News

Russian Authorities Searching for “Black Widow” Suspected of Planning Suicide Bombing at Sochi Games

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SOCHI, Russia – Russian authorities are searching for a woman they believe to be planning to carry out a suicide bombing at the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Ruzana Ibragimova is suspected of plotting a suicide bombing on the Sochi Winter Games. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

Ruzanna Ibragimova, a 23-year-old native of Dagestan in the North Caucasus region, is thought to be the widow of an Islamic militant. She is deemed a “black widow”, as she is attempting to avenge her husband’s death through an attack. Ibragimova is believed to have traveled to Sochi earlier this month, somehow managing to penetrate strict security at the site of the Games. Two other females also allegedly planning to carry out suicide bombings are wanted in Sochi.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is conducting one of the largest security operations in the history of the Olympics, as over 30,000 police and Russian ministry troops have been deployed to the area. Authorities have severely limited access to Sochi by the public. Wanted posters with the images of the suspected suicide bomb-plotters have been put up in the area.

The Russian government considers Islamist militants from Dagestan and the nearby republics of Ingushetia and Chechnya to be a major security threats to the Sochi Games. Security fears have been increased after two suicide bomb attacks killed 34 people in the southern city of Volgograd back on December 29th and 30th.

Several countries’ Olympic associations have been sent email threats regarding specific athletes; however most have been dismissed as not credible by the International Olympic Committee. The IOC stated that the emails seemed to be “a random message from a member of the public,” and did not pose a threat, but also stated that they would be taken very seriously.

British Olympic Association officials stated that they “receive correspondence of every type and it is not uncommon to come across something like this that lacks credibility. It is extremely important in matters such as this that everyone maintains a level head and a sensible perspective,” stated spokesman Darryl Seibel.

U.S. President Barack Obama offered America’s “full assistance” in making the Olympics “safe and secure” in a telephone conversation with the Kremlin on Tuesday, the White House stated. Two U.S. warships will be on standby in the Black Sea upon commencement of the Games on February 7th. The U.S. has also offered to supply Russia with hi-tech equipment to help detect improvised explosives.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Russia Hunts Suspected Female Sochi Suicide Bomber – 22 January 2014

The Independent – Race to Find Sochi “Bomber” Casts Chill Over Winter Olympics – 22 January 2014

Mirror News – The “Black Widow” Suicide Bomber Thought to be in Hiding in Winter Olympic Games City of Sochi – 22 January 2014

ABC News – Urgent Search for “Black Widow” Suicide Bomber, May Already be in Sochi – 20 January 2014

Syria Photographs Provide Evidence of Systematic Torture by Assad Regime

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – A team of international war crimes prosecutors and forensic experts has issued a report stating that there is “direct evidence” of “systematic torture and killing” by the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

This image from the report purportedly shows ligature marks around the neck of a prisoner. (Courtesy of The Guardian)

Their report, based on thousands of photographs of dead bodies of alleged detainees killed in Syrian government custody, would stand up in an international criminal tribunal, the group says.

“This is a smoking gun,” said David Crane, the first chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and one of the report’s authors. “Any prosecutor would like this kind of evidence — the photos and the process. This is direct evidence of the regime’s killing machine.”

The bodies in the photos showed signs of starvation, brutal beatings, strangulation, and other forms of torture and killing, according to the report.

A Syrian government defector codenamed “Caesar” provided testimony and 27,000 photographs as evidence used in the report; in all 55,000 such images were brought out of the country. According to the report, Caesar worked as photographer in the military police. Once the war started, he was required to document “killed detainees.”

A complex numbering system was also used to catalog the corpses. The system allowed intelligence agencies to identify the corpses and then later to provide false documentation that the person had died in a hospital. According to the report the system may have also served other purposes such as documenting each person’s death without involving family members, proving that orders had been followed, or perhaps it was simply the way it had always been done.

The fact that all the bodies were photographed, the report’s authors say, strongly suggests that “the killings were systematic, ordered, and directed from above.”

The report was authored by Crane, Sir Desmond de Silva, former chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice, former lead prosecutor against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

“Ultimately, the validity of our conclusions turn on the integrity of the people involved,” de Silva said. “We, the team, were very conscious of the fact there are competing interests in the Syrian crisis — both national and international. We were very conscious of that.”

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Why Syria’s Assad enters Geneva talks in a position of strength – 23 January 2013

CNN – Gruesome Syria photos may prove torture by Assad – 22 January 2013

Reuters – Dooming the Syria talks before they begin – 22 January 2013

BBC – Syria photos may prove claims of torture – 21 January 2013

Guardian – Syria regime document trove shows evidence of ‘industrial scale’ killing of detainees – 20 January 2013

Uganda Deports British Man for Videos on Laptop

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter

KAMPALA, Uganda – A British man who was facing charges in Uganda of possessing a gay sex video is to be deported, a court has ruled.

Bernard Randall being deported from Uganda (photo courtesy of AFP)

Bernard Randall, a 65-year-old retired man from Kent, denied a charge of trafficking obscene publications.

Uganda’s government passed the anti-gay legislation in December, punishing homosexuality with life in prison. The President blocked the bill, saying not enough members of parliament were present to ensure a fair vote.

The President can refuse a bill before parliament can force it into law without his consent.

Judge Hellen Ajio has ordered Randall deported within the next 12 hours.

An official from the prosecutor’s office said Randall was being deported because he had “kept on corrupting Uganda’s youth” and had not renewed his visa at this time.

“Lies!” reported Randall, although his lawyer said the ruling would not be appealed.

Randall’s lawyer asked for Randall to have at least five days before leaving the country.

Randall first appeared in court in Uganda in November, would have faced a possible two-year prison sentence if found guilty.

He was charged alongside his friend Albert Cheptoyek, 30, a Ugandan national with whom Randall shares a home with.

Cheptoyek denied the more serious accusation of “acts of gross indecency.”

If Cheptoyek is found guilty, he could serve a possible seven year sentence in prison.

Officials at the court said police would accompany Randall to his home and allow him to collect his personal belongings before escorting him to the airport.

The trial took place in Entebbe, just outside the capital, Kampala.

Cheptoyek told BBC that Randall was being held in the court’s cells awaiting his deportation.

BBC’s Catherine Byaruhanga said Cheptoyek still stood as the trial against both men had not officially started.

Randall was put on trial after thieves stole a laptop from his home.

On the computer was stills of Randall with another man, which were then published in the notorious homophobic tabloid newspaper Red Pepper.

Randall has come out as homosexual after the recent death of his wife of 40 years.

For more information, please visit:
BBC News – Uganda gay sex case Briton Bernard Randall to be deported – 22 January 2014
Gay Star News – Uganda to deport British man on trial for gay sex video – 22 January 2014
The Sun Daily – Uganda court orders deportation of Briton in gay sex case – 22 January 2014
Herald Sun News – Gay Briton Bernard Randall to be deported from Uganda after private pictures stolen – 22 January 2014
Google – Uganda court orders deportation of Briton in gay sex case – 22 January 2014

 

China Prepares to Try Seven More in Crackdown on Dissent

By Brian Lanciault

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia 

BEIJING, China– Approximately seven Chinese activists who advocated for greater rule of law, fairer access to education and other issues are being put on trial this week as the government once again reinvigorates its campaign to stomp out dissent.

Xu Zhiyong faces trial for “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order” after organizing several rallies demanding educational and political reform. (Photo Courtesy of AP)

The premiere case is scheduled for Wednesday morning in Beijing as lawyer Xu Zhiyong, founder of the loose-knit New Citizens Movement, goes to court on charges of gathering a crowd to disrupt public order.

Xu is the highest-profile activist to be tried since Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison on subversion charges in 2009. Xu won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. Expectations had risen since then that new President Xi Jinping might be more open to free speech, but those hopes have largely subsided, and a media blackout on Xu’s case has left most mainland Chinese ignorant of the proceedings.

Prosecutors allege that Xu and others incited hundreds of people to gather in front of government buildings, train stations, and universities in Beijing in 2012 and 2013. The demonstrators, according to the government, unfurled banners and handed out leaflets regarding education reform and asset disclosure for government officials. The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

But it is the wider spectrum of Xu’s activities that have probably alarmed authorities, at least according to analysts and Xu’s close allies. Although Xu has been more cautious in his public statements than Liu, he has encouraged events such as dinner gatherings at so-called “dissident” discourse is permitted.

Feng Chongyi, an associate professor at the University of Technology in Sydney, who studies Chinese political movements, suggested that “They have been talking about a new sort of activism, the need to take new action, not only talk. The security people have made the judgment that they could be facing serious demonstrations. This is a preemptive strike…. They want to take out the leaders and organizers, and send a clear signal that no one is allowed to organize street protests.”

Xu’s rose to prominence in 2003 when he became involved in an unexpectedly successful campaign to abolish rules regarding police detentions of people found without urban residency permits.  His Open Constitution Initiative law firm took on several dicey cases, defending the editor of a hard-hitting newspaper and representing parents whose children had been sickened or killed by milk additives. In 2009, the firm was hit with tax evasion charges.

Xu then founded the New Citizens Movement, which he said is aimed at treading “a new path for the Chinese nation, a path toward liberty, justice and love.”

Xu was placed under house arrest in April, detained in July and formally arrested in August. His lawyer, Zhang Qingfang, said he visited Xu on Tuesday morning and that he seemed calm ahead of the trial.

Zhang said he and Xu planned to remain silent throughout the hearing as a means of objecting to what they deem to be an irregular and unfair procedure imposed by authorities. Xu plans to provide a brief concluding statement.

A major concern, according to Zhang, was prosecutors’ decision to hold separate trials for the activists.  Prosecutors have also refused to allow witnesses to appear in court and be questioned. Prosecutors had listed 68 witnesses against Xu, Zhang said, but would permit only their statements to be entered into the official record. Zhang’s efforts to bring five defense witnesses to the courtroom were rejected.

“This whole trial is being conducted in a black box, where we cannot actually see the entire process,” he said. “I always hope and strive to represent my clients in a fair trial, but this is not fair, so I will keep silent.”

For more information, please see:

New York Times–In China, a Week Full of Trials over Dissent–21 January 2014

Global Times–Xu Zhiyong set for Wed. Trial–21 January 2014

Voice of America–Prominent Rights Activist Faces Trial in China–21 January 2014

Los Angeles Times–Activists on trial as China steps up campaign against dissent–21 January 2014

Ukraine Restrains Protesters with New Laws against Anti-Government Expression

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KYIV, Ukraine – New prohibitions recently signed into law were reported to make anti-government expression more difficult in Ukraine. Strong criticism has come from western countries.

Protesters rallied against Ukraine’s government amidst rising tensions, many taping “dictatorship” over their mouths. (Photo courtesy of Guardian)

In late November 2013, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich sparked massive pro-Europe rallies when he abandoned a free trade deal with the European Union, in favor of stronger ties with Russia. The deal would have been not only a landmark, but also a step toward Ukraine’s future entrance into the EU.

Since the free trade deal collapsed, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians began protesting against the government on the streets of Kyiv; and several hundreds of people began camping out in the city’s Independence Square as well as the area surrounding City Hall.

Action from riot police injured several in the final week of 2013. The United States and EU condemned that violence.

On 16 January 2014, Ukraine’s parliament rushed to pass laws prohibiting nearly all forms of anti-government protests, despite scuffles with opposition lawmakers who attempted to prevent the parliament session. The next day, President Yanukovich signed those prohibitions into law.

“I am deeply concerned by the events in Kyiv,” EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton said, adding that the legislation was “restricting the Ukrainian citizens’ fundamental rights.”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, “The steps that were taken yesterday are anti-democratic, they’re wrong, they are taking from the people of Ukraine their choice and their opportunity for the future. We will continue to stay focused on this issue, but this kind of anti-democratic maneuver is extremely disturbing and should be a concern to every nation that wants to see the people of Ukraine be able to not only express their wish but see it executed through the political process.”

Ukraine Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara accused the West of “meddling in the internal affairs of our state.”

The new laws prohibit unauthorized tents, stages, or amplifiers. Anyone, including organizations, providing such equipment or facilities for protests would be liable to a fine or detention of up to fifteen years for “mass violation” of public order.

“The law fully restricts all types of expression, across all platforms. It makes it possible to shut down websites, block access to the Internet. It makes it possible to control all SIM cards so they can track any person who says something bad about the government at a forum, on blogs, or even from a mobile phone,” says Director of Kyiv’s Media Law Institute Taras Shevchenko.

Ukraine’s new bans on anti-government protest added to tensions that were scheduled to appear at a new rally—called by the opposition—in Kyiv on 19 January 2014.

During the laws’ enactment, Yanukovich fired his chief-of-staff, Serhiy Lyovochkin, who allegedly wanted to step down after the 30 November 2013 riot police attack against student protesters. However, reports of Lyovochkin’s desire to leave were officially denied, and Yanukovich’s office gave no reason for Lyovochkin’s departure.

Western states are now left to wonder how much further Ukraine’s government is willing to return to Soviet-era relations.
For further information, please see:

Guardian – Ukrainian President Approves Strict Anti-Protest Laws – January 17, 2014

RadioFreeEurope RadioLiberty – Does ‘Black Thursday’ Mark End of Ukraine’s Democratic Decade? – January 17, 2014

Reuters – Ukraine Leader, Defying West, Signs Laws against Protests – January 17, 2014

RIA Novosti – Ukrainian Leader Signs Laws Dubbed “Charter for Oppression” – January 17, 2014