by Yesim Usluca
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria — Amnesty International released a report in which it stated that Syrian military police hanged over 13,000 detainees in a prison north of Damascus starting with the 2011 uprising through 2015.

The Amnesty International report indicated that mass hangings took place at the Saydnaya Prison, known to prisoners as the “slaughterhouse.” The rights group stated that as many as fifty people were hung once or twice per week, typically on Mondays and Wednesdays. The report, titled “Human Slaughterhouse,” revealed that prisoners were told they were being transferred to a civilian prison in Syria in the middle of the night. Instead, they were blindfolded and moved to a cell in the prison basement where they were severely beaten. After being brought to the Saydnaya prison grounds, they were then hanged, while still blindfolded. All hangings were reportedly authorized by senior officials, including President Assad’s deputies, the defense minister and top religious authorities.

A deputy research director at Amnesty International, Ms. Lynn Maalouf, stated that prisoners were informed of their hanging only a few minutes before execution. She noted that the sentences were issued after a “sham trial” held by a “so-called Military Field Court[,]” which lasts from one to two minutes. During the trial, prisoners would be asked their name and whether they committed the crime. The report, however, alleged that the prisoners would be convicted and sentenced to death regardless of their answer.

The Amnesty International report was prepared based on interviews with over eighty-four people, including prison guards, judges, attorney, and prisoners. Ms. Maalouf stated that the hangings “reveal a hidden, monstrous campaign,” targeted towards eliminating President Assad’s dissent, as the executed prisoners were “believed to be opposed to the government.” Amnesty International urged the United Nations to take immediate action towards conducting an independent investigation into the findings.

The government of Syria has rejected the accusations, stating that the report was aimed towards “harm[ing] the government’s international reputation[.]” The country’s official news agency, Sana, released a statement in which the justice ministry denied the claims as “baseless[,]” while urging that all executions “followed due process.”

For more information, please see:

Fox News—At least 13,000 people hanged at Syrian prison, human rights group says—6 February 2017

CNN—13,000 people hanged in secret at Syrian prison, Amnesty says—7 February 2017

Amnesty International—Syria: Secret campaign of mass hangings and extermination at Saydnaya Prison—7 February 2017

The New York Times—Amnesty: Up to 13,000 Hanged in Syria’s ‘Slaughterhouse’—7 February 2017

BBC News—Syria rejects Amnesty report on hangings at Saydnaya prison—8 February 2017

 

by Yesim Usluca
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A new group of female-only “ISIS police” have been administering a new torture technique in which women are “ripped to death with ‘metal jaws’” if they violate the strict rules set by the group. Upon breaking one of the rules set forth by the brigade, a ten-year-old Iraqi girl bled to death after being “bitten” by a poison-lined medieval torture device.

 

The Iraqi girl, Faten, allegedly stepped over the threshold of her home while cleaning. Per the strict rules imposed by ISIS fundamentalists in Mosul, women are not permitted to leave their homes by themselves. In response, the al-Khansaa brigade, ISIS’ female “morality police,” approached Faten’s mother to ask whether punishment should be administered to her or her daughter. Thinking the punishment would be in the form of a bite delivered by a person, Faten’s mother elected to have her daughter take the penalty instead of herself. Her mother, however, was not aware that the punishment would be administered by a medieval torture device, lined with poison.

The device is described as a “clamp with four ends as sharp as knives, like teeth, which can pierce the skin from both sides when pressed down.” While administering the punishment, the device tore the girl’s flesh in various places. After receiving the “bite,” Faten bled to death from the wounds before the poison could take effect.

The al-Khansaa brigade acts as a religious law enforcer, in which they punish females who violate the strict moral rules set forth by ISIS, including breastfeeding outside, not wearing black socks, wearing high heels, or lifting a full-face veil.

The women of Al-Khansaa have been administering brutal punishment all over Mosul. A woman reportedly died from injuries she sustained after being punished for “slightly” lifting her veil to examine merchandise at a market. She was immediately ordered to sit on the ground by the al-Khansaa and received thirty lashings. A woman who witnessed the death cried out against having to wear a hijab and face veil by stating “[i]t’s like I’m getting into a bag and it’s closed on me so I can’t even breathe . . . .”

For more information, please see:

Daily Mail—Iraqi girl, 10, is ‘bitten to death’ with medieval torture device by female ISIS fanatics after her mother was asked to choose if she or the child would be punished for stepping outside their house—7 February 2017

The Sun—Sick ISIS female jihadis ‘bite Iraqi girl, 10, to death’ with medieval torture device as punishment for stepping outside her house—7 February 2017

Express—Iraqi girl, 10, ‘bitten to death’ for stepping outside house in horror ISIS torture—7 February 2017

Mirror—Mother’s horror after ISIS female fighters tear daughter to death with metal jaws—7 February 2017

Daily Star—ISIS unleash lady jihadi BITING BRIGADE armed with ‘metal jaws’ to tear women to death—7 February 2017

by Yesim Usluca
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Human Rights Watch (“HRW”) issued a statement accusing Iraqi military members of screening men who are fleeing Mosul for Islamic State (“ISIS”) membership and secretly detaining them in undisclosed prisons.

The HRW report indicated that fighters with the Popular Mobilization Units (“PMU”) have been abducting such men and holding them at detention centers for interrogation. HRW urged that the men are at “heightened risk of abuse, including arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance” as PMU’s are not trained in screening. The rights group further highlighted that the screenings and detentions are carried out abnormally, while prisoners are denied contact with the outside world.

The deputy Middle East director at HRW, Ms. Lama Fakih, stated that relatives are increasingly reporting male family members’ disappearance following questioning by PMU fighters. She further stated that the “lack of transparency” with regards to the detained mens’ whereabouts is a “cause for real concern.”

HRW interviewed families which stated that PMU fighters had evacuated their village to a refugee camp. They indicated that five men never returned to the village after they had left to sell sheep. The same men were later shown on a television broadcast depicting them as captured ISIS militants. One of these men stated that he had been attacked and detained by PMUs after leaving the village to sell sheep. Although he had been released and reunited with his family, the remaining men have not resurfaced.

The HRW report stated that the interviewed families all provided the same description for the screening process. Notably, they indicated that screening would be carried out overnight by members of the Iraqi military, who would separate men and boys over the age of fifteen from women and children. The military forces would crosscheck the men and boys’ IDs against Iraqi watchlists for suspected ISIS associations. They would then be detained without any justification for interrogation.

Ms. Fakih indicated that men have been disappearing with increasing frequency, even though official screenings by Iraqi security forces reveal that they are not on a watchlist. She noted that only those with a “screening mandate” should be permitted to screen individuals, while calling upon Iraqi authorities to ensure that prisoners are kept only at “recognized detention center[s]” which provide access to “independent monitors” and guarantee due process rights. She stated that all detention must be based on “clear domestic law.” Ms. Fakih further highlighted the importance of guaranteeing that each prisoner be brought before a judge promptly, as Iraqi law mandates a judicial hearing within 48 hours of detention. Additionally, she also indicated that prisoners’ family members should be made aware of their whereabouts.

PMUs were officially integrated into the Iraqi army in November. Yet they remain autonomous and have attracted widespread criticism regarding mistreatment of prisoners and “carrying out indiscriminate sectarian retributions.”

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch—Iraq: Men Fleeing Mosul Held in Secret—2 February 2017

Middle East Eye—HRW: Iraqi militias detaining men fleeing Mosul—2 February 2017

Al-Jazeerah—Iraqi Government Militiamen Forcibly Transfer Whole Sunni Villages, Abduct Men Fleeing Mosul, Abuse and Torture them, Steal their Money—3 February 2017

Voice of America—Rights Group: Iraqi Shi’ites Detaining Sunni Men Fleeing Mosul—2 February 2017

 

by Yesim Usluca
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Seventeen children imprisoned by the Kurdistan Regional Government (“KRG”) stated that they were tortured or abused by government security forces while in detention. Human Rights Watch (“HRW”) reported that the children were detained due to suspicion of involvement with the Islamic State (“ISIS”).

 

HRW stated that it had privately interviewed nineteen boys, ranging in age from eleven to seventeen, who were being held on suspicions of terrorism. The interview took place at the Women and Children’s Reformatory without the presence of a security or intelligence official. The rights group reported that the children were “held in stress positions, burned with cigarettes, punched and kicked, beaten with plastic pipes and cables, and shocked with electricity” by the KRG. A young boy stated that he “felt that my eyes were popping out” while being interrogated with an “electricity machine” after being drenched in water. Another child indicated that he could not breathe after his face was covered up with a towel and tied with tape. He was subsequently beat for over eight hours while being told to confess. The officer then pulled down the young boy’s pants and “threatened to rape him if he did not confess an ISIS affiliation.” Furthermore, five children also reportedly had marks from cigarette burns or electric shocks administered during interrogation.

Most children stated that they denied any involvement with ISIS. Others, however, admitted that they were associated with the group because of “family connections, desire to earn money or pressure from recruiters.” A deputy director at HRW, Ms. Lama Faikh, indicated that security forces are not granted permission to “beat, manhandle or use electric shocks on children” on the basis of “legitimate security concerns.” While characterizing children escaping from ISIS as “victims,” she stated that many are faced with further abuse from Kurdish security forces. Ms. Faikh strongly urged the KRG to “thoroughly investigate” the allegations of child abuse in prisons, and prosecute those who may be responsible.

The seventeen children are among at least 183 other boys under the age of eighteen who have been imprisoned by KRG based on alleged ISIS involvement. Most, if not all, are being held without charge, and were not permitted access to an attorney during interrogation. The report further indicates that government officials have not informed the children’s families of their whereabouts, and most children have not been permitted to contact their families since being detained.

In response to the HRW report, the KRG denied the allegations of torture by Kurdish security forces. The Head of the KRG High Committee to Evaluate and Respond to International Reports, Dr. Dindar Zebari, stated that KRG authorities are “strongly prohibit[ed]” from using physical and psychological torture on prisoners. He stated that detainees’ rights are protected through established policies, legislations and practices against torture.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian—Children held in Iraq over suspected Isis links ‘say they were tortured’—29 January 2017

Human Rights Watch—Children Allege Torture by Security Forces—29 January 2017

RT—Kurdish militia tortured children to extract ISIS confessions – HRW—29 January 2017

International Business Times—Beaten, electrocuted and abused: Kurds accused of torturing Isis child soldier suspects—29 January 2017

ARA News—Iraqi Kurds deny torturing ISIS child soldiers—30 January 2017

 

by Yesim Usluca
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait — On January 25^th, Kuwait carried out executions, by hanging, of seven people. These executions were the first time in four years that the state had carried out a death penalty.

The executions, which were authorized by the country’s ruler, were carried out in the central prison. Among the seven executed prisoners were citizens of Bangladesh, Philippines, Ethiopia, Kuwait and Egypt. They included a member of the royal family as well as a woman who had been convicted of killing 58 women and children after setting fire to a wedding tent. Six of the deceased had been convicted of murder. The seventh prisoner, a Bangladeshi citizen, had been convicted of rape, theft and kidnapping.

Amnesty International, which opposes the death penalty, immediately responded to the executions with criticism, condemning them as “shocking and deeply regrettable.” Ms. Samah Hadid, an Amnesty International official, stated that Kuwait had “displayed a wanton disregard for the right to life” by reinstating the death penalty. She further noted that the executions “signaled a willingness to weaken human rights standards.”

The executions further garnered criticism from Human Rights Watch. Ms. Sarah Leah Whitson, the organization’s Middle East director, noted that the executions “reflect[] a growing trend in the region to increase the use of, or lift moratorium on, the death penalty.” By executing three people in early January, Bahrain had ended its six-year freeze on use of the death penalty. Similarly, in December 2014, Jordan had carried out its first death penalty in eight years by executing eleven people. Ms. Whitson urged the Kuwaiti government to “reinstat[e] the moratorium on the death penalty” rather than executing prisoners.

In response to international criticism, Kuwait issued a statement in which it “insist[ed] that all legal avenues had been exhausted.” In rejecting international disdain, the Gulf state indicated that the seven prisoners’ executions had been carried out in accordance with the country’s Penal Code. Mr. Ghanim Al Ghanim, Kuwait’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Legal Affairs, stated that the prisoners had been convicted of premeditated murder, and their death sentences had been based on “indisputable evidence [that] the[y] committed the crimes as charged.” He assured that all prisoners had been given fair trials in which all due process guarantees provided by Kuwaiti law had been met.

For more information, please see:

Washington Post—Kuwait hangs 7 prisoners, including royal, in mass execution—25 January 2017

Middle East Eye—Kuwait executions part of worrying trend: Rights group—26 January 2017

Human Rights Watch—Kuwait: First Executions in 4 Year—26 January 2017

Newsweek—Kuwait’s Execution of Prince and Six Others Part of ‘Alarming Trend’ in Middle East—26 January 2017

Gulf News—Kuwait rejects criticism of execution of seven convicts—28 January 2017

Bahrain News Agency—Kuwaiti ministry: Executions based on Penal Code—27 January 2017