By Nykoel Dinardo
Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

ADEN, Yemen – Three people died following protests in Southern Yemen during the week of May 18, after police clashed with the protesters.  One man died at the scene of the protest.  The other two died in the hospital shortly thereafter.   At least twenty-five others were injured and another 120 were arrested for their involvement.

The protests were focused on the political status of South Yemen.  The protests marked the 19th Anniversary of Unity Day, the day when South Yemen and North Yemen were united at one nation.  The people of South Yemen have claimed independence and many of the organizations leading the protests are considered separatist organizations.  Most of the protests have been organized by the Southern Movement, a group that is strongly against the government in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a.

Yemen is the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula; however most of the oil reserves are located in South Yemen.  A large portion of the population is also located in the South.  Residents in the South claim that they face discrimination and live in poor economic conditions.  As the economic crisis has hit the country, residents of the South claim that they have been denied jobs and property so that they could be reserved for Northern residents. 

Over 3,000 protesters were trying to go into Aden City to protest these conditions when they were met by security forces that were sent to break up the groups.  When the protesters met the security forces, they used themselves as human shields when police fired live rounds into the crowd.  They also shot tear gas into the groups of people. 

State-run news agencies in Yemen refused to admit that the clash took place, despite reports of the clash in many international news sources.  The news agency, SABA, claims that the deaths were not caused by security forces but instead by “rogue elements.”  According to Aden Governor, Adnan al-Jefri, the event has been escalated and magnified by the media.  He told SABA on May 21 that there had been “no clashes…between security forces and demonstrators in Aden.” 

For more information, please see:

CNN – Yemen Denies Reports of Deadly Clashes – 22 May 2009

AFP – Yemeni President Urges Dialogue After Deadly Clashes – 21 May 2009

Al-Bawaba – Yemen: At Least Three Killed in Clashes – 21 May 2009

BBC – Civil War Fears As Yemen Celebrates Unity – 21 May 2009

Reuters – Three Killed as Police Disperse South Yemen Protest – 21 May 2009

SABA – Aden Governor: No Clashes Between Citizens and Security – 21 May 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – May 14 marked the one-year anniversary of the arrest of seven Baha’i leaders in Iran.  Human Rights Watch called for the release of seven leaders of the Baha’i community in Iran who, in February, were charged with spying for Israel, “insulting religious sanctities,” and spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic.  The leaders could face the death penalty if convicted. 

The arrests are the latest in a series of hundreds of arrests that have taken place in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom estimates at least thirty Baha’is are currently imprisoned in Iran.   There is also evidence that since 1979, hundreds of Baha’is in Iran have been killed.  Iran’s constitution recognizes only Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians as legitimate religious minorities in the Islamic Republic, though these groups have also been subject to persecution.

Baha’is constitute the largest religious minority in Iran, with 300,000 members inside the Islamic Republic and approximately five million worldwide.  Baha’i was founded in the mid-nineteenth century in Persia, present-day Iran, and believers hold that humanity is one race derived from a single God.  Officials in Iran have deemed Baha’i a heretical offshoot of Islam.  The center of the Baha’i faith is the city of Haifa, in present-day Israel, heightening tensions between members of the faith and the Islamic Republic, which refuses to recognize Israel as a state.

The Baha’i leaders’ lawyer, Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, has experienced intense pressure from the Iranian government while preparing for the case.  Ebadi reported that in December 2008, police closed her human rights center and her private office was raided, and client files seized.  In addition, Ebadi has been denied access to the Baha’i leaders and no trial date has been set.

For more information, please see:

Iran Press Watch – Imprisoned In Iran For Religious Belief – 20 May 2009

Human Rights Watch – Iran:  Free Baha’i Leaders – 14 May 2009

New York Times – Seven Iranians Charged With Spying for Israel – 23 February 2009

BBC News – Iran arrests Bahai ‘leadership’ – 19 May 2008

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMANHUR, Egypt – On May 18th an Egyptian court in Damanhur sentenced twenty-four people to death. All twenty-four cases have been sent to the mufti to sign execution orders, in accordance with sharia law. Nine of those sentenced were not present for their trials and conviction, as they remain on the run. 

Each of twenty-four was sentenced on murder charges for their participation in a violent land dispute in March of 2008 in the northern province of Beheira. Two rival associations both claimed title to a 500 acre agricultural plot in the Nile delta. Both parties had hired security guards to protect their land, and the dispute arose when one group of guards tried to claim the plot by force from the other group of guards. Authorities believe that this was purely a financial conflict and had no sectarian aspects.

Eleven people were killed, and as many as twenty-seven were injured in the conflict. Land suitable for farming is scarce in the Nile delta and this shortage often leads to disputes. While land disputes are not uncommon in Egypt, the number of casualties in this instance is unusual. Many landlords in Egypt hire private armed security guards to protect their land interests, but the guards typically only keep out squatters, and do not incur casualties.

Both the Daily News Egypt and E- Taiwan News article attributed to the Associated Press allege that the “gun battle” was over 1,500 acres, not 500 acres. Both sources also maintain that no dates for execution have been set, and all of the sentences have been appealed.

The nine people convicted in absentia remain on the run. The due process rights of these individuals under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights may come into question if they are found. This covenant, signed by the United Nations, supports the right for all people to be present at their own trial and conviction.

For more information, please see:

APA – Egyptian Court Sentences 24 to Death – 19 May 2009

Daily News Egypt – 24 Sentenced to Death Over Deadly Land Dispute – 19 May 2009

E-Taiwan News – Egypt: 24 Get Death Sentence on Murder Charges – 19 May 2009

News 24 – 24 Sentenced to Death in Egypt – 18 May 2009

New York Times – Egypt: Death Sentences Over a Gunfight – 18 May 2009

Reuters – Egypt Court Sentences 24 to Die Over Land Clash – 18 May 2009

By Nykoel Dinardo
Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

NEW YORK, New York – On May 19, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report titled The Island of Happiness: Exploitation of Migrant Workers on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi.  The report claims that migrant workers hired to help build Saadiyat Island of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are being mistreated. 

Saadiyat Island is a 27 square kilometre island off the coast of Abu Dhabi.  In May 2009, the UAE intended to break ground on huge construction projects to take place on the island, including 27 hotels, outposts of the Guggenheim and the Louvre, and a campus of New York University.  Hundreds of migrants workers have been hired to work on these projects, as well as others, including the leveling of the island itself before construction can begin.  However, according to HRW, these workers are facing harsh, unreasonable work conditions, poor housing and health conditions, and have no legal remedies to address these problems.

Many migrant workers get to the UAE through employments agencies.  These agencies often charge outrageous fees, in some cases equaling as much as four times a year’s wages.  Migrant works borrow money from family in some cases, but often they borrow money from high interest rate loan companies.  By the time the workers arrive in the country where they want to work, they are already in so much debt that they are forced to accept any work conditions in order to work a wage high enough to pay off their loans.  Although hiring workers through these agencies is illegal under UAE law, there is little enforcement. 

Because workers have no power to negotiate their contracts, they are forced to work twelve hours days in temperatures over 100 degrees Farenheit, with high humidity.  After a long day of work, a worker takes home an average of $8 US per day.  According to HRW, the average salary of a foreign worker is $2575 US; however the average per capita income is $30,000 US.  HRW states that many companies cut costs by keeping overtime wages below the legal requirements.

Furthermore, HRW claims that companies are also preventing workers from getting better jobs by illegally confiscating their passports.  These companies threaten workers with deportation should they look for a better job.  Although this practice is illegal, HRW says that the workers they interviewed explained that the practice is universal on Saadiyat Island.  Migrant workers are also unable to get representation from outside groups because the UAE does not recognize non-governmental organizations that may aid the workers.

HRW has asked the UAE to reconsider its labor laws and to improve enforcement.  They also ask the UAE to implement programs to improve workers’ awareness; they explain that, as long as workers are unaware of their rights, workers will be taken advantage of by companies.

For more information, please see:

Financial Times – Plight of Abu Dhabi Workers – 20 May 2009

Human Rights Watch – The Island of Happiness – 19 May 2009

Human Rights Watch – UAE:  Exploited Workers Building ‘Island of Happiness’ – 19 May 2009

Telegraph – Workers on Luxury Island ‘Exploited and Abused’ – 19 May 2009

United Press International – Rights Group Blasts Abu Dhabi Project – 19 May 2009

By Lauren Mellinger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen  – On May 7, 2009 dozens of journalists gathered in front of the press syndicate in Sana’a in a staged sit-in to protest the Yemeni governments decision to suspend more than eight newspapers for their coverage of unrest in southern Yemen.  An additional protest was held in the city of Aden.

On May 4, the Ministry of Information ordered the suspension of several privately owned newspapers including Al-Masdar, Al-Wattani, Al-Diyar, Al-Mustaqila, Al-Nida, Al-Ayyam and Al-Share, due to their recent coverage of clashes between residents and government security forces in southern Yemen.  The government has followed its decree by taking active measures to forcibly halt the sale of these publications, including seizing the production plant of one of the newspapers in order to prevent distribution.  Security forces were directed to confiscate these publications from kiosks and stores throughout Sana’a.

Yemeni Ministor of Information Hassan Ahmed al-Luzi claimed that the decision to ban the sale of these publications was necessary as the journalists had violated Yemen’s press law “by publishing articles against national unity and the country’s highest interests and they incited to violate law and order and spread hatred and enmity among the united people of Yemen.”

Following the government’s order to ban the publication and distribution of these newspapers, security forces arrested Fuad Rashif, the Editor-in-Chief of the Mukalla Press Web site.  The Web site had been covering the recent violence between residents and security forces in the south, as well as the government’s marginalization of southern Yemen.  Rashid has been held incommunicado since his arrest on May 8.

According to Joel Simon, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, “we are concerned about the ongoing ban on independent newspapers and call on authorities to immediately end this censorship…Covering the ongoing conflict in the south is an essential journalistic function, and for authorities to ban this coverage is to criminalize journalism itself.”

Saeed Thabit, spokesman for the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate has organized the recent demonstrations of journalists in Sana’a and Aden, claiming that the government’s recent crackdown on the media is tantamount to restricting free speech, which according to Thabit is “one of the pillars of national unity and democracy.”  Thabit is seeking to unite Yemeni journalists to oppose the recent government ban.  The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling on the Yemeni government to end its ban on the media and to disclose the location of a Rashid.

For more information, please see:

Committee to Protect Journalists – Yemeni Editor Held Incommunicado, Critical Newspaper Sued – 8 May 2009

AFP – Yemen Reporters Protest at Closure of Papers – 7 May 2009

Arab Monitor – Yemeni Government Confiscates Seven Newspapers – 7 May 2009

Committee to Protect Journalists – CPJ Alarmed by Yemen Government’s Newspaper Censorship – 7 May 2009

Yemen Times – Ministry of Information Prevents Seven Newspapers from Distribution – 6 May 2009