By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

NEW YORK CITY, United States – Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that Moroccan authorities closed its investigation into police abuse allegations made by two human rights activists.  On May 5, the two activists were informed by police that the prosecutor at the El-Ayoun Court of Appeals had closed the investigation into their complaints for “lack of evidence.”

In January 2008, Dahha Rahmouni and Brahim al-Ansari, two Sahrawi human rights activists, filedcomplaints to the office of the prosecutor at the El-Ayoun Court of Appeals.  The complaints alleged that on December 14, 2007, police in the city of El-Ayoun, in the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara, arbitrarily arrested them.  While in custody, the men claim that they were beaten and forced to sign a statement that they were not permitted to read.  Rahmouni and Ansari were released without charges on December 16.

“A real, impartial investigation would have included testimony from both the police officers accused of abuse and the rights advocates making the allegations…Instead, Moroccan authorities chose to hear only one side, showing they’re not impartial,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Whitson said that HRW welcomed dialogue with authorities on human rights issues, “but in this case, we received a cynical string of falsehoods, a response that indicates that the government will back up police abuses.”

Ansari is a member of the El-Ayoun chapter of the legally recognized Moroccan Association of Human Rights. Rahmouni is a member of the Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations (ASVDH), an unrecognized organization based in El-Ayoun.  However, ASVDH, has followed the proper procedures for obtaining legal status.

Morocco effectively annexed the Western Sahara following the withdrawal of Spanish troops in 1976 and Mauritania withdrew from the remainder in 1979.  Since the withdrawal of Spanish troops in 1976, the Moroccan government engaged in a guerrilla war with the Polisario Front, a Western Saharan nationalist group.  The UN brokered a cease-fire between the two parties in 1991.

Recently, on April 30, 2008, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1813, which calls on Morocco and the Polisario Front to continue negotiations for a “mutually acceptable” self-determination solution in the disputed Western Sahara.

The resolution was highly disputed.  The US and France, both strong backers of the Moroccan government, supported statements permitting Saharwi autonomy.  South Africa, Costa Rica and Panama voted for the resolution but ultimately favored a resolution recognizing Saharwi’s right to independence.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Morocco: Sham Inquiry Highlights Impunity for Police Abuse – 8 May 2008

Middle East Online – Security Council Urges More Talks On W Sahara – 1 May 2008

International Herald Tribune – Security Council Calls for Realism and Compromise  on Western Sahara – 30 April 2008

Human Rights Watch – Letter to Moroccan Minister of Justice Abdelwahed Radi on Mistreatment of Human Rights Activists – 28 December 2008

Human Rights Watch – Morocco: Investigate Police Beating of Rights Activists in Western Sahara – 28 December 2008

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

RAMALLAH, West Bank – On April 30, a group of three Israeli and three Palestinian officials released a joint report stating that Israel should remove ten important West Bank checkpoints to boost Palestinian economy and to increase the possibility of peace.  The group stated that moving the roadblocks would not compromise Israeli security, but their removal would decrease disruptions to Palestinian trade and movement.

Palestinian group members included Nasir Tahboub – an advisor to the Palestinian prime minister, Samih al Abed – a former minister of planning, and Abdul Hafeez Nofal – a senior official in the trade ministry.

Israeli members included Adi Ashkenazi – former Head of the Civil Administration Economics Department in the West Bank and Gaza, reserve Brig Gen Ilan Paz – former head of the Civil Administration in Beit El, and reserve Brig Gen Dov Tsdaka – also the former head of the Civil Administration in Beit El.  A significant portion of the report’s impact is from the fact that two members of the group are former Israeli generals in charge of the administration of the West Bank.

Gen Paz said, “It is our belief that now, more than ever before, it is in Israel’s long-term security interest to thoroughly assess the efficiency of the checkpoints and roadblocks regime, in relation to the damage and disruption they cause.”

“While there was once a serious security need for checkpoints and roadblocks, this need is diminishing with time,” the study said. “The checkpoints and roadblocks policy, however, has not changed accordingly.”

In addition, international donor states to the Palestinian Authority will meet in London on May 2.  It is expected that Israel will face sharp criticism for not doing more to boost the Palestinian economy.  Also, it is expected that the international donors will put pressure Israel to open Gaza’s borders and lift the blockade.

For more information, please see:

Ha’aretz – Donor Nations: Israel Must Lift West Bank Barriers – 2 May 2008

BBC – New Plan For W. Bank Checkpoints – 30 April 2008

Associated Press – Study: Israel can remove 10 Key West Bank Checkpoints – 12 April 2008

Independent – Israel Told To Tackle West Bank Plight – 30 April 2008

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Over 1,000 Iraqis were killed across that country this month, reports AFP, reversing a trend of declining violence in Iraq.  Data from Iraq’s interior, health and defense ministries indicate that over 966 of those killed were civilians.

Most were killed in the crossfire in the fighting between Shiite militants and security forces, security officials said.  Combined figures from the three ministries complied by AFP shows that over 1,700 civilians were wounded in this violence, as well.

Violence in Iraq had been declining until March, when fighting broke out in Basra, and spread to other Shiite areas of Iraq.  These clashes broke out after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on militiamen.  After fresh fighting broke out in Sadr City, Maliki accused militiamen of using civilians as human shields.

“Criminals and lawless gangs are using human shields in Sadr City… They are following the steps of the Baathist regime,” he said.  “They are trying to gain sympathy but they are using the lies and values of the former regime [of Saddam Hussein].”

Two hospitals in Sadr City alone said they received the bodies of 421 Iraqis killed and have treated more than 2,400 wounded since late March, many of whom have been civilians caught in the crossfire.

For more information, please see:
BBC News – Baghdad clashes ‘leave 400 dead’ – 30 April 2008

Washington Post – April Iraq’s Deadliest Month Since Last August – 30 April 2008

AFP – Iraq bloodshed in April kills 1073 – 30 April 2008

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Over 1,000 Iraqis were killed across that country this month, reports AFP, reversing a trend of declining violence in Iraq.  Data from Iraq’s interior, health and defense ministries indicate that over 966 of those killed were civilians.

Most were killed in the crossfire in the fighting between Shiite militants and security forces, security officials said.  Combined figures from the three ministries complied by AFP shows that over 1,700 civilians were wounded in this violence, as well.

Violence in Iraq had been declining until March, when fighting broke out in Basra, and spread to other Shiite areas of Iraq.  These clashes broke out after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on militiamen.  After fresh fighting broke out in Sadr City, Maliki accused militiamen of using civilians as human shields.

“Criminals and lawless gangs are using human shields in Sadr City… They are following the steps of the Baathist regime,” he said.  “They are trying to gain sympathy but they are using the lies and values of the former regime [of Saddam Hussein].”

Two hospitals in Sadr City alone said they received the bodies of 421 Iraqis killed and have treated more than 2,400 wounded since late March, many of whom have been civilians caught in the crossfire.

For more information, please see:
BBC News – Baghdad clashes ‘leave 400 dead’ – 30 April 2008

Washington Post – April Iraq’s Deadliest Month Since Last August – 30 April 2008

AFP – Iraq bloodshed in April kills 1073 – 30 April 2008

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza – On April 28, four young children and their mother were killed during an Israeli incursion into northern Gaza.  Palestinian medics identified the dead children as sisters Rudina and Hana Abu Maateq, aged six and three; and their brothers, Saleh, four, and Mousad, 15 months. Their mother, Meissar, died later of wounds she sustained.  In addition, two older siblings sustained serious injuries.

Responsibility for the deaths is unclear, and Israeli and Palestinian officials each blame the other.  Palestinian sources say that the family was killed by shrapnel resulting from Israeli missiles which landed at their door.  While Israeli Defense Force (IDF) sources say the deaths were caused when explosives, carried by two nearby militants, blew up.

On April 29, IDF officials promised that a full investigation will be conducted into the cause of the explosion.  “Due to the sensitivity of the matter and the complexity of the battle … additional inquiries are to be carried out,” it said in a statement.

According preliminary findings by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, around 8:15am, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) fired a missile, targeting a group of militants.  The missile landed 10 meters away from the Meatak home, seriously injuring a militant.  Less than a minute later, two more missiles were fired at the same location, landing at the door of the house and killing one militant.

“The shrapnel destroyed the door of the house and flew inside, where Meissar Abu Maateq, 40, and her six children were eating breakfast just two meters from the door,” the organization said in a statement.

B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, began conducting its own investigation shortly after the incident.  B’Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli, said that they have no “concrete, clear proof of anything,” but that its preliminary findings are similar to the military’s.

“There was a group of militants near the house and the drone fired a missile at them. They were carrying bags that probably had grenades in them,” Michaeli said, adding that no one was killed in the first strike.  “A minute later a second missile was fired at one of the men about a meter (yard) and a half outside the front door of the Abu Maateq house,” killing Ibrahim Hajuj, a Palestinian militant.

“The debate turns on whether he was carrying a bag that somehow caused a larger secondary explosion or whether the missile itself killed the four children and their mother,” she said.

According to a military spokeswoman, IDF “targeted from the air two Palestinian gunmen who were approaching the soldiers while carrying large bags on their backs.  A big explosion erupted on the scene… indicating the presence of bombs and explosives in the gunmen’s bags… As a result of this big explosion, extensive damage was caused to a house that was near the gunmen and uninvolved civilians were hit.”

Contrary to B’Tselem’s preliminary findings and IDF statements, Palestinian residents claim that no militants were killed during the attack.  The children’s father, who was close to the house and witnessed the explosion, told Al Jazeera there was no fighting in the area.  “I did not see any fighters, there were no fighters around here … no fighting, neither from the Arabs or the Israelis,” he said.

On April 29, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert expressed regret over the killings.  “The state of Israel and the government of Israel are deeply sorry when any civilian or non-combatant is hurt, particularly with regard to the mother and four of her children, who were killed,” Olmert told his cabinet at its weekly meeting.  But he laid the blame on Hamas for allowing militants to operate within residential areas and “turning the civilian population in Gaza into an indivisible part of its war.”

PM Olmert also discussed a possible truce or ceasefire with Hamas.  On April 25, Hamas proposed a six-month “period of quiet” in Gaza, which it said could then be extended to the West Bank.  Under terms of the Egypt-backed proposal, the militant group would stop its rocket attacks on Israel for six months, while Israel would open Gaza’s border crossings and cease military operations in the territory.

Israel dismissed the truce offer, saying Hamas would use the lull to re-group and re-arm its militants. At the same time, Israel promised to hold fire if Hamas and smaller Gaza militant groups halt their attacks.

However, following the Israeli incursion into Beit Hanoun, militants fired 11 rockets and nine mortars from Gaza.  Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak scoffed at talk of truce efforts.  “I think now we’re in a showdown with Hamas,” Barak told reporters. “That’s a more apt description than a possible cease-fire.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – Israel, Right Groups Probe Blast that Killed Gaza Family – 29 April 2008

Al Jazeera – Israel to Examine Gaza Child Deaths – 29 April 2008

Ha’aretz – PM Voices ‘Deep Remorse’ for Gaza Deaths, But Says Hamas put  Victims at Risk – 29 April 2008

(The) Independent – Israeli Attack Kills Palestinian Mother and Four Children – 29 April 2008

International Herald Tribune – Official: 30 Representatives of Palestinian Factions Meet in Egypt to Discuss Truce, Unity – 29 April 2008

International Herald Tribune – Olmert Blames Hamas for Civilian Deaths in Gaza– 29 April 2008

BBC – Family Killed During Raid in Gaza – 28 April 2008

Voice of America – Hamas Chief Awaits Israeli Response on Gaza Cease-Fire – 27 April 2008