By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – There has been an increase in concern regarding Iran’s nuclear program from other countries in the United Nations. Countries such as France and the United States have made it known that they feel that the best method to deal with the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program is to impose new sanctions against the country. Turkey, however, is arguing that new sanctions would be a mistake and the best method to dealing with Iran is diplomacy.

The leaders of the United States and France have vowed to push for new sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program. French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with U.S. President Barack Obama regarding the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions. President Obama, after the meeting, commented that they planned on having sanctions in place “within weeks.” President Sarkozy also commented, promising that “all necessary efforts to make sure Europe as a whole engaged in the sanctions regime.”

The United States and France are not alone with their arguments in favor of new sanctions against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. In ensuring that all of Europe remains in involved in the new sanctions discussion, Sarkovy has ensured the support of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Sarkozy also explained that “the time has come to take decisions” on Iran’s nuclear program. He argued that simply punishing Iran isn’t enough; the Islamic Republic must be stopped from continuing on their “mad race.”

Chancellor Merkel has indicated that if the United Nations Security Council cannot agree on the sanctions to be imposed on Iran, Germany is willing to pursue its own sanctions against the Islamic Republic and invites like-minded nations to join them in doing so.

Turkey, unlike many of its fellow United Nations members, is not in favor of additional sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on March 29 that economic sanctions against Iran would do more harm than good. Erdogan made his case to Merkel during a visit to Germany. He later told reporters that “the best route (to solving the nuclear issue with Iran) is diplomacy.”

Turkey currently serves as a non-permanent member of the UN security council and Erdogan indicated that no firm decision has been made by the country as of yet.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Obama Pushes Speedy Iran Sanctions – 31 March 2010

BBC – US and France Vow to Push For New Sanctions On Iran – 30 March 2010

Reuters – Turkey Makes Case Against Sanctions on Iran – 29 March 2010

By Ahmad Shihadah

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’DA, Yemen – Yemen told international donors at a meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday that it urgently needs to receive their pledged financial aid to combat poverty and unemployment.

“The need is increasingly urgent for the mobilization of (financial) resources” promised at a London conference in 2006, Deputy Planning Minister Hisham Sharaf Abdullah told the Friends of Yemen meeting.

He said the billions promised were needed to “reduce poverty and unemployment” in Yemen, a poor neighbor of the oil-rich Gulf Arab monarchies. “The government has undertaken reforms … but the road is still long and requires a combination of efforts to meet the challenges that hinder development and undermine the foundations of security and stability,” he added. Abdullah emphasized the importance of the active partnership between Yemen and the international community to make available the amount needed, in addition to coordination and consultation in this respect.

Representatives from about 20 Arab and Western countries met for the workshop co-chaired by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosts and Germany to address economy and good governance issues in Yemen.

The Yemeni government made a similar request last month, during a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Riyadh. Gulf countries pledged roughly $3.2 billion, almost none of which has been delivered — much like the billions promised during a similar international conference in London in 2006. GCC countries have met just 15 percent of their 2006 promises, according to Abdullah, who said the Yemeni government hopes they will deliver another 15 percent this year.

Khaled Ghanem al-Ghaith, the UAE’s deputy foreign minister, said Gulf countries would meet their commitments to Sana’a, but also seemed to link foreign aid to tougher military actions against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The Yemeni government receives takes in 70 percent of its annual budget through oil revenues, and the country’s reserves are declining rapidly.

For more information, please see:

The Majlis – Yemen To World: We Still Need $44 Billion – March 30 2010

Yemen Post – Yemen Says Needs $44 Billion As Friends Meet In Abu Dhabi – March 30 2010

AFP – Yemen Urges Donors To Honor Aid Pledges – 30 March 2010

SABA NET – Yemen Needs $44 Bin To Implement 4^th Five Year Plan, Says Sharaf – March 30 2010

By Ahmad Shihadah

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’DA, Yemen – Yemen told international donors at a meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday that it urgently needs to receive their pledged financial aid to combat poverty and unemployment.

“The need is increasingly urgent for the mobilisation of (financial) resources” promised at a London conference in 2006, Deputy Planning Minister Hisham Sharaf Abdullah told the Friends of Yemen meeting.

He said the billions promised were needed to “reduce poverty and unemployment” in Yemen, a poor neighbour of the oil-rich Gulf Arab monarchies.”The government has undertaken reforms … but the road is still long and requires a combination of efforts to meet the challenges that hinder development and undermine the foundations of security and stability,” he added. Abdullah emphasized the importance of the active partnership between Yemen and the international community to make available the amount needed, in addition to coordination and consultation in this respect.

Representatives from about 20 Arab and Western countries met for the workshop co-chaired by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosts and Germany to address economy and good governance issues in Yemen.

The Yemeni government made a similar request last month, during a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Riyadh. Gulf countries pledged roughly $3.2 billion, almost none of which has been delivered — much like the billions promised during a similar international conference in London in 2006. GCC countries have met just 15 percent of their 2006 promises, according to Abdullah, who said the Yemeni government hopes they will deliver another 15 percent this year.

Khaled Ghanem al-Ghaith, the UAE’s deputy foreign minister, said Gulf countries would meet their commitments to Sana’a, but also seemed to link foreign aid to tougher military actions against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The Yemeni government receives takes in 70 percent of its annual budget through oil revenues, and the country’s reserves are declining rapidly.

For more information, please see:

The Majlis – Yemen To World: We Still Need $44 Billion – March 30 2010

Yemen Post – Yemen Says Needs $44 Billion As Friends Meet In Abu Dhabi – March 30 2010

AFP – Yemen Urges Donors To Honor Aid Pledges – 30 March 2010

SABA NET – Yemen Needs $44 Bin To Implement 4^th Five Year Plan, Says Sharaf – March 30 2010

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates– Seventeen laborers from India were sentenced to death on Sunday for killing a Pakistani man during a fight that broke out in Sharjah, an Emirate just north of Dubai, in January 2009.  The death took place after a dispute over control of an illegal alcohol business.

Approximately fifty people were involved in the deadly attack in which the Pakistani man was stabbed several times.

According to court officials, it is the largest number of defendants sentenced to death at one time in the Emirates.  The death sentence comes just a week after Sharjah Police arrested a gang of eighteen Indians allegedly involved in the illegal alcohol trade on suspicion of kidnapping and killing rivals.

In the court session held on Sunday, a panel of judges ruled that the seventeen men, ranging in age from 22 to 30, had all played a role in killing the Pakistani man through a combination of stabbing him and beating him with metal bars.  The police report has said that the Pakistani man died from his injuries before police arrived at the scene.  Blood tests taken shortly after their arrests showed that the defendants had been drinking alcohol.

The federal penal code in the UAE says that a death sentence automatically goes to appeal.  If the appellate court upholds the verdict, the case will then be referred to the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi.  If the three judges there uphold the verdict, federal prosecutors will then submit an execution order.

A police spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the judge’s decision to issue the death sentence would undoubtedly send a strong message to bootleg gangs who start disputes with rival gangs that lead to instances of violence.

The spokesperson said that “Almost every week a case of bootlegging is now reported from Sajjia and other industrial areas.  All cases involve the use of alcohol that is illegal in the emirate.  A serious warning needs to be passed to these workers to stop the habit.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News- Death Penalty for Indians in UAE– 29 March 2010

The National- Seventeen Sentenced to Death for ‘Bootleg’ Murder– 29 March 2010

Indian Express- 17 Indians get Death Penalty in UAE for killing Pak National– 29 March 2010

Haleh Esfandiari was prevented from returning to the US in December 2006, arrested on May 8, and recently accused of working to disrupt Iranian sovereignty.  Esfandiari, who holds both Iranian and American citizenship, works as the director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, in Washington DC.  Part of her job includes planning conferences for Iranian leaders, civil, academic, and governmental, in the US on issues involving Iran.  Last December, while en route to the Tehran airport, her luggage, which held both passports, was confiscated; effectively preventing her from leaving the country.  Since December 2006 and her arrest in early May 2007, Esfandiari was repeatedly interrogated and denied access to legal counsel.  In addition to Dr. Esfandiari, two other Iranian-Americans (Ali Shakeri and Kian Tajbakhsh) are in currently in Iranian prison and a fourth, Parnaz Azima, had her passport confiscated and as a result she is prevented from leaving Iran.