The Middle East

Update: Israel Eases Gaza Blockade, Allows Building Supplies into Region

By Alyxandra Stanczak
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel – In response to discussion and comments about the Gaza embargo led by British Middle East envoy Tony Blair, and U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu testified in the foreign affairs and defense committees of the Knesset, Israel’s legislative branch, that the Gaza blockade should restrict fewer critical items. Netanyahu’s testimony came after Arab League prime minister Amr Moussa’s trip to Gaza this past week to meet with Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh.

Building materials and other critical items can now enter Gaza. Photo courtesy of the New York Times.
Building materials and other critical items can now enter Gaza. / Photo courtesy of the New York Times.

Netanyahu indicated last week that he supported increasing the amount and type of items that would no longer be subject to Israel’s blockade of Gaza. The former rules governing Israel’s blockade required all items entering Gaza be on an “allowed items” list. This rule was amended so that items not explicitly on a “banned items” list could be imported into Gaza.

Significantly,  building materials can now be shipped into Gaza.  The region’s infrastructure underwent intense damage during the 2008-09 three week Gaza War.  Roughly five percent of Gaza’s commercial and government buildings were destroyed, resulting in the loss of 189 buildings, including eleven factories and eight warehouses.  Furthermore, 6268 homes are estimated to have been damaged or destroyed during the war. These buildings have, largely, remained unrepaired since 2009 due to the difficulty in attaining necessary repair materials. As a result of the damage to these dwellings and the lack of available material to repair them, it is estimated that roughly 20,000 Gazanas have remained displaced after the war.

The Knesset’s decision to allow building materials into Gaza is the first stage in the process of  rebuilding infrastructure in the war-torn region.  Schools, hospitals, government buildings, and other critical institutions that were severely damaged, hope to begin rebuilding as soon as the materials become available in Gaza.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Israel to loosen Gaza blockade – 21 June 2010

BBC – Israel outlines changes to Gaza blockade – 21 June 2010

Ha’aretz – Decision to ease Gaza seige weakens Hamas –  21 June 2010

Reuters – U.N. agency calls for full lifting of Gaza blockade – 21 June 2010

United Nations Development Programme – Gaza – One Year After Report – 24 May 2010

Human Rights Watch – Israel: Investigate Unlawful Destruction in the Gaza War – 13 May 2010

Iran hangs Sunni militant group leader

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Sunni militant group leader Abdolmalek Rigi was hanged on Sunday. [Photo Courtesy of BBC.]

TEHRAN, Iran – The leader of a former Sunni militant group was hanged in Iran on Sunday after being convicted of seventy-nine crimes in Iran, including murder, terrorist activities, armed robbery, kidnapping, and assassination attempts, among other serious crimes.

On the orders of the Islamic Revolution Court, Abdolmalek Rigi was hanged at dawn at Tehran’s Evin prison in front of family members of the victims of his crimes. Intelligence agents arrested him in February over the Persian Gulf while on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan.

His younger brother, Abdulhamid, was executed last month in Iran.

Jundallah (Soldiers of God) has been blamed by Iran for carrying out bombings, abductions, and killings in the southeastern Sistan-Balochistan province, which borders Pakistan and is about seven hundred miles southeast of Tehran. The group says it is fighting to defend the rights of ethnic Baluchis, the majority of whom live in Sistan-Baluchistan. Iran has accused the group of trying to destabilize Iran. Jundallah claims that it just wants freedom from persecution.

Sistan-Baluchistan is a center of drug trafficking, kidnappings, and armed clashes. Iran claims that Jundallah is similar to Al Qaeda, and also that Jundullah receives support from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Pakistan. All three countries have vehemently denied such allegations.

On October 18, 2009, Jundallah killed forty-two people, including six senior Revolutionary Guards commanders, in Sistan-Baluchestan. A bombing in a Shia mosque in Zahedan killed twenty-five people in May 2009.

Tehran authorities said that Rigi was en route to a meeting with U.S. or Western officials in Kyrgyzstan. Ragi, in a video statement broadcast on Iranian television said, “They said they would cooperate with us and would give me military equipment.”

According to a court statement, Rigi “collaborated and ordered fifteen armed abductions, confessed to three murders, and order the murders of tens of citizens, police and military personnel through bombings and armed actions.”

“The execution of Abdolmalek Rigi is the result of his shameful acts, and other criminals should be aware that if they continue with their outrageous acts against Islam in the country, they will meet the same fate as this criminal,” state news agency IRNA quoted Nazir Ahmed Salami, a top Sunni cleric who represents the province in the Assembly of Experts, as saying.

For more information, please see:

Tehran Times – Terrorist mastermind Abdolmalek Rigi hanged – 21 June 2010

BBC – Iran hangs Sunni militant leader Abdolmalek Rigi – 20 June 2010

CNN – Iran executes militant group leader – 20 June 2010

Los Angeles Times – Iran hangs leader of outlawed Sunni militant group – 20 June 2010

Jakarta Globe – Iran’s top Sunni rebel hanged – 20 June 2010

FOX News – Iran hangs man accused of leading insurgent group active near border with Pakistan – 19 June 2010

Female Genital Mutilation Remains Widespread Practice Among Iraqi Kurds

By Dallas Steele
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Kurdish Girls and Women are at Risk of Forced Female Circumcisions. (Photo Courtesy of CNN)
Kurdish girls and women remain at risk of receiving forced circumcisions. (Photo Courtesy of AFP)

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq– In the autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan, female circumcision continues to occur, and has become increasingly prevalent in the last decade. The procedure, medically known as clitoridectomy, involves the partial or total removal of the clitoris.

In Kurdistan, the operation is typically performed by individuals who have not received medical training, and often conducted with an unsantized razor blade. The practice, which is neither mandated by Islam nor found in the Koran, is intended to deprive young girls and women of any sexual urges or desires in order to preserve their fidelity.

Although the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) does not keep statistics on female circumcisions or post-operative medical consequences, it is believed that at least forty percent of girls and women in Iraq’s Kurdistan region have undergone the procedure. Other studies have found that up to eighty percent of women fourteen years of age and older have had at least a partial clitoridectomy.

The KRG has received increasing pressure to enact legislation banning the practice on young girls and unconsenting adult women. The KRG’s Justice Ministry circulated an order in 2007 announcing that it would arrest and punish any practitioners of female genital mutilation. Furthermore, a draft law banning the practice was enacted by the Kurdistan Regional Parliament in 2007.  However, both efforts by the KRG to suppress the practice have largely been ignored.  

Kurdish women who have undergone the procedure have testified to the damaging effects that procedure has, physically and mentally. Baxcha A., a twenty-two-year-old married woman, relayed her nightmarish experience to members of Human Rights Watch as they conducted a survey on the topic in 2009. Baxcha told the advocacy organization how, at the age of five, she was held to the ground, and was forced to undergo the surgery. Baxcha reported that she only given water and ash to place on the wound after the procedure.

Human Rights Watch, and other human rights groups, have called on Kurdish authorities to outlaw the practice and enforce a ban on female genital mutilation. Kurdish officials have responded by downplaying the statistics of various studies concerning female circumcision in the area. Furthermore, Mariwan Naqshbandi, spokesman for Kurdistan’s Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs, has dismissed the surveys and stated that Kurdistan has “issues far more important” to confront than female genital mutilation.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Human rights group urges Kurds to ban female circumcision – 17 June 2010

BBC – HRW presses Iraqi Kurds to ban female circumcision – 16 June 2010

The New York Times – Kurdistan Is Urged to Ban Genital Cutting – 16 June 2010

Anniversary of Iranian Election Passes Quietly, but not Unnoticed

By Warren Popp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Green Revolution Protesters (Photo by jeffmcneill on Flickr)
Large numbers of "Green Revolution" Protesters took to the streets last year (Photo by "jeffmcneill" on Flickr)
TEHRAN, Iran – Last Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of the “Green Revolution” in Iran, the protest movement that formed in reaction to the outcome of the Iranian presidential elections, with many Iranians believing that the opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, was the legitimate winner over incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The massive protests were met by a violent government crackdown which killed dozens of people and led to the imprisonment of many others.

Iranian authorities, most prominently Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, blamed last year’s massive protests on Western powers, accusing them of orchestrating the protests as part of an attempt to topple the Iranian regime.

While opposition leaders made plans to organize major protests to mark the anniversary, they called off the plans, “to protect the lives and property of people,” when the government both denied their protest permit and vowed to suppress any protests. Mousavi told his supporters that the “best means” to voice their discontent is to expand the social networks and websites: The same sources that originally propelled the movement and gave it the nickname, the “Twitter Revolution.”

The one-year anniversary was met with a relatively calm response in Iran, with small protests, sporadic clashes, and reports of ninety one  protesters arrested, including a political ally of Mousavi’s, Davoud Roshani, and a labour union activist, Reza Shahabi.

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry reportedly sent text messages to random citizens that were clearly designed to intimidate them. Bloomberg Businessweek cited the website Rahesabz as reporting that the messages said: “Dear citizen, you have been deceived by the foreign media and are cooperating with them. If repeated, you will be dealt with according to the Islamic punishment law.”

The international community takes notice

GENEVA, Switzerland – While the response to the June 13th anniversary inside Iran was limited, the international community seized the opportunity to condemn the extensive human rights abuses in Iran. On June 11, 2010, criticism was levelled against Iran when the Human Rights Councils conducted its Universal Periodic Review of Iran. Countries such as the United States, Britain, and Norway accused Iran of violating human rights, freedom of speech and expressions, and denying access to the Council’s special rapporteurs—specialists who are given mandates to report on various human rights issues.

The Iranian delegation responded that they welcomed visits by the special rapporteurs in “due course”; however, no special rapporteur has been given access to Iran since 2005. Some of Iran’s allies and neighbors in the Council, such as Kuwait, Pakistan, Venezuela, and Cuba, praised and defended Tehran’s human rights record in the same Council meeting.

On 17 June, 2010, Iran also became a contentious topic in the Human Rights Council when Norway, on behalf of fifty-four countries, gave a statement marking the anniversary of Iran’s election crackdown, criticizing Iran’s human rights record, especially since last year’s election, including, “the violent suppression of dissent, detention and executions without due process of law, severe discrimination against women and minorities including people of the Bah’ai faith, and restrictions on freedom of expression and religion.”

Iran responded to the crticism by issuing a procedural challenge, claiming that country-specific statements are not allowed under the particular topic, the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action. With the support of several other countries on the Council, the Council was delayed by several hours as the Council sought to avoid a contentious vote on the issue.

World leaders, including United States President Barack Obama, and NGOs such as Amnesty International also used the June 13th anniversary as an opportunity to criticize the human rights record of Iran, and to call for the World community to support the Iranian people in the fight for freedom. In a statement, President Obama said, “It is the responsibility of all free people and free nations to make it clear that we are on the side of those who seek freedom, justice and dignity, as surely as hope and history are.” He also said the election will be “remembered for how the Iranian government brutally suppressed dissent and murdered the innocent, including a young woman left to die in the street.”

For more information, please see:

Tehran Times – 91 Detained in Tehran on Presidential Poll Anniversary: Police – 17 June 2010

Washington Times – Editorial: Iran’s Twitter Revolution – 16 June 2009

Wall Street Journal – On Vote Anniversary, Iran Is Quiet Amid Heavy Security – 14 June 2010

Al Jazeera – Iran Marks Poll Anniversary – 13 June 2010

Bloomberg Businessweek – Iran Authorities Say 91 People Detained on Election Anniversary – 13 June 2010

BBC – Tehran Clashes Reported on Iran Vote Anniversary – 12 June 2010

Inter Press Service – Iran Pressured to Open Doors to U.N. Rights Investigators – 11 June 2010

AFP – Obama Urges Support for Iranian ‘Freedom’ – 10 June 2010

AP – US Urges Iran to Fulfill Human Rights Pledges – 10 June 2010

N.Y. Times – Iran Defends Rights Record as Opposition Cancels Rally – 10 June 2010

Israeli agent wanted in connection with Hamas murder

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

WARSAW, Poland – Polish authorities have arrested a suspected Israeli agent in connection with the murder of a Hamas leader in Dubai earlier this year.

Germany is now seeking the extradition of Uri Brodsky, suspected in the January assassination of a Hamas commander, identified as Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of the Palestinian group Hamas’ military wing.

Brodsky was allegedly involved in illegally obtaining a German passport, according to a spokesman for the German prosecution, who added that it’s now up to the Poles to decide whether to give Brodsky up to Germany, where he will faces charges of espionage and forgery.

Arrested on June 4 at the Warsaw airport on suspicion that he assisted one of the assassins with obtaining a fraudulent passport, Polish authorities have a month to decide on extradition.

He allegedly worked with Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. Israel opposes Poland’s proposed extradition of Brodsky to Germany. However, according to the Polish prosecutor, the extradition is based on a European warrant, which, consistent with European Union standards, leaves Poland with little choice in the decision.

Der Spiegel, a German magazine, reported that the Israeli embassy in Warsaw is urging Poland not to extradite Brodsky to Germany.

His wife also issued a statement urging the authorities to permit Brodsky to be turned over to the Dubai authorities to be tried there.

He will not face charges in connection with the assassination of the Hamas commander, only the espionage and forgery charges.

Officials from Dubai have claimed that Israeli agents are responsible for the January killing and provided the names of two dozen alleged assassins who carried out the plot using fraudulent passports from several different countries, including Britain, the Irish Republic, France, Australia, and Germany. The Dubai police have released surveillance footage showing the alleged Mossad suspects from the hit squad. According to the police, al-Mabhouh was drugged and suffocated.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Israeli wanted over Dubai killing ‘held in Poland’ – 12 June 2010

Al Jazeera – Poland holds alleged Israeli spy – 13 June 2010

The Jerusalem Post – Poles support agent’s extradition – 14 June 2010

Bloomberg Businessweek – Poland May Seek Surrender of Suspected Mossad Agent Tomorrow – 15 June 2010

Examiner – Mossad agent allegedly involved in Hamas killing now to be extradited to Germany – 15 June 2010

Haaretz.com – Poland to extradite alleged Mossad agent to Germany – 15 June 2010