North Korean Executed Over a Mobile Phone

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea– A firing squad publically executed a North Korean factory worker for making a phone call to a friend in South Korea using an illegal mobile phone.

Although South Korea’s Unification Ministry stated that they could not immediately confirm the execution, the execution is said to have taken place back in late January in the North’s eastern coastal city of Hamhung.

The executed factory worker was accused of recounting rice price and other information concerning the current living conditions in North Korea to a friend who defected to South Korea several years ago.

Despite the introduction of an advanced network partnered with Cairo-based Orascom Telecom back in 2008, North Korea maintains tight restrictions on mobile phone uses.

Most North Koreans who do manage to make international phone calls do so by using networks in neighboring China.

There is an estimated 10,000 North Koreans living by the North Korea-China border who possess Chinese mobile phones, which is illegal.

North Korea has launched a crackdown in February on potential defectors and those who use Chinese mobile phones, a measure which made it harder for North Koreans to make calls abroad asking for help in terms of sneaking out of the country.

North Korea’s Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of State Security announced over a government-run television network that “[North Korea] possess[es] a world-class striking force and means to protect our security that have not yet been…made public” and that Pyongyang has the means to crush “reactionary forces.”

The joint statement by the Ministries also said that the main focus of the crackdown on defectors is so that “people [are] educated about the traitors to the nation,” adding that the defectors will be “mercilessly dealt with.”

North Korea is reportedly to have purchased expensive cell phone tracking and jamming devices and have installed the equipment in various cities like Shinuiju, Heysan and Hweryong, which all lie near the North Korea-China or North-South Korea borders.

The defector who received the North Korean factory worker’s phone call in South Korea may have been working for the South Korean government.

For more information, please see:

Eurasia Review – North Korea Cracks Down on Mobile Phones – 20 February 2010

The Press Associated – Korean executed for ‘illegal’ phone – 4 March 2010

Toronto Star – N. Korean man executed for cell phone call – 4 March 2010

Yemen Arrests 11 Al Qaeda Suspects

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’NA, Yemen – Yemeni security forces have arrested eleven men suspected of links to Al-Qaeda in a house raid in the capital Sa’na.

In a statement, Yemen’s interior ministry said that the men were arrested while meeting in the family home of one of the suspects.

The father of one of the suspects was killed when he reportedly opened fire on police during the raid.

Yemeni authorities have threatened punishment for people who harbor suspected terrorists. The warnings are part of a crackdown on alleged al Qaeda hideouts since the attempted bombing of an American airliner in December, according to SABA.

The U.S. has become increasingly worried about militants based in Yemen since al-Qaida groups there and in Saudi Arabia merged last year to become al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The group organized a failed attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas day in Detroit with a bomber smuggling exposives in his underwear.

The suspect in the failed attack, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, spent time in Yemen and is said to have acquired the explosive device from someone in that country. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the plot.

The Obama administration has recognized the risks posed by Yemen becoming a failed state and voiced support in its struggles against terrorism.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also has pressed Yemen to implement key reforms and shore up its faltering economy. “Yemen’s challenges are not going to be solved by military action alone,” she said at a recent meeting of Western powers and Arab nations. “Progress against violent extremists and progress toward a better future for the Yemeni people … will also depend on fortifying development efforts.”

For More Information, Please See:

BBC – Yemen Arrests Al-Qaeda Suspects – March 4 2010

Al-Bawaba – Yemen: Al-Qaeda Suspects Arrested – March 4 2010

AP – Yemen: Police Arrest Suspected Al-Qaeda Members – March 4 2010

CNN – Report: Yemen Arrests 11 Terrorism Suspects – March 4 2010

Turkey Recalls U.S. Ambassador

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ANKARA, Turkey– The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution that described the mass murders of Armenians during World War I as the “Armenian Genocide.”

The 23-22 vote sends the measure to the full House of Representatives, where prospects for passage are uncertain.

The Prime Minister’s office in Turkey released a written statement which said “we condemn this resolution accusing Turkey of a crime that it had not committed.  Our Ambassador to Washington Namik Tan was recalled tonight to Ankara for consultations after the development.”

The non-binding resolution calls on President Obama to ensure that U.S. foreign policy reflect an understanding of the genocide and to label the mass killings as such in his annual statement on the issue.  The U.S. has time and again condemned the mass killings of Armenians which took place from 1915-1918, but they have always refrained from calling them a genocide.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would assess what measures it would take, adding that the issue was a matter of “honor” for his country.

“The picture shows that the U.S. administration did not put enough weight behind the issue,” Davutoglu told reporters.  “We are seriously disturbed by the result.  We expect the U.S. administration to, as of now, display more effective efforts. Otherwise the picture ahead will not be a positive one,” he said. He complained of a lack of “strategic vision” in Washington.

The resolution comes at a time when Washington is expected to press Turkey to back sanctions sought against Iran by the U.N. Security Council.  Turkey currently holds a seat on the council.  Turkey’s cooperation is also important to U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The genocide issue is one of a number of obstacles preventing Turkey from acquiring membership in the European Union.  Turkey has been trying to block similar genocide bills in parliaments across the globe.

For more information, please see:

The Associated Press- Turkey Warns U.S. Over Armenian Genocide Vote– 5 March 2010

Christian Science Monitor- Turkey Recalls Ambassador after U.S. Resolution on ‘Armenian Genocide’– 4 March 2010

Wall Street Journal- Genocide Vote Riles Turkey– 4 March 2010

Birth Defects In Fallujah On The Rise

By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

FALLUJAH, Iraq – On March 4 doctors in the Iraqi city of Fallujah reported an usually high level of birth defects.  This has led to some individuals blaming the US and the weapons used by their forces while fighting opposition forces. Fallujah witnessed a great amount of violence in 2004 when US forces carried a major offensive against insurgents who had taken hold in the city. The US military responded to the doctors by saying that they were unaware of any official reports being released.

Samira al-Ani of the Fallujah General Hospital explained that while no data had been documented, “(he) can tell you that year by year the number is increasing.” The BBC announced that it had received reports regarding city officials who were warning women against having children because of the increasing problems with birth defects.

The level of heart defects six years after the city experience major combat is a cause of great concern among medical professionals in Fallujah. Doctors in the city reported that the level of heart defects among newborn babies is thirteen times higher than in Europe. Some doctors in the city have reported seeing heart defect cases as many as two to three times a day. Most of the defects seen by these doctors were reportedly cardiac defects.

Other birth defects are on the rise besides those related to the heart .A correspondent for BBC reportedly saw children throughout the city who were suffering from either brain damage or paralysis. Addtionally, the correspondent reported seeing a photograph of baby who warn with three heads. An Iraqi researcher, Malik Hamdan, told the BBC that she had “seen footage of babies born with an eye in the middle of the forehead, the nose on the forehead.”

Doctors and parents in Fallujah believe that the problem with their newborns are caused by the highly sophisticated weapons used by US forces in the city six years ago. During the assault on Fallujah during the height of the insurgency, US forces used white phosphorus munitions and allegedly used depleted uranium shells. US military forces said that while public health is a great concern, they were unaware of the number of birth defects in Fallujah.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Fallujah Doctors Report rise in Birth Defects – 4 March 2010

Telegraph – Birth Defects in Fallujah Children ‘On The Rise’ Since US Invasion – 4 March 2010

UPI – Report: Birth Defects Soar in Fallujah – 4 March 2010

U.S. Plans to Hand Bagram Over to Afghanistan

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BAGRAM, Afghanistan – The US recently released a statement divulging a definite plan to relinquish its absolute military control over the Bagram air-base.  Although both Afghan and US officials acknowledge that the process will entail some convoluted technicalities, there seems to be a mutual promise of greater transparency and humane practices regarding the treatment of inmates.  The US’s designs to give up full control of Bagram over seems to be part fulfillment of the Obama administration’s statement made in the late months of 2009 regarding openness in procedures in the miltary prison.

Both the US and Afghanistan agree that the US will retain some degree of functioning in the operation of Bagram, but the prison will be ultimately under the rule of Afghanistan.  Both governments aspire to create a situation in which Afghanistan can fully oversee Bagram’s operations by January 2011.

Bagram air-base currently holds approximately 750 inmates, about 30 among them being foreign nationals.  The prison was also significantly renovated in the 2009, expanded to accommodate over 1,100 inmates and a larger military presence within the walls of the complex itself.  The Obama administration’s promise of greater transparency regarding the treatment of inmates was delivered soon after the completion of the Bagram renovation project.

Although the Afghan government’s control over the air-base turned prison could signify a progressive step towards more humane practices, Bagram’s notoriety could continue to attract criticism and the scrutiny of the international community.  The prison has drawn inevitable comparisons to Guantanamo Bay, and human rights groups have even stated that the conditions and treatment of prisoners in Bagram is actually worse.  Prisoners have actually complained that they have been afforded less civil rights than the inmates in Guantanamo.

Numerous investigations into the conditions and practices and Bagram have been conducted to confirm the mistreatment of inmates.  Many of the inmates were taken from nations surrounding Afghanistan and transported to the prison without knowing the reason for their detention.  Also, in 2002, two inmates died in Bagram and investigations revealed that they had been subject to sleep deprivation and severe beatings.  Other rights violations in the prison include the confirmed detention of inmates under the age of sixteen, subject to the same harsh treatment as all other inmates.

The Afghan control over Bagram could be an opportunity to protect the rights of prisoners and maintain a more transparent mode of operations within the facility.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – US unveils Bagram handover plan – 27 February 2010

Current.com – US Signs Agreement to Hand Over Bagram Military Prison to Afghanistan – 11 January 2010

Xinhua – US to hand over detention center to Afghan gov’t – 11 January 2010