MANHUNT CONTINUES FOR CANADIAN FUGITIVES INVOLVED IN NYC TERROR PLOT

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                   Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

TORONTO, Canada – Two Canadian fugitives are now facing conspiracy, instruction and training to carry out terrorist activity charges in Canada, authorities announced at a news conference in Winnipeg Tuesday.  Two  of three other New York co-conspirators, including one, Najibullah Zazi, pled guilty to the bombing attempt carried out on behalf of al Qaeda in 2009.  Maiwand Yar and  FeridImam are now the subjects of an international manhunt which some believe includes the CIA.

Maiwand Yar, left, and Ferid Imam, are the subjects of an international manhunt. Photo courtesy of CNN.
Maiwand Yar, left, and FeridImam, are the subjects of an international manhunt. Photo courtesy of CNN.

A former student at the University of Manitoba, Imam, 30, has been identified as a weapons instructor known as “Youseff.” 

Authorities indicated that both Imam and Yar left Canada for Pakistan in 2007.  Authorities believe they planned to receive training in scouting, the use of firearms, guerrilla warfare and the use of explosives. Their goal was to join insurgents in committing terrorist attacks on NATO forces currently stationed in Afghanistan.  

Royal Canadian Mounted Police assistant commissioner Bill Robinson indicated that “This extensive and thorough national security investigation has provided us with the evidence we require to lay criminal charges.”

A second indictment from the Eastern District of New York, unsealed on Tuesday, revealed charges that Imam received military training from al Qaedasubjects and provided material support to the known terrorist group  “including currency, lodging, training, safehouses, communications equipment, personnel and transportation.”

Imam is also accused of training the three New Yorkers involved and caught in the New York City plot.  Authorities further believe that in 2008, Najibullah Zazi, Zarein Ahmedzay and Adis Medunjanin were trained and supported by Imam during a trip to northern Pakistan.  The three former high school classmates returned to the United States with orders from al-Qaeda to commit terrorist attacks in the United States, specifically as suicide bombers.

At the command of al-Qaeda leaders, Zazi, an airport driver from Denver, traveled to New York to carry out orders in 2009.  He was later arrested after fleeing to Colorado.   Zazi and Ahmedzay pled guilty to all charges while Medunjanin alone has pled not guilty.

Unable to locate and arrest the two missing fugitives, Canadian authorities charged Zaxi and Yar, issuing their indictment in absentia.  “We continue to work with Canadian border services and domestic and international security partners on this matter,” says assistant commissioner Robinson.

Gilles Michaud, a second commissioner of the RCMP acknowledged that authorities have no credible leads regarding the fugitives’ locations.  “There’s been no proof of life for more than a year,” he stated.

Canadian authorities and counter-terrorismofficials have become increasingly concerned about the radicalization of such men from North America and Europe.  “There is no set criteria. It affects all walks of life. These were well-educated, young individuals with no past criminal history and supportive families,” Michaud stated.

The investigation is ongoing.

For More Information Please Visit

CNN – Canadians Facing Terror Charges in 2009 N.Y. Subway Plot – 15 March 2011

Washington Post – Canadian Fugitive Charged With Foiled Al-Qaida Plot Vs NYC Subways; More Charges In Canada – 15 March 2011

Toronto Sun – Ex-Winnipeggers Accused of Terrorism – 15 March 2011

Huffington Post – Ferid Imam, Canadian Fugitive Charged In NYC Subway Plot –

Six Years Later, Laptop in Peru May Hold Key to Teen’s Presumed Murder in Aruba

By Mario A. Flores
Senior Desk Officer, South America

LIMA, Peru — Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in teen Natalee Holloway’s 2005 suspect disappearance in Aruba may soon attempt to enter a plea of guilty by temporary insanity to his confessed murder of a young woman in Peru.

Holloway’s presumed murder has gone unresolved for more than five years. Van der Sloot, the person last seen with her, remains the only suspect. The teen’s disappearance occurred during a high school graduation trip to the Dutch island, where van der Sloot’s late father had been a prominent judge.

Van der Sloot was questioned repeatedly by Aruban authorities. He was twice arrested but released and never charged for lack of evidence.

At one point, Dutch crime reporters got a series of sensational “confessions” from van der Sloot, which he later denied, disproved or dismissed as lies. And last year, Van der Sloot was indicted in the United States on charges of extorting $25,000 from Holloway’s parents in exchange for revealing how Holloway died and the location of her body.

In June of 2010, van der Sloot was arrested in Chile in connection with the murder of Stephany Flores in Peru. Her body was found in his hotel room in Lima after he escaped to Chile. Van der Sloot apparently killed the young Peruvian student five years to the day after Holloway disappeared.

Chilean authorities extradited van der Sloot to Peru, where he subsequently confessed that he killed Flores in a rage when she found material regarding Holloway on his laptop. His defense team recently said that the homicide of Flores was a crime of passion provoked when the young woman began digging through van der Sloot’s laptop.

Oscar Gonzalez, Peru’s police chief of the Division of High Technology Investigations said that the laptop found in the possession of van der Sloot contained “additional information that could be of interest” to the Holloway case. This week, the FBI is sending agents to Peru to examine the laptop hoping that it will shed light into Holloway’s disappearance, considering that it may have prompted van der Sloot to slain Flores.

In the meantime, Maximo Altez, van der Sloot’s attorney, said that his client is considering pleading guilty to killing the young Peruvian woman and argue temporary insanity in a bid to significantly shorten his sentence. Temporary insanity or “violent emotion” is a plea specific to Peru, where van der Sloot could spend just 20 months in jail if the court accepts the argument.

Michael Griffith, senior partner at the International Legal Defense Counsel, stated that even in the unlikely event that van der Sloot gets a lesser sentence, he is going to be extradited to the United States on the outstanding warrant in Alabama for his alleged extortion in the Holloway case. There, van der Sloot would probably face a five-to-10-year sentence for the alleged extortion, according to Griffith.

However, Griffith believes that the chance a judge accepts the temporary insanity plea is slim. “This is such a big case in Peru that I don’t see them accepting a violent emotion insanity defense,” he said. “It would get the populace in an uproar.” As things stand, Van der Sloot is accused of first-degree murder, and faces a 15- to 35-year sentence if his plea is not accepted.

For more information, please see:

Daily Mail – FBI flies to Peru to scour Dutch murder suspect’s laptop in bid to end mother’s five-year agony over missing Natalee Holloway – 15 March 2011

Living in Peru – Peru police hands over copy of disc from van der Sloot’s laptop to FBI – 15 March 2011

AOL News – Expert: Van der Sloot Free in 5 Years? ‘So What? – 8 March 2011

Saudi Arabia Sends 1000 Troops to Bahrain to Quell Unrest

By Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia announced Monday a decision to send 1000 troops to Bahrain to assist local forces in stabilizing the country amid protests.  For weeks, Bahrain has been the site of large anti-government demonstrations.  Bahraini security forces have taken aggressive action to end protests, resulting in the death of a number of civilians and injury of dozens more.  The inability of police forces to end opposition rallies prompted Bahraini officials to request troops from neighboring countries.  The Saudi troops are only part of a deployment by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), a six member regional group comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to stabilize Bahrain.  An additional 500 troops have been sent by the UAE.

Saudi Forces Move into Bahrain to Support Bahraini Security Forces (Photo Courtesy of the New York Times)
Saudi Forces Move into Bahrain to Support Bahraini Security Forces (Photo Courtesy of the New York Times)

The move represents an attempt by Saudi Arabia to strengthen and project its power in the region.  One analyst contends that the Kingdom’s decision to send troops may have been influenced by its desire to contain Iran.  Saudi Arabia has increasingly asserted its influence in the region, offering foreign assistance to Yemen, Lebanon and Syria in recent years.

Shia leaders within Bahrain have criticized Saudi Arabia’s decision saying that foreign intervention amounts to a declaration of war.  Both governments contend that troops have been sent to help protect government facilities from attack and “to look at ways to help [to] defuse the tension in Bahrain.”  Sheik Abdullah, foreign minister of the UAE told reporters “There are other Gulf countries which are going to participate to support the Bahrain government, and to get calm and order in Bahrain.”  Saudi Arabia has also set up a $20 billion fund to finance new incentives promised to citizens by the government in Bahrain.

Officials in Saudi Arabia have linked the maintenance of stability in Bahrain with its own security, fearing that the success of protests in Bahrain could spark similar rallies at home.  The Saudi government has warned its citizens not to protest and has taken measures to neutralize opposition.  Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, the country’s interior minister and half-brother of the King, welcomed the decision to send troops saying that “Some evil people wanted to spread chaos in the kingdom and called for demonstrations that have dishonorable goals.”

The Saudi government’s decision has put the United States in a precarious position as the U.S. walks a fine line between supporting freedom, democracy and social reform on the one hand, and the interests of its regional allies on the other.  White House spokesperson Jay Carney urged the government of Bahrain to exercise constraint but noted that Saudi Arabia’s intervention is not an invasion.  Protesters in Bahrain continue to hold the capital’s main square despite clashes with security forces.  Dialogue between the government and opposition forces however, remains absent. 

For more information, please see:

BBC Middle East – Gulf States Send Forces to Bahrain Following Protests – Mar. 14, 2011

Financial Times – Saudi intervention Raises Gulf Stakes – Mar. 14, 2011

Guardian – Saudi Arabia Polices the Region as Trouble Stirs at Home – Mar. 14, 2011

New York Times – Saudi Troops Enter Bahrain to Help Put Down Unrest – Mar. 14, 2011

Montenegro Arrests Man Suspected Of War Crimes

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PODGORICA, Montenegro — Police in Montenegro recently arrested a man suspected of committing war crimes during the 1991-1992 armed conflict in in the Balkans. The Montenegrin police arrested Ivo Menzalin at the airport in Podgorica after he flew in from Belgrade. He agreed to surrender himself voluntarily.

Menzalin is suspected of torturing Croat prisoners in a detention camp in Morinj, a village on the coast in Montenegro, during the conflict that resulted when Croatia split from Serb-led Yugoslavia. About 300 civilians and prisoners of war from the Dubrovnik region were held in the Morinj camp.

In May 2010, the High Court in Podgorica sentenced six low-ranking soldiers of the Yugoslav People’s Army for war crimes, including Menzalin. Along with the five others convicted, Menzalin was convicted of torturing, inhumane treatment of, and infliction of bodily harm on 169 prisoners of war and civilians in the Morinj camp.

Menzalin, a cook at the Morinj camp, was sentenced in absentia to four years in prison. The court ordered his arrest. Menzalin’s defense attorney appealed, and the conviction was recently overturned by a higher court. A new trial has been ordered to begin in March, in which Menzalin, now in custody, will be tried again for war crimes, including torture and inhumane treatment of Croatian civilians and prisoners of war.

For more information, please see:

AP — Montenegro war crimes supect arrested — 3 March 2011

B92 — The arrest for war crimes — 3 March 2011

SOUTHEAST EUROPE TIMES — Montenegrin police arrest war crimes suspect — 2 March 2011

BALKAN INSIGHT — Montenegro Sentences Six for War Crimes — 17 May 2010

REUTERS — Montenegro sentences soldiers for Dubrovnik torture — 15 May 2010

Charles Taylor trial closes

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands – The three-year long trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was indicted while in office in 2003 for large-scale atrocities committed in Sierra Leone, came to an end this week.

In closing arguments, the defense argued that Taylor had been a victim of politically motivated selective prosecution and that rebel groups were solely responsible for committing the atrocities.  The prosecution contends that Taylor used the rebel group Revolutionary United Front (RUF), among others, as proxy groups to gain control over Sierra Leone to exploit its mineral resources, giving the rebel groups weapons in exchange for “blood diamonds.”

The RUF engaged in a ten-year spree of terror in Sierra Leone, using rape and murder as weapons to terrorize the population. The group became notorious for slicing off human limbs.

Taylor has denied the charges against him, including murder, rape and using child soldiers during Sierra Leone’s civil war.

The prosecution painted Taylor as a charismatic figure apt to fool those around him into thinking he was a peacemaker, rather than a leader responsible for terrorizing a nation. In response to defense counsel’s contention that documentary evidence failed to establish Taylor’s guilt, the prosecution indicated that the documents merely showed Taylor’s public denial of his involvement with RUF. In private, the prosecution stated, Taylor engaged in arms deals to gain access to diamonds.

The defense focused its rebuttal on denying the existence of joint criminal enterprises between Taylor and the various rebel groups.

At the conclusion of trial on Friday, the judges had received testimony from one hundred and fifteen witness and one thousand ninety-seven exhibits. It is expected to be months before a verdict is rendered.

If convicted, Taylor would serve his sentence in the United Kingdom.

For more information, please see:

Philadelphia Inquirer – After 3-year trial, Liberian awaits war-crimes verdict – 12 March 2011

BBC – Charles Taylor’s Sierra Leone war crimes trial closes – 11 March 2011

Radio Netherlands – Charles Taylor trial concluded – 11 March 2011

Charles Taylor Trial – Defense Concludes Closing Arguments, Attacks Credibility of Prosecution Witnesses – 10 March 2011