Rebel Control of Somali Regions Contribute to Famine

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

DADAAB, Somalia – On Wednesday, the United Nations (“UN”) declared a famine in the Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions of southern Somalia.  Al-Shabab rebels control these regions and put a ban on foreign aid in 2009, claiming the foreign aid workers were Western spies and Christian crusaders.  More recently however, Al-Shabab allowed limited humanitarian aid to reach these communities.  Al-Shabab, one of the most active al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, is a militant Islamic organization, designate by the United States as a terrorist association. On Tuesday, the United States pushed the Shabab rebels to permit foreign aid workers to provide services for the people freely.  The United States attributes the region’s famine to the controlling behavior of these rebels.

Child suffering from the famine in Somalia. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)
Child suffering from the famine in Somalia. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

Across East Africa, ten million people face hunger resulting from a severe drought affecting the regions. The current famine is the result of a combination of regional conflicts, drought, and poverty, leaving tens of thousands of Somalis fleeing Somalia for Kenya or Ethiopia.  Somalia last experienced a famine nineteen years ago.

For the past two decades, Somalia has lacked an effective government.  During this time, Al-Shabab rebels have taken power in many regions and their continuing rise is alarming to many outside observers. The UN reports 80% of the nearly half a million malnourished children in Somalia in the rebel-controlled areas.

In their efforts to control incoming foreign aid, Al-Shabab have attacked and kidnapped foreign aid workers and refuse to permit aid agencies to operate.  Additionally, they have imposed restricted conditions for foreign aid agencies to provide services.  In 2010, the World Food Program (“WFP”) removed their workers because the rebels harassed and threatened them.

Presently, although a new dialogue between the rebels and the WFP is underway, Salman Omer, WFP Deputy Country Director, said, “[Our] relief effort [is] still hampered by insecurity, problems of access and lack of resources.”  The UN Children’s Fund (“UNICEF”) made its first airdrop of emergency supplies in two years last week.

Throughout this process, Al-Shabab may gain by allowing humanitarian aid into the country.  Since the United States needs to cooperate to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, it will face more difficulty targeting Al-Shabab leaders in a joint CIA-Defense Department initiative.  Somali watchers also observed the rebels may be trying to regain support in areas where they were on the defensive.

Johnnie Carson, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, commented “Al-Shabab’s activities have clearly made the current situation much worse…[its] current policies are wreaking havoc and are not helping Somalis living in the south-central part of that country.”

For more information, please see:
CNN – Aid agencies deal with terrorists to reach Somalia’s starving – 21 July 2011
BBC – UN declares Somalia famine in Bakool and Lower Shabelle – 20 July 2011
Financial Times – UN declares famine in rebel-held Somalia – 20 July 2011
IOL News – Somali rebels urged to allow aid trucks in – 20 July 2011

Australian Citizen Confesses to Burma War Crimes

By Brittney Hodnik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia– Htoo Htoo Han has come forward claiming that he is responsible for hundreds of deaths in his native land of Burma.  Han claims that he was commander of the so called, “death squad” during the pro-democracy uprisings in the late 1980s where about 6,000 people were killed.  He now tells the Sydney Morning Herald that eight of the men in his regime are currently living in Australia.

Htoo Htoo Han holds up an image showing him as a lieutenant in Burmas military regime and posing as a student activist. (Image Courtesy of The Australian)
Htoo Htoo Han holds up an image showing him as a lieutenant in Burma's military regime and posing as a student activist. (Image Courtesy of The Australian)

The Australian government says that they will look into Han’s claims to determine if he is telling the truth.  A spokeswoman for the Burma Campaign Australia told the news source, The Australian, “Whilst these claims are serious they should not be taken as verbatim, and a thorough investigation into the validity of these claims is required.”

Han is an Australian citizen who came from Burma as a refugee in 1996.  Ironically enough, he has been involved in campaigns aimed at highlighting human rights abuses in Burma, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.  He lives in Brisbane with his wife and three children.  Even his wife does not believe his recent confessions.  Han is aware that he may never see his children again, but he hopes that they understand.

Han claims that he wants to go to the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) because “[his story] is very complicated,” as reported by The Australian.  However, the ICC can only prosecute offenses that took place after its creation in 2002.

Han admits to executing at least 24 individuals himself, and further claims that others were killed under his direct command.  As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, Han appears to be taking full responsibility for many of the atrocities committed 23 years ago.  “Maybe they kill 100 or 150 because I order them to do that.  It’s not their fault, my fault.  If they didn’t kill, they get killed too,” he said.

So far, Han has not released the names of the eight other men who worked under his control.  He has told authorities that two of the men are in Sydney, four are in Melbourne, one in Perth, and one is in Queensland.  None of the other men have come forward publicly.

After 23 years, Han is coming forward because of his guilty conscience.  “I did it, I am a war criminal,” Han said, “now I want to release what I carry inside for 20 years,” according to the Democratic Voice of Burma.

As of now, Australia is taking Han’s confession seriously and an investigation is underway.

 For more information, please see:

The Australian — Burmese “Hitman” Htoo Htoo Han Seeks ICC Hearing — 20 July 2011

The Sydney Morning Herald — Death Squad Members in Australia, Refugee Says — 20 July 2011

Democratic Voice of Burma — Australia Police to Assess Burma ‘War Criminal’ — 18 July 2011

The Sydney Morning Herald — Australian Admits War Crimes in Burma — 18 July 2011

Hungarian court acquits “most wanted” Nazi war crimes criminal

By Polly Johnson
Senior Desk Officer, Europe

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Lawyers for Sandor Kepiro, a war crimes suspect who was acquitted on Monday by a Hungarian court on the grounds of insufficient evidence, said on Thursday that they would appeal the court’s ruling because it does not go far enough in clearing Kepiro. The same day, prosecutors said they would appeal the ruling because they found the verdict “unfounded” and “inconsistent.”

Sandor Kepiro was accused of orchestrating the massacre of thirty Jews during the Nova Sad Massacre in 1942 (Photo Courtesy of AFP).
Sandor Kepiro was accused of orchestrating the massacre of thirty Jews during the Nova Sad Massacre in 1942 (Photo Courtesy of AFP).

Kepiro, 97, is believed to have been responsible for ordering the execution of over thirty Jews and Serbs in Novi Sad in January 1942.

The defense wants the court’s ruling to be based on its assertion that Kepiro did not commit the crimes of which he is accused, rather than on insufficient evidence.

Prosecutor Zsolt Falvai announced his decision to file an appeal immediately after hearing Judge Bela Varga read the verdict.

Prosecutors had originally asked for a prison sentence for Kepiro, arguing that he was directly responsible for the deaths of thirty-six Jews and Serbs in Novi Sad. An estimated 1,200 Jews and Serbs were massacred during a three-day period in 1942, a period that became known as the “Novi Sad Massacre.”

Though Kepiro was convicted in 1944 in Hungary, his conviction was later overturned by the government. He fled to Argentina, only to be tracked down by Nazi hunter and head of the Simon Wisenthal Center’s Israel office Efrain Zuroff.

The judge cited the prosecution’s reliance on old testimony and old verdicts as a basis for Kepiro’s acquittal.

Despite joyful reactions in the courtroom, Jewish groups and Jews across Serbia were disappointed at the verdict.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which assisted in bringing Kepiro to court, described the verdict as “outrageous,” and “an insult to the victims, an insult to the Jewish community, to the Serbian community, and [ ] a very sad day for Hungary.”

The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants group, based in New York, also expressed dismay at the verdict.

“Hungary has turned its back on history in failing to come to grips with its collaborationist policies with the Nazi regime during World War II,” the group’s vice president said in a statement, calling the decision “a betrayal by Hungarian judicial authorities of the demands of justice and memory.”

In related news, it was reported on Saturday in a German newspaper that John Demjanjuk, who was convicted this year for his role in the murders of thousands of Jews at the Sobibor Nazi death camp, may be prosecuted for similar crimes at another camp.

For more information, please see:

Washington Post – APNewsBreak: Defense appeals acquittal in Hungary war-crimes trial – 20 July 2011

European Jewish Press – Prosecutor to appeal Hungarian Nazi war crimes verdict, Simon Wiesenthal Centre speaks of an ‘outrageous miscarriage of justice’ – 20 July 2011

Bloomberg – Hungary Prosecutor to Appeal Nazi-Era War Crime Ruling, MTI Says – 19 July 2011

Jerusalem Post – Officer suspected of complicity in ’42 massacre acquitted – 19 July 2011

RTT News – Hungarian Court Acquits Nazi War Crimes Suspect – 19 July 2011

Jerusalem Post – ‘John Demjanjuk could face more death camp charges’ – 16 July 2011

CHAOS AND DEATH DESCEND ON THE STREETS OF SYRIA

By Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

HOMS, Syria–The focal point of the uprisings against President Bashar al-Assad has turned fatal for civilians. Syrian troops and armed factions have spawned fear and turmoil on the streets of the city of Homs. Witnesses said that armed forces opened fire on 18 July 2011 outside the Khaled Bin al-Waleed mosque during funeral services for people killed in the past 24 hours. A local resident described these factions as “death squads.”

A funeral service for policemen in Homs. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)
A funeral service for policemen in Homs. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

Homs is located about 100 miles north from Damascus and rests in one of the country’s poorest regions. The sectarian violence indicates a precarious turn in the protests that have lasted since March, increasing tensions between different portions of Syria’s diverse religious makeup. The majority of Syrians are Sunni Muslims, while President al-Assad and his ruling clan are Alawites.

Syrian rights activist Rami Abdulrahman, director of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights offered these words on 18 July 2011 to describe the situation.

“Thirteen civilians were killed yesterday and today in several parts of Homs when the army opened fire as it carried out an operation in the city. These clashes are a dangerous development that undermines the revolution and serves the interests of its enemies who want it to turn into a civil war.”

A Homs resident spoke to a Reuters correspondent via telephone on 19 July 2011 and described the situation.

“There are troops and armored vehicles in every neighborhood. The irregular forces with them are death squads. They have been firing indiscriminately since dawn with rifles and machine guns. No one can leave their homes.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 30 civilians lost their lives in Homs during riots. Bodies of the minority Alawite sect, which President al-Assad is a member, were found mutilated.

In totality, activists are reporting that the Syrian government’s onslaught on pro-democracy and anti-regime protests have claimed the lives of some 1,400 civilians. Thousands more are imprisoned for their participation while some 350 security forces personnel have died since the protests began.

Due to restrictions on international journalists reporting in Syria, the specific details of these events cannot independently be confirmed or verified. But human rights groups and activists have tried their best to relay an accurate depiction of what is really happening on the ground.

The international community already well on its way in applying diplomatic pressure on al-Assad. Qatar, a previously major backer of al-Assad, recently closed its embassy in Damascus.

The EU has imposed travel bans and engaged asset freezes on some 34 Syrian individuals and entities. But after a meeting in Brussels of EU foreign ministers, the Hague is ready to take things a step further and expressed these sentiments.

“Until the unacceptable violence against civilian population is halted…the EU will pursue and carry forward its currently policy, including through sanctions.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera-‘Death squads’ on streets of Homs-19 July 2011

BBC-Syrian troops ‘kill mourners in Homs assault’-19 July 2011

CNN-Activists: Syrian forces shoot at funeral procession-19 July 2011

New York Times-At Funerals for Protesters, More Syrians Are Fatally Shot-19 July 2011