News

Egypt Protesters Fortify Camps After Cabinet Threatens Dispersal

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Thousands of pro-Morsi supporters are defying warnings by the military-backed cabinet to cease protests across Cairo.  The government has authorized police to take “gradual steps” to remove the protesters but thus far no removal has occurred and does not appear imminent.

Protesters gathered in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

“The continuation of the dangerous situation in Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares, and consequent terrorism and road blockages are no longer acceptable given the threat to national security,” a statement from the interim government said on Wednesday, adding that it has told police to take “all necessary measures” to disperse crowds.

The protesters have employed barricades and sand bags to fortify significant sit-in locations in Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares in Cairo.  Additionally, thirty-three marches were planned around the city in support of ousted president Morsi.

On Friday, state television said that protesters would be allowed to leave safely, but that within forty-eight hours security forces would begin a “siege” at the camps in Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares.  Essentially, authorities will begin preventing people from entering the squares, which is one step from beginning removal of the protesters.  Given the security forces history of excessive force, human rights groups are concerned that the situation could result in further violence.

International human rights groups, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have called on the Egyptian government to refrain from using force against the protesters and allow for the peaceful demonstrations to continue.

“Given the Egyptian security forces’ record of policing demonstrations with the routine use of excessive and unwarranted lethal force, this latest announcement gives a seal of approval to further abuse,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty.

“The authorities as well as the security forces should start with an approach that avoids the use of force and is based on ‘methods of persuasion, negotiation and mediation’, as recommended by international standards,” she added.

“To avoid another bloodbath, Egypt’s civilian rulers need to ensure the ongoing right of protesters to assemble peacefully, and seek alternatives to a forcible dispersal of the crowds,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The police’s persistent record of excessive use of force, leading to dozens of deaths this month, and the density of the sit-ins mean that hundreds of lives could be lost if the sit-in is forcibly dispersed.”

According to Human Rights Watch at least 137 people have been killed by Egyptian security forces in the last month alone.  Other reports claim that at least 250 people have killed since Morsi was removed from power on July 3.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Morsi backers stage defiant rallies in Egypt – 2 August 2013

Human Rights Watch – Egypt: Do Not Forcibly Disperse Sit-Ins – 2 August 2013

Al Jazeera – Egypt police told to break up rallies – 1 August 2013

BBC – Egypt protesters defy cabinet threat to end sit-ins – 1 August 2013

Chong, Detained by DEA, Settles Case With US for $4.1 Million

By Brandon Cottrell
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – Daniel Chong, who was abandoned in his San Diego, California holding cell for four days, reached a $4.1 million settlement with the United States government on Tuesday.

Daniel Chong. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

In April 2012, the Drug Enforcement Administration took Chong, a then 23-year-old college student, into custody as a result of a drug raid.  The DEA raided the residence of one of Chong’s friends and seized ecstasy, marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and other prescription medication.

After questioning, the Drug Enforcement Administration determined that no charges would be pressed against Chong.  As Chong sat in handcuffs, waiting to be released from his windowless, five by ten foot cell, he was forgotten about.  While it is uncertain as to how Chong was forgotten about, it took the DEA four and a half days to discover Chong.

Chong meanwhile, waited without food or water.  Over those four days, Chong attempted to draw attention to his cell by screaming and kicking.  Chong even slid his shoelaces under the door and attempted to set off the fire sprinkler in his cell.  After the third day, Chong began to hallucinate and, with the possibility of death looming, attempted to carve a farewell message to his mother in his arm.  Furthermore, confronting dehydration, Chong drank his own urine off a metal bench in his cell.

After being found, Chong had to be hospitalized for five days for dehydration, kidney failure, cramps and a perforated esophagus. He lost 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms) in the ordeal.

While the DEA has yet to discipline any employees, it did issue a public apology.  Meanwhile, United States Senator Charles Grassley of the Judiciary Committee, called on the DEA to explain the incident.

Specifically, Grassley asked, “How did this incident happen? Has there been any disciplinary action against the responsible employees? And has the agency taken major steps to prevent an incident like this from happening again?”

Some of those questions remain unanswered, but the DEA has since introduced new national detention standards, such as daily inspections and camera monitoring of cells, in an effort to ensure that a similar incident will never occur again.

 

For further information, please see:

BBC  – US man ‘abandoned’ in US jail gets $4m in compensation  –  31 July 2013

Huffington Post – Daniel Chong, Student Left In DEA Cell, To Get $4 Million From US In Settlement  –  30 July 2013

Wall Street Journal – Daniel Chong, Abandoned in Cell, to Get $4 Million  –  30 July 2013

BBC – US man left in cell for five days ‘drank own urine’  –  2 May 2012

Snowden Obtains Temporary Asylum in Russia

By Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MOSCOW, Russia – After spending more than a month in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden was allowed to leave the airport on a temporary asylum. Reuters reports that a representative from the airport saw Snowden cross through immigration services and leave the airport.

Lawyer to Snowden, Anatoly Kucherena, holding a document granting Snowden temporary asylum in Russia. (Photo courtesy of The Guardian and AP)

Snowden, who made headlines back in June by exposing details of an NSA surveillance system intended to gather phone metadata from American citizens, applied for asylum in numerous South American and European countries before finally receiving temporary asylum in Russia.

When leaving the Moscow airport, the LA Times reported that Snowden could be seen getting into a taxi with Sarah Harrison, a legal advisor for the WikiLeaks organization. WikiLeaks has been a vocal supporter of Snowden throughout his flight from the United States and his search for asylum.

Under the terms of Snowden’s temporary asylum, he may live and travel wherever he chooses within Russia for a period of one year. NBC news reported Anatoly Kucherena as saying, “I put him in a taxi . . . and gave him his certificate on getting refugee status in the Russian Federation.” Snowden will likely file for refuge status within Russia before the year’s end.

Snowden’s success in avoiding extradition while obtaining temporary asylum caused some to question Kucherena’s connection to the Russian government. The South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong news outlet, said in an article Monday that Kucherena has possible ties to the Kremlin.

Kucherena sits on the board of the Federal Secret Service, or FBS, a combination police force and intelligence agency within Russia. Kucherena is also a political supporter of Russian President Vladamir Putin, leading to accusations by the Hong Kong news outlet that Snowden’s success in avoiding extradition and obtaining asylum were the result of a fabrication by the Kremlin.

For further information, please see:

CBS News – Edward Snowden leaves airport after Russia grants asylum, says “the law is winning” – 1 August 2013

Fox News – Edward Snowden had papers that allow him to enter Russia, his lawyer says – 1 August 2013

LA Times – Edward Snowden granted asylum, leaves Moscow airport in taxi – 1 August 2013

The Guardian – Edward Snowden’s father says FBI asked him to fly to Moscow – 31 July 2013

South China Morning Post – Snowden lawyer Anatoly Kucherena suspected of links to Kremlin – 29 July 2013

British High Court Denies Right-to-Die Appeal

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

LONDON, England – A British Court of Appeal upheld a ruling on Wednesday that the country’s law on assisted suicide cannot be changed by the courts, which quashed an appeal by a paralyzed man named Paul Lamb, and the family of the late Tony Nicklinson.

Paul Lamb exits the High Court in London on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy of Yahoo News)

The Lord Chief Justice, sitting with the Master of the Rolls Lord Dyson and Lord Justice Elias, affirming a High Court ruling, rejected the Nicklinsons’ and Mr. Lamb’s right-to-die challenges.

The Lord Chief Justice stated Parliament represented the “conscience of the nation” as applied to life and death matters, such as capital punishment and abortion.

The late Tony Nicklinson suffered from locked-in syndrome, where an individual is aware and awake but is paralyzed and cannot communicate. Mr. Nicklinson passed away in 2012 after refusing food following the initial High Court decision to reject his right-to-die claim

“We will carry on with the case for as long as we can so that others who find themselves in a position similar to Tony don’t have to suffer as he did. Nobody deserves such cruelty,” stated Nicklinson’s widow, Jane.

Paul Lamb, 57, who has been paralyzed from the neck down after a car accident 23 years ago, joined the right-to-die cause shortly after Nicklinson’s death. Lamb stated he is in constant pain, and has to be injected with drugs, including morphine, on a consistent basis due to his spinal injuries.

“I was hoping for a humane and dignified end- this judgment does not give me that,” Lamb stated.

Lamb and the Nicklinson family stated they will now take their case to Britain’s Supreme Court, and the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.

“I am doing this for myself as and when I need it. I’m doing it for thousands of other people living what can only be described as hell. Many of them have been getting in touch with me begging me to continue this fight. The more it goes on the stronger I am getting,” Lamb stated.

As the law stands currently in Britain, anyone who aids another individual in killing themselves commits an offense of assisted suicide, while a person who carries out euthanasia commits murder.

In a separate case on Wednesday, however, the Judges ruled that another locked-in syndrome sufferer should be allowed to take his case to the Supreme Court. The man is seeking clarification of whether a medical professional would face trial if they helped him travel abroad to a Swiss suicide clinic.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Right-to-Die Campaigners Nicklinson and Lamb Lose Battle – 31 July 2013

The Independent – Barbaric and Inhumane: Paralyzed Man Paul Lamb Hit Back After Judges Dismiss His Right to Die Appeal – 31 July 2013

The Telegraph – Right-to-Die: Laws Must Clarify Whether Doctors Can Aid Euthanasia – 31 July 2013

Yahoo News – British Court Dismisses Landmark Right-to-Die Appeal – 31 July 2013

 

 

Wave of Deadly Car Bombs Targeting Shia Neighbourhoods Have Killed Dozens in Iraq Highlighting Rising Sectarian Tensions in the Country

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – A recent wave of car bombs left at least 51 people dead and more than 200 wounded in mostly-Shia neighborhoods in cities across Iraq after 18 car bombs were detonated on Monday.

Recent civilian deaths approach 2008 levels. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

The majority of the attacks were carried out in Baghdad, the nation’s capital. Explosives were also detonated in the cities of Kut, Basra, Tikrit, Smawa and Muthanna Providence. The attacks targeted Shia communities and populated centers including a hospital, a bus station, a restaurant and several markets.

Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki has tightened security in the nation’s capital in response to fears that more bombs have yet to be detonated. There were long lines at checkpoints in Baghdad as the security services searched vehicles for explosives.

While there has been no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s attacks, they have largely been seen as an attempt to widen the gap between Iraq’s Shia and Sunni communities. The Iraq Interior Ministry has placed blame on Al-Qaida and accused the terror organization of trying to widen the rift between Sunnis and Shiites. Following the attacks, the United Nations envoy to Iraq, Gyorgy Busztin called for an end to the senseless bloodshed because the violence could push Iraq back into a sectarian war, saying, “Iraq is bleeding from random violence, which sadly reached record heights during the holy month of Ramadan.”

According to the United Nations, more than 2,500 Iraqis have been killed in attacks since April of this year, the surge in violence marks the highest level of violence since U.S. military forces pulled out of Iraq in 2011.

The surge in violence since April followed a violent crackdown by Iraqi security forces on a Sunni protest camp which left more than 40 civilians dead. Sunnis across the country have protested the Shia led government of Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki, claiming an unfair distribution of power and discrimination against the Sunni minority. Under the regime of Saddam Hussein, the country was under the control of the Sunni minority until the U.S. led invasion of Iraq in 2003. While the violence level in Iraq remains below the peak levels it reached during the height of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007 violence remains at its highest levels since 2008, bombings remain common and at least 700 people are believed to have been killed in July.

The recent surge in violence has largely been under-covered by American media outlets, likely as a result of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the region. However, The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad condemned the attacks, saying that United States “stands firmly with Iraq in its fight against terrorism.”

For further information please see:

Al-Jazeera – Deadly Wave of Car Bombs Strikes Iraq – 29 July 2013

Associated Press – Wave of Car Bombings in Iraq Kills at Least 58 – 29 July 2013

BBC News – Iraq Violence: Wave of Beadly Car Bombs Targets Shias – 29 July 2013

The Guardian – Baghdad Car Bombs Kill Dozens – 29 July 2013