By: Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – As Christmas draws near, Christians have increasingly become targets of extremist violence throughout Iraq.  While the government has condemned the attacks and promised to do more to stem the violence, the death toll continues to rise.  The Islamic State of Iraq, a militant group with links to al-Qaeda, has taken responsibility for recent attacks against Christians and declared that all Christians will be considered “legitimate targets” for future operations.

Amnesty International stepped up its pressure on the central government to protect Christian populations within the country after an attack on a Christian church in October left 44 worshippers dead.   The human rights group noted that targeted attacks against Christians have increased in recent weeks leading up to the Christmas celebration.  The group remains concerned about the prevalence of war crimes against minority groups in Iraq and notes that Christians have been forced to flee Baghdad and surrounding cities in great numbers to find refuge.  Over a third of those Iraqis who have resettled in the U.S. are Christians and hundreds of thousands more have fled to surrounding countries within the Middle East.  Up to a million Christians have fled Iraq since 2003. 

Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa, Malcolm Smart fears that “militants are likely to attempt serous attacks against Christians during the Christmas period for maximum publicity and to embarrass the government.”  The government reported to have stopped another set of suicide attacks on Monday after killing 3 Libyan nationals in a house raid.  Police found suicide vests, bombs and explosive material in the house.  The presence of the three foreign militants in Iraq highlights the government’s growing concerns about the threat of violence from neighboring countries. 

For the government today, terrorism remains equally an internal and external threat to peace and security.  The rush of foreign militants into Iraq continues to be problematic for the government and its attempts to promote stability.  As the Iraqi leadership searches to create a unified and legitimate government, it must do more for the politically underrepresented Christians in Iraq.   Failure to find a comprehensive and religiously-neutral solution to this crisis may only further exacerbate religious divisions in Iraq and risks further violence. 

For more information, please see:

The National – Christmas is Not for Us, Say Iraqi Christian Refugees in Jordan – Dec. 21, 2010

Agence France Presse – Amnesty Calls on Iraq to Protect Christians – Dec. 20, 2010

Amnesty International – Iraqi Christians Fear Spike in Christian Attacks – Dec. 20, 2010

Washington Post – Grim Xmas for Iraqi Christians as Many Flee North – Dec. 19, 2010

By Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – The head of Iran’s High Human Rights Council announced today that Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, an Iranian women sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery, “could be saved.”  It appears that the judiciary’s latest review of Ashtiani’s case precipitated the announcement although no details about its review were provided.  Ashtiani’s case has drawn significant international criticism from numerous governments and human rights organizations urging Iran to set aside the stoning verdict.

Ashtiani’s sentence has been stayed since July, pending the resolution of the judiciary’s final review.  She has been on death row for four years and has already dodged one death sentence.  In 2006, Ashtiani was found guilty for her involvement in the murder of her husband and received a sentence of death by hanging.  This sentence was reduced however, to a 10 year prison term.   

Ashtiani has already suffered 100 lashes as punishment for her crime.  Reports indicated that she has also been beaten up and tortured on a number of occasions.  Some fear that she may be tried a second time for the murder of her husband despite already being found guilty of complicity in his death.  If she is found guilty, she may again be sentenced to death. 

Since 1983, stoning has been the traditional punishment for the crime of adultery under Iran’s Islamic Penal Code.  Although the government has imposed a moratorium on the use of this punishment, the government has yet to officially abandon the practice and courts continue to issue stoning sentences.  According to Farshad Hoseini, head of the International Committee against Execution, at least 150 people have been stoned to death in Iran since 1980.  The majority of the victims were women.   Although the government denies any correlation between today’s announcement and the political pressure it has faced from this case, it seems likely that the international community’s efforts are a significant factor in the process to commute Ashtiani’s sentence.

For more information, please see:

Agence France Presse – Iran Stoning woman’s Life ‘Could be Spared’ – 22 Nov. 2010

Jerusalem Post –Life of Woman in Iran Stoning Case May be Saved – 22 Nov. 2010

National Post – Iran’s Stone-Age Justice system – 19 Nov. 2010

CBS News – Case of Sakineh Ashtiani Reflects Iran’s internal Divisions – 18 Nov. 2010

By Alyxandra Stanczak
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – This past Tuesday, a United Nations general assembly committee accused Iran of serious human rights violations. The violations include torture, persecution of ethnic minorities, pervasive gender inequalities, and violence against women. The resolution was sponsored by the United States, Canada, the European Union, and other western countries. The resolution passed with a vote of 80-44, with 57 abstentions.

Specific human rights violations were addressed in the resolution, and pointed specifically toward acts of flogging, amputation, and stoning. Stoning is a form of punishment in Iran that is codified in the legal code. It is considered by some to be a less cruel punishment than execution because it allows the punished a chance to survive.

Iran’s stoning laws state that a man should be buried up to his waist, but a woman should be buried up to her shoulders. Sometimes, the punishment is stopped if the accused confesses their crime and is able to dig themself out of the hole.

According to the International Campaign for Human Rights, six people were stoned to death between 2006 and 2008, and an additional thirteen remain in prison with stoning as their punishment.

The resolution has faced condemnation from the Iranian government, but also has proponents. Mohamad Javad Larijani, secretary-general for Iran’s high counsil on human rights, stated that this resolution was filled with “fallacies and unverifiable accusations”. Larijani is also recorded in the UN assembly minutes as saying the United States was “the mastermind and main provocateur behind a text that had nothing to do with human rights”. However, Maryam Rajavi, leader of Iran’s main opposition group, stated that this resolution is insufficient to address the human rights concerns in Iran.

Before the resolution was introduced, Iran attempted to block it’s introduction by calling for a vote to take no action. This vote failed 51-91 with 32 abstentions. The last time Iran was faced with a resolution like this was in 2008. At that time, Iran also called for a vote to take no action, where the vote failed but was much closer with 71-81 and 28 abstentions.

The new UN resolution is expected to be passed by the entire 192 member body.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Iran human rights official draws fire for defense of stoning – 19 November 2010

Al Jazeera – Iran dismisses UN rights criticism – 19 November 2010

CNN – UN committee condemns ‘serious rights violations’ in Iran – 19 November 2010

Canada East – UN committee expresses ‘deep concern’ about flogging and other rights violations in Iran – 18 November 2010

Reuters – UN committee slams Iran over human rights record – 18 November 2010

By Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – The Sharjah Sharia Court in the UAE today sentenced two foreign workers to 100 lashings and deportation for having “unlawful sex.”  This incendiary ruling comes after two immigrant workers, one Filipino and one Bangladeshi, were found to have had sex out of wedlock, a crime under Sharia law.  In addition to deportation and other physical punishments, the Bangladeshi national may also be imprisoned for up to a year for committing adultery. 

Reports indicated that the Filipino worker, a housemaid, invited her boyfriend over to her sponsor’s house on numerous occasions while the family was away in order to have sex.  The two were caught after the housemaid’s sponsor saw the worker’s boyfriend sneaking out of the house.  Both workers are said to have admitted to having sex while the sponsor family was away.

Under Sharia law in the UAE, Muslim immigrants who commit adultery are lashed and deported while non-Muslims immigrants are imprisoned and then deported.  According to reports, both workers are Muslims, however, both may be subject to an additional prison sentence.  Having sex out of wedlock is illegal in the UAE.   Kissing in public is also illegal under Sharia law.

The UAE has come under fire recently for a slew of court rulings sentencing foreign workers to a variety of inhumane and disproportionate punishments for various “illegal” acts.  In August, the UPI documented 8 cases of excessive punishments.  These cases are only illustrative and account for only a portion of the harsh rulings imposed against foreigners in the UAE.  The government in Abu Dhabi has yet to comment on the result of this latest case.  However, for those countries which embrace Sharia law, today’s ruling is simply business as usual.

For more information please see:

ABC News – Couple to be Lashed for Sex Out of Wedlock – 15 Nov. 2010

Emirates 24/7 – 100 Lashes Each for Illicit Lovers – 15 Nov. 2010

UPI – Illicit Couple Sentenced to Lashing in UAE – 15 Nov. 2010

UPI – Continued Cultural Clashes in Dubai, Abu Dhabi – 12 Aug. 2010

TEHRAN, Iran – Detained Iranian filmmaker and journalist Mohammad Nourizad has published an account of the torture which he claims that he and other detainees have be subjected to as political prisoners.  Nourizad said in a statement that was posted on several Iranian reformist websites, that he was cursed and severely beaten by intelligence officers, whose behavior he called “barbaric.”

Nourizad was arrested in 2009 after publishing several open letters on his blog which were deemed disrespectful to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials.  He was sentenced to three years in prison and fifty lashes on unclear charges, but was released from prison on June 24, 2010. He was subsequently returned to prison on August 18, 2010 after publishing another public letter addressed to Khamenei on his blog.

Nourizad’s account stated that other political prisoners, including Mostafa Tajzade, Abdullah Momeni, Hamza Karimi, and Mohammad Reza Rajabi were also tortured while in detention. Momeni and Karimi have both previously written to Khamenei informing him of the torture and mental abuse that they, and other prisoners, were subject to in detention.

Both physical and mental torture are forbidden in the Iranian Constitution.

Karimi said, in a public statement:

“All those who have been affected by these matters in any way should know that the government’s principles do not lie in tolerance. We believe in making a stand against those opposing us within the framework of the law.”

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran executive director and spokesman, Hadi Ghaemi, told Radio Farda on November 10, 2010 that postpresidential election detainees are routinely tortured.  He said:

“The news of torture leaked during the initial period of the unrest when a huge number of people were arrested, and the Kehrizak detention center was the center of attention in this respect.”

Ghaemi hopes to prevent torture of detainees in Iran by publicizing it and drawing international attention to it.

For more information, please see:

RFL/RL – Detained Iranian Filmmaker Says He And Other Detainees Were Tortured – 11 November 2010

InsideofIran.com – Mohammad Nourizad Summoned to Evin Prison – 20 August 2010

Persian2English.com – Detained Journalist Mohammad Nourizad Writes Letter to the Supreme Leader – 27 April 2010