By Vivek Thiagarajan
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

On Saturday, the Turkish military claimed that it inflicted “significant loses” on the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK).  (CNN)  The military claimed to have killed 50-60 Turkish rebels inside Iraq.  The Turkish military did not state whether it had used the American intelligence that President Bush had promised.  However, an unnamed PKK military official has claimed that no attack occurred.

Since early fall Turkey has threatened to attack the PKK in Iraq, which is a Kurdish militia seeking to gain independence from the Turkey.  In the past few months, the PKK increased its attacks on the Turkish military.  The constant attacks caused the Turkish government to act in order to respond to the building pressure by its public demanding justice for the troops that were killed.

Turkey immediately mobilized its troops to the Iraqi border, because it believed that the PKK rebels had attacked in Turkey and then fled to a base in northern Iraq.  However, the Turkish government showed reluctance to attack and physically invade Iraq.  Although, the military received immediate support from the parliament to launch an attack Prime Minister Erdogan and President Gul were hesitant to attack.

Their hesitancy was both justified and wise because launching an invasion into Iraq could both destabilize the region and Turkey.  The Iraqi region has been destabilized since the downfall of Saddam Hussein.  However, the northern region under the control of the Kurds and President Barzani has remained stable, because of their embrace of the Americans.  However, Turkey has chosen not to recognize Barzani as the official voice of the Kurdish people.  This is probably because the Turks fear that if Barzani is recognized as the official voice for the Kurds, then it may encourage the PKK to continue their struggle so that they may ultimately be recognized as the spokesmen for the 15 million Kurds in Turkey.  Additionally, the Turks have been hesitant to enter Iraq to pursue the PKK, because they understand that with the transient nature of the PKK.  It is possible that killing the current PKK members  may only increase the militia’s enrollment by angering more Kurds within Turkey and encouraging them to join the cause.

These limited attacks will only be successful for the Turkish government, as long as it does not lead to a full scale invasion.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera- Turkey ‘right to intervene in Iraq’- 2 December 2007

BBC News- Turkish army fires on PKK in Iraq- 1 December 2007

CNN (AP)-  Turkey attacks Kurd rebels in Iraq- 1 December 2007

Gulf News- Kurdish officials deny Turkish incursion into Iraq- 2 December 2007

Impunity Watch- Tension Mounts between Turkey and Iran against Kurdish militia in Iraq- 28 October 2007

Impunity Watch-Turkey: Military may pursue PKK into Iraq- 11 October 2007

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Gaza – In the past week, Israeli military operations have killed about 20 people, mostly militants.  Most recently, on December 4, a missile strike targeting a training base for Hamas’ armed wing in southern Gaza.  According to Palestinian medical workers, two militants were killed and two others were wounded in the strike.

On December 2, an air strike killed five members of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, near the Khan Younis.  According to Hamas, the men were on night patrol and were 500 meters from the border.  However, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) states that the strikes were triggered when an armored unit spotted a mortar launching team near the border.  During this incident, at least three men were also injured.  Some of the injured were members of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), a smaller militant group allied to Hamas.

Also on December 2, Gaza medics report that one individual was killed and three others wounded in an incident east of Gaza City.  Residents recall hearing gunfire in the area.  The Israeli military stated that troops returned fire when Palestinian gunmen opened fire.

In addition to increased military strikes inside Gaza, on November 30, the Israeli Supreme Court held that Israel could impose fuel cuts but had to postpone planned electricity cuts.  Israel’s highest court agreed that there was no need to issue a stay on the fuel cuts, especially since the government took measures to ensure that fuel delivery to Gaza’s only power plant would be maintained.

However, while the court ruled that the Israeli government took measures to ensure that the reductions do not cause humanitarian harm.  Several hospitals in Gaza report dangerously low fuel supplies, which are required to run generators, threaten their ability to provide Palestinians with medical care.

Israel seeks to use these sanctions as a less lethal method to combat rocket attacks launched from Gaza.  In recent years, Israel has been faced with the difficult question of how to efficiently combat the persistent rocket fire from Gaza.  On December 3, IDF reports that three soldiers were lightly wounded by shrapnel from a mortar shell fired from Gaza.  During the same attack, three other mortars were launched, but no causalities resulted.  Also, earlier on December 3, fifteen other mortar shells were fired from Gaza, but again, no causalities resulted.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Israel hits Gaza amid fuel fears – 3 December 2007

Jerusalem Post – Gaza: At least four gunmen  killed by IDF – 3 December 2007

Reuters – Two Hamas militants killed in Gaza air strike, medics say – 3 December 2007

Al Jazeera – Deaths in Israeli attack on Gaza – 1 December 2007

BBC – Five killed in Israeli Gaza raids – 1 December 2007

Reuters – Six Palestinians, including militants, killed in Gaza – 1 December 2007

Al Jazeera – Israeli court backs Gaza fuel cuts – 30 November 2007

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – In what appears to be growing government intolerance of police brutality, an Egyptian court sentenced four policemen for up to seven years for beating a man to death during interrogation. The sentence comes after two other police brutality cases in November that sparked widespread media coverage and discussion.

The four police personnel, including a captain and an informant, were jailed by the criminal court in the northern Nile Delta town of Mansoura in a hearing that lasted more than 10 hours. Three of the accused officers, including the captain, received seven years. The informant received a three-year term.

The defendants were convicted of beating a carpenter, Nasr Abdullah, 38, to death in July by banging his head against the wall in order to extract information about the location of his brother who is a suspect in a drug case. Afterwards, the news of his death provoked angry demonstrations from villagers.

Earlier this month, two policemen were sentenced to three years each in prison for sodomizing a bus driver with a stick at a police station in Cairo. The sexual assault was filmed and leaked to the Internet, appearing on the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube.

Two days later, another man was found dead in the streets of Giza after sustaining injuries from torture by the police for three days.

The seven year prison sentences handed out to the four men Tuesday is unprecedented in light of the fact that many of these allegations in the past went unpunished and accused often enjoyed near-impunity. “This is the longest sentence heard of in the last 10 years,” said Gasser Abdel Razak, the Mid-East representative of the US-based organization Human Rights Watch. But he warned that Tuesday’s harsh sentence was more likely the result of one activist judge rather than a change of heart on the part of the government.

For more information please see:

BBC News – Egypt police jailed for killing – 28 November 2007

International Herald Tribune – Egypt police given unprecedented harsh 7 year prison sentences in torture death – 28 November 2007

Voice of America – Egyptian police jailed four officers in torture case – 28 November 2007

Jurist – Egypt police officers sentences to 7 years for torture death – 28 November 2007

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s Supreme Court has ordered a new trial over the death of an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist who died four years ago in a Tehran prison.

Zahra Kazemi, who was 54, was arrested in June 2003 while taking photographs outside notorious Evin Prison in the north of the capital. There, she endured more than three days of interrogation and eventually died in jail. She was never formally charged with any crime.

Shortly after her death in 2003, an Iranian judiciary accused intelligence ministry agent Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi of “semi-intentional murder,” which he pled not guilty. In November 2005, Ahmadi was acquitted but an appeals court ordered the case to be reopened because of “shortcomings in the investigations.” On Tuesday, verification branch of Iran’s Supreme Court had reviewed the lower courts’ rulings and ordered a new investigation to be undertaken by more “competent authority.”

Kazemi’s cause of death, meanwhile, is in dispute. Although a presidential inquiry revealed that Kazemi died from a fractured skull caused by a “physical attack,” the lower court had ruled that she died in custody from a fall after her blood pressure dropped during a hunger strike. However, a former doctor at the Iranian defense ministry who examined Kazemi during her detention said that there were obvious signs of her having been tortured and brutally raped by interrogators at the time.

Kazemi family’s legal team believes Ahmadi was a mere scapegoat who was covering up for the guilt of a higher-ranking official such as senior justice official in Evin prison, Mohammad Bakhshi. Bakhshi along with Iran currently faces a 17 million civil suit filed in Quebec Superior Court.

The case severely strained relations between the Canadian and Iranian governments since her death. Iran hastily buried Kazemi’s body after she died and rejected Canada’s request for her body to be exhumed and handed over for a new post-mortem. Furthermore, the Canadian government has repeatedly demanded that Iran agree to an international investigation into the journalist’s death to no avail.

For more information, please see:

United Press International – Iran to look again at journalist’s death – 28 November 2007

BBC News – Iranian court reopens Kazemi case – 27 November 2007

AFP – Iran orders retrial over Kazemi killing – 27 November 2007

Associated Press – New probe in death of Iranian-Canadian – 27 November 2007

The Canadian Press – Son of slain Iranian-Canadian photojournalist says Iran is playing games – 27 November 2007

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

HEBRON, West Bank – On November 28, thousands of members from Hamas and the Islamic fundamentalist Hizb al-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) attended the funeral of Hisham al-Baradi in Hebron.  Baradi, a member of the Party of Liberation, was killed at an anti-Annapolis demonstration on November 27.  Demonstrators claim that Baradi’s death was caused by gun fire from the Palestinian Authority security forces.  However, the police deny these allegations.

There are also reports that Palestinian Authority security forces used excessive force against Palestinians journalists during the rallies against the Annapolis conference.  There are claims that reporters were beaten and/or otherwise prevented from covering the demonstrations.  In addition, prior the conference, Abbas banned the occurrence of any demonstration against Annapolis.  Members of Hamas and other groups who disagree with the talks in Annapolis accuse Abbas prohibiting dissent.

At the funeral, violence erupted when the funeral procession developed into another anti-Annapolis demonstration.  Hamas and Party of Liberation members began fighting with members of the Palestinian Authority security forces when the marchers diverted from the pre-planned route and started hurling stones and bottles at the police.  The security forces responded by firing live ammunition in the air and by hitting demonstrators with batons.  Over 300 members of the security force were deployed to Hebron, specifically for the purpose of containing any demonstration stemming from the funeral.

Medics at near by hospitals report treating at least one serious gun shot injury, involving a man who was shot in the neck.  In addition, an estimated 20 to 60 people were treated with less serious injuries.  This number includes both demonstrators as well as police officers.  There are also reports of report that dozens of demonstrators were arrested by the police.

On November 29, Hamas warned that since Israeli missile attacks have killed 12 militants since November 25, that “all options were open to the Islamists against Israel.”  The Israeli military claims that the most the recent air strikes occurred in Gaza and targeted militants.

For more information, please see:

AFP – All options open against Israel after peace meet: Hamas – 29 November 2007

Independent – Abbas loyalists open fire at funeral march, injuring 26 – 29 November 2007

BBC – Dozens hurt in Mid-East protest – 28 November 2007

Jerusalem Post – At least 60 injured in Fatah-Hamas clashes – 28 November 2007

New York Times – Bush promotes Middle East peace dialogue – 28 November 2007

Reuters – Palestinian security men open fire at W.Bank funeral – 28 November 2007

International Herald Tribune – Palestinian protester killed in West Bank – 27 November 2007