Kuwait Urged to Ratify International Criminal Court Statute

By Nykoel Dinardo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

NEW YORK, New York – The Coalition for the International Criminal Court, CICC, has named Kuwait as its target country for October 2008.  CICC is urging Kuwait to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the treaty which created the first international court capable of trying individuals for crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity.  In a letter to Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait on October 1, CICC asked that ratification is made a priority.

According to the CICC, Kuwait has a growing number of human rights organizations; ratifying the Rome Statute would solidify Kuwait’s dedication to international justice.  There are currently over 300 active Coalition member organizations throughout the Gulf region.

There is also a movement within Kuwait.  The Kuwaiti Coalition for the International Criminal Court has made a draft ratification proposal to submit to the Kuwaiti legislature.  Last year, the Kuwait Bar Association (KBA) hosted a meeting about the ICC and the Gulf States.   At the meeting, members of the International Criminal Bar came to give lectures and encourage members of the KBA to become more involved.

Currently, 108 countries have ratified the Rome Statute.  However, in the CICC’s Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA), there are only 3 member states, Jordan, Djibouti, and the Comoros Islands.  Eleven MENA countries have signed the treaty and the CICC hopes to encourage each of these countries to become full ratifying members.

In a statement to the KBA, Hussain Al-Hereti, the Secretary of the National Assembly, encouraged Kuwait to become a member of the ICC.  However, he explained that at least one Kuwaiti parliament member is worried that ratifying will open Kuwaiti Amir to trial in the ICC.  Al-Hereti said that this should not be a concern as the Amir will never commit a war crime so would not be tried.

For more information, please see:

Kuwait Times – Kuwait Urged to Ratify ICC Treaty – 9 October 2008

Coalition for the International Criminal Court – Global Coalition Urges Kuwait to Ratify ICC Treaty – 12 November 2007

Kuwait Times – Lawyers Urge Kuwait to Become ICC Member – 26 March 2007

Coalition for the International Criminal Court –  Issues and Campaigns: Kuwait

Coalition for the International Criminal Court – List of Ratifying Parties

BRIEF: Yemen Arrests Group of “Israel-linked” Militants

SANA’A, Yemen – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced on October 6, a series of arrests made to “dismantle a terrorist cell” that is linked to Israeli Intelligence.  Saleh stated that the group “operated under the ‘slogan of Islam’.”  However, he gave no details on the arrests or on the allegation that the group is linked to Israel. Saleh indicated that information supporting the allegations would be released when those arrested are tried.  He stated, “Details of the trial will be announced later. You will hear about what goes on in the proceedings.”

Israel has responded to the arrests by stating that Yemen’s allegations have no foundation.  Igal Palmor, a spokeman for Israel’s foreign ministry, stated that the accusation was “totally ridiculous.”  In an interview with AFP, he said that, “To believe that Israel would create Islamist cells in Yemen is really far-fetched. This is yet another victory for the proponents of conspiracy theories.”

Saleh stated that the arrests took place on October 1, but sources in the government indicate that the group that the President was referring to is the six-member group known as Islamic Jihad arrested in September.  Islamic Jihad is associated with al-Qaeda and claimed the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen last month.  A total of 50 people have been arrested in connection with the Embassy attack so far.

BBC – Yemen Seizes “Israel-linked” Cell – 7 October 2008

TVNZ – Yemen Arrests “Israel” Militants – 7 October 2008

AFP – Yemen says “Israel-linked” Terror Cell Dismantled – 6 October 2008

Jerusalem Post – Yemen Nabs “Israel-linked” Terror Cell – 6 October 2008

China Warns the Nobel Peace Prize Should Go To the “Right People”

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Two Chinese dissidents, Gao Zhisheng and Hu Jia, are top candidates of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.  The Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo’s International Peace Research Institute’s decision to honor Hu or Gao may increase tensions between the West and China.

China’s foreign ministry suggested Tuesday that it hopes Chinese human rights activists will not win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.  “For the past few years we see that many people in the world have dedicated themselves to world peace and scientific and human progress and have been properly awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize,” he said.  “However,” Qin added, “some of the prizes went against Mr. Nobel’s initial purpose. We hope the Nobel Prize should be awarded to the right people.” The award went to the Dalai Lama 19 years ago, against strong objections from Beijing.

Gao, born in 1964, is a lawyer who has protested the treatment of members of the Falun Gong movement.  Hu, 35, has been outspoken on environmental and AIDS matters and more recently has criticized the treatment of Gao.

They were both arrested and jailed before the Beijing Olympics to keep them out of the public eye.  Gao was arrested in August 2006, convicted in a one-day trial and placed under house arrest. He was convicted because of nine articles posted on foreign Web sites, state media reported at the time. Gao has been beaten, harassed and given a suspended jail sentence in the last few years.  He was also reportedly targeted by an assassination attempt.  Hu was convicted last April of inciting subversion, and is now serving a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence.  Hu’s wife has been placed under house arrest.

Peace researcher Stein Toennesson, director of the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, Norway, said the prize committee might pick a Chinese activist “in view of the fact that the Olympic Games did not bring the improvement many had hoped for, but instead led to a number of strict security measures.”  According to a BBC Asia analyst, Andre Vornic, the Nobel committee is unlikely to be swayed by crude pressure, he says. If anything, a perception of bullying could further stack the odds in favor of China’s jailed dissidents.

For more information, please see:

AP – China suggests Nobel should not go to activist – 07 October 2008

BBC – China makes Nobel prize warning – 07 October 2008

Bloomberg – Nobel Peace Prize May Go to Chinese Activist, Angering Beijing – 06 October 2008

Voice of America – China Warns Against Awarding Nobel Prize to Dissident – 07 October 2008

Cover-Up in Chinese Milk Scandal

By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

BEIJING, China – Recent reports from the state media allege that the Sula Group, the company at the center of the milk scandal in China, asked governmental authorities to help cover-up the extent of the problem, making them aware of the danger months ago.

Shijiazhuang city government spokesman Wang Jianguo said they had been asked by the Sanlu Group for help in “managing” the media response to the case when first told of the issue on August 2nd.  Government officials were told six days before the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

China admitted that the Shijiazhuang city government was aware of the tainted milk problems but refused to release any warnings because China was in the middle of hosting the Olympics.  Recently, Beijing fired several Shijiazhuang officials, including the city’s Communist Party chief, for the attempted cover-up.

In the letter from the Sanlu Group to city officials, the group stated, “Please can the government increase control and coordination of the media, to create a good environment for the recall of the company’s problem products.  This is to avoid whipping up the issue and creating a negative influence in society.”

Reporters Without Borders has also released reports that Beijing ordered news of the tainted milk scandal to remain quiet during the Olympics.  Reporters Without Borders wrote, “Several Chinese journalists have said that it is becoming more and more obvious that the authorities in July prevented an investigation into the toxic milk coming out so as not to tarnish China’s image before the Olympics.”

Chito Sta. Romana, chief of the ABC News Bureau in China, stated the scandal was proof of a “failure of the Chinese system of governance.”  He added, “It’s the result of the greed that has been unleashed on Chinese society by the economic reforms [and is proof] of the failure of the system of governance,” he said at a Sulo Hotel press forum in Quezon City.

China’s latest food safety problem arises out of the illegal addition of the industrial chemical melamine to milk to cheat in quality tests.  Thus far, 53,000 children have gotten sick from the tainted milk and four have died.  

For more information, please see:

AFP – China Vows to Clean Up Dairy Industry, More Children Ill – 6 October 2008

Inquirer.net – China Cover-Up More Damaging—Journalist – 5 October 2008

Reuters – China Milk Scandal Firm Asked for Cover-Up Help – 1 October 2008

IDF Commander Speaks Out Against Israeli Settler Violence

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

SAMUA, West Bank – Major General Gadi Shamni, the Israeli military commander in the occupied West Bank, said settler violence against Palestinians and Israeli soldiers was on the rise.  On October 2, Shamni gave an interview with Ha’aretz, an Israeli newspaper, where he criticized the increase of violence by Israeli settlers in West Bank.

“There has been a rise in Jewish violence in Judea and Samaria. In the past, only a few dozen individuals took part in such activity, but today that number has grown into the hundreds. That’s a very significant change. These hundreds are engaged in conspiratorial actions against Palestinians and the security forces. It’s a very grave phenomenon,” said Shamni.  He added that the radical behavior among right-wing extremists has grown in light of “the backing of part of the leadership, both rabbinical and public, whether in explicit statements or tacitly.”

A recent UN report recorded 222 acts of settler violence in the first half of 2008 compared with 291 in all of 2007.  Such acts include a September 13 attack by a large group of settlers in the village of Asira al-Qibliya.  During the attack settler hurled stones, firedshots and vandalized property.  Three Palestinians were said to be shot and wounded.  Settlers said that the act was in response to an earlier stabbing of an Israeli boy by a Palestinian.

Also in September, an attempt by soldiers to confiscate construction material at an unauthorized outpost ended in a violent confrontation.   One Israeli army officer suffered a broken hand.  A second was bitten by a dog handled by a settler.  Also, in Hebron, an officer was attacked after trying to prevent Jewish children from hurling stones at Palestinians.

In addition, left-wing Israelis have become targets.  On September 25, Ze’ev Sternhell, an outspoken critic of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, was injured when a pipe bomb exploded outside his front door.  In the investigation following the attack, police found a leaflet offering a one million shekel reward to anyone who kills a member of Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement organization.

Sarit Michaeli, a spokesman for B’Tselem, said the recent attention to settler violence is the result of the fact that Israeli security forces are becoming targets of attacks.  “The problem traditionally has been that the army often washes its hands of law enforcement with the settlers, or even assists them. We hear commanders say that it is their job to fight Palestinian terror, not to deal with settler violence. That understanding of their responsibilities contradicts international law. As an occupying force, they must protect the safety and welfare of the Palestinian population.”

In response to the increase in settler violence, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has urged tougher penalties for settlers who attack Palestinian property.  However, the vast majority of attacks on Palestinians go unreported.  In addition, human rights group Yesh Din stated that less than one in 10 reported attacks on Palestinians leads to an indictment and most reported attacks end in acquittals.

In related news, prominent settler leader, Daniela Weiss, was detained on October 2 for attacking police officers near the settlement of Kedumim, of which she is local council head.  The confrontation followed an evacuation of Shvut Ami, an illegal West Bank outpost, by a combined force of police and the Israel Defense Forces.  According to witnesses, shortly after the outpost was evacuated, activists came to the area and confronted the police.  During the clashes, a Palestinian-owned olive grove was set on fire.

For more information, please see:

Chicago Tribune – West Bank on Edge as Young Radicals Settle In – 4 October 2008

The Electronic Intifada – Israel’s Army and Settlers Fall Out – 3 October 2008

Telegraph – Jewish Terrorism Threatens Israel – 3 October 2008

AFP – Israeli Commander Says Settler Violence Rising – 2 October 2008

Ha’aretz – IDF West Bank Commander: Rightist Violence Encouraged by Settler Leaders – 2 October 2008

Ha’aretz – Settler Leader Detained After Clashing with Police During Outpost Evacuation – 2 October 2008

Ma’an News Agency – Israel: Settler Attacks on Palestinians, Israeli Soldiers Increasing – 2 October 2008