A Voice for the Voiceless

BRIEF: More Setbacks for Darfur Peacekeeping Force

KHARTOUM, Sudan – The UN peacekeeping chief announced today that the UN lacks enough troops and equipment to do much to improve the situation in Darfur before mid-2008.  Jean-Marie Guehenno, the UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping warned of “dire consequences” for Sudan and voiced some doubt that the joint AU-UN peacekeeping force deployed this month would be able to provide for even its own security.   The mission currently has 9,000 soldiers and police officers, but is supposed to eventually have 26,000.   Sweden and Norway also announced today that they will not be sending 400 troops to Darfur due to opposition from the Sudanese government. 

Meanwhile, the UN and US have both condemned the recent attack on Sudanese troops and UN peacekeepers in Darfur.  The US has called for tougher sanctions in reaction to this attack.  State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement: “The United States believes this incident demonstrates the need for a stronger arms embargo for Sudan and we will be working with our security council partners to that end.” 

The Sudanese government has denied any responsibility for the attack and insists it was the work of rebels.  Sudan’s UN envoy, Abdalmahmood Mohamad, stated that “the armed forces have no relationship whatsoever” with the convoy attack.  The government has specifically blamed the rebel group Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).  JEM commander Abdel Aziz el-Nur Ashr dismissed the accusation and insists that that attack was in territory controlled by government forces.

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune – UN: 6-month setback for Darfur peacekeeping because of inadequate troops, equipment and security – 9 January 2008

AFP – Security Council, US slam Darfur attack – 9 January 2008

VOA News – Sudan UN Envoy Denies Army Attack on UN/AU Convoy in Darfur – 9 January 2008

AFP – US demands tougher sanctions on Sudan – 9 January 2008

Reuters – Sudan says rebels, not army, attacked peacekeepers – 9 January 2008

Reuters – Sweden, Norway withdraw plan for Darfur troops – 9 January 2008

Egypt Police Officers Jailed in Abuse Case

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – An Egyptian court has convicted and jailed three police officers for beating a prisoner and forcing him to parade up and down a busy street wearing women’s underclothes.

Amid increasing high-profile accusations of brutality and torture by the nation’s police officers, the court in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria convicted three officers. It convicted senior officer Maj Yosri Ahmed Issa of torture and of degradation of prisoner, and sentenced him to five years in prison. Two other lower ranking officers who followed his orders were also given one-year sentences for degrading the prisoner.

The ordeal for the victim began on April 2007. Ibrahim Abbas was working at a car park when he asked officer Issa to move his car so other cars can enter the lot. Issa considered the request as an insult and arrested Abbas. At the police station, Issa attempted to force Abbas to confess to a robbery and beat him with batons. Later, he ordered the other two officers to force Abbas to wear women’s clothing and walk on a major street.

Many rights groups say that torture is widespread and systematic in Egyptian jails and police stations. They say torture can include beatings, electric shocks, and sexual assault. And because most torture cases never make it to court, rights violators often times enjoy impunity. Moreover, those who are accused of torture so far have been either acquitted or received light sentences and subsequent pardons.

In recent months, however, the ministry of Interior has increasingly investigated torture allegations. In November, three police officers were sentenced to seven years in prison for torturing a man to death. Three weeks earlier, a Cairo court sentenced two officers to three years in prison after a recorded video in which a man was sodomized with a stick was widely circulated on the Internet, including on the popular video-sharing site YouTube.

The Egyptian government denies torture is systematic. The authorities insist that they prosecute all cases where evidence of torture is provided against policemen.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Egypt nightie stunt police jailed – 7 January 2008

Associated Press – Police officer jailed 5 years – 7 January 2008

Reuters – Egypt court jails three police in abuse case – 6 January 2008

Independent Online – Egypt policemen jailed in latest abuse case – 6 January 2008

Impunity Watch – Egypt police jailed 7 years for torture death – 1 December 2007

Impunity Watch – Torture endemic in Egypt – 8 November 2007

BRIEF: Georgia Election results disputed

Mikheil Saakashvili was elected to his second term as president of the Republic of Georgia.  However, his main opposition candidate Levan Gachechiladze claimed that the election was rigged and disputed the results of the vote.

Levan Gachechiladze has promised to challenge the election results through the court system.  He has threatened that he and his supporters would stage hunger strikes and massive protests.  Gachechiladze’s ally, Salome Zurabishvili stated that “the whole of Georgia will be out on the streets” by Sunday,  if the results stood with Saakashavil receiving more than 50% of the vote, which would make Saakashavil the president without having a second round vote.

For more information, please see:

BBC News- Georgia confirms Saakashvili win- 9 January 2008

Guardian Unlimited- Thousands Protest Georgia Election- 6 January 2008

International Herald Tribune (AP)- President Saakashvili says Georgia is on way to democracy- 7 January 2008

The Independent- Hunger strike vow as Saakashvili is declared victor in Georgian poll- 10 January 2008

Iraq: Christians Targeted in Mosul

By Vivek Thiagarajan
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

MOSUL, Iraq- On Sunday, three bombs simultaneously went off targeting two Christian churches and a convent.  The three bombs went off between 11 and 11:30 am injuring four people.  The bombs were possibly coordinated to instill greater fear in Iraqi Christians and to remind them that they are not immune to the violence occurring between the Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki met with Monsignor Francis Assisi Chullikatt, the Vatican’s Ambassador, to reassure him that the Iraqi government is taking every step possible to ensure the safety of Christians.  “The Iraqi government is anxious to ensure the safety of Iraqi Christians,” Maliki assured the ambassador.  (AFP)

Since 2004, Iraqi Christians believed report that they have been targeted solely because of their religious affiliation.  Father Rayan Atto, a Chaldean pastor of an Erbil church, discussed the fate of his fellow Christians. “We have many, many young people — they were killed for any excuse. They were just killed because they were Christians.” (Pittsburgh Tribune- Review)

Some Christians have been kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam.   Faris Mansour Hanna discussed his experience when he was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda operatives.  “They said, ‘We will release you, but we have one condition. You have to convert to Islam.’” However, since Hanna refused to convert “they beat my face and burned me with cigarettes.”  He went on to show the reporter conducting the interview his scars on his arm, hand, left cheek and forehead and significant scarring on his shoulders “from being dragged in the street, whipped and beaten with a metal pipe.”  However, his fellow kidnapped Christians were not released but were beheaded because the Christians had reportedly worked as translators for the Americans.  (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

For more information, please see:

AFP- Iraq working to ensure safety of Christians: Maliki- 8 January 2008

AP- Bomber Kills 11 at Iraqi Army Festival- 7 January 2008

BBC News- Christian sites targeted in Mosul- 7 January 2008

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review- No peace for Iraqi Christians- 23 December 2007

Peace Talks Commence in DRC

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

NORTH KIVU, Democratic Republic of Congo –  In the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rebel delegates under the leadership of General Nkunda have arrived to attend peace talks between government and rebel actors. General Nkunda will not attend the nine day conference.

The fighting between rebel forces and the Congolese army has lead to the displacement of more than 800,000 civilians in the North Kivu province. More than 10,000 people live in the Buhimba refugee camp alone. People are suffering from sanitation, hygiene and health problems because they are living so close together. 

General Nkunda claims that his forces protect ethnic Tutsie in the Northern Kivu province from Hutus who drove them out of Rwanda in the 1994 genocide.

Presently, the rebels want the government to deal with Rwandan Hutu rebels, who have not been invited to attend the peace conference. All Africa.com has stated that the “Tutsi led rebels’ demands are not clearly defined.”

During the opening ceremony, more than 600 delegates from opposing parties were in attendance. Moreover, in the next few days, twenty government ministers will attend the conference. Congo’s Interior Minister Denis Kalume urged all rebels to disarm. Nevertheless, some members of President Joseph Kabila’s government in Kinshasa were reluctant to end the conflict, rejecting General Nkunda’s call for peace talks.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Rebels Attend Congo Peace Talks – 7 January 2008

VOA- Fleeing Civilians Swell Displacement Camps in Eastern DRC –   7 January 2008

All Africa – Congo-Kinshasa: Peace Conference Opens in Violence-Torn East  – 7 January 2008