Lebanon Indicts Militants for Plotting Terrorist Attacks

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon– On Wednesday, a Lebanese military judge indicted 11 suspected members of an al-Qaeda inspired group with plotting terrorist attacks and monitoring U.N. peacekeeper movements, judicial officials said.

Military judge Samih Hajj charged the men with planning bombings against civilian targets and undermining the state.  A judicial source requesting anonymity told reporters that “Judge al-Hajj charged 11 suspected members of Fatah-al-Islam with forming an armed gang, spying on the army and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) troops (in southern Lebanon), and forging ID papers.”

If convicted, they could face the death penalty.  Among those charged, six are in custody while five still remain at large.  Two of the individuals who remain at large are Abdul Rahman Awad and Abdul Ghani Jawar, two Fatah al-Islam members accused of a deadly 2008 bus bombing in the northern city of Tripoli which killed 18 people, mostly soldiers.

Dozens of al-Qaeda inspired militants have been captured and charged in Lebanon during recent years.  The majority of those individuals are from the Fatah al-Islam group that fought a bloody three month battle against the Lebanese army in the summer of 2007 in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared near Tripoli.

The fighting killed more than 400 people including some 200 militants, 170 soldiers and 47 civilians.  In addition, close to 30,000 refugees were displaced after the camp was leveled during the fighting.

In June 2007, six peacekeepers of the UNIFIL were killed by a bombing in southern Lebanon while the Nahr al-Bared clashes raged.  At the time, Lebanese officials pointed the finger at Fatah al-Islam for the incident.

Since the Nahr al-Bared battle, there has been widespread speculation that the group has switched its base to the highly volatile Palestinian camp of Ain al-Hilweh in southern Lebanon.  Lebanese officials believe that Awad, who has been termed the “prince of Fatah al-Islam,” is holed up at Ain al-Hilweh, the largest of Lebanon’s 12 Palestinian camps.  However, because of longstanding agreement, the Lebanese army does not enter the camps, leaving security inside to Palestinian sanctions.

For more information, please see:

AFP- Lebanon Charges al Qaeda Linked Suspects with Spying– 17 February 2010

Reuters- Death Penalty Sought for Qaeda Suspects in Lebanon– 17 February 2010

The Wall Street Journal- Lebanon Charges 11 for Plotting Terrorist Attacks– 17 February 2010

Resistance Towards UN Sanctions Against Eritrea

By Jonathan Ambaye
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa Desk

ASMARA, Eritrea -In light of sanctions imposed on Eritrea by the United Nations Security Council, much blame is being put on the United States government for influencing the Council to push their own agenda. Eritrean media outlets are claiming that the sanctions that came in December after the U.N. Security Council Accused Eritrea of providing funds and weapons to Islamist insurgents in Somalia where violence has killed 21,000 people since 2007. The decision was supported by 13 of 15 council members and was designed to target Eritrea’s leadership, imposing an arms embargo as well as asset freezes and travel bans on individuals and firms to be designated by an existing sanctions committee.

These sanctions are believed to have been a part of a conspiracy “masterminded by United States intelligence agencies, especially the CIA,” said President Isaias Afwerki.  Protests  against the recent sanctions are being planned by the Eritrean Diaspora in the U.S.  to take place in Washington D.C.  at the White House.  The Eritrean government has responded to these protests by saying that they are not involved in any way with the planning or execution of the protest. “to the contrary, it is the people who arose spontaneously when they heard about this unjust sanction. Actually, young women, men, elders, and even children were very angry because they’ve been victimized for the second time. So, it was absolutely popular appraisal against the unjust resolution. This resolution is not only targeting Eritreans, it is targeting the Horn of Africa entirely,” said an Eritrean official.

The official also went on to explain the sanctions were not justified because the Council had no way of proving Ertitrea’s complicitiy in the ongoing security instability in Somalia. The official further said, “United Nations had nothing to do when member states were asking about the evidence. Some of them were blackmailed and some of them were silenced. Until today, there has been no proof that has come out from the U.N. and people are asking where is the proof? Where is the beef? Because no proof was submitted against Eritrea.”

For more information please see:

Reuters – Eritrean Media Blames US For UN Sanctions – 17 February 2010

Reuters – Eritrean Rebels Say Killed 17 Intelligence Agents – 18 February 2010

VOA – Eritrea Official Denies Asmara’s Involvement in Organizing Protest Against UN – 17 February 2010

Toronto Woman Awarded $25,000 for Racial Discrimination

By William Miller

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

TORONTO, Canada – A Toronto woman was awarded $25,000 by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for racial abuse she suffered at the hands of her former employer. Cheryl Khan, a former employee at Lynx Trucking Transportation brought the suit claiming she was subjected to repeated racial slurs by the owner of the company Lynn Tompkins

Khan is a thirty-six year old single mother with two sons ages seven and fourteen. She was hired by Lynx Trucking and Transportation in 2007.

Khan, along with several other Lynx employees testified in front of the Human Rights Tribunal that during her employment Tompkins repeatedly referred to her as a “Paki.” Khan further testified that Tompkins would often refer to Khans two sons as “half nigger babies” and repeatedly told her “that’s what you get for sleeping with a black man.”

Khan also said that she was not the only person of South Asian decent to be ridiculed by Tompkins. Tompkins would often refer to truck drivers as stupid immigrants and would often ask if there were any good white people he could hire.

Khan’s employment with Lynx ended on January 30 after she took two days off to take care of her youngest son who had been hospitalized because doctors feared he might have liver cancer. After being fired Khan filed a Human Rights complaint.

Earlier this month Adjudicator Eric Whist found for Khan. In a written opinion Whist said “”Having weighed the evidence before me I find, on a balance (of) probabilities, that (Tompkins) did repeatedly use the terms “Paki” and “nigger” as well as making other offensive comments to the applicant that he knew would be unwelcome.”

Whist ordered Tompkins to pay Khan $25,000 for discrimination as well as $6,750 in lost wages. He further ordered Tompkins to create an anti harassment policy and to undergo sensitivity training.

Khan has since found new employment. Tompkins maintains his innocence and says that while he may have been a tough employer who yelled from time to time he never used racial slurs.

For more information, Please see:

Rediff – Canadian Employer Fined $25,000 for Racial Slur – 18 February 2010

Toronto Star – Racist Taunts Cost Boss $25000 – 17 Feb 2010

Vancouver Sun – Toronto Woman Awarded $25,000 After Boss Used Racial Epithets – 17 February 2010

UN’s Nuclear Watchdog Worried about Iran

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

VIENNA, Austria – On February 18 the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations, announced that they were concerned that Iran was working on a nuclear warhead. The IAEA, based in Vienna, has been investigating for a number of years reports claiming that the Islamic Republic was involved in weapons research. Based on the UN’s announcement, the United States has voiced renewed concern in Iran’s nuclear program.
The report was prepared by the thirty five members of the IAEA. The chief of the agency, Yukiya Amano, explained that “the information available to the agency…raises concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile.” The report differs greatly from a US report that said that Iran had suspended such activities in 2003.
Iran continues to deny any interest in developing nuclear weapons. However, the report suggests that Iran’s continual attempts to avoid agency probes for signs of a cover-up “give rise to concerns about possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program.” Additionally, the report suggest that intelligence supplied by the United States and other IAEA member states on Iran’s attempts to mask their activity under the guise of a civilian program in order to move towards a weapons program was compelling.
The report was the first by Yukiya Amano and appears to be more directly critical than those prepared by his predecessor, Mohammed El Baradei. It will be put forth to the governing body at a March 15. The report also reiterated evidence that Iran appeared to have tested ways of detonating weapons. It also described the escalating steps taken by Iran, including enrichment to twenty percent, its acknowledgement of an enrichment plant in Qom, its effort to metalize uranium and Iran’s rejection of a plan to enrich uranium outside the country.
The IAEA report calls for Iran to cooperate with IAEA investigators “without further delay.” Iran’s resistance has added to concerns “about possible military dimensions” in the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
For more information, please see:
 
BBC – Iran Nuclear Missile Fear Raised by UN Report – 18 February 2010
New York Times – IAEA Suspects Iranian Weapons Nuclear Weapons Activity – 18 February 2010

U.N.: Israeli Blockade on Gaza Tightening

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza – The United Nations released a report on February 17 saying that Israel has tightened its blockade on the Gaza Strip, and reiterated its call for Israel to immediately open the territory to allow much-needed humanitarian supplies into Gaza.  The U.N. document was the latest in a string of calls from humanitarian groups both in and outside of Gaza, claiming that conditions in the Gaza Strip are worsening as the cost of shipping supplies into Gaza has skyrocketed.

Israel began its blockade on Gaza three years ago, after the Islamist party Hamas was voted into office in the Gaza legislature, ousting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party.  Israel has refused to recognize the Hamas government or any official contact with the government in Gaza.  The blockade became noticeably tighter after the Israeli military’s Operation Cast Lead during the winter of 2008-2009.  Since the end of open hostilities in January 2009, Israel has allowed minimal shipments into Gaza for food, medicines, and other basic necessities. 

But critics have claimed that the trickle of supplies is insufficient to meet the needs of those living in Gaza.  Operation Cast Lead destroyed or damaged fifteen of Gaza’s twenty-seven hospitals, as well as forty-three of Gaza’s one hundred-ten health-care facilities.  The offensive flattened much of the Gaza infrastructure, and Gazans have been unable to get construction supplies through the blockade.  The blockade also extends out to sea, as Gazan fishermen have been limited to only a few square miles of their once-expansive fishing grounds, leaving that portion of the Mediterranean Sea almost completely empty of fish.

Additionally, the Gaza Energy Authority, the sole energy supplier in Gaza, announced on February 13 that it was unable to get ample fuel through the blockade and was uncertain whether it would be able to continue supplying energy for more than the next twenty-four hours.  As it released its statement, it had already shut down a generator and its output was at fifty percent.

Gazan health organizations also reported that 386 Gazans have died as a result of the blockade so far.  The assembly of health unions in Gaza told journalists on February 18 that several Palestinian children have died of suffocation because of malfunctioning power generators.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeerah – Health Unions Warn of Israeli Blockade Impacts on Lives of Gaza Patients – 18 February 2010

Zee News – Israel Blocks Gaza Strip Further:  United Nations – 18 February 2010

UN News Centre – Israel Tightens Vice on Gaza Strip, UN Reports – 17 February 2010

Digital Journal – Gaza Pleads for an End to the Israeli Blockade of Fuel Supplies – 13 February 2010