Saudi Arabia and Houthi Rebels Agree to Cease-Fire

By Brittani Howell

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

SANA’A, Yemen

Saudi Arabia has proposed a five-day truce beginning Tuesday, after an air missile attack over the weekend. The truce was contingent on the agreement of the Houthi rebels. Both parties will resume hostilities if the truce is violated.

Southern Popular Resistance fighter securing street against Houthi fighters in Aden. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

On Friday, Saudi Arabia dropped pamphlets over Sadaa instructing civilians to evacuate. Saudi Arabia then classified Sadaa as a military zone. Many civilians were unable to leave in time largely due to fuel shortages and the lack of vehicles or communications devices. It is also alleged that Houthi rebels prevented civilians from leaving to use civilians as human shields. Over 130 airstrikes took place during a 24-hour period.

On Sunday, the Houthi rebels agreed to the truce. The home of the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was bombed on the same day. Nevertheless, the Houthis insist on entering a dialogue with the Saudi coalition and urge that they will remain cooperative. The truce would allow food and medical supplies into Sadaa. The Houthis state that a Saudi naval blockade prevented ships that were carrying food from entering the port of Hodeida, including a ship from Tasnim.

According to the United Nations up to 1,400 people have been killed and 6,000 injured since March 19th. The majority of the victims have been civilians. Airstrikes have been conducted by the Saudi-led coalition since March 26th.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States, is attempting to restore the power of President Abd-Rabbu Mansor Hadi. President Hadi fled Sana’a in February after being forced out by the Houthi rebels. The Houthis goal is to remove al Qaeda militants in Yemen. The Houthis are opposed to President Hadi because of a belief that he is supporting al Qaeda militants.

The recent airstrikes targeted schools and hospitals amongst other Houthi headquarters. The schools and hospitals that were targeted were being used to store weapons. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that there were few safe places for hospitals, which resulted in the merger of departments to one location.

A U.N. humanitarian coordinator, Johannes Van Der Klaauw stated, “The indiscriminate bombing of populated areas, with or without prior warning, is in contravention of international humanitarian law.” MSF emergency coordinator Teresa Sancristóval noted, “Many people were not aware of the order of evacuation.”

For further information please see:

Associated Press – Yemen’s Shite Insurgents, Army Rebels Back 5-Day Cease-Fire – 10 May 2015

BBC – Yemen Houthi Rebels ‘Positive’ Over Saudi Truce Plan – 10 May 2015

Reuters – Houthis Accept Five-Day Truce in Yemen Proposed by Saudi Arabia – 10 May 2015

CNN – U.N. rep Accuses Saudi-led Coalition of Violation International Law – May 9 2015

N.S.A. Bulk Data Collection Ruled Illegal

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America – A US Federal Court of Appeals has ruled bulk collection of telecommunication records by the National Security Agency to be illegal. A three-judge panel in New York held Thursday the scope of the program goes beyond the authority granted by the Patriot Act, which expanded government surveillance and data collection following the September 11th Terrorist Attacks.

Photo Courtesy of BBC News
N.S.A. Headquarters in Maryland (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

Judges did not, however, address whether the bulk collection program violated the Constitution.

The 97-page ruling held that Section 215, a provision of the U.S.A. Patriot Act, cannot be legitimately interpreted to allow bulk collection of domestic calling records. The court didn’t rule on arguments raised by the American Civil Liberties Union that the program violates constitutional free-speech guarantees and protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The judges also declined to issue a court order blocking the program as Congress weighs changes to surveillance laws.

Judge Gerard Lynch, writing for a unanimous panel, said allowing the government to gather data in a blanket fashion was not consistent with the statute used to carry out the program.

“The interpretation urged by the government would require a drastic expansion of the term ‘relevance,’ not only with respect to § 215,” said Lynch, “but also as that term is construed for purposes of subpoenas, and of a number of national security-related statutes, to sweep further than those statutes have ever been thought to reach.”

The House appears ready to pass a bill which would end the government’s bulk collection of phone records. The bill, known as the U.S.A. Freedom Act, would replace the authority under Section 215 with a new program that would preserve the N.S.A.’s ability to analyze links between callers to hunt for terrorists, but keep bulk records in the hands of phone companies, rather than with the N.S.A., as is currently the situation.

Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, took to the Senate floor Thursday to fiercely defend the program and criticize the USA Freedom Act.

“According to the CIA, had these authorities been in place more than a decade ago, they would have likely prevented 9/11,” McConnell said. McConnell also criticized the USA Freedom Act as a measure that will “neither keep us safe, nor protect our privacy.”

Following the leaks by former N.S.A. intelligence contractor Edward J. Snowden, the N.S.A. has come under heightened scrutiny for its surveillance methods.

After the September 11th attacks, President George W. Bush authorized the N.S.A. to begin a group of surveillance and data-collection programs, without obeying statutory limits on government spying. In 2006, the administration persuaded a court judge to issue an order approving the bulk phone records component, based on the idea that Section 215 could be interpreted as authorizing bulk collection.

Section 215 is set to expire June 1st.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC US & Canada — NSA phone data collection ‘illegal’, US court rules — 7 May 2015

Bloomberg — NSA’s Bulk Collection of Telephone Data Is Ruled Illegal — 7 May 2015

New York Times — N.S.A. Collection of Bulk Call Data Is Ruled Illegal — 7 May 2015

POLITICO — Appeals court rules that NSA phone surveillance program is illegal — 7 May 2015

Washington Post — 2d Circuit holds NSA bulk data seizures unauthorized by USA Patriot Act — 7 May 2015

Brazil Pressures Venezuela’s Maduro

By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

 

BRASILIA, Brazil

Brazil’s government is increasing the pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro has come under fire following the imprisonment of his government’s opposition because the Venezuelan government has continued to delay setting the date for Venezuela’s Parliamentary election, which should be held sometime this year.

Brazil’s President Maduro under fire for jailing political opponents. (Photo courtesy of Reuters).

President Maduro and his government’s popularity has decreased significantly since taking office two years ago, and current polls put Venezuelan opposition candidates ahead of Maduro. The opposition sees the election as a chance to capitalize on Maduro’s diminishing popularity.

Members of the opposition have expressed concern that the delay in scheduling the election is a sign that the election will not happen at all.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira met with Venezuelan officials this week, urging Venezuela to call the elections “as soon as possible and [to hold them] within the legal time frame.”

In a May 5th vote, the Brazilian Senate passed a “no-confidence” vote against President Maduro and his government. Some Brazilian officials have publicly spoken out against President Maduro, especially what they have referred to as the “arbitrary detention” of Venezuelan opposition members.

The vote was passed despite opposition from the Workers’ Party, the ruling party in the Brazilian Parliament. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, a member of the Workers’ Party has called on Venezuela to set the date for the Parliamentary election.

President Rousseff has faced criticism for not taking a stronger stance against Maduro, with whom her Workers’ Party keeps close ties with. Brazilian centrist PSDB opposition party leader Aecio Neves has said: “A nation that has a president who was once a political prisoner cannot keep silent when it sees a neighboring country almost 90 political prisoners.” According to the New York Times, Rousseff was held prisoner for three years starting in 1970 by the Brazilian military dictatorship.

Rousseff refused to meet with the wives of two prominent imprisoned opposition members, Mitzy Capriles and Lilian Tintori, during their visit to Brazil on the 7th. She did send a letter to the two, promising that Brazil was working “tirelessly” to find a solution. The two women met with members of the Brazilian Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee during their visit. Capriles’ and Tintori’s husbands have been imprisoned as dissidents for over 14 months.

For more information please see:

The New York Times – Leader’s Torture in the 70’s Stirs Ghosts in Brazil – 4 August 2012

PanAm Post – Brazil’s Senate Tells Maduro to Defend Human Rights – 6 May 2015

Folha De S.Paulo – Wife of Venezuelan Opposition Leader Expects Tough Stance from President Rousseff – 7 May 2015

Reuters – Brazil increases pressure on Venezuela to set election date – 7 May 2015

The Sydney Morning Herald – Brazil increases pressure on Venezuela to set election date, free political prisoners – 8 May 2015

Latin American Herald Tribune – Rousseff: Brazil is “Tirelessly” Seeking Solution to Venezuelan Crisis – 9 May 2015

 

 

 

 

VDC: The Weekly Statistical Report

Four Suspected Terrorists Arrested for Planning Attacks Against Mosques and Muslim Refugees

by Shelby Vcelka

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

 

BERLIN, Germany–

Four members of a right-wing extremist group have been arrested in Germany for terrorism charges and procuring explosives. The extremist group, the “Oldschool Society,” was planning to attack asylum-seeker housing, mosques, and members of Salafi, an ultra-fundamentalist branch of Islam. The German authorities conduced raids following intelligence from domestic agencies, the federal prosecutor’s office stated.

German Muslims listen to Imam during Friday prayer. Four right-wing extremists were suspected of planning attacks on mosques and immigrants in Germany. Photo from Wall Street Journal.

The four group members arrested, identified only as Andreas H., 56, Markus W., 39, Denise Vanessa G., 22, and Olaf O., 47, are said to have formed the OSS, which is a relatively new organization. The group started on Facebook, and appears to be an offshoot of the far-right National Democratic Party. Postings on the OSS’s Facebook page feature neo-Nazi symbolism, racial epithets, and references to previous attacks on refugee centers. While not much is known about the OSS’s politics besides the Facebook posts, the NDP’s ideology is similar to neo-Nazism, despite the group’s evasion of any blatant reference to Nazism.

The raids uncovered “pyrotechnic materials with large explosive force” with additional evidence of future attacks against Muslims. Lutz Bucklitsch, a journalist who specializes in right-wing extremist activities in Germany, stated his belief that the group began to plan for an attack within the last four to eight weeks. The OSS had planned to meet within the next week to plan the specifics of the attacks. Police are currently investigating whether or not those attacks were planned to target against any particular groups or individuals.

In recent years, conflicts between radical right-wing groups and Salafists and other Muslim groups have broken out into violent street fights. In 2013, German authorities said they foiled a Salafist plot to assassinate a high-ranking member of a right-wing radical group.

The xenophobic, anti-Semitic and racist shift Germany has taken is a direct result of the rising number of refugees the country has taken in. Because the country is engaged in a larger discussion about immigration, these right-wing groups have seized the opportunity for recruitment and to agitate immigrants and refugees. German authorities have been increasingly watchful of these groups, as the amount of violence against immigrants and refugees have grown profoundly in the past couple of years. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizier noted that the number of attacks against immigrants has gone up from 58 attacks in 2013, to 175 attacks in 2014. No data is available yet for 2015, but the trends demonstrate a significant rise in extremist violence, which will likely continue for this year.

 

For more information, please see:

CNN– 4 suspected right-wing extremists arrested in Germany— 06 May, 2015

WSJ– German Police Arrest Four Suspected of Planning Mosque Attacks— 06 May, 2015

The Independent– Four people arrested in Germany over planned terror attack on Muslims and asylum seekers— 06 May, 2015

ABC– Germany: 4 Arrests in Alleged Plot to Attack Islamic Targets— 06 May, 2015

Daily Beast– In Germany, the Rise of Anti-Islam Terrorism— 08 May, 2015