Gender Discrimination Suit Filed Against Ukrainian Prime Minister For Statements On Role Of Women In Government

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – An international women’s rights organization filed a discrimination lawsuit last week against the Ukrainian Prime Minister in response to recent statements he made regarding the role of women in government.

During a economic speech on 19 March, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov speech focused on a theme that women may not be able to properly handle the current economic issues that Ukraine is facing.  Azarov declared that “some say our government is too large; others that there are no women.”  He then went on to state that “with respect to women, conducting reforms is not women’s business.”

Yekaterina Levchenko of La Strada-Ukraine International Human Rights Protection Center, one of the women’s rights group that filed a suit, stated that Azarov’s statements were evidence of “direct discrimination against Ukrainian women.”  Another suit against the Prime Minister was brought by Olena Suslova, a leader of the Information and Advisory Women’s Center, in response to his statements.

The lawsuits state that the Prime Minister’s comments violated Ukraine’s constitutional mandate for equality among men and women.

After drawing increasing criticism from both national and international rights groups, Azarov spoke publicly in an attempt to clarify his earlier comments.  He stated that the remarks in his speech were only meant to establish his belief that he did not wish for any woman to work more than 15 hours a day, as his cabinet ministers often do.

Azarov’s statements come in the midst of increased political pressure in favor of greater roles for women in Ukraine’s national government.  Protests, organized by national women’s rights leaders, were held in front of the federal Cabinet buildings in Kiev earlier this month calling for greater diversity on the all-male national Cabinet.

For more information, please see:

AP – Ukraine Premier Accused on Discrimination –  1 April 2010

ITAR-TASS: Female activists sue Azarov for violation of women’s rights – 31 March 2010

THE GUARDIAN – Ukrainian women berate ‘Neanderthal’ PM for sexist remarks – 24 March 2010

Foreign Journalists’ E-Mail Accounts Hacked in China

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – The Foreign Correspondent’s Club of China (FCCC) said that e-mail accounts of eight foreign journalists working in China and Taiwan were hacked.

The FCCC said in an e-mail sent to its members, “We have confirmed eight cases in which journalists . . . have had their e-mail accounts hacked . . . with several accounts disabled by Yahoo . . . .” 

In addition, the FCCC has told its members to change their e-mail passwords and use other means of communication when arranging for interviews or conducting other “sensitive business.”

Yahoo was not available for comment, and the company has not answered FCCC’s questions or informed individual journalists how their accounts were hacked.

Although there is no evidence linking this incident to the Chinese government, FCCC’s warning to its members is reflective of increasing concern over Internet surveillance by the Chinese government, especially of human rights activists and foreign journalists working in China.

The hacking of Yahoo e-mail accounts also coincides with Google sending Internet search engine requests out of mainland China to Hong Kong, which has angered the Chinese authorities.

Google justified their action by explaining that this move is a response to Google’s objections against Chinese government’s censorship rules and to series of cyberattacks on Google suspected to have originated from China.

A freelance American journalists, Kathleen McLaughlin, who also sits on FCCC’s board, said, “Someone is clearly targeting journalists.  It makes me feel very uncomfortable.”

In addition to attacks on Yahoo and Google, there is circumstantial evidence on a spying network which appears to have originated in China.  This spying network affected users from over 100 countries where data was transferred to servers in China. 

In a cypersecurity report issued by Symantec, China is the world’s biggest source of targeted attacks, including malicious mails sent in small numbers which are aimed at gathering or accessing sensitive information.  The report said 28% of those attacks are from China.

For more information, please see:

Financial Times – China, Taiwan Yahoo users report hacking – 31 March 2010

NYT – Journalists’ E-Mails’ Hacked in China – 30 March 2010

PC World – E-Mail Accounts of Foreign Journalists in China Hacked – 30 March 2010

Tensions Pervade Jerusalem in the Midst of Easter, Passover

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – As the religious calendars of Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestants, and Jews converge this week, tensions are rife throughout the holy city of Jerusalem. Thousands of pilgrims from Israel, the Palestinian Territories, and the rest of the world have converged on this city to celebrate their holidays, though with a sense of unease permeating the celebrations.

A major source of the tension is the restrictions on Palestinian travel to and through Jerusalem. Israel “closes” Jerusalem to Palestinians during Jewish holidays. This year, the six days of Passover coincide with the celebration of Easter, which, this year, falls on the same Sunday for both Greek Orthodox and for Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians. As part of a protest on Palm Sunday, March 28, hundreds of Palestinians marched the five to ten miles from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem to the Israeli checkpoint at Jerusalem, where several protestors were arrested for allegedly crossing into Israel illegally. Israel claims the whole of Jerusalem as its undivided capital, while Palestinians seek to make East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Usually, Palestinian Christians have an easier time gaining permits into Jerusalem during Christian holidays than do Palestinian Muslims during Muslim holidays, but there have been several incidents of violence in and around Jerusalem in recent weeks because of Israeli plans to build settlements in the predominantly and traditionally Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. Palestinian Christians who applied for permits to enter Jerusalem during the Easter holiday were told they would not be allowed in. As of March 31, Israeli officials had announced that only international Christians would be allowed to enter Jerusalem.

Some Middle East observers have characterized the recent tensions between Israelis and Palestinians as a “cold Intifada,” referring to the two Palestinian uprisings that began in 1989 and 2001. Professor Yitzhak Reiter explains the significance of sites like Jerusalem in such conflicts:

“Holy places have become the symbol of the conflict,” said Reiter. “Ever space where someone can find some holy connection becomes part of the conflict.”

Reiter believes the low-scale violence of the “cold Intifada” will persist because Palestinians believe that the Israelis want to “Judaize” the Arab portions of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and that any proclaimed confidence-building measures by Israel are meant only to appease the United States.

For more information, please see:

World Magazine – O Jerusalem – 10 April 2010

The National – Christians Angry at Jerusalem Lockdown as Easter Clashes with Passover – 4 April 2010

SperoNews – Israeli Raid in Gaza Injures Three Children as Jerusalem Prepares for Easter – 3 April 2010

Ma’an News Agency – Palestinian Christians to be Barred from Jerusalem Old City – 31 March 2010

Egypt Cracks Down on Gaza Border Smuggling

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

AL-ARISH, Egypt – Egyptian border guards have been taking an increasingly hard line with migrants attempting to cross into the Palestinian Territories and Israel through the Egypt-Gaza border. On March 31, Human Rights Watch reported than Egyptian border guards had killed three migrants attempting to cross, bringing the total of migrants killed by Egyptian forces since the beginning of 2010 to twelve.

In its statement, Human Rights Watch added that many more migrants had been arrested and detained by the Egyptians. Most of the migrants are from southern Ethiopia or Sudan, many escaping the war-torn region of Darfur. After the migrants are detained by Egyptian authorities, most are sent back to their home regions, where they may be subject to further fighting or torture. This appears to be in violation of the United Nations’s international agreement on refugees.

“Egyptian guards have made the Sinai border a death zone for migrants trying to flee the country,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East and North Africa Director for Human Rights Watch. “What’s more, the Egyptian government has not investigated even a single case of the sixty-nine killings of migrants by border guards since 2007.”

The Egyptian Coast Guard has also been active along the Gaza border in recent days. Three Palestinian fishermen from Gaza were arrested by the Egyptian Coast Guard on March 20, for allegedly trying to illegally enter into Egyptian territorial waters. The fishermen claimed they were having engine trouble and drifted into Egyptian waters. In similar incidents, Palestinian fishermen have been fined 1000 Egyptian pounds ($150 US) before being released back to Gaza.

It has become increasingly difficult to make a living as a fisherman in Gaza, as the Israeli blockade has shrunk the traditional fishing grounds to a mere few square miles off the Gaza coast. These once-abundant waters have become severely overfished as Gaza fishermen struggle to bring income and food to their families. Palestinian fishermen often come into conflict with both Israeli and Egyptian forces.

Finally, Egypt has recently bombed several of the smuggling tunnels going from Egypt into Gaza. While both Egypt and Israel claim that the tunnels are primarily used for transporting weapons, Gaza civilians also use the tunnels to obtain vital humanitarian supplies that cannot often pass through the Israeli blockade.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Egypt: Guards Kill 3 Migrants on Border with Israel – 31 March 2010

Ma’an News Agency – Egyptian Guards Close 5 Smuggling Tunnels – 25 March 2010

Ma’an News Agency – Gaza Fishermen Detained by Egypt Coast Guard – 21 March 2010

Possible Political Motives Behind Iran Executions

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

TEHRAN, Iran – Amnesty International recently published a study with statistical information regarding nations retaining a form of capital punishment.  The late proliferation of judicial executions in Iran has invoked the apprehensions of numerous human rights groups, as it raises suspicions that the Iranian government is utilizing its capital punishment system as a mechanism by which it can quell political unrest and detractors of the state.

The temporal context of the surge in executions in Iran further suggests that the state has been using  judicial executions to serve political purposes.  Studies revealed a discernable rise in execution rates during last years tumultuous presidential elections.  The widely publicized riots subsequent to the unfavorable outcome of the elections, which reinstated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president of Iran, caused much disorder in Iranian city streets and created an opportunity for people to voice their often suppressed opinions.

However, the opportunity created by the disorder in the streets did not entail the freedom to do so without punishment.  Within the weeks beginning with the summer elections and ending with the actual inauguration of Ahmadinejad, it has been reported that approximately 112 individuals had been put to death.  The executions also seemed served as a deterrent for political activism.  Even if the executions did not actually eliminate enemies of the current regime,, they have the effect of conveying a morbid message to  individuals and organizations speaking against the state.

Including the spike in executions done during the weeks surrounding Iran’s June elections, Amnesty International has reported that the Iranian government killed 388 people in the year 2009.  Further studies demonstrate that the number of executions in Iran has multiplied nearly four-fold since Ahmadinejad became president five years ago.  The execution statistics, if correct, signify that Iran under the presidency Ahmadinejad has seen the most capital punishment since the Islamic Revolution of the late 1970s.

The international community has taken significant steps to express its collective disdain towards the extensive use capital punishment.  Multilateral UN documents contain articles either restricting or moving for the elimination of the death penalty in signatory states.  Iran’s proliferation of judicial killing, and the purpose of these killings, signifies an abuse of power largely condemned and inhumane in its results.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty Int’l – Iran executions send chilling message – 30 March 2010

IOL News – Iran execution rates rising – 12 May 2008

Refworld – Execution date moved forward for Iranian young offender – 02 Febrary 2009