By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

HOMS, Syria – Syrian armed forces are blocking the entry of food and medical supplies to civilians trapped in the old city of Homs.  The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) revealed last Friday that it has been attempting to negotiate a humanitarian pause to deliver much needed supplies to the city.

President Assad’s forces have been laying siege to the city in a heavy offensive against rebel forces.  The ICRC has warned that “tragic” consequences are possible should there not be a break in the fighting.

“We have been trying, for close to 20 days now, to bring medical supplies and other aid to the old city of Homs,” Magne Barth, head of the ICRC delegation in Syria, said in a statement issued in Geneva.

“Despite lengthy negotiations with both sides, and three trips back and forth between Damascus and Homs, we have still not received the go-ahead from the Syrian authorities,” he said.

Homs was the birthplace of the revolution against the Assad government and has seen some of the fiercest fighting since that war began in 2011.  It is believed that two thousand people are trapped in the city.

The international laws of war require that the parties to a conflict provide for the rapid safe passage of humanitarian aid to civilians.

“They must also allow civilians in areas besieged by fighting to leave for safer areas, should they wish to do so. Regrettably, these obligations are not always fulfilled,” the ICRC said.

Despite the ongoing struggle in Homs, the ICRC has seen success in other parts of the country.

In what has been termed as the “Food for Freedom” deal, eighty rebels were released from the central prison in Aleppo in exchange for the safe passage of food supplies into the city.

Additionally, over the last two weeks aid deliveries have been permitted to feed the five thousand prisoners held there.  The city had reportedly been facing a severe food shortage.

The agreements were facilitated by the Syrian Red Crescent, an aid organization that works closely with the ICRC.  The two organizations have supplied food to over two-hundred thousand people this month.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Red Cross: Syria regime blocking aid to Homs – 25 July 2013

Arab News –Assad govt blocking access to needy in Homs – Red Cross  – 25 July 2013

Fox News –ICRC condemns Syria blockades – 25 July 2013

Reuters – Syrian authorities blocking access to needy in Homs – 25 July 2013

Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Marte Deborah Dalelv, an interior designer from Norway who was given a 16 months in prison sentence after she reported to Dubai police that she was raped while in Dubai on business last March was granted a pardon by the United Arab Emirates’ prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The 24-year-old had been charged with the crimes of having extramarital sex, drinking alcohol, and perjury after she reported the attack. Her alleged attacker, who received a 13 months sentence, was also pardoned.

The pardon follows cries of outrage from the international community for the charges to be dropped. Her sentence has been condemned by the Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide who said that the court’s ruling “flies in the face of our notion of justice” and was “highly problematic from a human rights perspective.”  He also criticized Dubai’s legal system, which allows the victims of rapes and other violent assaults to be punished for being victimized, saying, “[i]t seems very strange that a person who reports rape is sentenced for acts which in our part of the world is not even a crime.”

The 24-year old reported the incident to police, believing she would find help. Immediately following the alleged incident, Dalelv fled the scene and asked the hotel staff at the lobby desk to contact the police. Before contacting the police, the staff asked her if she was sure she wanted to involve the police in the situation. Dalelv reportedly said, “[o]f course I want to call the police,” in dealing with the incident because that was “the natural reaction” where she is from.

While the UAI attracts large numbers of western expatriates and tourists each year because of its modern cities and lifestyle, the state maintains little-publicised conservative laws regarding sexual activity and alcohol consumption. As a result, western women, like Dalelv, encounter legal trouble when reporting their rapes to police, believing they will be treated victims instead of being treated as criminals.

In January 2010, a British woman reported that she had been raped by an employee at a Dubai hotel was charged with public intoxication and having extramarital sexual intercourse. In December 2012, a British woman who reported being gang raped by three men in Dubai was found guilty of unlicensed alcohol consumption and received a fine. And in 2008, an Australian woman was convicted of having sex outside of marriage and of drinking alcohol, receiving an 11 month sentence, after she reported to police that she had been drugged and gang-raped. Emirati women fear going to police to report sexual violence for the same reasons. Three years ago, an 18-year-old Emirati woman who reported that she had been gang-raped by six men including a police officer was sentenced to a year in prison.

Human rights groups have criticized the Gulf State’s history for criminalizing the victims of rape; Human Rights Watch has called Dubai’s record on handling rape cases, which has led to a fear of reporting rape, “shameful.”

For more information, please see:

CNN – Dubai Ruler Pardons Norwegian Woman Convicted after She Reported Rape – July 22, 2013

Los Angeles Times – Norwegian Who Reported Rape in Dubai ‘Pardoned’ But Laws Still Target Victims – July 22, 2013

Al Jazeera – UAE Pardons and Frees Norwegian Rape Victim – July 22, 2013

Al Jazeera – Expat Appeals UAE Sentence after Rape Charge – July 19, 2013

BBC – Dubai Sentences Norwegian Woman Who Reported Rape – July 19, 2013

Huffington Post – Marte Deborah Dalelv, Alleged Norwegian Rape Victim, Sentenced To 16 Months Jail In Dubai For Sex Outside Of Marriage – July 19, 2013

USA Today – Norwegian Convicted over Rape Report Issues Gulf Caution – July 19, 2013

By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

AMMAN, Jordan – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made his sixth trip to the Middle East yesterday in order to resume peace talks between Israel and Palestine.  Since taking office on February 1^st, Kerry has made it his mission to negotiate peace in the Middle East.

It has been unofficially reported that countries represented at the peace negotiating meeting include Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.  Kerry met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday and today planned to meet Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

Jen Psaki, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman, said that Kerry scheduled the meetings to “provide an update on Middle East peace” and that “the Secretary would not be going back to the region if he did not feel there was an opportunity to keep making steps forward.”

Kerry has repeatedly stated that a point is nearing where Israeli and Palestinian officials will need “to make hard decisions about jump-starting the moribund peace talks.” The necessity of such a meeting is pressing as the United Nations General Assembly will address Palestinian statehood issues in September.

In June, Kerry spent nearly four days involved in extensive diplomacy working to end a three-year impasse between Israel and Palestine stating, “with a little more work, the start of final status negotiations could be within reach.”

Two advisers, Frank Lowenstein and Jonathan Schwartz, have been in the Middle East for the past couple of weeks to consult with both Israel and Palestine.  Remaining gaps to be resolved appear to be Israel’s failure to release Palestinian prisoners and refusal to agree to preconditions.

Kerry stated, “Through hard and deliberate, patient work, and most importantly through quiet work we have been able to narrow those gaps very significantly. We continue to get closer and I continue to remain hopeful that the sides will soon be able to come to sit at the same table.”

Palestine, who obtained “nonmember observer state” status in the U.N. last year, has made it clear that they will seek further recognition as a state and membership in the International Criminal Court if diplomatic progress is not made.

After the meeting, the Arab delegates issued a statement saying, “The Arab delegates believe Kerry’s ideas proposed to the committee today constitute a good ground and suitable environment for restarting the negotiations, especially the new and important political, economic and security elements.”

However, U.S. officials have reduced expectations that any sudden breakthrough or announcement on resuming direct Israel Palestine communication will occur as Kerry did not plan to visit Israel or Palestine on this trip.

For more information, please see the following: 

Aljazeera – Kerry to hold secret Middle East peace talks – July 17, 2013

Gulf Today – Kerry wins AL support for bid to restart ME peace talks – July 17, 2013

National – Kerry returns to Jordan for Mideast peace talks – July 17, 2013

New York Times – Kerry Returns to Middle East in Bid for Peace Talks – July 16, 2013

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Thousands of supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi have rallied in the streets of Cairo and across the country, largely following Friday prayers beginning on July 6. Prior to the breakout of pro-Morsi protests, the Egyptian military had said that it will guarantee supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the overthrown president the right to peacefully protest and the right to free expression. However, this announcement came as the military had been rounding up Muslim Brotherhood officials.

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, the nation’s first democratically elected leader, was forcibly removed from office on Tuesday July 2. In the two weeks since his ouster, the streets of Egypt have been filled with both pro-Morsi and anti-Morsi protests. President Morsi’s removal from office followed days of mass protests, largely organized by the Tamarod [Rebel] movement. Protesters accused President Morsi and the Brotherhood of failing to address the country’s economic concerns, which were a catalyst to the 2011 revolution, as well as consolidating political power and supporting an overwhelmingly Islamist agenda without the support of the majority of the Egyptian people.

Egyptian judicial authorities have opened up and an investigation into accusations that former President Morsi and 15 other Islamists that had allegedly had insulted the judiciary. The investigating Judge Tharwat Hammad has imposed a travel banned on them all. Many of the senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood have been arrested are being held in Torah Prison in Cairo, the same prison housing deposed President Hosni Mubarak. Hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood officials have reportedly been arrested in since the coup.

While the ousting of Morsi was met with cheers of support from protesters in Tahrir Square and across Egypt, many of whom participated in the uprising that led to the resignation of Hosni Mubarak, the coup is a reminder of the historic power of the Egyptian military complex, which has at the heart of the Mubarak regime. The Coup has left many Egyptian holding their breath as Egypt’s future hangs in the balance.

The Military issued statements promising to allow for a peaceful transition to democracy after the establishment of a transitional government. Chief Justice Adly Mansour was sworn in as Egypt’s interim president, just hours after Mohamed Morsi was forced out of office in a military coup that occurred as a result of massive protests against his presidency.Under the transitional government, the nation’s constitution will be temporarily suspended, a “strong and competent” civilian Technocratic government will be installed though the transition processes and the Supreme Court is expected to pass a law setting standards for a parliamentary election and to prepare for both parliamentary and presidential elections.

Despite the military’s roundup of Muslim Brotherhood officials the interim president has promised to preserve the right to free expression in Egypt. He has said that the freedom to protest and to publicly express political beliefs is at the heart of the new Egypt, a right won on the streets of Cairo in 2011. However, in the weeks since that statement was made, Egyptian police forces have clashed on the streets with pro-Morsi demonstrators leaving several demonstrators dead, including seven protesters who were killed overnight in Cairo during a pro-Morsi rally that resulted in clashes with police forces. The killings came as US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns visited Egypt, marking the first time a high ranking US official to visit the region since the Coup.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Seven Dead in Cairo Clashes – 16 July 2013

CNN International – Deadly Clashes Strike Egypt as New Government Takes Shape – 16 July 2013

Al Jazeera – Living in Denial: US Policy & Egypt’s Military Coup – July 15, 2013

Al Jazeera – Pro-Morsi Supporters Stage Cairo Protest – 5 July 2013

Al Jazzera – Top Judge Sworn In as Egypt’s Interim President –5 July 2013

BBC – Egypt Army Permits ‘Peaceful Protest’ Amid Morsi Anger – 5 July 2013

CNN International – Morsy Supporters to Protest His Ouster, Arrests of His Allies – July 5, 2013

CNN International – Coup Highlights Egyptian’s Military Role – July 3, 2013