Scouts Challenge Boy Scouts’ Ban on Gays

Scouts Challenge Boy Scouts’ Ban on Gays

By Stuart Smith
Impunity Watch, North America

WASHINGTON, United States — Although Scouts for Equality isn’t the first group to challenge the Boy Scouts of America 102-year long policy banning gay Scouts and troop leaders, it is the first group composed entirely of Eagle Scouts to do so.

Zach Wahls delivers petitions to the Boy Scouts of America national annual meeting in Orlando, Florida on May 30, 2012. (Image Courtesy of MSNBC)

“Scouts for Equality will lead a respectful, honest dialogue with current and former Scouts and Scout leaders about ending this outdated policy,” says Scouts for Equality. Zach Wahls is the group’s co-founder and an Eagle Scout from Iowa with lesbian mothers. “When I was earning my  Citizenship in the Community merit badge, I learned the importance of standing up for what you believe to be right,” he wrote on the group’s website.

And, recently reported the L.A. Times, he did just that. Wahls helped spearhead a petition aimed at ending the BSA’s ban. The resolution, presented last week at the group’s national annual meeting, proposed to allow each Scouting’s charted group to determine whether or not they will accept gay Scouts and leaders.

The organization, according to Time, in a statement released June 7, 2012, reiterated its support for the ban: “While the BSA does not proactively inquire about the sexual orientation of employees, volunteers, or members, we do not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA.”

“While we’ll carefully consider the resolution, there are no plans to change this policy,” said Boy Scouts of America spokesman Devon Smith, remarking that similar resolutions and petitions challenging the ban occurred as early as 2000, when the Supreme Court upheld the discriminatory policy, reported MSNBC. The Scouts also maintain a long-standing tradition of excluding atheists and agnostics from their membership rolls, according to the Associated Press.

“Up to the day they end this policy, they’ll be saying they have no plans to do so,” said Wahls in an interview with the AP, but, he said, the ban is having a negative impact on membership and public support. If the resolution fails to pass, Wahls plans to file a lawsuit.

The petition originated when Jennifer Tyrrell was fired in April from her volunteer position as a Cub Scout leader because she is a lesbian, reported the L.A. Times.  The only discussion of Tyrrell’s sexual orientation happened when some of the children of her Tiger Scout troop asked why her partner was a woman, she answered that her son had two moms.

“This isn’t about my sexuality; this isn’t about anybody’s sexuality,” Tyrrell told CNN. “It’s about teaching children to be better adults, and we aren’t doing that by teaching them to hate or discriminate.”

For further information, please see:

MSNBC – Boy Scouts review controversial anti-gay policy – 12 June 2012

L.A. Times – Boy Scouts’ ban gays is fought from the inside – 8 June 2012

CNN – Boy Scouts to study ban on gay leaders — 7 June 2012

Time – Will the Boy Scouts Reverse Its Anti-Gay Policy? – 7 June 2012

Scouts for Equality Website – Our Message

Four ICC Delegates Detained in Libya

by Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TRIPOLI, Libya — Since Thursday, four delegates of the International Criminal Court who were on a mission to visit Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi have been detained in the western mountain town of Zintan by Libyan authorities.

Taylor
Taylor has been working with the ICC since 2006, as counsel in the office that represents an indicted person's interest before an appointment of a formal defense counsel. (Photo Courtesy of New Limited)

Libya claims that one of the delegates, an Australian lawyer named Melinda Taylor, part of the four-member delegation, was attempting to pass “dangerous documents” to Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the slain former president Muammar Gaddafi.  Ahmed Al-Jehani, a Libyan lawyer and envoy to the ICC, said that authorities seized Taylor’s camera and recording device prior to her meeting with Al-Islam. Once inside, Libyan authorities claim she shared documents with Al-Islam that were potentially harmful to Libyan national security.  Al-Jehani also said that Taylor shared information and drawings which could jeopardize the safety of Libyans living abroad.

Jehani said that the documents included letters from Mohammed Ismail, a former right hand man to Al-Islam who has been in hiding since the Libyan revolution, and blank documents signed by Al-Islam.  He denied that Taylor and her colleagues were spending time in a prison cell, saying that she “is under house arrest, not detained in prison.  Jehani also said it is likely that she will be released soon.

Sang-Hyun Song, President of the International War Crimes Court, demanded the delegates’ immediate release, saying that as members of the court’s staff, the delegates hold immunity when on an official ICC mission.  The ICC recently sent representatives to Tripoli to secure the release of the detained delegates.  Efforts to free the delegates have been futile, as authorities in Zintan will not allow contact between ICC representatives and the detained delegates without further questioning.

The ICC named the three other staff members who were detained with Taylor: Helene Assaf, a Lebanese ICC translator and interpreter who is also being held as an “accomplice”; Esteban Peralta Losilla, chief of the Counsel Support Section at the ICC; and Alexander Khodakov, a Russian career diplomat and External Relations and Cooperation Senior Adviser at the registry of the ICC.

Al-Islam is currently being held by the Zintan brigade. Under international law, Libya has the right to try him on its own soil.  Prior to the overthrow of Gaddafi, the ICC indicted Al-Islam and will not drop his case until it is certain that the Libyan government is capable of giving him a fair trial.

In June 2011, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Al-Islam, and Abdullah Senussi, one of Gaddafi’s former spies, for crimes against humanity.  The ICC prefers to have the two tried in The Hague, but the new Libyan regime refuses to deliver them to the ICC.  The government would prefer to have them tried in Libya.  Libyan lawyers criticized the ICC’s jurisdiction, saying it is only meant to be complementary to a nation state’s jurisdiction, only acting when the member state is unwilling to do so.

For further information, please see:

News Limited — Aussie Lawyer Accused of Spying — 11 June 2012

Reuters UK — ICC Sends Team to Libya After Delegation Detained — 11 June 2012

Philadelphia Inquirer — War Crimes Court Says 4 Staff Held in Libya — 10 June 2012

Seattle Post-Intelligencer — War Crimes Court: 4 Staffers Held in Libya — 9 June 2012

Yahoo! News — Libya ‘Arrests’ Australian War Crimes Court Lawyer — 9 June 2012

Syrian Revolution Digest – Monday 11 June 2012

THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

A Bouquet of Massacres!

Why settle for one massacre a day when you can get away with many? Why stop killing when the price will be paid by others, when your worst case scenario is a small fiefdom of your own, when there is no accountability worthy of the name? Assad and his cronies will keep killing, because even their worst case scenario at this stage is a win. They might lose Syria, only to win an Assadstan.  

Monday June 11, 2012

Today’s death toll: 109. The Breakdown: 36 in Idlib, 19 in Deir Ezzor, 17 in Homs, 15 in Hama, 10 in Damascus (8 in the suburbs and 2 in Barzeh neighborhood), 6 in Lattakia, 5 in Aleppo and 1 in Daraa.

A series of massacres against local villages perpetrated by pro-Assad militias in Idlib Province claimed the lives of 36 people today.

Local activists in Deir Ezzor City report that a mortar round that landed in the midst of an anti-Assad rally in Jbeileh Neighborhood around midnight killed close to 50 protesters. More details to emerge tomorrow.

Tanks, choppers and heavy artillery continue to take part in the pounding of communities in the rural areas of Aleppo, Idlib Hama and Homs continues.

The airbase of Ghanto briefly help by local resistance yesterday returned to army control today after local fighters were forced to withdraw under heavy shelling, but not before emptying the weapons depots. Only surface-to-air missiles used in pounding Homs City and other restive communities were left behind.

News

Syrian activists outside the country echoed their denials. Ammar Abdulhamid, a Syrian human rights activist based in Washington, argued that the Vatican news agency had fallen for “the Assad propaganda machine” by relying on the “pro-regime” Christian religious establishment for information.

Op-Eds & Special Reports

This is one of the canons used in the pounding of Homs Cityhttp://youtu.be/q7Kjy3A9PXU Why can’t this be bombed from the air by our friends in the international community? It’s out there in the open, and not too close to a residential neighborhood, and can easily be targeted. How can western leaders watch this and do nothing?

Back when I was in college, in an introductory social studies class, the professor told us about a famous incident that took place in New York City sometimes in the early 1960s: a man kills his girlfriend by stabbing her repeatedly in the chest in a crowded street in open daylight, no one tries to stop him and no one calls the police. How is this any different?

Deir Ezzor

Homs

The pounding of Homs City continues: Jouret Al-Shayah http://youtu.be/EnWfaJ-cUsQ ,http://youtu.be/1RoYU5VCWPo , http://youtu.be/c-mMuNiwbUE , http://youtu.be/c-mMuNiwbUE , http://youtu.be/3DgZTlQElj4 , http://youtu.be/Lvmn1luv20A A mortar round lands near the cameraman http://youtu.be/RCWRjlP8Y3U Khaldiyehhttp://youtu.be/cysC35cq7kw Mosques http://youtu.be/KUBvMuYa0Qs and churcheshttp://youtu.be/-TQlvmSP7po are targeted. This is Um Al-Zinnar, one of the oldest churches in Syria.

The pounding of Rastan (day) http://youtu.be/AjNHBn5hBhA ,http://youtu.be/5E_M6uxyF9s , http://youtu.be/eTpKiEU0bkI (night)http://youtu.be/n2mbVmNj_44 Martyrs http://youtu.be/pGyYbua1p-Y Treating the injuredhttp://youtu.be/FS3tDNq-NwY , http://youtu.be/5TWePWuvTIo Colonel Qassim Saadeddine, head of the Military Council in Homs Province and who currently leads the resistance in Rastan, inspects his troops even as the pounding continueshttp://youtu.be/Vn8r6144ILs

Qusayr: rescuing the victim of a sniper attack http://youtu.be/mC7B61iXBtU

After a brief halt coinciding with the visit of UN monitors to the cityhttp://youtu.be/3IF30HbBbs4 The pounding of Talbisseh continueshttp://youtu.be/QSgR3iVHJi4 and way into the night http://youtu.be/upHbafSKJ-M

Idlib

A series of massacres perpetrated by pro-Assad militias against the inhabitants of a number of restive communities claim 36 lives.

Martyrs are brought in to the town of Mhambel http://youtu.be/wbdYR6afcW4 Two martyrs http://youtu.be/5Svq_Mgvt9M

The victims of the Massacre of Ain Shbeeb http://youtu.be/SM16mI4wS9k Locals are angry because UN monitors refused to come to examine the situation.

Damascus

Clashes between local fighters and pro-Assad militias take place in Barzeh Neighborhoodhttp://youtu.be/qVx7YAYF79s , http://youtu.be/ENf1mFn53pE ,http://youtu.be/ASMY27TxLRA , http://youtu.be/qVx7YAYF79s ,http://youtu.be/ASMY27TxLRA Two were killed. The view from street levelhttp://youtu.be/fuFxD4hZfYE

Homes catch fire in Douma Suburb due to continued pounding http://youtu.be/LY-IK1fPMPo The pounding continues http://youtu.be/bF6nTQ05RBQ A child is wounded when his home was shelled, he curses Bashar Al-Assad http://youtu.be/wBMxPmK43a0

Hama

The pounding of Taybat Al-Imam at night http://youtu.be/YNCm5EAvkas

Daraa

Daraa City comes under fire at night http://youtu.be/negr5qYqoCw

Lattakia

The pounding of Haffeh continues: treating the wounded http://youtu.be/ziqpGs6KPUY

Report on the Al-Qubeir Massacre and Survivor Testimony

Al-Qubeir Massacre | 7 June 2012
The Syrian regime’s security forces and Shabeehas, pro-regime militias affiliated to security forces, have perpetrated a horrific massacre in Mazra’at Al-Qubeir.  Al-Qubeir is 20 km to the west of Hama city, and 2 km to the south of Ma’arzaf.  Seventy-eight victims are documented, including women and children.  Tanks leveled half of the houses, almost to complete destruction, and it is visible from afar by any visitor.

Some of SHNR & DCHRS members have met activists in the area, victims’ relatives and survivors from the massacre.  The UN and international investigations committees are in contact with them.  They all affirmed that the Syrian regime’s army raided many villages in western Rural Hama on Wednesday 06-06-2012.  The Syrian regime cut off all means of communications, internet, power, and water in the area so that they could perpetrate the massacre in silence.

The area was completely besieged by tanks and checkpoints, which explains the delay in reporting and documentation of the massacre and the victims.  The regime’s army forces raided the village of Jreijis and burned down many houses there. Then they raided the village of Ma’arzaf and assaulted the locals.  Around 01:00 pm, the regime’s army tanks started shelling the village of al-Qubeir. Then they raided it with buses full of Shabeehas, militias who come from the village of Aseelah and other villages loyal to the regime.

The regime forces and Shabeehas opened fire randomly on the residents of the village of Mazra’at al-Qubeir, including men, women and children.  They led men outside the houses and slaughtered many of them with knives.  They also burned more than 21 bodies to obscure evidence of the crime. They abducted 37 bodies so that the international observers cannot see them and draw attention.

It is worth mentioning that the village of al-Qubeir is administratively affiliated to the town of Ma’arzaf with is affiliated to Mhardeh region. The village consists of about 20 houses, and most of the residents are relatives from the same family.  Relatives of the victims confirmed 60 names. Most of the victims are from one family, including 10 women and 9 children. Search for survivors, and attempts to confirm the names of the rest of the victims, is still ongoing, but the area is still fully besieged amid communications blackout and power cut.

**WARNING: THE VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES**

The video shows some of the victims of the massacre, including young children and women.  

 

 

Survivor Story

The video below is an interview conducted by an activist with a mother who lost her children and relatives to the Al-Qubeir massacre in Hama.  She survived the massacre and is now telling her story; international observers and Arab investigation committees are in contact with her.   In the video she affirms that the Syrian regime’s army, in cooperation with security forces Shabeehas, have perpetrated this massacre which is a crime against humanity.

Syrian Network for Human Rights calls on the international community to take urgent and immediate measures to place pressure on the Syrian regime to grant international investigations committees access to examine the circumstances of the massacre.  The Syrian regime is obscuring evidence of the massacre by burning some bodies and abducting others.  This explains why the country has not given access to international observers to see the site of the massacre until now.

Summary of the testimony given by this mother:
There were about 25 families in this village.  When the regime’s forces and shabeehas came, we were inside our houses.  They opened machinegun fire, blew up and shelled houses with residents inside.  Moreover, they stabbed and slaughtered children by knives and choppers.  Then they burned them.  People say that shabeehas came from the neighbouring villages of Aseeleh, Twaini and Tal Skeen. They came by 3 buses and a tank.  Only 5 or 6 people, including 3 men and 2 women, have survived the massacre.  They slaughtered my children by knives.  The message I want to send to the world is that the regime’s army and militias have slaughtered our men and children, and may God help us.

 

Videos and Story Courtesy of:

Syrian Network for Human Rights – Report on the Massacre of Mazra’at Al-Qubeir – 11 June 2012

Talwars’ Review Plea Dismissed Despite Lack of Evidence in Double-Murder

By Jenna Furman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India —The trial of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar for the murders of their fourteen-year-old daughter, Aarushi Talwar, and their domestic helper, Hemraj, began Friday in the Ghaziabad Court after the Supreme Court dismissed the Talwar’s review plea to escape the standing trial.

Aarushi Talwar, age 14. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

The Talwars are charged with the May 16, 2008 murders of Aarushi and Hemraj. The couple is also charged with destruction of evidence. Rajesh Talwar is charged with misleading investigators in the double-homicide case.

The Court began hearing testimony of the prosecution’s witnesses on Friday. The couple continues to claim their innocence as to all charges against them.

The Talwars live in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, outside New Delhi, where Rajesh Talwar works as a dentist. Their daughter’s body was found in her bedroom at their home on May 16, 2008, and the battered body of Hemraj was found the next day on the terrace of the home. Both were found with their throats slit and other similar injuries.

However, there is no hard evidence linking the Talwars to the murders. The Central Bureau of Investigation, India’s federal police service, states that the circumstantial evidence suggests that Aarushi’s parents were involved in the murders. The murder weapon has yet to be recovered but the CBI believes the fatal injuries to the neck were made with surgical precision and thus, implicate the Talwars in the crimes. A golf stick recovered at the crime scene also inflicted identical injuries on the two victims.

The Talwars have called for re-investigation of the case because there were lapses present in the initial investigation of the case. They have stated that they believe they are being blamed for the murders because the CBI could not find evidence to link the real perpetrators to the murders.

The police and government investigators are accused of making successive failed inquiries into the double-murder four years ago and then pursuing the Talwars as the culprits to cover their failed investigative attempts.

Much of the forensic evidence in the home was either destroyed by the police themselves or by the media who were allowed full access to the crime scene. Postmortem evaluations were also deemed inconclusive. Additionally, police inquiries have contradicted each other in regards to key elements of the murders. The case has brought to the fore Indian concerns over the efficiency of their police and the criminal justice system.

While Rajesh is on bail for the crimes, on Thursday, June 7, the Supreme Court rejected Nupur Talwar’s petition for bail. She is held in Dasna jail, Ghaziabad. The Court stated that they were not “inclined to interfere in the trial court’s order.”

The couple stated that despite the Supreme Court’s denial of their review petition they continue to believe that “justice will one day prevail.”

For further information, please see:

Hindu – Talwars’ Plea Rejected, but Couple Unbowed – 8 June 2012

International Business Times – Aarushi-Hemraj Double Murder Case: Talwars’ Trial Begins  – 8 June 2012

BBC News – India Aarushi Talwar Murder Trial Begins – 4 June 2012

The Guardian – India’s Middle-Class Murder Trial Stokes Concerns About Changing Values – 11 May 2012