By Ben Turner
Impunity Watch Importer, Middle East Desk

CASABLANCA, Morocco – A Moroccan court sentenced Fouad Mourtada to three years in prison and a 10,000 dirhams ($1,304) fine on February 22 for making a fake Facebook profile of Prince Moulay Rachid.

Mourtada, a 26 year-old computer engineer, was accused of “villainous practices” and of stealing the identity of the crown prince, who is second in line to the throne.  There are thousands of fake profiles exist on Facebook, ranging from President George W. Bush to Osama Bin Laden.

After posting the fake profile, Mourtada was allegedly kidnapped and tortured on February 5.  A website started by his family and supporters said that Mourtada was arrested, blindfolded and taken to an unknown building where he was beaten and insulted (www.helpfouad.com).  The Moroccan Security Forces denied that Mourtada was tortured.

Mourtada is quoted as saying the following to relatives who visited him in jail: “I never thought that by creating a profile of his Highness Prince Moulay Rachid I am harming him in any way.”  Mourtada said he built the page as a tribute to Prince Rachid.  “I admire him,” Mourtada said.

Since the allegations were made, the Moroccan blogosphere has exploded in protest.  Facebook groups, such as “Help Fouad Mourtada – Aidez Fouad Mourtada,” have given further notice to the issue.  The group is planning a peaceful protest outside of the Moroccan Embassy on March 1.

Since Mourtada’s arrest, at least four other Facebook profiles of Prince Rachid have sprung up, although the pages’ authors are thought to be outside of Moracco and beyond the country’s jurisdiction.

Reporters Without Borders expressed their worry that Mourtada’s arrest would have a stifling effect on free speech.

“This is the first time a Moroccan has been convicted for an online offence and Mourtada was the victim of a summary trial,” a Reporters Without Borders press release said.

“We are worried about the effect on freedom of expression on the Moroccan Internet as all of the country’s bloggers will feel targeted. This disproportionate sentence has shocked the Moroccan blogger community, which is one of the biggest in the region.”

Mourtada’s sister, Amina, echoed those sentiments, telling the Washington Post “Morocco should not want to go down in history as the first country to torture and imprison someone ‘for having created a profile on Facebook.’”

Mourtada’s brother, Ilyas, said the family would appeal the conviction.

For more information, please see:
Reporters Without Borders – Moroccan Bloggers Worried After “Disproportionate” Three-Year Jail Term For Internet User Who Created Spoof Facebook Profile – 26 February 2008

The Washington Post – Fouad Mourtada Gets Three Years for Phony Facebook Page – 26 February 2008

CNN – Morocco Jails Facebook Royal Imposter – 25 February 2008

New York Times – Morocco: Prison for Facebook Prince – 23 February 2008

United Press International – 3 Years for Royal Facebook Fake in Morocco – 23 February 2008

Reuters – Moroccan Jailed over Spoofing Prince on Facebook – 22 February 2008

For sites supporting Fouad Mourtada, please see:
Facebook – Help Fouad Mourtada – Aidez Fouad Mourtada –

Fouad Mourtada’s Family’s Website – http://www.helpfouad.com/

NEW YORK, United States – Human Rights Watch and the Moroccan Human Rights Association called on the Moroccan government to protect the rights to privacy and a fair trial.  In November 2007, six men were arrested and later convicted under Article 489 of the penal code, which criminalizes “lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex.”

The men were arrested after a video of a private party, allegedly including the men, circulated on the internet.  Abdelaziz Nouaydi, a Rabat lawyer on the men’s defense team, said that the men were convicted after the prosecution showed no evidence of any Article 489 violation and only offered the video as evidence.  However, the video showed no indication of sexual activity.  The men were sentenced to imprisonment, ranging from three to ten months.  Article 489 provides a punishment of up to three years imprisonment.

HRW states that criminalizing consensual, adult homosexual conduct violates international law.  Morocco has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which bar interference with the right to privacy.  Also, the United Nations Human Rights Committee stated that laws that criminalize consensual homosexual conduct violate the ICCPR.

For more information, please see:
Human Rights Watch – Morocco: Protect Rights to Privacy and Fair Trial – 26 February 2008

Human Rights Watch – Morocco: Overturn Verdicts for Homosexual Conduct – 12 December 20083

LONDON, England—Attorneys representing five Iraqi men released evidence that alleging that British soldiers tortured and executed up to 20 Iraqis after a battle in 2004.

The British military denied the claims, and said that the dead were insurgents that were killed in a gun battle after ambushing British troops.

Martyn Day and Phil Shiner, the attorneys representing the five Iraqis, said that witness testimony, death certificates and video footage of mutilated bodies all support their claims.  All five of the Iraqis claim to be laborers who were caught in the middle of the violence.  The lawyers have asked the British High Court to order a public inquiry into the May 14, 2004 battle near the town of Al Majar Al Kabir.

Day and Shiner claim that the five Iraqis were handcuffed and blindfolded and could hear other men screaming, moaning in pain and choking.  The men also claim to have heard gunfire.

Day said that the nature of a number of the injuries of the Iraqis would seem to be highly unusual in a battlefield.

“For example, quite how so many of the Iraqis sustained single gunshots to the head and from seemingly at close quarter, how did two of them end with their eyes gouged out, how did one have his penis cut off [and] some have torture wounds?” Day said.

The attorneys for the five men have called for the ongoing investigation, being conducted by the Royal Military Police be taken over by Scotland Yard.

For more information, please see:
Associated Press – UK Troops May Have Executed Iraqis – 23 February 2008

Gulf News – UK Troops Killed 20 Iraqis In Their Custody, Claim Lawyers – 23 February 2008

BBC – Claim UK Troops ‘Executed’ Iraqis – 22 February 2008

The Guardian – British troops executed 20 captives in southern Iraq, say lawyers– 22 February 2008

The Turkish military launched a land invasion into the Matin mountains of N. Iraq to hunt down the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK).  A discrepancy between the reported casualties suffered by each side exists. Turkish reports state that they have killed 147 PKK members and lost only 15 casualties.  (Guardian Unlimited)  However, the PKK reporting killing 47 Turkish soldiers and only losing two soldiers. (Times Online) The Turkish force is comprised of 5,000 soldiers and 60 tanks.  As the fighting continues, it may continue to destabilize the region.

A solution to create lasting peace will be is almost impossible, because of the intensity of each party’s goal.  The Turkish military wants to completely eliminate the PKK.  The PKK wants to carve out an independent Kurdish nation for the 14 million Kurds living in Turkey.  However, since the Turks believe that the PKK rebels are hiding in the Kurdish region of N. Iraq to situation has increased complexity.  The northern Iraqi Kurds have promised not to betray fellow Kurds, despite its own desire for peace in the region and the urging of its American benefactors.  The United States, an ally of Turkey, has given the Turkish military access to American intelligence.  Therefore, a truce will be difficult to be worked out because of the tangled web of competing interests.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian- Turks send more tanks into Iraq against PKK- 25 February 2008

Times Online- PKK guerrillas seek help from Iraq Kurds- 25 February 2008

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Editor, Middle East

KOBAR, West Bank – On February 22, Majd al-Barghouthi died in a prison while in the custody of the Palestinian Authority (PA).  According to a senior PA security official, Barghouti was arrested on suspicion of membership in Hamas and “incitement” against the PA leadership.  The Jerusalem Post stated that al-Barghouthi was arrested on February 14, as he left his mosque, where he served as an imam.

While the official autopsy report stated that al-Barghouthi died as a result of a heart attack, his family claims that he was tortured to death by PA interrogators.  A statement released by the Palestinian Security revealed that al-Barghouthi was rushed to Khalil Hospital in Ramallah two days before his death, after he complained of pain in his abdomen.  After he was examined, doctors determined that he did not need hospitalization.  Then, on February 22, al-Barghouthi was taken to Khalid hospital, after he complained of pain in his chest.  He died shortly after.

According to Seif Barghouthi, the family learned of the torture from four men, who were arrested with al-Barghouthi and were released after his death.  One of the released detainees, Azzam Sahel, said that he was forced to stay in painful positions, including standing on his toes for extended periods, and was forced to sleep on a wet floor in nothing but a shirt and his underwear.  Sahel said that he could hear al-Barghouthi in a nearby cell shouting for help repeatedly, but that he did not witness actual mistreatment.

As rumors of mistreatment spread, members of al-Barghouthi’s family began calling for an independent investigation into his death.  On February 22 and 23, members of his family blocked a main road near Kobar with rocks and burning tires, demanding that his interrogators be put on trial.

On February 24, thousands of Hamas supporters gathered in Kobar and marched as al-Barghouthi’s funeral.  Some 3,000 supporters carried his body, which was draped in a green Hamas flag, and shouted slogans against PA such as Fayyad and Abbas’ intelligence chief, Tawfik Tirawi.

PA security officials have not commented on al-Barghouthi’s death, besides to say that the cause of death was a heart attack.  On February 23, Abbas called for an investigation into al-Barghouthi’s death.  However, relatives and Hamas denounce any PA investigation, and will only permit an autopsy if monitored by an independent observer.

al-Barghouthi’s death occurs during a time of increased tensions between Fatah and Hamas.  Tensions increased following Hamas’s forceful takeover of Gaza in the summer of 2007.  Following Fatah’s ouster from Gaza, dozens of Hamas members and leaders in the West Bank have been arrested and detained by PA officials.  Hamas officials accuse Abbas and Fatah of “factional cleansing” in the West Bank, which continues to be under the control of Fatah.

For more information, please see:
AFP – Crowds Vow Revenge at West Bank Funeral of Hamas Imam – 24 February 2008

Associated Press – Hamas Members Turn Funeral into Protest – 24 February 2008

International Middle East Media Center – President Abbas Orders a Probe into  Death of Political Prisoner in a PA Prison – 24 February 2008

Jerusalem Post – Hamas: PA Violating Detainees’ Human Rights – 24 February 2008

Reuters – Hamas says Leader Killed to Extract “Sham Confession” – 24 February 2008

Associated Press – Fatah-Hamas Tensions Over Prisoner Death – 23 February 2008

International Herald Tribune – Hamas Preacher Dies in Palestinian lockup; Family Alleges he was Tortured – 23 February 2008

Yedioth – Hamas: Palestinian Authority  Worse than Israel – 23 February 2008

Al Jazeeera – West Bank Protest Over Hamas Death – 22 February 2008