Fighting Sparks Again in Eastern Ukraine

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – After a lull in fighting and what finally appeared to be legitimate honoring of the Minsk truce over the past month, fighting has resumed around Donetsk airport. Ukrainian troops claim to have recaptured most of the territory they lost to rebels in the airport.

Drone footage reveals the extent of destruction at Donetsk airport. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

 

A passenger bus was attacked, allegedly by pro-Russian rebels, which resulted in the deaths of 13 civilians. Several thousand have gathered in Kiev for a peace march in response to the attack on civilians, prompting Ukrainian President Poroshenko to restate that “We will not give away one scrap of Ukrainian land… a very important aspect of our victory is our unity.” Further, two brothers, aged 7 and 16, were killed when a shell struck their home near Donetsk. The brothers’ 8-year-old sister was also injured in the attack that also allegedly came from pro-Russian rebels.

Pro-Russian rebel leader Zakharchenko blamed Kiev for the shelling death of the two brothers, claiming Kiev is “trying to unleash war again.” Those living in rebel-held territory report that shelling has been increasing, especially over the past 24 hours. Pro-Russians and Russia have both denied any Russian influence, either via direct troop involvement or funding weapons, but Kiev claims more proof of Russian involvement. Kiev claims that there has been increased Russian action just across the border and even funneling across into Eastern Ukraine, including moving and stocking of: “TOS-1 flamethrowers, C300 missile systems, and Smerch and Hurricane rocket launchers.”

An elderly man in Lugansk is also blamed for an attack on Ukrainian soldiers at a checkpoint. The man approached and handed soldiers a pot of honey while thanking the soldiers for their service. Later the soldiers tried to taste the honey and an explosive within the jar exploded, killing one and seriously wounding three others. All-in-all there have been over 4,800 people killed by fighting in Ukraine since last April.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Ukrainian troops retake most of Donetsk airport from rebels – 18 January 2015

Al Jazeera – Battle over Ukrainian airport intensifies – 18 January 2015

ABC (Australia) – Ukraine crisis: Booby-trapped honey jar explodes, killing Ukrainian soldier as fighting continues – 17 January 2015

ABC (US) – Ukraine Peace Talks Fall Apart Amid Renewed Fighting – 16 January 2015

Indonesian Security Forces Continue to Face Accusations of Human Rights Violations in West Papua

By Max Bartels
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania 

Manokwari, West Papua — West Papua has been occupied by Indonesia since the 1960s, the province is rich in natural resources including one of the world’s largest goldmines. The Indonesian annexation and occupation of the province has been heavily criticized by the international community. There are many resistance groups within the province that advocate for West Papuan independence, the advocating for independence has been strictly outlawed by the occupying Indonesian forces and in the process of stamping out resistance there have been many tragic incidents.

Members of the Free Papua Movement pose for a photo with the outlawed West Papuan Flag. (Photo curtesy of The Guardian)

In December 2014 Human Rights Watch reported that Indonesian security forces fired live rounds into a crowd of protesters, killing four teenagers aged 17-18 years old. There is conflicting reports from the Indonesia military and police who claim that the teens were killed when several hundred protesters attack police posts and it is still unclear who fired the shots. Human Rights Watch claims that the Indonesian government keeps a very tight grip on the flow of information in West Papua and foreign reporting is heavily regulated.

More recently two Indonesian police officers were killed during fighting with West Papuan activists. In response Indonesian forces have conducted mass raids and arrests of West Papuan civilians. Indonesian forces conducted a raid of a small village and found separatist banners in one home. According to a spokesman for the Papuan United Liberation Front, 100 people were arrested including women and children and dozens of homes were burned down. The Indonesian government claims that only 13 people were arrested and also claims that the 13 were part of a group led by a man who is responsible for killing the two police officers. Indonesia has been criticized for the heavy response to the deaths of the two officers after there was no response to the deaths of four Papuan teenagers a month earlier, who were killed when police and military fired live ammunition into a crowd of protesters.

There has recently been a change of leadership in Indonesian government; President Joko Widodo has claimed that he is going to give the people of West Papua the opportunity to be heard by the Indonesian government. The President has made strong claims that he is going to change the approach that Indonesian police and military have taken in the province and replace it with a more caring and responsive approach. To prove his resolve to make a change he has vowed to launch a full investigation into the deaths of the teenagers killed in the protest in combination with human rights agencies.

For more information, please see: 

Pacific Scoop — West Papua Year in Review — 13 January 2015

The Jakarta Globe — Papuans have Heard Jokowi’s Promises, but is the President Listening? — 12 January 2015

The Guardian — Indonesia Targeting West Papuans with Mass Arrests and Home Burning — 13 January 2015

Aljazeera — Fresh Unrest Rocks Indonesia’s Papua Province — 9 December 2014

Brazil ‘Outraged’ After Drug Smuggler Executed in Indonesia

By Delisa Morris

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASÍLIA, Brazil– Shortly after midnight on Sunday in Indonesia a Brazilian drug smuggler was executed by firing squad. The execution was performed against the pleas of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, and human rights group Amnesty International.

Marco Moreira before execution / image courtesy of oimpacto.com

Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira , 53, was arrested in Indonesia in 2003, after police at Jakarta airport found 13.4 kg of cocaine hidden in his hang glider.

Moreira was the first Brazilian national to be executed abroad. The nation warned that the execution would damage relations between the two countries.

Five other convicts from Indonesia, Malawi, Nigeria, Vietnam and the Netherlands, were executed on Sunday. Each one convicted on drug charges.

The prisoners faced a firing squad in Central Java province: five were executed on the island of Nusa Kambangan and the other one, a Vietnamese woman, was executed in the small central Javanese town of Boyolali.

In a statement President Rousseff said that she was “outraged and dismayed”. “Relations between the two countries have been affected” continued President Rousseff.

“The Brazilian ambassador to Jakarta has been recalled for consultations,” she added.

Brazil is not the only country outraged by Indonesia’s actions, The Netherlands has taken action of its own and also recalled its ambassador. Foreign Minister Bert Koenders called the execution of Dutch citizen Ang Kiem Soe, 52, “an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity”.

Indonesia is tough on criminals convicted of drug crimes, with some of the world’s toughest drug laws. The country resumed executions in 2013 after an unofficial four-year moratorium.

The country’s Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo said “hopefully, this will have a deterrent effect”.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has previously stated that he will show no mercy to drug criminals, because they have ruined the lives of so many others.

President Widodo rejected a plea for clemency from President Rousseff on Friday. President Rousseff told President Widodo that she respected the sovereignty and judicial system of his country but as a mother and head of state she was making the appeal for humanitarian reasons.

Apparently, President Widodo stated that he understood the Brazilian president’s concern but said he could not commute the sentence as the full legal process had been followed.

Moreira said in a video recorded by a friend that he regretted trying to smuggle cocaine into Indonesia.

“I am aware that I committed a serious offence, but I believe I deserve another chance. Everyone makes mistakes.”

Brazil abolished the death penalty in times of peace in 1889.

 

For more information, please see:

the guardian – Brazil and Netherlands recall Indonesia ambassadors over drug executions  – 18 Jan. 2015

BBC News – Brazil ‘outraged’ by Indonesia drug trafficking execution – 17 Jan. 2015

The Wall Street Journal – Brazil Says Indonesia Rejected Clemency for Brazilian Drug Smuggler  – 16 Jan. 2015

Bloomberg – Indonesian Execution of Brazilian Triggers Ambassador Recall – 17 Jan. 2015

Kurdish Forces Battle Forces Loyal to the Assad Regime

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syrian Kurds reportedly clashed with forces loyal to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday breaking a tactical agreement between the two sides, both facing an ongoing struggle to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). The fighting reportedly broke out in the Syrian City of Hassakeh, the UK based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Casualties were reported on both sides.  The clashes broke out Saturday after members of a Kurdish militia detained 10 Syrian soldiers and pro-government gunmen after they were deployed in areas controlled by Kurds. “There has been some serious fighting today. The PYD arrested 10 soldiers and Baath party gunmen,” Observatory head Rami Abdulrahman told the press. “There is now fighting in many areas of Hassakeh.”

Assad visits troops loyal to his regime. The YPG and the government had divided Hassakeh into zones in a power sharing agreement for the region. (Photo courtesy of Al Arabiya)

The Syrian Military reportedly shelled three areas in the Kurdish region of the country on the edges of the city of Hassakeh. Nawaf Khalil, A spokesperson Kurdish Democratic Union Party spokesman said the fighting was concentrated in several areas in Hassakeh, a predominantly Kurdish city. Fighting between the two sides has been reportedly rare since the Syrian military withdrew from the area in 2012 to focus its fighting elsewise in the country. Kurdish forces have been openly deployed in the area, defending the region from insurgents, since the Syrian regime withdrew from the region. However, violence broke out when Syrian army’s soldier in the region as well as militiamen loyal to the regime took control of buildings in an area that both sides had agreed would stay demilitarized, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported.

While there were smaller scale clashes reported last May between the Assad regime forces and Kurdish Forces in the city of Hassakeh those clashes were relatively contained. During Syria’s three year civil war, Kurds have proclaimed control in parts of the northeast where Kurdish forces have defended the nation’s Kurdish minority. Approximately 200,000 people have been killed since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011, according to the United Nations.

The City of Hassakeh has seen heavy violence from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) over the past several months. Last Friday, Amnesty International reported that fighters loyal to ISIS targeted and killed Arab families living and working in the farming village of al-Tleiliye in Kurdish-controlled Hassakeh province. ISIS reportedly killed 15 people included seven children. “The attacks appear aimed at terrorizing and forcibly displacing the community living in the area,” Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa program director, said in a statement. The organization “fears these civilians were killed as retribution for their perceived support of the YPG, either directly or indirectly through their Yezidi Kurdish landowners, or because they were mistaken for Yezidi Kurds.”

For more information please see:

Al Arabiya – Kurds Open Front against Assad’s Forces: Monitor – 17 January 2015

Reuters UK – Kurds Battle Assad’s Forces in Syria, Opening New Front in Civil War – 17 January 2015

The Wall Street Journal – Kurdish Fighters Clash with Syrian Forces – 17 January 2015

Syria Deeply – Murder Of Arab Families in Hassakeh Points to Rising Tensions between Islamists and Kurds – 11 January 2015

 

 

Russian Investigative Committee Refuses Application from Magnitsky’s Mother to Bring to Account Those Responsible for Use of Rubber Batons on her Son in Detention

16 January 2015 – The Russian Investigative Committee has refused the application from Sergei Magnitsky’s mother to bring to account those responsible for the use of rubber batons on her son before his death in detention.

Mr Veseliev, Deputy head of section of the Main Investigative Department of the Russian Investigative Committee, stated in refusing the application that the decision to terminate the investigation was based on “the collection of gathered evidence” and “was checked by the head of the investigative body and prosecutor, no grounds to change the decision were found.” The decree does not provide any concrete ground in relation to the decision not to investigate the use of rubber batons.

The application from Magnitsky’s mother stated that the use of rubber batons was confirmed by the post-mortem medical examination, yet the investigation closed the criminal case into Magnitsky’s death without bringing to account those responsible. Her application said:

“I request to conduct a full probe by investigative means into the use of special means – metallic handcuffs and rubber batons – on 16 November 2009 at the time when he [Magnitsky] was delivered in grave condition to Matrosskaya Tishina detention center for the purpose of providing him with emergency medical care.”

Sergei Magnitsky died on 16 November 2009. Despite the conclusions from four independent expert examinations that he was tortured in detention, the Russian Investigative Committee has refused to investigate.

Russian Investigator of the Investigative Committee Andrei Strizhov, who closed the Magnitsky death case investigation, and Deputy General Prosecutor of Russia Victor Grin, the overseeing prosecutor, were both sanctioned by the US Government at the end of December 2014 for their role in concealing the legal liability of persons responsible for Magnitsky’s ill-treatment and death, in accordance with the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012.

For more information, please contact:

Magnitsky Justice Campaign

Website: http://lawandorderinrussia.org