The Iraqi government removed the ban on Baath party officials to run for public office.  The Baath party was the official party of Saddam Hussein.  The bill that may pass into law though could force many of the previously employed Baath workers into early retirement with severance packages, but some could regain their posts.

However, the highest ranking officials under Saddam Hussein would be locked out because of their previous contribution to Saddam’s rule.  It would reduce the number of Baath officials prohibited from government posts to only 3,500 from the 30,000 who were previously prohibited from working in the government.

The change is the first benchmark that would be passed to allow more of a power share of the government between the Shiites and Sunnis and lesson the tensions.

For more information, please see:

New York Times- Iraqi Parliament passes allows former Baath officials to take government positions- 13 January  2008

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – On January 8, former political prisoner and opposition activist, Mohammad Haji Darwish, was arrested.  His arrest is the latest in the crackdown on political dissidence in Syria.

The Damascus Declaration, which calls for non-violent democratic change, was written and signed in 2005.  On December 1, Riad Seif, a member of Parliament and an opposition spokesman, hosted a meeting of 163 signatories of the Damascus Declaration to call for an end on Syria’s repressive laws and for a renewal of free speech and political organization.  In violation of the state’s ban on independent political parties, the attendees created the National Council and elected a president and a leadership committee.  US President Bush applauded the creation of the group and stated “the brave men and women who formed this council reflect the desires of the majority of Syrian people to live in freedom, democracy, and peace.”

Beginning on December 9, Syrian authorities began arresting individuals who attended the meeting.  On December 9, Syrian security forces arrested over 30 individuals who attended the December 1 meeting, including Dr. Ahmad Tohme and Jabr al-Shoufi, two leaders of the movement.  Within a few hours of their arrests, all but Tohme and al-Shoufi were released.  More opposition leaders were arrested in the following days; including Fidaa Horani, the president the National Council of the Damascus Declaration and Akram Bunni, an executive member of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration and brother of a leading political rights lawyer.

For more information, please see:
Daily Star – Syria Arrests Political Activist – Rights Group – 9 January 2008

AFP – Rights Group Says More Opposition Activists Held in Syria – 5 January 2008

Associated Press – Syria Arrests 2 Human Rights Activists – 18 December 2007

AFP – Syria Steps Up Crackdown on Dissidents – 17 December 2007

Human Rights Watch – Syria: More Activists Arrested Following Opposition Meeting – 17 December 2007

International Herald Tribune – Syria Arrests Dozens of Political Dissenters – 13 December 2007

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – An Egyptian court has convicted and jailed three police officers for beating a prisoner and forcing him to parade up and down a busy street wearing women’s underclothes.

Amid increasing high-profile accusations of brutality and torture by the nation’s police officers, the court in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria convicted three officers. It convicted senior officer Maj Yosri Ahmed Issa of torture and of degradation of prisoner, and sentenced him to five years in prison. Two other lower ranking officers who followed his orders were also given one-year sentences for degrading the prisoner.

The ordeal for the victim began on April 2007. Ibrahim Abbas was working at a car park when he asked officer Issa to move his car so other cars can enter the lot. Issa considered the request as an insult and arrested Abbas. At the police station, Issa attempted to force Abbas to confess to a robbery and beat him with batons. Later, he ordered the other two officers to force Abbas to wear women’s clothing and walk on a major street.

Many rights groups say that torture is widespread and systematic in Egyptian jails and police stations. They say torture can include beatings, electric shocks, and sexual assault. And because most torture cases never make it to court, rights violators often times enjoy impunity. Moreover, those who are accused of torture so far have been either acquitted or received light sentences and subsequent pardons.

In recent months, however, the ministry of Interior has increasingly investigated torture allegations. In November, three police officers were sentenced to seven years in prison for torturing a man to death. Three weeks earlier, a Cairo court sentenced two officers to three years in prison after a recorded video in which a man was sodomized with a stick was widely circulated on the Internet, including on the popular video-sharing site YouTube.

The Egyptian government denies torture is systematic. The authorities insist that they prosecute all cases where evidence of torture is provided against policemen.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Egypt nightie stunt police jailed – 7 January 2008

Associated Press – Police officer jailed 5 years – 7 January 2008

Reuters – Egypt court jails three police in abuse case – 6 January 2008

Independent Online – Egypt policemen jailed in latest abuse case – 6 January 2008

Impunity Watch – Egypt police jailed 7 years for torture death – 1 December 2007

Impunity Watch – Torture endemic in Egypt – 8 November 2007

Mikheil Saakashvili was elected to his second term as president of the Republic of Georgia.  However, his main opposition candidate Levan Gachechiladze claimed that the election was rigged and disputed the results of the vote.

Levan Gachechiladze has promised to challenge the election results through the court system.  He has threatened that he and his supporters would stage hunger strikes and massive protests.  Gachechiladze’s ally, Salome Zurabishvili stated that “the whole of Georgia will be out on the streets” by Sunday,  if the results stood with Saakashavil receiving more than 50% of the vote, which would make Saakashavil the president without having a second round vote.

For more information, please see:

BBC News- Georgia confirms Saakashvili win- 9 January 2008

Guardian Unlimited- Thousands Protest Georgia Election- 6 January 2008

International Herald Tribune (AP)- President Saakashvili says Georgia is on way to democracy- 7 January 2008

The Independent- Hunger strike vow as Saakashvili is declared victor in Georgian poll- 10 January 2008

By Vivek Thiagarajan
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

MOSUL, Iraq- On Sunday, three bombs simultaneously went off targeting two Christian churches and a convent.  The three bombs went off between 11 and 11:30 am injuring four people.  The bombs were possibly coordinated to instill greater fear in Iraqi Christians and to remind them that they are not immune to the violence occurring between the Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki met with Monsignor Francis Assisi Chullikatt, the Vatican’s Ambassador, to reassure him that the Iraqi government is taking every step possible to ensure the safety of Christians.  “The Iraqi government is anxious to ensure the safety of Iraqi Christians,” Maliki assured the ambassador.  (AFP)

Since 2004, Iraqi Christians believed report that they have been targeted solely because of their religious affiliation.  Father Rayan Atto, a Chaldean pastor of an Erbil church, discussed the fate of his fellow Christians. “We have many, many young people — they were killed for any excuse. They were just killed because they were Christians.” (Pittsburgh Tribune- Review)

Some Christians have been kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam.   Faris Mansour Hanna discussed his experience when he was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda operatives.  “They said, ‘We will release you, but we have one condition. You have to convert to Islam.’” However, since Hanna refused to convert “they beat my face and burned me with cigarettes.”  He went on to show the reporter conducting the interview his scars on his arm, hand, left cheek and forehead and significant scarring on his shoulders “from being dragged in the street, whipped and beaten with a metal pipe.”  However, his fellow kidnapped Christians were not released but were beheaded because the Christians had reportedly worked as translators for the Americans.  (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

For more information, please see:

AFP- Iraq working to ensure safety of Christians: Maliki- 8 January 2008

AP- Bomber Kills 11 at Iraqi Army Festival- 7 January 2008

BBC News- Christian sites targeted in Mosul- 7 January 2008

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review- No peace for Iraqi Christians- 23 December 2007