By Mark McMurray
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RAMALLAH, West Bank — On Monday, scores of people witnessed a woman having her throat slashed in an open-air Bethlehem market in broad daylight.  The prime suspect, the woman’s husband, was arrested at the scene.

Nancy Zaboun, a 27-year-old mother of three, had recently sought a divorce from her abusive husband.  According to the Ma’an News Agency, the police reported that her husband had beaten her Sunday evening.  When the police arrived at the scene that night, they only asked him to sign a pledge not to beat his wife again.  The next day, she was fatally wounded on a path at a market situated near the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ.  She was walking on the path after having just attended a hearing in her divorce case from her husband of ten years.

Khaula al-Azraq, director of a counseling center in the West Bank where Zaboun went for assistance, said Shadi Abedallah, Zaboun’s 32-year-old husband, beat his wife regularly.  The beatings were so severe at times that Zaboun would have to be hospitalized after the attacks.  Despite having repeatedly assaulted his wife, Abedallah was never arrested.  Similar to their response to Sunday’s beating, the police would only make Abedallah, himself a former police officer, sign promises not to hit his wife in the future.  That makes the response to his behavior even more suspicious.

Almost immediately after their wedding, Abdellah began beating Zaboun.  Local authorities reportedly stepped in at some point to resolve the violence, only to later rule the situation a family dispute.  Abdel Fattah Hemayel, the district governor of Bethlehem, confirmed the description of the situation by police and the pledges they had Abdellah sign.

The heinous nature of the attack has caused a strong reaction within Palestinian society.  On Wednesday, several dozen women and women’s rights activists held a rally in the area where Zaboun was killed.  They called for stronger laws to end violence against women.  While holding signs stating things such as “Shame Palestinians for killing our women,” the demonstrators chanted, “No to violence against women.”

Rabiha Diab, the Palestinian government’s women’s affairs minister, has also called for justice.  “We should set an example because…he slaughtered her like a sheep,” she said.  Diab has called on the police to look at what they can do to end violence against women.  “Every once in a while, there is a case that makes us feel worried and afraid that we are going back to square one [as women],” she added.

For further information, please see:

Arutz Sheva – Arab Protest in Bethlehem Slams Violence Against Women – 2 August 2012

LA Times – Palestinian Women’s Killings Spark Outcry Over Lax Laws – 2 August 2012

Al Jazeera – Palestinians Protest Murder of Battered Wife – 1 August 2012

Ma’an News Agency – Protesters Call For Stricter Laws After Woman Stabbed to Death – 1 August 2012

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran — Four people have been sentenced to death by an Iranian court for their involvement in the largest ever bank fraud scandal in the country’s history.

Two other defendants received life sentences, while 33 more will spend up to 25 years in jail, the chief prosecutor was quoted as saying.

“According to the sentence that was issued, four of the defendants in this case were sentenced to death,” Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei told IRNA, the country’s state-run news agency.

In addition to jail time, some were sentenced to flogging, ordered to pay fines, and banned from holding government jobs.

The case became public in September 2011, when an investment firm was accused of forging documents to obtain credit from at least seven Iranian banks over a four-year period.  It reportedly involved forged documents used to secure a $2.6 billion loan.  The money was reportedly used to buy government-owned companies under the government’s privatization scheme.

Allegations included that the embezzlement was carried out by people close to the political elite or with their assent.  The story’s breaking fueled weeks of political conflict between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who denied his government’s involvement last year, and Iran’s ruling hierarchy of clerics.  Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while criticizing financial corruption and acknowledging the political damage, said in televised comments last year that the media should not “drag out the issue.”

“Some want to use this event to score points against the country’s officials,” Khamenei said.  “The people should know the issue will be followed up on.”

Businessman Amir Mansoor Khosravi, who the Iranian media has described as the mastermind behind the scheme, is said to have forged letters of credit from Iran’s Bank Saderat to fund dozens of companies and buy a state-owned steel factory.  Mahmoud Reza Khavari, the former head of Iran’s largest bank–the state-owned Bank Melli–resigned because of the scandal.  He then fled to Canada, where records indicate that he owns a $3 million home.

Mohseni-Ejei did not name the defendants on trial, and the Iranian media only identified them by their initials.  State television broadcast parts of the trial, but blurred out the faces of the accused.  He believes the case demonstrates that Iran can appropriately deal with high level fraud.

“The government, parliament, and all available devices were used to pursue the issue so that corruption can be fought in an open manner,” he said.

Despite the Prosecutor General’s claim, one defendant believes that while the judiciary vigorously pursued some low-level players, senior officials involved in the scheme had gone unpunished.  “Many other banking officials are outside of prison right now,” an unnamed steel company official asserted.  “Why are you able to put us on trial and have nothing to do with them?”

For further information, please see:

Al Arabiya — Four Sentenced to Death for Iran’s Biggest Bank Fraud — 30 July 2012

Al Jazeera — Death Terms in Iran Bank Scandal — 30 July 2012

BBC News — Four Sentenced to Death over $2.6bn Iran Bank Fraud — 30 July 2012

The Guardian — Iran Sentences Four to Death Over Bank Fraud With Political Fallout — 30 July 2012

Reuters — Iran Sentences Four People to Death for Bank Fraud — 30 July 2012

By Mark McMurray
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq — On Tuesday, an Iraqi court postponed the trial of Iraq’s Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi until August 14.

Al-Hashemi, a high-ranking Sunni politician, faces around 150 separate charges.  He is accused of operating death squads along with his staff and bodyguards that targeted Shia officials and pilgrims.  The vice president has denied the wrongdoing and insists the charges filed by the Shia-led government are politically motivated and that he is the victim of a political vendetta by Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Malik.

The appeals court earlier this week refused the defense’s request to call President Jalal Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, to testify at the trial.  Seeking to have Talabani serve as a character witness with five Sunni legislators and two other government officials, al-Hashemi first filed the request in May.

With the denial of the request to call the witnesses by the lower court hearing the case, al-Hashemi’s defense sought to have Iraq’s federal appeals court overturn the ruling.  The higher court denied the request and instead announced the trial would resume on August 14.   While the defense sought to ask the witnesses if they had any information about al-Hashemi’s role in terror attacks, the three-judge panel rejected the request, believing it  would add nothing to the case.

Muayad Obeid al-Ezzi, head of al-Hashemi’s defense team, spoke shortly after the denial.  “The federal appeals court rejected all of the appeals we filed, and returned the whole case to the [Central Criminal Court of Iraq],” he said.

Additionally, during Tuesday’s session, the court heard from witnesses supporting previous testimony given on May 15, when the trial began.  Five police officers testified that they found pistol silencers during a raid on the homes of al-Hashemi and Ahmed Qahtan, his son-in-law and office manager.   The claims, in addition to testimony from bodyguards and other officials who say they were offered money, or were forced, into carrying out attacks on al-Hashemi’s orders, are contested by the defense.

A woman and her son also testified on Tuesday.  As neighbors of Qahtan, they told the court they saw policemen taking silencers from his house.  Furthermore, testifying this week, one of the more than seventy of al-Hashemi’s guards currently held in custody described to the court how he drove other guards to plant roadside bombs under the orders of the vice president.

Al-Hashemi and several of his bodyguards are being tried in absentia.  In December, after the initial charges were filed, he fled to Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region before beginning a tour through Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.  He was last known to be in Turkey where the Turkish government has stated it will not extradite him to Iraq.

For further information, please see:

Al Monitor – Iraqi Government Wants Chevron To Scuttle Contract With Kurds – 25 July 2012

ABC News – Nine Killed in Attacks After Deadly Iraq Day – 24 July 2012

Al Jazeera – Iraqi Vice President’s Trial Postponed – 24 July 2012

France 24 – Iraq Court Says President Cannot Testify in VP Case – 24 July 2012

Fox News – Iraq President’s Testimony Rejected in Trial of Vice President – 24 July 2012

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East 

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian foreign ministry officials stressed on Monday that they will not use chemical weapons against its own people, emphasizing Damascus’s commitment to UN special envoy Kofi Annan.

In a statement read by spokesman Jihad Makdissi, the chaotic Middle Eastern country said that such weapons stocks are secured and directly monitored by the Syrian Armed Forces and would only be used in cases of external aggression on the country.  He added that “Syria will never use [chemical weapons] against Syrians no matter what.”

“Any chemical or biological weapons will never be used, I repeat, will never be used in the Syrian crisis, no matter what the internal developments in this crisis are,” Makdissi said at a news conference broadcast on Syrian state TV.

Syria has never confirmed its possession of chemical weapons. It is also not a signatory of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which outlaws their production.

Israel and the West are concerned that Syria might use its chemical weapons stock against neighboring Lebanon.  On July 16, the most senior Syrian politician to defect told the BBC that it would not hesitate to use chemical weapons if cornered.  Nawaf Al-Fares, Syria’s former ambassador to Iraq, said unconfirmed reports indicated that such weapons might have already been used.  Despite this claim, Syrian rebels have not reported any use of chemical weapons.

The Arab League has previously called on Syrian President Basher Al-Assad to step down, offering him a “safe exit” from the country.  Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby requested that Assad resign immediately, and offered his family safe passage out of Syria.  Elaraby did not give any further details on his proposal at an Arab League foreign ministers’ meeting in Doha, Qatar, on Monday morning. Syria rejected the offer

“[W]e are sorry that the Arab League has descended to this level concerning a member state of this institution,” said Makdissi.  “This decision only concerns the Syrian people, who are the sole masters of fate of their governments.”

In February, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki offered Assad asylum if it would end the conflict.  The Syrian leader has not shown any willingness to step down.  In his first public statement since a devastating rebel bombing wiped out his top security officers, Assad told his new army chief of staff last Sunday to “continue that armed forces’ pursuit of terrorists.”

Meanwhile, the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, and his French counterpart called for a boost in European Union aid to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees.  “We have to step up humanitarian assistance for the people fleeing,” said the Foreign Secretary as French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius added: “We must help neighboring countries.”

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Syria Hints at use of Chemical Weapons — 23 July 2012

Al Manar — Syria Chemical Weapons Would be Used Only in Case of Foreign Attack — 23 July 2012

BBC — Syria ‘will not use’ Chemical Weapons on its own People — 23 July 2o12

SANA — Foreign Ministry: Chemical and Biological Weapons are Secured and Would Only be Used in the Case of External Aggression

The Telegraph — William Hague: Syrian Chemical Weapons Threat ‘Unacceptable’ — 23 July 2012

By Mark McMurray
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel — On Monday, a group of forty Palestinians were allowed to see their relatives in Ramon prison in southern Israel.  The visit marks the first time in five years Palestinians have been able to visit family members incarcerated in an Israeli prison.

Before sunrise, the group gathered outside the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City.  Joined by representatives of the organization, the group boarded a bus to the Erez border crossing with Israel.  The Red Cross, which helped make the trip possible, expressed hope that Monday’s visit marks the beginning of regular trips to Israeli prisons.  Juan Pedro Schaerer, head of the organization in Israel and the Palestinian territories, described the organization’s objective in a statement released on Monday.

“This is a first step and we hope that visits by residents of Gaza will resume in full,” he said.  “We have repeatedly called for the resumption of family visits, which are a lifeline for detainees and their families.  Under international humanitarian law, Israeli authorities have an obligation to allow the detainees to receive family visits.”

Twenty-four inmates met with family members on Monday.  One visitor, Fatima Nashbat, described her emotions prior to seeing her husband for first time in almost six years.

“I haven’t seen my husband or heard his voice or even news of him for years,” she said.  “I don’t know what the meeting will be like, but of course my excitement is indescribable and I can’t wait to see him.”

Sivan Weizman, spokesperson for Israel’s prison services, confirmed that  prison visits are expected to begin on a regular basis.  The next trip is scheduled to occur in two weeks.  Weizman described Monday’s trip as having been completed “without incident.”

In May, Israel agreed to allow prison visits to resume in order to reach a deal to end a mass hunger strike by Palestinian detainees earlier in the year.  Israel had put an end to family visits in 2007, in response to the militant Islamist group Hamas’ rise to power in Gaza.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Palestinians Visit Jailed Relatives in Israel – 16 July 2012

BBC News – First Gaza Families Visit Jailed Relatives in Israel – 16 July 2012

Mail & Guardian – Gaza allows Palestinian prisoners’ families to visit – 16 July 2012

YNet News – Gazans to Visit Palestinian Prisoners Held in Israel – 16 July 2012