Obama Authorizes Deployment of 450 Troops to Iraq
By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America — President Obama on Wednesday ordered up to 450 additional U.S. troops to Iraq to train and assist beleaguered Iraqi security forces in the war against Islamic State militants, escalating the U.S. involvement in the battle against the Sunni extremists. The United States is also sending weapons to local Sunni and Shia tribes, as well as the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters who are operating under Iraqi command, in order to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
It is unclear at this time how long the advisers will remain in Iraq, or whether additional advisers could be called for in the future.
The troops will be deployed to the Taqaddum military base in Anbar province. The move is aimed at enabling more Iraqis, mostly Sunni tribal volunteers, to integrate into the Iraq Army and reclaim territory from Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
In a statement Wednesday, the White House said that the U.S. advisers will not serve in a combat role. The new deployment brings the number of U.S. military personnel in Iraq to about 3,550. The troops will advise and assist Iraqi soldiers at a base in eastern Anbar province, a stronghold of Islamic extremists.
With the addition of the advisers to the Taqaddum military base, U.S. advisers will be training Iraqi troops in five locations inside the country. The U.S. so far has trained more than 9,000 Iraqi troops, with another 3,000 currently in training.
However, former Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie stated the new plans were not enough. “This is too little too late. I call for the American administration to get their act together.” he added. “They don’t have any unified strategy. We don’t understand their policy in Iraq and in Syria, in the region. They are giving conflicting signs.”
Since eruptions began in the contested regions of Syria and Iraq, the Obama Administration has come under fire for what many have considered a lack of strategy and understanding of the conflict. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey spoke on Tuesday in Jerusalem regarding the President’s recent efforts.
“President Obama has asked us to look at whether there are other locations where we might establish training sites and develop Iraqi leaders,” Dempsey said. According to Dempsey, Obama has asked military brass to “take a look at what we’ve learned over the last eight from its programs and make recommendations to him on whether there are capabilities that we may want to provide to the Iraqis to make them more capable.”
At this time, however, President Obama continues to resist demands for combat troops, and no such plans are in place to put combat troops in Iraq or Syria.
For more information, please see:
BBC News — President Obama to boost army trainers in Iraq — 10 June 2015
Bloomberg — Obama Sending 450 Military Trainers to Base in Iraq’s Anbar — 10 June 2015
CBS News — Obama to send 450 more U.S. troops to Iraq — 10 June 2015
CNN — White House authorizes up to 450 additional troops in Iraq — 10 June 2015
LA Times — White House orders up to 450 more military advisors to Iraq — 10 June 2015
In Argentina, 200,000 say “not one less”
By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Over 200,000 people took part in demonstrations outside of the National Congress in Buenos Aires on Wednesday 4 June to protest violence against women. Smaller protests also occurred in 80 other cities around the country. Demonstrations were also held in neighboring Chile and Uruguay.
Demonstrators carried banners and badges bearing the slogan, “Ni una menos”, which means, “not one less.” Others wore t-shirts in support of the movement.
The demonstrations were organized by journalists, writers and artists following the news of the murder of Chiara Páez, a pregnant 14 year old by her 16 year old boyfriend. He allegedly beat her to death after learning she was pregnant.
Chiara’s death is only the latest in a string of instances of violence against women. In April, a kindergarten teacher (who had separated from her husband and had a restraining order against him) was killed when her husband stormed into her classroom and slit her throat in front of a group of children.
Another woman was shot by her estranged partner a mere two days before the demonstrations. She remains in serious condition.
Femicide – the killing of a woman by a man where her gender plays a role in the crime – is a growing issue in Argentina. Over 250 femicides have occurred each year since 2010. Activists have reported that a woman is killed in Argentina every 31 hours – culminating in over 1,800 deaths since 2008.
Many are calling for a change in culture to curb the violence, including Argentinian lawmaker Gabriela Alegre: “The current situation shows that legislation and prison sentences are not enough. We have to confront the problem by changing the culture and educating people.”
That attitude was echoed by La Casa del Encuentro, an NGO which provides counseling for abused women in Argentina. Head Fabiana Tunez spoke of “a society that is sick with machista attitudes where the woman continues to be seen as a thing to be dominated.”
The problem isn’t restricted to Argentina. Statistics suggest that over five women are killed in instances of domestic violence per day in Mexico, and as many as 15 per day are killed in Brazil.
Although Argentina has taken some steps towards curbing the issue, activists urge that it hasn’t been enough. The National Congress passed legislation in 2009 to prevent violence against women, and in 2012 passed laws initiating harsher sentences for femicide. However, despite these efforts cases of violence against women have still increased.
For more information please see:
AFP – Brutal murders show violence women face in Latin America – 2 June 2015
BBC – Argentine marches condemns domestic violence – 4 June 2015
Buenos Aires Herald – #NiUnaMenos: a deafening cry sweeps country – 4 June 2015
PanAm Post – Mass Protests Call Out Argentina’s Femicide Problem – 4 June 2015
Press Release: Russian Government Continues to Eliminate Evidence in the Magnitsky Case by Destroying Video Recordings of Magnitsky’s Last Hours in Detention
Russian Government Continues to Eliminate Evidence in the Magnitsky Case by Destroying Video Recordings of Magnitsky’s Last Hours in Detention
5 June 2015 – The Russian authorities have told Sergei Magnitsky’s mother that they have destroyed the video recordings of Sergei Magnitsky’s last hours before his killing in Matrosskaya Tishina detention center.
In correspondence with Sergei Magnitsky’s mother, General Major V.Alyshev, Deputy Head of the Russian Investigative Committee’s Main Investigative Department, has confirmed the Russian authorities have destroyed the video records from Matrosskaya Tishina.
“Video recordings from video surveillance cameras …have not been seized due to objective reasons– due to the expiry of the period of storage on the disc,” said General Major of the Russian Investigative Committee V. Alyshev.
Sergei Magnitsky was transferred to Matrosskaya Tishina detention center at 6:30 pm of 16 November 2009. Less than three hours later he was found dead with signs of bodily injuries in the isolation cell. The official Russian investigation into his death found that he died from a heart problem and that he had caused his own injuries.
An independent domestic investigation by the Moscow Public Oversight Commission concluded Sergei Magnitsky was kept in detention in torturous conditions, that civilian doctors were not allowed by detention center officials to enter his cell for an hour and eighteen minutes before his death, while a team of eight detention center officers restrained him and beat him. Immediately after Magnitsky’s death, detention center officials showed some video footage of Sergei Magnitsky to members of the Moscow Public Oversight Commission. However, video recordings from Matrosskaya Tishina have been absent from the Magnitsky’s death case investigation file.
In response to the request from Magnitsky family about the whereabouts of the video footage from Matrosskaya Tishina, the Russian Investigative Committee reported that the recording has been destroyed:
“[Video recording] is automatically deleted from the hard drive after 30 days, and new information is recorded in its place,” General Major Alyshev has informed Magnitsky’s mother.
“It is consistent with the overall cover-up of Sergei Magnitsky’s murder that the key video evidence from the crime scene was not preserved. An investigation should be opened into those who allowed the destruction of the videos,” said a representative of Justice for Sergei Magnitsky campaign.
For more information, please contact:
Magnitsky Justice Campaign
+44 2074401777
e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
website: www.lawandorderinrussia.org
At Least 22 Pashtun Passengers Killed in Bus Attack in Pakistan
By Christine Khamis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—
Gunmen dressed as Pakistani security forces stopped two buses in Mastung on Friday night and shot at least 22 ethnic Pashtuns. The buses were traveling from Quetta to Karachi. It is unclear why the Pashtuns were targeted by the gunmen.
Around 15-20 gunmen checked passengers’ identity cards on the buses, looking for Pashtuns. Officials say that some Pashtun passengers were shot while on the bus, while others were lined up outside of the buses and shot there.
About 35 of the passengers were kidnapped by the attackers, according to Sarfaraz Bugti, the home minister of Baluchistan. The bodies of 22 passengers were later found a short distance away from the highway where the buses were stopped.
Hundreds of troops have been carrying out a search for the attackers across the Mastung District. Officials state that at least five victims of the attack have been rescued.
Mastung is located in southwestern Pakistan and is about 40 miles from Quetta, the provincial capital of the conflict-ridden Baluchistan Province in Pakistan.
Baluchistan is home to both ethnic Baluch and Pashtuns. Attacks by Baluch separatists on Pashtuns are rare and risk upsetting relations between the two groups. There have been no other attacks in which Pashtuns were killed after having their identity cards checked.
While no group has taken responsibility for the killings yet, there have been similar attacks carried out by Baluch separatists. The Baluch separatists have maintained a low-level insurgency since the mid- 2000s, calling for greater autonomy and a greater share of the natural resources in Baluchistan, which is rich in oil and minerals. The separatists have a long history of conflicting with Pakistani security forces.
There is also a great deal of violence carried out by Islamist militants against security forces and Shi’ite Muslims, who are a religious minority in Baluchistan. Earlier in May, a group of militants killed at least 43 bus passengers, who were from Pakistan’s Shi’ite community.
A Pashtun lawmaker from Baluchistan, wishing to maintain his anonymity out of fear for his safety, has stated that the attack was meant to disrupt plans for an economic corridor allowing China easier sea access with the help of a network of rail, road, and pipeline infrastructure. The project was announced while Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Pakistan in April. China has pledged $46 billion to Pakistan to help fund the economic corridor.
Pakistani officials believe that India supports terrorism in Pakistan and that India is backing the separatist movement in Baluchistan. India has denied having any involvement in the movement.
On Saturday, hundreds of Pashtun protestors held a sit-in outside outside the Governor’s house in Quetta and demanded that the killers be punished. Businesses in Quetta also closed in protest of the killings. The relatives of 16 of the victims joined the protestors and laid out the victims’ bodies in front of the Governor’s house. The sit-in ended peacefully after the protestors met with Abdul Malik Baluch, Baluchistan’s top elected official.
For more information, please see:
BBC – Pakistan Bus Raids: Balochistan Gunmen Kill at Least 19 – 29 May 2015
Wall Street Journal – Gunmen Kill 20 in Pakistan Bus Attack – 29 May 2015
New York Times – Hundreds Protest After Gunmen Target Ethnic Pashtuns in Southern Pakistan – 30 May 2015
Reuters – Gunmen Kill 22 Bus Passengers in Pakistan Attack – 30 May 2015
U.S. News and World Report via Associated Press – After Pakistan Bus Attacks Kill 22, Worries That Baluchistan Insurgency Growing More Violent – 30 May 2015