By Vivek Thiagarajan
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq- Sergeant Evan Vela was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for killing an unarmed Iraqi civilian by court martial in Baghdad.  Sgt. Vela was charged and convicted with murder without premeditation.  He was also charged with planting evidence and making a false statement regarding the incident to his officers.

The action occurred south of Baghdad on May 11, 2006.  The Iraqi civilian stumbled upon a team of six sleeping Army snipers.  Discovering the civilian in their hideout spot, the team feared that the civilian would alert insurgents in the area and jeopardize their safety.  Thus, Vela carried out the team’s plan to kill the Iraqi.  After the killing, the team planted evidence on the civilian, including an AK-47, to make the killing look necessary.

Two other team members, Sergeant Michael Hensley and Special Jorge Sandoval, were also charged with murder, but were cleared during the trial.  However, they were convicted of planting evidence on the dead Iraqi.

Sergeant Vela’s defense team blamed the death on Vela’s lack of rest.  Vela had slept only five hours in the previous three days to the incident, because the snipers had engaged in a a treacherous hike on difficult terrain.

However, the jury found the defendant guilty.  “Vela was sentenced to 10 years confinement. He was also sentenced to a reduction in rank … forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonorable discharge from the army,” reported media officer Lieutenant Patrick Evans. (AFP)

This is an important step for the U.S. military to ensure that the death of Iraqi civilians will not be tolerated.  The military took the correct action of holding the soldier accountable for his individual actions.  Unless the soldiers are held accountable for their actions of killing innocent Iraqis, the peacekeeping force in Iraq will be regarded as enemies who are given absolute immunity for their actions.  This view would further escalate the deaths in Iraq.  Therefore, it was imperative that Sgt. Vela was not given immunity.  This precedent of reduced immunity should also be used to regulate the private actions of hired security forces, such as Blackwater USA.

For more information, please see:

AP- Army Sniper Convicted of Killing Iraqi- 10 February 2008

AFP- 10 years for US sniper who killed unarmed Iraqi– 10 February 2008

BBC- US sniper jailed for Iraqi murder- 10 February 2008

Guardian- US sniper shot unarmed man- 11 February 2008

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – HIV-positive Egyptian men are arrested, tortured and chained to hospital beds while awaiting unfair homosexuality trials, Human Rights Watch reported on Wednesday. The rights group said the arrests and trials of eight men suspected of being homosexual in Egypt threaten both public health and human rights.

In October 2007, Police arrested two men having an altercation on a street in central Cairo. When one of them said he was HIV-positive, the police immediately took them to Morality Police office and began investigating them for homosexual activity. While in detention, officers handcuffed both men to metal desks and both slept on the floor for four days. The officers also slapped and beat the two men for refusing to sign statements the police wrote for them, and later subjected the two to forensic anal examinations designed to “prove” that they had engaged in homosexual conduct. The two men are currently handcuffed to their hospital beds 23 hours a day.

Police then arrested six more men suspected of being homosexuals. Two were arrested after their photographs or telephone numbers were found on the first two detainees. Another four were arrested in November when police raided the flat of one of those being held. According to the arrest report, the four were arrested solely on the basis that they were found in a dwelling formerly occupied by one of the earlier detainees. Even though the prosecution offered no evidence against the defendants, the four men were jailed for a year in January for “habitual debauchery,” which is a term used to penalize consensual homosexual acts in Egypt law.

Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program, said the arrests “embody both ignorance and injustice.” “Egypt threatens not just its international reputation but its own population if it responds to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with prison terms instead of prevention and care,” he said. Human Rights Watch urged Egypt to end arbitrary arrests based on HIV status and take steps to ensure that “the men receive highest available standard of medical care for any serious health conditions.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Egypt ‘torturing HIV sufferers’ – 6 February 2008

AFP – Egypt chaining HIV men to hospital beds: rights group – 6 February 2008

Voice of America – Rights group condemns Egyptian HIV arrests – 6 February 2008

Human Rights Watch – Stop criminalizing HIV – 5 February 2008

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle EastGAZA CITY, Gaza – On February 27, violence between militants in Gaza and Israel escalated.  Early in the day, an Israeli air strike killed five militants from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.  According to witnesses, two missiles, fired by the IAF, struck the militants’ vehicle near Khan Younis.  Dr Moaiya Hassanain, a Gaza health ministry official, stated that four other people were wounded in the attack.

 

Militants fired rockets into southern Israel in retaliation to what Hamas called “the Zionist massacre committed this morning in Khan Younis.”  Over 40 rockets were fired into Israel; one landed on an Israeli college campus in Sderot, killing a 47-year-old Israeli. It was the first fatal rocket attack since May 2007.

The Israeli military responded by carrying out air strikes later that day and continued into the next day.  The operations resulted in at least 27 Palestinian deaths in two days.  Of the 27 deaths, at least seven were civilian children.

Two children, aged 10 and 11 were killed in an air strike on February 27.  Another, a six-month old boy, was killed later that evening, when Ministry of Interior office was targeted in a missile attack.  While the office was empty, it is located in a highly residential area.  Dozens of other Palestinians were injured during the strike.  The strike against the Ministry of Interior also caused extensive damage to the nearby offices of Oxfam-funded Palestinian Medical Relief Society.

On February 28, four boys, between the ages of 10 to 15 years, were killed while playing football near the Jabalya refugee camp.  According to Ahmed Dardouna, a family member, the boys were all related; two were brothers and the others were their cousins.  Also, hospital officials said that another child, a 12-year-old neighbor, died later, as a result of injuries sustained during the strike.  Yedioth News reports that the boys were not playing football, rather they were 16 to 17 year olds engaging in militant activity.  Also, the Israeli army said that they were targeting a rocket-launching cell.

Another strike was conducted against a police roadblock in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, about 150 yards from the home of Haniyeh, Hamas’ prime minister.  It is thought that the strike was a message to Haniyeh since the area is not usually used to launch rockets.  Earlier that day, Haniyeh said that Israel’s ongoing operations would “not weaken the steadfastness and the determination of the Palestinian people.”

In another strike, the son of Hamas lawmaker Khalil al-Haya, Hamza al-Haya, was killed.  Hamas said Hamza al-Haya had commanded a rocket-launching squad in northern Gaza.  When identifying his son in the morgue, Khalil al-Haya stated that he was proud that his son had lost his life for the Hamas cause and that he was “the 10th member of my family to receive the honor of martyrdom.

Despite, and in response to, Israel’s operations, militants fired at least 10 rockets into Israel on February 28.  Israeli officials state that at least five foreign made Katyusha rockets reached Ashkelon, a city of 120,000, nearly 20km north of Gaza.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Intensified Israeli Attacks on Gaza Kill Child Footballers – 29 February 2008

The Independent – Killed While They Played Football, the Child Victims of Israel’s Revenge on Gaza – 29 February 2008

AFP – Israel Pounds Gaza Militants after Rocket Death – 28 February 2008

Al Jazeera – Children Killed in New Israeli Raid – 28 February 2008

Associated Press – Israel Kills 18 Palestinians in Gaza – 28 February 2008

BBC – Four Children Die in Gaza Strike – 28 February 2008

Financial Times – Mideast Fear as Rocket Kills Israeli – 28 February 2008

Ha’aretz – IDF Kills 20 Palestinians in Gaza, W. Bank, Including 5 Children – 28 February 2008

Yedioth News – Report: 4 Teens Killed in IDF Strike – 28 February 2008

Al Jazeera – Israel Bombs Gaza Interior Ministry – 27 February 2008

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza – On February 27, violence between militants in Gaza and Israel escalated.  Early in the day, an Israeli air strike killed five militants from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.  According to witnesses, two missiles, fired by the IAF, struck the militants’ vehicle near Khan Younis.  Dr Moaiya Hassanain, a Gaza health ministry official, stated that four other people were wounded in the attack.

Militants fired rockets into southern Israel in retaliation to what Hamas called “the Zionist massacre committed this morning in Khan Younis.”  Over 40 rockets were fired into Israel; one landed on an Israeli college campus in Sderot, killing a 47-year-old Israeli. It was the first fatal rocket attack since May 2007.

The Israeli military responded by carrying out air strikes later that day and continued into the next day.  The operations resulted in at least 27 Palestinian deaths in two days.  Of the 27 deaths, at least seven were civilian children.

Two children, aged 10 and 11 were killed in an air strike on February 27.  Another, a six-month old boy, was killed later that evening, when Ministry of Interior office was targeted in a missile attack.  While the office was empty, it is located in a highly residential area.  Dozens of other Palestinians were injured during the strike.  The strike against the Ministry of Interior also caused extensive damage to the nearby offices of Oxfam-funded Palestinian Medical Relief Society.

On February 28, four boys, between the ages of 10 to 15 years, were killed while playing football near the Jabalya refugee camp.  According to Ahmed Dardouna, a family member, the boys were all related; two were brothers and the others were their cousins.  Also, hospital officials said that another child, a 12-year-old neighbor, died later, as a result of injuries sustained during the strike.  Yedioth News reports that the boys were not playing football, rather they were 16 to 17 year olds engaging in militant activity.  Also, the Israeli army said that they were targeting a rocket-launching cell.

Another strike was conducted against a police roadblock in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, about 150 yards from the home of Haniyeh, Hamas’ prime minister.  It is thought that the strike was a message to Haniyeh since the area is not usually used to launch rockets.  Earlier that day, Haniyeh said that Israel’s ongoing operations would “not weaken the steadfastness and the determination of the Palestinian people.”

In another strike, the son of Hamas lawmaker Khalil al-Haya, Hamza al-Haya, was killed.  Hamas said Hamza al-Haya had commanded a rocket-launching squad in northern Gaza.  When identifying his son in the morgue, Khalil al-Haya stated that he was proud that his son had lost his life for the Hamas cause and that he was “the 10th member of my family to receive the honor of martyrdom.

Despite, and in response to, Israel’s operations, militants fired at least 10 rockets into Israel on February 28.  Israeli officials state that at least five foreign made Katyusha rockets reached Ashkelon, a city of 120,000, nearly 20km north of Gaza.

For more information, please see:
The Guardian – Intensified Israeli Attacks on Gaza Kill Child Footballers – 29 February 2008

The Independent – Killed While They Played Football, the Child Victims of Israel’s Revenge on Gaza – 29 February 2008

AFP – Israel Pounds Gaza Militants after Rocket Death – 28 February 2008

Al Jazeera – Children Killed in New Israeli Raid – 28 February 2008

Associated Press – Israel Kills 18 Palestinians in Gaza – 28 February 2008

BBC – Four Children Die in Gaza Strike – 28 February 2008

Financial Times – Mideast Fear as Rocket Kills Israeli – 28 February 2008

Ha’aretz – IDF Kills 20 Palestinians in Gaza, W. Bank, Including 5 Children – 28 February 2008

Yedioth News – Report: 4 Teens Killed in IDF Strike – 28 February 2008

Al Jazeera – Israel Bombs Gaza Interior Ministry – 27 February 2008

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza – Israel intensified it raids against Hamas after the organization confirmed that it was responsible for the suicide attack in Dimona on February 4.  At first there was confusion over which group carried out the attack; initially the the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine groups claimed responsibility.  However, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released a video of the two suicide bombers, Mohammed al-Hibrawi and Shadee Z’Ghayer, preparing for the attack.  Both men were from the West Bank city of Hebron.  However, there are reports that al-Hibrawi and Z’Ghayer do not fit the description of the men killed in Dimona.

This is the first suicide attack that Hamas has carried out since it abandoned the practice in 2004.  This marks a possibly deadly change in its policy towards Israel.  In the video of the bombers, they stated that the realities in Gaza pushed them to carry out the attack.

Following the attack in Israel on February 4, Israel has carried out several military operations in Gaza, killing at least eight Palestinians on February 5 and at least six on February 6.  On February 5, two Israeli Defense Force (IDF) operations were conducted.  One operation left two members of Hamas dead near the border.  A second operation killed six members of Hamas in police station in Khan Yunis.

On February 6, at least four members of Hamas and a member of the Islamic Jihad were killed in an operation in Beit Hanoun; three were killed by missiles and the others were killed in an exchange of gunfire with Israeli ground forces.  In the strike on February 6, a school teacher was killed as a school was hit.  Three teenaged students were also injured.  Israeli army states that the missile was aimed at a rocket-firing crew nearby.  Israel said that there will be an investigation into the teacher’s death.

As IDF operations increased, there has been an increase in the number of missiles being launched from Gaza into Israel. On February 5, Hamas fired several rockets into the town of Sderot.  One Qassam rocket struck a house causing extensive damage.  A second rocket struck a factory warehouse.  On February 6, a rocket landed in Kibbutz Beeri, a village located about four miles from the border, and injured two sisters, aged 12 and 2, who were playing outside.  IDF operations in Gaza discovered several underground caches of rockets.

In addition to increasing military operations, Israel also began to cut the power it supplies to Gaza.  Shlomo Dror, a spokesperson for Ehud Barak, stated the reduction will be less than 1% of the 124 megawatts of power Israel supplies Gaza.  Matan Vilnai, Israel’s deputy defense minister, stated that Israel is “trying to reduce the Gaza Strip’s dependence on Israel in many fields.”

Also, there has been discussion of alternative or additional methods that Israel could employ to stop the barrage of rockets from Gaza.  One suggestion is a military operation to re-occupy Gaza.  A second suggestion is targeting top political leaders of Hamas.  This was done in 2004 by Ariel Sharon, when Israel assassinated Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin and its top Gaza politician, Abdel Aziz Rantissi.  Since then, Israel has limited its strikes to target armed militants.

This policy is supported by Tzahi Hanegbi, a senior member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Kadima party and the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.  Hanegbi argues since the field commanders and militants carrying out the attacks are acting on the political leaders’ orders that the political leaders of Hamas are legal military targets.  He told Israeli Radio that “there’s no difference between those who wear a suicide suit and a diplomat’s suit.”

For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera – Israel Reduces Gaza Power Supply – 8 February 2008

International Herald Tribune – Rockets Hit Israel After Power Cut – 8 February 2008

Jerusalem Post – Israel May Target Hamas Heads – 8 February 2008

Al Jazeera – Gaza Teach Killed in Israel Raid – 7 February 2008

Associated Press – Gaza Rocket Wounds 2 Israeli Girls – 7 February 2008

BBC – Israel Launches Deadly Gaza Raids – 7 February 2008

Jerusalem Post – Barak: IDF Ops to Grow Even Stronger – 7 February 2008

Washington Post – Israel to Intensify Strikes if Rocket Fire Continues – 7 February 2008

Al Jazeera – Hamas Claims Dimona Raid – 6 February 2008

The Daily Star – Hamas Vows Retaliation After Israeli Attack Kill Nine in Gaza – 6 February 2008

Independent – Hamas Admits Suicide Attacks as Israel Retaliates – 6 February 2008

YouTube – Dimona Bombers’ Families Speak to Al Jazeera – 6 February 2008

Jewish Telegraphic Agency – Hanegbi Wants Hamas Politicos Hit – 5 February 2008