The Middle East

Kuwaiti Police Arrest and Torture Transgender Women

By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait — Police officers in Kuwait are drawing international scrutiny for having tortured and sexually abused transgender women under the protection of a law passed in 2007.

The law arbitrarily criminalizes “imitating the opposite sex.”

Human Rights Watch is calling for Kuwait to repeal the discriminatory law and hold the police officers accountable for their misconduct. A 63-page report released by the organization entitled “They Hunt us Down for Fun: Discrimination and Police Violence Against Transgender Women in Kuwait” documents the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and persecution that transgender women – individuals that were born male but identify as female – have faced at the hands of Kuwaiti police.

The report archives instances of abuses committed by members of the Kuwaiti police and the public, and concludes that the arbitrary, ill-defined provisions of the law have created an atmosphere that allows such abuses to take place.

Kuwaiti police have free reign to determine whether a person’s appearance corresponds with “imitating the opposite sex” without being given any criteria for the offense.

Transgender women have reported being arrested while dressed as men, and then being forced to dress as women later coupled with a claim that they were arrested that way.  Some reported that they were arrested because the police said they had a “soft voice” or “soft skin.”

Transgender women that have been arrested report having faced degrading and humiliating treatment while in detention, including being paraded naked around the police station, being forced to dance for police officers, sexual humiliation, verbal taunts and intimidation, solitary confinement, and abuse that could amount to torture.

“No one – regardless of his or her gender identity – deserves to be arrested on the basis of a vague, arbitrary law and then abused and tortured by police,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The Kuwaiti government has a duty to protect all of its residents, including groups who face popular disapproval, from brutal police behavior and the application of an unfair law.”

International law dictates that Kuwait has an obligation to ensure the protection of its residents from arbitrary arrests or detention.

Kuwait is a signatory to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, under which sexual violence by police officers acting in an official capacity constitutes torture.

Human Rights Watch has also asked, pending repeal of the law, for the Kuwaiti interior ministry to issue a moratorium on arrests of transgender individuals, and to work to protect them.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch — “They Hunt Us Down For Fun”: Discrimination and Police Violence Against Transgender Women in Kuwait — 2012

Al Arabiya — Kuwait police abused transgender women: HRW — 15 Jan. 2012

Arabian Business — Kuwait urged to crack down on transgender attacks — 15 Jan. 2012

Asia One — Kuwait police abused transgender women: HRW — 15 Jan. 2012

Human Rights Watch — Kuwait: End Police Abuses Against Transgender Women — 15 Jan. 2012

Kuwait Times — ‘They Hunts us Down for Fun’ – Police accused of transgender torture, sexual assault — 15 Jan. 2012

Yemenis Protest Against Proposed Immunity Law

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANAA, Yemen – On Monday, thousands of protestors gathered throughout Yemen to rally against the approved draft of a law to provide immunity to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his aides from prosecution.  The bill received approval from the Yemeni cabinet on Sunday, and the parliament is expected to approve it within days.

Saleh ruled Yemen for 33 years. (Photo Courtesy of CNN)

If the parliament passes the law without changes, Saleh and his officials from his 33-year rule will receive immunity from prosecution once Salah resigns on February 21.  Spokesperson for the opposition Joint Meeting Parties (“JMP”) Ghaleb al-Odaini projects the lawmakers will amend the proposed deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council last month before codifying the law.

The deal granted Saleh immunity if he gave political power to Vice President Abdu Rabu Hadi.  Diplomats commented that Saleh would not resign if he did not receive immunity.  Yemenis suspect Saleh of trying to break the deal and remain in power.

If Saleh receives immunity, he will not be tried for the over 200 deaths of protestors during crackdowns in the Yemen uprising.

People protested holding pictures of Saleh with bloody hands holding a butcher knife while asking their country to try Saleh.  In the capital Sanaa, Protestor Abdel-Hadi al-Azazi said the law “helped the leader of a criminal gang escape legal punishment.”  At a rally in Taizz, Saleh’s loyal forces opened fire on the demonstrators killing two people and critically injuring several others.  Protests continued Friday where security forces opened fire in Aden and killed at least four protesters.

However, some people welcome the bill.  Youth activist Abdullah al-Kuraimi said, “We are against the immunity bill, but it will play a big role in ending the Saleh family rule in Yemen and give us a change to build a new nation.”  Prime Minister Mohammed Bosendowah added, “We granted President Saleh immunity to rid the country from a civil war or possible bloodshed.”

Amnesty International’s interim director for the Middle East and North Africa Philip Luther asserted the law is “a smack in the face for justice.”  Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, added Saleh’s guarantee of immunity from accused gross human rights violations or war crimes may violate international law.

The broad immunity from prosecution poses the question: Do suspected war crime and corrupt officials receive a pass for their actions, or do countries need to sacrifice prosecution of these people to move forward?

For further information, please see:

The San Francisco Chronicle – World: News Of The Day From Across The Globe – 14 Jan 2012

The Guardian – United States Defends Immunity Law for Yemeni President Saleh – 10 Jan 2012

CNN – Yemen Cabinet Approves Amnesty Law For Saleh – 9 Jan 2012

Press TV – Two Yemeni Protesters Killed In Taizz – 9 Jan 2012

The Associated Press – Yemen Immunity Law Sparks Debate Over Past Crimes – 9 Jan 2012


As the Arab League’s Mission In Syria Continues, One Monitor Quits and Labels It a ‘Farce’

By Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria–In the midst of the Arab League’s mission to discover what exactly is happening inside Syria since the protests began, one monitor decided to call it quits after what he witnessed. Anwar Malek, an Algerian member of the monitoring team, has called the Arab League’s mission to the country a ‘farce.’

 

Arab League observers attend a mass prayer for individuals were killed during the violence. (Photo Courtesy of the AP)

Malek stated that he resigned due to what he saw and that the mission itself was falling apart. He also stated that security forces did not withdraw their tanks from the streets, but rather hid them and chose to redeploy them after the observers had gone. He shared these sentiments with an Al-Jazeera correspondent.

“What I saw was a humanitarian disaster. The regime is not just committing one war crime, but a series of crimes against its people. The snipers are everywhere shooting civilians. People are being kidnapped. Prisoners are being tortured and none were released. The mission was a farce and the observers have been fooled. The regime orchestrated it and fabricated most of what we saw to stop the Arab League from taking action against the regime.”

Meanwhile, President Bashar al-Assad addressed a rather large gathering of his followers and supports in the Syrian capital, Damascus. In his second speech in as many days, al-Assad stated again his accusations that the “homeland was reeling under the brunt of conspiracy.”

“You are standing against a desecration of our identity, and you are confirming your steadfastness and support for the armed forces, whose martyrs are falling every single day so you can live in safety.We will triumph over this conspiracy. It is dying; it’s the end of their plot.”

The United Nations has declared that more than 5,000 civilians have lost their lives since the protests began against al-Assad in March 2011. Conversely, al-Assad has declared that “terrorists” have killed some 2,000 members of his security forces.

A senior UN official informed the UN Security Council on Tuesday 10 January 2012 that Syria had accelerated its killing of pro-democracy demonstrators and protesters after the Arab League monitors had arrived. Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, delivering the following statement concerning the increased death of civilians since the Arab League monitors began their observance.

“The under-secretary-general noted that in the days since the Arab League monitoring mission has been on the ground, an estimated additional 400 people have bee killed, an average of 40 a day, a rate much higher than was the case before their deployment. That is a clear indication that the government of Syria, rather than using the opportunity to end the violence and fulfill all of its commitments to the Arab League, is instead stepping up the violence. The Arab League has failed for six decades to take a position in the Arab interest.”

The Arab League condemned an attack on Monday 9 January 2012 in which 11 of its monitors were hurt by demonstrators and protesters in the province of Latakia. The monitors were upset, saying that Syria breached its obligation to protect them. al-Assad’s regime claimed that it was continuing to provide security for the observers and also condemned any act that would obstruct their mission’s work. The Arab League released the following statement concerning the attacks on its monitors.

“Failing to provide adequate protection in Latakia and other areas where the mission is deployed is considered a serious violation by the government of its commitments.”

Malek further expressed his disgust what the situation, stating that the government was not assisting the observers with their requests. He also stated that those who were supposedly freed and were shown on television, were actually people who had been randomly grabbed off the street.

“The regime didn’t meet any of our requests, in fact they were trying to deceive us and steer us away from what was really happening, towards insignificant events. The people were detained for four or five days in tough conditions and later released as if they had been real prisoners.”

“Around some of the buildings, there were even army officers in front of the building, while snipers were on the roof. Some on our team preferred to maintain good relations with the regime and denied that there were snipers. From time to time, we would see a person killed by a sniper. I have seen it with my own eyes. I could not shed my humanity in such situations and claim independence and objectivity.”

One can only wonder what the civilians on the ground are really going through if one of the Arab League’s monitors, sent to help their situation, felt so repulsed by what he saw that he had to resign. The civilians of Syria need all the attention that they can get so the violence against them ceases. But as long as the violence rages on, the voices for freedom will continue to be silenced.

 

 

For more information, please see: 

Ahram – UN Says Syria Killings Rise After Monitors Arrive – 11 January 2012

Al-Jazeera – Arab Observer Calls Syria Mission a ‘Farce’ – 11 January 2012

BBC – Ex-Arab League Monitor Labels Syria Mission a ‘Farce’ – 11 January 2012

CNN – Al-Assad Revs Up Pro-Regime Rally – 11 January 2012

The Guardian – Arab League Official Attacks Syria Mission as ‘Farce’ – 11 January 2012

Reuters – Arab Monitor Quits Syria Mission in Disgust – 11 January 2012


After Weeks of Unrest, Egyptians Go To Polls For Third Round of Voting

By Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt–In the first elections since President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in February 2011, thousands of Egyptians are headed back to the polls for a third and final round of voting in the parliamentary polls. Lines began to form around schools that had been converted into polling stations at 8AM local time (6:00 GMT) on Tuesday 3 January 2011.

A woman casts her ballot at a school near Cairo.(Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

The voters who will cast their ballots on Tuesday 3 January and Wednesday 4 January represent the last 15 million voters to vote in first parliamentary elections in 60 years. In the first two rounds of voting, an unprecedented number of individuals voted, with an estimated turnout of 62 percent. Egypt’s voting system is highly complex, with two-thirds of the 498 elected seats being decided by proportional representation and the rest by a first-past-the-post system.

A total of 2,746 candidates are competing for 150 seats; one hundred on the electoral list and fifty for the individual seats. The runoffs are scheduled to take place on Tuesday 10 January and Wednesday 11 January. Once the results of the third round are announced, the parliament’s new lower house will hold its first session on Monday 23 January, two days before the first anniversary of the revolution, 25 January.

This seemingly positive event of free and fair elections continues to be overshadowed by the deaths of 17 individuals last month in clashes between the army and protesters, demanding that the ruling military step aside immediately. The military generals have insisted that the violence will not derail the election process. Egypt’s Supreme Council of Armed Forces, which took power when Mubarak was ousted, has repeatedly pointed to the elections as proof of its plan to hand the reins to a civilian government.

But police raids on pro-democracy and rights groups just last week have disrupted the work of leading Western-backed election monitors and has drawn accusations that the army was deliberately trying to weaken oversight of the vote and silence critics. The government claimed that the raids were part of a probe into illegal foreign funding of political parties and not aimed at weakening rights groups, which have been among the fiercest critics of the army’s unstable ability to rule.

Islamist groups, which came relatively late to the uprising, have won the largest share of seats in the previous round of the first free and fair election to take place in Egypt in six decades. The Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s best-organized political movement is widely expected to triumph and has claimed the lead through its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (JFP).  The final round will take place over two days in the Nile Delta provinces of Qaliubiya, Gharbiya, and Daqahliya; the New Valley province; the south governorates of Minya and Qena; the border province of Matruh; and in North and South Sinai.

Al-Jazeera’s Sherine Tadros, reporting from El-Arish, in the northern Sinai Peninsula, shared these sentiments about the developing situation.

“Overwhelmingly we are hearing people tell us that they will be voting for the Salafi Nour party or the Ikhwan, the Muslim Brotherhood’s party Freedom and Justice, so it’s very much a lot of grassroots support for the Islamist parties here. When it comes to the individual candidates, people are not talking to us about policy and issue and what the individual candidates stand for; it is very much on tribal and clan lines, that’s how people are voting here.”

Al-Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from a polling station in Shubra El-Khaima, north of Cairo, shared these words.

“This particular area is a bedrock of Muslim Brotherhood support. Some 70 percent of the vote, it is understood, has done to the Islamist parties so far, with the Freedom and Justice party the clear front-runner.”

In an industrial region north of Cairo, where labor disputes over low wages preceded the wider protests that helped bring down Mubarak, the optimism in the air was high as resident lined up to vote. Many Egyptian view the first free and fair elections they can remember as a chance to end the affliction of incompetent leadership and a culture of venality among the powerful that enriched a few and left the majority in poverty.

Ahmed Ali al-Nagar, a carpenter in his late 50s from Mahalla el-Kubra, shared these sentiments with Reuters.

“I am glad to be alive to witness this-a free election in Egypt. Workers had a big impact on the political outcome we are living through these days.”

Another individual, Amany al-Mursy, a middle-aged woman from Mansoura, also shared these sentiments with Reuters.

“I have chosen to vote for the Freedom and Justice Party as I like its talk and I think it has a long history and experience and I think they will help us the most. And if it does not do as we hoped, Tahrir Square is still there. If something goes wrong, we will go out and say something is wrong and remove the wrong people and replace them.”

 

For more information, please see: 

Ahram – Final Round of Egypt’s Parliamentary Election Kicks Off – 3 January 2012

Al-Jazeera – Egypt Holds Third Round of Voting – 3 January 2012

BBC – Egyptians Vote in Third Round of Parliamentary Poll – 3 January 2012

CNN – Egyptians to Begin Third Round of Voting After Weeks of Unrest – 3 January 2012

NYT – Egyptians Vote in Final Round of Parliamentary Elections – 3 January 2012

Reuters – Egyptians Head to Polls Again in Parliamentary Vote – 3 January 2012

 

 

Human Rights Watch: Gaddafi’s Son Should See Lawyer

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TRIPOLI, Libya – Human Rights Watch (“HRW”) has reported that former Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s second-oldest son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has not met with a lawyer since his arrest by anti-Gaddafi forces on 19 November.  HRW’s Fred Abrahams said although Saif al-Islam has not complained of mistreatment, he should see a lawyer provided by Libyan authorities immediately.  A suspect in detention requires access to a lawyer promptly, usually within 48 hours, under international and Libyan law.

Rebels captured Saif al-Islam six weeks ago, and he has not seen a lawyer yet. (Photo Courtesy of The Telegraph)

Saif al-Islam is the greatest high-profile detainee from his father’s regime.  The 39-year-old was the heir apparent to his father’s dictatorship in Libya.  Saif al-Islam aided the fight against Libyan rebels for months.

Mr. Abrahams spent thirty minutes alone with Saif al-Islam in Zintan, where the rebel militia is holding Saif al-Islam.  His overall physical condition is good, and the rebels are not torturing him.  Saif al-Islam stated he remains isolated from seeing anyone he chooses, and he only has seen officials visiting him.

Nick Kaufman, a Gaddafi family lawyer, attempted to contact Saif al-Islam, but he lacked a contact person with the National Transitional Council (“NTC”).  The International Criminal Court (“ICC”) directed Mr. Kaufman to the Red Cross, which refused to help him.

Rebels captured Saif al-Islam after he sought medical care for a hand injury he sustained from a NATO airstrike.  While detained, Saif al-Islam received sufficient medical care and an operation for two fingers and his thumb on his right hand three weeks ago.

Once the Libyan authorities transfer Saif al-Islam to a secure facility in Tripoli, Libya’s chief prosecutor Abdelaziz al-Hasadi said Saif al-Islam will have access to a lawyer.  However, Abrahams commented, “The world is watching how Libya handles this case, and Libya should prove that it will grant Gaddafi all the rights that were too often denied in the past.”

Al-Hasadi will try Saif al-Islam on charges of corruption before the war and crimes that occurred during the rebel uprising.  Libyan Prime Minister Abdurrahim al-Keib stated Saif al-Islam would receive a fair trial following the terms of the NTC.  Furthermore, the ICC indicted Saif al-Islam with two counts of crimes against humanity in June.  Since Libya and the ICC want to try Saif al-Islam with the same charges, Libya must challenge the ICC’s jurisdiction and demonstrate a genuine ability and willingness to prosecute Saif al-Islam in a credible and fair trial.

From his meeting with Saif al-Islam, Mr. Abrahams received the impression that he “doesn’t fully understand that he is no longer one of the most powerful people in the county.”

For further information, please see:

The Telegraph – Libya’s Government ‘Broke International Justice Standards’ over Saif Gaddafi – 30 Dec 2011

ABC News – Gadhafi’s Son: Get Me A Lawyer – 21 Dec 2011

BBC – Libya’s Captured Saif al-Islam Gaddafi ‘Has Not Seen A Lawyer’ – 21 Dec 2011

San Francisco Chronicle – Rights Group: Jailed Gadhafi Son Has No Lawyer – 21 Dec 2011

The New York Times – Qaddafi Son Being Held by Rebels, Rights Group Says – 21 Dec 2011