by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SOCHI, Russia – Russian President Vladimir Putin has lifted a ban on demonstrations at the Winter Olympic venue of Sochi.

President Putin amended a decree to allow activist groups to conduct demonstrations and marches at pre-approved sites. In a statement released by the Kremlin, Putin indicated that the sites would be approved by the venue’s security force. The Russian President was at the Olympic venue as recently as Saturday, when he attended a rehearsal of the Winter Games’ opening ceremony.

“Gatherings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets, which are not directly connected to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, could be staged on January 7 – March 21 2014… only after agreeing with… a local security body,” the release stated.

The ban on rallies had been imposed in August as a part of security crackdowns as a direct response to two suicide bombings in Volgograd which killed 34 people. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, however there is are groups in Southern Russia who aim to carve a separate Islamic state out of the region (including Sochi) that are thought to have ties to the attacks.

Campaign groups had been advocating for a lift of the bans, pleading that they violated Russia’s constitution. The International Olympic Committee praised Putin’s decision, the latest in a series of gestures aimed at silencing critics of Russia’s human-rights record.

“It is in line with the assurances that President Putin gave us last year and part of the Russian authorities’ plans to ensure free expression during the Games whilst delivering safe and secure Games,” the committee stated.

The Russian President has planned to utilize the Sochi Olympics to show a political turnaround under his administration after the fall of the Soviet Union. Last month, the Putin also freed several of Russia’s most notorious prisoners: former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and two members of the female punk group Pussy Riot.

Human Rights groups have criticized Russia’s treatment of migrant workers, particularly at Olympic sites, and have advocated for a boycott of the Sochi Games over a law banning the spread of “gay propaganda” among minors, saying it violates basic freedoms.

A December opinion poll showed that President Putin’s public approval rating fell to its lowest level in over 13 years as the country is facing high inflation and a struggling economy.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Sochi Winter Olympics: Vladimir Putin Lifts Blanket Ban on Political Protests – 4 December 2014

Al Jazeera – Russia Eases Restriction on Olympic Protests – 4 December 2o14

BBC News – Winter Olympics: Russia to Allow Protests in Special Zone – 4 December 2014

Russia Today – Putin Lifts Ban on Protests at Sochi Olympics, Orders Area Specially for Rallies – 4 December 2014

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BRUSSELS, European Union – Over 1000 migrants were rescued this week in the Mediterranean region. The European Union has called for countries to continue saving migrants traveling dangerous routes, amidst calls to restrict benefits for EU citizens migrating within the bloc.

On 2 January 2014, Italian naval authorities rescued 233 migrants who were first noticed New Year’s Day, about 80 miles south of Lampedusa. The boat measured only 33 feet (10 meters) long, and all of the migrants were without life jackets.

On 3 January 2014, an additional 823 migrants in four overcrowded boats were rescued in an operation separate from the 2 January events. Those migrants primarily came from Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq, and Pakistan.

Smugglers often use unseaworthy boats packed beyond safe capacities. Frontex, the European Union border agency noted that tens of thousands of people are rescued from the Mediterranean annually. European authorities estimate that, during January to September 2013 alone, roughly 31,000 migrants entered the EU illegally by crossing the Mediterranean.

In a statement released by the Italian navy, the rough seas and the boat’s “precarious state of buoyancy” were the deciding factors in transferring the migrants to the San Marco navy ship. The migrants will be transferred to the port of Augusta, which is located on the island of Sicily. Many migrants came from Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia, Pakistan, Zambia, and Mali.

Refugees seeking asylum in European Union countries frequently travel toward Lampedusa because it is the closest Italian island to Africa. In recent years, many have come from African nations and Syria. In October, 366 migrants from Africa died when a ship to Lampedusa sank just off-shore; within days, another boat capsized, killing the 34 people on board.

For twenty years, most migrants have entered the European Union through Italy, Greece, and Malta, a Mediterranean island.

While Italian authorities rescued migrants spotted around New Year’s Day, the Greek Coast Guard rescued 85 migrants, including 20 women and 15 children, a few miles southwest of Astypalaia, an island in the Aegean Sea. After offerings of food and water, the Coast Guard safely transferred the migrants to Astypalaia, and towed their sailboat to another island.

The Ministry of Mercantile Marine, in cooperation with Greek police, plan to transfer the migrants to a larger island for medical examination and any necessary treatments, as Astypalaia has only one doctor to assess all rescued migrants, in addition to the island’s residents.

Dangerous methods of migrating to the EU have created a call for greater discussions about the issue, amidst calls from Germany to prevent internal migration from encouraging “benefit tourism.”

In addressing both internal and external migration, the EU must ensure that its work to prevent abuse of freedom to one group does not abuse the rights of others.

For further information, please see:

New York Times – Italy: More Migrants Rescued at Sea – January 3, 2014

Reuters – Italian Navy Rescues over 1000 Migrants from Boats in 24 Hours – January 3, 2014

BBC News – Migrants Spark German Coalition Rift Amid Welfare Angst – January 2, 2014

CNN International – Italian Navy Rescues 233 Migrants from Mediterranean Boat – January 2, 2014

Greek Reporter – 85 Illegal Immigrants Found in the Aegean Sea – January 2, 2014

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

Izhevsk , RUSSIA – The Russian creator of the AK-47 assault rifle, Mikhail Kalashnikov, died on Monday, December 23^rd at the age of 94.

Kalashnikov died in his hometown of Izhevsk near the Ural Mountains in Russia, where his gun is still manufactured. No cause of death has been released. Kalashnikov had been fitted with a pacemaker at a Moscow hospital in June and had been hospitalized in Izhevsk since November 17. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed “deep sympathy” for Kalashnikov’s family.

Kalashnikov created the AK-47 while being treated in a hospital in Kazakhstan after he was severely wounded in a burning tank during World War II, while still in his 20’s. Five years later, his design was chosen by the Russian military. The “47” in AK-47 stands for the year 1947, the “A” is for “avtomat” (automatic rifle), and the “K” for Kalashnikov.

The rifle, which has killed more people than any other firearm in the world, is officially in service in 55 countries. Several national emblems feature it. However, approximately half of the world’s estimated 100 million AK-47’s are counterfeited copies that were produced without licenses.

Modern versions of the AK-47 are still used by Russia’s armed forces and police more than 60 years after the original rifle went into service in the military in 1949. However, Kalashnikov has stated that his pride in the rifle was mixed with pain in observing it being used by criminals and child soldiers. The AK-47 has also been used worldwide by gangsters, drug traffickers, militants and rebels in various countries.

“It is painful for me to see when criminal elements of all kinds fire from my weapon. I created this weapon primarily to defend the borders of our fatherland,” Kalashnikov stated in an address to a Russian arms conference in 2009.

Kalashnikov was born on November 10, 1919 into a large peasant family in the village of Kurya in the Altai region of southern Siberia during the Bolshevik Revolution. During Soviet times, he was twice honored as “Hero of Socialist Labor” and became a Stalin Prize and Lenin Prize laureate. Kalashnikov also was given the rank of colonel in 1969 and subsequently rose to become a two-star general during his time with the Red Army.

Though it is widely believed that Kalashnikov was wealthy from his design, he was not a rich man and lived in a modest Soviet-era apartment in Izhevsk, despite the Kremlin decorations.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Mikhail Kalashnikov, AK-47 Inventor, Dies at 94 – 23 December 2013

CNN – Mikhail Kalashnikov, Inventor of AK-47, Dies at 94 – 23 December 2013

New York Times – Mikhail Kalashnikov, Creator of AK-47, Dies at 94 – 23 December 2013

Reuters – Ak-47 Rifle Inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov Dies at 94 – 23 December 2013