By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

“The cost of state-sponsored terrorism just went up,” said U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, who ordered Iran to pay 2.65 billion to the families of 241 marines killed in a 1983 bombing of their Beirut barracks. The ruling allows nearly 1,000 family members and survivors to try to collect Iranian assets from around the world.

But the ruling is likely to remain symbolic.

Getting the money will be difficult because Iran is estranged from the United States. The Iranian government has denied responsibility for the attack and did not even respond to the six-year-old lawsuit. The families are currently backing a law in Congress that would make it easier for terrorism victims and their families to claim such compensation.

Although family members hoped that the decision would “pressure foreign governments not to sponsor terrorism,” many still felt that monetary damages alone will not stop them from sponsoring another attack.

The judge’s ruling was issued more than four years after he found that the bombing was carried out by the militant group Hezbollah with the approval and funding of Iran’s senior government officials. Iran was instrumental in the founding of Hazbollah in the 1980s, and Hazbollah is blamed for anti-Western and anti-Israeli terrorist acts dating since its inception.

The US troops were deployed in Lebanon in 1983 as a peacekeeping force during the Lebanon’s civil war. On October 23 of that year, an explosives-laden truck disguised as a water delivery vehicle rammed through barricades at the entrance and detonated in front of the barracks, demolishing the building and killing more than 300 people. A French barrack was also bombed, killing 58 French soldiers.

The attack was the “most deadly state-sponsored terrorist attack made against American citizens” until the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in 2001.

Symbolic or not, Judge Lamberth’s decision on Friday was cheered by weeping spectators who jammed the courtroom with “a sense of victory“ and relief.

This is not the first time families are compensated a large sum by another country for their role in terrorist plots. In 2003, Libya accepted responsibility for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Scotland. The Libyan government agreed to compensate $2.7 billion to the families of the 270 victims.

For more information please see:

BBC News: “Iran faces $2.65bn US bomb award” 7 September 2007.

The NY Times: “Court Orders Iran to Pay for Lebanon Bombing” 7 September 2007.

CNN: “Iran must pay $2.6 biliion for attack on U.S. Marines, judge rules”

7 September 2007.

Al Jazeera: “US judge fines Iran for 1983 attack” 7 September 2007.

Fox News: “Libya, Families of Victims of Pan Am 103 Bombing Agrees on $2.7B Compensation Fund” 14 August 2003.

Two Coptic Christian thirteen year old twins, Andrew and Mario Medhat Ramsis, have been pressured to convert to Islam against their will in order to continue studies according to the Christian BosLifeNews Network.  Their father changed their birth certificate without notifying the boys or their mother, thus when they gave their final exam on religion the boys were unprepared for their test on Islam.  The Egyptian Court will decide whether the boys’ failure will prohibit the boys from continuing with their studies.

Andrew and Mario were born into a Christian home.  The boys’ father left the family to marry a Muslim woman.  Since the Sharia law states that a Muslim woman can only marry a Muslim man, the boys’ father converted to Islam.  The boys’ father tried to convert his former wife to Islam.  The father wanted to remarry his old wife and keep his new wife, because Islam allows a man to have four wives.  Although he was unsuccessful in converting his wife, he did change the boys’ religious preference to Islam on their birth certificates without alerting the boys or their mother.  The religion on the children’s birth certificate is very important, because if a Muslim converts to another religion in Egypt, which can be punishable by death.

The boys’ father also requested custody of the boys.  Although Egyptian common law provides that the children should live with their mother until the age of fifteen, the actual application of the law only applies to Muslim women. This is because of another conflicting Egyptian law granting custody of children to whichever parent of a child is Muslim.  The Egyptian government’s justification is that Islam is the highest religion therefore the children should not be subjected to practice a lower religion.

The immediate impacts of the father’s action is the boys’ failure of their Islamic exam. Since they had been raised as Christians and had not known about their father’s changing of their religion they were unable to actually study for the test.  They failed their Islamic Exam, because each boy wrote “I am Christian” and did not fill out the rest of the exam.  The failure has prohibited the boys from passing their grades, although they excelled in their other classes.  The education minister has allowed the children to continue on their education, however, the court will make the final binding decision.

This issue of the importance of the religion of the birth certificate has been ignored by the Egyptian government.  Since the government has strongly supported Islam it has made it difficult for the Christians, Jews, and especially less represented religions like the Baha’i.  The government only recognizes three religions Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.  The government requires every birth certificate to have a declared religious preference so that it can monitor whether a Muslim converts to another religion causing apostasy.  This regulatory action creates a tier of citizenship where the government favors Muslims over other religions.  This tier like system creates an opportunity for both official regulatory discrimination from the government and unchecked intimidation on the second tier of citizens from a religious minority.

The government must choose to honor the civil law and allow the children to be able to practice the religion that they have always practiced.  Otherwise, it will create a situation where a child’s parents can convert to Islam, change the child’s religious preference, and the children would be severely punished if they continue to practice the religion that they have always followed.

The Free Copts. The Egyptian Coptic Christian Twins Andrew and Mario beg your help to stop their Islamization. 4 August 2007.

The Free Copts.  Egyptian twins forced to ‘become’ Muslim. 5 September 2007.

Watani International. Andrew and Mario refuse to be considered non-Christian.Accessed 6 September 2007.

Watani International.  Andrew and Mario. Accessed 6 September 2007.

Baha’i Faith in Egypt.  Egypt’s Administrative Court Decides Case of Twins Tomorrow. 3 September 2007.

WorldNetDaily.  Decision delayed for boys forced into Islam. 6 September 2007.

BosNewsLife.  Egypt Christian Teenage Twins “Forced” To Become Muslims. 5 September 2007.

An Iraqi Appeals court upheld the death sentences of Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein’s cousin and former defense minister, Sultan Hashim al-Tai, former defense minister, and Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti, former deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed forces.  The men were charged and convicted of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for their role in the Anfal campaign in 1988.  Following their conviction in June, an appeal was immediately filed in a separate court of nine judges.  Now, since their sentences have been confirmed, Iraqi law requires that they be executed within 30 days.

Saddam Hussein was also a defendant in the Anfal cases.  However, following his execution in December 2006, his name was removed.  Similarly, Majid is currently on trial for his role in the suppression of the Shia uprising following the first Gulf War.  Following his eventual execution, his name will be removed from the list of defendants.

Majid, Sultan Hashim, and Hussein Rashid were found guilty of organizing the Anfal campaign in 1988.  During the operation, mustard gas and nerve agents were used in air strikes against the Kurds in northern Iraq, earning Majid the nickname “Chemical Ali”.  It is estimated that over 100,000 Kurds died during the campaign; some estimates reach 180,000.

Appellate judge Munir Hadad stated that the life sentences Farhan Mutlaq Saleh, former head of military intelligence’s eastern regional office, and Sabir al-Douri, former director of military intelligence, were also upheld.

For more information please see:
New York Times:  “Death sentence upheld for Hussein henchmen” 5 September 2007.

Washington Post:  “Death sentences upheld in Iraq for ‘Chemical Ali’, two others” 5 September 2007.

Associated Press:  “Death sentence upheld for ‘Chemical Ali’” 4 September 2007.

BBC:  “‘Chemical Ali’ sentence confirmed” 4 September 2007.

Guardian Unlimited:  “Iraq parliament back; weighs no key laws” 4 September 2007.

On September 2, President Abbas published a decree which makes several changes to the current electoral laws.  First, it requires all presidential and parliamentary candidates to recognize that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is the “sole representative” of the Palestinian people and to accept previous accords between the PLO and Israel.  The PLO is an organization created and still dominated by Fatah.  This requirement essentially requires Hamas candidates to recognize Fatah’s dominance in Palestinian politics and would force Hamas to recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Second, the decree states that all elections will be done by party-listing.  In the last election, half of the seats were elected by party-listing and half by district elections.  In that election, Hamas out-polled Fatah 2 to 1 in the district election, while only winning a slight majority in the party-listing elections.  This change will clearly benefit Fatah, and may mean the difference between a parliament dominated by Fatah or one dominated by Hamas.

Third, the decree demands that in the case where no candidate wins an outright majority, there will be a run-off.  In the last election there were several Fatah candidates, which split the legions of Fatah supporters and allowed Hamas to win.  By requiring an absolute majority, the chances of another Hamas candidate winning the office is reduced.

Hamas has declared these changes to the electoral laws as illegal.  Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum stated that “Hamas objects to this policy of monopolizing decision making and will not deal with its outcome.” Barhoum argued that Abbas lacks the proper authority to change the election laws and that only the parliament has that authority.  But Abbas argues that he now has that authority because the parliament is no longer functioning.

One reason why the parliament is not functioning is because Israel has arrested 40 nearly Hamas lawmakers.  These arrests result in Hamas being unable to assemble the quorum for a parliamentary session to take place.  Even if a quorum was gathered, it is unlikely that Abbas would work with a Hamas dominated parliament.  Ever since Hamas took over Gaza in June, the two parties seem to be on a road to conflict.

Following the Hamas’ victory in Gaza, Abbas fired the Hamas-led government and replaced it with an “independent-led” government.  Abbas also claimed that he will call for early elections in the near future.  Hamas refuses to recognize the new government or the eventual call for early elections.  Hamas officials claim that an election cannot take place without their participation and if it does, they would not recognize its results.

For more information please see:

Los Angeles Times:  “Abbas issues anti-Hamas election rules” 3 September 2007.

Al Jazeera:  “Abbas unveils amended electoral law” 2 September 2007.

BBC:  “Abbas makes election law changes” 2 September 2007.

Forbes:  “Abbas overhauls Palestinian electoral law” 2 September 2007.

    Jassim Al Qames and Bashar Al-Sayegh were arrested and tortured by the Kuwaiti secret police.  The police’s grounds for apprehending the two Kuwaitis was that someone had anonymously posted on their blog, Al Jareeda, a negative comment concerning the Emir of Kuwait, Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.  Although the bloggers quickly removed the comment within fifteen minutes, the police noticed the comment and acted upon it.  Therefore, the police apprehended Jassim Al Qames forced him to sign a document of consent, which he was prohibited from reading.  Bashar Al-Sayegh was not apprehended.

    This action by the Kuwaiti police is deeply concerning because the men running the blog were not connected to the anonymous commenter, rather they only hosted the website where this person decided to criticize the Emir.  This action by the government encroaches on the country’s journalism, since it makes journalists accountable for their readers’ reactions.  This increased burden on will make journalists and bloggers more hesitant to publish information concerning volatile issues.

    Also, two Egyptian laborers recently complained that they were tortured by the Kuwaiti police.  The men were laborers arrested for forging their work papers.  The Egyptians claim that the Kuwaiti police’s interrogation techniques included the police pouring sulfuric acid on the men’s bodies, including the genital organs.  The Egyptians’ lawyer produced a forensic report, which allegedly supports the men’s claim. 

    The local Egyptian papers have tried to appeal to the local Egyptian authorities to investigate the Kuwaiti police action.  The Egyptian newspapers have covered the story closely to create a strong public reaction through publishing photos of the men’s burns.  The probable long term purpose of the independent Egyptian media’s coverage is the hope that this review of the Kuwaiti interrogation policies may lead to reforming Egyptian police’s torture techniques, by providing a safe way to criticize police brutality.

International Herald Tribune.  Kuwait releases Egyptian who claimed police torture.  30 August 2007.
Almasry Alyoum.  Kuwaiti Police Torture Two Egyptians with Sulfuric Acid.  23 August 2007.
Kuwait Times.  Torture, a way of life?  24 August 2007.
Social Work Society of Kuwait Blog.  BASHAR AL SAYEGH AND JASSIM AL QAMES HARASSED AND ATTACKED BY SECRET POLICE IN KUWAIT.   19 August 2007.