The Middle East

Turkey Drafts Human Rights Bill for Kurds

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ANKARA, Turkey– The Turkish government in Ankara is considering a human rights bill aimed at finding a political solution to remedy longstanding issues with Kurdish minorities in the country.

Besir Atalay, the Turkish Interior Minister, said the government was preparing a human rights bill complete with anti-discriminatory measures to send to lawmakers for their approval.   Atalay added that the government reforms which, in addition to easing restrictions on the use of the Kurdish language, will establish independent commissions to investigate human rights violations.

Atalay also noted that there were plans for a trilateral committee of U.S., Iraqi and Turkish officials to discuss the resettlement of members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from camps in northern Iraq to compounds inside his country.

The reform is meant to boost Turkey’s chances of joining the European Union and encourage the PKK guerrilla group to disband. The PKK is seeking self-rule for the Kurds in southeastern Turkey and is considered a terrorist group by the government in Ankara, as well as by the EU and the United States. It has been engaged in a conflict with the Turkish government since 1984 that has left more than forty thousand people dead.

The bill, in its current form, will allow Kurdish-majority towns to again use their Kurdish names.  It will also allow politicians to campaign in the Kurdish language, which is a concession that builds upon earlier efforts by the ruling AK Party (AKP) to expand Kurdish cultural rights.

However, the proposed bill is not being well received by all in the Turkish government.  The main opposition party leader, Deniz Baykal, said that the government’s reforms were a “plan to destroy and split Turkey.”  In response, Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan responded that “there are some people who want martyrs (dead Turkish soldiers) so they can exploit it better.” This comment prompted Baykal and other members of his party to walk out of the talks mid- session.

For more information, please see:

Deutsche Welle- Turkey Outlines Plan to Expand Kurdish Rights– 20 November 2009

Kurdish Human Rights Project- KHRP Urges Turkey to Protect Kurdish Children from Discrimination– 20 November 2009

BBC News- Hopes of Peace in Turkey’s 25 Year Conflict– 19 November 2009

Controversy Surrounds Death of Iranian Doctor

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Authorities in Iran will investigate the death of a young doctor who testified about prisoner abuses before the Iranian Parliament. Reformist web sites allege that Dr. Ramin Pourandarjani was killed in order to keep him quiet. Pourandarjani’s testimony came in the wake of Iran’s disputed presidential election. The websites claim that he was the only independent witness to be able to verify the torture charges.

Pourandarjani’s body was found November 10 in his room at a health center in Tehran’s police headquarters. Iran’s Chief of Police said on November 18 that the doctor had committed suicide as a result of depression caused by his facing five years in prison. It was not specified what crime he was being accused of.

The police chief’s statement regarding suicide contradicted earlier statements by authorities who said that the young doctor died in his sleep of a heart attack at the Tehran police medical center. Anti-government sites claim that the authorities are involved in a cover up. Additionally, Pourandarjani’s friends claim that he told them that he was a witness to alleged police misconduct at Kahrizak prison.

Pourandarjani attended to prisoners at Kahrizak, a prison that was shut down in July after several prisoners died there. He worked there as part of his military service. Pourandarjani, according to opposition websites was arrested and held for a week by authorities who were pressuring him to change his account of what happened at Kahrizak.

The twenty six year old doctor treated anti-government demonstrators at Kahrizak. The prisoners were rounded up in a crackdown on the opposition that followed Iran’s June presidential election. The opposition disputed the election result, contending that that the rigged election allowed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad to prevail.

Iran formed a parliamentary committee to look into the post-election violence that is now planning on issuing a report on Kahrizak prison. Iranian media reports that at least three protesters died at Kahrizak under suspicious circumstances. Among the three was the son of a former senior Health Ministry official. The former official claims that his son was tortured to death. Iranian authorities attributed all three deaths to meningitis.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Suspicions Over Iran Doctor’s Death – 19 November 2009

New York Times – Iran: Doctor’s Death Raises Questions – 19 November 2009

Amnesty International USA – Iranian Authorities Must Investigate Death of Detention Centre Doctor – 18 November 2009

Washington Post – Mystery Surrounds Iranian Military Doctor’s Cause of Death – 18 November 2009

Lebanese Domestic Workers Face Deadly Month

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon– On November 9, Human Rights Watch reported that eight women migrant workers died during October 2009, a rate that is believed to be disproportionately high given that an estimated two hundred thousand domestic workers are currently employed in Lebanon.  The migrant workers primarily come from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Ethiopia.

Of the eight deaths, four were classified by police reports as suicides, while three were classified as work accidents and one cause of death was said to be from a heart attack.  The police reports noted that six of the eight deaths occurred when the workers either fell or jumped from high places.

Nadim Houry, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch said that “the death toll last month is clear evidence that the government isn’t doing enough to fix the difficult working conditions these women face.”  Houry further mentioned that “the government needs to explain why so many women who came to work in Lebanon end up leaving the country in coffins.”  As one diplomat at the consulate from the country where one of the dead women came told Human Rights Watch “these women are under pressure, with no means to go away.  Their passports are seized and they are often locked away in their employer’s house.  It is like they are living in a cage.  Human beings need to mingle with others; otherwise they lose their will to live.”

During 2006, the labor ministry in Lebanon began an official steering committee aimed at remedying the treatment of domestic migrant workers.  Then, in January of this year, the labor ministry introduced a contract that clarifies terms and conditions for domestic workers.  The new contract puts limits on such things as the maximum number of daily working hours as well as new standards for oversight within the country.

Despite these standards though, the migrant workers are not covered under Lebanon’s labor law, and consequently, there is not much in the way of enforcement for newly adopted principles aimed at helping domestic migrant workers.

For more information, please see:

Los Angeles Times- Clear Pattern of Migrant Worker Deaths Alarms Rights Advocates– 10 November 2009

Human Rights Watch- Lebanon: Deadly Month for Domestic Workers– 9 November 2009

Human Rights Watch- Lebanon: Migrant Domestic Workers Dying Every Week – 24 August 2008

Israel Begins Construction in East Jerusalem

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

EAST JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – Israel began demolition of several Palestinian houses on November 18 in East Jerusalem, making way for new Jewish houses in the neighborhood. Seven Palestinians were reportedly injured, according to Ma’an News Agency, and several more assaulted by Israeli police, who threw tear gas into the crowd of Palestinian protestors.

The protests followed a decision by the Jerusalem municipal planning committee to approve the construction of nine hundred new housing units in the East Jerusalem Arab Gilo neighborhood, which is part of the occupied West Bank. Under international law, any new Israeli settlements in occupied territory are illegal.

There was a rapid outpouring of dismay from international leaders, surrounding the decision to allow new construction. The Swedish EU presidency reiterated its position that it had never recognized Israeli control over East Jerusalem, and that the actions of the Israeli government “contravene repeated calls by the international community, … and run counter to the creation of an atmosphere conducive to achieving a viable and credible solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.”

United States President Barack Obama told Fox News that Israel’s actions do not “contribute to Israel’s security,” and that it “embitters the Palestinians in a way that could end up being very dangerous.”

Although the Jerusalem municipal planning board has approved the new construction, the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported that the Israeli prime minister has the ability to freeze all construction in East Jerusalem, following a precedent set by then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, who froze settlement construction in Sarfat, a neighborhood in northern East Jerusalem. Israel has rejected the characterization of the new construction in Gilo as a settlement, saying it is a neighborhood of Israeli East Jerusalem and therefore available for expansion under international law.

Jackie Rowland, a reporter for Al Jazeera in East Jerusalem, stated that the new construction was part of a larger effort by Israel to differentiate East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied West Bank:

“We have seen the government repeatedly claim that Jerusalem is its so-called united capital and the government said just today that whereas it planned to exercise what it called maximum restraint in the West Bank, it claimed that Jerusalem was a different case.”

For more information, please see:
 
Ha’aretz – Rabin Precedent Allows Freeze on Construction in E. Jerusalem – 20 November 2009

Ma’an News Agency – Clashes Erupt as Israeli Forces Raze Two More Homes in Jerusalem – 19 November 2009

Palestinian News Network – EU “Dismayed” By Israel’s Decision to Build New Houses in Gilo – 19 November 2009

Al Jazeera – Israel Defends Settlement Expansion – 18 November 2009

Christian Science Monitor – Obama Raps Israel Over New Jerusalem Settlement Plan – 18 November 2009

Iraq Investigates Bribery Charges Against Blackwater

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – Senior Blackwater executives approved the payment of over one million dollars to Iraqi officials. A report by the New York Times alleges that these payments came after the company’s guards killed seventeen Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007. The goal of the alleged bribery was to “silence (the) criticism” against the US security firm coming from Iraqi officials.

The shootings that forced the alleged bribery took place in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square. According to the report, Blackwater’s President at the time, Gary Jackson, approved of the payments. The money given to the Iraqi officials went through Jordan before getting to the company’s top manager in Baghdad. Executives made reference to in the Times’ report did not know if the payments were actually delivered.

One Blackwater employee pleaded guilty in United States court to a manslaughter charge over the 2007 attack. Five other company guards pleaded not guilty in January to charges against them. Blackwater has denied any wrongdoing for the shootings.

Cofer Black, a former Blackwater official and veteran of the CIA, issued a statement saying that he was “unaware of any plot or guidance for Blackwater to bribe Iraqi officials.” Additionally, Blackwater’s company spokesman, Stacy DeLuke, dismissed the allegations of bribery as “baseless” and said that the company refused to comment on their former employees. Despite this, Iraqi officials plan on determining the validity of the claims made against the US security firm.

Iraq’s Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, in an interview with CNN, said that he had ordered the investigation into whether the top officials at Blackwater had approved the bribes alleged in the New York Times report. Bolani said that he is still in the process of gathering information regarding the allegations and explained that he hopes that individuals with information will come forward and help with the investigation.

Blackwater has been a topic of much controversy in Iraq even before the 2007 shootings. This comes from the company’s size and aggressive nature in the country. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called the 2007 incident a massacre and was unhappy that their contract was renewed. The US Government has asked Blackwater to provide security services to US diplomats in Iraq until the newly hired firm is ready to take over.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Iraq Probes ‘Blackwater Bribes’ – 12 November 2009

AFP – U.S. Firm Blackwater in Iraq Bribery Scandal: Report – 11 November 2009

New York Times – Charges Prompt Iraqis to Look Into Blackwater – 11 November 2009

Reuters – Blackwater Approved Payments in Iraqi Shooting – NYT – 10 November 2009