News

230 Nigerian Schoolgirls Kidnapped After Boko Haram Raid

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

ABUJA, Nigeria – 230 Nigerian schoolgirls were abducted last week from their school. Forty have managed to escape, but 190 are still missing. Boko Haram, an Islamist group, is suspected to be behind the kidnapping but have not issued a statement.

Damaged classroom of boarding school after abduction (photo courtesy of AFP)

 

The kidnapping occurred after the Boko Haram extremists stormed a remote boarding school in northeast Nigeria.

At the scene of the attack, in Chibok, parents wept begging the kidnappers to “have mercy on our daughters” and for the government to rescue them.

Borno state education Commissioner and the principal of the boarding school stated that students were at the school to take a physics exam when the abduction occurred.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a bombing near Nigeria’s capital of Abuja that left dozens of people dead; although this bombing occurred on the same day as the kidnapping, they have not taken responsibility for the kidnapping.

This year alone, Boko Haram is believed to have killed over 1,500 people.

Boko Haram’s name means: “Western education is forbidden.” They are fighting to establish Islamic law in Nigeria and often target educational establishments.

The forty girls that escaped from the group escaped on their own. None were rescued by the military.

“I have not seen my daughter, she is a good girl,” cried Musa Muka, whose 17-year-old Martha was taken away. “We plead with the government to help rescue her and her friends; we pray nothing happens to her.”

Those who have escaped say they jumped out of the back of a truck in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday. Others ran away and hid in the dense forest.

Although this mass abduction is extraordinary, violence in the area has been on the rise.

The most prevalent area for the danger is in northeastern Nigeria, which have been under a state of emergency since mid-May of last year due to persistent bloodshed that is claimed to be by Boko Haram.

The military believes that the militants took the girls to the Sambisa forest near the Cameroonian border. Parents and vigilante groups have gone there in search of the girls.

This mass abduction is an embarrassment to the military who claimed that they rescued all of the girls except eight. They later retracted the statement.

“The operation is going on and we will continue to deploy more troops,” Major General Olukolade, the Defense Ministry’s spokesman, said. Further, he stated that the air and land patrols are hunting for the students.

For more information, please visit:
BBC News – Chibok abductions in Nigeria: ‘More than 230 seized’ – 21 April 2014
Times Live – 230 schoolgirls still missing after Boko Haram raid – 22 April 2014
CNN – Boko Haram leader claims bombing, stays mum on kidnapped schoolgirls – 19 April 2014
The Frontier Post – More girls \’flee kidnappers\’ – 22 April 2014
The Daily Star – 230 girls abducted in Nigeria still missing – 22 April 2014
The Boston Globe – Parents contest Nigeria kidnap figure – 22 April 2014

 

Gunmen Kill 14 Algerian Soldiers

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

ALGIERS, Algeria – Islamist militants have killed fourteen Algerian soldiers in an ambush on a convoy in the mountains east of the capital, security officials say.

Algerian Security Forces standing guard (photo courtesy of AFP)

 

The attack near the village began Saturday night as an army detachment returned to its base near the mountainous region in Algeria.

There was no immediate claim to the attack. Suspicion, however, falls on al-Qaeda, whose fighters are holed up in the mountainous region in Algeria, some 60 miles away from the capital.

A local official said a large group of insurgents hid on both sides of the road and opened fire with automatic weapons as the military bus drove by.

The troops killed were from a unit that had been deployed as part of a security operation during Thursday’s vote and were heading back to barracks when they were ambushed.

President Bouteflika, 77, was re-elected for a fourth term following a campaign that stressed security as a key policy.

“Such criminal action only serves to reinforce the army’s determination to eliminate diehard terrorist groups,” the ministry said.

It also said a search operation for the assailants were underway in a cluster of about ten villages and that “so far three terrorists were eliminated and two . . . assault rifles seized.”

This has been one of the deadliest attacks on the Algerian military in many years.

Since the end of the 1990 war, attacks in Algeria have been rare. But Algerian officials are concerns with spillover from the turmoil in neighboring Libya, where fighters linked to al-Qaeda take refuge in the southern deserts.

“On their way back from securing the presidential election, the unit came under attack,” the defense ministry said in a statement posted by APS. Three militants were also killed.

For more information, please visit:
BBC News – Algeria: AQIM militants kill 14 soldiers in mountains – 20 April 2014
Miami Herald – Insurgents kill at least 11 Algerian soldiers – 20 April 2014
Yahoo! News – Gunmen kill 11 Algerian soldiers in ambush – 20 April 2014
The Guardian – Algeria: AQIM militants ‘kill 11 soldiers’ in mountains – 20 April 2014
Reuters – UPDATE 3-Al Qaeda kills 14 Algerian soldiers in ambush – 20 April 2014

NYPD Disbands Unit Devoted to Spying on Muslim Community

by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

NEW YORK CITY, United States – The New York City Police Department said Tuesday that it has disbanded a special unit of plainclothes detectives tasked with mingling with Muslim communities to discover terror plots. The Zone Assessment Unit, developed with the aid of the CIA in the wake of 9/11, acknowledged that it monitored Muslim owned businesses and places of worship.

The monitoring program drew protests and legal actions from the Muslim community. (photo courtesy of The Guardian)

NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis confirmed that detectives from the Zone Assessment Unit were reassigned to other operations in the department’s intelligence division.  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio considered disbanding the unit a “critical step forward in easing tensions between the police and the communities they serve, so that our cops and our citizens can help one another go after the real bad guys.”

Disbanding the Zone Assessment Unit is just one of many anticipated rollbacks in post-9/11 intelligence gathering within the NYPD under new Police Commissioner William Bratton.  The new Commissioner will also consider scaling back overseas operations that deploys NYPD officers to stations in London, Paris, Tel Aviv and Amman.

NYPD officials stated that disbanding the controversial unit was part of a conclusion that information could be more easily gathered through direct interaction with the Muslim community.  One high-ranking NYPD official stated in a 2012 deposition that the unit never generated a single piece of actionable information during its six years of operation.

News of the Zone Assessment Unit’s work drew negative reactions in Washington.  34 members of Congress expressed the need for a federal investigation of the NYPD while Attorney General Eric Holder said he was disturbed by the news.  The Department of Justice is reviewing complaints received from the Muslim community.

Reporting on the unit also triggered an investigation by the Inspector General for the CIA, who was concerned about the involvement of a CIA operative in setting up this program.  The investigation ultimately concluded that the CIA did not violate its own policies prohibiting domestic spying.

Former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, who helped set up the Zone Assessment Unit, has defended its use, saying his officer observed legal guidelines.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – NYC Police Rolling Back Some Counterterror Efforts – 16 April 2014

CNN – New York Police Department disbands unit that spied on Muslims – 16 April 2014

Fox News – NYPD ends Muslim surveillance program – 15 April 2014

The Guardian – NYPD disbands controversial Muslim surveillance unit – 15 April 2014

The New York Times – New York Drops Unit That Spied on Muslims – 15 April 2014

Unknown Group in Ukraine Distributes Anti-Semitic Leaflets, Denounced and Dismissed as Provocation

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KYIV, Ukraine – Amidst political tensions in Ukraine, distributed fliers by an unknown group in Donetsk called for the registration of Jewish citizens. Donetsk’s Jewish community largely dismissed the move as “provocation.”

Leaflet distributed in Donetsk by masked men told the Jewish community to register their property or face deportation. (Photo courtesy of USA Today)

In February 2014, a popular revolt in Kyiv ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.

On 15 April 2014, masked men handed out leaflets in front of the main Donetsk synagogue, during the Jewish holiday of Passover. The fliers demanded that Jewish citizens register and document their property or face deportation because Jewish leaders had supported the “nationalists and bandits” in Kiev. Jewish leaders in Donetsk have said that Russian protesters have declared the synagogue a “People’s Republic.”

CNN translated a photographed copy of the leaflet: “All citizens of Jewish nationality over age of 16, living on territories of Donetsk People’s Republic, have to register with DPR commissioner of nationality before May 3rd, 2014 at the Donetsk Regional Administration, room 514, registration fee is $50. Must have in person $50 cash, passport, all available IDs, and documentation of ownership of real estate and transportation.”

Denis Pushilin, self-proclaimed head of “People’s Republic,” denied any connection with the fliers. Pushilin stated that his handwriting was not the same as that found on the leaflet, and the title attached to his name was not one he has used.

On 17 April 2014, United States officials denounced what U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the “grotesque” and “beyond unacceptable” leaflet.

The Jewish community in Donetsk dismissed the leaflet as a “provocation,” and stated that relations between the Jewish community and their neighbors in Donetsk were amicable. Also, it remains unclear who distributed the fliers. “Who is behind this is an open question,” Rabbi Pinkhas Vishedski said in the statement. He also said that the act was a provocation “and should be treated accordingly … full stop and end of topic.”

Still, the chief rabbi of nearby Dnipropetrovsk said, “Everything must be done to catch them.”

“It’s important for everyone to know it’s not true,” the rabbi, Shmuel Kaminezki said. “The Jews of Donetsk will not do what the letter says.”

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt stated that radical groups could be trying to stir up historic fears or create provocation to justify continued violence. The fliers came amidst Ukraine’s struggle to contain uprisings by pro-Russian political movements in several eastern cities. Both the pro-West and pro-Russian sides have invoked the historical horror of Nazism in disputes. Pyatt said that in Kiev, where the Jewish community is a vital part of political life, there is “no sympathy for this approach. It’s almost inconceivable that this kind of thing could be happening in the 21st century.”

“It’s chilling. I was disgusted by these leaflets,” Pyatt said. “Especially in Ukraine, a country that suffered so terribly under the Nazis, that was one of the sites of the worst violence of the Holocaust. To drag up this kind of rhetoric is almost beyond belief.”

For further information, please see:

Reuters India – Kerry Condemns Anti-Semitic Leaflet in Eastern Ukraine – April 18, 2014

BBC News – Tension Remains in Eastern Ukraine after Geneva Talks – April 17, 2014

CNN International – Anti-Semitic Fliers in Eastern Ukraine Denounced – April 17, 2014

USA Today – Leaflet Tells Jews to Register in East Ukraine – April 17, 2014

India’s High Court Recognizes Transgender as a ‘Third Gender Category’

By Brian Lanciault
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India– India’s top court announced Tuesday in a landmark verdict that transgender rights are human rights.  The decision stated that people can identify themselves as a third gender on any official documents.

Transgender Indians rejoiced the Supreme Court decision to recognize Transgender individuals as a distinct, “third gender” for purposes of official government documents. (Photo Courtesy of AP)

The Supreme Court directed the federal and state governments to include transgendered people in all welfare programs for the poor, including education, health care and jobs to help them overcome social and economic challenges. Before the decision, transgendered Indians could only identify themselves as male or female in all official documents.

The decision was praised for giving relief to the approximately 3 million Indians who identify as transgender.

The Court proclaimed that it was the right of every human being to choose their gender, and acknowledged a grant of rights to those who identify themselves as neither male nor female.

“All documents will now have a third category marked ‘transgender.’ This verdict has come as a great relief for all of us. Today I am proud to be an Indian,” said Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, a transgender activist who, along with a legal agency, had petitioned the Court.

The Court’s decision will apply to individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex, and to those who merely present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.

“The spirit of the (Indian) Constitution is to provide equal opportunity to every citizen to grow and attain their potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender,” the Court said in its order.

The Supreme Court specified its ruling would only apply to transgender people but not to gays, lesbians or bisexuals. India’s LGBT communities have been protesting the Court’s recent decision to reinstate a colonial-era law banning homosexual intercourse, which they say will make them vulnerable to police harassment.

The Court also ordered the government to put in place public awareness campaigns to reduce the social stigma that has developed around transgender people.

Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan told the Court that the “recognition of transgender (people) as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue.”

“Transgenders are citizens of this country and are entitled to education and all other rights,” he said.

The Court ruled that transgender people have the same right to adopt children as other Indians.

The Court said any person who underwent surgery to change his or her sex would be entitled to be legally recognized as belonging to the gender of their choice.

The Supreme Court also ordered state governments to construct separate public toilets for transgender people and create health departments to take care of transgender medical services.

Recently, India’s Election Commission for the first time allowed a third gender choice — “other” — on voter registration forms. The change was made in time for the national elections being held in phases through May 12.

Nearly 28,000 voters have registered themselves in that category.

For more information, please see:

Hindustan Times– Supreme Court recognises transgender as third gender— 15 April 2014

ABC News–India’s Top Court Recognizes Third Gender Category— 15 April 2014

BBC News–India court recognises transgender people as third gender— 15 April 2014

Time–Men, Women and ‘Hijras’: India Recognizes Third Gender— 15 April 2014