Iran Escalates Executions at Alarming Rate

July 12, 2011

By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran — Since the beginning of 2011, Iran has been executing an average of almost two people a day. This rise in the use of capital punishment comes as the present governing Islamic regime fights to prevent a pro-democracy movement, similar to those occurring in neighboring countries, from gaining a significant foothold in Iran.

Political uprisings have become a part of Iran’s history so it is surprising that the country has been so silent as Arab Spring revolts break out all over the Middle East. It now appears that the Iranian government’s harsh and violent crackdown may be one, if not the, root cause for the lack of a similar uprising in Iran.

While Iran is itself reporting a large number of executions, many human rights organizations worry that even more executions are happening in secret. Amnesty International says that Iran has acknowledged executing 190 people since the beginning of 2011, but there have been reports of at least 130 more. These numbers are backed by reports from both Iran Human Rights (IHR) and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI).

Hadi Ghaemi, an executive director of ICHRI feels that the executions are “a clear message that the state has no hesitation in using violence and applying it, no matter how arbitrarily, in holding power.”

The use of executions as a means to intimidate and prevent popular uprisings is nothing new in Iran, but the growing number of executions taking place in public is leaving human rights organizations deeply disturbed. So far this year there have been 13 known public executions. This is compared with 14 that took place all of last year. In most instances those who are publicly hanged are left up on construction cranes for all to see.

Iran claims that the executions are related to drug trafficking, but many outside observers have questioned this notion. Of those executed at least two have been identified as known political activists, and it seems too coincidental that the number of executions has risen when the likelihood of public uprising is also on the rise.

In response to Iran’s rise in executions, United Against Nuclear Iran has launched the Cranes Campaign. This campaign has the goal of educating crane manufacturers on how Iran is misusing their products, and getting those manufacturers to renounce their business ties with Iran, until it becomes a civilized member of the international community. The U.S. companies Terex and Caterpillar and Japan’s Komatsu have all ended their business ties with Iran.

For more information, please see:

Philadelphia Inquirer — What’s Keeping Iran Quiet — 11 July 2011

Care2 – Human Rights Groups Denounce Iran’s Rising Execution Rate — 10 July 2011

The Guardian — Iran escalates use of capital punishment — 7 July 2011

Los Angeles Times — Iran’s execution binge — 6 July 2011

Sex Trafficking in Nepal Faces Strong Resistance

July 12, 2011

By Greg Donaldson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KATHMANDU, Nepal – For many Nepalese women, who were forced to become sex slaves in their youth, help is on the way. Last Saturday in a documentary entitled “Nepal’s Stolen Children” the CNN Freedom Project uncovered the lucrative sex trafficking industry that has plagued Nepalese women for years. Hosted by actress Demi Moore, the program featured the 2010 CNN Hero of the Year, Anuradha Koirala, and her organization Maiti Nepal, which has rescued over 12,000 stolen Nepalese children from sex trafficking since its founding in 1993.

Demi Moore and Anuradha Koirala (Photo Courtesy of CNN)

Tony Maddox, executive vice president and managing director of CNN International said, “This is a multi-faceted story, but each side does not carry equal moral value. Modern day slavery is wrong. It needs to be stopped…CNN has committed our reporters around the world for the year to investigate an end to this global epidemic.”

Each year thousands of girls are lured into following prospective employers to a large city only to be forced into prostitution.

In the documentary, Moore speaks with several girls that were trafficked when they were as young as eleven years old. The girls told horror stories of being tortured if they refused to participate in sexual activities. Traffickers would do anything from force-feeding these young girls growth hormones to make their bodies become more women-like to electrocution.

Radika, one of the rescued girls, recounted her stay at a brothel. She explained that if she refused to have sex with a man she would be burned with cigarettes on her body or hot water would be poured on her. She went to the brothel with her baby son, but was separated from him. If her child cried, his tongue would be burned with a cigarette.

In 2004, the cost to buy a sex-trafficked Nepalese girl was approximately 2,400 (USD) reports the WNN. Arresting traffickers can be difficult as adequate police enforcement generally does not exist in rural Nepal.

In the CNN documentary, Nepal’s Prime Minister, Jhalanath Khanal, cites the extensive poverty of the country as being one of the reasons why women of Nepal are suffering so much. The country’s poor economic situation leads many young girls to look for a better life. The WNN reports that Nepalese girls are cheaper to buy, much more cooperative, and are easier to control. However, Prime Minister Khanal vowed to tackle the issue as part of the new federal constitution that will “provide every kind of right to women.”

Anuradha Koirala believes that the problem begins with the offenders’ attitudes towards women. However, she feels that male attitudes can be changed by allowing men to play major roles in preventing sex trafficking reports the Jakarta Post. Anuradha also hopes to globalize the issue.

“You and me and everybody, we expect this issue to be globalized. One day we hope this will end and that we have a traffic-free society.”

Through Maiti Nepal, Anuradha has provided more than a shelter for these girls and young women, she has created a home. It is a place for them to heal, go to school, learn a skill, and for some who are infected with HIV/AIDS, it is the place where they can spend their days surrounded by love, reports CNN.

Moore has also co-founded the “Demi and Ashton Foundation” with the goal of eliminating child sex slavery and human trafficking.

For more information please see:

CNN — ‘Nepal’s Stolen Children’ airs Sunday @ 8pm (ET) — 6 July 2011

The Jakarta Post — Anuradha Koirala: Stopping sex trafficking – 4 July 2011

The Kathmandu Post — Tracing trafficking trails — 13 January 2011

CNN — Woman fighting sex slavery named CNN Hero of the Year – 22 November 2010

Women News Network — Lost Daughters — An ongoing tragedy in Nepal — 5 December 2008

MEXICAN NATIONAL EXECUTED IN U.S. DESPITE REQUESTS FOR REPRIEVE

July 10, 2011

By Erica Laster Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, United States – The state of Texas executed Humberto Leal Garcia, Jr. on Thursday evening amid outcries from human rights organizations. Despite the Mexican national’s conviction for the kidnapping, rape and murder of a 16 year old Texas girl in 1994, government officials argued that the United States failure to place Garcia in contact with the Mexican consulate upon his arrest violated international treaty obligations under the Vienna Convention.

Humberto Leal Garcia, Jr. denied rights under Vienna Convention. (Photo courtesy of the Washington Post) — Humberto Leal Garcia, Jr. allegedly denied rights under Vienna Convention. (Photo courtesy of the Washington Post)

Garcia’s victim was 16 year old Adria Sauceda. Garcia was convicted of raping and strangling the young girl before using a 35 pound chunk of asphalt to bludgeon her.

Both the Bush and Obama administrations requested reprieves and clemency for the Garcia before his execution by lethal injection. The case prompted a flurry of disputes over the United States’ commitments to international agreements and the rights of foreigners currently on American death rows.

CNN reports Garcia’s last statement before his execution as, “I am sorry for everything I have done. I have hurt a lot of people. Let this be final and be done. I take the full blame for this.” Garcia then shouted “Viva Mexico” before turning to the warden and stating “I’m ready warden, let’s get this show on the road.”

Garcia’s appellate attorneys argued that their client’s sentence was unusual and that violations of the Vienna convention should at least have given Garcia a reprieve from death row. They cited the 2004 ruling of the International Court of Justice ordered the United States to review convictions of Mexican nationals who received the death penalty.

However, CNN reports that in a 5-4 ruling by the Supreme Court requesting a stay of execution, the majority opinion indicated that “We decline to follow the United States’ suggestion of granting a stay to allow Leal to bring a claim based on hypothetical legislation when it cannot even bring itself to say that his attempt to overturn his conviction has any prospect of success.”

Diplomats and rights organizations in both the U.S. and Mexico expressed disappointment in the result of the case. However, critics argue that the Vienna Convention is not binding upon individual states without the passage of enabling legislation by Congress.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay stated that this “execution will undermine the role of the International Court of Justice, and its ramifications are likely to spread far beyond Texas.” Many believe that this will cause retaliation and reprisals against Americans abroad.

“Frankly, if we don’t protect the rights of non-Americans in the United States we seriously risk reciprocal lack of access to our own citizens overseas,” says State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland. Nuland made clear that the Obama administration strongly opposed the outcome and is currently working to speed legislation specifically defining the rights of non U.S. citizens to consular access.

For more information, please see:

Washington Post – Mexican National’s Execution in Texas Prompts Diplomatic Disappointment – 8 July 2011

Reuters – U.S. Seeks to Limit Damage of Texas Execution Case – 8 July 2011

CNN – Mexican National Executed in Texas – 7 July 2011

Washington Post – Execution of Mexican National Prompts Concern About Impact – 7 July 2011

Israel Arrests Pro-Palestinian Activists; Dozens More Detained

July 10, 2011

by Zach Waksman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEL AVIV, Israel – On Friday, hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists began to fly into Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport. The literal mass flight, nicknamed the “flightilla” in reference to a flotilla of aid ships that was denied access to Gaza, was intended to protest the Israeli government’s tendency to bar such people from entering the country. As of Saturday, six activists, all Israeli citizens, have been arrested by national police, and over 100 others, mostly from Europe, remain in Israeli custody, awaiting deportation to their home countries.

Pro-Palestinian activists wave signs that read Welcome to Palestine in English, Hebrew, and Arabic during a small demonstration at Tel Avivs Ben-Gurion International Airport — Pro-Palestinian activists hold up signs that read "Welcome to Palestine" in English, Hebrew, and Arabic during a small demonstration at Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

The activists intended to take part in a “Welcome to Palestine” campaign, which was first announced in Paris on March 9 in response to a call from 15 Palestinian civil society organizations on the West Bank. During the campaign, they would “pay a visit to Palestinian families, share their daily life for a week, visit the towns, villages and refugee camps, discover the difficulties encountered by their inhabitants, [and] also their culture and expectations.” Because Palestine has no airport, they had no choice but to fly into Ben-Gurion. Though many who wish to visit Palestine lie about their purpose for coming in order to avoid trouble, participants in the initiative stated their intentions to the French Foreign Office, who then forwarded that information to Israeli authorities.

Despite clearly stating the group’s peaceful purpose to Israel months in advance, the country’s immigration department considered participants to be a “security threat.” Believing this to be the case, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began preparations for their arrival. Hundreds of security personnel were deployed to the airport.

The six who were arrested had caused a disturbance in the arrivals area of Terminal Three. They also held up signs that read “Welcome to Palestine.” According to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, “Five males and one female are being questioned.”

As another part of the preparations, the Interior Ministry sent airlines in other countries a list of hundreds of names of people, Israel said were “pro-Palestinian radicals” who intended to create chaos at Ben-Gurion. Those who arrived in Israel would be refused entry, so the airlines were asked not to let them on board their planes. According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor, the no-fly list was compiled by following the organizers’ websites and members’ social networking. “We did not need the Mossad,” he said. “It was all out there in the open.”

The decision was not met with kind words from the would-be activists. One of the more notable incidents happened at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport, where 50 people planned to board a Lufthansa flight, but were banned from boarding. They then gathered in the terminal and repeatedly yelled “Boycott Israel,” while police observed. “Charles de Gaulle Airport is under Israeli occupation. We are peaceful people and have no interest in causing disorder at Ben-Gurion Airport,” Olivia Zemour, leader of one of the organizations that helped put the “flightilla” together, told Israel Radio. A similar scene took place in Geneva, where 30 people were denied permission to board.

Those who did make it Tel Aviv did not fare much better. At least two planes were diverted to a different terminal, where suspected activists were taken to a holding area for questioning.

Israel believed it was justified in detaining and denying entry to the activists. Interior Minister Eli Yishal gave credit to the Immigration and Population Authority for preventing their entry. “We will take a firm hand against anyone disregarding [our] laws, and like any other sovereign state, we will use any means at our disposal to prevent people intent on breaking the law from entering the country,” he said. Prime Minister Netanyahu added that every country had the right to prevent the entry of potential “provocateurs.”

Despite the setback, organizers still claim victory. At a news conference in Bethlehem, Palestinian organizer Fadi Kattan said that he was “pleased – sadly pleased” with the Israeli reaction. In his point of view, it revealed the country’s strong anti-Palestinian policies.

Laura Durkay, an American activist who was being held in a pre-interrogation area at Ben-Gurion with at least 30 other people, was also satisfied. “What we want is to get into Palestine, but if that’s not going to happen, then the longer we stay here, the more the media will keep paying attention to our story,” she said. “We want to show how the Israeli government treats people trying to travel to Palestine.”

For more information, please see:

Jerusalem Post — Pro-Palestinian activists plan week of protests in West Bank — 10 July 2011

Ma’an News Agency — Israel deports two activists, 118 still held — 10 July 2011

Al-Jazeera — Israel clamps down on fly-in protest — 9 July 2011

Jerusalem Post — Yishai commends ‘Flightilla’ security forces at B-G airport — 9 July 2011

Arutz Sheva — Six Expelled at Airport; 200 Stopped Abroad — 8 July 2011

New York Times — Israel Blocks Air Travelers to Palestinian Conference — 8 July 2011

Arutz Sheva — Pro-PA ‘Fly-In’ Stymied in Europe — 7 July 2011

Alternative Information Center — Israel Reacts Hysterically to Welcome to Palestine Initiative — 6 July 2011

Bienvenue en Palestine — Press Release, March 9, 2011 — 9 March 2011