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

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Forty days have passed since Neda Agha-Soltan was killed during a post-election protest on the streets of Iran, and as the traditional mourning period draws to a close, those who question the validity of the June 12 presidential election are once again taking to the streets.

On July 30, hundreds of protestors gathered at the grave of Neda, a 26-year-old music student whose death was captured by a fellow protestor’s mobile phone camera and was watched by millions worldwide on YouTube. Police reportedly prevented Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading reformist presidential candidate, from staying at the graveside service. Mehdi Karroubi, another reformist candidate, was also at the service.

As the mourning period ends, several people arrested during the protests are preparing to go on trial beginning August 1, under numerous charges such as attacks on government and military offices, vandalism, arson, and “contacts with enemies.” Many international human rights groups question the validity of such trials, especially considering reports that the Iranian government has repeatedly arrested and intimidated human rights lawyers.

Human Rights Watch’s Middle East Division reported that on July 15, plainclothes policemen seized human rights lawyer Shadi Sadr while she was walking to Friday prayers. On July 21, security forces reportedly made a threatening phone call to Mohammed Seifzadeh, another leading human rights lawyer, telling him they would “take steps” to prevent him from continuing to represent defendants. At least four other human rights lawyers have been arrested in Iran since June 12, and the head of the Iranian Judiciary has revised the regulations governing the Iranian Bar Association, severely restricting its members’ independence.

International human rights groups have called for Iranian authorities to end the threats against lawyers and to release those arrested. On July 25, several international cities hosted a global day of support for those killed and arrested since the election nearly two months ago.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Iranian Police Clash with Mourners– 30 July 2009

Human Rights Watch – Iran: Stop Arresting, Intimidating Rights Lawyers– 26 July 2009

United for Iran – A Global Day of Action in Solidarity with the People of Iran– 25 July 2009

Amnesty International USA – Global Day of Support for Iran’s Victims of Human Rights Abuse– 24 July 2009

Human Rights Watch – Iran: Halt Moves to Curtail Lawyers– 16 July 2009

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

NEW YORK, United States – On July 28 Human Rights Watch sent a letter to the Tunisian Minister of Justice Béchir Tekkari and Minister of Interior Rafeek Belhaj encouraging the end of Tunisian activist Abdallah Zouari’s exile.

Zouari was convicted on charges of plotting to overthrow the state in a mass trial of the leaders and members of the Islamist Nahdha movement. He was sentenced to eleven years jail time plus five years “complimentary sentence” of post-release “administrative control.” Such administrative detainments are common in Tunisia and are typically executed by local police while the person lives in their own neighborhood or city.

After Zouari’s release from prison in June 2002, he was exiled to the Zarzis area in the southern governorate of Medenine, about 500 km from where his family lives in the capital of Tunisia. Aside from a thirteen- month stint in prison, Zouari has served the additional five year complementary sentence in Zarzis. In June of 2007, when the complementary sentence should have ended, an extra twenty-six months of banishment were added to his sentence without explanation.

 He served both the regular and the “complementary term” of his sentence and at the end of the complementary sentence the local authorities extended his confinement to the village for 26 months without reason on June 5 2007. This extension will run out in less than a week, Human Rights Watch has preemptively asked that Zouari be allowed to go free unless the Tunisian government can show real cause for continued detainment. When Zouari asked the chief of police who explained Zouari’s extended detainment to him, the officer merely said that the orders, “came from above.”

As the end of the 26 month extension is quickly approaching, Human Rights Watch has written a letter demanding that Tunisia show cause for further detainment. While Human Rights Watch did not agree with the legitimacy of the initial sentence, they are even more opposed to the arbitrary continuation of Zouari’s sentence.

For more information please see;

Human Rights Watch – Tunisia: End Activist’s Banishment – 28 July 2009

Media Line – Rights Group Calls for End to Tunisian’s Exile – 28 July 2009

Reuter’s – Alert Net: Tunisia: End Activist’s Banishment – 28 July 2009

Arabic News – Journalist Abdahlla Zouari’s Internal Exile Extended by 26 Months – 12 June 2007

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

LONDON, United Kingdom– Libyan authorities have formally asked Scotland for the compassionate release of Abdel Basset al Megrahi. Megrahi is the former Libyan agent that was sentenced to life in 2001 for the bombing of a Pan Am airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988.

A Scottish government spokeswoman confirmed the application for compassionate release on July 25. Libya has been bringing up al Megrahi often in official conversations with Great Britain. Earlier in July Megrahi’s fate was brought up by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The British government has deferred the issue to Scotland, which has a separate legal system from Britain. Now Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond and Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill will consider whether or not to grant the application.

Al Megrahi is currently appealing his conviction for the second time, but the hearing is not expected to conclude until next year. Fifty- seven year old al Megrahi was diagnosed with terminal testicular cancer last year. His doctors do not believe that he would live to the end of the appeal.

The Lockerbie bombing resulted in the deaths of all 259 people on board the London to New York flight, as well as eleven people on the ground. Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing in 2005, and agreed to pay 2.7 billion dollars in compensation to the victim’s families. This gesture helped to restore relations between Libya and the west. This announcement shifted public perspective on al Megrahi. Originally al Megrahi was perceived as being solely responsible for the bombing and after Libya claimed reponsibility, al Megrahi  was viewed more as an agent of Libya following his orders. Even some relatives of victims of the bombings support sending al Megrahi home, doubting both his guilt and the conviction.

Ultimately the decision to release al Megrahi lies with the Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, who has ninety days to make his decision. It is expected MacAskill will make his decision in the first week of August. Last year he released three prisoners on compassionate requests, although typically only people with three months to live or less are released.

For more information please see,

The Guardian – Sick Lockerbie Bomber Pleads for Release – 26 July 2009

AFP – Lockerbie Bomber asks for Compassionate Release – 25 July 2009

BBC – Ill Megrahi Seeks Prison Release – 25 July 2009

The Herald – Megrahi Requests Release from Jail on Compassionate Grounds – 25 July 2009

Reuters – Libya asks for Lockerbie Bomber to be Freed – 25 July 2009