By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Human Rights Watch has just released a report criticizing the United Arab Emirates for their treatment of ninety-four detainees. The poor treatment has impacted the detainees health and may have a further detriment to the administration of their justice.

The defendant detainees reported serious mistreatment. They had reported being held in solitary confinement for extended periods of time. Additionally, they faced constant exposure to fluorescent lights, which served to deprive them asleep. Furthermore, they were subjected to inadequate heating, and “hooding and blindfolding” whenever they were transported. Other detainees even reported being punched repeatedly and denied medical care.

The ninety-four detainees are all being held on state security charges of attempting to overthrow the government. The group of defendants included academics, doctors, lawyers, and judges who were believed to have developed a covert network to raise money in order to stage a coup. The ninety-four detainees are allegedly members of the Islamist group al-Islah and have supposed ties to the Muslim Brotherhood who were allegedly providing knowledge and money for the coup.

Attorney General Salem Saeed Kubaish has said that, “they launched, established and ran an organisation seeking to oppose the basic principles of the UAE system of governance and to seize power.”

Eighty-four of which were marshaled into court to make their pleas. All eighty-four pleaded not guilty. Twelve of these eighty-four individuals were women. The charges were largely based on two confessions that were allegedly extorted under duress of two of the detainees.

Ahmed al-Suweidi, one of the two men who had previously confessed, proclaimed his innocence and begged to the court that, “I know that what I’m going say may cost my life, but I deny the charges and I ask the court to protect my life and the life of my family.” There is a serious fear amongst human rights groups that these detainees are not given the opportunity to receive a fair trial. Evidence cannot be utilized that was manufactured under duress.

The UAE authorities kept a bunch of journalists and other international spectators from entering the courtroom. Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, Sarah Leah Whitson astutely observed that “The UAE authorities seem intent on keeping this trial as much under wraps as they can.”

The prosecutors are due to introduce their first witnesses when the trial continues on March 18th.

For further information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – UAE: Ensure Safety of 94 on Trial – 11 March 2013

NPR – Rights Group: UAE Must Investigate Torture Claims – 11 March 2013

CNN – Trials of 94 Detainees Accused of Plotting to Overthrow Government Start in UAE – 5 March 2013

Al Akhbar – 94 Defendants Plead ‘not Guilty’ of Attempted Coup in UAE Trial – 4 March 2013

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt  – The death sentences for twenty-one individuals deemed responsible for the February football riots of last year have been upheld. Twenty-four others, including two police officers were sentenced to jail, while twenty-eight others were acquitted. The court’s ruling was televised throughout Egypt, and was met by much protest.

The football riots occurred in Port Said during February 2012 when the local Al-Masry squad was taking on Cairo’s out-of-town, Al-Ahly. When the game ended, a majority of Al-Masry supporters stormed the pitch, while the police locked the stadium gates, turned off the electricity, and kept away from the violence. Many who tried to escape the stadium were trampled in the process. Seventy-four people died as a result of the riots. Most of the deceased were supporters of Al-Ahly.

After the verdict was announced, hundreds of Al-Masry supporters congregated outside of the local government headquarters of Port Said calling for independence. Football fan Mohamed Ataya said that, “what we need now is to separate from the rest of the country,” after describing how his friend was given jail time for “helping to carry the dead outside the stadium.” Others thought the towns inhabitants were “scapegoated” in the verdict, and yearned for the military enforced curfew to be removed.

Many in Port Said attacked the Egyptian Football Federation and set it ablaze. Others in Port Said released docked speedboats in an effort to block the Suez canal before the military intervened. There has been only one reported death so far.

The police of Port Said locked themselves in the safety of their station. Since the trial began a month ago, at least fifty people have died. Most of these deaths have come as a result of police gunfire. Police forces in ten of Egypt’s twenty-nine provinces have gone on strike to demonstrate against President Morsi’s use of the police in quashing protesters.

In Cairo, supporters of Al-Ahly rejoiced upon first hearing of the court’s result, but then quickly became angered. While they initially were happy that more Al-Masry supporters were sentenced, they were enraged that only two out of the nine police officers, who were charged, ended up convicted. Many believe that the police’s actions in locking the gates and turning off the lights contributed tremendously to the deaths of those seventy four individuals.

Many Al-Ahly supporters attempted to block Cairo’s important October Bridge. Two other protesters were killed in Cairo by police. One died after inhaling tear gas while the other’s life was taken by bird shot. These deaths are said to have been unrelated to the football trial.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Deadly Egypt Riots Follow Football Verdicts – 9 March 2013

BBC – Unrest in Egypt Over Port Said Football Riot Sentences – 9 March 2013

Guardian – Egyptian Court Confirms Death Sentences for Port Said Football Rioters – 9 March 2013

Daily Star Lebanon – Clashes in Egypt Port Said as Police Move Prisoners – 3 March 2013

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen– The humanitarian organizations Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have pleaded with Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi to save the life of Mohammad Abd al-Karim Mohammad Haza’a. Haza’a, who may have been a minor when he was convicted, has been sentenced to death, and is scheduled to be shot by firing squad tomorrow morning.

Haza’a was first found guilty of murder in August 1999 by the Court of First Instance in Taizz. He was only sentenced to imprisonment and a payment of blood money, known as diya, because Haza’a was found to be seventeen at the time the crime was committed.

Under international law, states are strictly prohibited from utilizing capital punishment as a sanction against a minor who has committed a crime. Where a convict’s age is disputed, a presumption will arise in favor of finding the convict a minor. Any action would be stayed contingent on an investigation into the truth.

Nevertheless, on appeal, the appellate court amended Haza’a’s sentence to the death penalty. Because the dissenting judge believed that Haza’a was a child when he committed the murder, the judge refused to sign onto the decision.

Despite the uncertainty, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Appeals Court in April of 2008. The Supreme Court made no effort to re-examine what Haza’a’s age was when he committed the murder.  

The child rights researcher for Human Rights Watch, Priyanka Motaparthy, has urged the president of Yemen not to allow the carrying out of Haza’a’s sentence, which Hadi had inherited from previous president, Ali Abdullah Saleh’s consent.

Haza’a was originally set to be executed last week. His death was delayed a week due to the persistent efforts of groups like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Seyaj Organization for Childhood Protection, to stop the capital punishment, while evidence of his juvenile age exists.

If Haza’a is killed tomorrow, he will not be the first Yemeni minor to have been served with capital punishment. As a result of imprecise records and bad rulings, other minors have been sentenced to death. Currently, Haza’a is one of one hundred eighty criminals facing a death sentence for a crime committed by one when the criminal was a juvenile.

Other countries who have executed juveniles in the past five years include Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan.

For further information, please see:

Amnesty International – We Wish to Inform you That Tomorrow you Will be Executed – 8 March 2013

Human Rights Watch – Yemen: Halt Execution of Alleged Juvenile Offender – 8 March 2013

Yemen Post – In Response to Sejay’s Appeal, Taiz Court Suspends Death Penalty Against Juvenile – 27 February 2013

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel — The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) published a 22-page report last Wednesday claiming that the ill-treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli detention centers “appears to be widespread and systematic.”

In its report, entitled “Children in Israeli Military Detention,” UNICEF estimates that about 700 children within the West Bank aged between twelve and seventeen were arrested by Israeli forces each year.  UNICEF says that this is a rate equivalent to “an average of two children each day.”  Figures provided for the month of January reveal that 233 children are currently in custody, and 31 of those children are below the age of sixteen.  However, a spokeswoman for Israel’s Prison Service said that currently, 307 Palestinian minors are in Israeli custody, 108 of them are serving a prison sentence.  The spokeswoman said that most of those children are between sixteen and eighteen, while the rest are under sixteen.

The report also stated that Israel is the only country in the world where children are systematically tried in military courts, deeming the practices as “cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment.”   “Israel is the only place in the world where automatically, a child when he is under arrest, is put before a military tribunal,” said Jean-Nicholas Beuze, UNICEF’s regional advisor on child protection. “It does exist in other countries (but only) as an exception.”

The report states that the ill-treatment often begins with an arrest of the child, usually occurring in the middle of the night, then it continues through the prosecution and sentencing periods.  The report provides examples of abuse, such as “the practice of blindfolding children and tying their hands with plastic ties, physical and verbal abuse during transfer to an interrogation site, including the use of painful restraints.”  Children were rarely informed of their rights during questioning.

During questioning, the report states that minors are subjected to “physical violence and threats, are coerced into confessions, and do not have immediate access to a lawyer or family during questioning.”  UNICEF also pointed out that some cases existed where children suffered through prolonged exposure to the elements, and were not provided with an adequate amount of food, water, and did not had access to a toilet.

During the sentencing phase, children arrive to court shackled, are denied bail and imposition of custodial sentences, and are transferred outside of the occupied Palestinian territory to serve their sentences inside Israel.

UNICEF based its findings on more than 400 cases documented since 2009, legal papers and reports composed by both governmental and non-governmental groups, and through interviews with Palestinian minors, and Israeli and Palestinian officials and lawyers.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that ministry officials along with the Israeli military cooperated with UNICEF.   Palmor said that Israel wants to improve its treatment of Palestinian minors held in custody. “Israel will study the conclusions and will work to implement them through ongoing cooperation with UNICEF, whose work we value and respect,” he said.

For further information, please see:

Al Arabiya — Israeli Ill-Treatment of Palestinian Minors ‘Widespread, Systematic:’ UNICEF — 6 March 2013

Al Jazeera — Israel Accused of Abusing Detained Children — 6 March 2013

The Daily Star — Israel Ill-Treatment of Palestinian Minors ‘Systematic’: UN — 6 March 2013

The Jewish Press — UNICEF: Israel Treatment of Arab Minors in Custody Cruel and Inhuman — 6 March 2013