By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, IRAQ — The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) released a report on Monday that highlighted a fragile plague of human rights abuses in Iraq.

The report details how armed violence has become an everyday part of life for a large number of Iraqis, with minorities (especially members of the LGBT community), women, and children suffering disproportionately.   Torture and other matters of impunity are also rampant throughout the Middle Eastern state.

According to UN and Iraqi government estimates, approximately 3,000 civilians were killed by violence in 2010.  Armed insurgents and terrorist groups were the main culprits behind these attacks.  The majority of the targeted civilians have been religious leaders, journalists, and medical and education professionals.

The report also notes many “silent” human rights violations.  “Widespread poverty, economic stagnation, lack of opportunities, environmental degradation, and an absence of basic services…affect large sectors of the population,” it says.

Political rights, such as the freedom of expression and the right to assembly, have slightly improved from previous years, but still have many challenges.

There are significant problems with Iraq’s system of law, especially with respect to due process and fair trial rights.  Defendants are frequently unaware of the charges being brought against them, have no access to lawyers, and are held longer than legally allowed without trial.  The condition of detention centers has improved, but there is still a large overemphasis on using confessions to convict, which has led to an ideal environment for torture.

Women’s rights issues continue to hover on the human rights radar with instances of domestic violence, trafficking, genital mutilation, and honor crimes continually being reported.

The battle to end impunity for those who commit human rights abuses “remains a serious challenge in Iraq.  Perpetrators of crimes committed over many years continue to be unaccountable.”

The report concludes by giving some suggestions for fixing the current abuses, including placing a limit on the arresting powers of the police, putting a moratorium on the death penalty, and creating and enforcing laws designed to protect individual rights.

The Iraqi response to the current state of its human rights record has been mainly aimed at the UN, and what they call its “limited role” in the involvement of the difficult nation-building process that is currently on going in Iraq.  The hope is that a stronger presence in Iraq by the UN would lead to greater successes in nation building, specifically in the area of human rights.

Iraq has been closely scrutinized for its human rights record for years.  In June, the UN special representative to Iraq urged, yet so far unsuccessfully,  the government to ratify the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.  It appears that while there have been many advances made towards recognizing human rights violations the government is still facing many obstacles.

For more information, please see:

AFP — UN calls situation in Iraq ‘fragile’ — 8 Aug 2011

Aswat al-Iraq — UN should play greater role — 8 Aug 2011

CNN — Significant human rights issues noted in U.N. report on Iraq — 8 Aug 2011

Examiner — UN: Iraq plagued with numerous human rights violations — 8 Aug 2011

Jurist — Iraq human rights abuses continue: UN report — 8 Aug 2011

United Nations — Human rights in Iraq remain fragile amid armed violence, torture, and impunity — 8 Aug 2011

By Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt–From behind the bars of a holding cell, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak remained defiant. The 83-year-old man listened to the charges of corruption and complicity in the unlawful killing of protesters against him and gave a simple, yet potent answer.

“I have not committed any such crimes.”

Premeditated murder, the killing of protesters, the failure to use his power and resources to stop the mistreatment of civilians, and collusion with other government officials in the misuse of state funds all included the charges against Mubarak.

The proceedings took place in a temporary court at the Police Academy of Cairo and were shown on live television. A trial for the former Egyptian leader has been one of the crucial demands and desires that united protesters since 11 February, the day that Mubarak’s regime collapsed. Some 3,000 soldiers and police officers were drafted with the sole purpose of maintaining order at the police academy for the first day of the trial.

Mubarak was flown to Cairo from Sharm el-Sheikh, the Red Sea resort where he has resided since being removed from power. Due to recent health complications, including treatment since April for a heart condition, there was speculation that Mubarak would not actually appear in court. But he did appear and was wheeled into the cage from where he observed the proceedings. Mubarak’s two sons, Gamal and Alaa, accompanied their father inside the defendants’ cage, both donning white prison robes.

When the presiding judge, Ahmed Refaat, requested that Mubarak identify himself, the former leader responded and slightly raised his hand from the horizontal position that he was situated on the bed of the cell.

“Yes, I am here.”

Mubarak’s lawyer, Farid el-Deeb, made numerous requests to the court on behalf of Mubarak. Arguably, the most noteworthy request was to summon some 1,600 witnesses to testify, including Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak’s longtime defense minister.

Sherine Tadros, an Al-Jazeera correspondent, shared these sentiments about this request from el-Deeb.

“El-Deeb asked for Tantawi-who is also the defense minister and effectively the person running this country right now-to become a witness within this trial. He said it was Field Marshal Tantawi who has been in control of this country since 28 January 2011. I think it raises a lot of questions about the proceedings of this trial, how many others serving still-within the government, within the authority, within that structure-are going to be implicated in what is going on.”

Some 800 people were killed and approximately another 6,000 wounded in the 18 total days of protests that overthrew Mubarak’s seemingly everlasting regime. His trial represents a very tangible victory of sorts for all of those involved in the region-wide uprisings that have been dubbed the Arab Spring.

The image of Mubarak sitting behind bars and listening to the charges is certainly a surreal feeling for many Egyptians as well as those in other Middle Eastern countries. One of the protest leaders, film-maker Ahmed Rasheed, told BBC correspondents that people across Cairo had cluttered around televisions in shops and cafes, watching and debating as the trial was broadcast.

“I was quite overwhelmed to see the scene taking place. I was very pessimistic about this. I didn’t believe he was going to show up in court.”

The trial will resume on 15 August 2011.

Public demonstrations and riots continue to occur in Egypt. Before the trial began, scuffles broke out between hundreds of supporters and opponents of Mubarak. Hundreds of white-clad police and riot police armed with shields and helmets intervened to stop the demonstrators from throwing stones and bottles at one another.

It is evident that the Arab Spring has a long way to go in order to be viewed as a holistic success. But perhaps the beginning of Mubarak’s trial is just the kinetic energy that it needed to secure healthy change throughout the region.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera-Mubarak pleads ‘not guilty’ at Cairo trial-03 August 2011

BBC-Mubarak trial: Egypt’s ex-president denies all charges-03 August 2011

CNN-Ailing Mubarak wheeled into courtroom cage for trial-03 August 2011

NYT-Mubarak on Trial, in Stark Image of Arab Upheaval-03 August 2011

By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria — To the utter shock and repulsion of much of the world, other Arab nations included, the bloody onslaught against Syrian protesters by the Syrian government continues to grow.

On Sunday approximately 102 people were killed throughout Syria, 76 of them from the city of Hama.  Rights activists report that the Syrian military brought a tank-based assault that included large amounts of shelling, which caused the fatalities.

The troops were not able to reach the city center, which has been under the control of protesters since mid-March, a fact that has made Hama a beacon of hope to the anti-government movement.

Hama is also of historical note due to its role in previous violent governmental attacks.  It was the site of the infamous 1982 massacre in which the military of then President Hafez al-Assad, father of current President Basar Assad, crushed an uprising by killing over 10,000 people.

This history has created a resiliency in the residents of Hama, a resiliency that has shown itself during the many months of this current uprising against Assad’s authoritarian regime, and one that may be partly responsible for the ramping up of violence by the government against the protesters.

Monday marked the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.  Some hoped that its coming would put a halt to the violence, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.  At least 9 people were killed throughout Syria on the first day of Ramadan, and military movements suggest that there is more to come.

Ramadan could be a critical period for the Syrian protests.  It is traditional for Muslims to gather outside for nighttime prayer during the holy month, and protesters are planning to shift their rallies around this schedule.  In response to this threat the government has already begun stepping up its mass arrests of protesters.

Rami Nakhle, a Syrian activist, says that the protesters have “burned their boots,” an Arabic saying that means there is no going back.  He fears that if they stop now the military will arrest every activist in Syria.  They can either win or sacrifice all those who are fighting.

Arabs around the world are reacting strongly against Assad’s brutal attacks, but most Arab governments have remained silent.  This is likely because they do not wish to stir up trouble in their own backyards, fearing the power of the protest, a fear that does have some basis in fact.  The United States and European Union have also condemned the attacks, but any Western involvement is both unlikely and imprudent due to its current campaigns in Libya against Muammar Qaddafi.

Despite the nearly universal condemnation of Assad’s actions there appears little want to apply pressure to his ousting as president.  The international community is concerned that his departure could leave a power vacuum in Syria, triggering nationwide instability and civil war.

For more information, please see:

Boston Globe — Syria steps up attacks, seeking to crush revolt in city of Hama — 2 Aug 2011

NPR — Syrian Opposition Echoes Cry for Liberty or Death — 2 Aug 2011

Al Jazeera — No Ramadan respite for Syrian protesters — 1 Aug 2011

New York Times — In Middle East, a Restive First Day of Ramadan — 1 Aug 2011

Reuters — Arabs angry over Syria crackdown but governments silent — 1 Aug 2011

By Zach Waksman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – The continued protests against Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) suddenly changed their tone on Friday.  Tens of thousands of Islamists flooded Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the center of the African kingdom’s continued push for democracy that has spanned past several weeks, and recited anthems calling for a country governed by Islamic Sharia law.

The impressive demonstration was the largest to take place since the revolution that ousted President Hosni Mubarak from power in February.  Originally advertised as a peaceful rally dubbed the “Friday of unity and closing ranks” that was meant to reiterate the revolution’s demands, it was instead dominated by Islamic groups, including fundamentalist Salafis and the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood, two of the demonstration’s organizers.  Some secular activists who attended claimed to have been silenced, leading twenty-eight secular organizations to withdraw from the square in protest to the event.  The famed April 6th group, one of the leading secular groups, denied that report.

After years of suppression by Mubarak, the demonstration marked a resurgence of religious organizations as a political force in Egypt.  The clearest sign of this development was the chants heard Friday, many of which played off of those said during prior demonstrations.  Instead of “Hold your head up high, you’re Egyptian,” nationality was replaced by religion, using “Muslim” as the final word in the slogan.  To participants, the rally was a signal of how efficiently Islamists could organize themselves.  “We’re showing today — to both the people and to the military leadership — that we’re the majority of the population,” Haithem Adli, a participant who held up a banner that read in part, “Together on the path to heaven,” told the New York Times.

“If democracy is the voice of the majority and we as Islamists are the majority, why do they want to impose on us the views of minorities — the liberals and the secularists?” asked Mahmoud Nadi, a student who built off of Adli’s comments. “That’s all I want to know.”

Among secular activists who witnessed the spectacle, reaction was mixed.  Some of them believed that the performance would have little overall effect.  One such activist, Mohammed Deraz, accepted the Islamists’ presence, but felt that they were only trying to capitalize on the momentum created by people like himself in starting and continuing the revolution.  “We made this revolution and we will continue,” he said.  “…[N]obody will steal my revolution. I made it by myself and I will continue to the end or I will die.  Give me liberty or give me [death], that’s what I’m doing.”  Another secular protester believed that this rally was a one-time event, and that the Islamists would leave the square and let the ongoing sit-in continue.

In the aftermath of the rally, top analysts believe that the demonstration was a show of power that could not be exceeded.  Emad Gad, a political analyst with the Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies, said that it “represent[ed] the full capacity of the Islamist forces[.]”  Additionally, the different groups would need to be treated differently, according to Rabab Al-Mahdi, a professor of political science at the American University in Cairo.  “There are different trends, the Salafis, former militant groups like the Gamaa Islamiya, the Muslim Brotherhood and they all have different ideas on how to conduct politics and what they mean by an Islamic state,” she said.

And because of how the event quickly became an Islamist demonstration, the overall impact for the organizers could be a negative one.  Such a result is already proving true.  The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party rejected the slogans vocalized on Friday.  Party Vice Chairman Essam al-Erian wrote on the Party’s website that it had previously rejected such demands and did so again after participants attempted to impose their views.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s role in Egypt’s transition to democracy appears to be critical.  But what that role is remains unclear, leading to continued speculation.

For more information, please see:

Agence France-Presse — Egypt rally not harbinger of Islamic state: analysts — 31 July 2011

Australian Broadcasting Corporation — The growing power of Egypt’s Islamists — 29 July 2011

Al-Masry Al-Youm — Freedom and Justice Party rejects Islamist slogans in Tahrir — 29 July 2011

New York Times — Islamists in Egypt Flood Square in Cairo in Show of Strength — 29 July 2011

Voice of America — Islamists Show Solidarity in Massive Egypt Rally — 29 July 2011

Al-Ahram Weekly — The Islamists are coming — 28 July 2011