A Voice for the Voiceless

By Nykoel Dinardo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

UNITED NATIONS – On December 3 the United Nations Security Council decided to take up a complaint by Libya, who claimed that Israel unlawfully intercepted a cargo ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.  An emergency session was held at Libya’s request.  Libya claims that Israel’s actions constitute an affront to peace.

On December 1, Israel stopped a Libyan cargo ship that Libyan and Palestinian officials claim was carrying over 3,000 tons of food and humanitarian aid for residents in Gaza.  Libya says that Israel ships confronted the cargo ship and forced it to veer towards Egypt.  Unable to dock in Gaza, Tripoli officials say that the ship will have to return to Libya.

Israel claims that Libya is using its status as a member of the Security Council for public relations purposes.  Israeli Ambassador Gabriella Shalev responded to Libya’s accusations that Israel’s actions are an affront to peace by saying that Libya was not acting as a peace-maker when Hamas attacked Israel earlier this year.  Libya currently has no diplomatic relations with Israel and has criticized the handling of the situation in Gaza.

In response to Palestinian attacks, Israel has imposed a blockade against Gaza since November 2007. As of February, they allowed humanitarian aid to the region three times.  Karen Abu Zayd, the UN official in charge of humanitarian aid to the area, accused Israel of punishing the Palestinians in the area, including aid workers.  According to Zayd, Israel recently published a list of items that could not be received into Gaza; including spices, kitchenware, and paper.  She also claimed that aid workers were not allowed to send or receive mail. 

On December 2, groups held protests against the blockade in several Middle Eastern countries.  Palestinian children held a protest where they imitated sick children who lacked medical supplies.  Some children also wore loaves of bread as masks to protest hunger in Gaza.  In Lebanon, nearly 2,000 students marched on the UN headquarters in Beirut, where they sang resistance songs for 30 minutes before dispersing peacefully.

For more information, please see:

AFP – UN Council to Take Up Israel Blockade of Libya Ship: Source – 3 December 2008

The Daily Star – Scores of Children Protest Against Israel’s Seige of the Gaza Strip – 3 December 2008

New Zealand Herald – Israel Punishing Aid Workers, Says UN Official – 3 December 2008

YNet News – UN to Discuss Israel’s Refusal to Allow Libyan Ship to Dock in Gaza – 3 December 2008

Radio Netherlands Worldwide – Gaza’s Hungry Children – 2 February 2008 

By Lauren Mellinger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq  – On December 2, the Iraqi High Tribunal sentenced Ali Hassan al-Mahid, also known as “Chemical Ali” to death for his role in suppressing a Shia uprising in 1991.  This is the second death sentence al-Majid has received since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The court also sentenced former Baath Party official Abdulghani Abdul Ghafour to death for the same offense.  Both al-Majid and Ghafour are scheduled to be hung, for “committing wilful killings and crimes against humanity.”  Ten other defendants on trial received sentences ranging from 15 to 20 years in prison, while some received life sentences.  It is estimated that between 20,000 and 100,000 people were killed in the regime’s attempt to put down the rebellion.

In explaining why other defendants received lighter sentences, Judge Mohammad al-Uraibi stated that “Most of them apologized and felt regret during the trial except Ali Hassan al-Majid.”

Al-Majid received his first death sentence in June 2007 after being convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for his actions during the 1988 Anfal campaign against the Iraqi Kurdish population, which killed more than 100,000 people, including many women and children.  Also part of the Anfal campaign was the gassing of the Kurdish village of Halabja in northern Iraq, killing more than 5,000 civilians.  For his role in the Anfal campaign, he received the nickname “Chemical Ali.”

During the Shia uprising in 1991, Al-Majid served as the Defense Minister and was considered to be Saddam Hussein’s “right-hand man.”  As a member of the Revolutionary Command Council, Al-Majid was routinely called upom to put down Shia and Kurdish rebellions.

During the trial for Al-Majid’s involvement in “crushing” the Shia uprising following Saddam Hussein’s defeat in the first Gulf WAr, witnesses gave testimony of the mass executions; including accounts of family members being thrown from helicopters, massacres in and around the Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, and the bombing of Shia towns and villages in southern Iraq.

The execution for Al-Majid’s prior conviction was never scheduled due to a political dispute.  The Iraqi High Tribunal has not set a date for execution following this latest conviction, leaving time for Al-Majid to appeal the decision, if he chooses.

For more information, please see:

BBC –New Chemical Ali Death Sentence  – 2 December 2008

CNN – Chemical Ali Sentenced – Again – to Death – 2 December 2008

Guardian – Iraq’s ‘Chemical Ali’ Gets Second Death Sentence for Shia Massacre – 2 December 2008

International Herald Tribune – Iraq’s ‘Chemical Ali’ Gets Second Death Sentence – 2 December 2008

By Lauren Mellinger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, TEHRAN – On December 1, Iraq and Iran exchanged the remains of soldiers killed during the Iraq-Iran War, marking the latest sign of increased diplomatic relations and cooperation between the two governments, since the fall of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq in 2003.

The bodies of more than 250 soldiers, 200 of whom were Iraq, were exchanged at the Shalamjah border crossing near the city of Basra.  This latest exchange of fallen soldiers marks the first time that remains were exchanged between the two countries since 2003.

This weeks repatriation of soldiers between the two countries follows the signing of a framework Memorandum of Understanding between the Iranian and Iraq governments, in Geneva in October 2008.  This agreement established a framework for the gathering and sharing of information on the fate of missing soldiers, and the handing over of remains.  This marked the first time the two governments reached a direct agreement without the aid of an intermediary.  Previous discussions regarding the exchange of soldiers’ remains were conducted through the International Committee for the Red Cross.

For families on both sides of the border, this exchange was an emotional moment, as many have been waiting form more than twenty years to be reunited with the remains of their family members, and lay them to rest.  According to Jamila Hammami, a delegate of the ICRC in charge of missing persons for Iraq, “The return of the bodies is important for the families of the dead and an essential element in the process of dealing with the past.”  More than 1 million people from both countries were either killed or went missing during the eight year conflict.

While this marks the first ever direct agreement between the two countries to secure the release of their dead soldiers, the ICRC estimates that tens of thousands of soldiers and prisoners of war from both countries still missing.  The ICRC, along with other human rights organizations, hope that this exchange of soldiers will serve as the beginning of future exchanges between the two countries.  According to Iranian Consul Spokesman Mohammed Baghban, “We want to pursue this long unresolved humanitarian case until it is totally closed.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera –Iraq, Iran Swap Troop Remains  – 1 December 2008

AP –Iraq-Iran Swap Remains of 1980 – 1988 War Dead  – 1 December 2008

BBC – Iraq-Iran War Dead Are Exchanged – 1 December 2008

ICRC – Iraq-Iran: Repatriation of Remains of Soldiers Killed During the 1980 – 1988 War – 1 December 2008