By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Egypt closed its breached border wall with Gaza on Sunday morning, ending 11 days of shopping expedition for Palestinian residents of the blockaded territory. Egyptian troops allowed Palestinians and Egyptians to cross the border so they can return home on the other side, but prevented any new cross-border movement.

According to Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, Egypt agreed to coordinate with Hamas to seal the Gaza border temporarily while the Egyptians search for a way to reopen the border. Zahar also said Egypt agreed to enable thousands of Palestinians stuck in Egypt to go to third world countries where they already have visas or residency permits.

Hamas blew the wall open on January 23 to end a seven-month Israeli and Egypt blockade of Gaza. Since the border breach, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have crossed the border to stock up on necessities in Egypt and Hamas has thwarted repeated attempts by Egypt to close the frontier.

During the blockade, thousands of Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip were denied access to the outside world. The Egyptian authorities have prevented the Palestinians from traveling abroad, including those who have legitimate reasons. Some had already been traveling abroad for medical treatment, or had appointments for treatment, while others were employed or studying in different countries.

Palestinians also lacked food, medicines, fuel and other basic necessities. Right before the border breach in January, the Israeli authorities had tightened their already stifling blockade on Gaza, making food and other supplies scarcer. United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, has said that only 32 truckloads of goods entered Gaza between January 18 and 29 due to the blockade, causing a backlog of some 224 trucks belonging to various UN agencies to build up. Before the tightening of the Israeli blockade, an average of 250 trucks entered Gaza daily.

Zahar said Egypt plans to talk with European officials concerning the border standoff. The EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, was expected to arrive in Cairo on Saturday. The international Middle East envoy, Tony Blair, is also scheduled to come to the region.

For more information, please see:

Wasthington Post – Egypt closes border with Gaza – 3 February 2008

AFP – Gaza border with Egypt sealed after mass exodus – 3 February 2008

The Associated Press – Egypt to seal Gaza border Sunday – 2 February 2008

BBC News – Crossing into Egypt for supplies – 2 February 2008

Amnesty International – Egypt blocks Gazan’s access to the outside world – 31 January 2008

By Vivek Thiagarajan
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

STRASBOURG, France- The European Court of Human Rights determined that Turkish police violated the human rights of two prisoners during their interrogation.  The prisoners received scarring from the electroshock that was used on their hands, feet, and genitals.  The prisoners were held by the Turkish gendarme.  The Turkish gendarme is the branch of the Turkish Armed Forces that acts as an extension of the Turkish police force.  (Gulf Daily Times)  Mehmet Ali Kaplan complained that when he was imprisoned he was blindfolded, beaten, tortured by having his testicles squeezed.  (AFP) Listing the allegations, the court noted: “He had received electric shocks through one of the toes on his right foot, his right thumb and his penis for about three hours”. (Gulf Daily Times) The court awarded the victims 8,000 euros ($11,836.80) in compensation. The gendarmes involved in the interrogation were tried and cleared of all liability in a Turkish court.

Also, in another similar case a prisoner suspected to be who was suspected to be a member of the separatist Kurdistan Worker’s Party.  The prisoner complained that the police brutalized him.  He stated that he was struck on the head by a police club and had his genitals squeezed.  The court awarded the prisoner 5,000 euros ($7,398) because of the lack of a sufficient investigation into the claims.

The 2007 European Court of Human Rights annual report stated that there were 319 judgments made against Turkey for its violations of the European Convention of Human rights.

For more information, please see:

Nasdaq (AFP)- European Court Condemns Turkey Over Police Torture- 31 January 2008

Jurist- Europe right court rules against Turkey in police abuse cases- 1 February 208

Gulf Times- European court slams Turkey over police torture – 1 February 2008

Bianet- HRW Report: Human Rights Trend is “Retrograde”- 31 January 2008

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

THENIA, Algeria – Islamist armed groups in Algeria is increasingly relying on suicide bombers to deliver its strikes.

On Tuesday, a car bomb exploded outside a police station in northern Algeria, killing at least two people and wounding 23 others. Officers opened fire on a vehicle that was speeding toward the local police station in the town of Thenia. The vehicle exploded before it reached the building, leaving a 6-foot-wide crater. The force of the blast stopped a clock on nearby City Hall and damaged surrounding buildings.

Though no one immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack, authorities believe the bombing was carried out by an Algerian al-Qaida affiliate who was also behind twin suicide bombings that killed 37 people in December. On December 11, two small trucks loaded with explosive materials struck U.N. offices and a government building, killing at least 37 people, 17 of them U.N. workers.

The Algerian al-Qaida affiliate – emerged from an alliance between Osama bin Laden’s international terrorist network and an Algerian Islamist movement known as the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, or GSPC – has been actively calling for insurgency since January 2007. Before the alliance, the number of rebels fighting to set up purist Islamic rule had been falling dramatically after a decade of violence that began in 1992, when the then army-backed government canceled the country’s first multiparty elections to prevent a radical Islamic party from victory. Armed groups in return sought to overthrow the government, and up to 200,000 people were killed in the ensuing violence.

Violence has fallen since then, but the GSPC’s alliance with al-Qaida last year seems to have rekindled the main armed group’s interest in the revolt and they began to wage larger-scale bombings and target foreigners.

Algerian security forces have recently stated that they have dismantled a rebel gang responsible for the twin bombing of U.N. offices back in December. The forces killed two suspects and arrested another two.

For more information, please see:

The Associated Press – Group behind UN bomb dismantled – 1 February 2008

Reuters – Algeria says smaller rebel cells test terror hunt – 31 January 2008

Boston Herald – Car bomb blast outside Algerian police station kills at least 2 – 29 January 2008

Guardian Unlimited – Car bomb blast in Algeria kills 2 – 29 January 2008

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – On January 28, five Syrian security agents arrested Riad Seif, a prominent political dissent and a former MP.  This follows his imprisonment from 2001-2005 for his political views.  His arrest is related to his involvement with the “Democracy Declaration,” a political group calling for greater democracy in Syria.  The Democracy Declaration group met at Seif’s home in December 2007 to form a national council.

Since this December meeting, 10 attendees have been arrested.  Earlier on January 28, these detainees were charged with undermining the state; a charge that carries a long sentence.  The charges against Seif include “harming the image of the state”, “stoking ethnic and sectarian division”, “disseminating false information” and “belonging to a secret organization seeking to alter the social and economic base of the state.”  Mohanad al-Hassani, a lawyer representing some of the detained political activist, said “They face vague charges that carry long jail sentences simply for exercising the right of assembly.”

Last year, Syria convicted at least six leading dissents, each with sentences of up to 12 years.  The convictions included that of human rights lawyer Anwar Bunni and writer Michel Kilo.  According to human rights lawyer, Haitham Maleh, there are currently around 3000 political prisoners in Syria.  This figure is up from 2000 political prisoners in 2005.  While some of the political prisoners being held are members of the liberal groups, most of the political prisoners are members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Seif’s arrest is especially criticized because he suffers from prostate cancer.  Syria has banned him from traveling outside the country to receive medical treatment.

For more information, please see:
Guardian – Syria Arrests Leading Political Dissident – 30 January 2008

Reuters – US Accuses Syria of Contempt for Human Rights – 30 January 2008

Washington Post – World in Brief – 30 January 2008

BBC – Syria Arrests Prominent Dissident – 29 January

Financial Times – Syria Arrests Prominent Dissident – 29 January 2008

New York Times – Syria: Dissident Arrested – 29 January 2008

By Vivek Thiagarajan
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

Professor Atilla Yayla was arrested for his insulting remarks about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.  Yayla is the head of the Association of Liberal Thinking at Gazi University in Ankara.  Yayla remarked in a speech in 2006 that Atatürk was not as progressively minded as official Turkish history portrays.  Instead, Yayla argued that Atatürk’s one party system may have been “regressive in some aspects.”  (Guardian Unlimited- Turkey jails academic for insulting Ataturk)  Yayla was immediately fired concerning the court case about the remark, but was later reinstated by Gazi University.  (Guardian Unlimited- Turkish academic warns of governmental clampdown)

Yayla was given a 15 month sentence for his insulting remarks.  He was prosecuted under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which prohibits insulting Turkishness.

Yayla commented that the decision would make it difficult for him to practice his profession and engage in serious dialogue regarding Turkish history.  “After this I should maybe talk about birds and trees, but not about political ideologies or freedoms in Turkey or human rights,” he said to EducationGuardian.co.uk.  (Guardian Unlimited- Turkish academic warns of governmental clampdown)

Turkey must encourage serious discussion regarding its founding.  Otherwise, the precedent could be further extended and allow the government to prosecute anyone that criticizes the current government and its abuses.  The disincentive to journalists could prevent serious government abuses from being exposed to the media, which may enable impunity to remain undiscovered.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press- Professor Convicted for Insulting Atatürk- 28 January 2008

Guardian Unlimited- Turkey jails academic for insulting Atatürk– 28 January 2008

Guardian Unlimited- Turkish academic warns of governmental clampdown- 29 January2008