Fatah Admits Torturing Hamas Prisoners As It Pushes For Reconciliation Deal

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad impliedly admitted in a report released on January 3 that forces in the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, had tortured Hamas detainees for the past two years. The Associated Press reported that most of the torture in West Bank prisons had ended by October 2009.

 

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is predominated by members of the Fatah Party, while the Gaza Strip is ruled by the PA’s rival party—Hamas. In his statement on January 3, Prime Minister Fayyad said that there was a “dramatic change for the better” in West Bank prisons, and that forty-three prison officers had been jailed, fired, or demoted for torturing inmates. Fayyad claimed that torture was never an official policy of the PA, but rather were the product of a “flawed culture of revenge.” According to the Associated Press, some Hamas prisoners were beaten so badly at the hands of PA officers that eight detainees have died in West Bank prisons since 2007. The AP report drew on interviews with both PA officials and Hamas inmates.

 

There has been long-standing animosity between the two parties, often triggering retaliation and violence between members of the two Palestinian parties; Fayyad’s statement was also the first time that the PA has admitted that Hamas prisoners are arrested on their political affiliation alone. Fayyad’s cabinet issued a supporting statement, expressing its commitment to reforming the PA prison system.

 

The PA announcement comes as Fatah and Hamas continue to work toward a reconciliation agreement. Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip after a violence coup in 2007, and has been at odds with the PA ever since. In the last months of 2009, Egypt attempted to broker a deal between the two parties, and sources inside the negotiations have said the two sides are close to a deal. Saudi officials are also reportedly involved in reconciliation negotiations. The reported deal would require Palestinian elections be held in June 2010 in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Current Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had earlier announced that he would not seek reelection from the June ballot.

 

For more information, please see:

 

Jerusalem Post – Hamas: Torture Ends in PA Jails – 4 January 2010

 

Ma’an News Agency – Fayyad Concedes PA Tortured Hamas Detainees – 4 January 2010

 

Al Jazeera – Palestinian Reconciliation “Close” – 3 January 2010

 

Ha’aretz – Fatah to Hamas: Want to Reconcile? Sign Deal – 3 January 2010

Western Countries Consider Battling Terror in Yemen

By Nykoel Dinardo
Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen – On January 4, France became the third country to close its embassy in Yemen in two weeks.  The French Foreign Minister explained the closing, saying that their “ambassador decided on January 3 not to authorize public access to the diplomatic mission until further notice.”  Following the attempted bombing on Christmas Day, the U.S. and British embassies have also closed.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP], a Yemen-based branch of the terrorist organization, claimed the attack and continues to make threats.  According to AQAM, Umar Farouk Abdulmullatab, the 23-year-old Nigerian man involved in the attack, received his materials and instruction from AQAM when he was in Yemen.  Abdulmullatab spent several months in Yemen in 2009; he claimed to be there to study Arabic.

John Brennan, a U.S. counterterrorism official, gave a statement to CNN saying that there are “indications that [AQAM] is planning an attack against a target in Sana’a.” 

Concern about Yemen’s effect on the region, as well as the rest of the world, continues to be echoed in the statements of other U.S. politicians as well.  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters on January 4 that “the instability in Yemen is a threat to regional stability and even global stability.”  Clinton explained that the U.S. is working closely with other countries to try to determine the best approach. 

Brian Whitaker, in an article in the U.K.’s Guardian, suggests that the best approach does not involve the Yemeni Government.  Whitaker goes on to suggest that the U.K. and the U.S. should focus on aid to the people of Yemen, particularly those affected by the conflict between the Huthi rebels.  An article in Al Jazeera reinforces the desire for a non-military solution in the region.  Arguing that military action in Yemen will reflect the U.S. offensive in Somalia in the early 1990s, the article goes on to say that military action “will aggravate a fragile state of Yemen into a failing state.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Yemen, The Joke is On You… – 5 January 2010

AFP – Yemen Instability Threatens Regional Stability: Clinton – 4 January 2010

CNN – Yemen Fertile Ground for Terror Groups – 4 January 2010

Guardian – Help Yemen, Not It’s Government – 4 January 2010

Financial Times – Third Western Embassy Closes in Yemen – 3 January 2010

Victims Speak Out About Khmer Rouge Pain

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia– Three decades have passed since the Khmer Rouge caused the deaths of as many as two million Cambodians. Despite the long-awaited, and much-delayed, Khmer Rouge tribunal, many survivors and families of victims are beginning to speak out against the lack of justice, even though for the first time at an international criminal tribunal, victims have been represented as well as the defense and prosecutors.

Chem Mey, a 78-year old survivor, commented that he, “lost my family,” and that the regime “killed my children and my wife. Nobody had rights or freedom then. That’s why now I want to find justice – for the victims and the younger generation.” The former mechanic not only lost his family to the Khmer Rouge, he also suffered torture and beatings at the notorious S-21 detention center in Phnom Penh. At least 14,000 inmates passed through the tiny cells of Phnom Penh and torture chambers in the late 1970s; and Chum Mey is one of only three confirmed, living survivors.

At the tribunal, along with almost a hundred other people, Chum Mey was accepted as a civil party in the trial of the man who ran S-21, Kaing Guek Eav, commonly referred to as Comrade Duch.

After closing statements in November, civil parties like Chum Mey felt that their rights to speak and question witnesses had been restricted. Lawyers of many civil parties complained that little interest was shown in their testimony. According to one civil party lawyer, Silke Studzinsky, “They felt that the trial chamber was not very receptive to their sufferings.” She went on to say that “This left for them the impression that the trial chamber was rather uninterested in their stories.” Despite the frustration, various local and international lawyers worked with several different groups of victims through the closing statements, but there seemed to be little coordination among them.

Although it is too late to impact the trial of Duch, a second trial, believed unlikely to start until the middle of 2011 is expected to take a different approach to give voice to victims such as Chum Mey. Instead of a myriad of lawyers, there will be one lead counsel for the civil parties to mirror the approach taken by the prosecution and defense.

For more information, please see:

BBC World News – Khmer Rouge survivors feel justice denied -January 4, 2010

Earth Times – Historic Khmer Rouge tribunal has lessons for the world – December 13, 2009

Phnom Penh Post – Genocide charges laid at KRT – December 17, 2009

Several Foreigners Among Detainees in Iran

By Nykoel Dinardo
Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – The Iran State Media released information that several foreigners were detained during violent protests in December 2009. 

A video of the clashes with police posted to the internet.  Courtesy of YouTube.com.

In a speech made on state television, Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi told the people of Iran that several foreigners had been arrested during the protests.  He went on to explain that these detainees are suspected of “pursuing propoganda and psychological warfare” against the government of Iran.  Several of the foreigners had arrived in Iran only two days before the protests; Moslehi explained that their belongings, including cameras and equipment, have been seized. 

Moslehi did not specify an exact number of foreigners seized, only that several were detained.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic News Agency, an state-run Iranian company, released a report on January 4 that accuses sixty-two American and European institutes and foundations of assisting with the political disturbances following the Iranian presidential election in 2009.  The report accused these foundations and institutes of participating in false “public diplomacy” and “media diplomacy,” while creating a “soft war” against the government of Iran. 

The report named several of the accused institutions, including the Woodrow Wilson Center, Freedom House Charities, the Hoover Institute of Stanford University, Yale University and all affiliated centers and programs, and Human Rights Watch.  According to a statement by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Information, cooperation with these organizations is considered contrary to the Holy Islamic Republic.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Foreign Nationals Among Protest Detainees, Says Iran – 4 January 2010

Al Jazeera – Foreigners ‘Among Iran Arrests’ – 4 January 2010

Islamic Republic News Agency – نقش 62 بنياد و موسسه امريکايي و اروپايي در ايجاد اغتشاشات پس از انتخابات (The Role of 62 American and European Institutes and Foundations in Creating Disturbances After the Election)[Available in Farsi only] – 4 January 2010

Reuters Canada – Iran Says Several Foreigners Arrested in Protests – 4 January 2010

YouTube – نبرد تن به تن و نفس گیر مردم با گارد ویژه – عاشورا (Video of Protests on Ashura) – 30 December 2009

Turkey Vows Changes in 2010

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ANKARA, Turkey– Recently, critics across the globe have said that Turkey is drifting away from the West in its foreign policy.  In response, Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, predicts a strong Turkey in 2010 by which the country will have a 360-degree view of the globe from Ankara.

Davutoglu expects a very strong Turkey in the upcoming year.  “Turkey’s foreign policy has three main principles: it is vision oriented, not crisis oriented; it is proactive, not reactive; and it is integrated and systematic beyond just a single axis,” said Davutoglu last week during his last press conference of 2009.

In further explaining his visions for the coming year, Davutoglu foresees an EU-member Turkey that is able to spread peace to its neighboring countries in addition to becoming one of the ten most influential countries in the world.

To that end, Davutoglu said there was no room for terror and human rights violations in that vision.  “Freedoms and security should not be set against one another.  The two are valuable once they are both together.  The more the sphere of democracy gets wider, the less the sphere terrorism covers,” said Davutoglu.

In meeting that vision, Turkey’s foreign policy will act quickly in the New Year.  Davutoglu is traveling to Saudi Arabia this week to discuss Turkish foreign policy.  In addition, all of Turkey’s ambassadors throughout the world will convene in Ankara the first week of January to discuss all aspects of the country’s foreign policy.  This meeting, titled “Democracy, Security and Stability: Outlook for 2010 in the World and in Turkish Foreign Policy,” is a full scale attempt by the government in Ankara to generate solutions to problems in the twenty-first century.

Despite their promises to spread peace in the region, Turkey’s recent moves have raised fear among rivals in the region and those in the West because the move comes after years of Turkey ignoring those in the region and so their newfound motive is being questioned.

For more information, please see:

Hurriyet Daily News- Turkish Foreign Minister Meets with Saudi King– 3 January 2010

Hurriyet Daily News- Foreign Minister Vows a Stronger Turkey in 2010– 31 December 2009

Sunday’s Zaman- A Stronger Turkey Means More Rivals in the Region– 13 December 2009