Harassment Against Yemeni Jews Increases in Retaliation for Israeli Actions in Gaza

By Lauren Mellinger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen– The Jewish community of Amran Province is facing renewed threats of violence from their Muslim neighbors since the renewal of hostilities between Israel and Gaza began on December 27, 2008.  Yemen currently has a small Jewish community, comprising approximately 400 people.

Tensions between the Jewish and Muslim communities in Yemen initially increased in December 2008, following the murder of Jewish citizen Masha Al-Nahari.  At the trial of the accused murderer, Abdul Aziz Al-Abdi, journalists and attorneys present in the courtroom described the proceedings as, “full of chaos and quarrels.”  According to witnesses, one Yemeni soldier was attacked by a family member of the accused, while Al-Nahari’s family has received death threats.  The violence and threats follows after the government agreed to transfer the trial to the capitol due to a lack of security at the court in Amran, where the Al-Nahari family resides.

Currently, Yemeni Jews in Amran are living in a state of fear, after receiving numerous threats from the relatives of Al-Abdi and his supporters.  Hostility towards the Jewish community in Yemen, which began in the aftermath of Al-Nahari’s murder is increasing throughout the country in response to the ongoing situation in Gaza.  According to Hayeem Yaish, a Jewish activist in Yemen, harassment against Jews has rapidly increased since the start of the crisis in Gaza.  According to Yaish, “protesters told us the state [Yemen] won’t protect us and that they would attack us secretly if not openly.  We are intimidated every day and out pain grows constantly.  We even receive threats on our mobile phones.”

As the Al-Nahari trial continues and the violence in Gaza escalates, the Jewish community in Yemen has grown increasingly concerned with their safety, as they continue to face threats and intimidation in their neighborhoods.  According to the Jewish community, conservative Muslims are entering synagogues and Jewish community centers attempting to provoke a response from the Jews.  Jewish women are threatened with forced conversion in the streets, and anonymous groups have stoned Jewish homes and threatened to kill them.  Many Jews are now afraid to leave their homes.

On January 3, Jewish children in Raidi were attacked with stones by Muslim students who were protesting Israeli actions in Gaza.  One individual, Zaher Salem, was seriously injured after being hit in the head by a stone.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has promised to provide a piece of land and compensation to every family of the Jewish community, relocating them to larger cities.  The government has increased its efforts to protect the Jewish community, announcing a new plan to relocate the Jewish community of the Raida district of Amran province to Sana’a in light of the recent surge of violence and threats of violence against Jews.  However, the relocation, initially scheduled to occur on January 4 has not yet been implemented.  Yaish maintains that the longer the Jewish community remains in the Raida district, “the more the threats against us.  We really fear for our lives and the lives of our children.”  The Jewish community claims that the government has not taken adequate measures to protect them.  They maintain that while other citizens carry guns or knives in order to protect themselves, the members of the Jewish community do not, and therefore they are dependent on the state for protection.  While the government has delayed the relocation, no one in the Jewish community has been told when the transfer will in fact occur. 

For more information, please see:

IRIN –Yemen: Jews in North Increasingly Being Harassed – 5 January 2009

Yemen News Agency – Children Attack Yemeni Jew in Amran Governorate – 5 January 2009

Yemen Times –While Gaza Crisis Cause More Hostility Against Yemeni Jews, Murdered Jew Family Demands Transferring Trail to Sana’a – 4 January 2008

News Yemen – Yemeni Jews Abused Over Israeli Offensive in Gaza – 4 January 2009

Police Detained Parents of Milk Scandal Victims

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Police detained a group of parents whose children fell ill from drinking tainted milk in China.  They apparently were trying to block the parents from holding a news conference, according to one of the fathers.  The parents’ news conference was called off after police picked up one of the organizers, Zhao Lianhai, said Li Fangping, a lawyer for some of the parents. “The purpose was to prevent the parents from holding a news conference,” Li Fangping said, adding that 10 parents had planned to participate. The parents were unhappy about a compensation plan made public this week, saying the amounts were too low and the plan was formulated without any input from families.  Under the plan, families whose children died would receive $29,000, while others would receive $4,380 for serious cases of kidney stones and $290 for less severe cases.

Mr. Zhao has a 3-year-old child who fell ill after drinking tainted milk but has since recovered.  He organized other parents and created a website about the contamination.  The website was also blocked on Friday.  It was not immediately clear why.  Mr. Zhao has been released, according to Xu Zhiyong, who is part of a legal team representing 63 families with sickened children.  Mr. Zhao said police held him at Tuanhe Farm conference centre, a compound outside of Beijing where police formerly held people who were to be sent to labor camps. “There are more than 20 police watching me here, and they are not letting me go,” Mr Zhao said.  “I protest this illegal treatment,” he added.

One of the fathers says that some parents, including himself, were also taken to a labor camp on the outskirts of Beijing.  “We are under house arrest now, and the government did not give us any reasons why they kept us here,” the father told Reuters by phone.  “The government said all the medical care is free, but when it comes to the local level, things change. I have already paid more than 50,000 yuan ($7,300) for the operation and cure,” said the father, a migrant worker from Sichuan province.

Last year, at least six children have died from kidney stones and more than 290,000 been made ill from the melamine-contaminated milk produced by Sanlu, a Chinese dairy company. The incident caused massive recalls around the world.

For more information, please see:

AP – Parents of kids in China milk scandal released – 02 January 2009

Financial Times – China cracks down on milk scandal victims – 02 January 2009

New York Times – China: Father in Milk Case Is Detained – 02 January 2009

Reuters – Parents of China milk scandal victims detained – 02 January 2009

Scholar Says Fiji Has Few Options, Attorney General Disagrees

By Sarah E. Treptow
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – A political analyst with the Australian National University, Dr. Brij Lal, who is a co-architect of Fiji’s current Constitution, believes the advice given to Fiji’s interim Prime Minister, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, is counterproductive.  Dr. Lal made the comments after the recent expulsion of Caroline Macdonald, New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Fiji.

Dr. Lal said that Fiji will not gain anything by punishing Australia and New Zealand, “I don’t know who is advising the Prime Minister but the advice he’s getting is really counterproductive to Fiji’s long-term interest in the region.”  He thinks Fiji sees the two countries as the principal players in the anti-interim government move.  He said, “I think this is a shortsighted view because it’s not really Australia and New Zealand but the international community that is looking for some movement on the part of Fiji to restore the country back to parliamentary democracy.”  Dr. Lal said the only hope of Fiji holding elections any time soon was if the interim Prime Minister took up the United Nation’s offer to mediate the next political forum early in the New Year.  He said, “this initiative by the UN is something the government should look at very carefully because it doesn’t have too many options left.”

Interim Attorney-General, Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum, has brushed aside these comments and has urged Dr. Lal to not make comments that are “weak on facts.”  Mr. Sayed Khaiyum said that there are a number of options available to take Fiji forward.  He said that, “while Lal claims adherence to the principle of the rule of law, he fails to recognize the ruling of the High Court.”  The ruling he is referring to is the holding that the appointment of the interim Government was valid in law and legal.

Mr. Sayed Khaiyum said Fiji “shall put in place forward-looking measures that will provide long-term stability, prosperity, equality, common citizenry and true parliamentary democracy.”  He said he thinks it appears as that Lal was “currying favor with the Government of the country of his citizenship which was Australia at the expense of Fiji.”

For more information, please see:
Fiji Daily Post – A-G slams academic’s take on Fiji – 6 January 2009

Pacific Islands Report – Fiji Scholar Says Bainimarama Acting on Poor Advice – 5 January 2009

Radio Australia – Fiji finishing 2008 on a disappointing note – 2 January 2009

Fiji’s Interim Prime Minister Plans for December Elections

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – Fiji’s Interim Prime Minister has announced that elections will take place in December 2009.

Commodore Bainimarama met with two chiefs at an army camp for the Bose ni Turaga last month where he reportedly said that he plans to hold elections in December.

During the meeting, Ratu Peni Latianara told Bainimarama that the people of Fiji expect an answer as to when their country will return to democratic rule. In 2006, Bainimarama led a bloodless military coup of Fiji’s federal government. Since then, Bainimarama has promised to hold democratic elections, but has been sharply criticized for his refusal to set a date for those elections.

Ratu Peni said Bainimarama addressed the chiefs’ concerns, telling them that an election will be held this December.

The Fiji Times reports that Bainimarama could not be reached to comment on his alleged remarks. The permanent secretary in the Prime Minister’s office, Parmesh Chand, also refused to comment, but did say that any electoral reforms would happen after the President’s political dialogue scheduled for late January.

Meanwhile, the Movement for Democracy in Fiji has announced its support today of the United Nations and Commonwealth’s joint goal to facilitate Fiji’s return to democracy.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – Fiji’s interim PM speaks of elections this December – 04 January 2009

The Fiji Times – Group hails political dialogue – 05 January 2009

Pakistani Journalists Subject to Violence in Tribal Areas

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PAKISTAN – In the northwest Tribal Area of Bajaur, Pakistani journalists receive threats and are subjected to violence amidst fighting between the Taliban and government forces.  A fatwa was issued against two journalists and a grenade was thrown at a press club.

The fatwa was issued by the Taliban to two journalists, Anwarullah Khan and Irfanullah Jan, accused of acting as “agents of the west.”  The fatwa was broadcasted over the radio.

The Khar Press Club building was damaged by a grenade on December 13.

Reporters Without Borders urges both the Taliban and security forces to stop the violence.  “The Tribal Areas are being steadily emptied of their journalists because of the threats and violence against them,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The Taliban groups and security forces are entirely to blame for this exodus as they display a disgraceful disregard for media freedom and safety.”

The Press Feedom Organisation also stated, “The Tribal Areas, especially Bajaur, are at the centre major international conflict but the press is in the process of disappearing there. We appeal to all parties to stop targeting journalists, who are neither the West’s agents nor Taliban supporters but just media professionals and nothing else.”

Many journalists in the Tribal Area of Bajaur have fled or are in hiding.  Only a handful continue to work.

One journalists anonymously said, “I cannot leave my home for fear of being kidnapped or killed. I am cut off from the world.”

In addition, these journalists are forced to censor themselves.

“I report less than half of what happens in my area,” a Pakistani journalist said. “We have to censor ourselves if we want to stay alive.”

Seven journalists have been killed due to the nature of their reporting, making Pakistan second to Iraq for killings related to the media.

For more information, please see:

Committee to Protect Journalists – Two Journalists Wounded in Pakistan Shooting – 14 November 2008

Newsweek – Pakistan Journalists Come Under Attack – 4 November 2008

Reporters Without Borders – Fatwa and Violence Against Journalists in Tribal Areas – 29 December 2008