Inside Argentina’s Secret Relationship with Iran

By Delisa Morris

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

President Cristina Fernandez of Argentina / Photo courtesy of NPR

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina has come under fire in the press in the past few days with the suspicious murder of Prosecutor Alberto Nisman.  Nisman was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head just hours before he was expected to come before Congress and charge President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of having illegal dealings with Iran.

His allegations, in part, accuse Fernandez and top officials with deep ties to labor unions, social movements, and attempting to strike a deal between 2011 and 2013 in which they would export food products to Iran in exchange for importing oil.

In exchange, the Kirchner government would attempt to remove eight Iranian suspects in the AMIA Jewish Community Center bombing from an Interpol arrest list.

The so-called “oil for food” deal never materialized, which Nisman attributed to Foreign Minister Hector Timerman’s inability to persuade Interpol to remove the Iranians from its list.

Mr. Timerman has responded to these allegations by calling them “baseless”, and states that Argentina has never imported oil from Iran as evidence to the fact. He claimed that: “We don’t have too much trade with Iran.  In fact it was Iran who placed an embargo against Argentina because of the accusations about their role in the bombing … and that they lifted unilaterally in 2007. But our trade with Iran is very small”

Furthermore, Fernandez claimed that Argentina had never imported petroleum from Iran.  Which is false.  In another statement Fernandez noted that Argentina does not import crude oil from Iran, because they do not have the facilities to process it.  Also a false statement.

While the trade data shows, that no “oil for food” agreement was ever reached, Iran and Argentina have a clear trading partnership.  This comes at a time when Iran’s trading partners are few due to US sanctions against companies that choose to trade with the country.  Iran is benefitting from Argentinian food and Argentina has proven their willingness to disregard US sanctions.

Also, Fernandez is calling for the dissolution of the intelligence agency after the Nisman’s death, stating that it’s time to reform the intelligence service, because the existing one “has not served the national interests.”

For now Nisman’s death will remain a mystery, but there are many conspiracy theories in the air.

For more information, please see:

Business Insider – All Of Argentina Is Questioning Its Relationship With Iran — Here’s What That Relationship Actually Is – 27 Jan. 2015

Bueno Aires Herald – Iran’s representative in Argentina Denies Parallel Diplomacy – 25 Jan. 2015

NPR – Argentina’s President Dissolves Intelligence Agency, Citing Prosecutor’s Death – 26 Jan. 2015

CNN – Argentina’s President pushes intelligence shakeup after Nisman scandal – 27 Jan. 2015

Canadian Prime Minister To Announce New Security Legislation

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

OTTAWA, Canada- Canada is planning on introducing new legislation aimed at giving more power to its police in the wake of two attacks by Muslim converts last year. Last October, a gunman attacked Canada’s Parliament, fatally shooting a soldier at a nearby war memorial. The attack came two days after another Canadian convert ran down two soldiers in Quebec. Days after the attack Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised new laws giving police more power to detain and arrest suspected terrorists.

Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to announce new security legislation after October Attacks (Photo Courtesy of Reuters).

Immediately after the Parliament attack, Canada’s Conservative government introduced a bill to enhance the Canadian Security Intelligence Service spy agency.“These measures are designed to help authorities stop planned attacks, get threats off our streets, criminalize the promotion of terrorism, and prevent terrorists from traveling and recruiting others,” Harper stated. The bill is expected to  remove safeguards on police powers to arrest, detain and restrain people without charge or the commission of an actual crime. The new laws would also give authorities more powers to track terror suspects abroad.

The bill will also make it easier for police to disrupt suspected terror plots by reducing the legal prerequisites required to obtain court-ordered peace bonds. Such orders can substantially affect the quality of living of national security targets. Failure to comply with the laws can result in a one-year jail sentence.

The Canadian Bar Association says the change in legislation would be a “big mistake.” Experts in constitutional law have noted that law enforcement agencies already have a very wide-range of powers.Those opposed to the new legislation have expressed concern that arresting and detaining people based on inchoate evidence is dangerous in regards to human rights. They argue that under the 2001 Anti-terrorism Act the government added safeguards to ensure these rights would not be violated.

Harper said the new legislation would not infringe on constitutionally protected rights such as free speech, association and religion. The nation’s leading independent organizations have not yet briefed or consulted on the government’s looming new anti-terror legislation.

 

For more information, please see the following:

BUSINESS TIMES – Canada To Unveil New Security Legislation After 2014 Attacks: PM – 25 Jan. 2015.

OTTAWA CITIZEN – Anti-Terror Bill: Can Government Balance Security and Civil Rights? – 25 Jan. 2015.

REUTERS – Canada To Unveil New Security Legislation After 2014 Attacks: PM – 25 Jan. 2015.

YAHOO – Canada Seeks To Beef Up Security After Attacks

War Crimes Prosecution Watch Volume 9 – Issue 22 January 26, 2015

Kurdish Forces Close To Regaining Kobani

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

DAMASCUS, Syria – Kurdish fighters, supported by U.S.-led air strikes targeting areas controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), are reportedly close to regaining full control of the embattled Syrian town of Kobani situated near the Turkish border. Kobani has largely been under the control of ISIS fighters, from Islamic State fighters. Kurdish officials as well as Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a human rights group based in the United Kingdom, reported the advance of Kurdish fighters on Monday.

 

Smoke rises from the Syrian city of Kobani, following an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition, seen from a hilltop outside Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border. Syrian activists and Kurdish officials say the extremist Islamic State group has been nearly pushed out of the Syrian border town of Kobani. (Photo courtesy of Boston Herald)

Kobani was seen as a key strategic city for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The group saw the town’s location in relation to the Turkish border as part of a critical brought for the flow of weapons and fighters from Turkey, including several fighters from Europe, into the Islamic State controlled regions of the country. After declaring victory in reclaiming the city Kurdish fighters raised a Kurdish flag on a hill that once flew the Islamic State group’s black banner. For the Kurdish fighters The victory represents a key conquest both for the embattled Kurds as well as  the U.S.-led coalition, whose American coordinator had predicted that the Islamic State group would “impale itself” on Kobani.

Kobani, also called Ayn al-Arab, has become a symbol in the battle against ISIS and other insurgent’s movements in the region who have captured large expanses of both Syria and Iraq. ISIS first launched a campaign to capture the town and incorporate it within its self-proclaimed caliphate in July of Last year. “Our forces are making progress but until now the YPG has not declared that is has taken all of Kobani back. We think tomorrow Kobani will be free,” Kobani official Idris Nassan told reports from Reuters by telephone. Nassan said that as a result of the assault of ISIS half of the town has been completely destroyed and the rest of the town has suffered damage, leaving many people homeless. He also said the town now lacked water, electricity, hospitals and food needed to support the struggling population.

Syrian Kurdish YPG forces who have been attempting to win-back land from ISIS and protect the regions Kurdish population has often been supported by Iraqi Kurdish forces known as Peshmerga. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Kurdish forces in the town are still battling Islamic State on the eastern outskirts of the town. Since September of last year ISIS has captured some 300 Kurdish villages forcing tens of thousands of Kurds from Syria and Iraq to flee the Kurdistan region.

For more information, please see:

Boston Herald – Islamic State Group Nearly Pushed Out Of Syria’s Kobani – 26 January 2015

CNN International – Opposition Group: Kurdish Fighters Advance in Kobani, Syria – 26 January 2015

The Jerusalem Post – Kurds Drive ISIS Out Of Kobani after 4-Month Struggle – 26 January 2015

Reuters – Kurds Close to Driving Islamic State Out Of Syria’s Kobani: Monitor – 26 January 2015

Syria Deeply: The Executive Summary, 1/23

Syria Deeply

Syria: The Executive Summary, 1/23

To give you an overview of the latest news, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.

U.N.-Approved Cross-Border Aid Reaches 600,000 Syrians in Six Months

In the latest monthly report to the U.N. Security Council, U.N. Secretary General Ban ki-Moon said 54 cross-border aid shipments to Syria helped 600,000 Syrians in six months, Reuters reports.

“Food assistance had reached 596,000 people, non-food items had been delivered to 522,000, water and sanitation supplies had reached more than 280,000 and medical supplies some 262,000,” according to the report.

Despite the improved access, Ban warned that the situation inside Syria is continuing to “deteriorate rapidly.

“Widespread fighting across the country, administrative hurdles and lack of agreement from the parties continued to constrain humanitarian access across the country, affecting the humanitarian capacity to deliver at planned scaled,” Ban said.

12.2 million Syrians are in need of assistance, 7.6 million have been displaced, and an additional 3.8 million people have fled, according to the U.N. figures.

“It is completely unacceptable that the people of Syria continue to face grave abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law by the parties to the conflict and that they are denied access to the basic requirements for their survival,” Ban’s report said.

The report follows the renewal of a resolution allowing cross-border aid delivery in Syria for another 12 months. In July 2014 the Security Council authorized U.N. agencies to cross conflict lines using border crossings from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan. It was an unprecedented decision to authorize delivery of aid into the country without the consent of the Syrian government.

United States Gives $6 Million to Syria’s Opposition Government

The United States has given $6 million to Syria’s opposition government, the first direct U.S. financial support for the group, AFP reports.

“The money is for development and relief projects in “areas liberated by the moderate Syrian opposition,” the rebel group said in a statement.

Interim government chief Ahmed Tohme said $1.6 million would be used to used to strengthen local government in rebel-controlled areas and for emergency responses, and $4.4 million would be “devoted to reconstruction and the purchase of heavy equipment include generators, water pumps and tankers.

“Mamdouh Soud, operations manager for the programme dispersing the funds, said they would be spent mostly in northern Aleppo province and northwestern Idlib province for now.

“In the next two months, we hope to expand into northern Latakia and northern Hama provinces,” he told AFP.

Moderate rebel groups inside Syria are facing the prospect of complete annihilation as a result of internal challenges, a lack of resources and support, and the reality of a three-front fight against the regime, ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra.

The opposition Syrian National Coalition and the interim government have been criticized forbeing out of touch with Syrians on the ground and with the militant groups fighting the Assad regime.

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