By Jenilyn Brhel
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

ISTANBUL, Turkey – A Syrian activist and her daughter, a journalist, were fatally stabbed in their home on September 21^st in Istanbul’s Uskudar neighborhood.

Orouba Barakat, 60, and her daughter, Halla, 23, were found stabbed to death in their Istanbul apartment.

Orouba was a prominent activist for the Syrian National Coalition, although she was critical of some of the opposition groups. She left Syria in the 1980s and worked for some time covering economic and political affairs for Arab newspapers. She had recently been investigating allegations of torture in prisons run by the Assad regime.

Halla was born in North Carolina. She was a freelance journalist for Orient News, TRT World and ABC News. Friends contacted police when Halla did not show up for work.

In the weeks leading up to their deaths, both women had received threats from Syrian regime supporters. A Turkish newspaper, The Cuhhiryet, published details indicating there were similarities between the killings of the mother and daughter and those known to have been committed by the Islamic State.

Family members believe that the killings were perpetrated by the Assad government. Orouba and Halla had been critical of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Orouba’s sister, Shaza, said of the killings “We accuse the Syrian regime, the gangs, because we are against the unjust government, this deadly oppressor, which has killed three quarters of the Syrians and displaced the rest, and destroyed all of Syria.”

Another relative, Suzanne Barakat, noted that the women “were vocal activists in the Syrian revolution, speaking truth to power, and raising awareness about the atrocities committed by the Assad regime.”

There have been four other Syrian journalists murdered in Turkey since 2015.

The US State Department released the following statement concerning the murders: “The United States is deeply saddened by the deaths of Arouba and Halla Barakat. Halla served as a journalist for Orient News and we remember the courageous work of her mother, Orouba, a Syrian activist who reported on the Syrian regime’s atrocities. The United States condemns the perpetrators of these murders and we will closely follow the investigation.”

Orouba and Halla had been friends with American humanitarian worker Kayla Mueller, who was taken hostage by ISIS in Aleppo, Syria in 2013 and killed 18 months later.

Before their deaths, Orouba and Halla were preparing to start a charity for Syrian women living in refugee camps in Turkey in Mueller’s honor.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Syrian-American Journalist and her Mother, Friends of ISIS Hostage Kayla Mueller, Killed in Turkey – 22 September 2017

BBC News – Syrian Activist and Journalist Daughter ‘Murdered’ in Istanbul – 22 September 2017

New York Times – Syrian Activist and her Daughter Fatally Stabbed in Turkey – 22 September 2017

People – American Journalist and Activist Mom Found Strangled and Stabbed in Turkey: Reports – 22 September 2017

Washington Post – Syrian Activist, Journalist Daughter Found Dead in Turkey – 22 September 2017

By Jenilyn Brhel
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

GENEVA, Switzerland – According to a September 5th report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), more than 75 percent of migrant children attempting to reach Europe are victims of severe human rights abuses.

The findings are based on testimonies obtained from over 22,000 migrants and refugees, including 11,000 children, given to the International Organization for Migration, the UN’s Migration Agency.

Afshan Khan, UNICEF Europe Regional Director, said of the findings, “the stark reality is that it is now standard practice that children moving through the Mediterranean are abused, trafficked, beaten and discriminated against.”

The victims reported being subjected to a myriad of abuses, including sexual exploitation, forced labor, child marriage and beatings.

A 17-year-old girl from Nigeria reported being raped, held captive and threatened with violence. An Afghan boy recalled being forced into labor and beaten if he stopped working. Another child said, “if you try to run, they shoot you. If you stop working, they beat you. We were just like slaves. At the end of the day, they just lock you inside.”

UNICEF reports that children originating from sub-Saharan Africa are particularly at risk. Those travelling from Libya along the Mediterranean route are vulnerable due to the route being laden with crime and a lack of policing. The risk also increases for children who are travelling alone and over long periods of time.

The UNICEF report comes amid a substantial increase in the number of children migrating to Europe in recent years. Between 2010 and 2011, 66,000 children travelers were reported. That number has now surged to over 300,000.

The children making these harrowing journeys are often unaccompanied. Of those under 18 years of age arriving to Italy via the Mediterranean Sea passages from North Africa in 2016, 92% were alone.

“For people who leave their countries to escape violence, instability or poverty, the factors pushing them to migrate are severe, and they make perilous journeys knowing that they may be forced to pay with their dignity, their wellbeing or even their lives,” said IOM Regional Director for the European Union, Norway and Switzerland, Eugenio Ambrosi.

UNICEF’s report has prompted calls for the European Union and other parties to “put in place lasting solutions that include safe and legal migration pathways, establishing protection corridors and finding alternatives to the detention of migrant children,” said Khan.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – CORRECTION: United Nations – Children Migrants Story – 12 September 2017

Abdolu Agency – UNICEF says Many Young Migrants Face Exploitation – 12 September 2017

UNICEF – Up to Three Quarters of Children and Youth Face Abuse, Exploitation and Trafficking on Mediterranean Migration Routes – 12 September 2017

UN News Centre – Abuse, Exploitation and Trafficking ‘Stark Reality’ for Migrant Children Trying to Reach Europe – 12 September 2017

Reuters – ‘Just Like Slaves’; African Migrant Children Face Highest Risk of Abuse: Report – 11 September 2017

Yahoo! News UK – Young Migrants Face Abuse on Way to Europe – UN – 11 September 2017

By: Sara Adams
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Europe

BERLIN, Germany – German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a fourth term after the general election on September 24th.

The results come during a shift in European politics. Many frustrations have risen over the migrant crisis, including Germany’s high intake of refugees coming from the middle east.

Despite this, Chancellor Merkel’s conservative party won a slim majority in Germany’s coalition government. The Social Democrats, whom the conservatives work closely with, came in second with 33%.

But 13% of the vote went to the far-right party Alternative for Deutschland, raising concerns for many about potential opposition.

Indeed, Alternative for Deutschland (“AfD”) has already begun to express this sentiment.

The head of the AfD party, Alexander Gauland, has already told supporters that the government should “dress warmly” in preparation.

The vote makes AfD the third largest party in the coalition government.

This is the first time in over 60 years that a far-right nationalist party has had any control in the German government.

AfD raises many concerns within Germany. The party is vehemently anti-immigration, including the taking in of refugees, and has expressed anti-Muslim sentiment in many of its platforms.

Leaders of the party have suggested that Germany stop “apologizing” for its past Nazi ideology, stating, “If the French are rightly proud of their Emperor…We have the right to be proud of the German soldiers in two world wars.”

The AfD favors closure of German borders, citing fears over “Islamification” of the west.

Part of the policy platform includes banning the Burka, a common clothing item for Muslim women, and cutting off any foreign funding for mosques in Germany.

Its election “manifesto” contains a section explaining why the party believes that “Islam does not belong in Germany.”

“It is worrying,” said Michael Fuchs, a member of the Christian Democrat Bundestag*. “[For the first time since World War II] there will be a political party within the walls of the Reichstag building which does not distance itself from the Nazi past and which tolerates members who publicly express themselves in racist and xenophobic language.”

Political scientists in Germany cite disillusionment and frustration with establishment as two possible reasons for why AfD received such a large percentage of the vote.

“Many voters have felt that the two parties have not addressed the issue of immigration and German cultural identity,” Gideon Botsch, a political scientist from the University of Potsdam said.

“And that has led them to consider voting for the AfD.”

This election leads to a complicated situation for Chancellor Merkel. It remains to be seen whether the AfD will have any impact on the refugee population of Germany in the future.

For more information, please see:

New York Times – Angela Merkel Is Headed for German Election Victory as Far Right Enters Parliament – 24 September 2017

The Guardian – German elections 2017: Angela Merkel makes gains, exit poll says – live updates – 24 September 2017

CNN – German election: Angela Merkel set for fourth term as far-right surges – 24 September 2017

The Independent – German elections: Far-right wins MPs for first time in half a century – 24 September 2017

ABC News – Merkel wins fourth term as German far-right party makes gains – 24 September 2017

NPR – Far-Right German Party Could Lead Opposition After Sunday’s Election – 22 September 2017

Al-Jazeera – Who are Germany’s far-right AfD? – 21 September 2017

BBC News – What does Alternative for Germany (AfD) want? – 18 September 2017

By Jenilyn Brhel
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

LINCOLNSHIRE, England – A family of eleven has been sentenced to a total of approximately 80 years in prison for administering a modern slavery ring on their property for decades.

For 26 years, the Rooney family, who ran a driveway resurfacing company, targeted vulnerable men on the streets and in shelters in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and London, promising them money, accommodations and food in exchange for work. Many of the victims, whose ages ranged from 18 to 63, were homeless, had mental disabilities or drug and alcohol problems.

When the men arrived to the worksite, they were forced to live in small caravans without running water, plumbing or heat.

In addition to the dilapidated conditions, the men worked seven days a week, from dawn to dusk, in all kinds of weather. They were fed poorly or sometimes not at all. They were also subjected to beatings and denied medical care for their injuries and illnesses. One man, whose captivity spanned 25 years, was forced to dig his own grave.

“Your victims had reached a position where they were cowed into submission. Any resistance, they knew, was futile. It would have been met by you recruiting other family members and delivering more violence,” Judge Thomas Spencer told the Rooney family.

While the men they abused lived in squalid conditions, the family lived extravagantly, driving expensive cars and taking lavish vacations. Judge Spencer, who sentenced the family, called the abuses “akin to the gulf between medieval royalty and the peasantry.”

The Director of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary’s fraud investigation unit, Simon York, said: “This was a truly appalling case. These people lived a life of luxury by exploiting and abusing highly vulnerable individuals. They stripped them of their humanity, forcing them to live and work in terrible conditions.”

Judge Spencer also warned that abuse of this kind could be happening nationwide on a “shocking scale.”

Detectives said last month that the number of victims of modern slavery and human trafficking in the United Kingdom is currently estimated to be in the tens of thousands.

There are currently over 300 policing operations in the United Kingdom working to identify and prosecute cases of modern slavery.

“The severity of these crimes is underlined by the sentences imposed by the judge, Chief Superintendent Chris Davison, Head of Crime for Lincolnshire Police, said of the case. “The victims will never get the years back that were taken away from them, but I hope this provides them with some comfort that justice has been served and demonstrates that we will do everything in our power to try and stop others suffering in the ways that they did.”

For more information, please see:

BBC – Rooney Traveller Family Jailed for Modern Slavery Offences – 12 September 2017

The Guardian – 11 Family Members in Lincolnshire Jailed in ‘Chilling Slavery Case’ – 12 September 2017

The Guardian – Modern Slavery at UK Traveller Site may be tip of Iceberg, Warns Judge – 13 – September 2017

Independent – Rooney Family Behind Modern Slavery Ring in Lincolnshire Jailed for Total of 79 Years –  12 September 2017

Independent – Slaves on our Streets: Why London is a Global hub for Modern Slavery 13 September 2017

The Irish Times – 11 Members of Traveller Family Jailed in UK Slavery Case – 12 September 2017

Metro – Millionaire Family who Kept 18 Homeless men as Slaves Jailed for 80 Years – 13 September 2017

By: Sara Adams
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Europe

LONDON, United Kingdom – Twelve years ago, a bomb went off in the London Underground subway system, killing 52 people and leaving others injured.

On September 15th, 2017, a bomber targeted the London underground. It is the first attack on the London transit system since the one in 2005.

This time, 29 were injured, but no one died.

Still, Prime Minister Theresa May raised the terror threat level for the United Kingdom to “critical”.

The police have arrested one suspect, an 18-year-old, after a raid on the suspect’s house in Surrey. While it is unclear whether the suspect was affiliated with any international terror organization, terror group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (“ISIS” or “Daesh”) have taken responsibility for the attack.

But the police have urged people to avoid “pure speculation,” after U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted a suggestion that the Scotland Yard knew about the attack before it was to happen.

Prime Minister May also called Mr. Trump’s statement “unhelpful”.

Police continue to release limited information regarding the arrest and the continued investigation.

Despite the terror threat level set at “critical”, people in the city continued about their business in the wake of the attack. Londoners went to work, tourists gathered outside of Buckingham Palace to snag photos, and the only underground station closed was the Parsons Green one, where the bomb was detonated.

In an editorial for the London-based newspaper The Guardian, the writers suggest that this “lack of excitement” for this attack may be what the country needs.

“The terrorists want to rouse terror and the kind of anger which quenches reason,” they write. “it’s important and we should continue to keep our heads over what is by any reasonable standard a pinprick attack.”

In its title, the editorial aptly suggested that Londoners “keep calm and carry on”. This phrase comes from a motivational poster produced by the British government to boost the morale of the public during World War II, while Great Britain was a constant target of air strikes by the Axis powers.

London mayor Sadiq Khan also urged citizens to not be intimidated by the threat of terror.

“[We] condemn the hideous individuals who attempt to used terror to harm us and destroy our way of life,” he stated.

“As London has proven again and again, we will never be intimidated or defeated by terrorism.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Parsons Green: Armed police search house over Tube bombing – 16 September 2017

CNN – London Tube attack latest: Arrest made as terror threat raised to ‘critical’ – 16 September 2017

The Guardian – Parsons Green bombing: police arrest man and raid Surrey house – 16 September 2017

The New York Times – ‘Bucket Bomb’ Strikes London’s Vulnerable Underground – 15 September 2017

The Guardian – The Guardian view on the London tube bomb: keep calm and carry on – 15 September 2017

BBC News – 7 July London bombings: What happened that day? – 3 July 2015