By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon – A report released on June 3 by Transparency International, an anti-corruption group, has found that 36% of Lebanese view domestic political parties as the most corrupt organizations in the country.  The report was released ahead of Lebanon’s national elections scheduled to take place on June 7.  The report also stated that 29% of Lebanese perceive civil servants as the most corrupt element in Lebanon, with repercussions on the upcoming elections.

Some young Lebanese voters plan to accept bribes from competing political parties, waiting until the day of the election to accept such bribes, when the prices are at their highest.  Ghassan, a 31-year old man from Beirut, said that he and his friends will certainly vote for the party that pays them the most.  “We will wait until the last two hours,” said Ghassan, “This is when our votes will be purchased as if we were in an auction…People are saying at the last hour on voting day, each vote would be worth as much as $1,000.”

Some Lebanese voters hope that this election will be different, turning to Ziad Baroud, the country’s interior minister, who has made it a personal mission to fight corruption in the Lebanese government.  Baroud will also be supported by an international monitoring team, led by former-U.S. president Jimmy Carter.  Others, including Ghassan, are more skeptical:  “This country will need at least 10 Ziad Baroud’s [sic] to fight the corruption.”  Baroud has battled such practices such as vote buying, fake identification cards, free flights for expatriates back to Lebanon, and ballot boxes that go missing.

Lebanon has struggled with corruption for at least thirty years.  During Syria’s long military occupation, the weak Lebanese government struggled to maintain autonomy and neglected enforcement of anti-corruption regulations.  During the Lebanese civil war, the sale of fake IDs and documents was rampant, as many Lebanese tried to conceal their religion and protect against being killed.  While the Lebanese press has often reported on instances of corruption in recent years, such reports rarely spark a judicial inquiry.

For more information, please see:

The Daily Star – Political Parties Seen as Most Corrupt Groups in Country – 4 June 2009

The National – Buying Votes Just a Part of the Price of Democracy – 4 June 2009

IPS – Legal Flaws Could Twist Election Result – 1 June 2009

Lebanese Transparency Association – The Civil Campaign for Electoral Reforms – 2007

Global Integrity Report – Lebanon:  Reporter’s Notebook – 2007

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TUNSI, Tunisia– Tunisia has requested that the United States send two Tunisian nationals being held on charges of Terrorism back to Tunisia. Both men have been convicted in absentia on terrorism-related charges. Earlier in May the United States requested that Italy take in the same two men, as Italy had been investigating their connection to an Islamist group. One of the men is currently being held in Guantanamo Bay prison, and the other is being held at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

Since President Barack Obama ordered the closure of U.S. run Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, the United States has been trying to persuade other countries to take in Guantanamo’s current detainees. Tunisia announced on May 26 that it would take all the Tunisian Nationals currently being detained in Guantanamo.

Bechir Tekkari, Tunisian Minister of Justice and Human Rights, says that Tunisia is happy to welcome ten Tunisians that are currently being detained at Guantanamo Bay. Tekkari vouched for Tunisia’s desire to try the detainees under the Tunisian legal system and under the ‘principle of the presumption of innocence’.

While Tekkari has not had any contact with the Obama administration Tunisia is ready to take the prisoners back. He also attempted to convince human rights activists that Tunisia would judge and punish the detainees appropriately under the existing Tunisian Laws. Tunisia has been scrutinized following a critical report from the human rights organization Human Rights Watch. The report alleges torture and “other ill-treatment in police stations and detention centers run by the state security department”, as well as a vivid description of one man’s ordeal in custody and the severe abuse that he endured.

Tekkari attempted to deal with the allegations of the Human Rights Watch report in his in his address on Tuesday. He also discussed a new bill that sought alternative sentencing, and would greatly reduce the number of detentions. Tekkari also welcomed inspectors from Human Rights Watch to come into Tunisian prisons and investigate first-hand.

The United States will be considering the sincerity of Tekkari’s remarks when they decide where to send the ten Tunisian Guantanamo detainees back to Tunisia. Given Tunisia’s specific request for two prisoners to be returned and the United States prior requests for other countries to take the Guantanamo prisoners, it will be a difficult decision for the US to make.

For more information, please see:

Legalbrief America- Government Prepared to Accept Guantanamo Detainees -1 June 2009

Reuters- Tunisia asks Washington to Hand Over Two Detainees– 31 May 2009

Tunisia Online News- Alternative Sentences Will Prevent the Detention of 10000 people Each Year – 27 May 2009

AFP- Tunisia Tells US it will Take in All its Guantanamo Nationals – 26 May 2009

AP- Tunisia Will Accept 10 Citizens Held in Guantanamo– 26 May 2009

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel – On May 31, the committee which advances bills to the Israeli parliament voted against proposing the ‘loyalty oath’ bill to the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. The committee rejected the proposal eight votes to three.

The only votes in favor of this bill in committee were cast by members of the Yisrael Beitenu party, the same party that introduced the bill initially. The Yisrael Beitenu party has been described as “ultra right”, and is headed by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. This loyalty bill was one of Lieberman’s main campaign pledges.

Members of other parties thought that the bill’s intentions were discriminatory, and were glad to see that the majority of the people on the committee that concurred, and voted down the measure. Israeli Arab Lawmaker Jamal Zahalka called the vote “an achievement in the fight against fascism and racism.” 

The proposed legislation would have mandated that all Israeli citizens to swear allegiance to Israel as a “Jewish, Zionist, and democratic state before they could be issued national identification documents that are required for all citizens over age 16. The bill would have also forced all citizens to either work for a period of national service, or serve in the army. If a citizen did not comply with their service requirement their citizenship could be revoked. Many saw this bill as discriminatory, especially towards Arab citizens, and Orthodox Jews. Most Arab citizens do not serve in the Israeli military, though a few volunteer to serve.

The bill could still be “privately sponsored” by a member of the Yisrael Beitenu party, who introduced the bill initially. However, given the lack of support that this bill received in committee, it is unlikely to pass the legislature. It would be required to pass an extra, fourth vote on the Knesset floor.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera- Israel ‘Loyalty Law’ Rejected – 31 May 2009

AP- Israel Throws Out Proposed ‘Loyalty Law’– 31 May 2009

Reuters- Israeli Cabinet Rejects Proposed Loyalty Oath – 31 May 2009

Examiner- Hardline Israeli Party to Introduce Loyalty Bill– 25 May 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TSKHINVALI, South Ossetia—The European Union has called the May 31 elections in South Ossetia “illegitimate,” and has stated that the EU will not recognize the results.  Eduard Kokoity, leader of the pro-Russian party, Yedinstvo (Unity), received nearly sixty percent of the vote, according to an early count.

South Ossetia was the site of intense fighting between Russian and Georgian forces during August 2008.  After the fighting ceased, South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia, and Russia recognized South Ossetia as an independent republic, as well as Abkhazia, another separatist region in the Georgian Republic.  The majority of nations consider South Ossetia a part of Georgia, while Russia and Nicaragua have recognized the region as an independent nation.

Prior to the election, critics called for an election boycott, stating that Kokoity sought a landslide victory in order to secure his hold on power, and ultimately unite the region with North Ossetia, which lies in the Russian Federation.  Critics also cited evidence that Kokoity, a former Russian wrestling champion, stifled dissent and intimidated political rivals.  Although four parties initially vied for the thirty-four parliamentary seats, the election commission barred participation by the two parties that did not support Kokoity.  Approximately 50,000 South Ossetians were eligible to vote, and Russian authorities set up voting stations inside Russia for expatriates and those who fled the August 2008 hostilities.

The Georgian minister of reintegration, Temuri Yakovashbili, echoed the EU’s sentiments, saying that few Georgians or ethnic Ossetians are left in the region after the August 2008 fighting.
One correspondent in South Ossetia said that the election results would increase the tension between Russia and Georgia.  “South Ossetia is basically propped up by Russia,” says Matthew Colin, a journalist for Al Jazeera, “It is a tiny area that could only ever survive with Russian military, economic, and political support… The question is…will the tensions around the border area erupt again into violence.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – EU Condemns S Ossetia elections – 1 June 2009

Associated Press – EU calls South Ossetia elections “illegitimate” – 1 June 2009

TIME – South Ossetia’s No-Hope Elections – 1 June 2009

New York Times – South Ossetians Elect Parliament – 31 May 2009

Voice of America – Longtime Separatist Leader Ahead in South Ossetia Election – 31 May 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – An Israeli government spokesman said on May 28 that Israel must be allowed to expand its settlements in the West Bank, echoing the sentiments of Israeli’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to his cabinet on May 24.  Mark Regev, speaking on May 27, said that any final arrangements regarding West Bank settlements would have to be part of any agreement with the Palestinians, but that until such an agreement is reached, Israeli settlements would be allowed to expand to compensate for “natural growth.”

Approximately 500,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements inside the West Bank and in predominantly-Arab East Jerusalem, areas which were captured by Israeli in 1967 and which many Palestinians believe will be the basis of a future Palestinian state.  While the Israeli government has condemned the twenty-two settlements, deeming them to be illegal, the organization Peace Now estimates that fifty such settlements have been built since 2001 and Israeli settlements currently take up approximately 40% of the land in the West Bank. 

Under international law, such settlements are illegal because they are on land that Palestinians claim form their independent state.  In the U.S.-supported roadmap peace plan, Israel must stop all settlement activity, and specifically included natural growth.

On May 27, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisted that construction of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank must immediately stop.  During his meeting with Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, on May 28, U.S. president Barack Obama repeated his call for a freeze on settlement construction, and said that he expected to hear a response from Prime Minister Netanyahu shortly.  Middle East experts have called the Obama Administration’s response to the current settlement expansion the strongest on the issue from the U.S. in years. 

For more information, please see:

Irish Times – Israel to Allow Expansion in Settlements – 29 May 2009

New York Times – Obama Calls for Swift Move Toward Mideast Peace Talks  – 28 May 2009

BBC News – No Exception in Israeli Settlement:  Clinton – 28 May 2009

New York Times – Israel Insists on Some Construction in West Bank Settlements – 28 May 2009

Al-Jazeera – Netanyahu:  Settlements to Expand – 25 May 2009

Palestine Monitor – Obama’s Logic vs. Netanyahu’s Rhetoric – 20 May 2009