By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – The former foreign affairs minister of the Maldives, Ahmed Shaheed, recently delivered his latest United Nations report on Iran’s human rights record. Iranian delegation leader and Iranian Human Rights Council head Mohammad Javad Larijani disputed basically all of the complaints in the report.

Shaheed stated “that the prevailing situation of human rights in Iran continues to warrant serious concern, and will require a wide range of solutions that are both respectful of cultural perspectives and mindful of the universality of fundamental human rights.”

Mohammad Javad Larijani believes that human rights are subjective and not universal. He views such U.N. reports predicated on universal principles as a cultural invasion on the Iranian way of life. Similarly, his brother, Iranian Chief Justice Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani considers Iran’s ratification of the December 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be a “mistake.”

Iran was charged with detaining individuals on bogus charges, torturing detainees, permitting marital rape, and systematically persecuting those of the LGBT community.

Regarding the charges and the torture, Mohammad Javad Larijani claims that Shaheed relied on the testimony of convicts who belonged to terrorist factions. Larjani insists they were given their day in court and received due process before being convicted on counts of “contact with foreign media and the office of the UN Special Rapporteur” and “propaganda against the regime.”

With respect to the treatment of those in the LGBT community, Iran in 2013 takes a similar stance to that of the American medical community prior to 1974. The official stance in Iran is that homosexuality is a disease. Larijani stated that, “we consider homosexuality an illness that should be cured. We don’t consider it acceptable to beat or mistreat homosexuals, either.”

While Iran does not condone the beating of homosexuals, the alleged “disease” is punishable by death according to the fatwas declared by Iranian clerics. Iran also has executed individuals who have been found guilty of committing sodomy. Those men who were executed were married. Unmarried men who engage in the same act may only face stern prolonged lashings. Furthermore, even the ‘passive’ recipient of the sodomy can be executed. This punishment may be received regardless of whether he was a consensual participant or one who was raped.

Besides for debating the concept of universal rights and discrediting Shaheed’s report for taking the word of terrorists, Larijani also criticizes the Special Rapporteur for taking bribes from the United States State Department. He believes that everything written in the report is designed to achieve some result that comports with the interests of the United States.

For further information, please see:

Guardian – Iranian Human Rights Official Describes Homosexuality as an Illness – 14 March 2013

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran – Denial and Personal Attacks: Iran’s Larijani Responds at the UN – 12 March 2013

World Politics Review – Human Rights Deteriorate in Iran as Elections Approach – 12 March 2013

Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization – Ahwazi: UNHRC Condemns Iranian Delegate for Attacking UN Special Rapporteur – 11 March 2013

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt –  A day before the film, The Jews of Egypt, was set to open in Egypt, it was banned by an Egyptian security agency. The film captures the lives of the sixty-five thousand some Jews who lived in Egypt prior to the bad blood that developed between Israel and Egypt during the late nineteen-fifties.

Producer of the documentary, Haytham el-Khamissy, has been very disappointed by this recent development. He claims that there is “no excuse for this except delay and obstruction,” and that the Egyptian security agencies seek to “terrorise thought and repress creativity.” Khamissy and director Amir Ramses’ anger is directed at multiple agencies including the culture ministry, the Supreme Council for Culture and the General Censorship Authority, as long as the interior ministry and the National Security apparatus.

The film had been cleared twice by the state’s official censorship body. Its script was approved back in 2010. Later, before it was viewed at film festivals it was granted a screening license by the same censorship body.

The Jews of Egypt was already viewed at the Panorama and Palm Springs International film festivals in Egypt last year. Additionally, it had been aired at festivals in the United States.

The documentary purports to show a heterogeneous society that got along really well together, without many problems. It begs the question in the mind of director Amir Ramses of “how did the Jews of Egypt turn in the eyes of Egyptians from partners in the same country to enemies.”

Because of tension that developed as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the creation of Israel as an independent home for Jews in nineteen-forty-eight, very few Jews remained in Egypt. Today, Jewish temples in Egypt are filled mainly with tourists.

The movie was set to open in three different venues before it was banned by local censors. The local censors took their actions after a security agency pre-viewed the documentary, on censorship committee director Abd El-Satar Fathi’s request. Fathi alleges that he never put the kibosh on the film, and that he has “supported the film all along.”

One possible reason that the film’s official premiere was delayed was because there was a fear that the documentary’s title could stir a commotion. This concern developed after Muslim Brotherhood leader Essam El-Erian’s controversially declared that all Israeli’s of Egyptian descent should come back to Egypt.

If the ban on the film is not soon lifted, its producer may take legal action against all relevant ministries. He will do so if he deems that the documentary’s delay has caused economic loss.

For further information, please see:

Guardian – Egypt Bans Film About Jewish Community – 13 March 2013

World Jewish Congress – Egyptian Authorities Stop Cinema Documentary on Jews – 13 March 2013

Abram – Egypt Security Apparatus Delays ‘Jews of Egypt’ Premiere: Producer – 12 March 2013

New York Times – Egypt: Film on Egyptian Jews is Blocked – 12 March 2013

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Recently, Saudi Arabia has been under a lot of heat for the amount of people it has been executing under capital punishment. The most common method used in Saudi Arabia for executions has been that of beheading by swordsmen. Saudi Arabian authorities finally seem ready to retire the traditional Sharia technique.

Those beheaded last year were convicted for the capital crimes of armed robbery, drug smuggling, murder, rape, sorcery, and witchcraft. International human rights group, Amnesty International, opposes the administration of death sentences for the commission of any crime.

Those still contemplating committing witchcraft anytime soon should know that they will still be executed for a capital crime. Instead of being killed by a beheading, a sorcerer will be executed by firing squad.

The switch has nothing to do with the Saudis seeing beheadings as antiquated. The real reason why the ministerial committee of the interior has decided to potentially cease beheadings is because there is a shortage of swordsmen. Swordsmen are largely unavailable in a number of areas in Saudi Arabia. This shortage leads to swordsmen needing to often travel great distances in order to perform executions. When such travels are necessary, executions are often delayed. They are simply impractical.

Saudi Arabia is currently the only country which still beheads criminals in public by sword. Executions by beheading has always been seen as the proper technique under the Koran to punish a person who committed a capital offense since medieval times. Death by the gunfire of a firing squad has also been deemed to be consistent with Sharia law. Though they have been more uncommon, such executions have occurred before and are not considered to be a religious violation.

The manner in which an individual, sentenced by a judge to death, will be killed will ultimately come down to the discretion of a local governor or prince. So far seventeen individuals have been executed this year. At least fifteen of those seventeen were beheaded. The seventeen people already killed this year represent a great increase in the rate of individuals executed, after just eighty individuals were killed a year for the past two years.

For further information, please see:

Arabian Business – Saudi Could Replace Beheading with Firing Squad – 11 March 2013

Guardian – Saudi Shortage of Swordsmen Prompts Approval of Executions by Firing Squad – 11 March 2013

New York Times – Saudis Consider Firing Squads for Executions – 10 March 2013

Global Dispatch – Amnesty International Calls for Saudi Arabia to Stop Beheading ‘Nearly two People a Week’ – 12 February 2013

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East 

AMMAN, Jordan — For the first time in Jordan’s history, its Prime Minister was appointed under a recommendation by Parliament.  Previously, the position was decided by King Abdullah II.

Under the new process, Ensour was selected by the king after Parliament put forward two names to him last Saturday.  King Abdullah II then selected Ensour, who collected the most votes in Parliament.  King Abdullah II heralded the elections, the Parliament, its new found involvement in selecting a prime minister, and the significant step Jordan took in creating a more participatory political system.

Prime Minister-designate, Abdullah Ensour retains the position after having been selected by King Abdullah II earlier as a “caretaker Prime Minister.”  Ensour was originally selected by the king because of he believed that Ensour would reform for the government and quell the tensions of the Jordanian people that were sparked by the Arab Spring, rigged elections and a government that was said to be corrupt.

However, since October, Ensour saw his popularity drop significantly.  Originally expecting to retire from politics and receive a hefty pay-out, he will now have the opportunity to continue making reforms to a government that he criticized when he was a member of the opposition.  In November, Ensour’s government raised gas prices as part of an economic plan necessary to instill so Jordan could receive a loan from the International Monetary Fund.  The move set off street riots and demonstrations throughout Jordan.  Critics believe that Ensour’s government will continue to raise prices in an effort to revive the Jordan’s economy, one of the poorest countries in the Middle East.  Critics believe that these actions will lead to more street protests.  “There was an opportunity to restore some trust in government. We missed that chance,” said Hassan Barari, an independent economist and commentator, of the election. “We were a divided society before the elections.”

Ensour is expected to name his new cabinet in the coming days.  The king will then swear the new cabinet in and Parliament will install it with its vote of confidence.  In a letter to Ensour, written by King Abdullah II, he requested Ensour and his incoming cabinet to “pursue further liberalization and decentralization,” without mentioning specific issues.  In his letter, the king mentioned that the cabinet should focus on targeting government bureaucracy, which has been marred with nepotism, corruption, and inefficiency. “We also want a white revolution in the public sector to improve its performance and skills, ensure transparency and better service to citizens…”

For further information, please see:

Al Bawaba — Same old PM Marks Radical Change for Jordan — 10 March 2013

Jordan Times — PM-Desigante Enters Talks with MPs over Cabinet Make-Up — 10 March 2013

Wall Street Journal — Jordan Appoints New Prime Minister — 10 March 2013

Al Jazeera — Jordan’s Parliament Chooses PM for First Time — 9 March 2013