Lebanese Man’s Life Spared

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon– A man from Lebanon, condemned to death for witchcraft by a Saudi Arabian court, will not be beheaded on Friday as originally planned.

Ali Sabat’s execution was scheduled for Friday after noon prayers, but a Lebanese minister has assured that the execution will not take place after a frenzy of media coverage and appeals by international human rights groups.  Sabat’s lawyer, May al-Khansa, said she is still unsure whether the execution by way of beheading had been waived or simply postponed.  Said Ms. Khansa, “The minister of justice for Lebanon called me and told me that nothing would happen on Friday.  But after that I don’t have an answer as to if he will be alive or not.”

Sabat, who is a Shiite Muslim, was the host of a popular television show in which he made predictions about the future.  In 2008, he traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform a religious pilgrimage when Saudi police who accused him of practicing sorcery arrested him.

Saudi Arabia does not have a legal definition of witchcraft although horoscopes and fortune telling are condemned and considered un-Islamic.

The human rights group Amnesty International has been trying to get Saudi Arabia to cease all instances of capital punishment.  Amnesty said that Mr. Sabat seemed to have been convicted for “exercising his right to freedom of expression.”  And Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa program said it was “high time the Saudi Arabian government joined the international trend towards a worldwide moratorium on executions.”

Ms. Khansa had contacted Lebanese leaders to appeal on behalf of her client.  No leaders would speak publicly, but Ms. Khansa said she was told the Lebanese government did lobby for the release of Mr. Sabat.

Like in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon has a law against witchcraft.  In Lebanon, however, witchcraft is only considered to be a misdemeanor, punishable by at most a few months in jail.  The death penalty is also still legal in Lebanon, but used sparingly.

For more information, please see:

BBC News- Saudi ‘Reprieve’ in Sorcery Case– 2 April 2010

Los Angeles Times- Saudi Arabia: Factional Politics May be at Heart of Legal Dispute Over Psychic’s Fate– 2 April 2010

Voice of America- Beheading of Man in Saudi Arabia for Witchcraft Averted– 2 April 2010

Somali Pirates Free Yemeni Ship

By Ahmad Shihadah

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’NA, Yemen – Somali pirates have freed a Yemeni ship with 11 surviving sailors of a 12 men crew, which was hijacked on 24 March in Somali waters, Yemen’s Interior Ministry confirmed on Monday.
FV AZ ZABANIYAH had left al-Shiher port in Hadramout in late February, was captured off Somalia’s northern coast, while one of its 12 crew members was killed during the attack.

Security authorities in the Yemen New Agency reported that $5 million payment was paid as ransom. Piracy has becomes a profitable trade in the east African lawless country, a lucrative venture that has attracted many young Somali men.

Yemen’s south-east province of Hadramout confirmed that the capture took place while the Yemeni fishing vessel was in the Somali territorial waters. Among the 12 crew members were eight Yemeni fishermen, two Somalis and two Tanzanian nationals, while Othman Mohamed of Tanzania was killed during the operation.

Analysts wonder what the vessel carried in order to achieve such a high ransom. “Though the larger fishing vessels easily can rip from the seas a tuna catch valued such much, we feel that there was something else carried on that fishy boat,” a regional analyst stated. A United Nations imposed sanctions regime for Somalia and Eritrea, including an arms embargo,  provides rich opportunities for blockade breaking vessels.

The analyst also reported that a South Korean chemical Tanker MT DL COSMOS, which was missing after an unsuccessful piracy attack off Tanzania, arrived now safely in Mombasa, Kenya. “They just maintained a communications black-out,” he said.

For more information, please see:

Bernama – Somali Pirates Fee Yemeni Ship – 5 March 2010

Saba Net – Somali Pirates Free Yemeni Ship – 5 March 2010

APA – Somali Pirates Release Yemen Owned Ship – 5 March 2010

Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor – Somali Sea-Shifta Free Yemeni Vessel For Ransom – 5 April 2010

Generals on Trial in Peru for Murders of 37 Students

By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

HUANCAYO, Peru-Three generals and other army officers are on trial for the murders of thirty-seven university students from 1989 to 1993.  Generals Manuel Delgado, Luis Pérez, and David Jaime Sobrevilla commanded an army brigade during those years in Huancayo where the Universidad Nacional del Centro is located. Formal charges were filed on March 4th.

The murdered students were allegedly targeted because they were suspected of being connected to or sympathising with the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) or Tupác Amaru Revolutionary Movement guerrillas. The three Generals allegedly ordered former intelligence Commander Col. Elías Espinoza of seizing and killing the students. Ordering deaths are the same charges that led to the conviction of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori for two army massacres.

The National Human Rights Coordinator for Peru told IPS that evidence against the former military officials includes “testimony of relatives who witnessed the kidnappings of their children . . . and who later found their bodies dumped on the outskirts of the city.” The prosecutors also have army operation manuals that describe how to kidnap and kill detainees and “accounts of students who after being hauled in and tortured by the military, managed to regain their freedom.”

Prosecutors allege that the thirty-seven murders took place as a part of a “systemic and generalized practice of kidnappings and homicides.” The Maoist movement Sendero Luminoso was reported to have a strong presence at the University in Huancayo, where it targeted any person opposed to its efforts.

During the government’s struggle against Sendero Luminoso, it entered the University fifteen times and over one hundred people were murdered and kidnapped. After the military’s first incursion on the campus, it set up a “civil action base,” after which student and staff disappearances began.  The occupation was legalized in 1990 through a law authorizing the military to stay on campuses if “terrorist elements or groups disturb the peace and internal order.”

Protection has been ordered for the five individuals testifying against the generals who are former kidnapping victims.

For more information, please see:

Rebelión-Generales Enjuciados por asesinatos a 37 estudiantes-5 April 2010

IPS-Generals on Trial for Murders of 37 Students-2 April 2010

Correo-Caso UNCP:Justicia Tras Diesisiete Años-25 March 2010

Afghan Leader Under Fire from Kandahar Elders

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan- Afghan President Hamid Karzai, under criticism for remarks made against the West, joined the commander of U.S. forces in a meeting with tribal leaders Sunday in the volatile south.  This meeting occurs amid the tension which arose after Karzai’s accusations of foreign interference in last year’s elections.

President Karzai and General Stanley McChrystal flew together to the southern city of Kandahar, a city deep within the heart of the Taliban insurgency, to meet with tribal elders.  This meeting was an effort to build political support ahead of an expected U.S. and NATO push into the area. While visiting Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, he was told few would join the army for fear of being killed by the militants.

Unlike the previous offensive in neighboring Helmand which began with a military push, the Kandahar campaign has contained a major emphasis on politics.

The tribal gathering, which is known as a shura, was held under tight security at the governor’s compound.  During the gathering, one tribal elder after another stood up, speaking loudly and angrily shouting at the president, complaining of police corruption, official bribes and insecurity.  At one point in the meeting, the president urged “Tell me what is in your heart.”  However, one of the tribal elders retorted ” I can’t, I will be killed by the terrorists,”- a reference to the growing power of the Taliban in the area.

The overall message that was taken away from this gathering of 1,500 tribesman is they are not ready for any major military operation by Afghan and NATO led forces any time soon.

The president’s younger brother, a key source of support in the south was also in attendance.  He has been publicly accused of being a major drug lord — part of the corruption and cronyism that undermines support for the government and drives Afghans to the Taliban. He denies any involvement in drugs.

The Kandahar visit is at risk of being overshadowed by the fallout from Karzai’s Thursday remarks.

Karzai lashed out against the U.N. and the international community, accusing them of perpetrating a “vast fraud” in last year’s presidential polls as part of a conspiracy to deny him re-election or tarnish his victory.

For more information, please see:
Associated Press- Afghan Leader Meets US Commander Amid Tensions-04 April 2010
The New York Times-Karzai Rallies Tribes, Distances Self From West– 04 April 2010

Lawyer Charges Human Rights Tribunal with Contempt

By William Miller

Impunity watch reporter, North America

VANCOUVER, Canada – A Canadian lawyer representing a comic in a human rights tribunal suit has filed a complaint against the Human Rights Tribunal accusing them of contempt of court. James Millar, who represents comedian Guy Earl, filed  a suit seeking to throw out the human rights suit on the grounds that it conflicts with the Canadian Charter of Rights and freedoms protection of free speech and alleging that the Tribunal has ignored previous court rulings holding that the tribunal must determine whether it has jurisdiction before hearing a case.

Last fall the Canadian courts determined that the Human Rights Tribunal must determine whether it has jurisdiction before hearing a case. On Monday, the Tribunal decided that it would proceed with hearing the case and determine jurisdiction after arguments had been hear. This prompted Millar to leave the proceeding.

In walking out Millar said, “You are proceeding illegally and I have to leave the proceeding because it is against the rule of law… I do so regretfully and I do so with the greatest respect to the tribunal.”

The case, which has stirred controversy as to whether the tribunal is too repressive of the right to free expression, started two years ago after an encounter at a comedy club in Vancouver. Lorna Pardy brought the suit claiming that comic Guy Earle discriminated against her by making homophobic and sexist remarks to her and her same sex partner. She has filed the suit claiming that the comic violated the Human Rights Code by discriminating against her in the provision of a service.

Earle admits that the argument occurred between him and Pardy but claims that the two were heckling him and other comics and that his right to free speech is protected by the charter of rights which trumps the Human Rights Code.

In arguing that the tribunal encroaches to far on free speech Millar said “the Human rights tribunal could go onto YouTube and apply discrimination as the standard to restrict free speech on the internet or in any of the arts and entertainment when the Charter says the standard is hate.”

The Human Rights Tribunal began hearing arguments in the case last Monday and adjourned on Thursday. Final arguments are scheduled for Monday. Millar has said he will not participate. No date has been set for hearings on Millar’s complaint.

For more information please see:

The Chronicle Journal – Comedian’s Lawyer wants B.C Human Rights Hearing Into Anti-lesbian Rant Quashed – 1 April 2010

Montreal Gazette – Comic’s Lawyer Walks Out of B. C. Discrimination Case – 30 March 2010

Montreal Gazette – B.C. Human Rights Tribunal to Hear Discrimination Case Against Comic Who Insulted Two Lesbians – 29 March 2010.