By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SDEROT, Israel – Israeli army report that over 40 Qassam rockets were fired at Israel this weekend.  One rocket seriously injured two Israeli brothers in Sderot.  On February 9, Osher Twito, age 8, and his brother Rami, age 19, were injured as a volley of rockets were fired at Sderot.  One of Osher’s legs was partially severed by the rocket and doctors had to amputate.  He and his brother are now in stable condition.

On February 10, dozens of Sderot residents blocked a main road leading to Jerusalem.  They brought a sound system and played the alert that is sounded prior to incoming rocket fire.  They would play the alert and then lay down in the street as they would during a real rocket attack.  After blocking some of the main roads into Jersulam, the demonstrators marched to the prime minister’s office.  The demonstrators demanded the Israel take some sort of action.  One Sderot resident stated “we came here to demonstrate because it is impossible to live this way.”

In addition to pressure from Sderot residents, Prime Minister Olmert is also facing pressure from Israeli politicians.  Meir Sheetrit, Israel’s Interior Minister, said that Israel should pick a village in Gaza, give its residents one day to evacuate, and then completely destroy the village.  Other ministers, such as ???, are pressuring Olmert to have the IDF target the political leaders in Gaza, such as ??? of Hamas.

In response, Olmert urges Israelis to remain calm and remains firm in his policy of economic sanctions and strikes targeting armed militants.  He states that while outrage and anger are natural, they are not an operational plan.  Instead, Olmert said that Israel must operate in a methodical and organized fashion.  He claims that his government will continue “to go after all terror operatives, their handlers and their dispatchers.”

Vice Premier Haim Ramon told Army Radio some 200 militants have been killed in the past two months.  However, Ramon also calls for more decisive action.  Last week, Israel began to cut the amount of electricity that is sent to Gaza.  Ramon states that if rockets are fired from Gaza “then there should be no electricity, or water or fuel. If they don’t fire, then there will be.”

While Olmert is being pressured by Israelis and his own government to react to the rocket threat from Gaza, he is also facing international pressure to avoid a humanitarian crisis inside Gaza.  The sanctions and border closure have drawn criticism from the international community, stating that Israel is violating international law by collectively punishing the residents of Gaza.

Human Rights Watch stated that the cuts in fuel and electricity have a “grave impact on Gaza’s hospitals, water-pumping stations, sewage-treatment facilities, and other infrastructure essential for the well-being of Gaza’s population.”  Joe Stork, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said while the cuts aim to stop militants from firing rockets, “the cuts are seriously affecting civilians who have nothing to do with these armed groups.”

In addition, the US warns Israel against aggravating the situation. US Department of State spokesman, Tom Casey, stated “we understand Israel’s right to defend itself but we do not think that action should be taken that would infringe upon or worsen the humanitarian situation for the civilian population in Gaza.”  UK Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, criticized the cut; he believes that “such action risks a further deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Gaza without improving the security situation.”

For more information, please see:
Times (London) – Israeli Fury Over Boy Maimed by Rocket – 11 February 2008

Associated Press – Israeli Boy, Brother Injured by Rockets – 10 February 2008

Associated Press – Olmert Resists Pressure to Invade Gaza – 10 February 2008

Associated Press – Timeline of Gaza’s Electricity Crisis – 10 February 2008

CNN – Israeli Boy Loses Leg in Rocket Attack – 10 February 2008

International Herald Tribune – Calls for Tough Action as More Rockets Hit Israel– 10 February 2008

Reuters – Olmert Vows to Target Those Behind Rocket Salvoes – 10 February 2008

Ha’aretz – Britain Criticizes Gaza Power Cuts – 9 February 2008

AFP – IsraelI Army Says 17 Rockets Fired From Gaza Strip – 8 February 2008

Human Rights Watch – Gaza: Israel’s Energy Cuts Violate Laws of War – 7 February 2008

y Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Two sisters are facing execution by stoning for adultery in Iran. On Thursday, Amnesty International called on the authorities to commute the sentences immediately, while both the EU and the US have already expressed their disapproval of Iran’s apparent human rights violation.

Iranian police arrested the two sisters, Zohreh and Azar Kabiri-niat, in February 2007 after Zohreh’s husband filed a complaint against her, her sisters, Azar’s husband, and another man. Zohreh’s husband claimed that they had ‘illicit relations’ and submitted as evidence video footage from a camera he had secretly installed in his house.

In March 2007, An Iranian court sentenced the five to flogging for “having illicit relations.” Zohreh also received five years’ imprisonment for forming ‘a center of corruption.’ But after the sentence was carried out, fresh charges of “committing adultery while being married” were brought against Zohreh and Azar mere three months later. A court found both sisters guilty and they were sentenced to death by stoning.

A new lawyer representing the sisters believes the trial was unfair. “The case has fundamental problems, since a person can not be tried twice for the same crime. Yet these two sisters have been tried twice in the same case, and two sentences have been issued for them,” he said. Furthermore, the prosecution was unable to satisfy the circumstances that are required to prove adultery under the Iranian law – confession by the accused on four different occasions that can be corroborated by the testimony of four eyewitnesses to the alleged crime.

As local and international clamor to halt execution by stoning became louder, both the EU and the US have expressed their concerns on Iran’s current human rights record. The EU was particularly “dismayed” that Iran is again carrying out execution by stoning despite the moratorium ordered by the Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Shahroudi in December 2002. The US was also concerned that Iran has already executed at least 36 people since January of this year.

Iran regime’s ambassador, however, criticized the reports on abysmal record of human rights violations in Iran and called on the rights groups to respect such inhuman punishments as “local traditions.” “Our laws establish that we amputate a hand of those who steal. It is not accepted in the West, but local customs must be respected,” he said.

For more information, please see:

NCRI – Iran regime’s ambassador defends amputation and hanging – 9 February 2008

The Times of India – US concerned at upsurge of executions in Iran – 7 February 2008

M & C News – EU “dismayed” by human rights violation in Iran – 7 February 2008

Amnesty International – Two sisters face execution by stoning – 7 February 2008

Human Rights Watch – Judiciary must prevent imminent execution by stoning – 6 February 2008

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