Date Set For Inspection of Iranian Nuclear Plant

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – On October 25, Iran’s newly disclosed Qom uranium enrichment plant will be inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The decision was announced by the head of the United Nations nuclear agency, Mohamed El Baradei. El Baradei emphasized the importance of the inspection as a moment where the situation with Iran would shift to a level of greater transparency and cooperation. The IAEA chief also “praised Iran’s cooperation” with the UN on the issues of its new nuclear facility.

The plant is located near the holy city of Qom. This is the second plant that Iran has built to enrich uranium and isolate isotopes of the metal to generate fuel used in a nuclear power reactor. Higher concentrations of enriched uranium can be used to make bomb. The United States has long suspected that the Iran’s goal is to create a bomb.

Iran’s disclosure prior to last week’s meeting in Geneva that it was building a second nuclear enrichment facility inside a mountain in Qom caused anger throughout the world. El Baradei made it clear that it was Iran’s responsibility to inform the IAEA that it was building the enrichment plant prior to beginning construction. This is based on a 1992 IAEA statute that required immediate notification of any planned nuclear sites.

The United States government remains cautiously optimistic with Iran’s concession. U.S. National Security Advisor James Jones explained that the Obama administration is encouraged with Iran showing some level of conversation. He did emphasize, however, that the world community expects to satisfied “within a short period of time.” The U.S. officials contend that Iran’s goal was to delay informing the IAEA of the new plant in order to deceive inspectors about a possible nuclear weapons program.

Prior to the IAEA’s inspection of the new Qom plant there will be a meeting between Iran and a number of countries, including the United States. The meeting will take place on October 19 and will be a discussion regarding the direction of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman emphasized that the nation’s nuclear program was peaceful, but explained the country would not be offering any guarantees.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Iran Vows ‘Positive’ Approach To Nuclear Talks – 5 October 2009

Los Angeles Time – Iran Sets Date For Inspection Of Nuclear Plant – 5 October 2009

Al Jazeera – IAEA Sets Iran Inspection Date – 4 October 2009

Bloomberg – Iran Inspection Set For Oct. 25, UN Atomic Chief Says – 4 October 2009

Italian Court To Review Prime Minister Immunity Law

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

ROME, Italy – The Constitutional Court in Italy began hearing arguments on Tuesday as to whether the legal immunity that was given to Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is in violation of the nation’s constitution.  The court’s final ruling could have far reaching political implications for the Prime Minister.

The law in question, also known as the Alfano Law, protects the top four national public officials, including the Prime Minister, President, and the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament, from prosecution while they hold office.  This law was passed by political supporters of the Prime Minister in the Italian parliament soon after his re-election.

Prior to the passage of the immunity laws, there were numerous legal proceedings pending against Berlusconi.  Those actions include an allegation that Berlusconi bribed a British lawyer to give false testimony to protect the Prime Minister’s business interests.  Other cases involved tax fraud, false accounting, and domestic corruption charges.  Yet another claim was concluded prior to the passage of the immunity law, where a Milan court imposed damages against Berlusconi’s family for attempting to bribe a judge.  Prosecutors in Milan and Palermo are also investigating the Prime Minister’s alleged ties to organized crime.  These legal actions will recommence if the Alfano Law is struck down.

The opponents of the immunity law allege that the law was passed with the specific intention to protect Berlusconi from looming legal entanglements.

Berlusconi has denied wrongdoing in all of the allegations against him and has expressed no intention of considering resignation in the event the immunity law is struck down.  Despite continued allegations of corruption through his term as Prime Minister, Berlusconi has maintained a domestic approval rating above 50 percent.

The 15-member Court is expected to announce its verdict within two weeks.  In the event that the Court upholds the immunity, political opponents have announced the possibility of pushing for a national referendum on the law.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Court to rule on Berlusconi’s immunity law – 6 October 2009

FINANCIAL TIMES – Italy’s top court weighs Berlusconi’s immunity – 6 October 2009

REUTERS – Italy’s top court debates Berlusconi immunity law – 6 October 2009

TELEGRAPH – Silvio Berlusconi’s lawyers: Italian PM is above the law – 9 October 2009

THE TIMES – Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi ‘could resign’ if immunity law struck down – 18 September 2009

Immense Flooding Devastates South Indian States


By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KARNATAKA, India – Monsoon rains catalyzed the worst flooding India has experienced in over 100 years on Monday.  India’s monsoon season annually leaves scores of flood victims dead and displaced, yet it has been decades since flooding as caused such immense destruction and alarm.  Between the southern states affected by the torrential rains, flooding has claimed the lives of over 270 victims and displaced more than 2.5 million people. 

Rescue workers responded expediently to the news of imminent tragedy.  Prior to the most intense flooding, relief organizations began reinforcing the embankments of the Krisha river with over 300,000 heavy sandbags to prevent the floodwater from penetrating the trade-center city of Vijaywada.  Rescuers also dropped rations and plastic sheets to the displaced population from helicopters.  In Andhra Pradesh, over a quarter-million people have been relocated to makeshift relief shelters.  Aid workers in Karnataka were able to move over 450,000 into similar temporary housing.  
 
Art.india.flooding.gi
 
While the government and relief workers have taken significant initiatives in their rescue mission, the relentless flooding in southern India carries risks and ramifications other than loss of property and life.  With so many people placed into temporary shelters, conditions at the shelters prove inadequate and resources scarce.  Displaced persons have questioned whether the government could have provided further amenities, but funds for improving the relief camps are currently insufficient.  The influx of rescued people into the makeshift shelters over the coming weeks will undoubtedly cause overcrowding issues while the government strains for the money to accommodate the homeless and rebuild the rain-ravaged cities.  Also, flooding of travel-ways has made the efficient distribution of already scant resources difficult for the government and aid workers.  

Furthermore, aid workers fear the rapid spread of water-borne disease to which hundreds of thousands of people are now vulnerable.  India must also bear the significant loss of agriculture, as the monsoon flooding submerged vast acres of corn, sugarcane, paddies, and other crucial crops.  

While the Indian government continues to calculate the monetary cost of the damage, relief workers continue to provide food and shelter to the displaced, and the military works continual rescue operations.  Though the lack of necessary funds keeps rescued persons in derisory conditions, measures are being  taken to secure the lives of the displaced.  
For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Millions homeless in India floods – 7 October 2009

CNN – Over 270 killed in India floods – 5 October 2009

Times of India – Flood water recedes, new worries surface – 6 October 2009

Yahoo! News – India floods leave 2.5 million homeless, 250 dead – 5 October 2009

Bomb Hits U.N. Building in Pakistan

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia  

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan– A suicide bomber garbed in military uniform attacked the UN World Programme offices in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital city, killing at least five people and injuring five others, according to police and U.N. officials.The interior minister of Pakistan stated that an investigation had begun into security lapses after guards had allowed the suicide bomber into the compound to go to the bathroom.

Taliban militants on Tuesday, claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing, saying that international relief work in Pakistan was not in “the interest of Muslims”.  Revenge was promised by the Pakistani Taliban for the killing of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a U.S. drone strike in August and has been behind a series of recent attacks, including an attack last week, where at least 16 people died in two suicide car bomb attacks in north-western Pakistan.

The five confirmed dead worked for the WFP and the injured were hospitalized, some of them with critical injuries.  Of the dead four were Pakistani: Abid Rehman, a senior finance assistant; Gulrukh Tahir, a receptionist; Farzana Barkat, an office assistant; and Mohammed Wahab, a finance assistant. The fifth was Botan Ahmed Ali al-Hayawi, an Iraqi information and communication technology officer.

“All of the victims were humanitarian heroes working on the front lines of hunger in a country where WFP food assistance is providing a lifeline to millions,” the agency’s executive director, Josette Sheeran, said in a statement.  “This is a tragedy—not just for WFP—but for the whole humanitarian community and for the hungry.”

This was an unwanted reminder that their capital remains vulnerable to attack, and is further proof that militants can cause harm in the face of heightened security precautions and ongoing army operations.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the attack would not “slacken the resolve” of Pakistan’s efforts in battling the Taliban.  He said: “The operations that we carried out against them in Swat, North Waziristan and South Waziristan have broken their back. They are like a wounded snake.”

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the blast, stating, “Pakistan will not be deterred in its efforts to fight extremism and terrorism and will continue its quest to bring peace by eliminating the terrorists.”

For more information, please see: 

BBC News- Suicide Bomb hits UN in Pakistan– 5 October 2009

ABC News- Bomb rips through UN Office, 4 dead– 5 October 2009

Washington Post- Bomb Blast Hits U.N. Agency in Islamabad– 6 October 2009

Associated Post- AP Top News at 10:58 a.m. -6 October 2009

 

Fatah, Hamas to Sign Reconciliation Agreement Amid Tensions

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

CAIRO, Egypt – Jordanian and Egyptian officials announced on October 5 that rival Palestinian parties Fatah and Hamas will sign a reconciliation charter in Cairo at the end of October.

 

Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Egypt’s foreign minister, and his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh said that the charter would establish an advisory committee, comprised of members from Fatah and Hamas, which will make decisions regarding the day-to-day governance in the West Bank and Gaza until presidential and parliamentary elections are held in the first half of 2010. According to reports, the committee would be headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose government would be able to place three thousand security personnel in Gaza. Both parties have also reportedly agreed to release each other’s political detainees. Fatah and Hamas have been at odds since an internal power struggle nearly two years ago.

 

While the two parties have not publically commented on the agreement, Aboul Gheit said that the parties are finalizing plans for the charter.

 

“We agreed to hold a meeting for Palestinian factions in Cairo on October 25 before signing a reconciliation agreement on October 26,” said Aboul Gheit at a press conference on October 5. “Arab officials and maybe officials from outside the Arab world might attend the signing of the agreement as witnesses.”

 

The announcement came amid controversy over Fatah’s endorsement of President Abbas’ decision to postpone any endorsement of the UN report by former international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone about the fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza during the 2008 winter. Ismail Haniya, Hamas’ leader in Gaza, said that Abbas was making an “absurd and criminal” decision in delaying his endorsement of the report.

 

“How can the two parties [Fatah and Hamas] sit at one table and sign an agreement in this situation?” said Haniya after the announcement of the charter. “This has placed a heavy obstacle in the way of Palestinian unity.”

 

Aboul Gheit said he did not expect any tensions surrounding the Goldstone Report to prevent Fatah and Hamas from signing the charter at the end of the month.

 

For more information, please see:

 

Al Jazeera – Palestinians to “Sign Unity Deal” – 6 October 2009

 

Ha’aretz – Palestinian Rivals to Sign Reconciliation Deal by End of October – 5 October 2009

 

Ma’an News Agency – Egypt: Hamas and Fatah Will Sign Deal in October – 5 October 2009

 

Palestinian News Network – Heads in the Sand: Hamas Head of PLC Says Coming Back Without Issue While Abbas Postpones Goldstone – 5 October 2009

 

Reuters – Fatah and Hamas Eye Truce Deal, But Hurdles Remain – 4 October 2009