By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran-Iranian military officials have reported that five Iranian border guards who were seized and held captive in Pakistan have been released.  The guards were held captive for three weeks.

The Iranian soldiers were abducted by Sunni Muslim militants on February 6 in the Sistan-Baluchistan province.  They were among 11 foreign hostages that were freed in an operation by Pakistani forces, reported Iran’s official news agency IRNA.

“Five Iranian troops who had been kidnapped on our eastern borders and transferred to Pakistan were freed,” stated General Massoud Jazaerisemi.

He did not elaborate on the circumstances of the release, only saying that “the country’s entire police and security apparatus were involved in this matter.”

Pakistani authorities, however, appeared to have no knowledge of the operation.

It was reported by the Frontier Corps, a government run paramilitary that is primarily responsible for security in Baluchistan, that they had freed three Africans who were kidnapped by drug traffickers in Baluchistan on Saturday, but had not recovered any of the Iranians.

Sistan-Baluchistan is an impoverished and relatively lawless province that has seen an abundance of rebellion by a disgruntled Sunni minority in a predominantly Shi’ite Iran.

Iran warned two weeks ago that it might pursue the rebels into Pakistani territory, provoking an angry warning from Islamabad.  This warning is sparked from anger over a spate of cross-border attacks by the so-called Jaish al-Adl, translated to the Army of Justice.

Earlier this month, Jaish al Adl set several conditions for releasing the Iranian soldiers in a statement on its website. The group has called on Iran to release fifty of its arrested members, 200 prisoners and fifty female militants imprisoned in Syria in a swap deal with the five border guards.

The group released a photo of the kidnapped border guards and claimed the responsibility for their abduction on February 8.  On February 11, Iran called on Pakistani officials to arrest and extradite members of the group who were responsible for the abduction of border guards.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif enjoys warm relations with Saudi Arabia, which sheltered him after an earlier military coup forced him into exile. Sharif’s cash-strapped government is also hoping for financial aid from the Saudis. As such, Iran accuses both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia of supporting an armed Sunni rebellion.

For more information, please see the following: 

Al Jazeera-Iran says border guards freed in Pakistan-02 March 2014

Reuters-Iran says abducted border guards freed in Pakistan-02 March 2014

Tribune-Abducted guards freed, says Iran-02 March 2014

Fars News-Abducted Iranian Border Guards Released in Pakistan-01 March 2014

 

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Just three years after the Arab Spring took hold in Egypt, bringing thousands of young people out into the streets to call for democratization and an end President Mubarak’s military regime, a bloody regime characterized by fear and violence, Egypt appears to be moving closer to a new presidency; hand-picked by the state’s military.

Egypt’s Prime minister, Hazem al-Beblawy, announced the early resignation of the interim cabinet on Monday. Al-Beblawy was appointed to serve as Egypt’s interim head of government until the nation could elect a new president, however following weeks of criticism his government resigned on Monday. Egypt’s Interim President Adly Mansour reportedly requested that outgoing Prime Minister Hazem al Beblawy – to run the government’s affairs until a new prime minister can be named.

In a speech, al-Beblawy called on the Egyptian people to take greater personal responsibility in solving the nation’s economic and political problems. “It is time we all sacrificed for the good of the country. Rather than asking what Egypt has given us, we should instead be asking what we have done for Egypt,” Beblawy was quoted as saying in state-run media. He added that while in office his government has “made every effort to get Egypt out of the narrow tunnel in terms of security, economic pressures and political confusion.”

The sudden resignation of the interim government paves the way for army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fatah el-Sissi to announce his candidacy for the presidency.

Sissi, was a member of the interim candidate, serving as Defence Minister. The government resignation was seen as necessary because he would first have to leave his office in order to run for the Presidency.

According to one Egyptian official, this action was sees as a necessary move ahead of Sissi’s announcement that he will seek the Presidency. The official also said that the entire cabinet resigned in one move in order to create an image of unity and make it seem that Sissi was not acting alone.

The presidential elections will be the first held since the overthrow of Egypt’s first democracy elected President Mohamed Morsi, a move may considered the beginning of a pendulum swing back to the old politics of the Mubarak regime, sparked the bloodiest rise in modern Egyptian history. Egyptian security forces killed hundreds and arrested thousands of Islamists and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood has accused Sissi of planning a coup to remove the democratically elected Morsi regime from power in order to restore a military-centric doctoral government similar to that which existed under President Mubarak.

For more information please see:

Al Arabiya – Egypt’s Govt Resigns, Sparking Controversy – 24 February 2014

The Guardian – Egypt’s Prime Minister and Cabinet Resign – 24 February 2014

The Washington Post – Egyptian Cabinet Resigns, Paving Way for Military Chief To Run For President – 24 February 2014

The Washington Post – Egypt’s Cabinet Resigns, Sets Stage for Presidency – 24 February 2014

 

By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt-Deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi is facing charges of espionage and carrying out “terror attacks” in Egypt, as a third trial against him is due to commence.  The latest court case is part of a relentless government crackdown targeting Morsi and his Islamist supporters since he was ousted by the military on July 3.

Morsi, along with 35 others former aides and leaders of his Muslim Brotherhood, are accused “of spying for the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood, its military wing and the (Palestinian) Hamas movement.”

They are also charged with “carrying out terror attacks inside the country against state property, institutions and their employees to spread chaos.”

Morsi, who was ousted by the military after a single year of turbulent rule, is already on trial for his alleged involvement in the killing of opposition protesters in December 2012.

Morsi is separately being tried on charges linked to a jailbreak during the 2011 uprising that toppled strongman Hosni Mubarak.  Morsi, along with 130 others, including dozens of members of Hamas and Lebanon’s Shiite militant movement Hizbollah, led the charge during the 2011 military coup.

Further charges are set against the ousted leader as he is also to be tried separately for “insulting the judiciary”.  A date for this trial has yet to be set.

In his most recent public appearance, at the start of his second trial in late January, a defiant Morsi questioned the trial judge’s authority, asking Judge Shabaan el-Shami to identify himself. The trial was adjourned to give lawyers more time to examine files, and is due to begin again on Saturday.

In his previous appearance, Morsi insisted that he remained the country’s legitimate president and challenged the legitimacy of the court, regularly interrupting the judges and prosecutors.

Since Morsi’s ouster, his supporters have faced a relentless crackdown by Egypt’s government that has left more than 1,400 people dead according to Amnesty International, and seen thousands more arrested.

During Morsi’s short-lived presidency, ties between Cairo and Hamas, a Palestinian affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood which rules the neighboring Gaza strip, had flourished.

But since July, Egypt’s military-installed government has accused Hamas of backing Morsi and his Brotherhood and carrying out terrorist attacks inside Egypt.

The army has destroyed several hundred tunnels used to ferry crucial supplies, including fuel, into the blockaded Gaza Strip.

If found guilty, the defendants could face the death penalty.

For more information, please see the following: 

Al Jazeera-Morsi in court for espionage trial-16 February 2014

BBC-Lawyers for Egypt’s Morsi walk out of latest trial-16 February 2014

Deutsche Welle-Morsi faces fresh trial in Egypt on spying charges-16 February 2014

Telegraph-Mohamed Morsi in court on Egypt spying and ‘terror attacks’ charges-16 February 2014

By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen-Fourteen Al-Qaeda inmates escaped from the central prison in Yemen’s capital Thursday while gunmen launched a deadly assault on the facility, reported officials.

Seven policemen and three gunmen were killed.  Another two policemen and two gunmen were wounded, and one of the attackers was captured, the foreign ministry said.

The attack began when an explosives-laden vehicle exploded at the facility’s eastern entrance, breeching a hole in the prison fence, security.  Gunmen also attacked guards at the main entrance to create a diversion that allowed the prisoners to escape through the hole in the fence.

Residents reported that an explosion and heavy gunfire rang out near the jail where officials say around 5,000 prisoners are held, before security reinforcements were dispatched to the area.

Nasser al-Wuhayshi, chief of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who is seen by the United States as the network’s deadliest franchise, vowed in August to free imprisoned members of his network.

Wuhayshi escaped from the same Sana’a prison with 22 other members of AQAP in February 2006 and was named as the group’s leader a year later.

The AQAP detainees escaped through a 44-metre (145-foot) tunnel they dug between their cell and a nearby mosque.

Saudi and Yemeni Al-Qaeda branches combined in January 2009 to form AQAP, posing a serious threat to Western interests across the region.

Thursday’s assault was the second major one in the capital in a little over two months.  In early December, a suicide bomber and several gunmen attacked the defense ministry in a brazen operation in broad daylight, killing at least 52 people and wounding another 167.

Former prisoners at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba who had been returned to Saudi Arabia in December 2006 later escaped to Yemen, two years ago after completing a reform program.

After a wave of deadly Al-Qaeda attacks between 2003 and 2006, Saudi authorities launched a crackdown on the local branch of the group founded by the late Osama bin Laden.

AQAP has taken advantage of the weakening of the central government in Sana’a since a popular uprising that toppled President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011.

For more information, please the following: 

Al Bawaba-14 ‘mostly Qaeda’ inmates flee Yemen jail after attack-13 February 2014

Al Jazeera-Al-Qaeda inmates freed in Yemen jail attack-13 February 2014

Global Post-14 ‘mostly Qaeda’ inmates flee Yemen jail after attack-13 February 2014

Reuters-Attack on prison in Yemeni capital kills 11-13 February 2014

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – According to local human rights groups, Hashem Shaabani, an Arab-Iranian human rights activists has been executed by the Iranian government who called him an “enemy of God” and a threat to national security. According to BBC Persian, officials from the Ministry of Information informed the Shaabani’s family that they had carried out the execution and told them of the location where he had been buried. Both Hashem Shaabani were executed on January 29, without their attorneys or families being notified.

Shaabani was a member of Iran’s Arab-Speaking ethnic minority and had spoken out against the treatment of ethnic Arabs in the province of Khuzestan. Shaabani founded the Dialogue Institute, an organization aimed at promoting Arab culture in Iran, and was well known for his Arabic and Persian poetry.

In  statement the human rights group Freedom House condemned Iran’s decision to execute Shaabani, saying: “His judicial murder underscores two important trends in Iran: Violent repression of ethnic minorities, of which Shaabani’s execution is only one among many examples, remains government policy. And the government’s human rights record has not improved under President Rouhani. During the first two weeks of January, some 40 individuals were executed; Iran is believed to be second only to China in the number of executions.”

Shaabani was hanged in an unidentified prison on January 27. He had been incarcerated since February or March 2011 after being arrested for being a Mohareb, or an “enemy of God”. In 2012, he appeared on Iran’s state-run TV, where, according to human rights activist, he was forced to confess to being a “separatist terrorist.” Shaabani was reportedly subjected to torture while in prison.

Last year Iran executed 625 people, including 29 women and political prisoners, many political prisoners faced the charge of being an “enmity against God” or for somehow being a threat to “national security.”

According to Amnesty International Iran executed 40 people over a two week period in January and according to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre (IHRDC) more than 300 people have been executed since President Rouhani, called by some a reformist, took office in August. The majority of the executions in January were for drug related charges, according to Amnesty.

The Iranian government has defended its use of capital punishment, arguing the practice is necessary to maintaining order. The state maintains that it is used only when judicial proceedings have been exhausted. However activists have criticized the state for using Capital punishment as a means of suppressing political dissidence.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran Ahmed Shaheed and the UN’s expert addressing executions Christof Heyns urged Iran last month to stop the surge in executions that has been going on since the start of the year.

As the Iranian government celebrates 35 years since it came to power during the 1979 Iranian Revolution it is clear that the government remains willing to use “judicial murder” as a means of silencing the voices of those who question it.

For more information please see”

National Public Radio – Book News: Poet Hashem Shaabani Reportedly Executed In Iran – 11 February 2014

Al Jazeera – Iranian Poet Executed For ‘Waging War on God’ – 10 February 2014

The Jerusalem Post – Rouhani Orders Executions of Iranian-Arab Poet, Rights Activist – 03 February 2014

Iranian Human Rights Documentation Center – IRI Executes Two Ahwazi Arab Men – 31 January 2014

Al Jazeera – Iran Executes 40 in Two Weeks: Rights Group – 28 January 2014