries, for example the Solomon Islands, have institutional, financial, cultural, and development barriers which cause these Pacific parliaments to remain notoriously underrepresented by women.

On March 2, 2010, these issues were raised in a Pacific panel event at the UN Commission of the Status of Women.

At the panel, Minister Fiame Mata’afa for the Community and Social Development, stated that: “There are quite a few things that the Pacific is famous for, but one thing that we are infamous for, is being the least represented by women in the world.” She further suggested that while there are several reasons for the low numbers, campaigns dating back to the 70s and 80s have worked to further the gaps.

Mata’afa reasoned that “there might be a correlation between the level of development of a country and the rate of representation by women.”

Minister Patsy Wong for Women’s Affairs and Ethnic Affairs pointed out Samoa as being one of the Pacific countries that is severely underrepresented by women.

Wong is focusing on strengthening women’s representation and leadership not only in the public sector, but also in the corporate sector, as well as addressing the pay gap between men and women. She also supports women in the work force and creating a career path for women to promote the range of employment choices for girls. She continues to advocate for and inspire greater equality in decision making in the Pacific region.

Ostby of the UNDP says that when it comes to increasing women’s political representation, extra funding is only one consideration.

Ostby further stated: “Advocacy is important, and [so is] the willingness to look at existing electoral systems. For example, when you have constituencies with single representatives, that creates [a] situation for the voters…if you have several candidates coming out of a constituency perhaps there’s a bigger chance to have more diversity on this gender issue as well as on other issues.”

For more information, please see:
United Nations Development Programme: Pacific Centre – Promoting Women in Pacific Legislatures

Radio New Zealand International – Willingness to change electoral systems needed to get more women MPs – 25 March 2010

Pacific Gender Action Portal – Big Apple Bytes: Pacific women in politics panel stirs interest – 03 March 2010

Saudi Arabia Arrests Suspected Al-Qaeda Suspects

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – More than 100 suspected militants linked to Al-Qaeda have been arrested in Saudi Arabia, officials have said.

A statement from the ministry on Wednesday said the suspects were plotting attacks on oil and security installations in the kingdom. One cell consisted of 101 people, and two smaller cells were made up of six men each, it said.

The large cell comprised 47 Saudis and 51 Yemenis, as well as a Somali, a Bangladeshi and an Eritrean, the statement read out on state television said. The two smaller groups were made up of 11 Saudis and a Yemeni, who security officials described as being a prominent member of al-Qaeda.

Saudi Arabia stepped up its anti-terrorism fight against Al-Qaeda in 2004 after militants struck an oil installation and stormed a housing complex in the Persian Gulf city of Al-Khobar, killing 22 foreign workers. Those attacks were seen as an effort to destabilize the ruling al-Saud family.

The Interior Ministry said the new arrests followed an investigation in the wake of an incident in October in which two suspected al-Qaeda militants were killed in a gunfight after entering the kingdom from Yemen.

The threat from Yemen has gained global attention since the terrorist group’s local branch claimed responsibility for a Dec. 25 plot in which Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was charged with trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight with 278 passengers as it approached Detroit.

Al-Qaeda’s Saudi and Yemeni branches merged in January last year after the Saudi crackdown forced militants to flee. Saudi Arabia shares a 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) border with Yemen, the poorest Arab nation.

Riyadh is especially concerned about the resurgence of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen. In September, Michael Leiter, the director of the US National Counterterrorism Centre (NCTC), said the AQAP had gained a dangerous foothold in Yemen.

“We have witnessed the re-emergence of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, with Yemen as a key battleground and potential regional base of operations from which al-Qaeda can plan attacks, train recruits and facilitate the movement of operatives,” Leiter said

For more information, please see:

 Al-Jazeera – Saudi ‘Al-Qaeda Suspects’ Arrested – 25 March 2010

BusinessWeek – Saudi Arabia Busts ‘Terror Cells’ Plotting Oil Attack – 25 March 2010

BBC News – Saudi Arabia Detains Dozens of ‘Al-Qaeda Militants’ – 24 March 2010

Christian Science Monitor – Saudi Arabia Announces Arrest of 110 Al-Qaeda Suspects – 24 March 2010

Uganda Calls For Urgent Assistance Toward Somali Humanitarian Crisis

By Jared Kleinman

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia – The Chief of the Uganda People’s Land Defense Forces has called for urgent and immediate assistance for the Somalia Transitional Federal Government to address the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the war torn country. Lt General Katumba Wamala said that urgent support needs to be given to the government to improve the besieged government’s capacity and to deliver badly needed services to its people.

 Wamala’s statements were made following heavy clashes Monday which left at least 3 people dead and 4 others wounded in Mogadishu. The most recent fighting occurred between the AMISON backed transitional government and Islamist fighters.

 Uganda is one of two countries that have responded to an AU request for AMISOM troops to Somalia. Since responding, AMISON troops have come under constant attack by Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam insurgents fighting to oust the Western backed government of President Sheikh Ahmed Sharrif.

 “Normalcy can only return to Somalia if the government is able to provide basic services to the people and this can be made possible if there is a public service that is equipped with the necessary knowledge and is committed to service delivery,” said Deputy Special Representative of the African Union Commission for Somalia Wafula Wamunyinyi.

 Clashes in Mogadishu have displaced more than 55,000 people from Mogadishu since the beginning of February, with many of them heading out of Somalia to neighboring Kenya, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

Hawo Sheiikh Ali, a refugee who left Mogadishu at the end of February after a mortar shell killed 15 people in her neighborhood said, “Staying in Mogadishu now is like a death sentence: you are not safe; your neighbour is not safe.”

 “I was selling tea when it hit and all of a sudden I could not see anything. By the time the dust settled 10 young boys were dead,” Ali said. “I don’t know how I survived but I did and I left. I also lost two of my sons, aged 10 and 11; we got separated and up to now I don’t know where they are.”

 Ali said she had never considered becoming a refugee, but now felt she had no choice. He said many families are continuing to arrive “almost daily”.

 For more information, please see:

 Daily Nation – Uganda Urges Immediate Help for Somali Regime – 24 March 2010

Shabelle Media Network- Heavy Clashes Restarts, Kills 3, Injuries 4 in Mogadishu – 23 March 2010

IRIN – Kenya – Somalia – Thousands Flee Mogadishu ‘Death Trap’ – 22 March 2010

 

Sarkozy Announces Plan to Eradicate all ETA Bases in France

Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

Photo: French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Spanish Prime Minister
Photo: French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, and Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, left, at the memorial service for Jean-Serge Nérin on March 23, 2010. / Source: Reuters/Michel Euler

PARIS, France –  On Tuesday, March 23, 2010, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced plans to eradicate all Eta bases in France. The remarks were made as Sarkozy attended the funeral of French police officer Jean-Serge Nérin, who was killed by alleged Eta members last week. Sarkozy was joined by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero at the ceremony, which took place in Melun, south-east of Paris. Sarkozy said:

“We will eradicate, one by one, all Eta bases in France. We will flush them out one by one. We will dismantle all of the support networks of this terrorist organization.”

Nérin, a fifty two-year-old father of four, was killed near Paris in an exchange of fire with Eta members. Sarkozy stated that the killing would not go unpunished, and the French police force would be “completely mobilized” in its efforts to arrest the gunmen.

The shootout, which took place in Dammarie-lès-Lys, a municipality in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris, began after police apprehended individuals suspected of stealing automobiles. One person at the shootout, an unidentified twenty seven-year-old man, has already been arrested in connection with Nérin’s death, and the police are still searching for five others.

French police have frequently arrested Eta suspects in south-west France, and Eta’s  suspected military leader, Ibon Gogeascotxea, was arrested in Normandy last month with two other terrorist suspects.  The suspects, driving a car with false license plates, were detained in a joint French-Spanish sting near the village of Cahan.

Although Eta has used bases in France during much of its existence,  Nérin is the first French police officer to be killed by Eta.  Sarkozy said:

“This crime will not go unpunished . . . France, more than ever, stands side by side with democratic Spain . . . We will not allow French territory to serve as a base for terrorists and assassins.”

Eta is believed to be responsible for more than 800 deaths since the late 1960’s. The Basque separatist group has engaged in acts of violence in the effort to acheive an independent Basque state. Classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, Eta resumed attacks in June of 2007 after a fifteen month truce ended.

Eta released a statement earlier this week indicating that it was willing to take steps towards politice change in the Basque region, but did not call for an end to the armed struggle.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Sarkozy says France to ‘eradicate’ Eta bases – 23 March 2010

Irishtimes.com – Sarkozy pledges to eradicate Eta as policeman buried – 23 March 2010

Radio France Internationale – Sarkozy vows to eradicate Eta bases in France – 23 March 2010