By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt — Egyptian security forces and military are targeting female protesters, subjecting them to torture, sexual assault, and threats of rape.  The practices are very similar to those employed pre-revolution say various international and Egyptian human rights organizations.

“Nothing has changed overall. Law enforcement officers still feel that they are above the law and that they don’t have to fear prosecution, it’s a green light that legitimizes an excessive use of force, sexual assault and torture,” said Heba Morayef, Egypt Researcher for Human Rights Watch.

Since January, it has appeared that the military was protecting protesters, both male and female, during a revolutionary process that ended in the overthrow of long-time president Hosni Mubarak.  With the power of the government now in the hands of the military critics say that they have resorted to the same sorts of brutality used by the former regime, most notably during protests in 2005 and 2007.

A viral video, filmed recently, shows Egyptian soldiers beating and disrobing a female protester.  At least three men expose the woman’s midriff and bra as they stomp on her stomach and batter her head with batons.  The video has drawn international scorn, including a condemnation of the “systematic degradation” of Egyptian Women by U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.

“Women protesters have been rounded up and subjected to horrific abuse. Journalists have been sexually assaulted. And now, women are being attacked, stripped, and beaten in the streets,” she added.

“This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people.”

In response to this beating thousands of Egyptian women took to the streets in protest.  It was the largest all-female protest since Egypt’s independence, demanding the end of military rule.

The Egyptian government released an apology via Facebook for the beating and expressed “its great regret to the great women of Egypt for the violations that took place” and promising that “all legal measures have been taken to hold accountable all those responsible for these violations.”

There is skepticism about seeing real change come from the government’s response.  There was not explicit order banning or condemnation of violence and sexual assault on female protesters given anywhere in the apology.

The usage of violence against female protesters does have a purpose.  Egypt is a conservative, male-dominated society.  Women are not supposed to express themselves openly in the public sphere.  The violence is likely meant not only to punish those who violate this norm, but also to deter those who might consider speaking out in the future.

For more information, please see:

Afrique en ligne — Egypt urged to prosecute sexual assaults on protesters — 22 Dec. 2011

ABC — Female Protesters Targeted By Egyptian Government, Say Activists — 21 Dec. 2011

Al Jazeera — Egyptians protest against beating of women — 21 Dec. 2011

Huffington Post — Sexual Violence Has No Place in Egypt’s Public Forum — 20 Dec. 2011

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ANKARA, Turkey – On Tuesday, 20 December, Turkish President Abdullah Gul asked France to drop a proposed parliamentary bill that criminalizes Turkey’s denial that the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey was genocide.  Turkey warned France would jeopardize the countries’ friendship for “small political calculations” if the French National Assembly passed the bill on Thursday.  French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe stated the countries’ ties “are sufficiently strong to overcome challenges.”

The bill presented by the French lower house of parliament includes a one-year prison term and a $59,000 fine for Ottoman Turks who deny the Armenian killings.  If the bill passes as expected, France would criminalize any genocide, war crime, or crime against humanity recognized by French law.  This proposed legislation parallels how the French treated the denial of the Holocaust, which the French banned in 1990.

French spokesperson Valerie Pecresse stated the bill is “very broad in a way that it can apply to all genocide recognized by France in the future.”  She added the bill includes slavery and does not target the Armenian genocide.

In October, President Sarkozy asked Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide as part of its history as a “gesture of memory” similar to France’s participation in the Nazi deportation of Jews during the Holocaust.

President Gul stated, “It is not possible for us to accept this bill which denies us the freedom to reject unfair and groundless accusations targeting our country and our nation.”  Last week, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the French government the hostile bill targeted Turkey and Turks living in France.  Turkey said it would pull its ambassador to France if the bill passes.

Turkish Members of Parliament (“MP”) and business representatives lobbied Juppe and Jean-David Levitte, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s diplomatic adviser, in France this week.  The Turkish delegation desires to remove the bill from the National Assembly’s agenda.  If the bill remains, they urge the upper house of parliaments not to pass it.

Armenia reports Turkey killed 1.5 million people during mass deportations, but Turkey claims only 300,000 people died.  Turkey also asserts Turks died when Armenians fought against the Ottoman Empire and Russian troops invaded Turkey during World War I.  Turkey refuses to call the deaths genocide.  Rather, it asserts the people died during civil unrest when the Ottoman Empire collapsed.

During his visit to Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, in October, President Sarkozy commented, “Turkey, which is a great country, would honor itself by revisiting its history like other countries in the world have done.”

For further information, please see:

BBC – French Genocide Bill Angers Turkey – 20 Dec 2011

Hurriyet Daily News – Turkish President Urges France To Drop Genocide Bill – 20 Dec 2011

The Jerusalem Post – Turkey Calls On France To Halt ‘Genocide’ Bill – 20 Dec 2011

Today’s Zaman – Turkey Urges France To Immediately Drop Genocide Bill – 20 Dec 2011

By Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt–For a third consecutive day, Egyptian soldiers armed with batons and guns have clashed with hundreds of protesters armed with stones, overshadowing the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. Ten months after Mubarak’s regime was toppled, the aftermath is still causing violence and civilian deaths.

The violence began on Friday 16 December 2011 when one of several hundred peaceful protesters staging a sit-in outside the parliament building was reportedly beaten and detained by troops. According to Egypt’s health ministry, ten individuals have lost their lives in the continuous fighting while some 432 others were injured.

Demonstrations and protests began in Egypt earlier this February. A second round of voting served as the trigger for the latest occurrences of violence in Egypt. Many of Egypt’s ruling generals appear assured and confident that Islamist parties who swept recent elections will stay out of the fight while other pro-democracy protesters become increasingly isolated.

Al-Jazeera’s Sherine Tadros, whom is reporting from Cairo, shared these sentiments about the scene at Tahrir Square.

“What the military have essentially done is created a concrete barrier to block the entrance into that street to stop the protesters coming from Tahrir Square and continuing with their sit in. The protesters, of course, are not happy with the situation. They’re telling us they have a right to peacefully demonstrate in front of a government building. The skirmishes are taking place across that concrete wall between the military and the protesters.”

Security forces donning riot gear have been filmed in the past few days beating protesters with long sticks after they had fallen to the ground. On Saturday 17 November 2011, soldiers cleared the area around Tahrir Square as thick black smoke filled the skies following the eruption of a fire near Egypt’s upper house of parliament. Military police reportedly openly beat female protesters in the street, slapped elders in their faces, and pulled the shirt off of at least one veiled woman as she was wrestled down to the pavement. The AP news agency stated that witnesses confirmed that soldiers beat and gave electric shocks to men and women dragged into to detention. Many of these individuals were taken to nearby parliament buildings.

Several members of an advisory board resigned over concerns about how the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has dealt with the protests and the unrest. The board is made up of more than 30 political personalities, intellectuals, and businessmen. It was formed with the intention to be a consultative body that meets with the council regularly to discuss the development of the country.

The Institute of Egypt, which housed national archives dating back over 200 years, was set on fire on Friday 16 November 2011. The building has suffered catastrophic damage and a majority of the paper archives have been destroyed.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN general-secretary, released a statement on Monday 19 December 2011 condemning the actions of Egypt’s security forces.

“We are highly alarmed by the excessive use of force employed by the security forces against protesters and calls for the transitional authorities to act with restraint and uphold human rights, including the right to peaceful protest.”

Kamal el-Ganzouri, Egypt’s prime minister, addressed the violence at a news conference 17 November 2011. He branded the protesters as “counter-revolutionaries” and claimed that the attack was an attack on the country’s revolution.

“This is not a revolution, but a counter-revolution. Those who are in Tahrir Square are not the youth of the revolution.”

On Sunday 18 December 2011, political figures in Egypt announced that they are working on a truce between the protesters and security forces to end the bloodshed. Armr Hamzawy and Mustafa Al-Naggar, both potential members of parliament, are among those involved in the discussions surrounding the deal. Hamzawy has called the Supreme Council of Armed Forces to stop their violence and for an immediate investigation to point out the perpetrators. He also has called on all the elected members of parliament and prominent Egyptian figures for a national initiative towards peaceful protests.

Moatez Abdel Fatah, a political analyst and former military advisory council member, announced that on Monday 19 December 2011 he would be at Omar Makram Mosque to meet with youth in the square in an attempt to calm things down. He stated that a truce would certainly not mean that the protesters should give up any of their rights, but simply need to take a timeout to plan their next substantive move.

After Mubarak’s ouster, the army generals who replaced him have angered many Egyptians by seeming reluctant to give up their new power. For the sake of the civilians who came together and voiced their displeasures loud enough to inspire change, one can hope that the generals will not allow the violence against protesters to continue.

Toqa Nosseir, a 19 year-old student, expressed these words to a correspondent working for The Guardian about the military attacks on women during the protests.

“Do they think this is manly? Where is the dignity? No one can approve or accept what is happening here. The military council wants to silence all criticism. They want to hold on to the power. I will not accept this humiliation just for the sake of stability.”

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – UN Condemns Egypt’s Military Violence – 19 December 2011

Ahram – Hundreds March to Cabinet Headquarters to Stop Clashes Between Military And Protesters – 18 December 2011

BBC – Egypt Violence: Third Day of Deadly Clashes in Cairo – 18 December 2011

CNN – Outrage Over Woman’s Beating Fuels New Egypt Protests – 18 December 2011

The Guardian –Egypt Clashes Continue Into Third Day as Army Cracks Down – 18 December 2011

Reuters – U.N.’s Ban Condemns Excessive Force in Cairo Clashes – 18 December 2011

NYT – Leaders Denies Use of Violence as Cairo Crackdown Persists – 17 December 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/18/egypt-violence-day-three

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain – On Thursday, 15 December, Bahraini security forces targeted hundreds of protesters with tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protest attempting to block the main road leading to Manama, the nation’s capital.  During the past ten months, the nation’s Shia Muslim majority regularly held protests that called for more rights from the Sunni-dominated monarchy.

Bahrain’s King Hamad pledged to initiate reforms by, for example, hiring police chiefs from the US and Britain to lead security agency reform.  Although Michael Posner from the United States State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor praised King Hamad for beginning to implement reforms on his recent visit to Bahrain, Posner urged King Hamad to do more to address the human rights abuses.  The US’s concerns of Bahrain using excessive force, such as tear gas, to respond to the continued street protests remain.

During this protest, Bahraini police detained prominent blogger and human rights activist Ms. Zainab al-Khawaja.  She tweeted:  “Sitting in a roundabout on Budaiya street, shouting down down Hamad. Until now riot police don’t seem to know what to do. A few girls have joined me now.”  The police arrested her and another female protester for refusing to leave the sit-in at the roundabout after other protesters dispersed.  The police detained seven other people during the protest.

A police car also ran over Ali al-Kassab, a seventeen-year-old protester, and killed him.  The security forces injured twelve protesters during the peaceful demonstrations throughout Bahrain’s towns and villages.

Bahrainis have protested against the Al Kahalifa dynasty since February 2011.  Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sent their troops to aid Bahrain in quelling the peaceful protests on March 14.  On November 23, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry stated the government used excessive force to quash the protests, urged the government to change verdicts protesters received in military courts, and supply compensation for victims.  Overall, dozens of people have died throughout these protests.

On Thursday, riot police chased protesters away from the highway they sought to block while helicopters hovered over the crowd.  Along the highway, protesters waved red and white Bahraini flags.  After the government destroyed a pearl sculpture and evicted the protesters from Manama’s Pearl Square in March, the protesters continually attempt to retake the heavily guarded square that has vast symbolic value.

A Budaiya resident reported, “Protesters are in batches of 40-50 each. There are still many police officers and vehicles here trying to keep demonstrators away from the highway. But protesters keep coming back.”

For further information, please see:

BBC – Bahrain Blogger Zainab al-Khawaja ‘Detained in Protest’ – 15 Dec 2011

IOL News – Bahrain Protesters Confront Police – 15 Dec 2011

Press TV – Bahrain Police Run Over, Kill Protester – 15 Dec 2011

The Washington Post – Bahraini Police Use Tear Gas, Stun Grenades To Disperse Protesters on Highway Outside Capital – 15 Dec 2011