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Coalition for Justice in Liberia: EX-WIFE OF CHARLES TAYLOR CHARGED WITH TORTURE, ARRESTED IN LONDON
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Claims Responsibility for the Egypt Bus Attack that Killed Christians
By: Yamillet Brizuela
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
MINYA, Egypt – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (“ISIL”) on Saturday, May 27 claimed responsibility for the attack on buses transporting Coptic Christians in Egypt that occurred earlier. These Coptic Christian bus passengers were on their way to volunteer at the monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor. This attack killed 29 men and children and wounded at least another 25.
The eyewitnesses described that the attack began with gunmen shooting the windows of the buses. After firing at the windows, the gunmen then boarded the buses, shooting and killing all the men on on board. The gunmen then shot at the feet of the women and children. Some children were killed, and the gunmen took all the gold the women were wearing.
The eyewitnesses also made a note that one of the gunmen had a camera, which means the gunmen may release footage of the attack in the future.
On Friday, May 26, Egyptian fighter jets carried out six air strikes directed at camps in Libya which Cairo says have been training militants behind the Egypt attack.
Following the Minya shooting and Egypt’s counterattack, President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said that Egypt would not hesitate to carry out further strikes against camps that trained people to carry out operations against Egypt.
For more information, please see:
AlJazeera- Egypt Launches Strikes Libya After Minya Attack – 27 May 2017
New York Times – Gunmen in Egypt Force Christian Pilgrims from Buses and Kill 28 – 26 May 2017
Reuters- Egypt air raids on Libya after Christians Killed- 27 May 2017
Reuters- Egypt Says Air Strikes Destroy Militant Camps after Attack on Christians- 27 May 2017
Reuters- Grief, Rage in Egyptian Church after Copts attacked by Gunmen- 27 May 2017
U.S. News & World Report- Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Egypt Attack – 27 May 2017
Syria Deeply: Civilian deaths and displacement soar in May as battles loom in Raqqa and southern Syria
Jun. 2nd, 2017
Welcome to our weekly summary of Syria Deeply’s top coverage of crisis in Syria.
Fight against ISIS: U.S.-backed forces have encircled Raqqa, the former capital of the so-called Islamic State, from the west, north and east. The Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of U.S.-backed Kurdish and Arab forces, captured water and gas facilities in Raqqa’s northern countryside and advanced to roughly 2 miles (3km) away from Raqqa city.
SDF units, including Kurdish fighters, received a new weapons shipment in preparation for the battle in the city, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
As SDF forces push to encircle Raqqa, civilians in the city are bracing themselves for the upcoming battle.
Roughly 10,000 civilians have fled the militant stronghold and roughly 800 more people are arriving each day at the SDF-managed Ain Issa refugee camp halfway between the border town of Tell Abyad and Raqqa, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said suspected U.S.-led coalition airstrikes near Raqqa killed at least 18 people over the weekend and at least seven on Thursday.
Alleged U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in Mayadeen, in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor reportedly killed Baraa Kadek, the founder of ISIS’ Aamaq media channel.
Tensions rising In southern Syria: Iran-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) troops fighting ISIS in Iraq reached the border with Syria on Monday, which PMF spokesman Ahmed al-Asadi said would “be an important incentive for the Syrian Arab Army to secure the entire border from the Syrian side.”
This latest development comes after weeks of growing tension between pro-government forces and U.S. and U.K.-backed forces near Syria’s southern borders with Iraq and Jordan. A large number of pro-government fighters have been deployed around the strategic southern town of Tanf, which houses the base where American and British troops are training Syrian rebels fighting ISIS.
In response to the deployment, U.S. Army Col. Ryan Dillon said on Thursday that the U.S. had “increased [their] presence and our footprint and prepared for any threat presented by the pro-regime forces.”
A deadly month for civilians: More than 900 civilians were killed in Syria during the month of May, according to Syrian human rights violation monitoring groups.
At least 964 civilians died in May, including 273 killed by airstrikes carried out by the international coalition, 268 killed by Islamic extremist groups, and 241 killed by Syrian regime forces, according to a new report from the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the May death toll at 980 civilians, including at least 87 people who were killed in the “de-escalation zones” agreed to in early May by Russia, Iran and Turkey.
More than 146,000 civilians were displaced this month, including at least 94,000 from the province of Raqqa and more than 9,000 people from Damascus, the suburbs and areas of southern Syria, according to a new report from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
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Hermitage Fund: Nikolai Gorokhov Will Make a Third Attempt to Open Criminal Case Against Corrupt Russian Police Officers Who Covered Up Sergei Magnitsky’s Death in Custody
Nikolai Gorokhov Will Make a Third Attempt to Open Criminal Case Against Corrupt Russian Police Officers Who Covered Up Sergei Magnitsky’s Death in Custody
2 June 2017 – Today, Nikolai Gorokhov, the lawyer for Sergei Magnitsky’s mother, will make a third attempt to open a criminal investigation into the abuse of office by officer Strizhov of the Investigative Committee in the Sergei Magnitsky death case and the cover-up of the US$230 million fraud that Mr Magnitsky had discovered and exposed in 2008 before he was tortured and murdered in police custody.
The court hearing is scheduled to take place at 4 pm at the Basmanny District Court in Moscow with judge Safina presiding.
The application to open an investigation into the abuse of office was originally filed by Mr Gorokhov with the Russian Investigative Committee in January 2017. The Investigative Committee refused to open an investigation. Mr Gorokhov then filed a complaint against this refusal, which was due to be heard on March 24, 2017. The hearing did not go ahead because of the Mr. Gorokhov’s plunge from his fourth floor apartment in suspicious circumstances.
At the postponed court hearing which was eventually held last week in Moscow, it was revealed that the Russian Investigative Committee refused to treat his complaint against officer Strizhov as a crime report.
The additional evidence submitted by Mr Gorokhov to the Investigative Committee remained unanswered, leading to the third application filed by Mr Gorokhov earlier this week, which will be heard today at the Basmanny District Court in Moscow.
The application by Mr Gorokhov relies on new records of emails and WhatsApp communications between associates of the Klyuev Organised Crime Group discussing the arrangements with Russian law enforcement officers for the cover-up and tampering of evidence in the Magnitsky case.
The leaked emails and WhatsApp messages identify the arrangements being made between Andrei Pavlov, a key member of the Klyuev Organised Crime Group, who took part in the US$230 million fraud, and investigator Strizhov of the Russian Investigative Committee, who was in charge of investigating Pavlov and others as part of the Magnitsky death investigation and the criminal conspiracy Magnitsky had uncovered.
In the communications, Andrei Pavlov advises ex Interior Ministry officer Oleg Urzhumtsev of the arrangement reached with investigator Strizhov and Interior Ministry officials. Pavlov says:
“Strizhov will come to an agreement with Ryabtsev [head of department “K” of the Interior Ministry’s Directorate of Economic Security and Fighting Corruption] on his own, but it is necessary that Mityaev (subordinate of Ryabtsev in department “K”) is all for it, like I know it all, I will help with everything. He will later be the one to submit the study to Strizhov.”
The communications refer to various officials and organized criminals under both real and assumed names and aliases, including “Bald-headed” and “The Great.”
The communications further reveal the intention of the Klyuev Organised Crime Group to disguise and conceal their active involvement in the evidence tampering and cover up efforts from lawyers for Magnitsky’s family and Hermitage. In one record of conversation, Andrei Pavlov explicitly tells ex Interior Ministry officer Urzhumtsev:
“Fxxk. Even if the study is appointed by Strizh [short for “Strizhov”], then Gorokhov [lawyer for Magnitsky’s mother] and Antipov [Hermitage’s lawyer] have to be notified of it, it would be clusterfxxk.”
Within a month of these arrangements, investigator Strizhov closed the Magnitsky death investigation citing the “absence of crime” and accused Sergei Magnitsky posthumously of being a perpetrator of the US$230 million fraud.
For more information, please contact:
Justice for Sergei Magnitsky
e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
twitter.com/Billbrowder
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