By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ALGIERS, Algeria– After a brief argument between a migrant Chinese worker and an Algerian store owner over the parking space in front of the Algerian’s store a brawl broke out between about one hundred Algerians and migrant Chinese.

Many people wielded knifes and bludgeons. The parties dispersed after the local police showed up with an ambassador. Ten people were injured in the dispute, and two Chinese stores were looted according to an unnamed official at the ministry of foreign affairs.

The attack took place in the Bab Ezzour district in the eastern part of Algiers. An estimated 35,000 migrant Chinese workers live in Algeria. An estimated 8,000 work in the building sector, according to Agence France Presse.

Tensions have existed since the migrant workers came to Algeria. During the recent economic downturn, many Algerians blame the migrant workers for taking jobs that would otherwise go to Algerians, increasing tensions.

Additionally, the June 26 brawl between Uighur Muslim Chinese and ethnic Han Chinese stirred more negativity against the Chinese. Al Queda in the Islamic Mahgreb, or AQIM threatened revenge for their fellow Muslims that were injured in that attack. After this threat the Chinese embassy encouraged it’s citizens living in Algeria to exercise caution.

China is hoping that this attack is an isolated incidence, and is waiting for Algeria to take any necessary action. Given China’s extensive economic interests in Algeria, with multiple engineering contracts, and a stake in Algeria’s eleven billion dollar highway project, they will be hesitant to tell their citizens to abandon their jobs and come home.

For more information, please see:

Afrik- Xenophobia against Chinese on Rise in Africa – 5 August 2009

China Daily- 10 Chinese Injured in Clash with Algerians – 5 August 2009

BBC – Chinese Migrants in Algiers Clash – 4 August 2009

Reuters- Factbox: China’s Economic Interests in Algeria – 4 August 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
 
MOSCOW, Russia – Tensions in the South Caucasus are rising as the one-year anniversary of the war in South Ossetia and Georgia approaches.
 
On August 1, the Russian Defense Ministry accused Georgia of “aggressively rearming” and trying to incite violence in South Ossetia. The Ministry vowed that Russia would “use all means and resources available to protect the citizens of the republic of South Ossetia and the Russian servicemen.” The statements came after the South Ossetian government reported that two rounds of mortar fire entered from Georgian territory earlier that day.
 
Last summer, tensions between separatist government in South Ossetia and President Mikheil Saakashvili’s government in Georgia erupted into a five-day armed conflict that began on August 7, 2009. Georgia attacked the Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, in response to reports that South Ossetians had attacked ethnic Georgian villages in the province. Since French-brokered ceasefire, the region has been home to 240 members of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), which monitors signs of aggression between Georgia and the breakaway provinces.
 
Even with the EUMM observers, tensions have remained high. Russia has refused to fully withdraw its troops, as called for in the ceasefire agreement, and has said it plans to maintain its force of 7,000 troops in South Ossetia and Abkhazia indefinitely. Small skirmishes continue to plague the border regions, though the EU special envoy has downplayed the violence, vaguely calling the hostilities “more virtual” and posed little threat that any substantial violence would erupt.
 
In response to the Russian Defense Ministry statement, Georgia accused Russia of restarting “with enhanced vigor its information war against Georgia” on the eve of the anniversary of last year’s war.
 
On August 6, Russian Defense spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said that Georgia could not regain the trust of its regional neighbors until it signed a non-aggression treaty with South Ossetia and Abkhazia. After the August 2008 war, Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent republics, while the majority of the international community continues to recognize the areas as Georgian provinces.
 
For more information, please see:
 
China View – EU Envoy Dismisses Tensions in S Ossetia as “Virtual”– 6 August 2009
 
RIA Novosti – NATO’s Eastern Expansion Has Stopped Short– 6 August 2009
 
Al-Jazeera – Georgia Not “Aggressively Rearming”– 5 August 2009
 
Voice of America – Russian FM Lashes Out at Georgian President– 5 August 2009
 
New York Times – Russia Accuses Georgia of Raising Tension After Report of Attack in South Ossetia– 1 August 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East Photo:   A Palestinian woman confronted Israeli riot police as she was evicted from her home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Sunday.  Courtesy New York Times.

EAST JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – Early on the morning of August 2, Israel security forces evicted two Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem.  The Ghawi and Hanoun families, with thirty-eight and seventeen members, respectively, had lived in the houses for generations.

The evictions came after a drawn-out legal battle over the title to the land in the Sheikh Jarrah district, a wealthy, predominantly Arab neighborhood.  Witnesses reported that as soon as the Palestinians were forcibly removed, Israeli nationalists moved in.

The evictions have drawn heavy international criticism from the United States, United Nations, and European Union.  A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State stated that the moves in East Jerusalem are not in “keeping with the Israeli obligations under the Roadmap,” referring to the 2003 “Roadmap for peace” plan.

Saeb Erakat, the Senior Palestinian negotiator with Israel, said he was outraged by the Israeli actions.

“Israel is once again showing its utter failure to respect international law,” Mr. Erakat said.  “Now settlers from abroad are accommodating themselves and their belongings in the Palestinian houses and nineteen newly homeless children will have nowhere to sleep.”

Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesperson, attempted to downplay the controversy, describing the dispute as a legal one between two private parties who had title to a property in East Jerusalem.  In the suit filed by the Israeli settlers, the Palestinians had allegedly violated an agreement under which they were allowed to live in the houses.

Mr. Regev further denied that the evictions were part of a systematic effort to cleanse Palestinians from East Jerusalem and replacing them with Israeli settlers.

Maher Hanoun, head of one of the evicted families, was on the street following the removal.

“I do not need a tent or rice,” Mr. Hanoun said.  “What I need is to return to my house, where I and my children were born.”

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – US Criticizes Israeli Eviction Move– 4 August 2009

Jerusalem Post – EU Protests Evictions of Palestinians from East Jerusalem– 4 August 2009

CNN – Israel Defends Jerusalem Evictions-3 August 2009

BBC News – Israel Condemned Over Evictions– 2 August 2009

New York Times – Israel Evicts Palestinians from Homes– 2 August 2009

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RABAT, Morocco – A poll published in two  Moroccan magazines on King Mohammed VI’s ten years in power has resulted in a ban on the two magazines for this month’s issue.   

The poll was conducted by the French daily Le Monde, and asked what 1,108 people thought of their 46-year-old leader during his time in office, and what kind of a job King Mohammed was doing.  

The Independent weeklies Tel Quel in French, and Nichane in Arabic, had their most recent issues banned for failing to follow the 1958 press code.  The 1958 Press code gives the Minister of the Ministry of Information permission to administratively seize a newspaper or periodical that “is of a nature to disturb public order” and can suspend periodicals that “attacks the political and religions institutional foundations of the kingdom.” 

Moroccan minister of communications Khalid Nariri told the associated press that “any publication, be it foreign or Moroccan, that publishes the poll in Morocco will be banned.” Additionally, Nariri announced that “Monarchy cannot be the subject of opinion polls, and those who practice this sport are aware of the consequences.”

Both the Tel Quel and the Nichane  have a history with censorship and the Moroccan Government.  Both were seized in 2007 for publishing editorials that were deemed “bellow stoking.” Additionally, Nichane’s former editor also received a three-year jail sentence for an article that was found to be defamatory to Islam.

Although the poll showed that most Moroccans were please with their ruler, the government maintains its decision to ban the magazines. According to the poll, ninety-one percent of those surveyed said that they had a positive opinion of their King. The issue that Moroccans were most unhappy about was a lack of improvement of Morocco’s poverty. 

Some people polled also expressed a dislike for the Moudawana bill, which granted many marital rights to women.

A blogger that blogs for the Media Line under the psudonym Labri, says that freedom of the press is protected in  Morocco, so long as the as the article does not touch on Islam, the Sahara, or the Monarchy.

The magazines that have published the poll are only banned for the issues that contain the poll.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Moroccans Like Their King: Banned Opinion Poll – 3 August 2009

Al Arabiya – Banned Survey Shows Moroccans Like Their King – 3 August 2009

The Media Line – Two Moroccan Magazines Banned over Commemorative Poll – 2 August 2009

News Day – 2 Moroccan Magazines Banned for Poll on King – 2 August 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
 
TEHRAN, Iran – On August 1, over one hundred Iranians were put on trial in what the leading reform party called a “laughable show trial.”

Those on trial were arrested during protests following the disputed June 12 presidential election, in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed victory over the reformist candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi. Thousands of Mr. Mousavi’s supporters took to the streets, saying the election had been rigged.

The charges levied against the arrested protestors include vandalism and acting against the national security. State Iranian television showed images of the prisoners, all in blue jumpsuits and surrounded by armed guards, some were shackled. The number of prisoners shocked Iranians, as only a few days prior, the government had said that only twenty people would go on trial. Aside from the state television camera, the courtroom was closed to the press, and lawyers were not allowed in.

The men in the blue jumpsuits included almost every major figure in the Iranian reform movement, and many of them had served in the administration of former President Mohammad Khatami. Muhammad Ali Abtahi, a cleric who served as vice president under Khatami, was among those arrested soon after the June 12 election and had reportedly appeared in a videotape, tearfully confessing to the government charges. Human rights groups and the defendants appearing in court today have said that such videotaped confessions are common practice, and are almost always made under duress.

Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel peace laureate, denounced the trial, and called for European nations to pull their representatives from Tehran. Ms. Ebadi said that she believes reform will come to Iran, but not through foreign influence.

“Reforms only come from within,” Ebadi said. “One day we will realize reform in a real sense.”

For more information, please see:

The Times – Iran’s Arrested Activists Find Champion in Lilac Tweed – 2 August 2009

Al-Jazeera – Iran Puts Protestors on Trial– 1 August 2009

BBC News – Iran Reformers Slate Trial “Sham”– 1 August 2009

Los Angeles Times – Iran: Trials Start for 100 Reformists, Moderate Politicians in Iran– 1 August 2009

New York Times – Mass Trial for Protestors Begins in Iran– 1 August 2009