By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TUNIS, Tunisia — Planned changes to the Tunisian Constitution show that the Islamist-led government will focus on democracy, human rights, and a free-market economy.  Religion will effectively be left out of the document when it is finalized.

The government has decided not to introduce Shar’ia law or any other Islamic concepts into the constitution, and alter its already secular nature.

“We are against trying to impose a particular way of life,” said Ennahda leader Rachid Ghannouchi, a lifelong Islamist activist jailed and exiled under previous regimes.

Critics, both foreign and Tunisian, have expressed fear that Ennahda, a moderate Islamist party that won 41.7 percent of the vote in Tunisia’s first free election on 23 October, would try to impose its religious principles on the relatively secular Muslim country.

Ennahda and the minority parties that came in below them in the election formed an assembly to begin the long process of amending the constitution.

The politicians have made it clear that the new assembly was created to reassure Tunisian voters, foreign tourists, and the investors vital to its economy.

There was a consensus amongst the parties who amended the constitution to keep the first article, which lists Tunisia’s language as Arabic and its religion as Islam.

“This is just a description of reality,” said Ghannouchi.  “It doesn’t have any legal implications.  There will be no other references to religion in the constitution.  We want to provide freedom for the whole country.”

A number of Ghannouchi’s reformist Islamist writings in the 1980s and 1990s influenced Turkey’s current mixture of Islam and democracy.  Tunisia, like Turkey, had decades of secularist dictatorships before evolving into a democracy where moderate Islamists have emerged as a viable political force.

“Law by itself doesn’t change reality,” Ghannouchi said.  “There shouldn’t be any law to try and make people more religious.”

The Ennahda leader views Shar’ia law as a set of moral values for individuals and societies rather than a code to be imposed by a country’s legal system. “Egypt says Shar’ia is the main source of its law, but that didn’t prevent (deposed President) Mubarek from being a dictator.”

The amended constitution will also reflect changes towards furthering women’s rights, however the parties would not agree to include the country’s liberal Personal Status Code in the constitution.  These writes will be protected instead by legislation.

The biggest disagreement between the parties amending the constitution was over whether Tunisia should opt for a British parliamentary system, or a French-styled mix of a directly elected President and a parliament.

The realities of the coalition parties and the need for a two-thirds majority to approve the new constitution will likely force all parties to seek a broad consensus.

There is a hope that Tunisia will be able to build a democracy compatible with Islam that could be used by other Arab countries.

The new constitution is due in approximately a year.

For more information, please see:

Al Arabiya — Tunisia’s Islamist-led government rejects laws to enforce religion — 05 Nov. 2011

Daily Times — Tunisian constitution will make no place for faith — 05 Nov. 2011

Reuters — Tunisia’s Islamist-led govt sees little place for religion in revised constitution — 04 Nov. 2011

Voice of America — Islam in Tunisia – Will Ennahda Win Usher in Religious Reform? — 03 Nov. 2011

Los Angeles Times — Tunisia vote could shape religion in public life — 22 Oct. 2011

By Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza–Just hours after Egypt had been mediating a truce between Israel and Palestine, Israel has launched a fresh air strike on Gaza, east of Rafa. Seven members of Islamic Jihad’s armed wing were killed, bringing the Palestinian death toll to 11. The Islamic Jihad movement in Gaza had reported that it had accepted a ceasefire prior to the attacks. The recent spike in violence came as funerals were being held for two Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight.

On Saturday 29 October 2011, at least 10 people were killed in Gaza and southern Israel.

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls and governs Gaza, has made efforts to enforce the agreed-upon ceasefire since the latest round of cross-border airstrikes and rocket attacks in August, which saw both sides endure casualties. The confrontation in August was precipitated by a deadly attack north of Eilat that claimed the lives of eight Israelis. In that situation, the attackers crossed the border into Israel from Egypt. But Israeli officials claimed that the attack was organized and facilitating by another militant group in Gaza, the Popular Resistance Committees, and immediately eliminated its senior commanders in an airstrike.

Abu Ahmad, the spokesman for the movement’s armed wing Al-Quds Brigades, shared these sentiments about the developing situation.

“The Islamic Jihad has responded positively to the truce effort, while it reserves its right to react to any aggression by Israel.”

Ahmad also claimed that several of the dead were senior commanders of the organization. They included Ahmed al-Shiekh Khalil, a leader of one of the Islamic Jihad brigades. Khalil had four brothers who were activists in the movements. All of them were killed in operations conducted by the Israeli army.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu placed the onus on Hamas, the governing body in Gaza, for the violence that has occurred and expressed Israel’s resolve to defend itself.

“The Hamas rules Gaza, he is responsible for Gaza, he is responsible for preventing the firing from Gaza, and for keeping the calm in Gaza, even if the attackers are the Islamic Jihad. It is not worthwhile for anybody to test our determination to invoke the government’s defense principles. We will prevent every attempt to shoot at Israel and we will hurt everyone who nevertheless succeeds at doing so. We have no desire to see deterioration in the situation, but will defend ourselves according to these principles.”

An Israeli military official reported that on Sunday 30 October 2011, three rockets were fired at its territory after the ceasefire deadline had passed. The official claimed that two of the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system and the other crashed into southern Israel, but did not result in any casualties or substantial damage.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Cal Perry, who is reporting from Al Shojaya in eastern Gaza, shared this viewpoint on what is currently happening between the two Middle Eastern nations.

“We heard Islamic Jihad spokesperson saying that they were going to give 48 hours both to Egyptians and the Israelis to work out some kind of an agreement. But as late as Sunday afternoon, there has been further air strike bringing into question if anyone is going to be able to stop the recent spate of violence.”

This latest flare-up between the ever-feuding nations came less than two weeks after the return of a captured Israeli soldie, Sgt. First Class Gilad Shalit, who had been held incommunicado in Gaza for more than five years by Hamas. Israel had freed 477 Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for the soldier and is set to release some 550 more prisoners in a deal that has significantly bolstered Hamas’s stance.

Hamas is reportedly largely committed to the rather fragile ceasefire that first came into effect after Israel’s three-week military offensive in Gaza that came to a close in January 2009. It is alleged that smaller groups such as the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees are not committed to a ceasefire.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned rocket fire from Gaza and called for it to stop, according to CNN.

“We hope that both parties will fully respect the calm as brokered by Egypt and urges maximum Israeli restraint following the killing of a reported 10 alleged militants.”

The international community can keep imploring the two sides to come to a truce that has clout and can last. But until that actually occurs, civilians will be the ones who really pay the price and will continue to do so with no foreseeable end in sight.

 

 

For more information, please see: 

Al-Jazeera – Israel Launches Fresh Air Strike In Gaza – 30 October 2011

BBC – New Israeli Air Strike Into Gaza After ‘Ceasefire’ – 30 October 2011

CNN – Islamic Jihad Announces Gaza Cease-Fire – 30 October 2011

The Guardian – Gaza Militants Agree to Truce After Nine Killed in Israeli Air Strikes – 30 October 2011

Reuters – Gaza Violence Simmers After Truce Announced – 30 October 2011

NYT – Israeli Drone Strike Kills Militants In Southern Gaza – 29 October 2011

By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TRIPOLI, Libya — More than 100 militia brigades from the city of Misrata have been operating outside of any official duty since Tripoli fell in August.  Members of these militias have reportedly engaged in torture, aggressively pursued enemies all over the country, and detained and shot individuals being held in detention.

Currently, these militias are preventing the entire displaced town of Tawergha from returning home.  They believe that this city was sympathetic to Qaddafi and provided him avid support.

Now that the war in Libya has come to an end there are calls for accountability and reconciliation.  Groups such as the Misrata militias are showing how difficult this will be.

In western Libya, anti-Qaddafi militias have looted and burned the homes and schools of tribes that supported the deposed dictator.

Other militias from around Zuwara have been looting property as compensation, which they feel they deserve for damages suffered during the war.

The recent execution of the 53 pro-Qaddafi supporters at a hotel in Sirte was apparently under the control of the Misrata militias.

Similarly, it was a Misrata militia that apparently captured and then killed Qaddafi while he was in their custody.  Details of how and why his death occurred are still unknown.

The Misratans have made it clear that they detest anyone who supported Qaddafi during the conflict.

Misrata withstood a two-month siege from Qaddafi’s forces with almost daily attacks that left around 1,000 of its citizens dead. The city now is a shell of its former self with collapsed, charred buildings highlighted by the blight of ubiquitous bullet-holes.

The militia is focusing a large amount of its anger on Tawergha, a town of approximately 30,000 located just south of Misrata.  Residents from both cities say that residents from Tawergha took up arms to fight for Qaddafi.  The Misratans claim that these volunteers are guilty of raping and pillaging, though they have yet to produce any evidence, claiming that the victims are too embarrassed to come forward.

Most Tawerghans fled their town as Misratan fighters advanced on it between 10 August and 12 August.  Witnesses and victims have provided credible accounts of the Misratan militias shooting and wounding unarmed Tawerghans and torturing detainees, in a few cases to death.

In the city of Hun, located about 250 miles from Misrata, Benghazi militias have begun protecting about 4,000 Tawerghan refugees.  They say that the Misratans are hunting the Tawerghas all over the country.

Representatives of the National Transitional Council (NTC) have issued statements, agreeing with the Misrata militias, saying that no Tawerghans should return home.  Ibrahim Yusuf bin Ghashir, one such representative, said: “We think it would be better to relocate them somewhere else.”  He added that the rape allegations “cannot be forgiven and it would be better to resettle them far away.”

The unforgiving plan of not allowing refugees to return home is not limited to Tawerghans.  The Misratans have made it clear that any group that supported Qaddafi will not be tolerated.

HRW has called the forced resettlement and abuses of the refugees a crime against humanity, a charge that is made more egregious by the fact that the much of the reasoning given for the Libyan war was to end such treatments by the Qaddafi regime.

The stories of abuses committed by these militias post- war have been pouring in through various human rights organizations. They are equally horrific, and have invited international condemnation and calls for the NTC to initiate investigations and bring the offenders to justice.

The NTC says it has plans to open investigations into any post-war abuses, but it has yet to offer specifics or respond directly to the allegations of the crimes committed by the militias published in a report by HRW.

For more information, please see:

Raw Story — Libya militias accused of ‘revenge attacks’ — 30 Oct. 2011

CNN — NTC will investigate allegations of crimes against pro-Gadhafi forces, official says — 30 Oct. 2011

Reuters — Cycle of revenge hangs over Libya’s fragile peace — 30 Oct. 2011

Human Rights Watch — Libya: Militias Terrorizing Residents of ‘Loyalist’ Town — 30 Oct. 2011

Human Rights Watch — The Murder Brigades of Misrata — 28 Oct. 2011