News

Human Rights Group Says 6,000 Women Raped During Syrian Conflict

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – A report issued by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network estimates that 6,000 women have been raped since the beginning of the Syrian conflict. The report adds that women are being targeted by snipers and used as human shields.

The report documented 6,000 cases of rape with many more likely unreported. (Photo Courtesy of AP)

The report states the capture, torture, and rape of women is used as strategy to leverage prisoner exchanges and exact revenge on the opposition. Often times women will be abducted in effort to force their male relatives to surrender.

“They are being used as privilege, not in the sense that they are favored, but because sometimes of their relationship to opposition members or government-related members,” EMHRN spokeswoman Hayet Zeghiche told the BBC.

Many of the rape victims are socially stigmatized and forced to leave their families or fear returning to their families because of possible retribution. The social stigma attached to rape victims leaves them alone and isolated.

“Syrian women exposed to sexual abuses subsequently found themselves victimized not only by the crime itself, but also by enduring the silence that surrounds the crime and the social pressure related to it,” the report said.

The findings were backed up by Lauren Wolfe, an award-winning journalist who has focused on rape in conflict for several years. She is currently the director of Women Under Siege, a group that has been mapping reports of sexual violence in Syria over the past year.

“The general rule that I go by, and a lot of public health researchers go by, is for every one woman who speaks out, there are up to 10 more that remain silent,” Wolfe said.

Seventy-percent of the documented rape victims report that they were raped by government or pro-government forces. This is not uncommon in scenarios where, like in Syria, rebel fighters rely heavily on civilian support.

The report said rape was documented in seven provinces, including Damascus, mostly “during governmental raids, at checkpoints and within detention facilities.”

On Monday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced that first peace talks during the conflict would begin on January 22. He added that it would be “unforgivable not to seize this opportunity to bring an end to the suffering and destruction.”

For further information, please see:

BBC – Syria conflict: Women ‘targets of abuse and torture’ – 26 November 2013

Global Post – 6,000 cases of women raped during Syrian conflict, human rights group says – 26 November 2013

Gulf News – ‘Rape used as women of war against Syria women’ – 25 November 2013

Reuters – Syrian women suffer inside their country and out – 11 November 2013

Saudi Court Sentences US Jeddah Consulate Attacker to Death

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – A Saudi court has sentenced one man to death and nineteen others to jail in connection with the 2004 US Consulate attack in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. The nineteen others received sentences ranging from eighteen months to twenty-five years.

The attack on Jeddah US consulate in 2004 killed nine people in total. (Photo Courtesy of AP)

The lone man sentenced to death was one of the attackers that stormed the building in the December 6 attack. The others were convicted of being part of a “deviant group” (Al-Qaeda) and supporting the Jeddah attack and another attack on a petrol facility that same year.

In the Jeddah attack, five militants attacked the US consulate with bombs and guns, managing to make their way inside while taking hostages at gunpoint. The whole ordeal last three hours and resulted in the death of five locally hired consulate workers. Three of the five attackers were killed by Saudi security forces in the raid and two were captured, but one later died of his injuries.

The attack was one in a series that year, perpetrated by Al-Qaeda in an effort to oust the ruling Al-Saud family. They were aimed at Western targets and left dozens of foreigners and Saudi citizens dead. The Al-Saud family, who previously had not thought much of Al-Qaeda, changed their attitude as the attacks mounted. The campaign to overthrow the Al-Saud family was crushed in 2006 and resulted in the detainment of more than 11,000 people.

The detainment and retaliation against Al-Qaeda resulted in controversy as many of the detained and their family claimed unfair treatment the hands of the regime. Some of the claims in include indefinite detention without charges and torture.

The Saudi Press Agency has reported that after the execution the body of the attacker will be put on public display to demonstrate the folly of such actions. This is the ultimate form of punishment in the Saudi kingdom.

Thirty-five more men will face hearing later this week and are also charged with being part of the same “deviant group.” All those convicted are given thirty days to appeal.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Saudi court sentences man to death – 26 November 2013

BBC – Saudi Arabia sentences US consulate attacked to death – 25 November 2013

Fox News – Saudi Arabia order execution over 2004 attack on US consulate – 25 November 2013

Reuters – Jeddah US consulate attacker sentenced to death, others jailed – 25 November 2013

Ukraine Mourns Eightieth Anniversary of Famine That Killed Millions

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine –Ukrainians gathered to remember the 1933 famine that killed millions. President Yanukovych urged citizens not to politicize the tragedy in the light of recent events.

Nina Karpenko told BBC of her experience during the Ukrainian famine. (Photo courtesy of BBC)

In 1933, famine killed millions of Ukrainians in what many called genocidal death by hunger, or “the Holodomor.” Some citizens were able to survive by gathering cheap cornmeal, wheat chaff, dried nettle leaves, and weeds. While some historians believe the number of those who died was approximately 3.3 million, others estimate much higher numbers.

Many survivors believed that Joseph Stalin wanted the Ukrainian peasants starved into submission, so that he could force them onto collective farms. When the Kremlin demanded more grain than the farms had, Bolshevik forces pillaged villages for anything edible.

“The brigades took all the wheat, barley – everything – so we had nothing left,” said survivor Nina Karpenko. “Even beans that people had set aside just in case. The brigades crawled everywhere and took everything. People had nothing left to do but die.”

Many villagers migrated to the cities in search of food, but often died before finding sustenance. As corpses began littering the roadsides, reports of cannibalism piled up. As entire villages died off, some of the most fertile land in the world became silent wastelands.

Soviet authorities eventually closed Ukraine’s borders, which prevented Ukrainians from traveling abroad to retrieve food.

“The government did everything it could to prevent peasants from entering other regions and looking for bread,” said Oleksandra Monetova, from Kiev’s Holodomor Memorial Museum. “The officials’ intentions were clear. To me it’s a genocide. I have no doubt.”

“There was a deathly silence,” said Karpenko. “Because people weren’t even conscious. They didn’t want to speak or to look at anything. They thought today that person died, and tomorrow it will be me. Everyone just thought of death.”

By the time children returned to the schools in 1934, over half the seats in each room were empty.

Russian authorities deny that the Holodomor was intentional, stating that other Soviet regions suffered around that time. Further, Russia has declared that “genocide” is a nationalistic interpretation of what happened.

Since 2006, Ukrainians have marked the fourth Saturday of each November as Holodomor Remembrance Day.

On 23 November 2013, thousands marched through central Kiev to protest Ukraine’s decision to snub the EU in favor of Russia.

In response, Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych denounced “the politicization of tragic historical events.”

Yanukovych said, “Today we must discard the political debate and unite. On this sad day, we are all united by the memory about our dead compatriots. This day [the Holodomor Remembrance Day] should be out of politics.”

For further information, please see:

Bloomberg Businessweek – Ukraine Marks Tragic Date amid Setback on EU Hopes – November 23, 2013

International Business Times – Ukraine Commemorates Millions Who Died in Stalin’s Holodomor Reign of Terror – November 23, 2013

Interfax Ukraine – Yanukovych Says Politicization of Tragic Events Is Unacceptable – November 23, 2013

BBC – Holodomor: Memories of Ukraine’s Silent Massacre – November 22, 2013

West Wonders When Ukraine Will Consider EU Integration Again

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – Eastern European Ukraine postponed hopes of stronger ties with Western Europe, hoping to become closer to Russia. In doing so, Ukraine President Yanukovych’s party dropped legislation that would have been required under its trade deal with the EU.

Ukraine decided to drop its consideration of releasing Tymoshenko after its Parliament turned away from the EU integration deal. (Photo courtesy of TIMES World)

On 21 November 2013, Ukrainian authorities declared that it would put EU integration on hold while it builds closer ties with Russia. At the same time, Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych’s party refused to vote on opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko’s release so she could seek surgical treatment in Germany. The EU considers Tymoshenko a political prisoner, and the Ukraine decision destroyed hope of her receiving freedom in exile.

To sign a trade and cooperation deal with the EU, the bloc required Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych to release his political rival. The deal would have transformed the political map of Eastern Europe.

Tymoshenko supporters at the party headquarters in north Kiev feared this outcome for several weeks. “I’m not going to be at peace until I see her in a hospital in Germany,” said Tymoshenko’s daughter, Evgenia. “I know that anything can go in the opposite direction.”

Demonstrations for Tymoshenko’s release lasted longer than US “Occupy” protests. Years of dirt and car exhaust turned the activists’ tents brown. More than uniting with Europe, activists wanted to leave the camp for winter.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt tweeted, “Ukraine government suddenly bows deeply to the Kremlin. Politics of brutal pressure evidently works.”

Yanukovych allies claimed that Kiev risked sanctions beyond the trade Russia cut off in August. In just four months, the blockade devastated Ukraine’s economy by $5 billion. Also, Russian natural gas provider, Gazprom demanded repayment of Ukrainian debts—nearly $800 million.

Implementing EU laws would cost another $104 million.

Russian official Viktor Suslov promised that Moscow “will not impose any more sanctions or limit trade” as long as Ukraine holds off on partnering with Europe.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Boiko said, “The country cannot afford this. That is why this decision was made.”

In 2004, the Orange Revolution, led by Tymoshenko, brought her to power while it ousted Yanukovych. In 2009, Yanukovych narrowly defeated Tymoshenko in the presidential election that brought his pro-Russian allies back to power. Ukrainian authorities prosecuted Tymoshenko for several crimes, such as abuse of office. Chronic back pain has forced Tymoshenko into guarded hospital wards for the majority of her sentence.

Russia dominates a free-trade bloc that includes Kazakhstan and Belarus. Ukraine hopes Russia will allow the country back into that bloc by lifting current sanctions.

By 23 November 2013, Tymoshenko’s party plans to begin a major rally in Kiev’s Maidan Square, which has strong ties to the Orange Revolution.

While Russia hinted that Ukraine should postpone their deal with the EU, it appears that any deal for EU integration requires a long wait.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Ukraine Suspends Preparations for EU Trade Agreement – November 21, 2013

Bloomberg – Putin’s Low Blows Drive Ukraine away from Europe – November 21, 2013

Reuters – Ukraine Drops Plan to Go West, Turns East – November 21, 2013

TIME World – Putin Wins Again as Ukraine Snubs EU, Keeps Opposition Leader in Prison – November 21, 2013

North Korea Detains American Korean War Veteran

By Brian Lanciault
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PYONGYANG, North Korea– The United States’ top envoy to North Korea urged Pyongyang to free two detained American citizens. The call came after reports this week that in addition to holding a U.S.-Korean Christian missionary, Kenneth Bae, North Korea detained an 85-year-old U.S. citizen, and former Korean War veteran.

U.S. Ambassador Glyn Davies speaks to reporters in Beijing, China, and urges North Korea to release all American detainess in custody. (Photo Courtesy of AP).

According to media reports, Merrill Newman was taken from a plane late last month as he was about to depart from North Korea.

The U.S. government has not specifically confirmed the detention, citing privacy concerns, and North Korea has issued no comment on the matter.

In an interview with reporters in Beijing Thursday morning, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, Glyn Davies, urged Pyongyang to exercise deep consideration about the two cases, noting the fate of Americans abroad was a critical concern of U.S. foreign policy.

“We of course are calling on North Korea, as in the case of Mr. Kenneth Bae, who has now been there for over a year, to resolve the issue, and to allow our citizens to go free,” Davies said.

The envoy is touring Asia this week amid a renewed push to restart the stunted talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs.

He did not draw a clear line between the cases and the international community’s broader efforts. The cases are among several examples of issues frustrating the resumption of nuclear talks with the North.

Davies says his talks in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, were fulfilling. But there was no strong signal that a return to the six-party talks that include the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States would resume any time in the near future.

“This really is up to North Korea,” noted Davies. “It’s North Korea who seems not seriously interested in making meaningful progress on the nuclear issue. And until we see a manifestation of North Korean seriousness, it’s very difficult for me to know what the prospects are for getting back to Six Party.”

Recently North Korea has been talking about restarting some of its nuclear programs, while at the same time it has suggested new proposals for its return to the six-nation talks on ending atomic programs. The North has also been stressing a dual policy of nuclear and economic development.

North Korea pulled out of the six-nation talks in 2009 and says it is willing to return to the table as long as there are no pre-conditions.

In the past, Pyongyang was accused of using foreign detainees as bargaining chips in negotiations with Western countries over its controversial nuclear weapons program.

North Korea has detained at least six Americans since the talks ended in 2009. While some were given harsh prison sentences, all have subsequently released. Generally their release followed visits to the North by high-ranking former or current U.S. officials.

Merrill Newman’s son told CNN that it was his father’s “life-long dream” to see the North and its culture, after serving in the South as a U.S. infantry officer in the 1950s. He said his father arranged the trip through a North Korea-approved Chinese tour company and had “all the proper visas.”

Newman’s detention comes approximately one year after the arrest of Kenneth Bae, who was detained last November. He was subsequently convicted of “state subversion” and sentenced to 15 years hard labor. He was detained after entering North Korea as a tour operator.

For more information, please see:

Time– North Korea Detains 85-Year-Old American Korean War Vet–21 November 2013

Voice of America–US Envoy Urges N. Korea to Release Detained Americans–21 November 2013

CNN–California man pulled off plane in North Korea, detained, son says–21 November 2013

San Jose Mercury News–Palo Alto man, 85, removed from plane, detained in North Korea–20 November 2013

Washington Post–American vet, 85, detained in North Korea–21 November 2013