By Yasmine S. Hakimian
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BRUSSELS, Belgium – On September 26, the European Union declared its concern for religious minorities in Iran. The declaration released by the Presidency of the EU urges the Iranian government to reconsider its plan to debate a draft bill on apostasy. Apostasy occurs when one abandons their religious faith.

There has been a decrease in the freedom of religion and specifically the freedom to worship. Since April 2008, the circumstances of religious minorities have worsened and many Iranian converts to Christianity and Bahai have been arrested. Mahmoud Mohammad Matin-Azad, (53 years old) and Arash Ahmad-Ali Basirat (40 years old), two Christian converts have been detained for apostasy since May 15.

Many reports indicate that those belonging to the Christian, Baha’i, Sufi and Sunni minorities in Iran are continuously living in persecution. The minorities have dealt with confiscation of property, profanation of their prayer spaces, imprisonment and numerous acts of violence, some of which life threatening.

The Iranian parliament may soon draft a law making apostasy a crime punishable by death. If passed, the law will infringe the freedom of religion. As a result, Iranian’s will be stripped of their right to change religion or have no religion. Such a law violates Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Iran freely ratified.

There will be drastic consequences for thousands of religious minorities living in Iran if the Iranian parliament passes the law. The law would put converts’ lives in grave danger. The law would further threaten the lives of those Iranians who have been arrested for their religious beliefs and held without trial for months.

The apostasy bill, named the Islamic Penal Code, was approved at a first stage vote by the Iranian parliament on September 9. A total of 196 votes were for, seven against, and two abstentions for the bill. The bill will be sent back to the Legislative Commission for amendments and brought before the Iranian parliament for a further vote.

The European Union is asking Iran to forego the law and release the imprisoned converts. The EU urges Iran to put an end to violence and discrimination against religious minorities and allow them to fully exercise their freedom of religion or belief.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a Christian human rights group, is strongly supporting the EU in its declaration to Iran. Tina Lambert, CSW’s advocacy director, stated “the international community must continue to urge the Iranian government to release all those detained on the basis of their religious affiliation and respect their obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

For more information, please see:

Christian Today – Christian Group Welcomes EU’s Strong Stance on Iran Apostasy Bill – 2 October 2008

Assyrian International News Agency – EU Urges Iran to Drop Draft Apostasy Bill and Release Christian Converts – 1 October 2008

Iran Human Rights – EU Presidency is Very Concerned about the Situation of Religious Minorities in Iran – 30 September 2008

Associated Press – EU Worried About Freedom of Religion in Iran – 26 September 2008

By Nykoel Dinardo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Photo: Nujood Ali and her attorney Shada Nasser, Courtesy of CNN International

SANA’A, Yemen – On September 16, ten-year old Nujood Ali returned to school as a second-grader. Although her actions may not sound unusual, Nujood Ali has become a role model and example for women’s rights activists in the Middle East and her return to school is seen as a major step towards gender equality.  Ali has become the focus of international attention because she filed for divorce in April against her 30 year-old husband, Faez Ali Thamer, and won.

In Yemen, Ali was the first child bride granted a permanent divorce by the court.  Her father arranged her marriage in February.  When asked why he married his daughter at the age of ten, he explained that two of her sisters had been kidnapped and forcibly married.  He believed that, by arranging her marriage, he was protecting her from a similar fate.

Less than a month after Nujood Ali was granted a divorce, nine-year old Arwa Abdu Muhammad appeared a hospital in Sana’a.  She complained that her husband had been beating and sexually assaulting her for eight months.  These two cases have generated a lot of media coverage and brought attention to the risks of child marriage.

Some consider child marriage to be a part of Islamic culture and conservatives often cite the fact that the Prophet Muhammad married his favorite wife when she was nine to support it.  Nonetheless, it has been a hot topic among human rights groups.  The United Nations Population Fund has a section dedicated to Child Marriage as a Form of Gender-Based Violence.  It explains that those married at a young age face high risk of health problems commonly associated with early sexual activity and childbirth.

In Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Human Rights Commission has been pushing for new laws to increase the minimum age for marriage to 17 years.  However, in Yemen, despite laws setting the minimum marriage age to 15 – girls are often married younger.  In an interview with CNN, Ali said that she hopes that her actions make “people listen and think to not marry girls so young.”

Shada Nasser, a women’s rights advocate in Yemen and Ali’s lawyer, said that since the press coverage of Ali’s divorce she’s been contacted by several child brides.  Nasser said that she plans on doing everything she can to help them.

For more information, please see:

Baltimore Sun – Yemen Divorcee Reclaims Childhood –  28 September 2008

CNN International – Helping Child Brides Break Free – 25 September 2008

Jerusalem Post – Ending Child Marriage in Saudi Arabia – 10 September 2008

New York Times – Tiny Voices Defy Child Marriage in Yemen – 29 June 2008

United Nation’s Population Fund – Forms of Gender-Based Violence and Their Consequences

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East
 
WEST JERUSALEM, Israel – On September 29, Yedioth Aharonoth, Israel’s largest newspaper, published a farewell interview with the now interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.  In the interview, Olmert stated that “We have to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, the meaning of which is that in practice we will withdraw from almost all the territories, if not all the territories.”  In addition, in order to reach a peace agreement with Syria, Israel will have to withdraw from the Golan Heights.

The most controversial element of Olmert’s statement is that a final peace agreement will require Israeli withdrawal from East Jerusalem.  Official Israeli policy regarding East Jerusalem is that it is a part of Israel and that Jerusalem is the “eternal and unified capital” of Israel.  Olmert argues that maintaining sovereignty over an undivided Jerusalem would involve bringing 270,000 Palestinians inside Israel’s security barrier. 

“A decision has to be made,” said Olmert. “This decision is difficult, terrible, a decision that contradicts our natural instincts, our innermost desires, our collective memories, the prayers of the Jewish people for 2,000 years.”

Olmert’s comments in his farewell interview surprised many as he has long opposed any territorial concessions to the Palestinians.  According to Olmert, he was “not prepared to look at reality in all of its depth.”  While this is the first time Olmert has stated these thoughts publicly, “his Palestinian negotiations partners have heard this before, as have the Americans and the Europeans,” said Mark Regev, Olmert’s spokesman. 

Response from both the right and left wings of Israeli politics was swift.  Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the rightwing Yisrael Beiteinu party, denounced the prime minister’s comments as “insanity.”  Lieberman continued by stating that Olmert was “endangering the existence of the State of Israel irresponsibly.”

Leftwing politicians criticized Mr Olmert for speaking his mind at a time when he had lost the power and credibility to make the territorial concessions he talked about.  Aluf Benn, of Ha’aretz, characterized the comments as “too little, too late.”

Despite recently resigning as Prime Minister, Olmert remains the interim Prime Minister and, in theory, will continue peace negotiations while awaiting the new government.  However, since Olmert is a lame-duck Prime Minister, some analysts believe that a final peace agreement will not occur in his remaining months.  Rather, his comments are to prepare the Israeli public for a possible peace agreement under his successor.

For more information, please see:

Financial Times – Olmert Calls for Return of “Almost All” Territory – 29 September 2008

Guardian – Ian Black: Ehud Olmert’s Valedictory Jewish New Year Message is Worth Listening To – 29 September 2008

Ha’aretz – ANALYSIS: Olmert’s Epiphany is Too Little, Too Late – 29 September 2008

Jerusalem Post – Olmert: We Must Leave Most of W. Bank – 29 September 2008

New York Times – Olmert Says Israel Should Pull Out of West Bank – 29 September 2008

Voice of America – Olmert Says Israel Must Withdraw From “Almost All” of Occupied Territories – 29 September 2008

By Lauren Mellinger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – On September 28, Ibrahim Issa, editor of Al Dustour, an independent newspaper published in Egypt, was sentenced to two months in prison for publishing rumors that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was near death.  The verdict followed a lower court ruling in March that had sentenced Issa to six months in prison.

In August 2007, Issa published a series of articles in Al Dustour alleging that Mubarak’s health was rapidly deteriorating, and claimed that the President had lapsed into a coma.  Issa was arrested and charged with “publishing false information and rumors … and damaging public interest and national stability.”  According to prosecutors, as a result of Issa’s allegations, foreign investors withdrew more than $350 million dollars from the Egyptian stock exchange.

According to Issa, “The verdict opens the door of hell…it deals a blow to all illusions of a free press and confirms the state’s hostile position towards freedom of opinion and expression.”

The Egyptian government has a history of cracking down on journalists for publishing on a range of issues including the President’s health, inflation, poverty and government corruption.  Often, journalists or bloggers who publish on such issues are arrested, detained and imprisoned.

According to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, four years ago, Mubarak promised that he would end imprisonment for crimes related to free press.  Yet in the last year, at least seven Egyptian journalists were sentenced to up to two years in prison on charges ranging from misquoting the Minister of Justice to spreading false rumors about Mubarak.

In protest over Issa’s conviction, more than 23 Egyptian newspapers suspended publication for one day. The Journalists Syndicate filed a petition requesting the prison sentence be delayed pending an appeal to Egypt’s highest appeals court.  Reporters Without Borders denounced Issa’s trial, and Amnesty International stated that the trial and conviction are part of a pattern by the Egyptian government to “chill” freedom of the press.  According to the Egyptian Hisham Mubarak Legal Centre, Issa’s conviction for publishing allegations of the President’s failing health is in violation of international treaties that protect freedom of the press, of which Egypt is a party.

For more information, please see:

Al Arabiya – Egypt Editor Jailed Over Mubarak Health Rumours – 28 September 2008

Al Jazeera – Egypt Editor Jailed Amid Press Row – 28 September 2008

BBC – Egypt Editor’s Jail Term Cut – 28 September 2008

Los Angeles Times – EGYPT: Editor Sentenced to Jail – 28 September 2008

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

TRIPOLI, Lebanon – On September 29, a bomb exploded in Tripoli, killing several Lebanese soldiers and civilians.  Explosives, mixed with nuts and bolts, detonated as a bus carrying Lebanese Army soldiers passed, killing five and wounded at least 17 others.  The dead included four soldiers. 

Officials state that the bomb was stored in a stationary car and that it was detonated as the bus passed.  The detonation occurred at 8:00am, local time.  The bus was carrying soldiers, as well as civilians, to work.  The police immediately cordoned off the area and forensic experts began collecting evidence.

This is the second attack in the past two months that has targeted the Lebanese military.  On August 13, a suitcase bomb exploded as a bus carrying Lebanese Army soldiers passed, killing at least 15, including 9 soldiers.  In the earlier attack, explosives were also mixed with nuts and bolts.  It was the deadliest in Lebanon in more than three years.

The September 29 attack occurred two days after an alleged suicide attack targeted Syrian security forces in Damascus.  According to Syrian authorities, the car, packed with explosives, crossed into Syria from a “neighboring Arab country.”  Some have placed blame on Sunni militant groups in the region and claim that sectarian tensions in neighboring countries, such as Iraq and Lebanon, are spilling over into Syria.

Tripoli has been the site of a number of sectarian battles, with dozens of people killed or wounded in recent fighting between pro-government Sunni fighters and pro-Syrian Shias.  Despite the recent reconciliation agreement, sectarian tensions are still high. 

For example, last month Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian President, stated that Sunni extremists were destabilizing north Lebanon.  Then, two weeks ago, Assad deployed thousands of Syrian troops along the north Lebanon border.  The official reason cited by the Lebanese Army is to fight smuggling.  However the deployment triggered fears in Beirut of a possible incursion.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Blast Hits Lebanese City of Tripoli – 29 September 2008

BBC – Analysis: Lebanon-Syria Attacks Linked? – 29 September 2008

New York Times – 4 Soldiers Killed in Lebanon Bombing – 29 September 2008

Reuters – Car Bomb Hits Bus Carrying Troops in Lebanon, 5 Dead – 29 September 2008 

The Times – Six Dead and Seventeen Injured in Tripoli Car Bombing – 29 September 2008