By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

ASSIUT, Egypt – On September 8, prisoners in prison in the city of Assiut rioted following reports about an inmate’s death.  Egyptian officials released a statement reporting that prisoners rioted, holding some guards hostage, and seized guns.  The statement reported that the guards used tear gas and rubber-coated bullets to regain control of two wings of the prison.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement the incident began with a brawl between four prisoners armed with table cutlery. Police intervened to separate them and decided to punish them with 48 hours in solitary confinement.

“The first prisoner (Abdel Salam) died while undergoing this punishment. A rumor then spread among the prisoners that he died because an officer assaulted him,” it said.  However, a conflicting report names the inmate as Hani Ghandour, who was serving a seven-year sentence for assault.

There are also conflicting reports of how the inmate died.  One report states that the inmate died while in solitary confinement; possibly from abuse, torture, or ill-treatment by the guards.  A second report states that inmate was killed during armed clashes after a group of 15 gunmen had stormed the building in an attempt to free prisoners.

There is no explanation for the discrepancies in the dead man’s name or the reason which lay behind the violence.

Four guards and at least 20 prisoners were said to have been injured in the clashes.

Conditions as Egyptian prisons are often dire and overcrowded. A lawyer said in June that prison guards near the Mediterranean city of Alexandria had beaten up 17 inmates to force them to end a hunger strike.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Upper Egypt Prison Shaken by Riot – 8 September 2008

Middle East Times – Egyptian Prisoners Riot After Inmate’s Death – 8 September 2008

Reuters – Twenty Five Injured in Egyptian Prison Riot – 8 September 2008

By Lauren Mellinger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon – On August 26, Human Rights Watch called on the Lebanese government to address the high rate of unnatural deaths of migrant domestic workers.  Since January 2007, at least 95 migrant workers have died in Lebanon.

Of these 95 deaths, 40 are classified as suicide, while 24 others were caused by workers falling from high buildings, often while trying to escape their employers. By contrast, only 14 domestic workers died because of diseases or health issues.  Key factors pushing these women to kill themselves or risk their lives are forced confinement, excessive work demands, employer abuse, and financial pressures.

A 2006 survey quoted by HRW showed 31% of 600 domestic workers interviewed were not allowed to leave the home they worked in.  “Many domestic workers are literally being driven to jump from balconies to escape their forced confinement,” said Nadim Houry, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“Domestic workers are dying in Lebanon at a rate of more than one per week…All those involved – from the Lebanese authorities, to the workers’ embassies, to the employment agencies, to the employers – need to ask themselves what is driving these women to kill themselves or risk their lives trying to escape from high buildings,” said Houry.

In early 2006, an official steering committee was established to ease the problems of domestic workers. The committee has three main goals.  First, to create standardized employment contracts in Arabic, English, French and the native language of the worker. Second, to publish a booklet detailing the rights and obligations of employers and employees, to be distributed at airports, ministries and recruitment agencies.  Lastly, to formulate a new law for migrant workers.

But according to Houry, “to date” the committee “has failed to deliver any concrete reforms … it’s time for the Lebanese government to show real leadership and actually deliver” these promises, he said.

For more information, please see:

The Daily Star – Domestic Workers Risking Death to Flee Employers – 27 August 2008

BBC – Lebanon Maid Deaths Cause Alarm – 26 August 2008

HRW – Annex: Deaths of Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon – 26 August 2008

HRW – Lebanon: Migrant Domestic Workers Dying Every Week – 26 August 2008

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon – On August 26, Human Rights Watch called on the Lebanese government to address the high rate of unnatural deaths of migrant domestic workers.  Since January 2007, at least 95 migrant workers have died in Lebanon.

Of these 95 deaths, 40 are classified as suicide, while 24 others were caused by workers falling from high buildings, often while trying to escape their employers. By contrast, only 14 domestic workers died because of diseases or health issues.  Key factors pushing these women to kill themselves or risk their lives are forced confinement, excessive work demands, employer abuse, and financial pressures.

A 2006 survey quoted by HRW showed 31% of 600 domestic workers interviewed were not allowed to leave the home they worked in.  “Many domestic workers are literally being driven to jump from balconies to escape their forced confinement,” said Nadim Houry, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“Domestic workers are dying in Lebanon at a rate of more than one per week…All those involved – from the Lebanese authorities, to the workers’ embassies, to the employment agencies, to the employers – need to ask themselves what is driving these women to kill themselves or risk their lives trying to escape from high buildings,” said Houry.

In early 2006, an official steering committee was established to ease the problems of domestic workers. The committee has three main goals.  First, to create standardized employment contracts in Arabic, English, French and the native language of the worker. Second, to publish a booklet detailing the rights and obligations of employers and employees, to be distributed at airports, ministries and recruitment agencies.  Lastly, to formulate a new law for migrant workers.

But according to Houry, “to date” the committee “has failed to deliver any concrete reforms … it’s time for the Lebanese government to show real leadership and actually deliver” these promises, he said.

For more information, please see:

The Daily Star – Domestic Workers Risking Death to Flee Employers – 27 August 2008

BBC – Lebanon Maid Deaths Cause Alarm – 26 August 2008

HRW – Annex: Deaths of Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon – 26 August 2008

HRW – Lebanon: Migrant Domestic Workers Dying Every Week – 26 August 2008

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

MA’ALEH ADUMIM, West Bank – On August 21, state prosecutor’s office told the High Court that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have decided to “significantly” alter the course of the Separation Barrier.  The barrier will be moved closer to Ma’aleh Adumim, the largest Israeli settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.  The shift will result in 4,000 dunams (400 hectares) remaining on the Palestinian side of the Separation Barrier.

The state’s brief to the court came in response to two petitions filed in 2005 and 2006 by residents of Abu Dis and Suahra e-Sharkiya, Palestinian communities located outside the barrier.  The petitioners allege that the proposed route placed 6,000 dunams of their agricultural lands on the Israeli side of the barrier; making it difficult, if not impossible, to cultivate.

Ma’aleh Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel said that he planned to instruct the city’s attorney to petition the High Court against the state’s decision.  According to Kashriel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert does not have the authority to make such a fateful decision for the city given that he was likely to be in office for only one more month.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Israel ‘to Change Barrier Route’ – 22 August 2008

Ha’aretz – Ma’aleh Adumim Mayor to Appeal new West Bank Fence Route – 22 August 2008

Jerusalem Post – State Agrees to Reroute Security Barrier – 22 August 2008

AFP – Israel to Change Route of West Bank Barrier – 21 August 2008

——

ALGIERS, Algeria – A series of deadly attacks have resulted in dozens of deaths and in one of the most violent weeks in Algeria in years.  On August 20, two car bombs exploded in the town of Bouira, southeast of the capital Algiers.  The bombings targeted a military compound and the Hotel Sophie.

The bombing near the hotel exploded as a bus drove by taking workers to a construction site, according to the official Algerian press agency A.P.S.  12 people on the bus were killed and 15 injured.  The bombing near the military compound resulted in extensive damage to the compound and nearby barracks.

In a statement released on August 21, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attacks.  Until 2006, the group called itself the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat and is the last big extremist group from the Algerian civil war in the 1990s.

The twin bombings follow earlier attacks on August 19 and 17.  On August 19, a suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives into a group of young men waiting to take the entrance exam for the police academy in the town of Issers.  The attack resulted in 43 deaths and several dozen injuries; most of those killed were civilians.

In addition, on August 17, 12 people were killed in an ambush of a military commander and his escort.  No group has claimed responsibility for these attacks.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Al-Qaeda Claims Algeria Attacks – 22 August 2008

Guardian – Bombings Add to Fears Algeria is al-Qaida Hotbed – 20 August 2008

New York Times – Bomber Kills at Least 43 Near Capital of Algeria – 19 August 2008

——

DAMASCUS, Syria – On July 30, the trial for 12 Syrian dissidents for signing a declaration calling for democracy in Syria began.  Charges include harming the state and spreading false information.  All 12 will deny all charges when they appeared in a Damascus court, the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria (NOHRS).

Among those being tried are Fidaa Horani, president of the national council of the Damascus Declaration, writer Ali Abdallah, doctor Walid Bunni, writer and secretary of the national council Akram Bunni and former MP Riad Seif.  The accused are linked to a pro-reform body know as the Damascus Declaration group. They were arrested in the months following a group meeting in December.

It is the biggest collective trial of Syrian dissidents since 2001 after the so-called Damascus Spring, the brief period of relative freedom of expression that followed President Bashar al-Assad’s rise to power in 2000.

The trial was adjourned and will resume on August 26.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Syria Hold Mass Trial Over Call for Democracy – 30 July 2008

BBC – Trial of Syrian Dissidents Begins – 30 July 2008