News

Triple bombing in Libya kills dozens

February 20, 2015

By Ashley Repp

News Desk Reporter- Africa

al-Qubbah- Libya

Earlier this week, following the release of a gruesome video that showed the beheading of 20 Egyptian Coptic Christians, and one non-Christian, Egypt launched air strikes in and near the city of Derna. The strikes targeted training camps and arms caches in the city. Groups affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIL) have claimed responsibility for the video, and called the beheaded Coptic Christians, ‘crusaders.’

Following these are strikes, Islamic State affiliate groups vowed revenge for the attacks on Derna. On Friday, Islamic State affiliate groups carried out a triple attack on the eastern city of al-Qubbah. One of the apparent targets of the attack was the parliament speaker of the internationally recognized parliament of Libya, Aguila Salah. Medical personnel assert that Salah was not home at the time of the attack. The two other bombings in the triple strike included a police station, as well as a gas station. The majority of those killed in these attacks were waiting in line at the gas station. Over 30 people have died, although a source quoted by Reuters asserts that the death toll is nearer to 40 and over 70 injured.

Libya plunged into chaos following the ousting of Col. Moammar Kadafi in 2011. Since that time, factions have waged war with one another in an effort to gain control over Libya. No one group has gained significant traction. ISIL has sought to capitalize on the instability and violence that currently racks Libya, in an effort to gain traction in Africa. While it is not a group that currently predominates in Libya, recent events have begun to establish the Islamic State as a very real actor in the game in Libya. Egypt has become increasingly alarmed by the rate at which the Islamic State has been gaining support in Libya, as Egypt is currently fighting another Islamic State affiliate group in the Sinai Peninsula.

For more information, please visit:

ABC News- Triple bombings kill at least 25 in eastern Libya, medics say– 20 Feb., 2015

Al Jazeera- Deaths in car bombings in east Libya city– 20 Feb., 2015

LA Times- Bomb attacks in Libya kill at least 34– 20 Feb., 2015

BBC News- Libya Violence: Bombs kill dozens in al-Qubbah– 20 Feb., 2015

Female suicide bomber kills nearly a dozen in Nigerian city; wounds over thirty others

February 20, 2015

By Ashley Repp

News Desk Reporter- Africa

Damaturu, Nigeria-

This past Sunday afternoon, a female bomber, who witnesses assert looked about sixteen years of age, arrived at the city’s crowded market area in a car, and made her way into the crowds. Local time was about 1 P.M., a busy shopping time on Sundays. The unidentified female went to a crowded area, positioned herself, and then detonated the bomb that she was wearing underneath her clothes. With this detonation, the bomber killed at least ten people, and wounded over thirty others in the surrounding area.

Witnesses say that after the bomb was detonated, the crowd at the market descended into panic. Authorities were unable to collect and remove the remains of the female bomber, as a crowd had begun to collect her body parts and light them on fire.

Though no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Sunday’s bombing bears what some say are the “hallmarks” of a Boko Haram attack. In the past year, Boko Haram, the Islamic militant group that wishes to install an Islamic state in Nigeria, has increasingly used female bombers to carry out planned attacks. This attack shares many of the similarities of the previous attacks carried out this year, leading authorities to suspect Boko Haram’s involvement.

Boko Haram has played a key role in destabilizing northern Nigeria with the intent of establishing an Islamic state. The group has launched previous attacks on Damaturu. Currently, the violence has begun to spill over into neighboring countries, including Chad, Cameroon, and Niger. These states, along with Nigeria, have agreed to establish a regional military apparatus that will serve to combat and subdue Boko Haram.

The violence and instability have also pushed officials in Nigeria to postpone the presidential election until March 28^th, 2015. Many Nigerians, investors, as well as states in the international community question President Goodluck’s ability to adequately address and combat Boko Haram, and fear that further instability is likely to arise. Goodluck’s rival in the presidential election is Muhammadu Buhari. Many believe that he will take a harder line on security issues, and is better equipped to address the threat of Boko Haram due to his successful quelling of an Islamic uprising in the 1980’s.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News- Suicide bomber kills seven in Nigerian city of Damaturu– 15 Feb., 2015

Al Jazeera- Female suicide bomber kills ten in Nigeria’s Damaturu-15 Feb., 2015

The New York Times- Female suicide bomber kills ten in a Nigerian region racked by Islamist violence– 15 Feb., 2015

Reuters- Female suicide bomber kills ten in Nigerian bus station– 15 Feb., 2015

Another Minsk Peace Agreement Fails Ukraine

February 16, 2015

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – Following another Minsk peace agreement involving leaders from England, France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia, a cease-fire has once again failed. Fighting has restarted in Eastern Ukraine, particularly in Debaltseve where it was initially unclear whether the cease-fire reigned although later discussion between relevant parties found that it did.

Ukrainian soldiers playing soccer near Debaltseve during peaceful downtime, although peace did not last long. (Photo courtesy of Kyiv Post)

Sunday night at midnight, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued an order for Ukrainian troops to cease fire, but merely twenty minutes later pro-Russian rebel rockets caused collateral damage that made casualties of two elderly residents near Luhansk. Kiev claims more than 60 violations of the cease-fire within just the first 24 hours of the truce.

Many of the violations occurred in or around Debaltseve, where Donetsk separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko believes “[t]he Minsk agreement doesn’t” mention. A strong push by the rebels, allegedly backed by Russian artillery according to United States sources, in the two days before the cease-fire went into effect has allowed rebels to surround the town, according to rebel sources. There are reported upwards of 8,000 Ukrainian troops within Debaltseve, although Kiev has not confirmed such. Steven Pifer, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, claims that Ukrainian forces trapped within Debaltseve are hesitant to retreat because a similar situation yielding a retreat by Kiev forces from Ilovaysk in August was met by rebel artillery and rocket fire that led to many casualties.

In addition to the two elderly casualties, 5 Ukrainian security forces were reported killed along with 25 wounded by fighting with rebels at a military post near Zolote, also in Luhansk. These casualties were reported to have come from mortar shelling that occurred within 90 minutes of the cease-fire order from Poroshenko. Ukrainian defense spokesman Andriy Lysenko reports at least 129 violations have occurred since the cease-fire orders were given.

While the cease-fire still remains in power throughout much of Eastern Ukraine, and many of the violations occurred in or near a contested area that was arguably not mentioned within the Minsk agreement, the post-cease-fire incidents are causing a stir, and less than 48 hours into the cease-fire there is already a similar lack of faith in its holding as existed in prior agreements.

For more information, please see:

The Economist – Pseudo-peace – 16 February 2015

The New York Times – With Ukrainian Troops Trapped, a Cease-Fire Grows More Fragile – 16 February 2015

CNN – 5 Ukrainian security forces killed despite ceasefire, army official says – 16 February 2015

USA Today – Ukraine cease-fire ignored around key railway hub – 16 February 2015

The Wall Street Journal – Ukraine Cease-Fire Strained by Violence – 16 February 2015

United Nations: Violence against Schoolgirls Growing Worldwide

February 15, 2015

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, United Nations – The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has reported that young girls in at least 70 countries are facing increased threats of violence and even targeting killings simply for trying to exercise the basic human right of education by going to school. “Attacks against girls accessing education persist and, alarmingly, appear in some countries to be occurring with increasing regularity,” the OHCHR said in a background paper on attacks against girls seeking to access education, which was published on Tuesday. The educational rights of girls and women are often targeted due to the fact that they represent a challenge to existing gender and age-based systems of oppression.” The report said, “According to UN sources, more than 3,600 separate attacks against educational institutions, teachers and students were recorded in 2012 alone.” The background paper will be presented to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to contribute to the development of the Committee’s general recommendation on access to education.

According to the United Nations, the marginalization of young girls from both the educational and economic realms means they are denied fair access to their basic human rights. (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

The report shows that attacks on girls seeking education take several forms and are not always explicitly motivated by a desire to keep girls from obtaining an education. The violence experienced by girls and women effects all areas of their public and private lives, the report notes. “Attacks involving sexual violence against teachers and girls in educational facilities or during the journey to or from them have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Mali, Myanmar, the Philippines and Syria,” the paper notes.

The report cites several disturbing examples of attacks against girls seeking access to education, highlighting the fragility of achievements in increasing global access to education for all genders. Among the examples cited in the report are the murder in December 2014 of more than 100 young children in a Pakistani Taliban attack at an school in Peshawar attended by the children of army personnel, the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls in April 2014 by the Boko Haram movement in northeast Nigeria and the 2012 shooting by members of the Taliban in Pakistan of education activist Malala Yousafzai who recently became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The report also cites several disturbing incidents of poisoning and acid attacks against schoolgirls in Afghanistan between 2012 and 2014, the reported forced removal of young girls from schools in Somalia who are forced to become ‘wives’ of Al-Shabaab fighters in 2010, as well as the abduction and rape of girls at a Christian school in India in July 2013.

“Attacks on girls’ education have a ripple effect – not only do they impact on the lives of the girls and communities who are directly concerned, they also send a signal to other parents and guardians that schools are not safe places for girl,” the report states. However, if more parents chose to keep their young girls out of school in response to this growing trend young girls could be more vulnerable to other dangers associated with lack of access to education including the increased likelihood that they will face domestic violence during their lifetime or that they may become the victims of human trafficking and sexual and labor exploitation.

For more information please see:

ABC News – Brutal Attacks on Schoolgirls on the Rise: UN – 9 February 2015

Al Jazeera – UN Says Global Violence against Schoolgirls Rising – 9 February 2015

The New York Times – Schoolgirl Are Facing More Threat, U.N. – 9 February 2015

United Nations News Centre – UN Rights Report Points to ‘Increasing Regularity’ Of Attacks on Girls Seeking Education – 9 February 2015

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Background Paper on Attacks against Girls Seeking To Access Education – 9 February 2015

Treason Cases in Russia Increase as Tension Continues to Grow Between East and West

February 12, 2015

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – Svetlana Davydova, a Russian mother of seven, is facing 12 to 20 years in prison on charges of high treason. Davydova allegedly overheard a conversation while on public transportation regarding Russian conscripts being moved undercover into Ukraine to assist pro-Russian rebels, and is accused of reporting that information to the Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow. The irony is that Russia denies even having a military presence in Eastern Ukraine, so Davydova’s alleged report to the Ukrainian Embassy would be not state secrets justifying a treason charge, but merely what Russia regards as lies.

Davydova is the most recent Russian facing treason charges. (Photo courtesy of The New York Times)

The first attorney appointed to Davydova did not even dispute the claims, merely stating that the charges were based on facts. Journalists and activists, however, came to her aid and hired a new attorney who helped release Davydova on bail. Davydova is not the only one in need of help against Russian treason charges, however. Savy serviceman Sergei Minakov, Gennady Kravtsov, former nuclear scientist Vladimir Golubev, and Russian Orthodox Church employee Yevgeny Petrin have all been charged with treason over the past year for allegedly giving information to foreign sources.

This rise in treason charges comes as the ruble continues to drop following multiple rounds of sanctions by the US and EU over the past year, and Russia faces even more due to renewed fighting in Eastern Ukraine. While a meeting to discuss peace is scheduled to occur soon between Russia, England, France, and Ukraine in Belarus, tensions are steadily climbing. After a discussion with German Chancellor yesterday, Obama talked with Putin today and was warned that the United States’s recent discussion about giving lethal aid to Kiev would be seen as an act of war by Russia.

The US has also made the decision to send 12 A-10 Thunderbolt attack planes, which were initially designed to attack Soviet tanks during the Cold War, and 300 personnel to an airbase in Germany to bolster NATO’s strength in Europe. This is all in addition the US decision to give further training to Kiev’s troops fighting in Eastern Ukraine, where fighting continues to intensify. Given the strengthening of Russia’s foes and the weakening condition of the Russian economy, along with instability across their border in Eastern Ukraine, and even some instability within their own borders (which peaked during 2011 and 2012 protests regarding Putin’s third election as President), a picture begins to take shape possibly explaining why Russia is cracking down on treason charges that are likely meant to scare the public into conformity at the expense of the few accused.

For more information, please see:

Yahoo Finance – Ukraine Tensions Hit Boiling Point as Obama Confronts Putin – 12 February 2015

Business Insider – The US is redeploying A-10s to Europe – 11 February 2015

RT – US military to train Kiev troops fighting in E. Ukraine – US Army commander – 11 February 2015

The Moscow Times – Russia’s Sudden Spate of Treason Cases Are Scare Tactic, Analysts Say – 10 February 2015

BBC – Ukraine crisis: ‘Don’t arm Kiev’ Russia warns US – 10 February 2015

The New York Times – High Treason, a New Russian Low – 9 February 2015