By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 CAIRO, Egypt-One student was killed, four injured, and numerous others were arrested during a protest supporting the Muslim Brotherhood clashed with Egyptian police at Al-Azhar University, located in Cairo.

The Egyptian security forces used teargas and water cannons in dispersing students and supporters of the ousted Morsi.  The student activist was killed after being hit in the face with a birdshot.

The protesters were staged outside of university buildings attempting to prevent students from entering to take their exams.  Protesters threw rocks at the police and set tires on fire to counter tear gas attacks.

Two college buildings caught fire during the violence.  State TV broadcast footage revealed black smoke billowing from the faculty of commerce building as well as setting the agriculture facility building on fire.

Police arrested 101 students for possession of makeshift weapons that included petrol bombs, reported one state news agency.  Eventually, calm had been restored and scheduled exams proceeded after the morning clashes subsided.

The Brotherhood condemned what it called a “violent crackdown on student protests”, saying in a statement that the deployment of security forces on university campuses was an attempt by the government to “silence any voice opposition.”

Protesters gathered at the university following a harsh court verdict on Wednesday against a group of young female protestors.  The verdict implemented a new law criminalizing protests held without police permits with violators facing fines and prison sentences.

Prosecutors have ordered the continued detention of seven Al-Azhar students that the arrested during the protest.  The students are the first to be ordered detained by prosecutors on allegations of belonging to a terrorist group since the Brotherhood’s formal listing on December 25^th.

The widespread crackdown against the pro-Morsi movement was enacted following the overthrow of veteran leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011 increasing tension in Egypt which has experienced one of the worst internal strife in modern history.

On Thursday, General Mohammed Ibrahim, the interior minister, stated “security forces will confront any violation and will face with all decisiveness any attempt to cut roads, block public facilities, hinder citizens’ movement or obstruct their interests.”

The protesters later left the campus and marched down a main road, further instigating confrontation with the police.

For more information, please see the following: 

Al Jazeera-Egyptian students clash with security forces-28 December 2013

Euro News-One student dead reported dead in Egypt university clashes-28 December 2013

The Guardian-Egyptian student killed as security forces clash with protesters in Cairo-28 December 2013

Reuters-One killed as Islamist students and police clash in Cairo-28 December 2013

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Mohamed Chatah, Lebanon’s former Finance Minister and six others were killed in an attack on Friday in central Beirut. The bombing struck close to the government headquarters and parliament in the capita. Initial medical reports indicated that more than 71 people. The blast was reportedly so powerful it blew out the windows of nearby buildings. The shared glass insured dozens of people.

Mohamed Chatah is believed to have been the target of the attack, which was carried out as his convoy was passing through the area.

Chatah was well known as a critic of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, whom he accused of meddling in his countries domestic affairs. Hezbollah, the leading political organization in Lebanon supports the Assad regime and has sent fighters to help al-Assad’s forces in the Syrian civil war. In his last blog post Chatah wrote that “A united and peaceful Syria ruled by Assad is simply not possible anymore. It has been like that for some time.” He continued saying that “the status quo ante cannot be restored. Iran and Hezbollah realize this more than anyone else.”

In a Tweet posted less than an hour before his death Chatah accused the Hezbollah of trying to take control of the country. The Tweet read “Hezbollah is pressing hard to be granted similar powers in security and foreign policy matters that Syria exercised in Lebanon for 15 years.”

On Friday, Saad Hariri and his March 14 allies issued statements implying that the Syrian government or its ally Hezbollah was responsible for the attack. Hariri’s “March 14 coalition” is a pro-Western, political alliance dominated by Sunni Muslims.

Taking its name for the day in 2005 when thousands of people gathered in Beirut a month after the assassination of Hariri’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, demanding an end to what they viewed as a Syrian occupation of Lebanon.

The Assad regime has so far denied any involvement in the attack. Syria’s Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi, in remarks published by state news agency SANA said “these wrong and arbitrary accusations are made in a context of political hatred.”

Chatah’s killing occurred three weeks before the start of a trial of five Hezbollah members indicted for a 2005 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Saad’s father, and 21 other people. The trial is set to open in The Hague in January.

Hezbollah, denies any role in the 2005 assassination and has refused to cooperate with the court, which it claims is politically motivated.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his March 14 coalition have accused Hezbollah, a major Shia political organization in Lebanon, of, of involvement in Chatah’s death. Hariri said “As far as we are concerned the suspects … are those who are fleeing international justice and refusing to represent themselves before the international tribunal”

For more information please see

Al Jazeera – Beirut Car Bombing Kills Top Politician – 27 December 2013

CNN International – Lebanon’s Mohamad Chatah — U.S. Friend, Hezbollah Foe — Killed In Blast – 27 December 2013

The New York Times – Bomb in Beirut Kills Politician, a Critic Of Syria And Hezbollah – 27 December 2013

Reuters – Lebanon’s Hariri Points to Hezbollah over Beirut Killing – 27 December 2013

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – A rare winter storm has brought rain and snow to the Middle East creating stunning images of a winter wonderland in the Holy Land and across the Middle East from Egypt to Syria. However, the storm System has also brought devastating flooding and freezing temperatures to the region, leaving hundreds without heat or power.

On Thursday poorly built homes in Northern Gaza collapsed as a result of freezing rain and sleet from the powerful storm system, several residents began seeking refuge in local schools. The United Nations has called the most severally effected regions “a disaster area” and more than 5,000 people have been evacuated from flood-damaged homes in the region.

In a statement on Saturday the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), which is reasonable for the administration of refugee camps in the Palestine territory, said “Large swathes of northern Gaza are a disaster area with water as far as the eye can see.

The freezing weather, coupled with fuel shortages and the fact that many Palestinian do not live in quality homes with adequate heading systems, many Palestinian have been forced to use fires to heat their homes, which creates a risk of deadly house fires. A government spokesman said that a 22-year-old Palestinian man died as a result of smoke inhalation on Saturday which he suffered after lighting a fire to heat his home.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported 100 other people had been injured as a result of the flooding after the rising waters damaged poorly built homes along the coastal territory. Among the injured were people who had been hit by debris falling from inundated buildings. Several people were also injured as a result of car accidents on flooded roadways.

Chris Gunness, a spokesperson for the UNRWA spokesman, said areas near a refugee camp in northern Gaza “have become a massive lake with two-meter-high waters engulfing homes and stranding thousands.”

Israel has responded to the crises by opening a main crossing with Gaza on Friday in order to allow fuel supplies and four water pumps into the territory to help victims of flood damage and to help end blackouts, which have lasted longer than 21 hours.

Gaza is home to 1.8 million people, governed by Hamas. The region has already endured blackouts caused by fuel shortages, often lasting for 12 hours of blackouts daily since Gaza’s only power plant was switched off last month due to a fuel shortage resulting from tunnels connecting the region to Egypt being shut down.

The enclave lies on the coast, sparing it the snow that has fallen across other parts of the region, but heavy rains felled trees and damaged nearly 200 homes.

Fayez al-Yazghi, a shop owner in Gaza described the crises as “the worst weather we’ve had in 20 years. There’s no electricity, fuel and cooking gas. Many homes are flooded and destroyed” he went on to say the region is in “need urgent intervention from the whole world to save our lives.”

For more information please see:

The Guardian – Gaza Receives First Fuel Shipment in Weeks after Winter Storm – 15 December 2013

ABC News – Gaza Strip Receives Fuel After Storm Batters It – 14 December 2013

The New York Times – Gaza, Vexed By Floods, Gets Fuel and Power – 15 December 2013

Scientific American – More Than 5,000 Evacuated From Gaza “Disaster Area” Floods – 14 December 2013

Al Jazeera – Icy Floods Force Gaza Residents from Homes – 13 December 2013

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Adly Mansour, Egypt’s interim president called on citizens to vote “yes” for the amended constitution in a referendum vote that will be held in mid-January. Mansour said the vote, set for Jan. 14-15, would be a first step in Egypt’s transition to a modern democratic state.

Mansour told an audience of government officials, which included members of a government panel that was reasonable for drafting the constipation, and relatives of victims of the past three years of unrest across the countries that “The document in our hands today is a text that should make every Egyptian proud, and (it is) the correct starting point for building the institutions of the modern democratic state that we all aspire to,” claiming the amended constitution is a important step towards what the military-backed government calls a transition to democracy.

On Friday Egypt’s Interior Ministry reported that at least two demonstrators were killed, sixteen arrested and 54 arrested during a protest against the military-run government.

The first protester killed in during the protests was shot and killed by birdshot during clashes between demonstrators and Egyptian police in the canal city of Suez. The second Demonstrator was killed during a clash between ant-government protesters and supporters of the military-backed government in the town of Fayoum, a community south of Cairo.

Since the military-backed government seized power in July Egyptian security forces have brutally cracked down on ant-government protesters. According to Human Rights Watch more than 1,000 people have been killed the organization says has been the most violent era in modern Egyptian history. The majority of the victims have been supporters of Mohamed Morsi, who was thrown out of power in July.

Some Morsi-Supporters and Islamist groups are considering a Boycott of the upcoming constitutional referendum.  “We are heading toward a boycott campaign,” said Islam Tawfiq, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. According to Tawfiq participating in the constitutional referendum, even with a vote of no, would be “an implicit recognition of the legitimacy” of the military-backed government’s road map for the country.

However, Some Islamists groups are planning to rally behind the new referendum. The ultraconservative political power, Salafist Al-Nour, which was the only Islamist political party to take part in the constitutional drafting process, is calling for a yes vote. The party has received harsh criticism from Morsi allies, some of whom claim the new conisation is anti-Islamic.

The adoption of the constitution is vital for the country’s current authorities as it could be interpreted as a sign of renewed popular support as voices of dissent have begun to rise even among secular, anti-Morsi forces.

Gamal Eid, head of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, a group that is currently carrying out a study of the amended charter, said he will recommend a vote of “no” during the referendum. He said nearly 30 articles in the 247-article draft charter are too vague; giving Egyptian authorities greater room to supress freedom of association and information. He also said other amended articles give the military too much power, “making it a state above the state.”

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Egypt President Sets Date for Referendum – 14 December 2013

Al Arabiya – Egypt Referendum to Be Held Mid-January – 14 December 2013

ABC News – Egypt to Vote on Amended Constitution Mid-January – 13 December 2013

Al Jazeera – Clashes during Egypt Anti-Military Protests – 13 December 2013

By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel-In a heavy criticized decision, Israel Prison Service (IPS) opened a new detention facility for African migrants on Thursday.  IPS began the process of moving 480 migrants who are currently held in a prison in Saharonim, with 50 migrants moved so far.

The transfer was made possible after the Knesset passed an amendment to Israel’s anti-infiltration law last Tuesday.  This new entry follows the Israel Supreme Court’s cancellation of a previous amendment due to it being disproportionate.

The new amendment will reduce the maximum amount of time a migrant can be held in a detention facility, while creating a default of open detention indefinitely for migrants.  The facility will currently hold 1,000 people with expansions to 3,300 in the next few months.

“We are determined to deport the tens of thousands of illegal migrants who are here after having reduced to zero the number of illegal labor migrants who enter Israel’s cities,” said Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

He further stated, “The steps that we unanimously approved today are proportionate and necessary for maintaining the Jewish and democratic character of the state and will restore security to Israel’s citizens while upholding the directives of the High Court of Justice and international law.”

Agitated human rights groups have called the new facility a “de facto” prison.   A group of Israeli human rights activists said detention of African asylum seekers “is not only draconian, undemocratic, and a fatal blow to human rights, it will also do nothing to help the already marginalized residents of South Tel Aviv.”

Marc Grey, spokesperson for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said, “We don’t see this as an improvement…The law itself, whether it’s three years or one year…it’s still just absolutely a massive violation of asylum seekers’ rights.”

The Israeli government addressed these concerns by saying “the law creates a suitable balance between the right of the State of Israel to defend its borders and prevent infiltration, and its obligation to act in a humanitarian manner toward anyone within its borders and protect the human rights due to every person.”

Police Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonvitch, also rejected the claims that it resembled a prison.  “I invited the press in order not to conceal anything.  I wanted you to see it with your own eyes.  This will be a fenced site allowing entrance and exit through a main gate,” Aharonvitch said.

For more information, please see the following: 

Al Jazeera-Israel opens ‘de facto jail’ for migrants-12 December 2013

Haaretz-Israel’s new holding center for African migrants opens Thursday-12 December 2013

Jerusalem Post-Israel to begin using ‘open’ detention facility for migrants-12 December 2013

Telegraph-Israeli to open migrant ‘detention centre’-12 December 2013