50 Dead: Pakistan’s Holiest Shrine turned Murder Scene

David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch Reporter; Asia

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The death toll climbed to 50 on Friday after a pair of suicide bombers detonated their explosive vests at one of Pakistan’s holiest shrines, police said.  Police are on high alert in Pakistan as demands grow for a tougher crackdown on armed religious groups in the central Punjab province after bombers targeted a popular Muslim shrine.

Sufi shrine of Data Darbar mosque, Lahore Pakistan where thousands visit daily
Sufi shrine of Data Darbar mosque, Lahore Pakistan where thousands visit daily

The targeted shrine was that of an 11th century Sufi saint, Ali bin Usman, commonly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh Hajveri, who traveled throughout the region spreading Islam with a message of peace and love.  His shrine is the most revered and popular of Sufi shrines in the nation.

More than 200 people were injured in the blasts outside the Data Darbar, a famous Sufi shrine complex.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed alarm over the attacks and called on both the government and Muslim clerics to stand up to extremism.

Security has been tightened at Sufi shrines across the country, but many Pakistanis, already frustrated by a troubled economy and crippling power cuts, are calling for the resignation of Punjab government officials.

About 2,000 people, some armed, staged protests in Lahore on Friday, shouting “Down with Shahbaz Sharif”, the chief minister of Punjab

“This sickening poison of extremism will be driven out of our nation and we will not be cowed,” said Farahnaz Ispahani, a spokeswoman for President Asif Ali Zardari, in a text message to CNN.

“Peaceful worshippers have once again been targeted by those who want to destroy the fabric of this great country.  We will not forgive or forget and we will get justice for all Pakistanis murdered in cold blood — be they Muslim, Christian, Ahmadi or of any other faith.”

Talat Masood, a defence analyst and former Pakistan military officer, said Taliban-linked groups are exploiting the uncertainty over the government’s response to such attacks.

“At the moment there is lukewarm support from the people, and the people have no confidence in the government and their governance,” he told Al Jazeera on Friday.

“America is killing Muslims in Afghanistan and in our tribal areas, and militants are attacking Pakistan to express anger against the government for supporting America,” explained Zahid Umar, 25, a frequent visitor to the Lahore shrine.

For more information, please see: 

Al Jazeera English – Pakistan on alert after shrine raid – 2 July 2010

CNN World – Explosions at famous shrine in Pakistan kill dozens – 2 July 2010

The Huffington Post – Pakistanis Blame U.S. After Shrine Suicide Attack Kills 42 – 2 July 2010

Burned Girl A Symbol Of Discrimination Facing Gypsies In Europe

By Tristan Simonu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

Photo: Natalka, the three year old victim of the arson attack. [Source: White Watch]

VITKOV, Czech Republic – Natalka Kudrikova is a three year old girl recovering from severe burns she suffered last year after a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window of her family home in Vitkov.

Natalka is from the Roma or gypsy minority, and police believe that the alleged arson attack could have been racially motivated.  Inside of the home was a Roma family of eight, several of whom were injured by the fire.  Natalka lost 80% of her skin, three fingers, and has spent months in an induced coma following the attack.  After 14 major surgeries she is still recuperating and cannot walk without support. Her 27 year old mother also suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns to 30% of her body.

In May, the four young men accused of attacking Natalka were charged with racially motivated attempted murder.  Under cross examination, two of the men admitted to attending anti-Roma demonstrations organized by right wing extremists.  A photo of one of the men walking next to the leader of the far-right Workers’ Party was recently published by an anti-fascist website.  The leader of the now banned Workers’ Party, Tomas Vandas, denies any involvement in the incident.

It is reported that the extreme-right seem to have a new confidence about them holding regular marches through Czech towns.  In regions with high unemployment and poor social conditions the rise of extremism is popular with unemployed young men.  In fear of persecution, hundreds of Romanies are now emigrating and many have been granted asylum in Canada.

According to a 2005 UNICEF report, 84% of Roma in Bulgaria, 88 % in Romania, and 91% in Hungary live below the poverty line.  In many European nations Roma have limited access to jobs and education and often live in squalid conditions without basic public services.  In eastern Slovakia the village of Ostrovany spent $16,000 to build a wall separating the Roma from their ‘white’ neighbors, because of fears of “alleged Roma crime.”  In Hungary over the last two years, nine Roma have been killed in unprovoked night time attacks according to the European Roma Rights Center.   Last month in Italy several Roma camps were torched.  According to Claudio Cordone, Amnesty International’s interim Secretary General, “EU leaders must adopt a concrete plan of action to address the human rights abuses faced by Romani communities.  They must speak up against racist attacks and hate speech and provide concrete measures to end discrimination in access to housing, education, health, and employment.”

For more information, please see:

CNN WORLD – Burned girl a symbol of Roma hate and hope – 25 June 2010

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL – Europe must break cycle of discrimination facing Roma – 7 April 2010

CZECH RADIO – Police hunt for attackers as two-year-old Roma girl severely burned in alleged arson – 20 April 2009

REUTERS – FACTBOX: Facing discrimination: Roma around Europe – 30 July 2008

Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon March for Basic Rights

By Alyxandra Stanczak
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon– More than 6,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon protested for basic rights this weekend. The protesters gathered in Beirut and marched to the United Nations headquarters. Approximately ten percent of Lebanon’s population, or 400,000 people, is composed of Palestinian refugees. They are a marginalized group in Lebanon, often experiencing employment discrimination and insufficient public, social, education, and medical services.

Palestinian refugee camp, Nahr el-Bared, near Tripoli. Image courtesy of Fox News.
Palestinian refugee camp, Nahr el-Bared, near Tripoli. Image courtesy of Fox News.

Earlier this week, Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon, Abdullah Abdullah, urged Lebanese officials to grant basic rights to Palestinian refugees within the country at this politically crucial time. Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri has stated that while the Lebanese government has “social, ethical, and humanitarian duties” toward the refugees it could no longer ignore, the Lebanese government would not permit the naturalization of Palestinians refugees as Lebanese citizens.

Lebanon’s parliament has drafted a law that is due for floor debate within the next few weeks that will address the issues facing Palestinians within Lebanon.  Specifically, the law would legalize basic worker’s rights, such as medical care and end-of-service pay. Additionally, the law would give Palestinians the right to own a residential apartment. Though this law has support, it is expected to be fiercely debated on the floor due to sectarian concerns.

Offices in the Lebanese government are divided proportionally, with political appointments reserved for people affiliated with specific religious communities. The outdated proportion of political seats is based off the last census, which was taken in 1932. The lack of a recent census has resulted in three of the eighteen different religious sects claiming to have an absolute majority. Political power is not only divided among sectarian lines within Islam, but roughly thirty-five-percent of the Lebanese population identifies itself as Christian.

If political rights are designated to Palestinian refugees, who are generally Sunni Muslim, the Sunni sect would likely attain a higher proportion in the government. This shift in power could ultimately undermine the political influence of other religious communities.

Most of the approximately 400,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon reside in twelve camps under deplorable living conditions. Palestinian refugees, who are forbidden to work in certain professions under Lebanese Law, such as medicine, law, engineering, and architecture, remain mired in a cycle of unemployment and poverty.

Furthermore, these camps, which are not secured by the Lebanese Army, are often an attractive hideout for extremists and fugitives.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Palestinian diplomat urges Lebanese unity on refugee rights – 29 June 2010

Al Jazeera – Refugees march for Lebanon rights – 27 June 2010

Daily Star – Hariri calls for national unity on granting rights to Palestinians – 30 June 2010

Voice of America – Palestinians in Beirut hope for more rights – 29 June 2010

‘Trigger Happy Police’ – Kashmir’s War on its own People

By David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KASHMIR, India – The killings of civilian protesters, most of them teenagers, have angered many in the valley.  One newspaper headline described 2010 as the “year of teenage killings” in Kashmir. 

Even the pro-India People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the government of declaring war on its own people, our correspondent reports.

Kasmir and Jammu Police holding assault rifels
Kasmir and Jammu Police holding assault rifles.

Hundreds of thousands of troops are based in Kashmir to fight a two-decade insurgency against Indian rule.

The three deaths on Tuesday mean that there have been 10 civilian deaths at the hands of the security forces this month in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The protests have been some of the biggest in two years.  The latest violence began with the death of a schoolboy on June 11.

“When incidents like this happen, when innocents get killed, people get provoked,” Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the leader of the Separatist Hurriyet Conference, told Al Jazeera.

Local people and the state government have blamed most of those deaths on the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

They say that in many cases the CRPF – who have been described by the state government as “trigger happy” – fired on unarmed protesters.

On Tuesday the army said it killed five militants who were trying to cross the Line of Control which divides Indian- and Pakistani-administered Kashmir.  The army said that three soldiers also died in the gunbattle on Monday night and Sunday afternoon in the Nowgam area.

Shops, schools and colleges in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley are shut on the fourth day of the curfew, the BBC’s Altaf Hussain in Srinagar reports.  The strike has been called in protest at the recent killing of unarmed civilians by police and paramilitary troops.  Five towns – Sopore, Anantnag, Mattan, Kulgam and Koimoh – and some areas of Srinagar have been placed under curfew.

Nearly 20 civilians died in clashes with security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir in June.  Many of the deaths have been blamed on the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

On Wednesday Chief Minister Omar Abdullah defended the security forces, saying they could not be expected constantly to show restraint when they were so often pelted with stones.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Muslim-majority Kashmir, over which India and Pakistan both claim sovereignty and have fought two wars.

The authorities have re-imposed a curfew in the northern town of Sopore, where protesters clashed with the police until late on Monday night.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Civilians killed in renewed Kashmir violence – 29 June 2010

Al Jazeera English – Deadly clashes continue in Kashmir – 29 June 2010

CNN World – 4 dead, 5 wounded in Kashmir fighting – 25 June 2010

Masked Gunmen Destroy Another Summer Camp for Children in Gaza

By Dallas Steele
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Palestinian children under the age of 15, totaling roughly 700,000, comprise half of the total population in the Gaza Strip. (Photo Courtesy of Associated Press)
Palestinian children under the age of fifteen comprise half of the total population in the Gaza Strip. (Photo Courtesy of AP)

For the second time this summer, masked gunmen have set fire to a United Nations-run summer camp in the Gaza Strip. The site of the second vandalized camp is in the vicinity of the camp which was vandalized this past May.

The UN estimates that roughly twenty-five armed men attacked the camp between late Sunday night and early Monday morning, when children were not present. Security guards at the camp were tied up before the armed militants set about slashing plastic sheds and toys, vandalizing a swimming pool, and burning down chairs, tables, easels, and other equipment. Fortunately, no one was harmed during the attack.

As with the incident in May, no group has come forth to claim the attack. Following the attack from last month, however, it was later discovered that a previously unheard of Islamic extremist group was behind the razing of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) summer camp.  The unknown Islamist group claimed the summer camp was a corrupting influence on local children because it introduced activities considered at odds with conservative Islamic customs. It is also believed that the group objected to boys and girls going to camp together.

John Ging, the director of the agency’s operations, responded to the second attack saying: “The overwhelming success of UNRWA’s Summer Games has once again obviously frustrated those that are intolerant of children’s happiness. This is another example of the growing levels of extremism in Gaza and further evidence of the urgency to change the circumstances on the ground.”

Ging again pledged to continue to run the 1,200 UN-sponsored summer camps, which have allowed about 250,000 Gazan children to take part in such activities as sports, swimming, arts, and theater.

Hamas, Gaza’s militant Islamist ruler, condemned last month’s attack and has said it will apprehend and jail whoever carried out the current attack. BBC Gaza correspondent Jon Donnison, however, has reported that there are those that think Hamas may be connected to the most recent attack.  They argue that an attack involving around twenty-five masked men could not be conducted without at least the implicit support of Hamas.  Hamas also runs summer camps which compete with the UN sponsored camps for the enrollment of Gazan youth. The Hamas summer camp offers such activities as horseback riding, swimming, as well as classes on Islam, but also teach children military-style marching and anti-Israel doctrine.

There are roughly 700,000 children under the age of 15 living in Gaza.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Gaza gunmen ‘set fire to UN summer camp for children’ – 28 June 2010

CNN – Militants attack UN-sponsored summer camp in Gaza – 28 June 2010

The New York Times – Vandals Set Fire to UN Children’s Camp in Gaza – 28 June 2010