By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain — Four men in their twenties were recently detained and charged for statements they made on Twitter which allegedly insulted King Hamad.

They were all arrested on charges of defaming the king on Wednesday and had their computers and other electronic equipment confiscated. Prosecutor Ahmed Bucheeri has said that the four will face, “an urgent trial before the criminal court.”

So far three of the cases have been adjourned to October 31 for submission of defense papers. The other case has been adjourned for the verdict on November 1. The three adjourned until the 31st have all denied the charges brought against them. Additionally, all three have been denied their respective requests for release. The fourth man charged admitted to committing the act, however, later notified the judge that he was informed he would be released had from custody had he admitted to the crime.

Bahrain has been in political tumult since the Sunni rulers suppressed the Shia majority’s pro-democracy protests last year. They put down the uprising through the use of martial law and help from other Gulf neighbors. The country is in great unrest and it is a daily commonplace occurrence that protestors and police will clash in the streets.

Since the uprisings, criticism of King Hamad or the Al Khalifa family has been considered a great offense. The court interprets any insult towards the ruling family as an insult on the country of Bahrain as a whole.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (“ANHRI”), has called for the “immediate release of all the prisoners of conscience in the Bahraini prisons and respect the freedom of opinion and expression and the peaceful demonstration.”

ANHRI is upset about how these four bloggers have been arrested and in general, condemns the frequent and systematic violence in which Bahraini authorities deal with peaceful demonstrators. They have urged other international and regional human rights organizations to take greater action to change Bahrain’s policies which suppress human rights.

These four twenty year old men have not been the only alleged protestors who have been recently detained. A month ago, Zainab al-Khawaja, the daughter of a detained Bahraini activist, was imprisoned for two months for tearing up a picture of King Hamad.

Last July, protest leader Nabeel Rajab was convicted and sentenced to three months in jail for a comment he tweeted against the prime minister. Rajab was later acquitted on appeal which gives some hope to these four men on trial for similar charges.

For further information, please see:

Gulf Daily News – Four on Trial for Insulting His Majesty – 23 October 2012

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information – ANHRI Calls the Bahraini Authorities to Stop Suppressing the Peaceful Demonstrations – 23 October 2012

Saudi Gazette – Bahrain Detains Four for Defaming King on Twitter – 19 October 2012

Guardian – Bahrain Charges Four Men with Insulting King – 18 October 2012

 

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East 

GAZA CITY, Gaza — Four Palestinians were killed and two Thai nationals were seriously injured within a twelve hour period last Wednesday when Israel launched an aerial assault on Gaza.  The act was a response to events that occurred last Tuesday, when Palestinian fighters launched six rockets at Israel.  The Israeli military said it had fired 72 rockets and mortar shells over the border since midnight.

 

The aerial bombardment began Tuesday evening and continued well into the early morning hours on Wednesday.  Israeli aircrafts killed two fighters from the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, in northern Gaza, sparking more rocket fire.  An early morning raid killed a third fighter from the Popular Resistance Commitees (PRC) near the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, while a Hamas fighter died of injuries he sustained during Tuesday night’s air raid.  Since Monday, 6 Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks, while 12 have been injured.

“4 Palestinians killed in a day is a spike in numbers, with the killings and also the rockets there is an increase in tension, things currently are really tense in Gaza as border crossings are closed,” said Nicole Johnston, a reporter for Al Jazeera.

Palestinian armed groups fired 50 home – made shells from the Gaza strip as a response to Israel’s air raids.  Israeli sources say that at least 6 Israelis were injured by the attack.  Palestinian sources say that fighter groups within the region have formed a joint operations center to counter any Israeli wide spread attacks.

During a tour of the area around Gaza, Defense Minister Ehud Barak vowed that “Hamas would receive its punishment for what happened [here].”  “No terror element responsible for causing damage in Israel, or to Israelis will be spared,” he said.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ensured that “every community within 7 kilometers would be properly protected against rocket fire.”  An Iron Dome battery, one of Israel’s missile defense systems, intercepted 7 rockets that were fired at the town of Ashkelon.

Haaretz reports that as of now, all Israeli communities within mid-range of Gaza rockets are properly reinforced to protect against the fire.

The events occurred after Egypt tried to negotiate a truce between Israel and Hamas following a round of violence where approximately 80 rockets and mortar shells were fired at the areas surrounding the Gaza strip.  A Palestinian official close to the talks told Reuters last Wednesday that “[t]he contacts Cairo made resulted in a verbal promise by Hamas to calm the situation down and Israel… would refrain from attacks unless it was subject to rocket fire.”

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Israel and Gazans in tit-for-tat Attacks — 24 October 2012

Gulf Today — Israeli Raid Kills Four Palestinians — 24 October 2012

Haaretz — Palestinians: Egypt Trying to Mediate Hamas – Israel Truce — 24 October 2012

International Middle East Media Center — Palestine Today 10 24 2012 — 24 October 2012

The Jerusalem Post — Palestinian Official: Egypt Mediating Hamas-Israel Truce — 24 October 2012

By Emily Schneider
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon – After the funeral of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan this Sunday, a throng of protesters took to the streets of Beirut to demonstrate their anti-government rage.  Police fired warning shots and tear gas into the crowd, but dozens of dissidents rushed towards police lines as the mob circled the Prime Minister’s office.

A large crowd gathered in Beirut’s center square after the funeral to listen to a series of political speeches. At the addresses’ conclusion, the assembled mass began a push towards the prime minster’s office. According to reports, people in the horde were hurling sticks and stones and carrying flags. Protesters chanted for the dismissal of Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

They believed that the Syrian government was responsible for the bomb that caused Hassan’s death. According to CNN, Mikati is a “billionaire supported by Syrian ally Hezbollah.”  Although Syria condemned the blast immediately after it happened, many Lebanese remain skeptical about the neighboring regime’s role in the bombing.  Some saw Hassan’s death as an assassination mirroring those that took place in 2005, when the assassinati0n of then-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri sparked the end of Syria’s occupation of Lebanon. His demise was soon followed by the deaths of several more high-level Lebanese officials, most of whom were known to have anti-Syrian sentiments.

Mikati offered to resign from his position on Saturday. But after President Michel Suleiman asked him to stay place for the good of the nation, he rescinded the offer.

“I have always respected and admired al-Hassan, who has done great things for Lebanon,” Mikati explained to reporters on Saturday. “To hold me personally responsible for the assassination is unfair.”

Other officials disagreed with him, including former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.  “This government is responsible for the assassination of [a] martyr [al-Hassan] and his companion martyrs, therefore, this government must leave,” Siniora told the crowd on Sunday.

A prominent opposition Minister of Parliament, Ahmad Fatfat, told the BBC’s Newshour programme that the possibility of the situation in Syria spilling into Lebanon is a real danger.

“What Mr. Assad is trying to do now is transfer his problem to all the countries around Syria – to Turkey, to Lebanon, to Iraq, to Jordan, and Lebanon is the most fragile in this story,” Fatfat said.  “And maybe Assad will do what he can to transfer Lebanon into a hell situation so he can think later on that what is going on is a general war in the Middle East and not a revolution in Syria.”

Many attendees of Hassan’s funeral waved the light blue flag of the Sunni-based opposition Future Party, while others carried Lebanon’s national flag.  These visible differences symbolized internal tensions that are mounting within the Lebanese public. Those allied with Sunni coalitions have been critical of what they believe is the Lebanese government’s closeness with the Syrian regime.

“We came for Lebanon’s future to show that we will not be scared,” said one of the mourners.

For further information, please see:

Al-Arabiya – Angry Protestors Storm Lebanese Government HQ, Call for PM to Quit – 21 October 2012

BBC –Beirut funeral for Wissam al-Hassan Followed by Clashes– 21 October 2012

CNN – Violence Erupts After Lebanese Intelligence Chief’s Funeral – 21 October 2012

The Daily Star – Calm Returns After Police, Protestors Clash in Beirut – 21 October 2012

The Daily Star – Siniora Demands Cabinet Resign at Hassan’s Funeral – 21 October 2012

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen – Most people who have been shot will check into a hospital to seek treatment and recovery. Rarely ever does one enter a hospital anticipating that he will end up shot. At present day, such is not the case in Yemen as Central Security Forces’ storming of hospitals threatens to shut down hospitals and weaken the overall health care system.

Yemeni security forces have been raiding hospitals and taking alleged militants from their beds to arrest them. These patients have been suspected of being engaged in illegal activities like armed robbery and attacks against state security. While there is no prohibition against hospital patients being lawfully arrested, international law mandates that they retain their rights to health care. When these patients are forcibly removed, not only is international law violated, but the their lives are put at risk.

The raids pose additional dangers to people other than the patients. A recent Central Security Forces attack on al-Naqib Hospital, in search of two alleged militants, left two hospital guards injured after they were beaten with Kalashnikov assault rifles and a gurney. The Central Security Forces also confiscated cell phones from both patients and staff and ripped out the hospital’s telephone landlines. Gunmen connected to the two men the Central Security Forces were seeking, opened fire on the hospital from the outside. A similar raid at MSF Hospital earlier this month led to shootings inside of the hospital when gunmen tried to prevent the arrests of patients. The shootings forced the MSF hospital to evacuate all of its patients and shut down the facility.

“Gunfights in hospitals put patients and medical workers at grave risk and threaten to shut down health care in Aden,” said Letta Tayler, a senior Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch.

In addition to the incursions themselves, the security forces’ actions of have had other negative implications on hospitals. A few days ago, security forces began shooting live rounds at unarmed anti-government demonstrators in Sana’a. One hospital received more than one hundred injured people and eventually ran out of beds. It tried to transfer the injured to other nearby hospitals, but the checkpoints set up at almost every intersection by security forces made those efforts difficult.

“Sana’a is a very tense place to be at the moment. This was a huge protest that took place…and I think it just completely overwhelmed the security forces,” said Tariq Norman, the chief surgeon at a field hospital in Sana’a.

For further information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Yemen: Security Forces Raiding Aden Hospitals – 20 October 2012

Al Jazeera – Deadly Fighting Engulfs Yemen Protests – 16 October 2012

Doctors Without Borders – Yemen: MSF Hospital in Aden Shuts Down due to Violence – 7 October 2012

Doctors Without Borders – Yemen: Violence Forces Closure of Hospital – 5 October 2012