VDC: Allegations of the Use of Internationally Prohibited Gases in Kafer Zeta – Hama Province
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VDC: A Special Report on the Syrians’ Illegal Migration – Greece as an Example
United Nations Security Council Views Horrific Photographs of Syrians Killed By the Assad Regime
By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
United Nations Headquarters, United Nations – Horrific images of deceased Syrian detainees killed by the Assad regime as a result of torture and severe malnutrition during the county’s civil war were presented at the United Nations Tuesday. The images were among some 55,000 photographs taken by a Syrian police photographer known as Caesar and smuggled out of Syria, the images document some of the most horrific crimes committed by the Assad regime including torture. The United Nations Security Council spent more than two hours viewing the photographs on Tuesday Morning. The photographs were shown to the Council in an effort by France to refer the Syrian Case to the International Criminal Court.
The United States Ambassador tot eh United Nations, Samantha Power, responded to the images after she saw them at a closed meeting of the U.N. Security Council, “The gruesome images of corpses bearing marks of starvation, strangulation and beatings and today’s chilling briefing indicate that the Assad regime has carried out systematic, widespread and industrial killing.” She also said that; “nobody who sees these images will ever be the same. The perpetrators of these monstrous crimes must be held accountable, and the international community must unite in the face of such horrors.”
While working at a military hospital from September 2011 to August 2013, Caesar photographed the bodies of detainees from three regime detention centers in the Damascus area. His smuggled photographs were passed over to the Syrian National Movement, which is backed by Qatar. Ten of the 55,000 photographs of roughly 11,000 Syrians tortured by the Assad regime were released to the public in a study called the Caesar report. The study was funded by the Gulf state of Qatar, a major supporter of the Syrian opposition.
Two of the report’s authors, David Crane, chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and founder of Impunity Watch, and Doctor Stuart Hamilton, a British forensic pathologist briefed the Council on Tuesday. Crane stated that the photographs document evidence of killing on an industrial scale by the Assad regime. He stressed that rebel forces are also “committing international crimes” in Syria. “We’re well beyond a good-guy, bad-guy scenario here,” he said, pointing out that human beings are killing one another “at a scale that has not been seen since Rwand
Tuesday’s briefing came a day after The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay condemned the treatment of detained persons saying that “in armed conflict, torture constitutes a war crime. When it is used in a systematic or widespread manner, which is almost certainly the case in Syria, it also amounts to a crime against humanity.” She continued “I urge the Government and armed opposition groups in Syria to immediately halt the use of torture and ill-treatment, and to release all those who have been arbitrarily detained in conditions that clearly breach international human rights standards. Those detained must be treated humanely.”
The comments come as her office issued a paper containing detailed testimony from victims and witnesses, describing systematic patterns of torture and ill-treatment against individuals in Government facilities, as well as documenting reports of torture by other armed groups.
For the Caesar Report please see:
For further information please see:
BBC World News – Syria Crisis: ‘Torture’ Photos Shown To UN Security Council – 15 April 2014
Fox News – Horror of Syria’s War Displayed At Un – 15 April 2014
The Guardian – Syrian Torture Images to Be Examined By UN Security Council – 15 April 2014
The New York Times – At U.N., A Grim Viewing of Alleged Syrian Torture – 15 April 2014
United Nations News Centre – UN Rights Chief Condemns Rampant Use of Torture By Syrian Forces, Opposition Groups – 14 April 2014
India’s High Court Recognizes Transgender as a ‘Third Gender Category’
By Brian Lanciault
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
NEW DELHI, India– India’s top court announced Tuesday in a landmark verdict that transgender rights are human rights. The decision stated that people can identify themselves as a third gender on any official documents.
The Supreme Court directed the federal and state governments to include transgendered people in all welfare programs for the poor, including education, health care and jobs to help them overcome social and economic challenges. Before the decision, transgendered Indians could only identify themselves as male or female in all official documents.
The decision was praised for giving relief to the approximately 3 million Indians who identify as transgender.
The Court proclaimed that it was the right of every human being to choose their gender, and acknowledged a grant of rights to those who identify themselves as neither male nor female.
“All documents will now have a third category marked ‘transgender.’ This verdict has come as a great relief for all of us. Today I am proud to be an Indian,” said Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, a transgender activist who, along with a legal agency, had petitioned the Court.
The Court’s decision will apply to individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex, and to those who merely present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.
“The spirit of the (Indian) Constitution is to provide equal opportunity to every citizen to grow and attain their potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender,” the Court said in its order.
The Supreme Court specified its ruling would only apply to transgender people but not to gays, lesbians or bisexuals. India’s LGBT communities have been protesting the Court’s recent decision to reinstate a colonial-era law banning homosexual intercourse, which they say will make them vulnerable to police harassment.
The Court also ordered the government to put in place public awareness campaigns to reduce the social stigma that has developed around transgender people.
Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan told the Court that the “recognition of transgender (people) as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue.”
“Transgenders are citizens of this country and are entitled to education and all other rights,” he said.
The Court ruled that transgender people have the same right to adopt children as other Indians.
The Court said any person who underwent surgery to change his or her sex would be entitled to be legally recognized as belonging to the gender of their choice.
The Supreme Court also ordered state governments to construct separate public toilets for transgender people and create health departments to take care of transgender medical services.
Recently, India’s Election Commission for the first time allowed a third gender choice — “other” — on voter registration forms. The change was made in time for the national elections being held in phases through May 12.
Nearly 28,000 voters have registered themselves in that category.
For more information, please see:
Hindustan Times– Supreme Court recognises transgender as third gender— 15 April 2014
ABC News–India’s Top Court Recognizes Third Gender Category— 15 April 2014
BBC News–India court recognises transgender people as third gender— 15 April 2014
Time–Men, Women and ‘Hijras’: India Recognizes Third Gender— 15 April 2014
Anti-Austerity Demonstration In Rome Leads To Violent Clashes With Police
by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
ROME, Italy – A protest in the streets of Rome turned violent on Saturday as police attempted to break up thousands of demonstrators, leaving several people injured.
The protest, which was regarding recent austerity measures by the newly elected government, grew out of control after demonstrators began to throw eggs and oranges at government buildings. The demonstrators then began throwing objects at police, and officers attempted to scatter the protest by marching towards the crowd and disseminating tear gas.
Many protestors ran away immediately, while six people were taken into custody by police. Several people were left injured after the clashes with police, and one protester lost his hand after a firecracker exploded prematurely in his hand. The Rome prosecutor’s office is also conducting an investigation after a video has been released of an undercover police officer stomping on a woman at the protest.
The demonstration was composed of thousands of workers, students, and unemployed citizens. Reports from protest organizers indicated that the protest drew 15,000 people. The protest was intended to be centered around Italy’s high cost of housing and high unemployment rates. A major topic was also the newly-elected Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s plan to reform labor laws. Renzi plans to attempt to reform labor laws which would make it easier for companies to hire, and consequently fire, employees. Some protestors were discussing issues from the previous administration, however most were focused on Renzi’s plan.
“So far Italians seem cautiously optimistic about Renzi’s proposed tax cuts, but two months in the job, he has faced the anger of those who oppose his drive for reforms,” stated one reporter.
Federico Bicerni, the youth head of the Italian Marxist Leninist Party stated, “They are reducing democracy. Renzi’s labor reforms will worsen the situation for workers without job security, hitting young people when they are already struggling. The rage of the people in the squares today is justified.”
Prime Minister Renzi was elected in February, and has swiftly put forth an economic reform plan that will cut public spending by a little over six billion American dollars. Italy’s unemployment rate reached a record 13 percent in February, and Renzi has stated that the new economic plan is a “precondition for economic recovery.”
Renzi is aiming to equalize the economy, and speaking to the plan last week, he stated, “there are those who have taken much, too much over the years, and it is time they give some back.”
For more information, please see:
Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata – Probe Opened After Policeman Filmed Stomping On Woman – 14 April 2014
Al Jazeera – Anti-Austerity Protest In Italy Turns Violent – 13 April 2014
EuroNews – Italy Anti-Austerity Protest Ends In Violent Clashes – 12 April 2014
ReutersUK – Thousands March In Paris, Rome Against Austerity, Economic Reforms – 12 April 2014