Gang Violence in El Salvador Escalates Once Again

by Mridula Tirumalasetti

Impunity Watch Reporter

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador –A truce among some of the most powerful street gangs fell apart in 2014 due to escalating turf wars between the gangs themselves. El Salvador’s police chief Mauricio Ramirez Landaverde said “The groups which had opted last year to decrease (homicides) are doing the opposite this year. This is the main reason.” As a result, homicides in El Salvador skyrocketed by 56 percent.

The Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and its rival, the Barrio 18 made a pact which took effect in March 2012. The two gangs held this truce which helped lower the murder rate in 2013 to approximately five murders a day. This was a 10-year low for El Salvador. However, within the first few months of 2014, the murder rate grew once again to about 8.9 killings each day. The government has placed the blame on Barrio 18 for breaking the truce.

The National Civil Police stated the total number of homicides in 2014 was 3,875 homicides, which averages to about 12 homicides per day. This number is a substantial increase from the number of homicides in 2013, which was 2,490.

Calle 18 gang members pictured above (photo courtesy of The Guardian)

The gang situation in El Salvador makes it one of the world’s most violent nations. “One in three children had been directly threatened with death if they didn’t join the gang…One in five had quit school out of fear, and one in 10 is a prisoner in their own home, too scared to go out day or night,” explained Elizabeth Kennedy, a researcher who has interviewed many children who have been deported back to El Salvador from Mexico. The children were trying to reach the United States in an effort to escape El Salvadorian gang violence. “Deporting children back into these harmful situations is a violation of international law,” Kennedy added. Jeanne Rikkers, who is a youth violence prevention expert and works for the human rights organization, Fespad agreed, “Children are living in a constantly violent atmosphere. They don’t feel secure, physically or economically, and they don’t feel protected by state institutions.”

For more information, please see:

The New York Times—El Salvador: Murder Rate Soars—30 December 2014

Reuters—El Salvador homicides jump 56 percent as gang truce unravels—30 December 2014

The Guardian—Gang violence in El Salvador fuelling country’s child migration crisis—18 November 2014

The Huffington Post—Truce With Mara Street Gang Hasn’t Worked In El Salvador–08 April 2014

HarperCollins omits Israel from atlases sold to Mideast schools

By Ashley Repp

News Desk Reporter, Middle East

It is no secret that Middle East relations, particularly those between Israel and its neighbors, are particularly tumultuous. Israel and Palestine have been embroiled in a struggle for the land that is currently recognized as Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, for over 60 years.  As of 1948, the international community, including international governmental bodies, such as the United Nations, has acknowledged the legitimacy and sovereignty of Israel. But while this legitimacy is acknowledged by many international actors, it is not universally accepted, particularly by other Middle East countries.

harper-collins
Israel Label Missing from the Atlas – Photo courtesy of The Telegraph

Map making company Collins Bartholomew, a subsidiary of HarperCollins, responded to buyers of school supplies for English speaking schools in the Middle East by releasing an edition of a map of the Middle East that does not label the region typically recognized as Israel with the name Israel. Instead, it labelled as Gaza and the West Bank. As some of Israel’s neighbors do not acknowledge Israel’s legitimacy, or allow maps into their respective countries that label the disputed land as Israel, Collins Bartholomew took a chance with buyers with this release of the map of the Middle East.

Many are outraged by Collins Bartolomew’s response to map buyers who refuse maps labeled with Israel. The company asserted that the decision was merely to appease opposed buyers and appeal to local preferences. The Tablet, a Catholic organization, contended that the decision by the company to omit Israel to appeal to the palette of specific buyers, only serves to undermine peace and de-legitimize Israel’s presence in the Middle East.

On the other hand, the company did not label the region Palestine, rather labelled the region by two, longstanding names of specific parts of the area, Gaza and the West Bank. While topically, the decision seems confusing and irrational to many, particularly to those who recognize Israel’s right to exist, on a deeper level, the decision appears to acknowledge that all countries have different understandings of what is right, wrong, legitimate, and acceptable. In responding to a known preference of some countries in what they choose to recognize, Collins Bartholomew created this controversial map.

The company has now responded to the outcry against this map by ceasing sales, and destroying the remaining stock of the map. The situation begs the question, will the bath the company must now take on the production of this map, in combination with lost sales from angry buyers, be worth the initial production of the map for a select number and group of buyers. From a business perspective, the decision to produce the map seems odd and irrational, from a social perspective, the map speaks volumes about current sentiments and anger regarding the existence of and legitimacy of Israel.

 

For more information, please visit:

The Telegraph- HarperCollins omits Israel from school atlas– 31 Dec. 2014

The Washington Post- HarperCollins omits Israel from maps for Mideast schools, citing ‘local preferences’– 2 Jan. 2015

The Independent- HarperCollins pulls map excluding Israel from sale amid accusations of ‘anti-Semitism’– 2 Jan 2015

Haaretz- HarperCollins omits Israel from atlases sold to English-speaking Mideast schools– 31 Dec. 2014

 

Air Strikes on Misrata, Libya

By Ashley Repp

News Desk Reporter, Africa

Misrata, Libya-

Since the over throw of Mommar Guddafi in 2011, during the rash of international uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, often referred to as the Arab Spring, Libya has struggled to remain stable, and civil war has permeated the nation. The internationally recognized government of Libya was forced out of Tripoli in August by an Islamist militant group called Fajr Libya, which translates from Arabic to English as Libya Dawn. Since August, the recognized government has been operating out of Tobruk, a city over 800 miles away from Tripoli.

Attacks on misrata
Attacks on Misrata- Courtesy of The Daily Times

Forces loyal to the internationally recognized government launched a missile strike on Misrata, an important port city that remained largely untouched by the civil war and conflict. The city has become a stronghold for Islamist militia groups. Among the sites in the city attacked, was an air force academy in the city, as well as the airport. The attack has been cited as a retaliatory response to the attacks on December 25th attack carried out by Islamist militia Fajr Libya that killed 22 government soldiers, in an attempt to gain control of an oil port. The government affirmed its role in the attack on Misrata, and at least one government official asserted that the attack brings Libya, “a step closer to victory.”

The country’s inability to re-stabilize will likely present further challenges to peace and security in Libya, as government loyal groups and Islamist militant factions vie for control of the country. Oil ports have already begun to close in response to the civil violence, which in turn, has led to drastically reduced oil production. Indeed, the closing of these ports have already reduced production by 300,000 barrels of oil each day. Despite calls for peaceful resolution to the current civil war, it does not seem that peace will be a likely, or attainable outcome without serious attempts by both sides to reduce violence as a means to securing control of Libya.

For more information, please see:

The Telegraph- Libya descends into chaos as air strikes hit Misrata– 28 Dec. 2014

Al Jazeera- First air strikes hit Libyan city of Misrata– 28 Dec. 2014

Reuters- New air strike on Libyan city Misrata, clashes near oil port– 3 Jan. 2015

 

Israel Withholds Tax Review in Retaliation for Palestine ICC Bid

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

JERUSALEM, Israel/Palestine – The Israeli government has halted the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinians following the Palestinian Authority’s bid to join the International Criminal Court, Israeli officials said on Saturday. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced earlier this week that Palestine seeks to join the ICC in The Hague primarily for the purpose of pursuing war-crimes charges against Israel, specifically in regard to last military offensive in Gaza. The move is intended to pressure Israel into withdrawing from the occupied territories that Palestinians demand for a future state. The Palestine bit at the ICC follows a failed motion last week in the U.N. Security Council to set a 2017 deadline for a Palestinian state to be established. President Abbas signed the Rome Statute on December 31, the signing ceremony was broadcast live on Palestine TV.

Palestinian boys carry a poster of President Abbas during a rally marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Fatah movement, at Qalandia refugee camp near Ramallah January 1, 2015. (Photo courtesy of Haaretz)

The Israeli government said $127 million collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority last month would be held back. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the decision to withhold the revenue in consultation with senior ministers on Thursday an Israeli official told said. These tax revenues make up two-thirds of the annual budget of the Palestinian Authority, excluding foreign aid. The funds are critical for the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule, and is used to pay the salaries for its public employees.

Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestine Liberation Organization, said of the Israeli government’s actions that the move showed that Israel was scared over the move to join the ICC. “Israel collects our customs and our taxes for us so then when they withhold these funds it means that this month people will not be able to pay the schools, the hospitals, the medical supplies, the milk and bread, so they are trying to suffocate the whole nation,” Erekat said. “It shows that when it comes to enforcing collective punishment, they are punishing 4 million Palestinians, starving them, because they want to act with impunity,” he added. “This shows the legitimacy of what we are doing in the ICC.”

In addition to the tax revenue freeze, an Israeli official said that the Israeli government was “weighing the possibilities for large-scale prosecution in the United States and elsewhere” of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other senior Palestinian officials. Israel would probably press for these cases through non-governmental groups and pro-Israel legal organizations capable of filing lawsuits abroad.

When asked about the possibility of Palestinian leaders, particularly members and leaders of Hamas, being pursued for war crimes, Palestinian Ambassador to the U.N. Riyad Mansour said that the option was “political posturing.” “We are not afraid of the judgment of the law, especially international law,” he said, speaking at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on Friday.

Palestinians seek a state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War. Momentum to recognize a Palestinian state has been building since Abbas succeeded in a bid for de facto recognition at the U.N. General Assembly in 2012, which made Palestinians eligible to join the ICC. In 2012 the Israeli government froze review transfers to the Palestine in retaliation for Palestine’s launch of a campaign for recognition of statehood at the United Nations.

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Israel to Freeze Tax Payment to Palestinians over ICC Bid – 3 January 2015

BBC News – Israel Freezes Palestine Tax Funds over ICC Bid – 3 January 2015

The Jerusalem Post – Abbas Signs Rome Statute, Paving Way for Possible War Crimes Probe against Israel at ICC – 31 December 2014

Haaretz – Israel to Halt Transfer of Tax Revenues to Palestinians Following ICC Bid – 3 January 2015

War Crimes Prosecution Watch Volume 9 – Issue 20 December 29, 2014