UPDATE: Iranian Woman May Avoid Stoning Sentence After All

By Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – The head of Iran’s High Human Rights Council announced today that Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, an Iranian women sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery, “could be saved.”  It appears that the judiciary’s latest review of Ashtiani’s case precipitated the announcement although no details about its review were provided.  Ashtiani’s case has drawn significant international criticism from numerous governments and human rights organizations urging Iran to set aside the stoning verdict.

Ashtiani’s sentence has been stayed since July, pending the resolution of the judiciary’s final review.  She has been on death row for four years and has already dodged one death sentence.  In 2006, Ashtiani was found guilty for her involvement in the murder of her husband and received a sentence of death by hanging.  This sentence was reduced however, to a 10 year prison term.   

Ashtiani has already suffered 100 lashes as punishment for her crime.  Reports indicated that she has also been beaten up and tortured on a number of occasions.  Some fear that she may be tried a second time for the murder of her husband despite already being found guilty of complicity in his death.  If she is found guilty, she may again be sentenced to death. 

Since 1983, stoning has been the traditional punishment for the crime of adultery under Iran’s Islamic Penal Code.  Although the government has imposed a moratorium on the use of this punishment, the government has yet to officially abandon the practice and courts continue to issue stoning sentences.  According to Farshad Hoseini, head of the International Committee against Execution, at least 150 people have been stoned to death in Iran since 1980.  The majority of the victims were women.   Although the government denies any correlation between today’s announcement and the political pressure it has faced from this case, it seems likely that the international community’s efforts are a significant factor in the process to commute Ashtiani’s sentence.

For more information, please see:

Agence France Presse – Iran Stoning woman’s Life ‘Could be Spared’ – 22 Nov. 2010

Jerusalem Post –Life of Woman in Iran Stoning Case May be Saved – 22 Nov. 2010

National Post – Iran’s Stone-Age Justice system – 19 Nov. 2010

CBS News – Case of Sakineh Ashtiani Reflects Iran’s internal Divisions – 18 Nov. 2010

DEATH TOLL RISES TO 1,186: HAITIAN GOVERNMENT’s RESPONSE INADEQUATE TO EASILY TREATABLE CHOLERA OUTBREAK

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                              Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – “Cholera is an extremely simple disease to cure,” comments Nigel Fisher, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator in Haiti.  Human rights groups are viewing the recent outbreak of cholera as a foreseeable health risk and the failure to counteract it a human right which the government has the responsibility to prevent and control.  The outbreak has claimed approximately 1, 186 lives In Haiti, with over 50,000 people seeking medical attention.

Haitians continue to receive inadequate treatment as poor living conditions increase the rapid spread of Cholera. Photo courtesy of france24.com.
Haitians continue to receive inadequate treatment as poor living conditions increase the rapid spread of Cholera. Photo courtesy of france24.com.

Easily treatable, the United Nations has blasted the international response and the lack of donor contributions to curb the disease. The United Nations recently appealed for a contribution totaling $164 million to counter the cholera outbreak in Haiti.  Only ten percent of the funds needed to curb the disease have been pledged.

Fear among Haiti’s sick has led to protests and violent responses in some provinces of Haiti.

Many Haitians suspect that Nepalese Peacekeeping forces are responsible for the outbreak.  With most forces camped alongside the river, river communities were the first to be hit, leading many to suspect the disease was brought to Haiti by soldiers in the country.   Last Monday, 7 peacekeepers of the United Nations were injured by protesters at Cap-Haitien, a northern city suffering from the epidemic.  The national police and the U.N. were forced to use teargas on hundreds of protesters attempting to burn a police station and a peacekeeping base.

Several other protests took place Thursday in Port-Au-Prince.  At first peaceful, the demonstration turned violent as protesters were hit with tear gas.  Young men overturned dumpsters, set fire to vehicles in the area and threw Molotov cocktails at posters of Presidential candidate, Jude Celestin.  Endorsed by the outgoing President Preval, many Haitians believe this is a sign that the November 28 elections will not be fairly decided.

One protester, Pierre Allodor, claims “The Haitian government is never do nothing for us. And we know the international government is still spending a lot of money for the Haitian people. But Preval, with his government, he still keeps their money to take back to the United States to buy some house.”

Unsanitary living conditions, poverty and a broken health care system were only exacerbated by the January earthquake.  Doctors Without Borders head of mission, Stefano Zannini, says “There is no time left for meetings and debate .”  With over 18,000 Haitians hospitalized from the disease, “the time for action is now.”

For More Information Please Visit:

Washington Post – 7 U.N. Troops Hurt, Attacked By Haitians Blaming Foreigners For Cholera Epidemic – 15 November 2010

CNN – U.N. Blasts Global Response To Haiti Cholera Outbreak As Inadequate – 20 November 2010

CNN – Anti-U.N. Protests Erupt In Haitian Capital – 18 November 2010

Human Rights Watch – Why Democracies Don’t Get Cholera – 25 October 2010

Iran rejects UN committee report on human rights abuses

By Alyxandra Stanczak
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – This past Tuesday, a United Nations general assembly committee accused Iran of serious human rights violations. The violations include torture, persecution of ethnic minorities, pervasive gender inequalities, and violence against women. The resolution was sponsored by the United States, Canada, the European Union, and other western countries. The resolution passed with a vote of 80-44, with 57 abstentions.

Specific human rights violations were addressed in the resolution, and pointed specifically toward acts of flogging, amputation, and stoning. Stoning is a form of punishment in Iran that is codified in the legal code. It is considered by some to be a less cruel punishment than execution because it allows the punished a chance to survive.

Iran’s stoning laws state that a man should be buried up to his waist, but a woman should be buried up to her shoulders. Sometimes, the punishment is stopped if the accused confesses their crime and is able to dig themself out of the hole.

According to the International Campaign for Human Rights, six people were stoned to death between 2006 and 2008, and an additional thirteen remain in prison with stoning as their punishment.

The resolution has faced condemnation from the Iranian government, but also has proponents. Mohamad Javad Larijani, secretary-general for Iran’s high counsil on human rights, stated that this resolution was filled with “fallacies and unverifiable accusations”. Larijani is also recorded in the UN assembly minutes as saying the United States was “the mastermind and main provocateur behind a text that had nothing to do with human rights”. However, Maryam Rajavi, leader of Iran’s main opposition group, stated that this resolution is insufficient to address the human rights concerns in Iran.

Before the resolution was introduced, Iran attempted to block it’s introduction by calling for a vote to take no action. This vote failed 51-91 with 32 abstentions. The last time Iran was faced with a resolution like this was in 2008. At that time, Iran also called for a vote to take no action, where the vote failed but was much closer with 71-81 and 28 abstentions.

The new UN resolution is expected to be passed by the entire 192 member body.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Iran human rights official draws fire for defense of stoning – 19 November 2010

Al Jazeera – Iran dismisses UN rights criticism – 19 November 2010

CNN – UN committee condemns ‘serious rights violations’ in Iran – 19 November 2010

Canada East – UN committee expresses ‘deep concern’ about flogging and other rights violations in Iran – 18 November 2010

Reuters – UN committee slams Iran over human rights record – 18 November 2010

Madagascar Army Storms Rebel Barracks

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter,  Africa

 

Government forces patrolling streets of Antananarivo, Madagascar. (Photo courtesy of Getty/AFP).
Military forces patrolling in Madagascar. (Photo courtesy of Getty/AFP).

 

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar – The Madagascar military raided the headquarters of a rebel group that was attempting to overthrow the government. The rebel group, made up of 20 senior military leaders, staged the coup attempt on Wednesday, November 17 and claimed to have overthrown the government of President Rajoelina and taken control of the small island nation. However, this declaration seemed unlikely since the rebels had not taken physical control of a single government office or building. On Friday, November 19, Madagascar’s Armed Forces Minister, Lucien Rakotoarimasy, told residents living around the military barracks where the rebels were operating to evacuate. On Saturday, November 20, government forces loyal to President Rajoelina stormed the rebel barracks and arrested the military officers. The rebels had been operating out of a military barracks near the Madagascar capital of Antananarivo.

The operation involved 100 government soldiers and led to the arrest of sixteen people. Initial reports detailing the raid described an exchange of gunfire between government forces and the mutineers that lasted for 15-20 minutes. Furthermore, a Madagascar army official claims that the leaders responsible for the coup attempt were ready to give themselves up but lower ranking soldiers opened fire on the government forces as they approached the barracks. No injuries were reported in the operation.

The raid came a day after rebel leaders had met with government officials in an effort to broker an end to the attempted coup without violence. After talks between the two sides broke down, government forces sprang into action.

The Madagascar government reported that the military leaders responsible for the coup attempt have been arrested and interrogated. Furthermore, the sixteen dissidents have been charged with rebellion and threatening the security of the state. The suspects have now been separated, ten of the suspects were sent to a prison while six others were still being held in military police barracks for further questioning.

Quickly ending the rebellion or attempted coup was an important goal of President Rajoelina’s administration. It was important for the government to appear in control and to remain credible with the citizenry. As the attempted coup dragged on, it was becoming a political issue for President Rojaoelina’s government as news began circulating that government soldiers were no longer following orders and the chain of command was deteriorating.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Madagascar forces storm rebel base – 20 November 2010

BBC Africa —Soldiers end Madagascar officer ‘mutiny’ – 20 November 2010

New York Times — Mutineers Split Over Surrender in Madagascar – 20 November 2010

Reuters–Madagascar tells families to leave rebel barracks – 20 November 2010

Free Speech Denied as Singapore Jails 76-year-old Author

David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch, Asia

SINGAPORE – 76-year-old British author was jailed on Tuesday for six weeks in Singapore for attacking the judiciary in a book criticizing the city-state’s death penalty.

Outside Singapores High Court building
Outside Singapore's High Court building

Alan Shadrake was also fined £9,589 over his book “Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore’s Justice in the Dock”, which included a profile of Singapore’s executioner who put about 1,000 men and women to death over 47 years.

Shadrack offered a last-minute apology which was dismissed as a ploy by the judge. He will have to serve another two weeks in jail if he fails to pay the fine designed to prevent him profiting from the book.

Convicted on Nov. 3 of scandalizing the court in his book, “Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock,” would also be fined 26,371 Singapore dollars ($15,400), in an effort to send “a signal to those who hope to profit from controversy,” said High Court Judge Quentin Loh.

The judge said the author’s technique was to make “claims against a dissembling and selective background of truths and half-truths, and sometimes outright falsehoods.

Singapore’s judicial officials feared that passive readers would interpret Singapore’s government as lacking order and justice.

The case has stressed not just the use of capital punishment in Singapore, but the bigger issue of freedom of speech in a country where opposition is rare.

Human rights groups say the Singaporean authorities too often resort to the courts to silence their critics.

Showing no signs of staying quiet, Alan Shadrake, entered Singapore’s High Court building for his first hearing holding up two fingers in a “V for victory” salute.

“Freedom and democracy for Singapore,” he shouted, as he waited to walk through the security scanners.

The judgment was condemned by Human Rights Watch which said it was a “serious blow” and would have a “chilling effect” on anyone who has differences with the Singapore government.

The book contains interviews with human rights activists, lawyers and former police officers, as well as a profile of Darshan Singh, the former chief executioner at Singapore’s Changi Prison. It claims he executed around 1,000 men and women from 1959 until he retired in 2006.

US based Human Rights Watch and other rights groups had urged Singapore to exonerate the author.

Abner Koh, of the People’s Action Party, which has been in power since independence in 1965, said “certain restrictions are necessary to ensure harmonious living amongst different communities in Singapore”.

Singapore is not used to that kind of open defiance. This tiny state prides itself on being one of the most stable and prosperous nations in Asia.

BBC reports that, it is as if there is an unspoken but clearly understood deal between citizen and state: the system will look after you, as long as you do not question it.

For more information, please see:

Telegraph World News – British author Alan Shadrake jailed in Singapore – 16 November 2010

Wall Street Journal – Singapore Jails U.K. Author – 16 November 2010

BBC – UK author Shadrake jailed for six weeks in Singapore – 16 November 2010