Protest by Self-Immolation Becoming Popular in Middle East and Africa

January 23, 2011

By Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – The self-immolation of a 26-year-old Tunisian last week not only sparked protests against the Tunisian government, precipitating the overthrow of President Zine al-Abdine Ben Ali, but has also sparked a series of public suicides throughout the Middle East and Africa. Reports indicate that self-immolations have occurred in a number of Middle Eastern and African states including; Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Algeria. Now many fear that anti-government protests in Yemen may escalate and produce a new round of self-immolations.

Families Grieve after Man Sets Himself on Fire to Protest Saudi Government - Photo Courtesy of Gulf News Daily

The latest incident of suicide by fire occurred in Saudi Arabia and is the first reported case of self-immolation ever in the country. While the motives of the 60-year-old Saudi resident who set himself ablaze remains unclear, reports suggest that the man sought to protest the country’s restrictive citizenship process. Commenting on the latest act of public suicide, Saudi Grand Mufti Sheik Abdel Aziz Al Sheikh condemned suicide as a form of protest or an escape from harsh living conditions stating that suicide is a “great sin” prohibited by Islam. According to the Al-Azhar in Cairo, Egypt, the highest institute of learning in Sunni Islam, “Sharia Law states that Islam categorically forbids suicide for any reason and does not accept the separation of souls from bodies as an expression of stress, anger or protests.”

Although these incidents of self-immolation remain isolated, they are symbolic of the growing resentment of Arab populations against their respective governments in the region. The use of this tactic raises further questions about strict governmental regulation of expression which makes it difficult, if not punishable, to engage in anti-government expression in some Middle Eastern and African nations. For those who engage in in the act, suicide may be the method [of resistance] of last resort. Despite the government’s strong rhetoric condemning suicide, Saudi officials warned that more incidents of self-immolation are likely to occur in the near future.

For more information please see:

Malaysia Sun – First Incident of Public Suicide by Fire Reported in Saudi Arabia – Jan. 23, 2011

Gulf News Daily – Saudi Man Sets Himself Ablaze – Jan. 23, 2011

Associated Press – Saudi Man Dies After Setting Himself on Fire – Jan. 22, 2011

BBC News Middle East – Man Dies After Setting himself on Fire in Saudi Arabia – Jan. 22, 2011

Straits Times – Saudi Mufti Brands Suicide Protests as ‘Great Sin’ – Jan. 21, 2011

Former Rwandan Mayor on Trial in Germany for Genocide

January 22, 2011

By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

Rwabukombe facing reporters in the Frankfurt court this week (Photo Courtesy of the AP)

FRANKFURT, Germany- Onesphore Rwabukombe, a former Rwandan mayor, is on trial in Frankfurt, Germany, accused of ordering three Tutsi massacres that resulted in over 3,000 deaths during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Rwabukombe has been charged with genocide, murder and incitement to genocide before the German court. In a statement of the charges, prosecutor Christian Ritscher read aloud in court, “Between April 11 and 15, 1994 the accused ordered and coordinated three massacres in which a total of at least 3,730 members of the Tutsi minority who had sought refuge in church buildings were killed.” Rwabukombe, who has been living in Germany since at least 2002, was arrested last summer and could face life in prison if convicted.

This is the third time Rwabukombe has appeared before the German courts since 2008, being released both previous times after the court decided their was a lack of evidence. This time, prosecutors plan to call approximately 50 witnesses. Rwanda’s Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga stated his support of the trial, telling AFP, “We are grateful to Germany.” As the former mayor of Muvumba in northeastern Rwanda, Rwabukombe is charged with being the chief organizer of these crimes and ordering those below him to threaten any Tutsis seeking shelter with the deaths of their families. Some of the refugees turned away by Rwabukombe’s men were later murdered.

While many of the Rwandans suspected of carrying out the genocide in 1994 that resulted in the murder of at least 800,000 are living in European countries, this is Germany’s first trial of a Rwandan suspect. Rwandan courts have conducted some trials and a special court, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, exists in Tanzania to try suspects. Elsewhere, several European countries have conducted Rwandan genocide related trials but with a large number of suspects living all over Europe, many countries are not taking the steps to bring these people to justice. However, recently Interpol issued almost 100 ‘red notices’ for the arrests of Rwandans living in Europe suspected of taking part in the 1994 genocide. Said Jurgen Schurr, representative for the London-based human rights group Redress, “These trials [. . .] send the important signal that these countries do not accept to provide a safe haven to suspects of such crimes.”

For more information, please see;

VOANews.com- Germany Opens First Rwanda Genocide Trial– 18 Jan., 2011

AFP- Rwandan Genocide Trial Opens in Germany– 18 Jan., 2011

BBC News- Rwandan Mayor Rwabukombe Tried For Genocide in Germany– 18 Jan., 2011

Kenyan Policemen Suspended after Highway Shooting

January 22, 2011

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity watch Reporter, Africa

Kenyan Police Officer ordering suspects to the ground. (Photo Courtesy of Kansas City Star). — Kenyan police officers ordering suspects to the ground. (Photo Courtesy of Kansas City Star).

NAIROBI, Kenya – Three Kenyan police officers have been suspended after the Daily Nation newspaper published photos of the officers shooting and killing three unarmed suspects at point blank range. Kenya’s interior minister ordered the chief of police to suspend the three individuals and called for a complete investigation. Critics of the Kenyan government claim this incident is just another example of the security forces committing brazen acts of violence without any repercussions.

This particular incident occurred Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. on Lang’ata Road, a busy highway that runs through central Nairobi. The shooting was witnessed by several people who were walking alongside the highway as well as motorists who were driving along the highway. One witness used a camera to capture the incident in a series of photographs.

According to witnesses, the officers, who were dressed in plain clothes, pulled over the suspects’ vehicle, ordered them out of the vehicle and onto the pavement. The suspects were subsequently searched where it was discovered that one had a pistol tucked into his waist band. The three police officers then shot and killed the three suspects at close range.

Initially the Kenyan police claimed that the suspects were armed and had fired upon the officers. However, several witnesses claimed the suspects had surrendered and exited their vehicle with their hands in the air. Furthermore this explanation of a shootout given by the police department was retracted after the Daily Nation published the photographs taken by a witness. According to these photos, it appears security forces had control of the situation, and the suspects were not resisting arrest.

This incident has gained international attention and sparked fears the Kenyan government is continuing to use security forces to carry out extrajudicial killings. Kenyans are especially sensitive to this issue given their tenuous relationship with the police in recent years. During presidential elections three years ago, an estimated 1,200 people were killed, including several hundred who allegedly were killed by the police.

Amnesty International has condemned the killings, claiming these types of crimes have occurred with great frequency in Kenya. Supporting this assertion, in 2009, the United Nations released a report which found police executions in Kenya were organized and widespread.

For more information:

BBC – Kenyan police suspended after Nairobi shooting — 20 January 2011

Daily Nation — Three officers interdicted over Nairobi killings – 19 January 2011

New York Times — Photos of Shot Kenyans Spur Calls for Police Reform – 20 January 2011

The Guardian — Three Kenyan policemen suspended over shooting of three suspects – 20 January 2011

The Right to Health Care Challenged In India

January 21, 2011

David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch; Asia

CHHATTISGARH, India – The right to health care is challenged as a misguided press began looking into claims by Kalluir, Senior Superintendent of Police, Dantewada, whom accused international humanitarian organization’s Medicines Sans Frontières (MSF), or doctors without borders and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) of “facilitating” treatment to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and promised to investigate both agencies.

The Maoist rebels are active across a large swathe of India

The CPI (Maoist) Formed in 2004 is a guerilla organization committed to overthrowing the Union government through an armed revolution.

“Investigations have shown that these medicines have been prescribed by MSF doctors,” Kalluri said. “They even carry out surgeries for those (Maoists) wounded in encounters with the police”.

“They come in the name of helping the poor, but these foreign doctors treat the Maoists. If they want to work for the poor, surely they can work elsewhere,” said SRP Kalluri.

However, Director-General of Police Vishwa Ranjan said no such investigation was under way. “The ICRC is still in the process of signing an agreement with the government to operate in Chhattisgarh,” he said.

“We are not investigating either organization for supporting the Maoists,” he said, attributing Mr. Kalluri’s comments to confusion among the local press.

MSF’s India head Martin Sloot said the organization offers medical support to people who have limited access to healthcare, with support from the Chhattisgarh government.

“These allegations, as I understand them, are not true. MSF has worked in Chhattisgarh for quite some time. We are very transparent, and provide medical care to the entire population,” said Martin Sloot, who heads the MSF mission in India.

“We are not a political organization, we are medical organization. We believe in the principles of impartiality and neutrality, and that healthcare is a right,” said Mr. Sloot said, adding that MSF did not allow armed people into its health centers.

“I am surprised by the comments,” said Yahia Alibi, Deputy Regional Head of the ICRC. “We do not operate in Dantewada, but are running one primary health center in Kutru, Bijapur, with the full support of the local administration and the police.”

Both MSF and ICRC have won Nobel Peace Prize for their work in providing humanitarian assistance to people caught in situations of armed conflict.

The rebels are believed to be active in more than two-thirds of the country. They say they are fighting for the rights of the rural poor.

A government offensive against the rebels widely referred to as Operation Green Hunt – began last October. It involves 50,000 troops and is taking place across five states – West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Chhattisgarh.
For more information, please see:

BBC – Red Cross and MSF accused of helping India Maoists – 21 January 2011

Times of India – Medecins Sans Frontieres, Red Cross treat Maoists: Dantewada – 20 January 2011

The Hindu – MSF and Red Cross aiding Maoists: Dantewada police – 21 January 2011

Vatican Letter Warned Irish Bishops Not To Report Child Abuse

January 21, 2011

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

DUBLIN, Ireland — A newly revealed 1997 document shows that the Vatican warned Irish Bishops against mandatory reporting of suspected child-abuse cases by priests to the police. Victims groups are calling this letter the “smoking gun” they’ve been looking for to prove that the Vatican engaged in a culture of cover-up.

The document does appear to contradict repeated claims from the Vatican over the years that church leaders in Rome did not seek to steer the actions of local bishops in suspected child-abuse cases by priests, nor did they hamper criminal investigations into child abuse.

The letter, obtained by the Irish Broadcaster RTE, was sent by the late Archbishop Luciano Storero, who was serving as Pope John Paul II’s chief representative to Ireland at the time. The letter was a response to a new policy instituted by Irish Bishops to deal with sexual abuse of children by priests. The policy included mandatory reporting of suspected abusers to the police.

The Storero letter, a copy of which the New York Times has made available on their website, stated that the proposed policy of mandatory reporting “gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and a canonical nature.” The letter stresses “the need for the policy to conform to the canonical norms presently in force.” The letter goes on to state that by following non-canonical procedures, Bishops “could invalidate the acts of the same Bishops who are attempting to put a stop to these problems” and the “results could be highly embarrassing and detrimental to those same Diocesan authorities.”

A spokesman for the Vatican, Rev. Federico Lombardi, confirmed the letter’s authenticity, but stressed that it was outdated, saying it referred to a “situation that [they’ve] now moved beyond.” Lombardi indicated that the approach to sexual abuse cases changed in 2001 when the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, at the time led by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was put in charge of such cases.

According to the Associated Press, today the Vatican instructs bishops worldwide to report crimes to the police — in a legally non-binding lay guide on its Web site. This advice is not included in the official legal advice provided by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was updated last summer. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith continues to stress the secrecy of canon law.

Victims groups and activists believe that this letter proves that the Vatican did practice a policy of cover up by instructing local bishops not to report suspected abusers to the criminal authorities. “The Vatican is at the root of this problem,” said Colm O’Gorman, director of the Irish chapter of Amnesty International. “Any suggestion that they have not deliberately and willfully been instructing bishops not to report priests to appropriate civil authorities is now proven to be ridiculous.”

Joelle Casteix, a director of U.S. advocacy group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said the Storero letter was the “smoking gun” they’ve been looking for, and would likely be used in the future by victims’ lawyers seeking to hold the Vatican responsible.

“In the mid 1990s, Irish bishops wanted to start telling law enforcement about horrific child sex crimes,” the group, The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in a statement. “Top Vatican bureaucrats told them no. That’s what this newly released letter shows. We can’t help but wonder how many other similar documents — in which the Vatican thwarts local efforts to combat abuse — remain hidden in church records across the world.”