Egyptian Ahmed Saber Saad died Tuesday in a Giza hospital.  Saad was admitted to the hospital because of wounds he incurred during the police’€™s three day interrogation of him.  After the police’€™s interrogation, the police dumped Saad off near the Pyramids.

An official at the scene reported that Saad €œwas unconscious with wounds and bruises all over his body when some locals found him and took him to a hospital.€  (International Herald Tribune)   Egypt’€™s prosecutor general has ordered an immediate investigation into interrogation of Saad.

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune- Officials: Egyptian feared tortured by police, found near Giza Pyramids, dies- 6 November 2007

New York Times (AP)- Egypt: Police Officers Guilty of Torture- 6 November 2007

Two mass grave sites were found through a joint effort by Iraqi soldiers and American forces.  The larger grave site had “22 partially decomposed corpses.”  (Gulf News)   The bodies were probably buried at different periods throughout the year since some of the corpses had on summer clothing, while others wore winter clothing.  Another grave site was found nearby containing eight people, including at least two Iraqi soldiers.  The corpses were found in the Lake Tharthar region, which is northwest of Baghdad.  The Iraqi military responded to the discovery by detaining 30 suspects in the region, which had been a former Al-Qaida stronghold.

For more information, please see:

Gulf News- 30 bodies found in mass graves near Baghdad- 6 November 2007

Albawaba- Maliki tours Baghdad as 22 bodies found- 6 November 2007

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – On October 31, Saudi authorities beheaded 5 men convicted of rape and murder, and on November 1, Saudi authorities beheaded 3 men convicted of three separate murders.  Also, on November 2, an Egyptian man convicted of “sorcery” was beheaded.  These executions followed King Abdullah’s visit to the UK which was met by protest.  Individuals and human rights groups protested the king’s visit to the UK because of the numerous human rights violations that occur in Saudi Arabia – specifically the state’s oppression of women, political activists, and religious minorities; treatment of foreign workers; and the state’s implementation of the death penalty (especially against minors).

In Saudi Arabia, those convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape, and armed robbery are executed in public with a sword.  However, according to Amnesty International, these convictions are often based on confessions which result from “torture, duress, and deception.”  According to human rights groups, nearly 130 executions have occurred in 2007; more than three times the amount in all of 2006.  Also, in many cases, even capital ones, the defendants do not have formal representation by a lawyer.  Arrests and detentions are often arbitrary and the court proceeding kept secret.  Also, according to official Saudi records, over 3,000 political detainees are being held without being charged.

On October 24, New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark, made a failed appeal to the Saudi Government to pardon Hadi Ali Suliaman al-yami, a brother of Saudi studying in New Zealand.  Meshel Ali Suliaman, made an appeal to Amnesty International at 3pm, after finding out that his brother was to be executed at 6pm.  Hadi Ali Suliaman al-yami was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for helping a friend escape from jail.  His sentence was changed to death a few days before his execution.  No reason for the change has been discovered.

Protestors called on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to pressure King Abdullah to make reforms.  However, according to the king, reforms are being made.  Last month, King Abdullah announced that the penal code would be put in writing.  Human rights groups hold that such a reform will only be constructive if it puts in writing what acts the Sharia (religious law) and Saudi government deem criminal and sets out clear sentencing guidelines, instead of relying on the judge’s discretion.

For more information, please see:
AHN – Saudi Authorities behead 8 convicted men in two days – 2 November 2007

Reuters – Saudi executes Egyptian for practicing “witchcraft” – 2 November 2007

BBC – Saudis behead three more convicts – 1 November 2007

International Herald Tribune – Saudi beheads 2 Saudis, Yemeni for murders – 1 November 2007

Associated Press – Britons protest visiting Saudi king – 31 October 2007

Guardian Unlimited – Brown set for talks with Saudi king – 31 October 2007 l

International Herald Tribune – Saudi beheads 5 nationals for murder, rape of teenager – 31 October 2007

Amnesty International – Saudi Arabia: human rights briefing 30 October 2007 – 30 October 2007

Amnesty International – Saudi Arabia : paying the price for raising human rights– 30 October 2007

International Herald Tribune – Saudi authorities behead Saudi man for killing a compatriot – 28 October 2007

International Herald Tribune – Saudi authorities behead 3 Bangladeshi men – 26 October 2007

New Zealand Herald – Clark appeal fails to halt beheading – 25 October 2007

Human Rights Watch – Time for Britain to speak up – 23 October 2007

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TUNIS, Tunisia – Amnesty International is calling on the international community to communicate the Tunisian authorities to end the human rights violations on the 20th year anniversary of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali’s rule. During his 20 year tenure, Tunisia has been accused of various human rights violations including arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and other ill-treatment, unfair trials, harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and curbs on freedom of expression and association. Amnesty International believes Tunisia’s positive economic performance should no longer excuse the country from violating human rights.

Most recently, a Tunisian court jailed a former Guantanamo Bay detainee for three years on terrorism charges. Although Lotfi Lagha, who spent his last five years in the detention center at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo, Cuba, insisted that he has never been involved in any terrorist activity, the 40-year-old was found guilty. It is also alleged that he was mistreated by the Tunisian authorities while in detention after being sent home. In addition to Lagha, eight detainees who remain at Guantanamo have been convicted in Tunisia of crimes in absentia.

Additionally, and unfortunately for Lahga and many others, discussion of human rights in the media is taboo under Ben Ali government. The government tightly controls the press and broadcasting, and journals are screened by the authorities before publication. And those who undertake coverage of sensitive topics are subject to harassment and intimidation like journalist Slim Boukhdir, whose passport was taken away since 2004.

Moreover, even though Tunisia’s online population has grown dramatically in the past seven years, freedom of expression is nowhere to be found as Internet monitoring is omnipresent. In 2005, Mohammed Abbou was sentenced to three years in jail for a blog he wrote comparing torture in Tunisia to the U.S. abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. Some rights group claim Tunisia’s internet policies “among the most repressive in the world.”

Amnesty International claims the human right situation in Tunisia has significantly deteriorated since the introduction of the 2003 anti-terrorism law. The organization believes the law’s vague definition of terrorism has been used by the Tunisian security forces to perpetuate crimes against humanity.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – Human rights briefing for 20th anniversary of President Ben Ali’s rule – 2 November 2007

Bloomberg – Tunisia websurfers learn criticism of leader ‘cannot be found’ – 2 November 2007

AllAfrica – Journalist goes on hunger strike after being denied passport – 2 November 2007

Reuters – Tunisia jails ex-Guantanamo prisoner for 3 years – 24 October 2007

BBC News – Country profile: Tunisia – 9 October 2007

The top aide to Iraq’s Finance Ministry, Qutaiba Badir al-Din Mohammed, was gunned down along with his driver in Baghdad.  The government has not commented on the death.

Also in the northeast province of Diyala,  10 people were killed.  The fighting arose through clashes between insurgents and policemen and the 1920’s Revolution Brigade.  The fighting claimed an eight year old child and women as collateral damage.  The victims were killed in seemingly random acts of violence.  For example, a policeman was killed in a drive by shooting.  Also, a bomb killed three people including a young child.

Associated Press- Iraqi Official Gunned Down in Baghdad- 4 November 2007