Female Suicide Bombers Kill Police, Others

By Christopher Gehrke
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, South America

BAGHDAD, Iraq – A female suicide bomber blew herself up north of Baghdad yesterday, killing six and wounding twelve others.

The bombing took place outside a police station in the Diyala province, where several other attacks have occurred recently.

Most of the dead were policemen, according to a police source.  There have been several attacks by female suicide bombers in Iraq in recent weeks.  Diyala is one of the northern provinces where al Qaeda has sought sanctuary after being driven out of Anbar province in the west and Baghdad.

On Monday, a female suicide bomber detonated near the office of an anti-al-Qaeda group in Baquba, killing three of its members.

The bomber activated her vest, filled with explosives, in the Al-Mafraq neighborhood north of Baghdad.

Ahmed Alwan, a doctor at Baquba hospital, said three anti-al-Qaeda group members were killed and four other people wounded in the attack.

“The woman attacker tried to get inside the office that lies in the middle of the market.  The guards at the first checkpoint stopped the woman and asked her to open her robes to check if she wore an explosive belt, but at this moment she exploded herself outside the office,” said Abu Talib, a Sons of Iraq commander.

Al-Qaeda has been targeting groups who have sided with the US military to fight them in recent months.  These groups are made up of mostly Sunni Arab former insurgents, using women as a way to carry out attacks with an element of surprise.

For more information, please see:
Reuters – Female suicide bomber kills six north of Baghdad – 22 April 2008

AFP – Female suicide bomber kills three in Iraq city – 21 April 2008

Los Angeles Times – Female suicide bomber kills four in Iraq – 22 April 2008

UPDATE: Khieu Samphan’s Attorney Disrupts Proceedings

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – The Khmer Rouge Tribunal adjourned a preliminary hearing for Khieu Samphan because his lawyer, Jacques Verges, erupted at the tribunal judges after learning his documents had not been translated into French.

Jacques Verges left the courtroom telling reporters that the judges had recommended to Khieu Samphan to find a new lawyer. He also told reporters, “French is an official language of the tribunal. There is not one page of the case file against Mr. Khieu Samphan translated into French. I should be capable of knowing what my client is blamed for. He continued by saying, “This is a scandal! This never happens except in dictatorships!”

The tribunal judges later said they would issue a warning to Jacques Verges for causing a postponement of the hearing.

Jacques Verges is famous for his legal work involving Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie, the Venezuelan terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal, the former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, and the confessed serial killer Charles Sobhraj.

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune – Attorney for Khmer Rouge Head of State Scolds Judges – 23 April 2008

As Rights Record Reviewed Internationally, Sri Lankan Rights Activist Killed

By Elizabeth Breslin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Returning home from a church service on Sunday, priest and human rights activist Reverend M.X. Karunaratnam was killed by a roadside bomb in a rebel-controlled territory of Sri Lanka.  Rebels claim that a government bomb killed Karunaratnam, while the government denies any involvement.

Karunaratnam was the leader of North East Secretariat on Human Rights, a rights group focused on the rights of ethnic Tamils.  For this reason, many ethnic Tamils believe that the government targeted him specifically.  There are numerous reports which state that the bomb was in fact planted by Sri Lankan Army’s Deep Penetration Unit.

This incident preceded recent criticisms of the Sri Lankan government by international legal group International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP).  IIGEP was formed in 2007 to oversee an inquiry into 16 human rights violation cases in Sri Lanka; it includes members from the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and other countries.  On Tuesday, the group announced that the Sri Lankan government had not been meeting the IIGEP’s requests and lacked the political will to investigate rights abuses.  Instead of acting on their recommendations, the government had been disrespectful toward the IIGEP and was accusing it of purposely failing in its job by pushing an “international agenda” in an effort to force a United Nations rights monitoring mission on the country.

Reverend Karunaratnam perhaps understood the IIGEP’s frustration when issuing his last report on April 5th, stating: “The local [Sri Lankan] mechanism to ensure good governance with respect for human rights has miserably failed and there is widespread call for the establishment of a UN body to monitor human rights violations.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – Foreign experts step up human rights criticism of Sri Lanka – 22 April 2008

Tamil Sydney – Genocide: Sri Lanka Silences Yet Another Human Rights Activist– 23 April 2008

USA Today – Prominent priest killed in Sri Lanka blast – 21 April 2008

Xinhua News – Human rights panel denies int’l plot to discredit Sri Lanka – 23 April 2008

Papuan Students Released From Jail After Peaceful Demonstration

By Hayley J. Campbell

Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

JAYAPURA, Papua — Today, seven Papuan students were released from prison after they were arrested for unfurling banned flags supporting democracy and Papua’s independence. The students were let go after the Jayapura police station was bombarded with calls from concerned friends and family.

Yesterday, about 500 West Papuan people met in Abepura, Papua’s largest city, to attend the peaceful protest which was reportedly organized by the West Papuan student organization, Front Pepera. In addition, the Indonesian Para-military police and military reported that hundreds of activists were prevented from attending the protest.

The seven arrested students included: Yosias Yeimo 22, Benyamin Sabu 30, Nebon Pahabol 25, Marthen Goo 29, Santon Tekege 27, Emilianus (Demianus) Keiya 27, and Gunawan Inggeruhi 22.

The demonstration centered around Papua’s right to self-determination and independence from Indonesia. Once a Dutch colony on New Guinea’s western end, Papua became Indonesia’s largest province in 1969. Violence erupted in 2003 after President Megawati Sukarnoputri separated Papua into three provinces: Central Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Tengah), Papua (or East Irian Jaya, Irian Jaya Timur), and West Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Barat). Indonesian courts declared that the creation of the central province was unconstitutional and in opposition to Papua’s Special Autonomy status.

The seven students were imprisoned after waving the Morning Star flag, which symbolizes democracy and self-determination. A law in Indonesia’s criminal code prohibits the display of the Morning Star Flag in Papua, the South Maluku Republic Benang Raja flag in Ambon, and the Crescent Moon flag in Aceh. All three flags are examples of banned separatist symbols.

Last month, Human Rights Watch, the largest human rights organization, called for the release of nine activists, who were similarly arrested for waving the banned Morning Star flag. “Raising a flag at a demonstration is a nonviolent act, but in Indonesia it can land you in prison,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

In March, two pro-independence demonstrators were sentenced to 15 and 17 years in prison for preparing flags for the South Maluku Republic. In the last month, the Para-military police have arrested 20 West-Papuans, all of whom remain detained as “political prisoners.”

Police said today that the seven arrested students will be treated as witnesses and will not be charged.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International — Seven students in Papua released following arrest over democracy protest — 23 April 2008

Scoop, Independent News — Students Detained & Demonstration In Jayapura — 23 April 2008

Radio New Zealand International — Students detained and demonstration in Jayapura — 22 April 2008

InfoShop News, Independent News — West Papua: Seven Students are released by Police in Jayapura — 22 April 2008

Reuters, Asia –- Free Peaceful Protesters in Papua –- 19 March 2008

BRIEF: 48th Saudi Execution in 2008

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – On April 22, the Saudi Interior Minister announced that Hamoud al-Ansi, convicted of murder, was beheaded in the eastern Saudi city of Dhahran.  Ansi was convicted for stabbing another man to death during a conflict about land.  According to the Associated Press, his execution brings the total to 48 in 2008.

In addition, on April 18, two Syrian nationals, Firas Faycal Al-Aghbar and Firas Hussein Maktabi, were beheaded in the northwestern city of Tabuk.  They were convicted on drug trafficking charges for receiving a shipment of hallucinogenic drugs.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law, under which those convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape or armed robbery are executed in public with a sword.

According to an Amnesty International report on capital punishment, Saudi Arabia executed the third highest number of people in 2007.  China, who executed at least 470, was first; followed by Iran (317).  In 2007, Saudi Arabia executed 143 people, which was a drastic increase from the total in 2006 (37).  The report also notes that Saudi Arabia was one of three countries who executed child offenders in 2007.  Also, in 2007, at least 76 of the 143 people executed were foreign nationals.

For more information, please see:

FoxNews.com – Saudi Arabia Executes Convicted Murderer in 48th Beheading this Year – 22 April 2008

Kuwait Times – Syrian Protesters Stage Sit-in Against Saudi Executions – 22 April 2008

Amnesty International – Death Penalty: World Trend Down but Secrecy Surrounds China Execution Figures – 14 April 2008