Uncategorized

al-Shabab Suicide Bomber Kills Many at Hotel

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

African Union and Somali government forces march around Buloburde

 

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.

Kerry denounced the Russian occupation of Crimea Sunday, calling the action “an incredible act of aggression.” (Photo courtesy of Bloomberg News)

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.

The hearing began at the ICJ on Monday, and is scheduled to end on April 1st. (Photo courtesy of inSerbia)

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

Thousands of Refugees Blocked From Receiving Food Aid in Syria

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – According to the United Nations and activists, food aid deliveries to thousands of people living in a blockaded area in southern Damascus have been cut off after a truce collapsed and fights once again broke out between Syrian rebel groups and regime forces. The Yarmouk district of Damascus is home to thousands of Palestinian refugees.

Residents of the Yarmouk district of Damascus line up in hopes of receiving food aid. (Photo courtesy the Irish Examiner)

Yarmouk is the largest of nine Palestinian camps in Syria. Since the camp’s was founded in 1957, it has evolved into a densely populated residential district, only five miles from the centre of Damascus. The camp has been home to several generations of Palestinian refugees. Before the conflict more than 160,000 Palestinian refugees lived in Yarmouk, around 18,000 Palestinian refugees remain in the district.

Chris Gunness, a spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Damascus, urged both parties to “immediately allow” delivers of food and medical aid to be resumed in order to fight the malnutrition epidemic in the area. On Monday Gunness said the United Nations “remains deeply concerned about the desperate humanitarian situation in Yarmouk, and the fact that increasing tensions and resort to armed force have disrupted its efforts to alleviate the desperate plight of civilians,” Gunness said on Monday. He urged both regime and rebel fighters to facilitate “safe and unhindered humanitarian access”

Over the course of the three year old conflict the Yarmouk area of Damascus has seen some of the worst violence in the nation’s capital. The fighting has led to severe shortages in food and medical supplies leading to severe malnutrition, illness and hunger.

Israa al-Masri, a young boy who lived in the Palestinian neighborhood of Yarmouk in Damascus, Syria was one of thousands of Syrian children to suffer from hunger in the region, he passed away from a hunger-related illness, on Jan. 11, 2014 (Photo courtesy of CBS News)

On Tuesday Filippo Grandi, the Commissioner General of UNRWA, called the extent of damages to the refugees’ homes in the Yarmouk area shocking, he said “the devastation is unbelievable. There is not one single building that I have seen that is not an empty shell by now.”

On Saturday rebel fighter claimed that Assad loyalists were sneaking weapons into Yarmouk under the pretext of the joint patrols, delaying food distribution and arresting young men waiting for food parcels from the United Nations. The next day rebels returned to the area and clashes broke out between regime and al-Nusra and other rebel fighters.

In total, the United Nations has distributed 7,708 food parcels to the Yarmouk district’s 18,000 registered Palestinian refugees. According to activist groups, there are thousands more displaced Syrians living in the district suffering from malnutrition, illness and hunger as a result of food shortages.

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Thousands of People Living In Blockaded District in Southern Damascus Are Cut Off From Aid As Truce Collapses – 04 March 2014

Irish Examiner – Thousands ‘Slowly Dying’ in Yarmouk Camp – 01 March 2014

CBS News – U.N. Renews Call For Syria Regime, Rebels To Allow Aid Into Yarmouk Camp For Starving Refugees – 26 February 2014

The Guardian – Queue for Food In Syria’s Yarmouk Camp Shows Desperation Of Refugees – 26 February 2014

Brazil Forcefully Evicts Residents Ahead of World Cup

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil – Many poor people have been evicted or are facing eviction from their homes as urban renewal efforts are being launched ahead of this year’s World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

Brazil Forced Evictions
Residents walk inside the Favela do Metro slum near Maracana stadium where people have been evicted and homes demolished in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo Courtesy of AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

More than 230 families were forced out of their homes in Vila Recreio II, a Rio de Janeiro slum that was demolished three years ago to make way for the Transoeste expressway connecting the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood that’ll be the main hub for the 2016 Olympics with the western outskirts of Rio.

Officials are using the events as reasons for expanded metro lines, roads, airport renovations and other works. Critics say poor residents are paying the price and estimate some 100,000 people have been evicted or face removals to make way for the projects.

“The city has become the object of the big business, the big interests behind the mega-events,” said Marcelo Chalreo, who heads the human rights commission of the Rio chapter of Brazil’s bar association. “In the name of the (sporting) events, now everything has to be pretty and nice looking,” he added.

These displaced residents were told to either accept a lump-sum compensation for their homes or walk away with nothing. According to many residents, the Brazilian government’s compensation and an apartment in a distant housing project are inadequate. The government’s compensation of just over $2,300 is not enough to cover some of the homes in many slums, where they are going upward of $50,000.

City officials have in the past acknowledged that some 15,000 families were resettled, but insist the moves were done to remove people from areas prone to deadly mudslides and had nothing do with the World Cup or Olympics. The office of Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes has said that it “is not and will not carry out any resettlements” connected to the World Cup.

However, city officials have said that for upcoming Olympic preparations, they plan to resettle 278 families living on land that’s part of the Olympic Village. Olympic organizers confirmed the removals near the Olympic village.

An advocacy group for affected slum residents, Popular Committee for the World Cup and Olympics, estimates that 100,000 have or will be moved.

“The city’s removal policy is disastrous because it’s taking these pockets of poverty and pushing them out to the furthest limits of the city, thus making vulnerable people that much vulnerable,” said Renato Cosentino, a member of the Popular Committee.

For more information please see:

RYOT — Brazil Forcefully Demolishes More Than 100,000 Homes to Make Way for the World Cup and Olympics – 28 February 2014

Think Progress – Brazil Relocates More Than 15,000 Families Ahead Of World Cup – 28 February 2014

ABC News – Critics Blast Rio’s World Cup, Olympic Evictions – 28 February 2014

Associated Press – Critics blast Rio’s World Cup, Olympic evictions – 28 February 2014