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

 

By Mark McMurray
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain — On Wednesday, a Bahraini court postponed the verdict of 11-year-old Ali Hasan until July 5.  Hasan has been accused of participating in anti-government protests.

The prosecution accuses Hasan of assisting protesters by blocking a street with trash containers and wood last month during protests in Manama.  Hasan’s defense claims he is a child who was merely playing with friends in the street at the time.  Defense attorney Mohsen al-Alawi has called on the court to drop all charges.

Until he posted bail last week, Hasan was in prison, spending the last few weeks in custody awaiting his trial.  As a result of this incarceration, Hasan, a sixth-grade student, had to take his school exams behind bars.  During his time there, he roomed with three other children and was forced to clean the facility.

Hasan spoke with the Guardian newspaper by phone from his parents’ home in the Bilad al-Qadeem suburb of the capital.  “I cried all the time but I became friends with the other boys there and we could play for four hours every day – but had to spend all our other time in a locked room,” he said about his time in jail.

The day before his arrest, there was fighting between protestors and police near Hasan’s house.  Demonstrators used burning tires and trash cans to block the street.  The next afternoon, Hasan was on the street playing with friends when the police came.  “While we were playing there, some police forces came towards us which made us panic.  My friends managed to run away … but I was so scared by the guns they were carrying that I couldn’t move … and I was arrested,” he said.  Following his arrest, Hasan was taken to a variety of police stations where he was forced to confess to involvement in the protests.  “I was crying all the time. I told them I’d confess to anything to go back home,” he added.

On Wednesday, the government defended its handling of the Hasan case.  It concluded he was arrested for blocking a road, held in police custody for only six hours, and then transferred to juvenile detention for the next month.  The government contends that Hasan was paid by a man to cause trouble on the street.  Chief of Public Security Tariq Al Hassan said, “What is deplorable is how some older people will take advantage of vulnerable youth for their own political purposes.”

There have been some concerns surrounding Hasan’s case.  Mariwan Hama-Saeed of Human Rights Watch said, “He was not accompanied by a lawyer during his questioning [and] it seems the only evidence used against him is his own confession and the testimony of a police officer.”

Hasan’s case is just one of the more recent examples of the government’s crackdown on protestors since unrest began in Bahrain fifteen months ago.  The political unrest pits the Shiite majority, seeking a greater political voice, against the ruling Sunni dynasty.  Since the upheaval began in February 2011, more than 50 people have died.

For further information, please see:

AFP – Bahrain 11-year-old ‘to Hear Verdict on July 5’ – 20 June 2012

Washington Post – Bahrain Court Delays Verdict in Case of 11-year-old Who Allegedly Took Part in Protests – 20 June 2012

Guardian – Bahrain Puts Boy Aged 11 on Trial for Alleged Role in Roadblock Protest – 19 June 2012

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt — As uncertainty surrounds the result of last Sunday’s presidential runoff, the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a declaration to retain the authority to exercise legislative powers until a new parliament is elected.  These powers include control over the budget, and over who writes the permanent constitution.  The organisation also retained the power of authority over the army, limiting the president’s power as commander-in-chief, only granting him the power to declare war with the military council’s approval.

The SCAF’s decision was made after it dissolved parliament, the majority of whose members were part of the Muslim Brotherhood.  The dissolution occurred after the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled last year’s legislative polls unconstitutional because party members contested seats in the lower house that were intended to be reserved for independents.

Its actions have been met with criticism.  Mohamed ElBaradei, a prominent political figure, believes they are a “grave setback for democracy and revolution.”  Former presidential candidate Hamden Sabahi considers them to be “a seizure of the future of Egypt.”

Mohammed Al-Assar, a general of the SCAF, assured those concerned with the power grab that it was temporary.  At a press conference, Al-Assar said “we’ll never tire or be bored from assuring everyone that we will hand over power before the end of June.”  Last Sunday, the group issued a decree stating that it will retain these powers until a new parliament is elected.

It is also likely that the next Egyptian president will have a short term, and will be replaced after a new constitution is drafted.  Sameh Ashour, head of the SCAF’s advisory council, said that “[t]he upcoming president will occupy the office for a short period of time, whether or not he agrees.  His office term will be short despite the huge efforts exerted in the election campaigns.”

A statement issued by the SCAF said that a “constitutional commission representing all segments of society” will have three months to draft a new constitution.  The organization will also have the power to veto anything in the new constitution it objects to as “contrary to the interests of the country.”  The group also holds the right to form a new constitutional commission if it believes there is a setback “preventing them from performing their work.”  Lastly, the declaration grants SCAF chief Marshall Hussein Tantawi “power to decide all matters within the armed forces, the appointment of its commanders, and the extension of their service.”

Yesterday’s runoff has been marred with confusion over the vote count as both Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi, and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq claimed victory.  The Brotherhood’s unofficial tally has Mursi winning 52.5 percent of the votes.  Shafiq accused Mursi of miscounting the votes, with his camp claiming that he had won with 52 percent.

The Brotherhood is critical of the SCAF’s decree, finding it “null and unconstitutional.”  Ahmed Abdel-Atti, Mursi’s campaign director, expects “popular action” against the group’s undertakings in the near future.

For further information, please see:

Albawaba — Egypt: Muslim Brotherhoods Claim Presidential Victory — 18 June 2012

Al Jazeera — Political Uncertainty Threatens Egypt — 18 June 2012

BBC News — Egypt’s Military Grants Itself Sweeping Powers — 18 June 2012

Reuters — Egypt Rivals Claim Presidency as Army Tightens Grip — 18 June 2012