By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
 
GAZA CITY, Gaza – A human rights group founded by Israeli veterans has published testimonies from former soldiers, all of whom report that they were ordered to protect Israeli military lives at any cost.

The veterans are part of Breaking the Silence, a group funded by the EU and several European countries. The soldiers describe that they were given orders to use Palestinian civilians as human shields, as well as deliberate targeting of civilian structures.

One soldier related that in pre-invasion briefings, his officers told him to shoot first, ask questions later. The soldier said the officer told the soldiers that “[i]f you’re not sure, kill. Fire power was insane.”

Another soldier said he felt like “a child playing around with a magnifying glass, burning up ants… A 20-year-old kid should not be doing such things to people.”

Several soldiers also described how the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) used white phosphorus, a substance banned by international law. One soldier described walking on the beach in Gaza and finding an area covered in glazed sand, melted by white phosphorus.

A military spokesman has questioned the credibility of Breaking the Silence, calling the veterans’ testimony “defaming and slandering the IDF commanders,” but also said the military would investigate the allegations.

For more information, please see:

The Times – Breaking the Silence: Israeli Soldiers ‘Used Human Shields’ in Gaza– 16 July 2009

BBC News – Breaking Silence on Gaza Abuses– 15 July 2009

Huffington Post – Breaking the Silence: Former Israeli Soldiers Call Gaza War Reckless– 15 July 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 
JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – Israeli officials have signaled they would be open to a three- to six-month halt to settlement expansion as part of a U.S.-backed peace deal with the Palestinians.

While such a sentiment has widely been hailed as progress, it falls short of what the U.S. Obama Administration had called for. Such a freeze would not include any construction already underway, nor expansion in East Jerusalem, according to Israeli officials speaking in advance of the meeting between Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and U.S. envoy George Mitchell at the end of June. Ehud Barak refused to publically address the possibility of a temporary freeze ahead of his meeting, but said that the issue of settlements is merely one among many to be addressed in the peace process.

Members of the international community continue to call for a complete halt to settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. On July 6, the executive arm of the European Union (EU) renewed its condemnation of Israeli settlements, saying that continued Israeli expansion is strangling the fledgling Palestinian economy, stunting Palestinian independence and forcing the Palestinian Authority to rely on foreign aid. In addition to the cost to Palestinians, the EU said that European taxpayers had paid approximately 280 million U.S. dollars so far this year in aid to the Palestinian Authority.

For more information, please see:

Ma’an News Agency – European Commission: Settlements Strangling Palestinian Economy– 6 July 2009

Ha’aretz – Barak: Progress in Talks with U.S. Over Settlements, But Still a Way to Go– 30 June 2009

New York Times – Israel Said to be Open to Settlement Freeze– 28 June 2009

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt– Mounir Hanna Said Marzouk was a civil servant in Egypt, and wrote satyrical verses for his friends and colleagues. He had only been writing for two years. None of his writing had ever been published, and it was only after a colleague found his work offensive to the President that Marzouk was reported to the authorities.

Marzouk insists that his poems are not meant to be offensive to the president, they are meant only to reflect daily life in Egypt.  In spite of his intentions Marzouk was sentenced to three years imprisonment, and fined 100,000 Egyptian pounds for his poems on June 27. This is the maximum penalty that exists for the crime of publicly insulting the president, which carries a penalty from 24 hours imprisonment to three years imprisonment.

The Arab Network for Human Rights is appealing his verdict, based on Marzouk’s lack of access to representation at his first trial. Marzouk and his family did not hire a lawyer, because none of his poems mention Mubarek by name. There are also many satirical poems available in Egypt and on the Internet by much more well-established poets than Marzouk.

Much of the attention came to Marzouk’s case after his brother wrote a clemency plea to the local newspapers for his brother. Although none of his brother’s verses were published in the paper, it brought his brother’s case international attention, and representation. The final verdict is expected to come down this Saturday, July 18.

For more information, please see:

Afrik – Egypt’s Dangerous Poetry: Civil Servant Imprisoned for Writing a Poem – 15 July 2009

AFP – Ode to Egypt President Lands Clerk in Jail – 14 July 2009

BBC – Egyptian Jailed for Insult Poem – 14 July 2009  

LA Times – Egypt: Poet Accused of Mubarek Awaits Final Verdict – 14 July 2009

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East Desk

ALGERIA– Al Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb or “AQIM” has vowed to avenge the deaths of many Islamic Uighur people during the recent riots in the northwestern province of Xin Jiang in China.  Although the threat does not come directly from Al Qaeda, the Algeria based group’s threat is likely to be supported by other branches of the terrorist organization.

This is the first threat by any branch of the greater Al Qaeda organization on China. Following the recent violence in the province of Xin Jiang many jihadists have been calling for vengeance. 

There are an estimated fifty thousand Chinese living in Algeria,  and they are part of hundreds of thousands of Chinese that work in North Africa and the Middle East.  There are many potential targets for AQIM very close to their cell in Algeria. Earlier in June AQIM attacked a convoy that carried many Chinese engineers. In this attack 24 Algerian security officers were killed, as the target was the greater project, and not the Chinese engineers.

Most of the people who have died in the recent attacks in Xin Jiang are ethnically Han, with only a small portion of Islamic Uighur casualties. China has asked for understanding from the terrorist group, and believes that if AQIM was aware of the whole story, that they would support China’s actions.

One Uighur living in exile in the United sates, Rebiya Kadeer, hopes that other Muslim countries, besides Algeria, will support the Uighurs in China. Kadeer was once a very successful businesswoman in China, but was forced to leave because of her peaceful protesting of Chinese rule. Kadeer hopes that increased Muslim support of Uighurs will help their rights in China.
For more information please see:

The Australian – Algerian Al-Qa’ida Vow to Target Chinese Workers – 15 July 2009

AFP – Al Qaeda Vows to Hit China Over Uighur Unrest – 14 July 2009

Penn Energy – Al Qaeda Threatens China’s Overseas Oil, Gas Interests – 14 July 2009

Telegraph UK – China Pleads for Understanding as Al Qaeda Vows for Revenge over Uighur Deaths – 14 July 2009

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Vehicle bans were imposed in two predominantly Christian towns and security was increased around churches in Baghdad following a recent string of attacks that targeted the Christian minority.

The most fatal bombing occurred around dusk on June 12 as worshipers left the Church of Mariam Al-Adra, or the Church of the Virgin Mary, which is part of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, in central Baghdad. A car bomb exploded outside the church killing three Christians and one Muslim who was also outside the church at that time. More than twenty others were injured by the blast.

On the evening of July 11, and early morning on July 12 four other homemade bombs were placed at two churches in the neighborhood of Wahda and two other churches in the Dora and Al Gadir neighborhood. At least eleven people were wounded in these attacks and some minor damage to the churches occurred.

Also on Saturday, Aziz Rizko Nissan, a senior Christian Government official, was shot and killed in the northern city of Kirkuk. It is unclear whether or not his religion played a role in the killing, or whether the killing was related to Mr. Nissan’s position in government.

In addition a bomb exploded next to a U.S. convoy of personnel that included U.S. Ambassador Christopher R. Hill. No one was injured in this explosion, and it is unclear if this attack is at all related to the other attacks.

On the morning of July 13, another bomb detonated near a church in the city of Mosul, injuring at least three children. This was the seventh church to be attacked in Iraq in this recent string of violence, bringing the total injuries to at least 35 with four fatalities over the past three days.

All of these attacks follow an announcement by Iraq’s senior military commander, Lt. Gen. Babakir Zebari, warning that attacks by extremists and insurgents would continue for years, even though these groups were losing ground. Zebari explained that although losing ground, the extremists and insurgents have a few strongholds and will continue to attack for the next several years. This announcement comes only weeks after American troops have moved out of Iraqi cities. Many Iraqis are complaining about their own military’s lack of action now that the US military has withdrawn from the cities. Referring to Iraq’s security services in the heavily secured government zone, Hossain Ali, a college student said, “They are just hanging out in the Green Zone and staring at us being killed.”

In October of 2008 in Mosul, many Christians fled the country following a string of attacks deliberately targeting Iraq’s Christian population. At the time, more than a thousand Christian families fled the city and at least fourteen Christians were killed in the city. There has been speculation that the attacks were designed to stir religious tensions, even though Sunni and Shi’ite groups are the ones targeted.

There are around 750,000 Christians in Iraq. Christians have been targets of attacks in the past, but are spared much of Iraq’s deadly violence. Authorities imposed vehicle bans in the predominately Christian towns of Tilkaif and Hamdaniyah, which are near the northern city of Mosul. Christian- dominated areas are now a security priority, although deputy head of Ninevah provincial council which includes Mosul said that “we will make our best efforts to keep security for the province and all its citizens of all ethnic and religious backgrounds without exception.”

For more information please see:

AP – Iraq Beefs Up Security After Attacks on Christians – 13 July 2009

CNN – Wave of Church Bombings Stretches into a Third Day – 13 July 2009

The Washington Post – Car Bomb Kills at Least Four Near Church in Baghdad – 13 July 2009

BBC – Baghdad Church Bombing Kills Four – 12 July 2009

NY Times – Church and Envoy Attacked in Iraq – 12 July 2009