VDC: التقرير الاسبوعي من 12-4 إلى 18-4
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Senate Panel Votes To Release CIA Torture Report
By: Brandon R. Cottrell
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – The Senate Intelligence Committee voted last week to release parts of a four year long report that investigated CIA terror interrogations during the Bush administration.
The panel, which is comprised of fourteen members, had eleven members voting in favor of release and three members (Republican Senators Marco Rubio of Florida, Dan Coats of Indiana and Jim Risch of Idaho) voting against release of five hundred pages (out of six thousand total pages) of the report.
Though the report needs to be declassified, the release should still provide the fullest account of the enhanced interrogation techniques that were used. According to members of the intelligence community, however, the report will not paint a full picture as the underlying investigation “fail[ed] to include interviews from top spy agency officials who authorized or supervised the brutal interrogations.”
Senator Richard Burr, who voted in favor of releasing the report, believes that the report is “flawed and biased” but thought it important “to give the American people the opportunity to make their judgments.”
Amid concerns that the CIA will “sanitize key elements of their investigation” as they redact passages that could comprise national security, the White House reported that it would instruct intelligence officials to cooperate fully with the pending release.
Additionally, Dean Boyd, a CIA spokesman, said that the agency would “carry out the review expeditiously” and that “we owe it to the men and women directed to carry out this program to try and ensure that any historical account is accurate.”
Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, stated that “”The purpose of this review was to uncover the facts behind the secret program and the results, I think, were shocking . . . the report exposes brutality that stands in sharp contrast to our values as a nation [and] it chronicles a stain on our history that must never be allowed to happen again. This is not what Americans do.” Feinstein has additionally stated that she hopes the report will be released to the public within thirty days.
Amnesty International issued a statement with similar sentiments, stating that “the interrogation techniques amount to torture and therefore violated international law” and that it wished the report would be released in full but acknowledged that “given the systematic failure of the U.S. authorities to declassify and disclose anything like the full truth . . . any transparency on them is a step in the right direction.”
The report accuses the CIA of overstating the significance of alleged terrorist plots and prisoners, and exaggerating the effectiveness of the program by claiming credit for information surrendered before they were subjected to the interrogations.
For further information, please see the following:
AP – Senate Panel Votes To Release CIA Torture Report – 3/April/14
New York Times – Senate Panel Votes To Reveal Report On C.I.A. Interrogations – 3/April/14
USA Today – Senate Panel Votes To Declassify Part Of CIA Report – 3/April/14
Washington Post – Senate Panel Votes To Release CIA Interrogation Report – 3/April/14
al-Shabab Suicide Bomber Kills Many at Hotel
By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa
A car bomb exploded by the hotel where African Union and Somali officers were staying. Gunfire continued afterwards for five hours.
The al-Shabab suicide bomber rammed a car into the gates of the hotel before gunmen sprayed the building with bullets, killing many.
This attack occurred at nighttime in Bulobarde yesterday (Tuesday). al-Shabab abandoned Bulobarde last week when African troops advanced on the town in a new offensive aimed to flush the militants from the area.
Six soldiers were killed, including a top Somali army commander, the African Union stated.
However, the al-Shabab, who have claimed responsibility for the attack, have said that 30 African Union and army officers were killed in the attack.
A spokesman for the African Union has stated that all al-Shabab fighters involved in the attack have been killed, but he did not specify how many this was.
Local elder Hassan Nur said his nephew, a military commander, was among the killed.
“Most of the troops and civilians inside the hotel died or were wounded. We couldn’t count how many died because AU (African Union) and Somali forces swarmed all over the place,” Nur said.
The African Union force, known as AMISOM, said it stood with the “fallen soldiers” but did not state how many were killed.
al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, has waged an eight-year insurgency to overthrow the weak UN-backed government and create an Islamic state in Somalia.
Bulobarde, which has a bridge over the River Shabelle and is a crossroads linking various regions of the country, was an important and strategic point for al-Shabab.
al-Shabab lost control of Mogadishu in 2011, but has intensified bombings and mortar raids in the city in recent weeks.
The militants, who seek to impose their version of Islamic law, were driven out of bases in the capital, but have continued to control swathes of countryside and smaller towns, which they use as launch-pads to carry out attacks at home and abroad.
Tuesday’s strike by al-Shabab followed an attack on Monday on a military convoy near the capital Mogadishu, which killed four Somali soldiers, according to an army captain.
al-Shabab said it carried out the attack to punish Kenya for sending troops to Somalia. Kenya said it had arrested two suspected al-Shabab militants on Monday with bombs that might have targeted the coast, which is popular with tourists.
For more information, please visit:
BBC News – Somalia’s al-Shabab attacks army hotel in Bulo-burde – 18 March 2014
The Frontier Post – Al-Shabab attack army hotel – 19 March 2014
Reuters – Somali militant strike kills peacekeepers, government troops – 18 March 2014
The Guardian – Somali militant strike kills peacekeepers, government troops – 19 March 2014
Kerry Meets Russian Counterpart in Paris
by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
PARIS, France – Secretary of State John Kerry met with with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Paris Wednesday to discuss peaceful solutions to the standoff in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. The meeting came just a day after Lavrov announced that economic sanctions by the US would not change the position of the Russian government.
Despite their differences, Kerry noted before the meeting that all parties agreed that the situation should be resolved diplomatically rather than militarily.
“All parties agreed today that it is important to try to resolve these issues through dialogue,” said Kerry.
The talks were described as “very constructive” and Kerry considered them to be the beginning of negotiation that would hopefully lead to a peaceful solution. Despite the Secretary’s optimism, the Russian Foreign Minister refused to have a one-on-one meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, opting instead to travel home.
While speaking in to press after the meeting, Kerry renewed his call for Russian forces to withdraw from the Crimean peninsula and allow UN monitors in to the region. Whether or not Russia will heed such a call, Kerry added that the parties agreed to meet again.
“We agreed to continue intense discussions in the coming days with Russia, with Ukrainians, in order to see how we can help normalize the situation, stabilize it and overcome the crisis,” he said.
While Kerry traveled to Paris, President Obama continued to communicate with EU leaders, collaborating with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Tuesday on a resolution to the situation. Their proposal would require Russian forces to partially withdraw, limiting their deployment to 11,000 troops.
The President also directed remarks to Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday, saying that Russia was not “fooling anybody” by denying Russia deployed forces to Crimea.
France 24 reports that sources confirm President Obama will not be attending an upcoming G8 summit scheduled to be held in Sochi, Russia unless the situation in Crimea improves.
For more information, please see:
Bloomberg News – Kerry Makes Push to Ease Ukraine Tension in Lavrov Talks – 5 March 2014
CNN – Kerry: Ukraine talks will continue – 5 March 2014
France 24 – US-Russia to hold Ukraine talks in Paris – 5 March 2014
MSNBC News – Kerry Says Russia and Ukraine Willing to Keep Talking – 5 March 2014
The Washington Post – Kerry says ‘Russia is going to lose’ if Putin’s troops continue to advance in Ukraine – 2 March 2014
Croatia To Present Evidence of Genocide By Serbia At ICJ
by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
THE HAGUE – Croatia told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday that it will present its case during a hearing which will include new evidence to support their claim that Serbia committed genocide in Croatian territory from 1991 to 1995.
Vesna Crnic-Grotic, the head of the Croatian legal team, stated to the Court that Serbian leaders are “in denial” over a genocide carried out in the early 90’s. Croatia is bringing charges against the former president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, of leading the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) to commit genocidal crimes, though they were originally supposed to protect the Yugoslavian people.
Crnic-Grotic stated that the Serbian government in Belgrade turned a blind eye to genocidal acts, and though Croatia did not accuse anyone specific for genocide, Crotia decided to formally bring charges before the ICJ.
On Monday before the Court, the Croatian legal team presented a video that depicted the 1991 violence in Vukovar, as they accused Serbia of using the JNA to eliminate Croatian people. The team stated that they will present evidence of genocidal crimes in both Lovas and Vukovar.
The President of the ICJ, Peter Tomka, summarized the history of the dispute between Croatia and Serbia for the Court. Croatia pressed genocide charges on Serbia in 1999, and Serbia filed a counter-suit in 2010. Now that the hearing has finally begun, President Tomka informed both parties which witness statements will be kept private until the end of the hearing- which April 1st.
In its counter-suit, Serbia is requesting that Croatia provide full indemnity for Serbian people from Krajina for all economic losses and damages inflicted by the genocide. The counter-suit also seeks to create legal conditions and protections for Serbs living in Croatia. The Serbian legal team will present case on March 10th.
For more information, please see:
ABC News – Croatia Accuses Serbia of Genocide at UN Court – 3 March 2014
BBC News – Croatia Accuses Serbia of 1990s Genocide – 3 March 2014
inSerbia – Croatia to Present New Evidence Before ICJ – 3 March 2014
Radio Free Liberty, Radio Europe – Croatia Accuses Serbia of Genocide at ICJ – 3 March 2014