According to Syrian Network for Human Rights’ team, who have documented the death of victims from 3/1/2014 to 7/1/2014:
Seven ongoing days of clashes between different armed factions and the Islamic state of Iraq and Levant organization led to the death of at least 336 slain victims; including 76 civilians, 5 children, and 6 media activists.
Press Release
For Immediate Distribution
9 January 2014 – The Association of Russian Judges has refused a request from Sergei Magnitsky’s mother to publicly discuss the role of judges in her son’s persecution, ill-treatment and death. It said that it “cannot discuss” the matter in spite of the fact that last year its regional division had discussed the matter and issued a resolution in a closed forum secretly from Magnitsky’s family and human rights groups.
“The Association of Russian Judges is trying to whitewash the role of the judiciary in Sergei Magnitsky’s death by refusing a public airing of the facts,”said a Hermitage Capital representative.
Last year, four Moscow judges were included in the the U.S. Government’s Magnitsky sanctions list. Each of these four Russian judges approved the detention of Sergei Magnitsky on false grounds. They refused his petitions about the unlawfulness of his arrest, about the fabrication of evidence by FSB and Interior Ministry officials, and about his ill-treatment and denial of medical care in custody. Judge Stashina extended Sergei Magnitsky’s detention and refused all his petitions on 12 November 2009, four days before his murder in police custody.
After the U.S. Government announced the inclusion of the four Moscow judges on the Magnitsky sanctions list, the Moscow judges association held a closed meeting on 22 April 2013, at which it passed a resolution “condemning” the inclusion of the four judges on the sanctions list. The resolution of the Moscow judges association was then broadcast on state TV channels and published on the Moscow City Court’s website. The resolution said that the Moscow judges association found no reason “to doubt in any way the lawfulness and fairness of the actions” of their four colleagues upon review of their “personal file”.
When Magnitsky’s mother learned of this resolution, she wrote an open letter in Novaya Gazeta Newspaper requesting a public discussion of the role of judges in her son’s ill-treatment and death. She asked the Association of Russian Judges to invite Magnitsky’s family and the human rights experts to the hearing. However, the Association of Russian Judges refused her plea on the ground that the Moscow judges association through its Presidium had already expressed their position.
“The Presidium of the Council of Judges of the City of Moscow …has deemed it necessary to condemn the inclusion of judges Ukhnaleva, Stashina, Krivoruchko and Podoprigorov in the Magnitsky list…Taking into account the nature of the stated opinion expressed by the body of the judicial community,the resolution of the Presidium of the Council of Judges of the City of Moscow cannot be a matter for review by the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation,” said Victor Faleev, chair of the Disciplinary Commission of the Russian Judges Association. Mr Faleev indicated that he acted on orders from the chair of Russian Judges Association.
“The Moscow resolution “condemning” the inclusion of four judges in the Magnitsky case on the sanctions list is fully reminiscent of the Soviet times, when professional associations unanimously condemned dissidents and any efforts of foreign governments to help them,” said a Hermitage Capital representative.
The role of judges in the unlawful arrest and detention of Magnitsky and his ill-treatment in custody was highlighted in the two independent reports published by the Moscow Oversight Commission and the Human Rights Council of the Russian President. Yet, their conclusions have been ignored by the Russian government investigation into Mr Magnitsky’s death which was closed last year by the Russian Investigative Committee for “lack of the event of crime.”
For further information, please see:
By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
PARIS, France – Despite France’s ability to nationally ban comedian Dieudonne’s tour, the Interior Minister Manuel Valls called on local officials to make similar decisions, based on the content of Dieudonne’s show. Dieudonne threatened to appeal.
Several French towns and cities have banned Dieudonne’s controversial comedy act due to its alleged anti-Semitism, including Marseilles, Tours, Nantes, and Bordeaux. Dieudonne has never paid one of his several fines for anti-Semitic outbursts. He continues to claim bankruptcy from his Theatre du Main d’Or in Paris.
French President Francois Hollande has urged officials to enforce the authorized bans. “I’m calling on all state representatives, especially prefects, to be alert and inflexible. No-one should be able to use a stage show to openly promote anti-Semitic ideas,” said Hollande.
Dieudonne vowed to appeal. While Dieudonne has appeared on stage several times with holocaust denier and historian Robert Faurisson, Dieudonne contended that he is not linked to Faurisson or French right-wing extremists. Instead, Dieudonne claims to be a mere anti-establishment anti-Zionist.
Dieudonne’s attorney, Jacques Verdier said, “The cancellation of a performance is an act of censorship. If there is no public disorder then it is a troubling artist that one wishes to forbid.”
Verdier further stated that he would seek an injunction to overturn the “recommended” bans, which went around French Constitutional provisions leaving the decision to prefects. The comedian has already sold nearly 6000 tickets for his Nantes performance, and remains booked for several French venues until June.
Dieudonne faces six convictions for hate speech against Jewish persons, based on his routine about gas chambers and deriding of Holocaust victims and survivors. He denied completely that his “quenelle” gesture is a variation of the Nazi salute, but rather is an “anti-establishment sign.”
The quenelle consists of a right hand pointing straight down and touching the left hand to that arm. In late-December 2013, West Bromwich footballer Nicolas Anelka performed the gesture during a goal celebration, in what Anelka described as “a dedication to Dieudonne” rather than an anti-Semitic gesture. France’s sports minister criticized Anelka’s action as “disgusting.”
Critics claim French censorship of Dieudonne may cement his cult-like status; especially if the bans against Dieudonne are overturned on legal grounds.
“Rather than embarking on pre-emptive bans with a shaky legal foundation and uncertain political results, the authorities should concentrate on punishing crimes once they are committed,” said a statement by France’s Human Rights League (LDH).
In this light, France must determine whether its ban on Dieudonne is a prior restraint of his future speech, or a fitting punishment for his continued anti-Semitic comments amidst unpaid fines.
For further information, please see:
BBC News – Dieudonne: Hollande Backs Nantes and Tours Bans – January 7, 2014
Euronews – Joke Is on Dieudonne as French Cities Ban His Show – January 7, 2014
The Independent – ‘Anti-Semitic’ Comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala Has His Show Cancelled in France after Nicolas Anelka’s Inverted Nazi Salute – January 7, 2014
Reuters – French Cities Ban Comedian Accused of Anti-Semitic Jibes – January 7, 2014
CNN International – Anti-Semitism Row Shines Light on Fractured French Society – January 3, 2014
By Brian Lanciault
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
BANGKOK, Thailand–Protesters have gathered in an attempt to topple Thailand’s prime minister. A march was held in Bangkok on Tuesday to rally support for their plans to bring the capital to a halt next week by blockading major roads and preventing the government from functioning.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has announced an election for February 2. Protesters, aware she would probably win with support in the rural north and northeast, want her to step down, seeking to replace her with an appointed “people’s council” to push through electoral reforms.
Protesters accused Yingluck of being a puppet of her self-exiled brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, a man they say is a corrupt capitalist who used taxpaye money to buy electoral support with expensive populist giveaways.
The anti-government push is intended to block an election that looks increasingly uncertain. The government’s supporters fear that if protests fail to halt the poll, chaos or violence could erupt and arouse an intervention by either the military or the judiciary.
That prospect became more of a possibility on Tuesday when the National Counter-Corruption Commission lodged charges against 308 former lawmakers, mostly from Yingluck’s Puea Thai Party, for trying to change the constitution to make the Senate a fully elected chamber.
The Constitutional Court ruled the amendment illegal in November.The residual effect of a court ruling against those politicians (not including Yingluck) is not clear, but it could complicate the election, either before or after it takes place.
Puea Thai adviser Prompong Nopparit shrugged off the charges but questioned the timing of the NCCC’s decision to pursue them.
“I’m very curious to know why older legal cases concerning opposition lawmakers still haven’t moved forward, but charges against the government side have been rushed,” he told reporters.
The refusal by the army’s top general to rule out military intervention also puts Yingluck in a precarious position. Top officers are notably close to the royalist establishment that backs the protests and engineered the overthrow of Thaksin in a 2006 coup, one of 18 successful or attempted overthrows in the past 81 years.
Fears of another coup grew this week when tanks and other military equipment were moved into Bangkok in preparation for an Army Day parade on January 18. Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha says he wants to keep the military above the fray but some of his recent comments have been ambiguous, including those he made on Tuesday.
“Don’t be afraid of things that haven’t yet happened,” he said when asked about a coup. “But if they happen, don’t be frightened. There are rumors like this every year.”
Yingluck threatened that military intervention would be a big mistake.
“We’ve learned from the past that no good comes from coups,” she told reporters. “I’d prefer to see a long-term solution … one that is accepted by the international community.”
Yingluck has refused to postpone the poll, a move that she says would be unconstitutional. Any delay would not only expose her to more criticism, but make it hard to run the country as her caretaker administration is not permitted to make policy decisions that commit the next government.
Several thousand demonstrators, determined to undermine her legitimacy, marched from Bangkok’s historic quarter across the river and back, avoiding the center of the city.
The protests have drawn 200,000 people at their peak and have been largely passive, although violence ensued between police and demonstrators outside an election registration building on December 26. Numerous people were wounded and several were shot by unknown gunmen. Four people, including two police officers, died from the shootings.
Authorities anticipate massive crowds, and have deployed 20,000 police, backed up by troops, for the first day of the planned “shutdown” on Monday.
For more information, please see:
Reuters–Thai anti-corruption body charges members of PM’s party–7 January, 2014
Voice of America–Thai Opposition Protesters Rally Support for ‘Bangkok Shutdown’–7 January 2014
Straits Times–Thailand’s anti-corruption body to charge Puea Thai politicians, but Yingluck in the clear–7 January 2014
Al Jazeera–Thai anti-government protesters march again–5 January 2014