Three Leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq Killed

By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – On April 19 Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced that tow leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq were killed in a joint effort between Iraqi and United States forces. The Iraqi Prime Minister announced on Iraqi television that Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who led the organization, were both dead. The following day, the Iraqi government announced that another al Qaeda in Iraq leader, Ahmed al-Obeidi, was killed in the northern prvoince of Nineveh.

The deaths of Masri and Baghdadi were confirmed by pictures of both men before and after their deaths. Prime Minister Maliki explained that, “the attack was carried out by ground forces which surrounded the house, and also through the use of missiles.” The Prime Minister explained that a house in Thar-Thar was destroyed and two bodies were found inside. The bodies were found in a hole in which the two men were hiding. “Security forces surrounded the hole, and when they got them out they were dead,” said Maliki.

General Ray Odierno, the top American military commander in Iraq, explained the significance of the operation. Odierno explained that, “the death of these terrorists is potentially the most significant blow to al Qaeda in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency. The US military explained that Masri had replaced Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq and was “directly responsible for high profile bombings and attacks against the people of Iraq.”

On April 20 Iraqi military spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi announced that Ahmed al-Obeidi was killed in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh. General Moussawi said that Obeidi, also known as Abu Suhaib, was in charge of al Qaeda in Iraq’s operations in the northern provinces of Kirkuk, Salahuddin and Nineveh. General Odierno explained that Obeidi was the “the military emir” of the northern region of Iraq.

The BBC’s Jim Muir confirmed that the Iraqi government is now convinced that al Qaeda in Iraq is on the run. However, in the past when leaders were killed, the organization ensures that other men step in to fill their post. Muir explains that this ensures that decapitation of the organization does not lead to paralysis.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Third Iraqi Al-Qaeda Leader Killed: Iraqi Military – 20 April 2010

Al Jazeera – Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leaders “Killed” – 19 April 2010

BBC – Senior Iraqi Al-Qaeda Leaders ‘Killed’ – 19 April 2010

New York Times – Top Qaeda Leaders in Iraq Reported Killed in Raid – 19 April 2010

Children Killed in Afghanistan

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – The continual violence between insurgency groups and US and Nato forces in Kandahar has recently claimed the lives of three youths, aged between eleven and fifteen.  The children were playing near a donkey cart in a residential locality, where their uncle, who had significant involvement in the election  of President Hamid Karzai, serves as a local chief.  The children jumped on the donkey cart and triggered a concealed explosive device.  The blast also injured two police officers and two civilians.  Screams were reported to  be heard from inside a nearby residential compound, and the scene after the blast has been described as “carnage”.

Explosions were apparently to a donkey fitted with a remote detonator.  The weight of the children upon the cart likely activated the detonator, resulting in the  explosion.  A Taliban leader claimed responsibility for the attack and also asserted that the attack actually took the lives of eleven people.  It does not seem to be reported, however, whether or not this count has been confirmed.  Furthermore, the Taliban agent divulging the alternate number did not identity the other supposed victims as either civilian or combatant, making the additional entailed human rights issues based on his information difficult to determine.

Previous reports expressed that only one boy had been killed while the two civilians and pair of policemen had been injured.  Further confusing the account of the blast, the Taliban fighter claiming responsibility for the attack asserted that the attack was intended to effect “foreigners”, and that eleven foreigners were successfully killed.  The purpose of the attack, however, was discovered to be a response to a US military strike that has been planned to remove Taliban presence from the Kandahar region.

The instances of attacks outside Kandahar carry severe implications for both  the effort to oust the Taliban and the right of civilians to live in peace.  Violence occurring in residential areas suggests that the perpetrators of such strikes have accumulated the resources and disposition to strike areas not directly involved in the conflict.  This has the effect of terrorizing non-combatants and leaving no areas immune to such attacks.  Such reckless regard for human life also signifies the difficulty of attempting to undermine a group that kills merely to demonstrate their presence.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Children killed in Afghan blast – 19 April 2010

CNN – Donkey cart at police post, killing 3 children – 19 April 2010

Yahoo! News – Three children killed in Afghan blast – 19 April 2010

The Mandate for the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala is Ending

By Brenda Lopez Romero
Impunity Watch reporter – North America desk

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala – The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala needs more support and must include the ability to go after corruption and organized crime.

The Commissioner, Carlos Castresana Fernández, noted that due to their work about 2,000 police officers, or 15 per cent of the force, have been discharged on corruption charges and one Attorney General, 10 Prosecutors and three Supreme Court Justices had been dismissed for lack of cooperation.  Additionally, 130 people had been jailed, including a former President as well as former Ministers of Defence, Finance and Interior.

Guatemala engage international support to strengthen its ability to provide structural protection for its citizens against human rights violations by non-state actors in the country.

Rigoberta Menchú, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; Eduardo Stein, former Vice-President of Guatemala; and Gonzalo Marroquín, Director, Prensa Libre, and Vice-President, Inter-American Press Association are assisting the Commission’s interactions with the society to increase its credibility among the citizens.

Ms. Menchú said “the country was still living with the aftermath of 36 years of civil strife, and implementation of the peace agreement was only possible if impunity could be fought.”  Mr. Stein also noted that the Commission was started at the request of Guatemala as a member of the international community due to its legitimate concern for its citizens and to improve its justice system.  He emphasized that in 2009 there were about 6,000 assassinations, but fewer than 600 charged were being prosecuted, and the Commission has helped address this impunity.

However, the Commission’s mandate is ending and the remaining tasks are up to the Guatemalans citizens to control.

For more information, please see:

Guatemala Times – UN Commission in Guatemala fight against impunity needs more support – 20 April 2010

Taiwan News – Progress in UN fight against Guatemala corruption – 20 April 2010

UN News Centre – UN-backed war on impunity in Guatemala should be strengthened – commission head – 20 April 2010

Srebrenica Genocide Suspect Arrested in Croatia

By Kenneth F. Hunt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

ZAGREB, Croatia – A war crimes suspect alleged to have perpetrated genocide during the Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian war was arrested April 19 crossing the border in Osijek, Croatia.

According to Bosnia and Herzegovina prosecutors, Franc Kos was part of the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad of the Republika Srpska Army during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.

Allegedly, Mr. Kos participated in the Srebrenica massacre perpetrated against Bosnian Muslims during the Bosnian War. Some 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were killed in that notorious incident.

Mr. Kos, a Slovenian national, is the fourth member of the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad who has been arrested to date. Vlastimir Golijan, Zoran Goronja, and Stanko Savanovic were all taken into Bosnian custody in February 2008 for committing genocide at a Bosnian military base, but are yet to face trial on these charges.

The Tenth Reconnaissance Squad has a particularly nefarious record for impunity.  Dubravko Campara, the Bosnian prosecutor, claimed the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad was “the most notorious” Republika Srpska Army unit, during the recent custody extension hearing for Golijan, Goronja, and Savanovic.

Mr. Campara also hinted that efforts would continue to arrest the rest of the unit, including Mr. Kos, who was implicated by earlier testimony in front of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ITCY).

Drazen Erdemovic, a fellow Squad member, confessed to murders committed at a military base in Branjevo during the Bosnian War, and was sentenced to five years in prison.  Mr. Erdemovic also stated during his trial that Mr. Kos played a role in the Srebrenica massacre.

An international arrest warrant for Mr. Kos’ arrest was filed by Bosnia and Herzegovina soon after.

Bosnian prosecutors will now file an extradition request with Croatia in order to take custody of Mr. Kos for future impending prosecution. Slovenia and Croatia also are possible forums to prosecute Mr. Kos because he is alleged to have committed crimes against their nationals.

For more information, please see:

ASSOCIATED PRESS – Croatia arrests genocide suspect wanted in Bosnia – 20 April 2010

B92 – Srebrenica war crimes suspect arrested – 20 April 2010

BALKAN INSIGHT – Croatia Arrests Genocide Suspect Wanted by Bosnia – 20 April 2010

Egypt Seeks To Pressure Israel Over Nuclear Arms

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Israel may come under new pressure next month at a UN meeting on atomic weapons as the United States, Britain and France consider backing Egypt’s call for a zone in the Middle East free of nuclear arms, envoys said.

The 189 signatories to the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) will meet at United Nations headquarters in New York for a May 3-28 conference on the troubled pact whose credibility, analysts say, has been harmed by the atomic programs of Iran and North Korea and the failure of the big nuclear powers to disarm.

Egypt is to open an international front to push Israel into signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty as pressure mounts on Tel Aviv to account for its atomic plans.

Cairo advocates holding a regional conference on an “internationally and effectively verifiable treaty for the establishment of a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East,” a draft paper addressed to the NPT said Tuesday. It added that Egypt will invite all Mideast states to the planned meeting.

Israel, like India and Pakistan, never signed the treaty and is not officially attending the conference. The Jewish state is presumed to have a sizable nuclear arsenal, although it has never confirmed or denied having atomic weapons.

Diplomats said backing from the five permanent Security Council members — the NPT’s five official nuclear powers — would help ensure broad support for Egypt’s plan next month.

One Western envoy said Egypt’s insistence on a conference with a negotiating mandate was the main “sticking point,” while another expressed the hope that Egypt would compromise during intensive negotiations on the issue in the coming weeks.

Israel’s U.N. mission had no official comment on the Egyptian proposal. But an Israeli diplomat told Reuters the Jewish state would be ready to discuss issues like establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone once there is peace in the Middle East.

For More Information, Please;

The Daily Star – Egypt Seeks UN Pressure On Israel Over Nuclear Arms – 21 April 2010

The Washington Post – Egypt Seeks U.N. Pressure On Israel Over Nuclear Arms – 21 April 2010

Press TV – Egypt Summit To Pressure Nuclear Israel – 20 April 2010