By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain – In an effort to thwart the efforts of pro-democracy protestors, Bahrain has detained a human rights lawyer and two doctors.  Many Shi’ite protestors were inspired by the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia to rise up against Bahrain’s Sunni-led government.

Last month’s uprising was the worst that Bahrain has seen since the 1990s.  The government imposed martial law in the capital city and also invited the troops of its Sunni allies, including Saudi Arabian troops, to prevent the protestors from getting out of hand.

Activists claim that at least four people have died from the government’s crackdown and have arrested hundreds more.  Amnesty International has issued a statement, requesting that Bahrain provide information about the whereabouts and status of over four hundred opposition activists who have been detained over the last few weeks.

Human rights lawyer, Mohammed al-Tajer, was arrested on Saturday, when military forces stormed into his home.  Tajer represented the leader of a Bahraini opposition group, Hassan Mushaimaa, who returned from exile in London in February and was subsequently arrested.  Some protestors claim that the government arrested Tajer to instill a sense of fear in lawyers.

In addition, opposition protestors claim that the government has tried to intimidate doctors, and have even detained a few doctors, to prevent them from providing medical treatment to protestors.

Bahrain claims that Iran is instigating the pro-democracy demonstrations.

Meanwhile, Iran has requested that the United Nations Security Council take action to protect the opposition protestors.

Earlier this week, Bahrain’s Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs also announced that it planned to dissolve the Al-Wefaq opposition party.  Wefaq is the largest of seven Shi’ite opposition group in Bahrain and controls eighteen of the forty seats in parliament.  The United States, among other nations, opposed the government’s plans to dissolve Wefaq, and on Friday, Bahrain abandoned its plan.  In March, Wefaq parliament members resigned from their positions in the legislature to protest the government’s handling of the protests.

For more information please see:
Reuters – Bahrain Arrests Prominent Lawyer, Doctors: Opposition – 16 April 2011

Radio Free Europe – Bahrain Backs Off On Closure of Opposition Group – 15 April 2011

Voice of America – Bahrain Backs Away from Opposition Party Ban – 15 April 2011

CNN – Daughter of Prominent Rights Activist in Bahrain on Hunger Strike – 12 April 2011

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

GENEVA, Switzerland – United Nations investigators have announced that next week they would begin an inquiry into alleged human rights violations that have been committed by both sides of the conflict in Libya.  They will look into abuses both by Muammar Gaddafi’s loyalists and the opposition forces as well as those by any foreign parties to the conflict. Evidence resulting from this investigation will be shared with the U.N. war crimes tribunal.

The team of investigators, led by war crimes expert Cherif Bassiouni, will visit hospitals and prisons, and will be talking to civilians, combatants and anyone else who may provide information.  Bassiouni, an emeritus law professor at DePaul University in Chicago, stated that the work “will be done with complete impartiality”.

The U.N. team is comprised of three investigators – Bassiouni, Phillippe Kirsch, and Asma Khader.  Kirsch is a Canadian former judge of the International Criminal Court, and Khader is a Jordanian lawyer, who is also an expert in sex crimes.  Khader claims the team will look into rapes, including the case of Eman al-Obaidi, a Libyan woman who accused government militia of raping her.

These investigators will be cooperating with the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.  The ICC is looking to see whether Gaddafi, his sons and his advisors have committed war crimes. He claims that well before the revolution spread from Tunisia and Egypt, the Libyan authorities considered killing unarmed protestors.

Actions by foreign powers will also be investigated. For instance, the Libyan government claims that civilians, including children, have been killed by NATO airstrikes.

This investigation was approved by the U.N. Human Rights Council on February 25.  The Council claims that attacks on civilians and arrests, as well as the detention and torture of peaceful demonstrators, may qualify as crimes against humanity.  According to Bassiouni, the Council’s mandate stipulates that all violations be reported, no matter who has committed the crimes.  Some say this may or may not reach the level of criminal accountability necessary to prosecute in the ICC. But Moreno-Ocampo is “100% certain” that the investigation into the government’s attacks on Libyan demonstrators will lead to charges of crimes against humanity.

For more information please see:
The Canadian Press – UN Says Its Libya Human Rights Abuses Investigation Will Cover All sides Involved in Fight – 08 April 2011

The Jerusalem Post – UN Rights Investigators to Start Probe in Libya – 08 April 2011

Reuters – UN Rights Investigators to Start Probe in Libya – 08 April 2011 

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANAA, Yemen – Amnesty International released a report today on the human rights violations that have occurred over the last few months in Yemen. The report discusses the recent attacks on and repression of protesters, who do not support the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and who strive to eliminate the corruption and unemployment.

The most violent of these attacks occurred on March 18, when snipers fired on protesters in Sana’a, killing fifty-two people and injuring hundreds more. Protesters have since called this incident “Bloody Friday”.  Witnesses stated that most of those who were killed were shot in the head or the chest and died on site.

According to Amnesty, Yemen’s response to these attacks is “woefully inadequate”.  Although the government stated that it would investigate these attacks (and others), little information has been made available to the public as to whether any police force members are under being investigated. Furthermore, the impartiality and independence of the investigating authorities has been called into question.

As these attacks continue, Amnesty expressed its concern for the torture, unlawful killing, and other human rights violations occurring in Yemen. In addition, supporters of secession in the southern portion of the country have been held without trial, are unable to challenge the legality of their detentions, and are forbidden from speaking with their families.

It is the belief of this human rights organization that Yemen must deal with its “heavy legacy of impunity”.  The government should ensure that security forces do not use force against demonstrators who do not threaten their lives or the lives of others.  It should also provide detainees with access to their lawyers and families and should take steps to make sure that peaceful protesters are not tortured.

Amnesty made several recommendations to the international community, in particular, that authorities must be held responsible for the recent attacks on protesters, ninety-four of whom have been killed to date.  It suggested that President Saleh not be granted immunity by way of a political deal for these incidents.

The organization further seeks the suspension of the sale and transfer of weapons and arms to the security forces in Yemen, as they may be used in attempts to control the demonstrations.  The United States is the largest supplier of military and security equipment to Yemen.  Other countries involved in the sale of arms to Yemen include Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the Russian Federation, France, Turkey, and the Ukraine.

For more information please see:
Amnesty International – Moment of Truth for Yemen – 05 April 2011

Amnesty International USA – Amnesty International Warns Against Political Deals to Give President Immunity for Brutality Against Protesters in Exchange for Handing Over Power – 05 April 2011

Monsters & Critics – Amnesty International urges external inquiry into Yemen – 06 April 2011

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANAA, Yemen – Yemen security forces and government loyalists attacked demonstrators in two cities yesterday, killing at least a dozen, and wounding many more.  These attacks are the deadliest since March 18, when supporters of President Ali Abdullah Saleh shot and killed at least fifty-two protesters.  As a result of this incident, many of the President’s top allies turned against him.

In Taiz, a city in southern Yemen, unarmed protesters were targeted by police forces, armed with guns and tear gas.  Government loyalists fired on the demonstrators from rooftops and on the street, when the protesters attempted to march on President Saleh’s palace.  Thousands of individuals, inspired by the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, organized a sit-in, which has lasted for more than six weeks.   It is their wish that President Saleh leave office.

According to one government official, a clash between government supporters and protestors prompted the security forces to intervene.  The official claimed that the police only fired shots into the air.

Hospitals in Taiz have reported that they are running out of supplies and the equipment necessary to deal with the escalating violence.

Reports of the violence in Taiz have spread to other portions of the country, including Sanaa, where protesters marched on the city in response to the attacks.  At least five people were hurt by supporters, who threw stones at them.

In Hudaydah, a port city on the Red Sea, police also fired guns and tear gas on demonstrators, wounding at least 250 or as many as 400.  These protesters had tried to march on the presidential palace but the police prevented them from doing so.

The attacks have been condemned by the international community, particularly the United States.  The U.S. Department of State has described the violence as “appalling”.

President Saleh, who has been in power for thirty-two years, may step down but only after elections are held.  His term will expire in 2013.  Saleh claims he will discuss transitioning power to a new provisional government “according to the Constitution”.

For more information please see:
Al Jazeera – Protesters shot dead in southern Yemen – 4 April 2011

New York Times – Clashes Escalate in Yemen; at least 12 Are Killed – 4 April 2011

Voice of America – US Calls Violence Against Protesters in Yemen ‘Appalling’ – 4 April 2011

Washington Post – Yemen Security Forces Kill Protesters – 4 April 2011

JERUSALEM, Israel – Richard Goldstone, author of the infamous “Goldstone Report” condemning Israel for committing war crimes during its 2008-2009 offensive against Hamas, told news agencies Saturday that the study’s findings may be inaccurate. New investigations conducted by the Israeli government into alleged violations of international law by members of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) challenge the report’s conclusions that indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force by the IDF was a part of a state sanctioned policy of retribution. Commenting on the findings of Israel’s investigation, Goldstone announced “If I had known what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document.

In 2009, Goldstone was appointed chairman of a U.N fact-finding mission created by the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to investigate alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law by Israel. The 575 page report documented various counterinsurgency strategies and detention methods and concluded that Israel had committed “actions amounting to war crimes.”

Despite quick endorsement of the report by the UNHRC, Israel strongly rejected the findings as unsubstantiated and biased against the Jewish state. Now Israel is calling for the U.N. to formally cancel the findings of the report. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Goldstone’s retraction noting “[t]he fact that Goldstone backtracked must lead to the shelving of this report once and for all.” Sami Abu Zuhri, spokesperson for Hamas, however, demanded the implementation of the report despite Goldstone’s reservations.

Goldstone explained that the study’s conclusions may have been affected by Israel’s initial lack of cooperation with the UN investigation. The lack of cooperation between the investigative body and the government of Israel made it difficult contends Goldstone, to verify U.N. data and contextualize the use of specific uses of force. Goldstone further noted that since the publication of the report, Israel has taken steps to limit the use of dangerous weapons, like white phosphorus, in civilian areas.

While the evidence provided by the government of Israel suggests that certain individual members of the military may in fact be guilty of misconduct, there is no indication that the government deliberately targeted civilians for attack and detention. Government officials assured the international community that those individually responsible for violations of international law would be brought to justice but expressed that the damage from the report “has already been done.”

For more information please see:

Jerusalem Post – Moshe Ya’alon Urges UN to Retract Goldstone Report – Apr. 3, 2011

Jewish Telegraph Agency – Israel Launching Drive to Void Goldstone Report – Apr. 3, 2011

Ynet.com – Soldiers: Goldstone Damage Already Done – Apr. 3, 2011

CNN World News – Author of Israel-Hamas Report: Would Reconsider Findings – Apr. 2, 2011