A Voice for the Voiceless

Iran Controversial on Al-Quds day

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Tens of thousands of Iranians marched through the streets of Tehran in support of the Palestinians, while President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel’s continued existence was an “insult to human dignity.” The demonstration and Ahmadinejad’s remarks came as millions of others across the country protested on Al-Quds (Jerusalem) day, a day of protests against Israel’s occupation of the third holiest city in Islam after Mecca and Medina.

Since the Islamic revolution in 1979, the Iranian people observed the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan as “Al-Quds Day” to support the Palestinians. On Friday, many poured into the streets as they chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” Some protestors also carried anti-Israeli banners and burned Israeli and American flags.

President Ahmadinejad is known for his controversial comment calling for Israel to be “wiped off the map” back in 2005. The hard-line president on Friday has vowed that Iran would continue to work until “all of Palestine is liberated.” He has once again reiterated that Iran does not recognize Israel and has described the Holocaust as a myth. The president said the “Zionists” should move out of the Middle East entirely, and “give these vast lands of Canada and Alaska to them to create a country for themselves.”

Ayatollah Mahould Hashemi Shahroudi, Iran’s judiciary chief, said Friday’s demonstration was “a good start for the destruction of the Zionist regime.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Iran defiant over nuclear issues – 5 October 2007

Al Jazeera – Iran marks Jerusalem day – 5 October 2007

Fox News – Millions of Iranians attend anti-Israel rallies called ‘Al-Quds Day’ – 5 October 2007

Journalists in Uganda Charged with Sedition

By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda – Three journalists working for the sole independent daily newspaper in Uganda were charged with sedition last week for alleging that the Ugandan government is training soldiers for the police force.  Managing Editor Bernard Tabaire, Sunday Editor Henry Ochieng, and Senior Political Writer Chris Obore were summoned following the publication of a story in last Sunday’s paper alleging that at least 40 Ugandan soldiers were being trained for senior posts in the police force.

Many see the army as loyal to President Yoweri Museveni while the police force is largely seen as political opposition.  The story that ran last week argued that the government is attempting to militarize the police in order to gain greater control.  Obore told the AP that the state was trying to make an example of him and his fellow reporters. “They want to subjugate the freedom of the press and stop us writing objectively.  Through us, they are sending the message that, if you write objectively like this, the next step is the police station.”

Police spokeswoman Judith Nabakooba denied that there was any political motivation behind the arrest, and that the story is “alarming and not factual.”

On Friday, the International Federation of Journalists called on the government to withdraw the charges.  The Director of the IFJ office in Africa said that article was a “balanced and professional piece of work.”

The issue of freedom of the press in Uganda is not a new one.  Last month, the newspaper’s political editor resigned as a result of compromised editorial freedom. Papers have been raided in search for information on political opposition.  A radio station was threatened with closure if they continued to discuss the trial of an opposition leader.  The government blocked portions of a website that was critical of the President last year.

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune – 3 Ugandan journalists charged with sedition – 1 October 2007

AllAfrica.com – Three Journalists Face Sedition Charges Over Article on Alleged Military Control of Police – 5 October 2007

AllAfrica.com – Observer Journalists Partially Freed – 5 October 2007

AllAfrica.com – Police Grill Three Monitor Editors – 2 October 2007

Egypt Brotherhood Members Released

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – An Egyptian court has decreed the release of Essam el Erian, the political department chief of Brotherhood, and nine other members of the group. The members were detained during an escalating crackdown on political dissent in August, when Egyptian police broke up their Muslim Brotherhood meeting in Cairo.

The nonviolent organization is banned by the Egyptian government and its members are frequently detained without charge or trial. El Erian himself has been in and out of detention for more than 15 years because of his membership in the Brotherhood – the largest opposition group in Egypt.

Although the Brotherhood currently holds one fifth of the seats in lower house parliament, the group lacks legitimacy because of Egyptian laws banning all political parties based on religion. Many members believe that the crackdown began as a result of the government’s determination to harass and dissuade the formation of banned-but-openly-operating Brotherhood.

The Egyptian authorities have arrested more than 1,000 Brotherhood members since March of 2006. Though many of these detainees are now released, they expect further “unfair” detentions in the days to come.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Egypt Brotherhood chief to be freed – 4 October 2007

Al Jazeera – Egypt Brotherhood members arrested – 17 August 2007

Human Rights Watch – Police intensify crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood – 18 December 2006

Rebel Groups in Chad Expected to Sign Peace Agreement with Government

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

NDJAMENA, Chad – Leaders of four rebel groups in Chad agreed to sign a peace agreement with the government. These peace talks will be mediated by the government of Libya.  The Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), which is led by a “regional power-broker” Mahamat Nouri, is expected to sign the peace deal.

Experts believe that this peace agreement will help pave the way for the United Nations to send in peacekeeping forces in Chad’s insecure eastern border. This peace deal comes a month after another deal was struck between a smaller rebel group and the government which called for a total ceasefire and amnesty for militant fighters.

The Foreign Minister to Chad stated “We dare to hope that it will create conditions that will foster stability and reconstruction in the eastern region of our country that have been devastated by incursions of the Sudanese Janjaweed and other armed men coming from Darfur.”

A Chadian government official in N’djamena stated, “an official signing ceremony will be organised in the presence of a number of heads of state to make the document public.”

The bloodshed in Darfur, Sudan, has spilled over into Chad and the Central African Republic. Presently, there are 240,000 refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region in eastern Chad and 173,000 internally displaced people.

Rebel groups have waged rebellion against President Idriss Deby for years. Rebels were especially angry with Deby because in 2005 he modified the country’s constitution to allow himself to run for a third term in office. Moreover, rebels are also critical of the involvement of United Nation forces in the region.

There is an estimation that 30,000 French EU troops and 300 UN police will arrive shortly in Chad to oversee the displacement camps.

BBC – Chad Rebels agree move to peace – 4 October 2007

AllAfrica.com – Chad: Government, Rebels Reach Peace Deal – 4 October 2007

AllAfrica.com – Chad: Country Pledges Full Cooperation for New UN Peacekeeping Presence – 2 October 2007

The “Forgotten” Somalia

By Myriam Clerge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Eastern and Southern Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia – On Tuesday, several people were injured and at least three people killed after an explosion in Bakara, Somalia’s main market, in the heart of the Mogadishu. Although the shop was believed to be selling arms, the government forces say the store was in fact a hideout for insurgents responsible for earlier attacks.

Many of the local traders believed the explosion began during a clash between government troops and insurgents around the former defense ministry building. Reports indicate the police were conducting search operations in the area. The subsequent fire began on Tuesday and spread rapidly to other shops. Many of the shops were reduced to ashes along with their products. Assistance was slow and ineffective due to a lack of fire equipment and insecurity.

Many of the people depend on the market for essential goods given that it is the only wholesale market in Somalia, a country ravaged by war and hunger. In a separate incident, one government soldier and one civilian were killed in three serial bomb explosions in the Gubta settlement in Mogadishu. These are just a series of unrelenting attacks against government and Ethiopian troops in which civilians are the victims.

In recognition of its dire condition, Somalia urged the world to increase aid for the thousands of people displaced due to persistent attacks by insurgents. Somali leaders have requested the deployment of more Arab and African  troops under the support of the U.N. Somalia believes their problem has been overshadowed by the conflict in Darfur and intervention hindered by the history of the “Black Hawk Down” battle.

Many countries rushed to pledge troops even though the troops pledged to Somalia earlier have not been fulfilled. Several African nations, like Congo and Kenya, have dubbed the Somali problem the “forgotten crisis” and have also urged the U.N and international community to do more.

For more information please see:

Reuters: Africa – Somalia Chides Nations at U.N. Over Slow Pace of Aid – 2 October 2007

BBC- Fire Engulfs main Somali Market – 3 October 2007

AllAfrica.com- Somalia: Explosion Leaves Three Civilians, One of them a Policeman – 4 October 2007