By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia– Saudi Arabia may soon allow women lawyers to appear in court to argue cases for the first time.

Justice Minister Mohammed al-Essa said the law was part of King Abdullah’s plan to develop the legal system.  As one official suggested, the proposed new law may be issued “in the coming days.”

The proposed new law would allow women to appear in court on family related cases, including divorce and child custody ones.  Currently, female lawyers can only work behind the scenes in government and court offices.  Additionally, if the new legislation passes, Saudi women will be allowed to complete certain legal procedures without the presence of a witness.

Under a system of male guardianship currently in place, Saudi Arabian women are required to be kept separate from men they are not related to.  All women must be veiled to some degree in public.  They are not allowed to drive, and women under the age of 45 must receive permission from a male when they travel.  Opportunities for education and employment are subject to similar restrictions.  Recently however, measures have been taken to ease these and other constraints.

The plan to increase women’s access to courts comes after a Saudi reformer told American media that empowering women in Saudi Arabia is the key to spreading democracy throughout the Arab and Muslim world.

“Democratizing Saudi Arabia is the key to democratizing all Arabs and Muslims,” said Dr. Ali Alyami, the director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia.  He added that “the best, easiest, cheapest and quickest way to achieve this formidable undertaking is to empower Saudi women…Empowering Saudi women will resonate through Arab and Muslim societies.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News- Saudi Women to be Allowed to Argue Cases in Court– 21 February 2010

Daily Times- Saudi Arabia to Allow Women Lawyers in Courts Soon– 21 February 2010

The Washington Post- New Saudi Law Would Allow Women Lawyers in Court– 20 February 2010

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANAA, Yemen – According to a report issued by UNICEF and the Yemen children’s rights organization SEYAJ, 187 children have been killed in the war in Northern Yemen since August.

Monday’s report placed the blame for the children’s deaths on government-backed militias fighting the Shia Huthis in northern Yemen.  The report also suggested that the Yemeni Shiite rebels and the pro-government militia were using child soldiers in the conflict.

According to the report, of the 187 who have died, seventy-one percent have been killed in the fighting while the remaining casualties resulted from lack of food or medical services.

The most recent conflict in what has been an ongoing six-year battle began on August 11 when the rebel Huthis and government forces began fighting.  At the time, government forces launched an all-out offensive aimed at crushing the uprising.  On November 4, Saudi Arabia joined the fighting after rebel forces were accused of killing a border guard and said to have been occupying two villages inside Saudi territory.

The UNICEF report also noted that there was child soldiers on both sides of the conflict.  Estimates suggest that there were approximately 400 child soldiers fighting alongside the Huthis, while the pro-government militia had just fewer than 300 children fighting on their side.

In addition to the children that have died, the report also stated that over 70,000 children have been displaced in the northern cities of Sadaa and Amran.  Furthermore, it is believed that over ninety percent of children in the conflict zone were unable to receive basic education services due to the fighting. Of the 701 schools in Saada Governorate, seventeen were destroyed in the fighting and another sixteen had been taken over by one or other of the warring parties. Most of the remaining schools are now deserted.

Despite a ceasefire that was reached on February 11, reports of sporadic clashes have been commonplace.

For more information, please see:

Reuters- YEMEN: Children Hit Hardest by Northern Conflict– 23 February 2010

Gulf News- 187 Children Killed in Yemen’s War with Rebels– 22 February 2010

News 24- 187 Children Killed in Yemen– 22 February 2010

By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – A string of attacks throughout Iraq on February 22 left over twenty people dead, including nine children. The attacks came in a series of bombings, shootings and beheadings. The attacks include rockets exploding in the Green Zone (Baghdad’s heavily fortified neighborhood), car bombings near government buildings, and killings of security officers and government. Iraqi officials have reportedly been able to detect a discernible pattern to the violence.

Among the attacks were the killings of two families in their homes in Baghdad.  With respect to one of the families, gunmen killed entire family, who were reportedly Shi’ite Muslims living in an area outside of the Baghdad that is majority Sunni. Neighbors found the six children and their parents dead in their home in the rural town of Wehda, a town that witnessed some of the first sectarian violence in 2005.

A Baghdad security spokesman confirmed the incident in a statement, saying “unknown gunmen killed eight members of the same family with silencers, and then cut the heads off some of the bodies. The spokesman confirmed that four arrests had been made in connection with the killings. The beheading of civilians has traditionally been associated with Sunni extremists linked to al-Qaeda.

Another attack came where a suicide bomber attacked a government building in Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar province. The attack killed five people. Anbar was previously an insurgent stronghold. The bombing was the latest in a string that have raised fears that Al Qaeda is attempting to regain control of the area.

Among the other attacks on February 22 was a car bombing that exploded outside the Internal Affairs Ministry in Baghad. The bombing killed two Iraqi policemen and three civilians. Another attack came when a sniper shot a policeman who was manning a checkpoint. A street cleaner, university professor, businessman, four policemen and two soldiers were also shot and killed in separate attacks in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk.

There was no immediate suggestion by Iraqi officials that the attacks are related the coming national election. However, the level of violence in the country has escalated as election day nears.

For more information, please see:

Los Angeles Times – 26 People Killed in Brutal Attacks Across Iraq – 23 February 2010

AFP – Eight Family Members Brutally Killed in Iraq – 22 February 2010

BBC – Iraq Gunmen ‘Behead Shia Family in’ Baghdad – 22 February 2010

New York Times – Spike in Iraq Violence as Vote Nears – 22 February 2010

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BRUSSELS, Belgium – European Union foreign ministers released a statement on February 22, saying they have “strongly condemned” the use of forged European passports by the alleged assassins of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a Hamas commander, in Dubai in January 2010. While the statement made no reference to Israel, it is widely assumed that the Mossad, Israel’s secret intelligence service, was behind the killing.

Al-Mabhouh was murdered in his hotel room in Dubai on January 19. On February 15, Dubai police released closed-circuit video from the hotel that showed dramatic footage of the eleven suspected assassins, all with forged European passports—six British, three Irish, one French, and one German. It later emerged that the hit-squad had stolen the identities of innocent people, seven of whom have dual Israeli citizenship and currently live in Israel.

Israeli officials have neither confirmed nor denied their country’s involvement with the assassination. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met with his counterparts at the European Union headquarters in Brussels after the E.U. statement was released. Michael Martin, the Irish Foreign Minister, told the press that Mr. Lieberman did not have any additional information on the assassination.

“He didn’t deny it,” said Mr. Martin, “but I don’t want that to be construed one way or the other. He said he didn’t have any information.”

On the Israeli Foreign Ministry website, a statement said that Mr. Lieberman told Mr. Martin that no report linked Israel with the assassination. The statement went on to say that if and when a report does so, beyond media reports, Israel would respond.

The incident has held ordinary Israelis to question the ethics of the Mossad. Israelis take pride in the organization’s stealth and ability to quietly take out what it believes are enemies of Israel, yet the use of Israeli citizens’ passports has thrown that pride into question. Many Israelis are immigrants from European countries and continue to hold passports from their countries of origin.

There are plenty of people who would have been willing to cooperate with that kind of a mission. So if they’re using these people’s identities unbeknownst to them, then it’s very problematic,” said Jean-Marc Liling, a Swiss-French human rights lawyer now living in Israel. “Using people’s identities without their consent is really intolerable.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – EU Condemns Passport Use in Dubai Killing – 22 February 2010

The National (UAE) – Europe Condemns Stolen Identities Used in al Mabhouh Killing – 22 February 2010

New York Times – E.U. Decries Passport Use by Assassins – 22 February 2010

Christian Science Monitor – Israelis Ponder Mossad Ethics, Role in Dubai Hamas Assassination – 18 February 2010

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon– On Wednesday, a Lebanese military judge indicted 11 suspected members of an al-Qaeda inspired group with plotting terrorist attacks and monitoring U.N. peacekeeper movements, judicial officials said.

Military judge Samih Hajj charged the men with planning bombings against civilian targets and undermining the state.  A judicial source requesting anonymity told reporters that “Judge al-Hajj charged 11 suspected members of Fatah-al-Islam with forming an armed gang, spying on the army and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) troops (in southern Lebanon), and forging ID papers.”

If convicted, they could face the death penalty.  Among those charged, six are in custody while five still remain at large.  Two of the individuals who remain at large are Abdul Rahman Awad and Abdul Ghani Jawar, two Fatah al-Islam members accused of a deadly 2008 bus bombing in the northern city of Tripoli which killed 18 people, mostly soldiers.

Dozens of al-Qaeda inspired militants have been captured and charged in Lebanon during recent years.  The majority of those individuals are from the Fatah al-Islam group that fought a bloody three month battle against the Lebanese army in the summer of 2007 in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared near Tripoli.

The fighting killed more than 400 people including some 200 militants, 170 soldiers and 47 civilians.  In addition, close to 30,000 refugees were displaced after the camp was leveled during the fighting.

In June 2007, six peacekeepers of the UNIFIL were killed by a bombing in southern Lebanon while the Nahr al-Bared clashes raged.  At the time, Lebanese officials pointed the finger at Fatah al-Islam for the incident.

Since the Nahr al-Bared battle, there has been widespread speculation that the group has switched its base to the highly volatile Palestinian camp of Ain al-Hilweh in southern Lebanon.  Lebanese officials believe that Awad, who has been termed the “prince of Fatah al-Islam,” is holed up at Ain al-Hilweh, the largest of Lebanon’s 12 Palestinian camps.  However, because of longstanding agreement, the Lebanese army does not enter the camps, leaving security inside to Palestinian sanctions.

For more information, please see:

AFP- Lebanon Charges al Qaeda Linked Suspects with Spying– 17 February 2010

Reuters- Death Penalty Sought for Qaeda Suspects in Lebanon– 17 February 2010

The Wall Street Journal- Lebanon Charges 11 for Plotting Terrorist Attacks– 17 February 2010