By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Two Shiite protesters, Akbar Al-Shakuri and Mohammed Al-Filfil, were shot and killed by police in the Saudi Arabian town of Qatif.  The police were sent to disperse those who gathered to protest the arrest of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqer Al-Nimr.

A statement from an Interior Ministry spokesman, Major General Mansour Turki, said the deaths followed a protest in the village of Awamiya after the arrest of Nimr, but said that no clash occurred between protesters and police.

“Security authorities had been notified by a nearby medical center on the arrival of four individuals brought in by their relatives,” Turki told Reuters.  “Two of them were dead, the other two were slightly injured.  Competent authorities initiated investigations over the incident.”

The Awamiya protests followed earlier demonstrations held in Qatif, where at least six protestors were shot and killed after the city held the largest protest it has seen since November and December.

“In the aftermath of the arrest … a limited number of people have assembled in the town of Awamiya,” Turki said. “Gun shots have been overheard in random areas of the town. However, there was no security confrontation whatsoever.”

Hussain Al-Alk, a resident of Qatif and a staffer at the Adala Center for Human Rights, states that hundreds of protesters gathered in Qatif hours after Nimr was shot and arrested last Sunday.  Alk believed that Nimr was arrested because the government adhered to the demands of influential Sunnis to escalate its pressure on Shiite opposition.

“It seems that in the last month the government became too worried. The Sunnis have started saying, ‘Why when the Sunnis are talking against the government you are arresting him immediately, while Shias, you are not doing anything to him,'” said Alk.

Saudi officials stated that Nimr hurt his leg when authorities were chasing him.  Seen as a radical cleric by the government, Nimr was arrested because the Interior Ministry considered him an “instigator of sedition.”  The Ministry also said that he would be interrogated after he receivedtreatment for his injury.  The official Saudi press agency reported that Nimr was arrested after he and his followers exchanged fire with security forces and crashed into a police vehicle.

Nimr’s brother, Mohammed, stated that the cleric was arrested while driving from a farm to his house in Qatif.

“He had been wanted by the interior ministry for a couple of months because of his political views,” Mohammed said.  “In the past couple of months he has adopted a lot of Shiite issues and expressed his views on them, demanding their rights.”

Mohammed also said that the cleric was previously detained for several days in 2004 and 2006.

In a sermon delivered ten days ago, Nimr confidently stated that he would be arrested or killed, saying that he had only “heightened” the claims of his supporters.  Shiites in the Sunni-ruled kingdom say they struggle to get government jobs or university places, that their neighborhoods suffer from under-investment, and that their places of worship are often closed down.  The government denies charges of discrimination.

For further information, please see: 

Al Bawaba — Saudi Arabia: Two Shiites Killed During Clashes with Police — 9 July 2012

Al Jazeera — Saudi Protest Crackdown Leaves Two Dead — 9 July 2012

BBC News — Two Die During Saudi Arabia Protest at Shia Cleric Arrest — 9 July 2012

Rasid — Saudi Security Forces Kill Two Protesters in Qatif — 9 July 2012

Reuters — Saudi Arabia Says Two Killed after Cleric’s Arrest — 9 July 2012

By Mark McMurray
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TRIPOLI, Libya – On Saturday, Libyans will vote in their first free national election since a multi-party election in 1952 under King Idris.

The election, the first to follow Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year reign, which ended last year, has 3,700 candidates.  From the candidates, Libya’s 2.7 million registered voters will select the two-hundred members of the new General National Assembly.  Seats in the assembly will be divided according to a mixed system.  Candidates on party lists will be elected by proportional representation, while independent candidates will be chosen by a simple majority vote.

After the election, the assembly will choose a cabinet to replace the National Transitional Council (NTC), the current interim government comprised of former rebels.  The assembly will also pick a new prime minister and help draft a constitution.  A referendum will be held after the new constitution has been drafted.   If a parliamentary system of government is chosen, a full legislative election will take place six months later.

Political analysts have found it difficult to predict the party make-up of the assembly ahead of the vote.  While a number of candidates are women as result of parity rules, their campaign posters have been destroyed in the capital, highlighting the uphill battle women face in Libyan politics.  The dominant theme amongst parties and candidates has been an expression of Islamic values, with few promoting a strictly secular campaign.

The vote, an effort to create a more credible government with a mandate to rule, could be undermined if voter turnout is low due to fear of violence.  Further, the potential for violence resulting from post-election disputes between rival forces has caused further apprehension among Libyan voters.  These fears have arisen as a result of the present environment in post-Gaddafi Libya, where militias with regional loyalties have been operating within the country amid the chaos of the revolution.  Clashes between these tribal forces have prevented election observers from visiting some isolated areas within the country, raising questions about how successful the vote will be in those districts.

Almost a year after the revolution, Libyans are enjoying rights they were previously denied under Gaddafi.  The ongoing violence within the country lies in stark contrast to this newfound freedom.  While there are days without violence, battles often erupt between rival militias over land rights.  The hope is that the election will provide for a path towards a unified Libya.

U.N. envoy Ian Martin has a more positive outlook.  “The basic elements of life are continuing in Libya,” he told Reuters in June.  “When you put it in the context of Libya and in the context of other post-conflict countries, the glass is half full rather than half empty.”

For further information, please see:

Euronews – Security Fears Around Libyan Election – 5 July 2012

Reuters – Nervous Libyans Ready for First Taste of Democracy – 5 July 2012

Tripoli Post – Suspected Arson in Ajdabiyah Poll Office Fire – 5 July 2012

Washington Post- As Libya Holds Post-Gaddafi Election, Islamists’ Strength to be Tested – 3 July 2012

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TRIPOLI, Libya — Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor and her three colleagues from the International Criminal Court (ICC) were released this Monday after being detained in Libya for nearly a month.  The ICC sent them to Zintan to prepare Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi’s defense.  They have been held there since June 7, after Taylor and Helene Assaf, a Lebanese translator, were accused of smuggling documents and hidden recording devices to Al-Islam.  The group’s two male members, Alexander Khodakov, a Russian, and Esteban Peralta, a Spaniard, chose to stay with Taylor and Assaf out of solidarity.

The Zintani militia released the four members as a “humanitarian” gesture after ICC President Sang-Hyun Song traveled to Zintan on Monday and apologized to the Libyan government.

“I wish to apologise for the difficulties which arose due to this series of events. In carrying out of its duties, [the ICC] has no intention to compromise the national security of Libya,” Song said in a news conference held on Monday.  Last week, the ICC promised to investigate any claims of wrongdoing and to apply “appropriate sanctions” if necessary.

Taylor and Assaf met with Song after the news conference over lunch.  When asked by the Guardian about whether she was now free to go home, Taylor said, “I don’t know.  I think so.”  The four then met with ambassadors from their respective countries at a Tripoli military airport on Monday evening and boarded an Italian plane headed for Europe.

Friends and family of Taylor refused to comment during her detention, but they insisted that she was a respected professional lawyer who would not have done anything improper.  They suggested that the espionage accusations made by the Zintani militia were the result of a misunderstanding about the role and prerogatives of a western-style defense lawyer.

The four ICC members were sent to Zintan last month on an official mission to speak to Al-Islam about his defense rights.  Al-Islam, who was considered to be the heir apparent to his father, former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, was captured by the Zintan militia last November while he attempted to flee the country.  The ICC wants to try Al-Islam at The Hague, but Libyan officials refuse to extradite him, as they would prefer to try him in their own courts instead.

Both the ICC and the Libyan government pledged to work together for the trial of Al-Islam.  Mohammed Abdel Aziz, Libya’s Deputy Foreign Minister, told reporters at the news conference, “The agreement is that there would be a continuation of the negotiations with the ICC.”

Judicial experts believe Al-Islam is unlikely to have a fair trial in Libya.  They also feel that the detainment of ICC officials highlights the tasks ahead for the interim government in imposing its authority on militias who helped topple Gaddafi and are now vying for power.

Libyan Authorities expect Taylor to return to the country to hear her final ruling on July 23.  A senior member of the Libyan Attorney General’s office commented, “[w]e expect them to come back for the hearing, but if they don’t, a ruling will be made in absentia.”

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Libya Releases Detained ICC Staff — 2 July 2012

BBC News — Libya: ICC Staff Held in Zintan Released — 2 July 2012

Guardian — Libya Frees International Criminal Court Legal Team Accused of Spying — 2 July 2012

Reuters — Libya Frees Detained ICC Staff After Apology — 2 July 2012

By Mark McMurray
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel — On Tuesday, Israeli authorities began enforcing a court order calling for the dismantling of a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

The evacuation comes after Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in September that five of the fourteen buildings in Ulpana, housing thirty families in total, sit on Palestinian land.  Temporary housing has been provided for the families in the larger town of Beit El, of which Ulpana is a suburb.  Hoping to find a way to relocate the buildings instead of destroying them, the government asked the court to delay the removal of the structures, which was scheduled for July 1.  The government’s request was denied, leading to the evacuation this week.

Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the building of additional housing in the disputed territory.  Three hundred homes are to be built in Beit El, with an additional five hundred to be constructed in other parts of the West Bank.  The announcement came as supporters of the settler movement, mainly right-wing critics within Netanyahu’s Likud party, spoke out against the removal of settlers from Ulpana.

Israel Harel, a senior fellow at the Institute for Zionist Strategies, has mixed feelings about the compromise of building new settlements in Beit El to replace the housing abandoned in Ulpana.

“In the general arena, the settlers’ movement made a big victory,” he said.  “But there is a big inner debate about if this compromise should be accepted.”

Tzaly Reshef, a founder of Peace Now–an Israeli group opposing the settlements–believes there will be no two-state solution with the presence of settlements in Beit El.  “While Netanyahu may say from here to eternity that the Israelis will negotiate, the Israelis will compromise, what he does on the ground shows his real intentions,” he said.  Experts believe the settlements in Beit El would become a part of the Palestinian state if the two-state solution moves forward.

Israel captured the land where the settlement is located as a result of the Six-Day War in 1967.  The decision to create new settlements in the area fifteen miles north of Jerusalem has been criticized by the Palestinians and the U.S.  They argue that building new structures within the disputed territory undermines the peace process.  Critics of the East Jerusalem and West Bank settlements, citing the 2003 road map for peace and Israeli law, also claim that the buildings are illegal under both local and international law.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – West Bank Jewish Settlers Leave Ulpana Outpost – 26 June 2012

New York Times – Settlers Begin Evacuation of a West Bank Outpost – 26 June 2012

Times of Israel – No Violence As Fifteen Families Leave Homes at Givat Ulpana Outpost – 26 June 2012

Jewish Journal – Ulpana Residents Agree to Leave Peacefully – 20 June 2012