By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt– The trial for twenty-six Egyptians accused of forming a terrorist cell in Egypt related to Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah has been adjourned until October. According to Nile TV, the delay will grant the defendants’ lawyers more time to review the cases.

The twenty-six men include nineteen Egyptians, two Lebanese, and five people from Palestinian territories. Some of the men appeared in court on August 23 to dispute claims that the defendants were smuggling weapons between Sinai and Gaza and plotting attacks against Israeli tourists in Egypt. 

Of the twenty-six accused, only twenty-two appeared in court. The remaining four are being tried in absentia, while they are still on the run. One man who appeared in court said that he had been tortured. He also added that he had been referred for medical check after the alleged torture.

The lawyer of the twenty-two men, Montaser al Zaiat has said that the charges are “absolutely not true,” and clarified that there was “never any question in this case of a plot for the assassination of figures in Egypt.”

Family members were not permitted to attend the hearing, many relatives braced high heat standing outside the courtroom to see their loved ones. The families are upset because they haven’t seen their loved-ones in months. One prisoner was arrested in December, and his family does not know the details of the charges that precipitated his arrest. The arrests of members of the alleged Hezbollah cell began in 2008.

Hezbollah is a Shiite backed group, which is at odds with Sunni dominated Egypt. Hezbollah believes that the charges are politically motivated, and based upon Egypt’s support for the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

For more information, please see:

AFP – ‘Hezbollah’ Accused Allege Torture in Egypt Jail’ – 23 August 2009

BBC – Egypt ‘Hezbollah Cell’ on Trial – 23 August 2009

LA Times – Egypt: How Guilty are Those in ‘Hezbollah Cell’ – 23 August 2009

Xinhua – Egyptian Court Postpones Trial of Hezbollah Cell to October 24 – 23 August 2009

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt– The trial for twenty-six Egyptians accused of forming a terrorist cell in Egypt related to Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah has been adjourned until October. According to Nile TV, the delay will grant the defendants’ lawyers more time to review the cases.

The twenty-six men include nineteen Egyptians, two Lebanese, and five people from Palestinian territories. Some of the men appeared in court on August 23 to dispute claims that the defendants were smuggling weapons between Sinai and Gaza and plotting attacks against Israeli tourists in Egypt. 

Of the twenty-six accused, only twenty-two appeared in court. The remaining four are being tried in absentia, while they are still on the run. One man who appeared in court said that he had been tortured. He also added that he had been referred for medical check after the alleged torture.

The lawyer of the twenty-two men, Montaser al Zaiat has said that the charges are “absolutely not true,” and clarified that there was “never any question in this case of a plot for the assassination of figures in Egypt.”

Family members were not permitted to attend the hearing, many relatives braced high heat standing outside the courtroom to see their loved ones. The families are upset because they haven’t seen their loved-ones in months. One prisoner was arrested in December, and his family does not know the details of the charges that precipitated his arrest. The arrests of members of the alleged Hezbollah cell began in 2008.

Hezbollah is a Shiite backed group, which is at odds with Sunni dominated Egypt. Hezbollah believes that the charges are politically motivated, and based upon Egypt’s support for the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

For more information, please see:

AFP – ‘Hezbollah’ Accused Allege Torture in Egypt Jail’ – 23 August 2009

BBC – Egypt ‘Hezbollah Cell’ on Trial – 23 August 2009

LA Times – Egypt: How Guilty are Those in ‘Hezbollah Cell’ – 23 August 2009

Xinhua – Egyptian Court Postpones Trial of Hezbollah Cell to October 24 – 23 August 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TBILISI, Georgia – The status of the two South Caucasus regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remains uncertain as the region marked the one-year anniversary of Russia’s recognition of the breakaway regions’ independence on August 26.

Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia’s independence from Georgia on August 26, 2008, two weeks after intense fighting between Georgian military forces and separatists from the two regions, with support from the Russian military.  Abkhazia and South Ossetia have traditionally been ethnically mixed.  It is home both to those who claim Russian cultural identities as well as those who have cultural ties to Georgia.

International observers say that Abkhazia and South Ossetia remain in a legal gray zone:  Russia and Nicaragua remain the only two countries to recognize their independence.  They are a de facto part of Russia while remaining a de jure part of Georgia, though political power in the provinces is steadily slipping out of Georgia’s control and into that of Russia. 

Some experts speculate the situation may remain unresolved for the foreseeable future.  The situation is akin to situations in Cyprus and Taiwan.  On August 26, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said that Russia’s decision to recognize the breakaway provinces’ independence was “unavoidable” and “irreversible.”  It seems equally unlikely that policies of non-recognition by the European Union and the United States will shift.

The situation has caused uncertainty for those living in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.  Georgia has attempted to establish a naval blockade around the area, threatening to arrest anyone who enters either area without Georgian permission.  Russia has also staked an economic claim to the area, as the Russian state oil company set up a subsidiary in Abkhazia on August 25.  The Georgian government has accused Russia of exploiting its sovereign natural resources, as well as unlawfully continuing its occupation of Georgian soil.  For its part, Russia has pledged its support for the reconstruction in the breakaway regions.

For more information, please see:

Georgia Today – Kremlin’s Victory or Confession – 28 August 2009

China View – Putin Pledges Firm Support for South Ossetia, Abkhazia – 27 August 2009

The Messenger Online – Russia is Continuing its Occupation of Georgia – 27 August 2009

Anti War.com – South Ossetia, Abkhazia to Celebrate Independence Day – 25 August 2009

Radio Free Europe – One Year After ‘Independence,’ Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Legal Gray Zone – 25 August 2009

Sofia News Agency – Russia:  South Ossetia, Abkhazia Independence Irreversible 1 Year Later – 25 August 2009

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TUNIS, Tunisia– On August 19, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) announced that a group of pro-government reporters in Tunisia have taken control of the largest Tunisian union for journalists only two months before the general election. 

RWB stated their concern for the independence of the national union of journalists, and stated that this change does not “bode well” for the fairness of the upcoming election. 

Tunisia’s current president, Zine El Abdine Ben Ali, will be seeking a fifth term in this election. He has been in power since a bloodless coup in 1987.  In 2002, Ben Ali challenged the constitution so that he could have more time in office. He has also continued to poll ninety-percent in elections.

The new union president Neji Bghouri stated that he believes that the government took over an organization that was meant to be independent. The new president of the journalists’ union denies any government involvement with the vote that resulted in his placement.

These alleged problems with the press only add to several other human rights violations that human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) reported on August 20. 

Amnesty International’s report documents continued abuse in the name of counter-terrorism and security. AI’s focus surrounds the continued reports of mistreatment and ‘pervasive’ torture in Tunisian detention centers. 

The report also criticizes other countries that continue to return prisoners to Tunisia against the prisoners’ wills, and with full knowledge of likely mistreatment.  Extraditing a person to a country where it is known they are likely to face mistreatment, a practice sometimes called ‘Extraordinary Rendition,’ is a violation of the Convention Against Torture, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment.  

Amnesty has called for the immediate end to torture and a clampdown on mistreatment and unlawful ‘security’ measures used in Tunisian detention centers.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – Tunisia Continues Human Rights Abuses in the Name of National Security – 20 August 2009

Afrique en Linge – Tunisian Journalists Change Leadership– 19 August 2009

BBC – Tunisia Reporter Move ‘Bodes Ill’ – 19 August 2009

Reuters – Row as Tunisia Journalist Picks Pro- Government Boss – 16 August 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East   

RAMALLAH, West Bank – On August 22, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad reiterated Fatah’s assertion that it did not hold any political prisoners.   

The Prime Minister spoke at a ceremony for Protect the Palestinian Flag in Ramallah. Fayyad’s statement contradicted claims by several human rights organizations, which have confirmed that prisons in both the West Bank and Gaza hold prisoners arrested for political reasons. Fatah’s rival party, Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has also claimed that several of its members have been detained by Fatah security forces because of political motivations.   

Hamas claimed earlier this month that one of its members, Fadi Hamarna, who was imprisoned in Jneid Prison in Nablus in the West Bank, died at the hands of Fatah security forces. The Palestinian government in the West Bank stated that Hamarna had committed suicide in his cell after interrogation.  
 
The Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) attributes many of the abuses within the Palestinian security system to its chaotic power struggles between the nine security forces operating under the Palestinian Authority (PA). The PA employs almost 40,000 people, one of the highest ratios of police to citizens in the world. The PA security forces are often characterized as having wide-spread corruption and little systematic regulation. The Gaza Strip, which is smaller than the U.S. state of Rhode Island, has at least twenty-four detention centers, the locations for which were kept secret until April 2009. According to MERIP, search and arrest warrants are rare, and mistreatment of prisoners is the norm rather than the exception.
 
On August 21, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with the Palestinian interior minister about security issues, focusing on the release of so-called “petty criminals” ahead of the end-of-Ramadan festival, Eid-al-Fitr. President Abbas also noted that the PA had already recently released approximately seventy prisoners, and he encouraged efforts to maintain order within the Palestinian Territories.   

For more information, please see:   

Ma’an News Agency – Fayyad: PA Has No Political Detainees – 22 August 2009  

International Middle East Media Center – Hamas Political Prisoner Dies at a Palestinian Prison – 11 August 2009

Middle East Report – Palestinian Political Prisoners – Fall 1996