By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran –  Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to execution by stoning for alleged adultery has reportedly appeared on Iranian state television and ‘confessed’ to her crime.  The ‘confession’ was broadcast on Wednesday night, and Ashtiani [or a woman who identified herself as Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani] confessed to conspiring to murder her husband with her husband’s cousin, the man she is accused of having an affair with.

The face of the woman who identified herself as Ashtiani was blurred, and her words were dubbed from Azeri, Ashtiani’s native language, into Persian.  These factors rendered positive identification of Ashtiani impossible.

The interview was broadcast the day after U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, urged Iran to honor treaty obligations which require Iran to respect the rights of citizens and to halt executions.

Ashtiani, a forty three-year-old mother of two, was first convicted of the crime of having an “illicit relationship” with two men in 2006 and received 99 lashes. Later that year an inquiry into whether she had committed “adultery while married” was opened and she was retried, receiving the sentence of execution by stoning.

Houtan Kian has taken on representation of Ashtiani since her last attorney, Mohammad Mostafaie, fled the country and sought asylum in Norway. He told the Guardian that the interview was genuine, and that Ashtiani was, in the days preceding the interview, “severely beaten up and tortured until she accepted to appear in front of the camera.” Kian added that he was worried that the judiciary would move quickly in order to carry out her death sentence now that they have a confession.

He reported that Ashtiani’s twenty two-year-old son and seventeen-year-old daughter were “completely traumatised by watching this programme.”

Nazanine Moshiri, an Al Jazeera reporter reporting from Tehran, said that a source connected to the Iranian judiciary has stated that is is unlikely that Ashtiani will be executed during Ramadan [which lasts until September 9th], and added that there remains a “small possibility” that her execution will be revoked.

The supposed confession comes nearly a month after her death sentence was suspended for judicial review.  Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East, Hassiba Hadj Sahroui, said that the broadcast calls into question the independence of the Iranian judiciary. Sahroui stated:

“If the judiciary in Iran is to be taken seriously, this ‘confession’ needs to be disregarded  and assurances given that it will not affect the review of her case.”

Mina Ahadi of the Iran Committee against Stoning (ICAS) said:

“It’s not the first time Iran has put an innocent victim on a televised programme and killed them on the basis of forced confessions – it has happened numerously in the first decade of the Islamic Revolution.”

Ashtiani’s case still remains to be heard before the Iranian Supreme Court.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Iran stoning woman ‘confesses’ – 12 August 2010

The Guardian – Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani ‘confesses’ to murder on Iran state TV – 12 August 2010

New York Times – Woman Sentenced to Death by Stoning Reportedly Appears on Iranian Television – 12 August 2010

Radio Free Europe – Lawyers Say Stoning Defendant ‘Tortured’ To Confess on TV – 12 August 2010

 

By Alyxandra Stanczak
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates – Thirty-eight Bengali and Pakistani workers are currently stranded in the emirate of Sharjah after their Indian employers fled the country, leaving the workers without ten-months of back pay. The workers earn approximately $220 a month, and there is no sign that the employers have any intention of paying the workers. These workers are forced remain in the UAE without work visas as they generally do not have enough money to return to their respective homes.

In March, the workers took to the Emirati courts to attempt to seize their lost wages, but no progress was made on the issue. They have also registered their status as abandoned with the courts, resulting in an issuing of passports which would allow them to leave the country. It is customary for employers of migrant workers to retain the passports of their employees upon entering the UAE for work purposes.

This past week, the abandoned workers attempted to appeal to the Ministry of Labor. The Ministry stated that they cannot help these workers because of the legal action that they previously took against their employers. Saher Shaikh stated that “The authorities are extremely proactive and supportive in trying to help camps in this situation. [However], this particular camp … seems to be dragging on for a quite a while.”

These thirty-eight workers currently face eviction, and cannot afford food, water, and power – much less a flight home. They are surviving on handouts they receive off the streets.

Approximately 12 million foreign workers, primarily from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and other South Asian countries, have come to the UAE and other Gulf countries where they earn higher wages than they can in their respective home countries. Mirgrant workers they do not have substantial legal protection in the UAE, and cannot form labor unions. Since the economy in the UAE has slowed, migrant workers, particularly in the emirates of Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi, face abandonment as their employers liquidate their remaining assets and flee the country when ventures prove unprofitable.

A non-profit group, Adopt-A-Camp, has been set up by Saher Shaikh to provide assistance to Gulf workers in these situations.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Gulf laborers remain stranded – 5 August 2010

Change.org – Exploited workers stranded in Dubai – 3 August 2010

Migrant Workers – UAE: Thousands of laborers left to fend for themselves – 23 July 2010

Reuters – Migrant workers collateral damage of UAE slump – 20 July 2010

By Warren Popp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait – Hundreds of domestic workers from the Philippines are filling the lobby of the Philippine embassy in Kuwait. As more domestic workers continue to arrive, they are straining the already limited capacity of this make-shift shelter.

The Philippine workers have been fleeing their Kuwaiti sponsors on a daily basis since at least 2009 (a Kuwait Times article in July 2009 cited reports of five to ten Philippine maids fleeing daily). The New York Times reported that Philippine embassy officials fear that the arrival of Ramadan in the coming weeks, with the extra strain of the long days of food preparation for the large evening meal, and long nights, is expected to lead to the arrival of perhaps hundreds of new domestic workers seeking protection at the embassy. To highlight this fear, the New York Times reported the case of Rosflor Armada, who said that during Ramadan last year, she was only permitted to sleep for two hours because she need to cook for the evening meal. She reportedly left her employers after they tried to make her wash windows at three in the morning. Armada is one of those staying in the embassy shelter.

The New York Times notes that the existence of these types of shelters represents “a hard reality here:” There are few legal safeguards for employers who mistreat or refuse to pay their domestic workers, and the existing laws pertaining to domestic workers reportedly err on the side of protecting employers. Thus, for many workers, escape from their employers is their only viable option. It should also be noted that, according to the New York Times, these informal shelters are open secrets and touchy subjects in Kuwait.

A 2010 United States Department of State report noted some migrants “are subjected to conditions of forced labor by their sponsors and labor agents, including through such practices as nonpayment of wages, threats, physical or sexual abuse, and restrictions on movement, such as the withholding of passports.”

Kuwaiti official claim that the majority of the approximately 650,000 domestic workers in Kuwait are treated well, with many being considered a part of the families that they are employed by, and many are even given extra pay and benefits during Ramadan.

However, separate stories of Indonesian domestic workers being brutally killed by their sponsors in recent weeks, as well as reports that a Sri Lankan domestic worker was imprisoned by her Kuwaiti employers for 13 years, have drawn attention to the issue. In the case of domestic worker, Abdulaziz al Falekh, the couple that was sponsoring her admitted to torturing her, and then, after fearing that the maid would die from the torture, taking her to the desert and crushing her to death with their car to make it look like she was run over by another motorist.

In the case of a domestic worker named Sariah, an Indonesian forensics team found that she was beaten to death with a blunt object, while a Kuwaiti forensics team had earlier claimed that Sariah had died of natural causes. According to the Jakarta Globe, Sariah told her family that her boss routinely abused her, and, in her last phone conversation with her family, she informed them that she had been beaten and locked in a room without meals. The director of Migrant Care, which was contacted by Sariah’s family after she was admitted to hospital in a coma, claims that Kuwaiti officials failed to investigate the case despite solid evidence that there was torture and beatings caused by her employer. The director said that Migrant Care was forced to act to ensure an autopsy was completed, as the government does not routinely do autopsies on deaths of migrant workers.

The director of Migrant Care said that, according to its data, there has not been a single foreign employer from a Middle-East country that has been found guilty of abusing a domestic worker. She hopes that Sariah’s case, “could be the starting point to investigate other deaths and we hope the government will be more attentive to our workers.”

For more information, please see:

New York Times – Immigrant Maids Flee Lives of Abuse in Kuwait – 1 August 2010

Jakarta Globe – Ministry Probes Brutal Death Of Indonesian Maid in Kuwait– 23 July 2010

Manilla Bulletin Publishing Corporation – DFA Confirms Death of 2 OFWs in Kuwait – 20 July 2010

Arab Times – Couple Admits Killing Filipina Maid – 17 July 2010

Kuwait Times – 5 to 10 Filipina Maids Fleeing Sponsors Daily – 27 July 2009

By Elizabeth A. Conger,
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel –  On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet recommended the deportation of 400 children of migrant workers within the next month.  The recommendation was approved by thirteen ministers, and voted against by ten, with four ministers abstaining.

Out of 1,200 children considered for deportation this past year, 800 were allowed to stay in Israel.

Of the remaining 400 children, those whose migrant parents have been in Israel for less than five years, and who have not yet entered first grade or a higher grade, will be deported.  Those children allowed to stay in Israel must also speak Hebrew, and if they were not born in Israel, must have arrived in Israel before the age of thirteen.  The parents of children allowed to stay must also have entered Israel legally.  Borderline cases will be decided by a special committee.

Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog abstained from the vote, stating: “I didn’t vote in favor [of the proposal] despite the improvements, which I supported, I could not accept deporting a group of five-year-old children.”

Those families whose children do meet the criteria must submit a request to the Interior Ministry within twenty one days.  If they are found to qualify, they will be given an additional twenty one days to produce required documentation. If approved, their parents and siblings will be entitled to temporary residence permits.

Netanyahu said of the decision: “This is a reasonable and balanced decision . . . It was influenced by two primary considerations – the humanitarian consideration and the Zionist consideration. We’re looking for a way to absorb and adopt to our hearts children who were brought up and raised here as Israelis. On the other hand, we don’t want to create an incentive that will lead to hundreds of thousands of illegal migrant workers flooding the country.”

Israeli Radio has reported that the Kibbutz Movement has made an offer to absorb the 400 children.  Kibbutz  Movement Secretary-General Ze’ev Schor appealed to Defense Minister Ehud Barak to freeze the cabinet’s decision.  Schor stated that the children slated for deportation were Israeli in every aspect beside their citizenship.

UNICEF Israel protested the cabinet’s decision calling it a “blatant violation” of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a signatory.  “Israel must formulate a human immigration policy and stop the senseless revolving door policy, that wants to deport migrant workers and their children, on the one hand, and bring in new ones instead, on the other.”

Physicians for Human Rights Israel also protested the cabinet’s decision and said: “The threat of deportation that hangs over the heads of hundreds of children is a dreadful edict, which we refuse to accept. We will continue to act in order to make sure that all the children receive legal status in Israel and to assure that Israel establish a humane and orderly immigration policy. Adhoc solutions like this one are no replacement for such a policy.”

Israel has a population of 7.5 million, 250,000 to 300,000 of which are migrant laborers.  Only half of the migrant laborers in Israel have valid documentation.  Due to security concerns, Israel began to invite foreign workers for limited time periods to replace Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza to work in construction, agriculture and domestic work.  A significant proportion of those initially invited to work in Israel have outstayed their visas. The migrant population also continues to swell because of an influx of African refugees and economic migrants entering the porous border with Egypt.

For more information, please see:

Haaretz.com – Kitbbutz Movement Offers to Absorb Children of Foreign Workers set for Deportation – 2 August 2010

The Jerusalem Post – 400 foreign workers’ kids out – 2 August 2010

The New York Times – Israelis Divided on Deporting Children – 2 August 2010

Haaretz.com – Cabinet Approves Deportation of 400 Migrant Children from Israel  – 1 August 2010

 

 

By Alyxandra Stanczak
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – On Thursday, July 29, 2010, Emadeddin Baghi, acclaimed author and human rights activist, was sentenced to one year in prison for “acting against [Iran’s] national security through the spreading of propaganda against the regime,” “disclosing classified documents about [Iran’s] prisons,” “visiting political prisoners’ families and providing them with financial and legal help,” and “having relations with human rights organizations abroad.”  Along with his jail sentence, Baghi was sentenced to a five-year ban from political and media activities.

Considered to be a highly influential human rights activist in Iran, Baghi won the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for his campaign against the death penalty. Additionally, Baghi is an award-winning author and journalist. Six of Baghi’s twenty five books are banned in Iran. His efforts in Iran have largely focused on founding and heading the Association for the Defense of Detainee Rights.

Baghi was arrested on December 28, 2009 and released on bail June 23, 2010 after 180 days in jail awaiting his trial. Before his release, Baghi spent 150 of his 180 days in solitary confinement. After his first arrest in 2000 which led to a two-year prison sentence, Baghi has spent over four-and-a-half years out of the past ten years in prison.

In addition to Baghi’s one-year sentence, he now faces charges for an interview he participated in with the late Cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who was extremely influential in the reformist movement and spoke out publically against the controversial reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Baghi is one of many human rights activists in Iran targeted by Teheran. Other human rights activists have been arrested, detained, and charged in Iran, including seven members of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, Saeed Kalanaki, Saeed Jalalifar, Shiva Nazar Ahari, Koohyar Goodarzi, Saeed Haeri, Parisa Kakayi and Mehrdad Rahimi.

For more information, please see:

Radio Free Europe – Iranian Journalist, Rights Activist Given Prison Term – 29 July 2010

Eurasia Review – Award-Winning Iranian Journalist Receives Jail Term – 26 July 2010

RTT News – Acclaimed Human Rights Activist Sentenced in Iran to One Year – 26 July 2010

Sydney Morning Herald – Iran jails award-winning journalist – 26 July 2010

Amnesty International – Prisoner of Conscience – 7 January 2010