Guinea to Probe Violence Against Protestors

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

CONAKRY, Guinea – On September 28 soldiers opened fire on a crowd of protesters and raped and sexually assaulted some of them.

In December military coup leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara took over the government of Guinea when former President Lansana Conte passed away.  Protesters were demonstrating against the government’s decision to cancel its presidential elections.  The elections were originally supposed to be held this year and were postponed until January.

The Guinea government lists that 56 people have been killed but human rights officials list the number drastically higher, at 157.

The government has announced that it will launch an independent inquiry into the killings of protesters at the opposition rally.  Captain Camara has set up this commission in response to the international community, political opponents, and local human rights groups call for prosecution of those responsible for the killings.  The commission is to include members of human rights organizations, trade unions, political parties, civil society groups, the ruling military council, and lawyers, judges, and university professors.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), along with the United Nations and the African Union will be organizing a regional investigation.  Human Rights Watch (HRW) supports both ECOWAS’ efforts as well as the government’s efforts to investigate these crimes.

“You could have up to 150 or even more murders of mostly peaceful demonstrators.  Not to mention the horrific sexual abuse that happened against an unknown number of women and other abuses that were happening including theft and looting and so on.  This was done by all accounts by members of the security forces.  They need to be held accountable,” said Corinne Dufka, head of HRW operations in West Africa.

The top Human Rights official in the UN is concerned over the risks that launching an investigation into the killings could pose to Guineans.  UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay is considering an investigation into the security and political situation in Guinea.  She is concerned for the safety of those Guineans who were witnesses and may provide information about the violent suppression.

An investigation by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights depends largely on cooperation by Guinean authorities.  For now, Pillay is gathering information and considering possible formats of a probe.

For more information, please see:

UN News Centre – Guniea: UN  Official Fears for Witnesses’ Safety in Probe into Killing of Protesters – 09 October 2009

AP – Guinea’s Leader to Set Up Independent Inquiry – 08 October 2009

Reuters – Tensions in Guinea Junta as Isolation Grows – 08 October 2009

VOA – Guinea Military Announces Investigation into Killing of Protesters – 08 October 2009

NY Times – U.S. Envoy Protests Violence in Guinea – 06 October 2009

Impunity Watch – Guinea Security Forces Kill 9 During Protest – 28 September 2009

Belarus Restricts Political Party Membership Among Soldiers

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MINSK, Belarus – Under a recently passed law it will now be illegal for any member of the Belarusian military to be a member of a political party.

The new statute was passed by the parliament of Belarus on October 8.  The nation’s Defense Minister noted that “without doubt, one in active military service must suspend his activities in political parties since the moment of call-up and till the end of the service.”  In the future any soldier who refuses to surrender their membership will be subject to penalties.

Critics say that the law was passed as a way to silence political oppositions leaders already in the military and draft leaders of political opposition movements into the military, thereby at least temporarily removing them from the nation’s political atmosphere.  In the past the military had opted not to draft political opponents.

The new law also contains a provision that bans soldiers from participating in strikes during their service and increasing existing restrictions on soldiers’ traveling.  Soldiers were already prohibited from joining general public organizations that had political aims.

One of those activists who have been affected by Belarus’s recent crackdown on opposition leaders is Andrei Tsyanyuta.  Tsyanyuta recently appeared in district trial for “failing to appear in the military enlistment.”  Andrei claims that despite being a university student, he has been unable to receive a deferment.  He claims that his political activities caused him to lose his status as a student.

For more information, please see:

DEMOCRATIC BELARUS – Belarusian Soldiers To Be Punished For Political Party Membership – 9 October 2009

RFL – Belarusian Soldiers To Be Punished For Political Party Membership – 9 October 2009

NAVINY – Conscript soldiers to face penalties for political activities – 9 October 2009

HUMAN RIGHTS CENTER – Soldiers will be punished for membership in political parties? – 8 October 2009

CHAPTER 97 – Oppositionist Andrei Tsyanyuta to stand trial for nonappearance in military enlistment office – 25 August 2009

India Embassy Hit by Afghan Bomb

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KABUL, India– A Taliban suicide bomber has struck the Indian embassy in Kabul, with at least 17 dying in the second attack the building has suffered in little over a year.  Kabul has been attacked regularly in recent months, and the previous bombing occurring in July 2008, where dozens of people were killed. 

Officials say a car bomber blew himself up near the Indian embassy and the Afghan interior ministry.  The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack and state that the embassy was the target.  Insurgent militants would like to force India to decrease their influence in Afghanistan, where the government is spending $1.2 billion on projects supporting the U.S. backed- government’s development drive, important to gaining popular support.

Nirupama Rao, India’s Foreign Secretary said the suicide bomber “came up to the outside wall of the embassy with a car loaded with explosives”.  Habib Jan, an eyewitness said the victims were civilians, “A [Toyota] Corolla car was parked in front of the Indian embassy.  It was rush hour, about 10 minutes after I arrived at the office when we heard an explosion.  There were lots of workers cleaning the street – most of them have been killed.”

The bombing comes at a critical time.  President Obama is deciding whether to increase the number of troops, as Gen. Stanley McChrystal has advised.

The American Embassy has condemned the attack.  In a statement it said “There is no justification for this kind of senseless violence,”  Most the people killed were ordinary Afghans, with many of them being Merchants working at a market that had been refurbished in the last few months.

Muhibullah, a merchant in the market, said the blast so powerful he felt it in his chest.  Mr. Muhibullah said he had hoped that security had improved when city authorities reopened the road in front of his shop.  But now as a result wants to move

Edrees Kakar, an office worker stated that the bomb attacks are happening so frequently that people are no longer feeling safe.  “People are leaving their homes less and less.  We are frustrated and feel we are not getting sufficient help from the international community.”

For more information, please see:

BBC NEWS- Afghan Bomb Strikes India Embassy – 8 October 2009

The New York Times- 17 Die in Kabul Bomb Attack– 8 October 2009

Reuters- Kabul Bomb Likely Aimed to Influence US Afghan Policy– 9 October 2009

The Times of India- ‘India Will Take All Steps To Protect Its Citizens’– 9 October 2009

Child Protection Campaign Launched in the DRC

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, DR Congo – The United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has launched a child protection campaign in a war-ravaged eastern province of the African nation.  The UN mission, known by its French acronym as MONUC, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and local authorities expect the initiative, focused in north-eastern Oriental province, to sensitize the public to the rights of children and create a protective environment for them.

Using various media outlets, the campaign plans to flood the public with broadcast and published messages on children’s rights until 20 November, marking Universal Children’s Day. MONUC began the campaign yesterday in the city of Kisangani with a two-day sensitization session for 30 journalists on the rights of the child under international and national law. At the session’s opening of the mission’s interim Bureau Chief in Kisangani, Idrissa Ba, expressed concern over continuing attacks on children’s rights in Oriental province.

The Lord’s Resistance Army, led by international fugitive Joseph Kony is notorious for abducting girls and boys to use as sex slaves and soldiers respectively. The attacks also include ransacking homes, churches and health facilities; stealing food, and killing innocent civilians. These successive and constant attacks have caused widespread panic and fear as thousands remain stranded and even more vulnerable to future attacks.

In March, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that in a six month period, almost 1,000 Congolese had been murdered by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and some 750 abducted. The vast majority of those 750 children, were reportedly forced into combat or utilized as sex slaves. Idrissa Ba underscored the importance of the targeting the media in the campaign, saying that journalists “are capable of distributing messages to the general public that encourage the development of attitudes and behaviors favorable to the respect of children’s rights.” The initiative includes several other sensitization training and workshop sessions for different civil society groups, and will end next month with organized exhibitions and activities with and for children.
For more information, please see:

All Africa – UN Mission in DR Congo Launches Child Protection Campaign in Strife-Ridden Province – 8 October 2009

World News Report – UN Mission for Child Protection in the Congo – 8 October 2009

UN News Center-UN mission in DR Congo launches child protection campaign in strife-ridden province – 8 October 2009

Newstime Africa – Ugandan Rebel Group, LRA, Expands Its Terror Campaign – 28 August 2009

Charges of abuse accompany release of Iranian dissidents

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – On October 7, Iraqi officials released thirty-six Iranian dissidents after they spent four months in jail. The thirty-six dissidents are members of an exiled opposition group called the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI). They were originally arrested in July during a raid on Camp Ashraf in which between seven and eleven members of the PMOI were killed. The newly released prisoners claim that they were tortured while they were the Iraqi prison.  They further claim that they are now in ill health.

The PMOI is considered a terrorist organization by both the United States andIran. The organization made its name after the Iranian Revolution of 1979 where it opposed the new regime that took control of the country. PMOI’s opposition of the Islamic Republic was violent and lead to their exile from Iran. They were welcomed into Iraq by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein where they set up their operation at Camp Ashraf. The group surrendered to U.S. forces after the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The siege of Camp Ashraf came after the U.S. gave up control of the camp to the Iraqi military.  After the dissidents were taken, friends and relatives of the prisoners protested constantly outside of the U.S. embassy in London. They claimed that the U.S. needed to take responsibility for the plight of detained PMOI members.

The leaders of the PMOI called for a hunger strike in support of the members being held in an Iraqi prison. The dissidents were released from prison after a seventy-two day strike. The prisoners were returned by the Camp Ashraf which remains under the control of Iraqi officials. Upon arrival to the camp, the released prisoners were taken to the medical facility for treatment.

The political wing of the PMOI in Iran is the National Council Resistance of Iran. The political group claimed that a number of orders were made by Iraqi courts requiring that the thirty-six dissidents be released. They claim that Iraqi officials refused to honor these court orders. The officials reportedly justified their behavior by claiming that the PMOI members had entered Iraq illegally.

For more information, please see:

Al Arabiya – Iraq Frees 36 Iranians Captured In Deadly Raid – 7 October 2009

BBC – Iraq Release Iranian Dissidents – 7 October 2009

Times-Series – Hunger Strikers End Fast, Claiming ‘Huge Victory For Humanity’– 7 October 2009

UPI – Iraq Releases Iranian Dissidents – 7 October 2009