French Tourist Beheaded in Algeria by Group Linked to Islamic State

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PARIS, France – A French tourist to Algeria was killed in a beheading by an Algerian jihadist group linked to the Islamic State. The group, Jund al-Khilafah, kidnapped Hervé Gourdel on Sunday, the day after he arrived in Algeria, and after putting out a video threatening Gourdel’s life if France does not stop aiding the US coalition in the Middle East, the group followed up with a video showing his alleged murder.

Hervé Gourdel with his captors before being executed. (Photo courtesy of NY Daily News)

Facing the threat of Gourdel’s death should the bombings not cease, France insisted that it would not back down from the attacks. Following the new video depicting the beheading, French President Francois Hollande condemned the group’s actions as “cruel and cowardly.” Hollande went on to declare that “France will never give in to blackmail, to pressure, to barbaric acts… Quite to the contrary… The fight against terrorism will be pursued and accelerated as much as necessary with the respect for law.”

While it is unclear exactly what the link is between this group and ISIS, the video is a very similar style to the previous three videos released by ISIS depicting the beheadings of two Americans and one British citizen. While at least 40 nations have promised to support the move against ISIS, France has gained extra attention from the terrorist group. France was the first nation to join the United States in conducting bombings on ISIS targets in Iraq.

While past Western victims of the brutal beheading videos have been either journalists or humanitarian workers, Gourdel was merely in Algeria to hike and explore caves. While traveling through Algeria, armed militants grabbed Gourdel and took him captive. This was likely in response to the expanded airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria, as over 200 missiles have already hit targets across Syria. Even though Algeria is about 2,000 miles away from Syria, Algeria is not the only country with an ISIS presence within, as Libya has also been a worry to the French.

The Islamic State has already threatened to behead yet another British aid worker, Alan Henning. This recent video signals that ISIS and their allies are not going to stop simply because other countries have decided to begin fighting back.

For more information, please see:

USA Today – Jihadist video claims beheading of French hostage – 24 September 2014

ABC – ISIS Supporters Appear to Behead French Captive – 24 September 2014

Daily News – Algerian terrorists behead kidnapped French mountain guide – 24 September 2014

New York Post – Algerian ISIS group threatens to behead French captive – 23 September 2014

ACU Launches the Annual Report of 2013

The Assistance Coordination Unit is overdue in issuing its annual report of 2013 and the report of the external international auditing firm “Deloitte” is mentioned with four NOTES!!

The Assistance Coordination Unit “ACU” of the National Coalition has published its annual report of 2013, accompanied by a report from the external Global auditors who contracted with the Unit to conduct a full-scale auditing for it.

The annual report recites the achievements of the Unit through its main divisions in different humanitarian, developmental and medical sectors, as well as its affiliated offices in Lebanon and Jordan. Accompanying the report are the financial report of all ACU’s activities, auditing and comparison reports prepared by the ACU’s internal auditor as well as the report of the global auditing firm “Deloitte”. The report has graphic projections and representations of all 2013 activities and performance indicators.

Interestingly, the result that “Deloitte” concluded in its report came as a “qualified opinion” meaning that, “the financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position of ACU as at 31 December 2013 except four notes”.

The ACU had contracted with “Deloitte”, the Global external financial auditors in March of 2014, in order to ensure greater transparency in front of the Syrian people and other donors and implementing partners, and with the intention of holding itself accountable to the dignified Syrian people pertaining to all funds provided to the public through the Unit and the crucial role it plays.

It is noteworthy that, “Deloitte” firm is one of the four largest international professional services networks (Big Four of Audit Firms). It is known to audit governments, governmental banks and a large array of international banks.
Download the report in English, via this link: Click Here

The following link is for a video with full explanation, supported by graphs and official documents, of the Unit and of the performance indicators of 2013. It also presents Deloitte’s report and the “NOTES” they talked about, to be utilized as technical information: Click Here

Please don’t hesitate to contact us for any needed information upon financial issues on this e-mail: finance@acu-sy.org
For more information, please contact us on this e-mail: info@acu-sy.org

Maduro Announces $47M Disarmament Plan

By Delisa Morris

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela — On September 20, Venezuelan President Maduro announced a $47 million dollar plan to disarm Venezuelan civilians.  As that day was the International Day of Peace, Maduro detailed his plan to build 60 new disarmament centers.  The centers will allow citizens to voluntarily surrender their firearms.

Destroyed pistols used in a demonstration. Photo courtesy of International Business Times

According to figures from the United Nations, Venezuela has the second highest peacetime murder rate behind Honduras.  According to statistics most of the murders in Venezuela are committed using firearms.  “We are building peace from within, and for that, you need disarmament,” the president said at an event in the capital, Caracas.

UN figures suggest there were 53.7 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2012, compared to 90.4 in Honduras.  This figure is up from 47.8 last year.  However, the Venezuelan Violence Observatory, a Caracas-based non-profit organization estimates a much larger number at 79 per 100,000 people.  A rate they say that quadrupled over the past 15 years.  

In addition to disarmament, Maduro has approved a plan for $39 million to go towards funding military soldiers to patrol streets alongside Venezuelan police.  The soldiers are set to patrol the streets in the most dangerous neighborhoods.

Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres said the money would be used to finance 2,000 new patrols and fund new equipment for the security forces.

In June 2013, President Maduro introduced tougher prison sentences for people convicted of carrying illegal firearms.  The offense could land someone 20 years in prison.  Despite these new laws insecurity amongst Venezuelan citizens is at an all time high.  The law also restricted sales of firearms to military and security personnel, effectively outlawing civilian possession of firearms.

Security was a large reason for massive protests against the government this year, along with the economy.

Many opposition activists have accused the government of hypocrisy.  They allege that officials have armed “colectivos”, pro-government groups which have clashed with anti-government protesters during demonstrations.  The activists believe that the government is using the disarmament program as a cover-up.

This isn’t the first time the government has attempted to remove guns from the street.

In 2009, the government destroyed more than 30,000 guns that were seized during police raids.  $5,000 was raised from the sell of the scrap metal was donated to the Friends of Children with Cancer Foundation.  

The government continued their policy of disarmament in 2011. In September the Venezuelan government destroyed over 50,000 confiscated guns adding, racking up a total of 250,000 guns confiscated since 2003. Melted down, the weapons produced 60 tons of iron that was recycled for use in public housing projects.

On Sunday President Maduro said his government “continued to pursue the dream, the utopia of a Venezuela in peace”, and promised to build “peace with love, justice and a will to work”.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Venezuela’s Maduro launches civilian disarmament plan – 22 Sept. 2014

VICE News – Venezuelan Government Announces Disarmament Plan – Again – 23 Sept. 2014

Washington Times – Venezuela’s Maduro Launches $47M Plan to Disarm Civilians – 23 Sept. 2014

International Business Times – Venezuela Launches Disarmament Program – 22 Sept. 2014