Thailand Demonstration: The Bloodiest Since 1992

Thailand Demonstration: The Bloodiest Since 1992

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – Red-shirt protesters in Thailand, supporters of ousted populist leader Thaskin Shinawatra, clashed with the Thai military force on April 10.  Thaskin was overthrown in 2006 by protesters against the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD).  These anti-Thaskin political groups identify themselves with yellow attire and have successfully brought down two governments that supported Thaskin.  The group now identifies itself as The People’s Alliance for Democracy and functions as a political party without visible political activism.

The red-shirt UDD, on the other hand, has established multiple educational sessions over the past year and marched in numerous areas in promotion of their cause.  However,  on April 10th, a military effort to clear UDD red-shirts from a camp lead to the deaths of seventeen protesters and four military men.  The red-shirts were protesting the Prime Minister position held by Vejjajiva, who they assert was actually elected undemocratically.

Along with red-shirt street demonstrators, Thaskin has backing from intellectuals and proponents of democratic rule who seek to educate others on their policies.  The multiple constituencies from which Thaskin derives support comprise Thailand’s UDD, many of whom may be identified by their distinctive red attire.  Thaskin’s red-shirt supporters desire to reinstate Thailand’s populist policies framed under his half-decade of leadership.  Red-shirts also demand a state with significantly less military rule and an increase in democracy.

The ouster of Abhisit Vejjajiva from office, however, may not be sufficient to quell the political unrest consuming Thailand.  The Thai people witnessed the violence of red-shirt political protests reach tragically excessive levels, resulting in the bloodiest demonstrations since 1992.  Aside from nearly 25 deaths, well over 800 persons were injured by tear-gas and other anti-riot weapons. Despite the chaos, the red-shirts have refused Vejjajiva’s offers to hold elections within six months.  However, the red-shirts have also claimed that reinstating Thaskin would not be enough to meet their demands; they desire equal treatment of all peoples in Thailand.

Abhisit seems to have used to confusion caused by the rallying to launch propaganda against the red-shirt campaign, claiming that full investigations must go under way to place liability where it is due.  The red-shirts, however, have decided to remain resilient until the Thai government as it exists today ceases to act against their demands.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Q&A: Thailand protests – 13 April 2010

BusinessWeek – Ousting Abhisit May Not End Deadly Thailand Protests – 14 April 2010

Christian Science Monitor – Thailand’s red-shirt protests darken… – 12 April 2010

Syria and Jordan Protest Israeli Order

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria/ AMMAN, Jordan– On Tuesday, Syria chastised new Israeli military orders that they say paves the way for large-scale expulsions of Palestinians from the West Bank and warned that the new orders may lead to a policy of “ethnic cleansing” in the occupied territories.

The new rules, which took effect on Tuesday, allow for anyone caught in the West Bank without an Israeli permit to face immediate expulsion or be sentenced up to seven years in prison.  The order, if implemented in full force, could reach thousands of individuals who have moved to the West Bank, foreign born Palestinians married to West Bankers and foreigners who are in the West Bank on expired tourist visas.

A Syrian Foreign Ministry official said “this decision is the adoption of the ethnic cleansing policy and a step to the mass deportation aiming at emptying the land from its people.”  The official further commented “it also constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and human rights and will of the whole international community.”

Syria has not been the only country critical of the new order.  Jordan called in Israel’s ambassador for an official protest over the same decision considering the move to be “a flagrant violation of international law and conventions” and a violation of Israel’s obligations as the occupying power in the West Bank.

In response, a group of Israeli human rights organizations have asked Defense Minister Ehud Barak to rescind the order’s implementation, arguing that it would “turn all residents of the West Bank into criminals.”  The Israeli government rebutted such an assertion arguing that the order makes “no change with regard to who is illegal or legal.” Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator with Israel said “these orders have the effect of turning Palestinians into criminals in their own homes, while directly undermining the efforts of Palestinians to run their own internal affairs.”

An Israeli military official denied that the order would pave the way for large-scale expulsions, indicating that its sole purpose was aimed at foreign activists.

For more information, please see:

CNN- Jordan Protests to Israel Over Expulsions– 14 April 2010

Haaretz- Jordan Condemns Israel Over West Bank Deportation Order– 14 April 2010

The Jerusalem Post- Jordan Protests Expulsion Rule– 14 April 2010

President Obama Hosts Nuclear Summit

By Stephen Kopko,

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON D.C., United States- For the past two days President Barack Obama has hosted many of the world’s leaders in a discussion of one of the world’s most important issues:  nuclear security.  The summit was held in the wake of the United States and Russian agreement to reduce their nuclear arsenals.  The main objective of the summit was to reduce nations stockpiles of nuclear weapons as well as to make nations more accountable for lost nuclear weapons and equipment. These “loose nukes” have the potential to fall into the hands of terrorist organizations.

Forty seven countries participated in the Nuclear Summit.  The leaders pledged commitments to better account for loose nuclear materials in order to promote global security.  Experts estimate that there is between 1,300 to 1,900 tons of weapons grade nuclear materials unaccounted for throughout the world. According to reports, some of these materials are housed in university research centers, United States missile submarines, and Russian icebreaker power plants.

The Nuclear Summit accomplished two primary goals.  First, the summit empowered nations to “clean up their nuclear arsenals” through the formation of specific plans to find and account for “loose nukes.”  Also, the summit placed pressure on nations that have failed to abide by previous nuclear disarmament commitments.

The main criticism of the Nuclear Summit was that it did not accomplish anything of substance.  The promises made by the nations in attendance were voluntary. Senator Jon Kyl stated; “The summit’s purported accomplishment is a nonbinding communiqué that largely restates current policy, and makes no meaningful progress in dealing with nuclear terrorism threats.”

Nevertheless, the summit’s proponents point to some nations actions in the wake of the summit.  For example, Egypt is in the process of criminalizing the trafficking of nuclear materials in their country.  Also, Malaysia, a country known as an easy access point for funneling nuclear materials, imposed stronger export controls.  Additionally the nations in attendance promised to cooperate with international nuclear inspectors.

President Obama admitted that the United States has not always abided by its international nuclear agreements.  However, the United States did take a step forward during the summit.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed a proposal with the Russian government that would destroy plutonium that had the ability to make 17,000 nuclear weapons.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press-Nuke summit sets post-Cold War challenge-14 April 2010

Christian Science Monitor-Obama’s nuclear summit report card: incomplete, for now-13 April 2010

NY TIMES-At Security Summit, President Obama Calls For Action, Not Talk, to Secure Nuclear Stockpiles-13 April 2010

Al Qaeda in Iraq Takes Credit for Triple Bombing

By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – On April 9, a triple bombing struck the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. The attack killed forty people. The bombings, located near foreign embassies in the Iraqi capital, also wounded over two hundred people. The bombings appeared to target the Egyptian, Syrian, Iranian and German embassies. The group Al Qaeda in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the attacks, making the announcement on the internet.

Two of the explosions that struck on April 9 were suicide attacks that went after the Egyptian consulate and the Iranian embassy. They went off within a minute of each other in Mansour, a well educated suburb on the western side of the city. A few minutes later, a third suicide bomber blew his vehicle up. The explosion took place close to the city center. A number of Iraqi guards working for foreign missions were among those killed int the blast. The Iranian, Egyptian, German and Syrians all claimed damage and injuries caused by the blasts.

Al Qaeda in Iraq, referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq (or ISI) posted on militant forums online that the blasts were the “fifth wave’ of their campaign of mass causality attacks on government targets in Iraq. The campaign began in mid 2009 according the SITE Intelligence Group. SITE is a US based group group. The statement also mentioned that all embassies and international political organizations the have dealings with the central Baghdad government were being considered as legitimate targets.

The statement also read that “the mujahedeen will not hesitate to strike, wherever (the Iraqi government) is located and no matter the level of its fortification.” In another statement posted on extremist online forums, the ISI denied all involvement six separate blasts that killed at least thirty five people on April 6. The blasts also destroyed residential buildings in the mostly Shi’ite neighborhoods.

The embassy bombings are part of a recent string of violence around the Iraqi capital that has killed roughly one hundred twenty people in a week. It is suggested that the bloodshed marks an attempt by insurgents to take advantage of the political uncertainty that has followed the March 7 Iraqi elections.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Al-Qaeda in Iraq claims Baghdad Embassy Bombings – 9 April 2010

Associated Press – Iraq al-Qaida Group Says It’s Behind Embassy Hits – 9 April 2010

BBC – Al-Qaeda in Iraq Group Claims Embassy Bombings – 9 April 2010

Press TV – Extremists Claim Responsibility For Baghdad Blasts – 9 April 2010

Washington Post – Group Linked to Al-Qaeda in Iraq Claims Embassy Bombings – 9 April 2010

Yemen Refuses To Pursue Wanted Cleric For U.S.

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’NA, Yemen – Yemeni forces are not going after a radical U.S.-born cleric who has reportedly been added to the CIA’s list of targets to be killed or captured, the foreign minister said Saturday.

The United States has not handed over evidence to support allegations that Anwar al-Awlaki, 38, is recruiting for al-Qaeda’s offshoot in the impoverished country on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, the minister said.

“Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn’t be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism,” Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi told reporters on Saturday, adding that the government was not hunting the US-born cleric believed to be living in Yemen. “The detailed information … and evidence gathered by US agencies has not been given to Yemen.”

However, al-Qirbi also told Al Jazeera television that al-Awlaki “is wanted by Yemeni justice for questioning, so that he can clear his name … or face trial.”

Though Al-Awlaki is a U.S. citizen, born in New Mexico, he lived in Yemen with his family for most of his early life. He returned to attend college and graduate school and it was during this period he began serving as an imam for various mosques around the country.

The US has sought in recent months to heighten cooperation with Yemen, where it believes a relatively new offshoot of Al Qaeda is gaining strength. It has also pledged to double its modest military aid to Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest state. The state’s ability to govern has been compromised by a secessionist movement in the south and a rebellion in the north that was only recently resolved.

The Barack Obama administration took a somewhat extraordinary step last week in authorizing the targeted killing of the cleric.

A handful of intelligence and counterterrorism officials briefed members of the press on the decision last week, during which Reuters quoted government officials as saying that “Al-Awlaki is a proven threat,” and that “he’s being targeted”.

Though known only as an Islamic scholar, espousing controversial views, U.S. intelligence officials cited new information on his direct involvement with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as justification for his targeting.

“He’s gotten involved in plots,” an unnamed official told the New York Times last week. “The danger al-Awlaki poses to this country is no longer confined to words,”

For more information, please see:

The Philadelphia Inquirer – Yemen Declines To Pursue Cleric Targeted By U.S. – 11 April 2010

The Christian Science Monitor – Yemen Balks At Possible U.S. Possible Strike On Cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki – 12 April 2010

IPS – Yemen Refuses To Hunt Al-Awlaki For U.S. – 13 April 2010