by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

ANKARA, Turkey – A Turkish court ordered the country’s Telecommunications Authority to restore access to Twitter throughout the country through a court-issued injunction.

Five days ago, the Telecommunications Authority blocked access to Twitter throughout the entire country. The social network had been a large source of links that provided recordings implicating government corruption. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to “rip out the roots” of the social network, and accordingly ordered the Telecommunications Authority to block the website. The Telecommunications Authority had accused Twitter of not following Turkish court orders to remove certain content from the website.

Since the enactment of the Twitter-ban, lawyers, opposition parties, and journalists both inside and outside the country had advocated for the abolishment of the ban. Pro-Twitter advocates contended that the ban was unconstitutional. The ban drew a lot of international criticism and many Turkish Twitter users found ways to access Twitter during the ban. The Turkish President Abdullah Gul tweeted his opposition to the blockage after it was enacted.

The administrative court in Ankara based its decision on Wednesday on freedom of expression and the right to communicate freely, both of which are cited in the country’s Constitution, as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc stated that the Telecommunications Authority would obey Wednesday’s court decision after it received official notice from the administrative court, but that it was reserving the right to appeal the decision. An anonymous government source stated that the Authority has thirty days to implement the court’s decision.

This upcoming Sunday, Turkey will be holding elections which are being regarded as a referendum on Prime Minister Erdogan’s time in office. During a recent election rally in northern Turkey, Prime Minister Erdogan accused opposition parties and media who criticized the Twitter ban of being the “advocate of companies who don’t recognize Turkey’s laws and treat Turkey as a Third World country.” Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag stated that the Telecommunications Authority had been merely implementing court orders: “Is it against the Constitution to implement court orders?”

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Turkish Court Orders Halt to Twitter Ban – 26 March 2014

Al Jazeera – Turkish Court Orders Halt to Twitter Ban – 26 March 2014

BBC News – Court in Turkey Suspends Ban on Twitter – 26 March 2014

Reuters – Turkish Court Upholds Appeal Against Twitter Blockage-Media – 26 March 2014

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BELBEK, Crimea – Russia stormed one of the last military facilities still under Ukrainian control in Crimea, amidst a growing search for stability in the region.

On 21 March 2014, Crimea’s military bases were still formally under Ukrainian control, but most are now occupied by Russian troops and fly Russia’s tricolor flag. Except for a Ukrainian serviceman who was killed and two others who were wounded in a shooting in Simferopol, the Russian takeover of Crimea has been largely bloodless.

On 22 March 2014, according to Deputy Commander Oleg Podovalov, Russian forces surrounding Belbek, a Ukrainian airbase in Crimea, and gave the Ukrainians an hour to surrender. Later, Russian troops forced their way into the base with armored vehicles, automatic fire and stun grenades. Belbek was one of the last military facilities in Crimea still under Ukrainian control after Russia annexed the peninsula.

Prior to the Russians storming the base, Mamchur had ordered his men to their stations. But those at the gate were armed only with sticks. On demand of parley to a Russian officer, Ukrainians were ordered to leave because the base belonged to Russia. On demand for documents proving that the base belonged to Russia, the Russian officer replied, “When was the last time you watched television?”

A Ukrainian serviceman was injured, and the base’s commander, Colonel Yuliy Mamchur, was detained for talks at an unspecified location.

“We have done everything we could,” Mamchur told his men after the Russians took over the base. “You acted with honor. There is nothing we should be ashamed of.”

Mamchur told his troops he would inform the high command that they had stood their ground. The soldiers applauded, chanting “Long live Ukraine!”

Many stood to take pictures of each other in front of the Ukrainian flag, which continued to fly over the base.

After the Russians entered, a Ukrainian officer who identified himself only as Vladislav said: “We did not provoke this, this was brute force. I do not know whether this base will be formally in Russian hands by the end of the day. Ever since World War Two, this place has been quiet, and they came in here firing, with APCs and grenades. I am very worried now.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron said, and other European leaders echoed, that the best rebuke to Russia would be a strong Ukraine. The EU also sought to bolster other potentially vulnerable nations in Russia’s shadow, signaling that the bloc would tighten relations with Georgia and Moldova.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Russian Troops Storm Ukrainian Bases in Crimea – March 22, 2014

Deutsch Welle — Shots Fired as Troops Enter Ukrainian Base Belbek in Crimea – March 22, 2014

Reuters – Shots Fired as Russian Troops Force Their Way into Ukrainian Base in Crimea – March 22, 2014

Washington Post – Russian Forces Storm Ukrainian Air Base in Crimea – March 22, 2014

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MADRID, Spain – Spanish and Moroccan authorities executed a series of arrests on Friday, in an effort to dismantle an Islamist militant cell that supplied fighters to areas engaged in fighting, most notably Syria.

Officials from both countries announced that they had made seven arrests in connection with the cell, including the group’s leader, a Spanish citizen. Mustafa Maya Amaya, a nationalized Spaniard that was born in Belgium, was arrested in Melilla, a Spanish enclave surrounded by Moroccan territory. Two French citizens were arrested alongside Amaya in connection with the cell, according to Spain’s interior ministry. A Tunisian individual from Malaga, Spain, and three additional Moroccans were also arrested.

Over the course of recent conflicts such as that in Syria, fighters from Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and more, have joined rebel forces in conflicted countries. Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez stated that this particular cell was the largest in Europe actively recruiting jihadists for the Syrian conflict. Fernandez also stated that some of the cell’s members have had involvement with al-Qaeda-affiliated groups.

Fernandez stated that the cell is completely disassembled as all of the components had been infiltrated with arrests; document forgers, logistics organizers and jihadists all have been arrested.

“The cell was dismantled in coordination with Spanish security forces. Three Moroccans were arrested at the same time as the [Spanish] head of the cell and his acolytes have been arrested by the Spanish security services,” the Moroccan interior ministry said in a statement.

The Moroccan statement further stated that Amaya had close connections to another cell that was linked to a North African al-Qaeda branch, referred to as AQIM. AQIM had been similarly dismantled last year before it was to send fighters to Mali and Syria. According to Spanish reports, Amaya used the internet to recruit jihadists and aided them in joining movements such as the Al Qaeda group Islamic State in Iraq, as well as the Levant (IDIL), al Qaeda’s Nusra Front branch in Syria.

Morocco stated that it has broken up radical Islamist cells accused of plotting both inside and outside of its kingdom. Morocco has experienced numerous bombings by suspected Islamist guerrillas, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh, but militant groups have so far failed to gain any power in the kingdom.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Spain Arrests 7 Suspected of Sending Militant Fighters to Syria – 14 March 2014

Fox News – Spain, Morocco Police Break up Jihadist Recruitment Cell, Arrest 7 – 14 March 2014

Reuters – Morocco, Spain Break up Militant Cell Sending Fighters Abroad – 14 March 2014

UPI – France Detains Seven Suspected of Sending Jihadists to Syria – 14 March 2014

 

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine – Voting in a referendum to decide whether Ukraine’s southern region of Crimea will secede from the Ukraine and become a territory of Russia, ended a short while ago.

Approximately 1.5 million voters were expected to show up to polls, and it is widely believed that the outcome will be that Crimea will split from the Ukraine and join Russia. Polls were open for twelve hours beginning at 6:00 GMT on Sunday.

Voters had the choice of two options on the referendum ballot: either, “are you in favor of the reunification of Crimea with Russia as a part of the Russian Federation?” or “are you in favor of restoring the 1992 Constitution and the status of Crimea as a part of Ukraine?”

If Crimea citizens choose to restore the 1992 constitution, the Crimea government would be afforded broad authority to institute its own laws and structure its governance, and it would remain an area under the Ukraine. Western countries have expressed opposition to the referendum, and most have stated that they will not recognize it. The Kremlin in Russia insists that it is an instance of self-determination by the Crimea people.

The UN Security Council overwhelmingly supported a resolution that labels the Crimea referendum as illegal. Russia attempted to veto the resolution during the Security Council’s vote, but every other member nation of the Security Council favored the resolution. China, Russia’s closest ally on the Security Council, abstained from voting which left Russia as the sole proponent of the referendum.

After the Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovich, was ousted from office last month, Russian troops occupied Crimea, as it indeed possesses a largely ethnic-Russian population. Ihor Tenyukh, Ukraine’s acting defense minister, stated that the Ukraine and Russia had agreed on a truce in Crimea until March 21, during which “no measures will be taken against our military facilities.”

Amid the voting on the referendum, Russian troops landed on a strip of land in the southeast between Crimea and the mainland, which forced the Ukraine to also dispatch an aircraft with armed forces to stop the troops’ movement.

Meanwhile, approximately 50,000 people gathered in Moscow to protest against Russia’s intervention in the Ukraine, shouting, “The occupation of Crimea is Russia’s disgrace” and “Hands off Ukraine.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Crimeans Vote in Breakaway Referendum – 16 March 2014

BBC News – Ukraine Crisis: Crimea Holds Secession Referendum – 16 March 2014

New York Times – Under Watch of Russian Troops, Crimea Votes on Secession – 16 March 2014

Reuters – Crimea to Vote on Joining Russia, Moscow Wields U.N. Veto – 16 March 2014

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

RIGA, Latvia – A Latvian government official has been fired for his declaration that the will march with Latvian Nazi veterans who fought off Soviets during World War II.

At the beginning of World War II, Moscow seized Latvia in a deal with Berlin. Later, Moscow transferred approximately 15,000 Latvians to Siberia. In 1941, Germany disregarded the original deal and invaded the Soviet Union. For that reason, some Latvians claimed the Nazis were liberators, even though the Nazis went on to kill over 80% of Latvia’s Jews. By 1945, the Soviet Union had recaptured Latvia, and held it until the communist bloc dissolved fifty years later.

On 14 March 2014, Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma fired a government minister, Einars Cilinskis, who declared that he would join an annual Nazi march as a Latvian “patriot.” The Russian-speaking minority in Latvia rejected Cilinskis’ declaration, saying that the Nazi march distorts history, honors Nazism, and insults victims of World War II.

However, parade veterans insisted that their purpose was to honor the defense of Latvian homeland against Soviet occupation. Approximately 140,000 Latvians—mostly conscripts—fought in the legion, and nearly a third died either in combat or Soviet captivity. On the other hand, about 130,000 fought for the Soviets, of whom about a quarter died.

Environment Minister Einars Cilinskis planned to march with veterans of the Latvian Legion, a group formed and commanded by the Nazi SS in 1943. The parade date of March 16 marks the unsuccessful attempt to repel the Soviet invasion, which began the communist bloc’s half century of occupation. Legion veterans began marching in Riga, Latvia every March 16 since Soviet rule ended in 1991.

Prime Minister Straujuma took office in January 2014, and banned all of her ministers from joining the parade.

A spokesperson for Straujuma commented, “No minister has ever attended this event, so it is important the dismissal happens before it takes place, not afterwards.”

Efraim Zuroff of the Israel office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center stated that admirers of people like Latvian SS commander Viktor Arajs “are the spiritual heirs of those who committed the crimes of the Holocaust. It is unthinkable that they should march through European Union capitals and cause unimaginable pain to Holocaust survivors and their families.”

Latvian officials worry that Russian state media might use the story to support claims of a “rebirth of fascism” in Ukraine and its other neighbors.

On the day of the march, Crimea will hold a referendum on whether to secede from Ukraine.

The marketplace of ideas often becomes closed to the most abhorred speech before speech that resides closer to the grey zone. Even when the marketplace opens, abhorred ideas become the basis of persuading others. But is that persuasion aiding better ideas?

For further information, please see:

Aljazeera – Latvian Minister Sacked over ‘Nazi’ March – March 14, 2014

Guardian – Latvia Minister Faces Sack in Nazi Memorial Row – March 14, 2014

Jewish Telegraphic Agency – Latvian Minister to Be Fired for Endorsing SS Vets – March 14, 2014

Reuters – Latvia PM to Fire Minister over Plan to Join SS March – March 14, 2014