Yemen: Houthi fighters Take Presidential Palace

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

SANAA, Yemen – Houthi fighters reportedly entered Yemen’s presidential palace after a brief clash with the presidential compound’s security guards, witnesses and security sources said. The attack comes a day after some of the worst fighting reported in the capital in several years. Guards at the presidential compound, which houses the main office of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, said they handed over the compound to Houthi fighters after a brief clash.

President Hadi and the Houthis accuse each other of failing to implement a United Nations brokered peace deal, tensions have grown in the region in recent weeks. (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

Before the fighters stormed the Presidential compound A tense calm seemed the be holding in Sanaa as Houthi rebels continued to surround the prime minister’s residence as well as the presidential palace, despite the fighters and the government reaching a ceasefire after a day of violence on Monday. As of Monday evening, nine people have been killed and at least 90 wounded in the fighting.

After Monday’s fighting a heavy presence of Houthi fighters was seen throughout Sanaa on Tuesday, as the rebels fortified their positions in the capital, which they seized after fighting in September last year.

Before the taking of the Presidential compound Al Jazeera’s Omar Al Saleh, reporting from Yemen, said the situation in the City was “tense but calm”. He said “A meeting is supposed to take place between all political players; President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Prime Minister Bahah and representatives of the Houthis, but it remains unclear if these talks have started.” “We’re all waiting to hear from this meeting,” he said, adding that the United Nations Security Council was scheduled to discuss the situation in Yemen in a closed session on Tuesday.

President Hadi and the Houthis fighters in Yemen accuse each other of failing to implement a United Nations brokered peace agreement calling for Hadi to form a new national unity government and reform government agencies and for the Houthis to withdraw their fighters from Yemen’s cities. The Houthis have also demanded integration of their militiamen into Yemen’s security forces which are dominated by Hadi. The ongoing power struggle between the Hadi and the Houthis has undermined Yemen’s ability to fight al-Qaeda’s Yemeni affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the recent fighting in Yemen, on January 7, his office released a statement condemning in the strongest terms an attack against a policy academy in Yemen’s capital which killed at leaste 37 people. A statement issued by his office said he “expresses his condolences to the victims’ families and wishes a swift recover to all those wounded.” The Statement also said, “The Secretary-General reiterates his previous calls to all Yemenis to work together and to fight terrorism and to bring security and stability to Yemen.”

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called on the international community to pay greater attention to the ongoing violence in Yemmen. “Perhaps because of the violence engulfing so many other countries – relatively little attention is being paid to the situation in Yemen,” He said. “The past few weeks have seen dozens of people killed in a succession of bomb attacks in Yemen. Such wanton acts of indiscriminate violence are utterly deplorable.”

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Yemen’s Sanaa Tense But Calm As Truce Holds – 20 January 2015

Reuters – Houthis Take Yemen Presidential Palace-Witnesses, Sources – 20 January 2015

United Nations News Centre – UN Rights Chief Urges More Global Attention to ‘Wanton’ Violence in Yemen – 9 January 2015

United Nations News Centre – Yemen: Ban Condemns Deadly Attack on Police Academy, Calls for Accountability – 20 January 2015

Israel Drone Strike Kills Iranian General in Syria

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

DAMASCUS, Syria – The Iranian government confirmed Monday that one of its generals was killed in an Israeli airstrike that also killed several Hezbollah fighters in southern Syria on Sunday. The death of the Iranian general, Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, offers evidence of Iran’s possible deep military involvement in the Syrian Civil War. The airstrike itself however, seems to show a strong departure from the tactical agreement in several  foreign players — Israel, Iran, Hezbollah, Turkey, the United States, and its Persian Gulf Arab allies — have increasingly intervened openly in the Syrian Civil War while avoiding direct conflicts with one another. The Israeli news media reported that Israeli officials believed Hezbollah was planning an attack on Israelis from the area, near the Golan Heights region, the reports cited anonymous intelligence sources. “Syria has become an open field,” said Kamel Wazne, a Lebanese political studying Hezbollah and Iran. “Everything can happen at any minute.”

Hezbollah members and supporters carry the coffin of Jihad Moughniyah during his funeral in Beirut’s suburbs on January 19, 2015. (Photo courtesy of Reuters UK)

Sunday’s drone strike hit a convoy carrying Jihad Moughniyah and Commander Mohamad Issa, known as Abu Issa, in the Syrian province of Quneitra, near the Golan Heights region, which is occupied by Israel. The strike killed six Hezbollah members in all, Hezbollah said in a statement. Hezbollah received strong backing from Iran. The group’s last major conflict with Israel occurred in 2006. Hezbollah is a major ally of the region of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

General Allahdadi’s death was announced on the Revolutionary Guards’ website and by news media affiliated with both Hezbollah and the Iranian government. The announcement said the general had been advising the Syrian government on how to fight terrorism, which is how the Syrian Regime characterizes the opposing sides of the civil war which began four years ago when the regime first turned its guns on peaceful protesters. It remains unclear whether the Israeli military knowingly targeted Allahdadi or other individuals in the two vehicles that were fired upon on Sunday. The United Nations force patrolling the region said the vehicles were hit by fire from Israeli drones, not helicopters as Hezbollah and Iran had reported.

United Nations peacekeepers stationed in the Golan Heights along Syria’s border with Israeli reportedly saw drones flying across the border from the Israeli side before and after an airstrike that killed top several Hezbollah figures was carried out, the United Nations said on Monday. Sky News Arabic reported that the anti-rocket batteries used by the Israeli Defense Force for the Iron Dome System had been maneuvered in case of further escalation on the border with Syria and Lebanon.

For more information please see:

BBC News – Iran General Died In ‘Israeli Strike’ In Syrian Golan – 19 January 2015

Reuters UK – U.N. Saw Drones Over Syria Before Israel Strike In Breach Of Truce – 19 January 2015

Jerusalem Post – Report: Iron Dome Deployed To Northern Israel After Alleged Syria Strike – 19 January 2015

The New York Times – Iran Confirms Israeli Airstrike In Southern Syria – 19 January 2015

 

Former Guatemalan Dictator’s Genocide Trial To Resume January 2015

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala – The retrial of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity was recently delayed after two of the three judges on the panel accepted the defense’s motion that Judge Jeannette Valdez should recuse herself from the case. The defense alleged that Judge Valdez is an unbiased fact finder due to her graduate school study on genocide. Judge Valdez had previously turned down the motion to recuse herself calling it “a strategy to obstruct.”

Former dictator Ríos Montt arrives in court on a stretcher for a new trial against him on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian).

Rios Montt is being tried for ordering military operations that led to the torture, rape and murder of 1,771 Ixil Mayans between 1982 and 1983 as part of Guatemala’s Civil War. Rios Montt was already convicted on these charges in 2013 and sentenced to 80 years in prison, but 10 days after the conviction his sentence was overturned on procedural grounds. The constitutional court argued that Rios Montt had been denied due process. The five-judge panel stated that Rios Montt had been left without an attorney on 19 April when his lawyer was expelled from the courtroom after accusing the presiding judge of bias against him. The panel ruled that the statements delivered in court before 19 April would stand but closing arguments would have to be given again, and ordered the trial to restart from that point.

Rios Montt’s trial was the first time a former head of state has been prosecuted for genocide in a national court, and the UN has praised Guatemala for its efforts. However, the retrial along with the recent postponement has caused issues for the prosecution in getting a successful conviction. This is largely due to the fact that several witnesses that were available to testify at the previous trial have since passed away. However, General Mauricio Rodriguez, Rios Montt’s former chief of intelligence has commented on the postponement, stating, “I am ready for the new trial. I want to end this humiliation already.”

A court official has said that the trial will resume in January 2015.

 

For more information, please see the following:

ABC NEWS – Guatemala Ex-Dictator Rios Montt’s Retrial Suspended – 5 Jan 2015.

BBC – Guatemala Rios Montt Genoice Trial To Resume in 2015 – 6 November 2013.

THE GUARDIAN – Postponement of Former Guatemalan Dictator’s Genocide Retrial Causes Dismay – 5 Jan. 2015.

JURIST – Guatemala Court Postpones Ex-Dictator’s Genocide Trial – 6 Jan. 2015.

Fighting Sparks Again in Eastern Ukraine

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – After a lull in fighting and what finally appeared to be legitimate honoring of the Minsk truce over the past month, fighting has resumed around Donetsk airport. Ukrainian troops claim to have recaptured most of the territory they lost to rebels in the airport.

Drone footage reveals the extent of destruction at Donetsk airport. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

 

A passenger bus was attacked, allegedly by pro-Russian rebels, which resulted in the deaths of 13 civilians. Several thousand have gathered in Kiev for a peace march in response to the attack on civilians, prompting Ukrainian President Poroshenko to restate that “We will not give away one scrap of Ukrainian land… a very important aspect of our victory is our unity.” Further, two brothers, aged 7 and 16, were killed when a shell struck their home near Donetsk. The brothers’ 8-year-old sister was also injured in the attack that also allegedly came from pro-Russian rebels.

Pro-Russian rebel leader Zakharchenko blamed Kiev for the shelling death of the two brothers, claiming Kiev is “trying to unleash war again.” Those living in rebel-held territory report that shelling has been increasing, especially over the past 24 hours. Pro-Russians and Russia have both denied any Russian influence, either via direct troop involvement or funding weapons, but Kiev claims more proof of Russian involvement. Kiev claims that there has been increased Russian action just across the border and even funneling across into Eastern Ukraine, including moving and stocking of: “TOS-1 flamethrowers, C300 missile systems, and Smerch and Hurricane rocket launchers.”

An elderly man in Lugansk is also blamed for an attack on Ukrainian soldiers at a checkpoint. The man approached and handed soldiers a pot of honey while thanking the soldiers for their service. Later the soldiers tried to taste the honey and an explosive within the jar exploded, killing one and seriously wounding three others. All-in-all there have been over 4,800 people killed by fighting in Ukraine since last April.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Ukrainian troops retake most of Donetsk airport from rebels – 18 January 2015

Al Jazeera – Battle over Ukrainian airport intensifies – 18 January 2015

ABC (Australia) – Ukraine crisis: Booby-trapped honey jar explodes, killing Ukrainian soldier as fighting continues – 17 January 2015

ABC (US) – Ukraine Peace Talks Fall Apart Amid Renewed Fighting – 16 January 2015