By Ahmad Shihadah

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has issued a pardon for Saudi journalist Rossana al-Yami. Al- Yami was sentenced to 60 lashes and a two-year travel ban for her involvement in a television show in which a Saudi man detailed his sexual exploits. Al-Yami told the Reuters news agency, “the king has vindicated me. I am satisfied with the king’s order and I accept the decisions of the sovereign.”

The man at the center of the case, Mazen Abdul Jawad, is also seeking a pardon from the King. On the episode in question, Abdul Jawad bragged about his sexual exploits.  As a result, he was sentenced to five years in prison and 1,000 lashes. Abdul Jawad’s attorney Suleiman al-Jumeii maintains his client was duped by Lebanese Broadcast Company, which ran the episode, and was unaware in many instances that he was being recorded. Further, he urged the information minister to intercede with the King to include all those involved in the case under the same ministry committee. This was done in the hopes his client could be pardoned as well.[VAC1] Al-Jumeii issued a statement saying, “justice should not be divided as long as it is one case.”

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), King Abdullah’s decision sent an important message to the country’s courts regarding punishment of freedom expression. However, HRW still calls for real reforms in the legal system that will address the repeated attacks on the media by Saudi courts.

For more information please see:

Al-Jazeera – Saudi King Spares Journalist lashes – 27 October 2009

CNN – Royal Pardon for Saudi Journalist Sentenced to Lashes – 27 October 2009

Human Rights Watch – Saudi Arabia: King Overturns 60-Lashes Verdict Against Journalist – 27 October 2009

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – On October 27, at least ninety-nine individuals were killed in Baghdad as a result of a double suicide vehicle bombing. Reports have come forth that the death toll is greater than one hundred individuals and could still be rising. In addition to the dead, some figures state that over five hundred people were wounded by the dual bombings; other totals put the number closer to seven hundred.

The bombings took place in the heart of the Iraqi capital near the justice ministry and the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration. The buildings are located near the Tigris River and the high security “Green Zone.” The attack drew comparisons to the August 19 attack where one hundred individuals were killed by the truck bombing of two ministry buildings.

The number of individuals hurt by the explosion put a strain on local emergency services. The bombs destroyed dozens of vehicles, in addition to smashing the water pipes in the area. The streets were covered with debris and the bodies of those injured in the attack, forcing the authorities to close off the streets leading to the bomb site. Civilian vehicles were forced to supplement the emergency efforts on hand and help take injured individuals to the local hospital.

The bombs came from two truck bombs and represent the deadliest attack in Iraq since October 2007. The attacks come only three months after the United States ceded control of the cities to local Iraqi authorities. Among the dead were twenty-four school age children who were nearby when the trucks exploded. The children’s school bus ran into by one of trucks as they were trying to leave the Ministry of Justice.

While immediate credit for the attack wasn’t claimed, speculation after the explosions was that the attack was done by al Qaeda or remnants of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime. On October 27, the Islamic State of Iraq, a group alleged to be associated with al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the bombings. On a web posting, the group claimed that the bombers were “martyrs who had targeted the dens of infidelity.”

For more information, please see:

Telegraph – Al-Qaeda Claims Responsibility For Iraq’s Worst Suicide Bomb Attack In Two Years – 27 October 2009

Al Jazeera – Scores Die In Iraq Car Bombings – 26 October 2009

AFP – Twin Suicide Vehicle Bombings Kill 99 In Baghdad – 25 October 2009

BBC – Twin Baghdad Blasts Kill Scores – 25 October 2009

Telegraph – Baghdad Blasts: 132 People Killed In Worst Attack In Two Years – 25 October 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – Israeli police clashed with stone-throwing Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on October 25. The incident was the latest in a recent series of tension-building confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians at the holy site.

 

In recent weeks, Palestinian demonstrators have taken to the streets of Jerusalem’s Old City, protesting the Israeli presence in the area and rumors that Israelis were conducting archaeological investigations underneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The site is holy to both Jews and Muslims. Jews know the site as the Temple Mount, and they believe it was the site of King Solomon’s temple. Muslims call the site Haram al-Sharif, and believe it was the site where the Prophet Mohammed ascended into heaven.

 

Though it remains unclear what was the catalyst for this most recent clash, early on the morning on October 25, Palestinians threw rocks at Israeli soldiers, who reportedly returned with stun grenades. Israeli police subsequently stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound two times.

 

As many as thirty Palestinians and nine Israeli police were injured, while twenty-one Palestinians were reportedly arrested. A journalist working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was also reportedly taken to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem to be treated for a broken jaw. Hatem Abdul Qader, the lead official in Jerusalem for the Palestinian Authority, was among those arrested. Qader was subsequently banned from the Old City for three weeks.

 

One local observer told Australia’s The Age that he watched the day’s events unfold from the Lion’s Gate to the Old City.

 

“I believe there was provocation on both sides,” said Mohammed Khan, a 21-year-old Palestinian. “The Israeli police knew that Palestinian people want to protest the occupation, so they come in large numbers …But many Palestinians see this as offensive, so they start throwing stones and then violence spread.”

 

The Israeli police reported that the Al-Aqsa Mosque was re-opened on the following day, though the re-opening was certainly not a resolution to the tension in Jerusalem’s Old City. A right-wing Israeli group called for Jewish mobilization to construct a third Jewish temple on the site. On the other end of the spectrum, Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas, called for Palestinians to abandon the peace process and respond to any Israeli violence with violence in kind.

 

For more information, please see:

 

The Age (Australia) – Israelis and Palestinians Clash on Temple Mount – 27 October 2009

 

Al Jazeera – Meshaal Urges Arab Action on Aqsa – 26 October 2009

 

Ma’an News Agency – PA Official Banned from Jerusalem After Demonstration – 26 October 2009

 

Ha’aretz – Israel Police Battle Arab Rioters on Temple Mount; PA Official Arrested – 25 October 2009

 

New York Times – Israeli Police Clash with Palestinians at Sacred Compound in Jerusalem – 25 October 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – On October 20, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his government would try to change international law regarding war crimes.

 

Netanyahu’s statement came amid his government’s toughening stance on the Goldstone Report endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council the week before. The report accused Israel and Hamas, the ruling Palestinian party in the Gaza Strip, of war crimes during heavy fighting between the two sides in Gaza last winter. During the 22-day conflict, approximately 1,400 Palestinians and thirteen Israelis were killed.

 

Netanyahu characterized the Goldstone Report as an attempt to “delegalize” the state of Israel, spreading false allegations against the country.

 

“I want to make it clear to everyone,” said Netanyahu at the October 20 meeting. “No one can undermine our ability and right to defend our children, our citizens and our communities.”

 

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak supported the Prime Minister’s statements, adding that a change in international war crimes laws was “in the interest of anyone fighting terrorism.”

 

Public opinion in Israel, however, has been more mixed. Newspaper editorials appeared in newspapers such as Ha’aretz, criticizing the government’s approach to the military action in Gaza as well as its aftermath, calling it “one-dimensional” and short-sighted.

 

International reaction has also been dubious. William Schabas, Chair of the International Institute for Criminal Investigation, told the Jerusalem Post that Netanyahu’s goals of changing the international laws of war was unrealistic, and that such an initiative was “almost an admission” that Israel had committed war crimes during the Gaza fighting.

 

“It’s one thing to claim that [the rules of war] should change,” said Schabas. “But that doesn’t give you an excuse to violate them until they’ve changed.”

 

Schabas added that one cannot change the rules by characterizing one’s enemies as cruel and vicious, and if a country breaks international law, the country behaves like the terrorists the country is trying to defeat.

 

During the October 20 cabinet meeting, Netanyahu also instructed the Israeli Justice Ministry to establish a unit to address legal challenges against Israeli officials and military officers in international courts. Charges have been brought by pro-Palestinian groups against such individuals in courts in Britain and other European countries during recent weeks.

 

For more information, please see:

 

Jerusalem Post – Schabas: Israeli Plan to Change Laws of War is Unrealistic – 22 October 2009

 

Al Jazeera – Israel Push to Change Laws of War – 21 October 2009

 

ChinaView – Israel Strives to Change Int’l Law of War Following Goldstone Report – 21 October 2009

 

New York Times – Israel: Panel to Fight UN Report – 20 October 2009

 

Ha’aretz – Why Israel Failed in the Gaza War – 18 October 2009

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

VIENNA, Austria – On October 21, a draft agreement was made for the export of Iran’s enriched uranium in Vienna. The agreement was formed between Iranian negotiators and representatives from the United States, France and Russia.

A final agreement could not be reached after two days of negotiations as the Iranian negotiators did not have the authority give a final sign-off on the wide reaching deal. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the atomic watchdog of the United Nations, all the countries involved have been given till October 23 to ratify the draft deal.

Under the agreed upon draft deal, twelve hundred kilograms of the low enriched uranium will be shipped out of Iran in order to be processed into fuel. Russian nuclear insiders allege that the uranium will first be sent to the IAEA, who will forward it to Russia for enrichment. Russia will subsequently return to enriched uranium to the IAEA who will send it to France. According to the insiders, France has the “cell elements” needed for Iran’s reactor.

This method of exporting uranium allows Iran to receive the fuel that it needs. At the same time it gives guarantees to countries, such as the United Sates, that the fuel will not be used to produce nuclear weapons.

IAEA Director Mohammed ElBaradei is confident that the agreement will help all sides move forward. He is hopeful that all sides, namely Iran, will agree to the deal negotiated in the Austrian capital. ElBaradei claims that the deal reached reflects “a balanced approach to move forwards” and that it would help normalize Iran’s relationship with the rest of the international community.

Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, claimed that Iran came to the meeting looking for cooperation. Soltanieh said that the talks were successful, but emphasized that Iran’s leaders would thoroughly look over the contents of the agreement.

The United States is urging Iran to act quickly in signing off on the agreement. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said the United States looked forward to discussing “the full range of issues that have divided Iran and the United States for too long.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Draft Deal Agreed On Iran Uranium – 22 October 2009

AP – Diplomats: Iranian Negotiators Back Uranium Deal – 21 October 2009

BBC – Iran Nuclear Fuel Deal ‘Agreed’ – 21 October 2009

Guardian – Iran Nuclear Talks Reach Draft Deal To Export Enriched Uranium – 21 October 2009