A Voice for the Voiceless

Civilians Killed in Mogadishu During Ramadan Break Fast

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia – A family of at least five were killed in Mogadishu when a mortar shell hit their house on Saturday.

Shortly after Ali Ahmed Jama, Somalia’s foreign minister, said the transitional government was negotiating with rebel fighters, a mortar shell hit the home of a family as they gathered for their meal at the end of the day’s Ramadan fast.

Sources say that fierce fighting exploded in the city on Friday night and Saturday morning, and witnesses claim that over 10 people have been killed, including a Somalia-American who joined the insurgents.

“We lost a martyr who was from Minnesota in the overnight raid,” said a Shabab foot solder.  Among the dead was a Somali-American identified as Mohamed Hassan, a 21 year-old from Minnesota.

“Soon after breaking fast we heard strange noises of weapons and we ran into a concrete building nearby,” said Fatima Elmi, a Mogadishu resident.

The militants causing the conflict in Somalia are the Hizbul Islam and the Shabab.  These groups are trying to overthrow Somalia’s moderate Islamic government and replace it with a regime that will impose strict Islamic Sharia law.

After Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of the Hizbul Islam returned from exile in May, he built the group into a powerful force that, together with the Islamist militant group al-Shabab, has taken control of many parts of southern Somalia, including the capital of Mogadishu.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Six Civilians killed in Mogadishu Clashes – 5 September 2009

BBC – Five Die in Somalia Mortar Attack – 6 September 2009

The New York Times – Several Dead in Somali Clashes, Possibly Including U.S. Jihadist – 5 September 2009

VOA – Somali Militant Leader Says Fighting Will Continue Despite Civilian Casualties – 5 September 2009

Urumqi Syringe Protesters May Face Death

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China– Five people were killed and 14 were injured in the latest unrest in China’s western city of Urumqi.  25 people are reportedly being held over the incident where demonstrators clashed with the police when the Han Chinese took the streets of Urumqi demanding better police protection from ethnic Uyghurs.

Syringe attack Chinese troops patrolling streets of Urumqi (Source: AFP)

Uyghurs, who are being blamed for the recent attacks, are Turkic-speaking Muslim minority in China who consider Xinjiang their homeland.  Ethnic tensions between Uyghurs and the Han Chinese have resulted in violent riots since July.

A joint statement released by Urumqi’s court, prosecutor’s office and the police department noted that the syringe attackers who triggered the latest riots will face harsh punishment.  The Chinese officials said attackers who stabbed people with needles containing harmful substances may be jailed for three or more years.  The authorities also added that the attacker(s), if convicted, may receive the death penalty since China’s penal code allows for death penalty for crimes that involve dangerous substances used to harm others.

China’s Xinhua News Agency stated that more than 500 victims of hypodermic needle attacks are being treated in Urumqi hospitals, and the victims include various ethnic groups, including the Han, Uygurand and Kazakstan.

The syringe attacks began in early August, and one resident, wishing to remain anonymous said, “People are angry that the government is not doing much against the Uyghurs’ needle stabbing.”

Another resident said that the government had sent out text messages to citizens warning them of syringes containing unknown diseases.  This is a matter of grave concern since the Xinjiang region has the highest HIV infection rate in China.  In addition, Johns Hopkins University reported that Xinjiang serves as a convenient drug-trafficking route because the region is located between opium growing regions of Afghanistan and Southeast Asia.

Exiled Uyghur activist Rebiya Kadeer is asking the “Chinese officials to guarantee the security of all people living in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), including Uyghurs and Han Chinese.”  People of Urumqi are stocking up on groceries in fear of escalated violence.  Furthermore, there is no traffic around the city and schools have been closed.

For more information, please see:

BBC – China warning to syringe stabbers – 6 September 2009

CNN – Five killed as police face syringe protesters in Chinese city – 4 September 2009

Xinhua – Urumqi syringe attackers may face death penalty – 6 September 2009

Chautauqua Declaration

05 September 2009

Chautauqua Declaration

The issuance of the Chautauqua Declaration marked the culmination of the proceedings of the 3rd Annual International Humanitarian Law Dialogs held on August 31 – September 1, 2009. The subject was titled: “Honoring Women in International Criminal Law: From Nuremberg to the ICC (International Criminal Court)”. For further information on the Chautauqua Declaration, please visit www.roberthjackson.org.

Adjournment Until October for 26 Accused of Involvement with ‘Hezbollah Cell’

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt– The trial for twenty-six Egyptians accused of forming a terrorist cell in Egypt related to Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah has been adjourned until October. According to Nile TV, the delay will grant the defendants’ lawyers more time to review the cases.

The twenty-six men include nineteen Egyptians, two Lebanese, and five people from Palestinian territories. Some of the men appeared in court on August 23 to dispute claims that the defendants were smuggling weapons between Sinai and Gaza and plotting attacks against Israeli tourists in Egypt. 

Of the twenty-six accused, only twenty-two appeared in court. The remaining four are being tried in absentia, while they are still on the run. One man who appeared in court said that he had been tortured. He also added that he had been referred for medical check after the alleged torture.

The lawyer of the twenty-two men, Montaser al Zaiat has said that the charges are “absolutely not true,” and clarified that there was “never any question in this case of a plot for the assassination of figures in Egypt.”

Family members were not permitted to attend the hearing, many relatives braced high heat standing outside the courtroom to see their loved ones. The families are upset because they haven’t seen their loved-ones in months. One prisoner was arrested in December, and his family does not know the details of the charges that precipitated his arrest. The arrests of members of the alleged Hezbollah cell began in 2008.

Hezbollah is a Shiite backed group, which is at odds with Sunni dominated Egypt. Hezbollah believes that the charges are politically motivated, and based upon Egypt’s support for the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

For more information, please see:

AFP – ‘Hezbollah’ Accused Allege Torture in Egypt Jail’ – 23 August 2009

BBC – Egypt ‘Hezbollah Cell’ on Trial – 23 August 2009

LA Times – Egypt: How Guilty are Those in ‘Hezbollah Cell’ – 23 August 2009

Xinhua – Egyptian Court Postpones Trial of Hezbollah Cell to October 24 – 23 August 2009

Bangladesh Workers Riot Over Pay Kills at Least Two

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

DHAKA, Bangladesh- At least 2 people have been killed and over 100 injured in clashes between textile workers and police in Bangladesh, police have said.  The authorities delayed the report almost 12 hours after the media first reported the deaths.

The violence erupted as workers protested over unpaid salaries in the outskirts of Dhaka on Saturday.  “Law-enforcers had to fire rubber bullets from shot guns to disperse the workers who hurled stones and bricks at our officers,” said police inspector Shafiqul Alam.  Workers arriving to work at Nippon Garments factory found a notice stating the factory was closing for a month, citing losses and depressed orders.  

The workers then took to the streets to protest, with as many as 15,000 people involved in the protests, police said.  Maleka Begum, a police official, said in addition to at least 100 workers, a number of police officers were injured in the chaos. 

Protesters were demanding three months of back pay, Begum said, “The angry workers became unruly and violent this morning. They threw up barricades on the roads and suddenly attacked police.”  The workers were told they would be paid on Saturday, but when they arrived found the notice announcing the “closure due to economic depression” from Oct 31 to Nov. 29

“We were owed many arrears. As the workers wanted break the lock to enter the factory, police obstructed us,” said Majeda Begum, a factory worker.

Garment factories in the country of Bangladesh have been hit hard by the global economic crisis.  Unions said factories have cut wages to compete for orders with other apparel-producers, such as Vietnam, China and India.  Over forty percent of Bangladesh’s industrials workforce is employed in the garment sector, and this whole has been affected by the economic downturn.

Saturday’s clashes were the most severe since the global downturn began to affect Bangladeshi apparel factories, which accounted for 80 percent of the country’s $15.56 billion dollars worth of exports in the last year.  In June, 50,000 also workers protested wage cuts and unpaid salaries clashed with police and leaving many injured.

For more information, please see:

Aljazeera. Net- Bangladesh Workers Riot over Pay– 31 October 2009

Associated Foreign Press- ‘Two Killed, 100 Hurt’ in Bangladeshi Workers Riot– 31 October 2009

BDNews24.Com- Tongi Violence Leave 2 Dead, 100 Injured – 1 November 2009