By Brittani Howell

Impunity Watch Reporter, The Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – On Friday, the opposition group, High Negotiations Committee, agreed to attend the United Nations peace talks in Geneva, at the last minute. However, the HNC still refused to participate in peace talks until there is a reprieve in the bombings of civilians. The HNC went to Geneva to press their case to the United Nations as well as the public.

The opposition is only interested in discussing stopping bombings, releasing political prisoners, and lifting the government siege of towns. Civilian society activists supported the oppositions ban of peace talks and stood outside the United Nations holding flags and banners, one of which stated ” UN stop talking and start acting.” 

Salma Kahale, a Syrian activist who works for Planet Syria, stated, “It’s not that we don’t want negotiations, but we want them to succeed.” The civil society groups urge that steps to relieve the suffering of civilians are taken before political negotiations.

One group of activists served “siege soup”, a wan recipe made of salted water, herbs, and bits of grass, which is eaten by Syrians in besieged towns to attempt to ward off starvation. They also dressed up as the world leaders they fault for the misery that Syrians suffer. The masks of the presidents of Russia and the United States; the foreign minister of Russia, Sergey V. Lavrov; United Nations Secretary General, Ben Kimoon; and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, donned beaming smiles.

Wael Mashati, a refugee dressed as Mr. Lavrov, stated that the masks represent the “laughing at the suffering of the Syrian people.”

The Syrian government delegations arrived for the third round of negotiations with the United Nations mediator on Friday. After two hours after talks with the United Nations special envoy, Steffen de Mistura, the delegation left the meeting room.

While the Syria government was meeting with the U.N. mediator, Syrian and Russian forces continued their siege on as many as 15 rebel held towns, furthering the starvation of civilians. Since the last peace talks in January 2014, the Syrian government has conducted chemical attacks, dropped barrel bombs – unguided, makeshift cylinders of explosives – on rebel towns and systematically starved civilians. In the same time frame, rebel groups have besieged government held towns and launched rockets into civilian neighborhoods.

Since the beginning of the conflict more than 250,000 have been killed, hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to Europe and civilians have been displaced. Mohannad, a doctor in the besieged town of Moadhamiyeh, told the New York Times, that nine civilians in Moadhamiyeh have died as a result of malnutrition. In addition, he also stated that ” people are dying from barrels and from the cold. People in the street don’t know where to go some fled to another part of Moadhamiyeh and others are sleeping in the streets.”

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – UN Hosted Syria Peace Talks Begin in Geneva – 29 January 2016

Reuters – U.N. Launches Syria Peace Talks as Opposition Ends Boycott – 29 January 2016

The New York Times – Syria Peace Talks Begin, With Only One Side at the Table – 29 January 2016

The Washington Post – Syria Peace Talks Open in Disarray with Opposing Groups Staying Away – 29 January 2016

By Brittani Howell

Impunity News Reporter, The Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel – On Wednesday, Israel made public a letter written by Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi war criminal. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin presented the letter at a ceremony to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Eichmann who oversaw the lethal logistics during the Holocaust, had escaped from a prisoner of ware camp shortly after WWII and fled to Argentina in 1950. Eichmann lived in Argentina, under a pseudonym, where he was eventually found and captured by Mossad agents in the 1960 and smuggled into Israel.

In a letter dated May 29, 1962, the day his appeal was rejected by Israel’s supreme court, Eichmann pleaded, ” There is a need to draw a line between the leaders responsible and the people like me forced to serve as mere instruments in the hands of the leaders.”

The letter continued, “It is also incorrect that I never let myself be influenced by human emotions. He added, ” Specifically after having witnessed the outrageous human atrocities, I immediately asked to be transferred. Also, during the police investigation I voluntarily revealed horrors that had been unknown until then, in order to help establish the indisputable truth.”

Eichmann wrote that the judges that convicted him were ” not able to empathize with the time and situation” and that he had only been following orders. “I am not able to recognize the court’s ruling as just, and I ask, Your Honor Mr. President, to exercise your right to grant pardons and order that the death penalty not be carried out,”

Eichmann’s wife and his five brothers also appealed for a pardon for Eichmann. These documents were released with Eichmann’s letter, along with President Ben-Zvi’s response.

President Ben-Zvi’s letter to Dov Yosef, Israel’s justice minister, dated May 31, 1962, stated “After considering the pardon requests made on behalf of Adolf Eichmann and after having reviewed all the material presented to me, I came to the conclusion that there is no justification in giving Adolf Eichmann a pardon or easing the sentence imposed on him.” Eichmann was executed at midnight on June 1, 1962.

President Rivlin stated to the audience in the unveiling of the documents, ” Not a moment of kindness was given to those who suffered Eichmann’s evil,” He continued, ” Eichmann’s application for amnesty revealed here today proves that Eichmann and his family recognized that in the state of Israel, a murderer such as Eichmann would be convicted and that justice would be done.”

The documents had only been discovered within the last few weeks, when researchers were digitizing documents for the president’s archive.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Eichmann Claimed He was ‘A Mere Instrument’ in Holocaust, Appeal Reveals– 27 January 2016

The New York Times – Pardon Plea by Adolf Eichmann, Nazi War Criminal, is Made Public – 27 January 2016

Time – Nazi War Criminal’s Plea for Pardon is Made Public for the First Time – 27 January 2016

The Seattle Times – Israel Makes Public a Pardon Plea by Nazi Adolf Eichmann – 27 January 2016

TEHRAN, Iran – On Saturday, Iran released four Iranian-Americans from prison in exchange for the release of seven Iranians from the United States prisons. The exchange has eased tensions between the two countries. Three of the four Americans left Tehran to Switzerland, via plane. Once they landed in Switzerland, the Americans left for a United States base in Germany for medical treatment.

President Obama attributed the end to the prisoner dispute to a cultivation of diplomacy. He stated, ” This is a good day because once again we are seeing what’s possible through strong American diplomacy.” A senior United States administration official, speaking anonymously due to the sensitive nature of the exchange stated that Iran, “understood this was a priority for us, and that we’d never give it up.” He continued, “we consistently said it was independent from  the nuclear negotiations but of great importance.”

Jason Rezaian, one of the released Americans, had been imprisoned since July 2014 on charges of espionage. Rezaian prior to imprisonment, was the Washington Post bureau chief in Tehran since 2012. Rezaian had been convicted in September, but had never heard anything regarding his punishment.

Washington Post’s publisher, Frederick J. Ryan Jr. stated, ” We couldn’t be happier to hear the news that Jason Rezaian has been released from Evin Prison.”

Saeed Abedini, another one of the released Americans, is a Christian pastor who had been imprisoned since July 2012 for organizing churches in the homes of Iranians. His wife, Naghmeh Abedini, had heard that Mr. Abedini had been moved from prison by Iranian intelligence police and told her children that their dad was coming home.

Amir Hekmati, a former United States Marine, had been imprisoned since his arrest in August 2011 when he was visiting his grandmother. Mr. Hekmati was alleged to be a spy and was imprisoned. Earlier this month, Mr. Hekmati had been permitted to leave prison for treatment of swollen lymph nodes. This had been the indication that Mr. Hekmati was likely to be released.

A fourth prisoner who was released, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, was not on the plane that left for Switzerland. A United States senior administration official to CNN that, “we can confirm that our detained U.S. citizens have been released and those that wished to depart Iran have left. We have no further information to share at this time and would ask everyone respect the privacy of these individuals and their families.”

The seven Iranian prisoners who were released had been indicted or imprisoned for sanction violations. In addition to the release of the seven Iranian prisoners, the United States rescinded international arrest warrants on 14 Iranians, also suspected of sanction violations.

The exchange also requires Iran to continue to cooperate with the United States’s search for a retired FBI agent, Robert A. Levinson, who has been missing in Iran since 2007. “We are happy for the other families,” stated Levinson’s family, “but once again, Bob Levinson has been left behind. We are devastated.”

A fifth American was also released on Saturday, but was not part of the prisoner exchange. Matthew Trevithick, had been detained for 40 days at Evin Prison, according to his family, after he had gone to Iran for language study in September. Mr. Trevithick’s family says he was a co-founder of a Turkey-based research center, SREO, which focuses on humanitarian issues,

American officials are continuing to work on freeing Siamak Namazi, a business consultant who worked for an oil-company based under the United Arab Emirates who had been detained in mid-October.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – The Latest: Americans freed by Iran Arrive in Germany – 17 January 2016

BBC News – Jason Rezaian and Three Other US Prisoners Freed in Iran – 17 January 2016

CNN – Americans in Iran Prisons Swap Arrive in Germany – 17 January 2016

Reuters – U.S. Prisoners Leave Iran for U.S Base as Obama Hails Win for Diplomacy – 17 January 2016

The New York Times – Iran frees Americans, Including Jason Rezaian, in Prison Swap – 16 January 2016

By Brittani Howell

Impunity Watch Reporter, The Middle East

ANKARA, Turkey –  On Friday, Turkish authorities briefly detained 27 scholars who were among more than 1,100 academics to sign a petition urging for an end to the military campaign against the Kurdish militants. The scholars were reported to be released Friday evening, according to Turkish news reports.

The scholars were accused of “making propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organization “and of insulting the state, the Turkish people, and authorities. The petition, “We Won’t Be a Party to This Crime,” was signed by more than 1,100 academics from 90 different Turkish universities.

The petition, which was published on Monday, urged “the state to abandon its deliberate massacre and deportation of Kurdish and other peoples in the region. We also demand the state to lift to curfew, punish those who are responsible for human rights violations, and compensate those citizens who have experienced material and psychological damage.”

The petition also stated that, ” the right to life, liberty, and security, and in particular the prohibition of torture and ill treatment protected by the constitution and international conventions have been violated.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on Friday, “Just because they have titles such as professor, doctor in front of their name does not make them enlightened. These are dark people.” He continued, ” They are villain[s] and vile because those who side with the villain are villain[s] themselves.”

President Edorgan’s statement was made shortly after he visited a nearby site of suicide bomb attack’s on Tuesday. Tuesday’s attack which killed 10 German terrorists has been blamed on the Islamic State.

While no details are available regarding the investigation, the scholars could face one to five years in jail if convicted at a trial. The detention of the scholars has caused concern over freedom of expression, especially academic expression and intellectual debate.

Senior Turkey Researcher at Human Rights Watch, Emma Sinclair-Webb, stated, “The campaign against academics this week certainly targets a new group and has very serious consequences for academic freedom in Turkey, as well as free speech.” She continued, “There are concerns for the physical safety of some academics in provincial universities after being targeted in such a way.”

The Turkish military operations against Kurdish militants have displaced thousands and have caused more than 100 civilian casualties, according to human rights groups.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera America – Turkey Detains Academics Who Denounced Military Operations Against Kurds – 15 January 2016

CNN – Turkey Detains at Least 18 Signers of Petition Opposing Kurdish Operation – 15 January 2016

Reuters – Turkey Detains 27 Academics Accused of Signing ‘Peace Declaration’ – 15 January 2016

The New York Times – Turkey Releases Detained Academics Who Signed Petition Defending Kurds – 15 January 2016

By Brittani Howell

Impunity Watch Reporter, The Middle East

Tehran, Iran – On Sunday, the United States imposed new sanctions on 11 companies and individuals. The sanctions came in response to Iran’s precision – guided ballistic missile test, which violated a United Nations ban last October.

The new sanctions came just less than 24 hours after the United States lifted the broader sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program. President Obama hopes that the new agreement will start a new chapter with Iran.

President Obama stated, ” We have a rare chance to pursue a new path, a different, better future that delivers progress for both our peoples and the wider world.” He continued, “That’s the opportunity before the Iranian people. We need to take advantage of that.”

The sanctions lifted Saturday now allow Iran to re-enter the oil market. In addition, Iranian ships will be allowed to enter and leave foreign ports and Iranians will be able to access the global financial markets. The United States State Department has also agreed to release $400 million and $1.3 billion in interest in funds from Iran that had been frozen by the United States. The funds were to be used by Iran for U.S military equipment prior to Iran’s revolution in 1979.

On Sunday, after American detainees had been released from Iran, President Obama announced that the “United States is imposing sanctions on individuals and companies working to advance Iran’s ballistic missile program. And we are going to be vigilant about it. We’re not going to waver in the defense of our security or that of our allies and partners.”

The United States Treasury Department has blacklisted the UAE-based Mabrooka Trading, owned by Hossein Pournaghshband, because it aided Iran to produce carbon fiber for the ballistic missile program. The sanctions bar financial institutions and companies from dealing with those on the blacklist.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated on Sunday that since the sanctions were lifted Saturday, the door had been opened for foreign investments with other countries, including American companies. In regards to American company investments, President Rouhani stated, ” They can invest here anytime, but they have their own obstacles to do so.”

Countries in the Middle East fear Iran will grow more aggressive and will meddle in conflicts throughout the region. Israel and Sunni states fear that Iran will support anti-Israel militant groups, Syrian President Assad, and Shi’ite Houthi rebels.

In response to the lifted sanctions,  Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu stated on Sunday that Israel, “will continue to monitor all of Iran’s international violations.” Prime Minister Netanyahu also stated that there will be sever sanctions for each violation.

For more information please see:

Associated Press – As Sanctions Are Lifted, Iranian Foes Fear the Worst – 17 January 2016

BBC News – Iran: US Imposes New Sanctions Over Missile Tests – 17 January 2016

Reuters – U.S. Imposes Ballistic Missile Sanctions on Iran After Prisoners Release – 17 January 2016

The New York Times – U.S. Imposes New Sanctions Over Iran Missile Tests – 17 January 2016