Iran Executes Activist Poet, Calling Him an “Enemy of God”

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – According to local human rights groups, Hashem Shaabani, an Arab-Iranian human rights activists has been executed by the Iranian government who called him an “enemy of God” and a threat to national security. According to BBC Persian, officials from the Ministry of Information informed the Shaabani’s family that they had carried out the execution and told them of the location where he had been buried. Both Hashem Shaabani were executed on January 29, without their attorneys or families being notified.

Hadi Rashedi and Hashem Shaabani, members of an Arab cultural organization, were executed without their attorneys or their families being notified. (Photo courtesy of The Iranian Human Rights Documentation Center)

Shaabani was a member of Iran’s Arab-Speaking ethnic minority and had spoken out against the treatment of ethnic Arabs in the province of Khuzestan. Shaabani founded the Dialogue Institute, an organization aimed at promoting Arab culture in Iran, and was well known for his Arabic and Persian poetry.

In  statement the human rights group Freedom House condemned Iran’s decision to execute Shaabani, saying: “His judicial murder underscores two important trends in Iran: Violent repression of ethnic minorities, of which Shaabani’s execution is only one among many examples, remains government policy. And the government’s human rights record has not improved under President Rouhani. During the first two weeks of January, some 40 individuals were executed; Iran is believed to be second only to China in the number of executions.”

Shaabani was hanged in an unidentified prison on January 27. He had been incarcerated since February or March 2011 after being arrested for being a Mohareb, or an “enemy of God”. In 2012, he appeared on Iran’s state-run TV, where, according to human rights activist, he was forced to confess to being a “separatist terrorist.” Shaabani was reportedly subjected to torture while in prison.

Last year Iran executed 625 people, including 29 women and political prisoners, many political prisoners faced the charge of being an “enmity against God” or for somehow being a threat to “national security.”

According to Amnesty International Iran executed 40 people over a two week period in January and according to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre (IHRDC) more than 300 people have been executed since President Rouhani, called by some a reformist, took office in August. The majority of the executions in January were for drug related charges, according to Amnesty.

Activists are concerned over the steep increase in executions that has been seen in Iran since Rouhani took office last year. (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

The Iranian government has defended its use of capital punishment, arguing the practice is necessary to maintaining order. The state maintains that it is used only when judicial proceedings have been exhausted. However activists have criticized the state for using Capital punishment as a means of suppressing political dissidence.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran Ahmed Shaheed and the UN’s expert addressing executions Christof Heyns urged Iran last month to stop the surge in executions that has been going on since the start of the year.

As the Iranian government celebrates 35 years since it came to power during the 1979 Iranian Revolution it is clear that the government remains willing to use “judicial murder” as a means of silencing the voices of those who question it.

For more information please see”

National Public Radio – Book News: Poet Hashem Shaabani Reportedly Executed In Iran – 11 February 2014

Al Jazeera – Iranian Poet Executed For ‘Waging War on God’ – 10 February 2014

The Jerusalem Post – Rouhani Orders Executions of Iranian-Arab Poet, Rights Activist – 03 February 2014

Iranian Human Rights Documentation Center – IRI Executes Two Ahwazi Arab Men – 31 January 2014

Al Jazeera – Iran Executes 40 in Two Weeks: Rights Group – 28 January 2014

North and South Korea Engage in ‘High-Level’ Talks

By Brian Lanciault
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea--North and South Korea have held their first “high-level talks” in almost seven years, in an apparent effort to improve strained relations at the suggestion of the North.

The talks, held Wednesday at a border village, came as South Korea and the United States prepared to engage in another round of military drills that have antagonized Pyongyang, Reuters reported.

The meeting was set up with unusual speed and great secrecy at the North’s suggestion last week. This is just the latest example of conflicting signals from Pyongyang, which abruptly cancelled an invitation for a US envoy to visit a few weeks ago.

Kim Jong-un, who requested the negotiations with the South, is believed to be using the talks as a jump-off for future plans to visit China. (Photo Courtesy Reuters)

The North is expected to repeat demands for the South and the United States to abandon their military drills. Both sides have numerous incentives to seek a deal that could break their long stalemate.

“For the North, if it comes back with an accomplishment in terms of improved South-North ties, it will mean a better atmosphere for Kim Jong-un to visit China and a justification to pursue high-level talks with the United States,” Cheong Seong-chang, an expert at the Sejong Institute outside Seoul, reported.

Kim is believed to be plotting a visit to China, Pyongyang’s largest ally and main benefactor, to reinforce his legitimacy as dictator in the eyes of a skeptical international community. Kim took power when his father died suddenly in 2010.

Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett, reporting from the South Korean capital Seoul, said while the atmosphere surrounding negotiations appeared “calm,” any major announcement was unlikely to be brought out in the near future.

“We’re all a bit in the dark” as to the content of the discussions, correspondents said.

Seoul officials told the Associated Press that the meeting was requested by the North, which has launched a recent “charm offensive” after raising tensions last spring with threats to fire nuclear-tipped missiles at Seoul and Washington.

Pyongyang, which has repeatedly vowed to expand its nuclear arsenal and further develop nuclear technology, is trying to build nuclear-armed missiles that can reach the continental US. Most experts say the country has yet to master the technology needed to mobilize an atomic bomb via missile.

In addition to demanding a halt to the military drills, North Korea was expected to demand that South Korea agree to restart a lucrative joint tourism project and increase humanitarian aid efforts.

South Korea, meanwhile, was looking to discuss ways to ensure that planned reunions of families separated a half-century ago in the Korean War went smoothly, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said.

The South Korean delegation is led by President Park Geun-hye’s deputy national security adviser, while North Korea has sent its second-highest ranking official in the ruling Workers’ Party department, who is also in charge of maintaining ties with the South.

The meeting is the highest level in years between the Koreas, which held a series of similar meetings in 2007.

For further information, please see:

ABC–Koreas Hold Senior-Level Meeting at Border Village–11 Feburary 2014

BBC News–North and South Korea hold rare high-level talks–12 February 2014

Al Jazeera–Koreas hold rare talks to ease tensions–12 February 2014

CNN–North and South Korea to hold ‘high-level’ meeting–11 February 2014

Ex-Guatemalen Soldier Convicted for Failure to Disclosure Involvement in Massacre

by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, United States –  Former Guatemalan special forces officer Jorge Sosa was sentenced Monday to 10 years in a federal prison for failing to disclose information in his immigration documents about his involvement in a massacre back in Guatemala. Sosa will also be stripped of his citizenship as part of the sentence.

Sosa, 55, is expected to be sent back to Guatemala after serving his ten year sentence. (photo courtesy of the LA Times)

Sosa was convicted of lying on his 2007 naturalization paperwork about his participation in the killing of at least 160 unarmed civilians in the village of Dos Erres in 1982.  The former second lieutenant was not tried for war crimes but instead found to have failed to disclose that he participated in the massacre.

Prosecutors said Sosa was able to become a citizen because he did not disclose his affiliation with the Kaibiles, an elite team of soldiers in the Guatemalan military.  During the trial, the prosecutors explained that Sosa’s unit was dispatched to Doe Erres to recover firearms but instead, at Sosa’s direction, his men raped and killed the villagers.  No weapons were ever recovered.

“These are the crimes the defendant lied about and didn’t disclose,” Judge Virginia Phillip said to the court. “The particular facts of what occurred on Dec. 7, 1982, at Dos Erres cannot be characterized in any other way than as crimes.”

Sosa is not the first to be prosecuted for his part in that massacre.  Several members of that unit have been prosecuted in Guatemala.

Sosa claimed innocence, saying he was not in the village during the massacre. His lawyer, Shashi Kewalramani, considered the sentence excessive and announced Sosa’s intention to appeal the conviction. Kewalramani added that the trial served as a forum to try Sosa for his alleged involvement in the massacre and not the charges at hand.

“Over our objections, the government made it a murder case, basically supplanted the Guatemalan court and decided to try that case up in the United States,” Kewalramani said.

For more information, please see:

Fox News – Ex-Guatemalan soldier linked to massacre is sentenced for lying on US citizenship forms – 11 February 2014

ABC News – Ex-Guatemalan Soldier Sentenced to 10 Years in US – 10 February 2014

LA Times – Ex-Guatemalan soldier linked to massacre gets 10-year sentence  – 10 February 2014

SF Gate – Ex-Guatemalan soldier sentenced to 10 years in US – 10 February 2014

USA Today – Ex-Guatemalan soldier sentenced to prison for lying – 10 February 2014

Rwandan Ex-Police Chief Acquitted of Genocide on Appeal

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

KIGALI, Rwanda – A Rwandan paramilitary police chief found guilty of genocide by a UN-backed war crimes tribunal has been acquitted on appeal.

Some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in 100 days in 1994 (photo courtesy of AFP)

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda convicted Gen. Augustin Ndindiliyimana in 2011 of genocide, murder and other serious violations of international law for his role in the 1994 Rwandan atrocities.

The former commander of a military reconnaissance battalion, Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, also was acquitted, along with Ndindiliyimana.

Ndindiliyimana was one of the highest ranking officers convicted of taking part in genocide. He was tried alongside Augustin Bizimungu, Rwanda’s former army chief of staff, who was sentenced in 2011 for 30 years. Bizimungu also appealed; however, the special court requested more information on his case.

The judgment said it took into account that Ndindiliyimana had “limited command over the gendarmerie after April 6, 1994 . . . and his opposition to the massacres in Rwanda.”

The BBC says Ndindiliyimana has been living in an International Criminal Tribunal safe house in the Tanzanian town since his release after he was sentenced nearly three years ago.

The appeals chamber said Tuesday that it reversed his conviction because the prosecution conceded that there was no evidence that supported his conviction.

“Consequently, Ndindiliyimana, who had been sentenced to time served by the trial chamber, was acquitted of all counts of indictment,” the court said in a statement.

Ndindiliyimana has been in custody for more than a decade.

Commemorations of the 20th anniversary of the genocide, in which 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in just 100 days, have already begun, even as efforts to find and punish those responsible go on.

Last week in Paris, a French court opened to genocide trial of a former Rwandan intelligence chief in the first prosecution there of former officials and others who fled Rwanda.

BBC states that Ndindiliyimana is unable to return to Rwanda and that no other country will take him.

Rwanda’s genocide was sparked by the death of former President Juvenal Habyarimana who was killed when his plane was shot down close to the capital, Kigali, on April 6, 1994.

Within hours of the attack, certain members of the government organized ethnic Hutu militias across the country to systematically kill Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The appeals chamber also found that the trial chamber committed errors of law and fact and concluded that Ndindiliyimana could not be held criminally responsible.

For more information, please visit:
BBC News – Rwanda’s Augustin Ndindiliyimana cleared of genocide – 11 February 2014
CitifmOnline – Rwanda’s Augustin Ndindiliyimana cleared of genocide – 11 February 2014
ICTJ – Rwanda’s Augustin Ndindiliyimana cleared of genocide – 11 February 2014
GhHeadlines – Rwanda’s Augustin Ndindiliyimana cleared of genocide – 12 February 2014
Nets247.com – Rwanda’s Augustin Ndindiliyimana cleared of genocide – 11 February 2014
UPI – Rwandan genocide court reverses charges – 11 February 2014
NY Times – U.N. Court, on Appeal, Acquits 2 Rwandans in 1994 Genocide – 11 February 2014
Africa Press Review – Rwanda’s Augustin Ndindiliyimana cleared of genocide – 11 February 2014

 

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey Call For Emergency U.N. Meeting on Syria War Crimes

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabi – Saudia Arabia, Turkey and Qatar have requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations General Assembly to deal with the growing evidence of Syrian war crimes. The request was made in a letter to the U.N. General Assembly dated February 7.

Civilians in Homs gather to evacuate the city during a three-day ceasefire agreement. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

 

“U.N. officials have been repeatedly expressing their frustration and disappointment at the lack of progress in addressing the grave humanitarian situation and growing body of evidence pointing to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the request said.

It also expressed frustration with the lack of implementation of U.N. sanctions required by “the Security Council presidential statement date Oct. 2, 2013,” which is “unacceptable.”

The request was sent directly to President of the U.N. General Assembly John Ashe. Ashe will reply to the request after consulting other U.N. members including the Security Council.

The letter also cited the Syrian parties inability to reach a long-term agreement during the first round of peace talks in Geneva.

“Although the parties agreed to reconvene in Geneva on Feb. 10 of 2014 for the second round of talks, the inability to reach an agreement in the first round to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people is an urgent issue of serious concern for the international community.”

The Syrian delegation arrived in Switzerland on Sunday ahead of this week’s peace talks. The request for an emergency meeting may increase pressure on both sides to reach an agreement.

On February 7, the Syria government and opposition agreed to a three-day ceasefire in Homs to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged city. Reportedly, 600 residents, including elderly men, women and children, were placed on buses and removed from the combat zone. Syria’s Red Crescent delivered food and medical aid to the areas of the city under rebel control.

However, the cease fire agreement has been broken several times. Eleven people were killed during operations conducted by the U.N. and Syria’s Red Crescent. The emergency vehicles also had difficulty entering and traveling throughout the city. Despite the violence, the cease was extended for another three days on Monday.

For further information, please see:

Inquisitr – Saudi Arabia Calls Emergency UN Meeting On Syrian War Crimes – 10 February 2014

CNN – Cease-fire in Syrian city of Homs extended for another three days: U.N.  – 10 February 2014

Kuwait News Agency – S. Arabia, Qatar, Turkey ask GA President to convene urgent meeting on Syria – 10 February 2014

Al Aribiya – Saudi Arabia calls for urgent U.N. meeting on Syria – 9 February 2014