Italian Police Fine Woman For Wearing a Face-Covering Niqab in Public

By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

NOVARA, Italy – Italian police stopped a Muslim woman in the city of Novara in north-western Italy for wearing an Islamic face-covering veil.  The police told AFP that the woman, who was visiting the post office with her husband, was issued a 500 euro fine for wearing the veil. This marks the first application of a by-law instituted by the city in January banning the wearing of clothing preventing immediate identification in public.

Mayor of Novara, Massimo Giordano, said that the by-law was designed to deter women from covering themselves with the veil in public. He said:

“There are still some people that refuse to understand that our community in Novara does not accept and does not want people going around wearing the burka.”

According to the BBC, the city of Novara is run by the anti-immigration Northern League.  The Northern League is a powerful junior coalition partner in Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi’s national government, and currently has a bill before parliament which would outlaw the wearing of Islamic face veils in public.

The twenty-six-year-old woman stopped by police was described as a Tunisian national. After her husband refused to allow her to be identified by male officers, a female police officer was called in to make the identification.

Since 1975, the Italian government has had national anti-terrorism laws which prohibit the wearing of any mask or clothing that makes identification of the wearer impossible.  However, the law permits exceptions for “justified cause”, which has been interpreted by Italian courts to include the wearing of facial coverings for religious purposes – including the wearing of Islamic veils. Novara, and two other municipalities in northern Italy, have used the 1975 laws as the legal basis upon which they have banned Islamic veils.

The Novara by-law reflects similar efforts to ban veils which have been taking place across Western Europe. A ban on wearing masks and veils in public has recently passed the Belgian lower house and is set to go before the Senate. If approved, it would be the first national measure to ban Islamic facial coverings in Europe.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Italy Fines Muslim Woman Over Veil – 4 May 2010

BBC International – Police stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy – 3 May 2010

The Guardian – Muslim woman fined for wearing burqa in northern Italy – 3 May 2010

 

Guantanamo Hearing Suggests Khadr was Tortured

Brenda Lopez Romero
Impunity Watch reporter – North America desk

GANTANAMO BAY — Lt. Col. Jon Jackson, Omar Khadr’s military lawyer, was able to get some damaging testimony during his cross-examination of witnesses that indicated Mr. Khadr was abused and mis-treatmented.

An Army master sergeant, “Interrogator #2,” acknowledge that that he was aware of the Army’s field manual that cited as an example of torture “forcing an individual to stand, sit or kneel in abnormal positions for a prolonged period of time.”  Lt. Col. Jackson recounted prior testimony by a medic personnel, Mr. M, that indicated Mr. Khadr’s arms had been shackled at his forehead level.  Then Interrogator #2 stated that “[i]t could be” a similar position to that one stated in the field manual.  What set them apart was that an “air lock technique” forced detainees to stand with their arms’ straight out without being shackled and Mr. Khadr’s hands held at forehead level, not straight out, and was shackled.

If Col. Patrick Parrish, the military judge, hearing Mr. Khadr’s case is convinced that he suffered abuse prior to giving statements during interrogation, then Col. Parrish could be persuaded that Mr. Khadr was unreasonably coerced

Interrogator #2 testified that in Bagram they could play music in loud volume.  Interrogator #2’s also testified that Khdar was “sedated” during an interrogation.

When Lt. Col. Jackson asked if interrogators were allowed to use “stress positions,” Interrogator #2 stated that they were clear to use “safety positions.”

Lt Col. Jackson then asked, “Well, first it was called stress positions, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, sir,” Interrogator #2 answered.

Lt. Col. further inquired, “Is there a difference?”

“No, sir,” Interrogator #2 responded.

“Interrogator #1,” the lead interrogator for Khadr, is expected to testify for the defense and it is expected he will acknowledge threatening Khadr with rape.

For more information, please see:

The Miami Herald – Guantánamo hearing: Canadian teen was sedated when first questioned – 4 May 2010

The Star – Khadr questioned by sergeant later court martialed, court told – 4 May 4, 2010

The Washington Independent – Defense Gets Interrogator to Suggest Khadr Was Tortured – 4 May 2010

Somali Pirates Hijack Yemeni Cargo Ship

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ADEN, Yemen – Somali pirates have seized a cargo vessel off the coast of Yemen, and are believed to be holding the crew of nine Yemeni sailors, Yemen’s Defense Ministry website said Tuesday.

Citing sources at the Interior Ministry, the website said the pirates took over the ship after it sailed from Mukalla port en route to Aden. It was carrying various products and a crew of 9 Yemeni sailors was onboard. Meanwhile, the sources said that information had surfaced that the ship was seen at Somali Qarta’a port.

“The ship with the license registration name of Al-Asa’a carrying various merchandise along with nine Yemeni sailors on board has been moved by pirates to Karta area in the northern coast of Somalia,” the report added.

The Gulf of Aden, off the northern coast of Somalia, has the highest risk of piracy in the world. Every year about 25,000 ships use the channel south of Yemen between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Somali Pirates Hijack Yemeni Cargo Ship – 4 May 2010

Saba Net – Somali Pirates Seize Yemeni Ship – 4 May 2010

People’s Daily Online – Yemeni-Owned Commercial Ship Hijacked By Somali Pirates – 4 May 2010

Egypt Convicts 26 In Terror Plot

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – An Egyptian court on Wednesday convicted 26 men of belonging to a Hezbollah cell that was charged with planning to attack Israeli tourists in the Sinai Peninsula, fire on ships passing through the Suez Canal and smuggle weapons, supplies and people through tunnels to the Gaza Strip.

The men’s sentences ranged from life in prison to six months in jail. Prosecutors had asked for the death penalty for several defendants, including Muhammad Youssef Mansour, also known as Sami Shehab, who had been sent by Hezbollah to set up the cell in Egypt.

The prisoners maintained their innocence throughout the trial, saying they were just trying to help Hamas, the Hezbollah ally in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, across the Egyptian border.

But prosecutors argued successfully that the men had spied on ships in the Suez Canal and on tourist sites, with the aim of launching strikes against them.  Those convicted include Egyptian, Palestinian, Lebanese and Sudanese citizens.  Four were tried in absentia and remain at large.

“The verdict proves only that the case is politically motivated,” defence lawyer Abdul-Monem Abdel-Maqsud told al-Jazeera TV. “It only serves the Zionist entity which has welcomed the trial as it diverts attention away from calls to try their Gaza war criminals.”

The controversial case illuminated one of the Middle East’s great divides: between US-backed Egypt, with its peace treaty with Israel – and Hezbollah, which is supported by Syria and Iran. Hezbollah has sought to play it down since the trial began last summer but maintains that its only interest was backing Palestinian resistance to the Jewish state.

No appeal against the sentences is possible but there is already speculation in Cairo about possible presidential pardons as the Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, seeks to improve his long-strained relations with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad.

Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general, described the charges as revenge for the organisation’s denunciation of Egypt’s support for the Israeli blockade of Gaza. In December 2008, as Israel carried out its offensive in the Gaza Strip, Nasrallah accused Mubarak of “taking part in the crime” of Israel’s onslaught an called for the overthrow of his regime.

For more information, please see:

Guardian – Egypt Sentences 26 For Plotting Hezbollah Terrorist Campaign – 28 April 2010

VOA – Egypt Convicts 26 Men On Terror Charges – 28 April 2010

The New York Times – 26 In Egypt Are Convicted In Terror Plot – 28 April 2010

Putin, Kadyrov & Lukashenko Named as Freedom of Press “Predators”

By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter

PARIS, France – Media watchdog group “Reporters Without Borders” released an updated list of the top forty enemies of the press on Monday, May 3, 2010, to mark the UN-backed World Press Freedom Day. The group named Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as a top “predator” in their annual compilation of global leaders who suppress freedom of press. Also on the list were Chechnya’s pro-Kremlin President Ramzan Kadyrov, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Russia was the only country with two politicians on the list.

The report states that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has promoted: “a climate of pumped-up national pride that encourages the persecution of dissidents and freethinkers and fosters a level of impunity that is steadily undermining the rule of law.” As evidence of the growing level of impunity, the report cited the killing of five journalists in 2009, which brought the total figure of journalists killed in Russia since 2000 to twenty two.

The report also stated that after the chaotic post-Soviet years under former President Boris Yeltsin, Putin’s leadership effectively consolidated “control” over national media outlets.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, known as “Putin’s guard dog,” has been linked to the deaths of a number of journalists and activists, including reporter Anna Politkovskaya [killed in Moscow in October of 2006], and human rights activist Natalia Estemirova [gunned down in Chechnya in July of 2009].  Those journalists who do continue to operate in Chechnya, continue by abstaining from publishing criticism of either Kadyrov or the Russian state.

Kadyrov was quoted as saying: “The press must be in the service of the Chechen people’s unity.”

According to the report, under the leadership of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, free press has effectively been eradicated in Belarus, and the state has obtained a monopoly on printing and distribution facilities. Independent journalists in Belarus, forced underground, have returned to the clandestine methods of publication and distribution used during the Soviet era. The report also notes that the Lukashenko government has determined “to put an end to online anarchy,” and regularly monitors online activity.

Elsewhere in Europe, the report states that the Basque separatist group in Spain, Eta, and criminal gangs in Italy have threatened and intimidated journalists.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Media watchdog group names freedom “predators” – 3 May 2010

Radio Free Europe – ‘Predators of the Press’ List Released – 3 May 2010

Reporters Sans Frontières Report – Predators 2010 – 3 May 2010

The Moscow Times – Kadyrov, Putin Called “Predators” of Media – 3 May 2010