Egypt Continues To Deny Press Freedoms; Accuses Al Jazeera Journalists of Collaborating With Terrorists

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – While the interim government in Egypt has established a “roadmap” to democracy the military government has recently come under fire for the treatment of journalist reporting on the transition process and the brutal crackdown on Islamists organizations in the state. Al Jazeera has criticized the Egyptian government for failing to protect journalists and  abuses of press freedom claiming that several members of its staff have been beaten, threatened and unlawfully subjected to police raids. Al Jazeera has also criticized the government for failing to protect journalists after one of its journalists was shot by a sniper while reporting last year. Additionally, Al Jazeera has condemned the state for detaining its journalists for several months without charge.

Al Jazeera has documented abuses press freedom in Egypt, including abuses suffered by its own staff, since President Morsi was removed from power last year. (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

Four Al Jazeera journalists are currently being held in Egypt. Peter Greste, a former correspondent for the BBC, Mohamed Fahmy, a former CNN reporter, and, Baher Mohamed a local producer were taken into custody by Egyptian forces last December. Abdullah al-Shami, A Journalist for Al Jazeera Arabic, has been held without charge in Egypt since last August. Al-Shami has been on hunger strike in protest of his detention for more than two weeks.

The Al Jazeera network has reported that it has been served with a list of 20 individuals wanted by the Egyptian government in connection with the case it claims it has against Al Jazeera’s journalists. However, Aljazeera has stated than only nine of those named are actuality on its staff.

Claims made against the journalists include accusations that members of Al Jazeera’s staff have collaborated with terrorist by taking to members of the Muslim Brotherhood during the course of their reporting last year.

The Muslim Brotherhood, longed banned under the regime of Hosni Mubarak that came to power in Egypt after Mohamed Morsi became the first Democratically elected President in the nation’s history, has been under attack by the Egyptian government which has cracked down on its members and has once again declared the organization an illegal political party.

Responding to her inclusion on the list, Sue Turton, one of the Al Jazeera journalists included on the list, has said she was astonished that a warrant for her arrest has been issued in Egypt. Turton has worked as a television journalist for almost 25 years. She said, “I have no allegiance to any political group in Egypt or anywhere else and no desire to promote any one point of view.”

Several members of the international community including major news organization have spoken out against Egypt’s treatment of journalists, including the prolonged detention of the Al Jazeera reporters. UK based media outlets, TBBC, Sky and the Daily Telegraph newspaper have issued a joint call for the immediate release of all journalists currently being detained in Egypt.

The Obama Administration has condemned the Egyptian government for this violation of press freedom. White House Spokesperson Jay Carney expressed the United States’ “deep concern” about the arrests. In a statement Tuesday he said, “The restrictions on freedom of expression in Egypt are a concern, and that includes the targeting of Egyptian and foreign journalists and academics simply for expressing their views.”

Activists are using social media to get the word out about Egypt’s detention of journalist using the hashtag #FreeAJStaff. More than 40 journalists are currently being held in Egypt.

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Al Jazeera Staff Charged In Egypt Are Named – 05 February 2014

Al Jazeera – Timeline: Al Jazeera’s Challenges in Egypt – 05 February 2014

CNN International – 8 Al Jazeera Journalists Charged By Egyptian Authorities, Network Says – 05 February 2014

The Guardian – British Reporters Deny ‘Aiding Terrorists’ In Work For Al Jazeera In Egypt – 05 February 2014

Al Jazeera – #FreeAJStaff campaign: ‘What if all journalists were gagged?’ – 04 February 2014

BBC News – US Urges Egypt To Free Al-Jazeera Journalists – 04 February 2014

Grenade Injures Six Students at Libyan School

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

TRIPOLI, Libya – At least six children have been injured by a grenade attack in a Benghazi, Libya school.

Security personnel stand in front of a court building after blasts occurred in Benghazi (photo courtesy of Reuters).

Witnesses say the grenade was thrown over a wall into a private school during a break from lessons.

The blast damaged part of the building and some victims were seriously wounded.

Blasts and assassinations are not uncommon in Benghazi, where security forces are battling Islamist militants tied to the Ansar al-Sharia group. Washington has listed this group as a foreign terrorist organization.

Benghazi, the city from which the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Qaddafi stemmed, saw a series of attacks in recent months as the weak central government has tried to rein in former rebel brigades turned militias.

Fadia al-Barghathi, a spokesperson for Benghazi’s hospital, stated: “The injuries range between light and moderate.”

A security official described the force of the explosion as “weak” and said that a hunt was underway for those behind the attack.

A medic revealed that two of the six children are in critical condition and were taken to the Beghazi medical centre.

The gunmen, later in the night, attacked Al-Saiqa checkpoint at Al-Jala hospital, sparking a firefight, which, thankfully, left no injuries.

Two days ago, the son of Libya’s special forces chief was kidnapped by gunmen in Benghazi.

A military source said the abduction was aimed at pressuring the special forces to bring about the release of prisoners held by the army.

The special forces had announced last month the arrest of four suspects in possession of a hit list of officers to be targeted or had been killed.

Militia brigades often fight “turf wars” for control of areas and businesses, and they have refused to disarm.


For more information, please visit:

BBC News – Libyan blast injures six children at Benghazi school – 5 February 2014
Reuters – Blast at Libya school wounds six children – hospital, security sources – 5 February 2014
Yahoo! News – Blast at school in Libya’s Benghazi wounds six children – 5 February 2014
Al Arabia News – Blast at school in Libya’s Benghazi wounds children – 5 February 2014
The Daily Star – Playground bomb wounds 12 kids in Libya’s Benghazi: medics – 5 February 2014

 

Former Rwandan Official on Trial in France for Genocide Charges

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PARIS, France – A French court began a genocide trial on Tuesday against a former Rwandan intelligence officer who fled Rwanda after the 1994 genocide.

If convicted, Simbikangwa would face life imprisonment. (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

In what has been promised to be the first of several prosecutions of former Rwandan officials, Pascal Simbikangwa appeared before a panel of judges in Paris to face the charges of complicity in genocide and crime against humanity. Simbikangwa, 54, had been sought under an international arrest warrant beginning in 2008. He had been in hiding on the island of Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean.

Simbikangwa could receive a sentence of life imprisonment if he is convicted. The initial indictment, drafted by Judge Olivier Leurent, stated that Simbikangwa had stashed a massive amount of weapons in his home, as well as harassing members of the minority ethnic group- the Tutsi. Simbikangwa is a Hutu, which was the ethnic group that constituted the majority of the government during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

The trial is expected to last seven weeks, and the panel of judges is expected to hear from 53 witnesses. The potential witnesses include Simbikangwa’s former neighbors back in Kigali, the Rwandan capital; French historians, and former Rwandan officials. The trial is scheduled to conclude with testimony from Tharcisse Renzaho, a former politician and prefect, who was sentenced to life in prison by the United Nations’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

France has widely been considered a refuge for Rwandan fugitives that participated in the country’s ethnic genocide, which killed over 800,000 people in 100 days back in 1994. Human rights groups see Simbikangwa’s trial an effort by France to shed this reputation, and end the protection of the fugitives.

France also has been accused of providing military training to the Hutus, and has never tried anyone accused of complicity in the Rwandan genocide. After restoring diplomatic relations with Rwanda in 2009, Paris appointed five judges to investigate the matter of the Rwandan fugitives and opened a police unit that specialized in genocide crimes.

In addition to the criminal case, five human rights groups have filed civil suits against Simbikangwa. On Tuesday, the civil plaintiffs included the Collective of Civil Plaintiffs for Rwanda, the group that first found Simbikangwa in Mayotte and filed a complaint against him.

In Europe, several countries including Belgium, a former colonial overseer of Rwanda, as well as Norway, have already brought Rwandans to justice in their countries.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Landmark Rwanda Genocide Trial Opens in Paris – 4 February 2014

BBC News – Rwanda Ex-Spy Chief Tried in Paris on Genocide Charges – 4 February 2014

France 24 – 20 Years On, France Confronts Rwandan Genocide – 4 February 2014

NY Times – Former Rwandan Intelligence Chief Goes on Trial For 1994 Genocide – 4 February 2014

87 Exonerated In United States During 2013

By Brandon R. Cottrell 
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 87 people were exonerated in 2013, which is a record amount.  The previous high, 83, was set in 2009, and over 1,200 exonerations have taken place in the United States since 1989, when amounts first began to be recorded.

Nicole Harris was recently exonerated, after it was determined that her son’s accidental death had been mischaracterized as a homicide (Photo Courtesy Huffington Post).

Samuel Gross, the lead author of the 2013 report, says that the exonerations are “good news because we are more likely to address the problem that caused false conviction in the first place but that these cases . . . are only a small proportion of errors that actually occur [and] most times, they’re never discovered.”

While DNA evidence influenced the exoneration in a large number of cases, as it “has lent credibility to convicts’ claims of innocence in the eyes of the courts and the prosecutors,” many were also influenced by law enforcement.  The 2013 report said that the “police and prosecutors appear to be taking increasingly active roles in reinvestigating possible false convictions, and [are] more responsive to claims of innocence from convicted defendants.”

Of those exonerated, nearly half had been wrongfully convicted of murder.  Most startlingly, however, is that approximately one third of the exonerations involved cases where no crime had even occurred.  In such instances, many of the exonerated plead guilty (or confessed) in exchange for reduced sentences, as they were not willing to risk a lengthier sentence if the case went to trial and they lost.

For example, Nicole Harris, one of the exonerated, was convicted of first-degree murder for the death of her 4-year old son and received a 30-year sentence.  Her conviction was based primarily on a videotaped confession, which was recorded after “an intense 27 hours of police questioning . . . [where] officers threatened her, called her names, pushed her, withheld food and water, and denied her use of the bathroom.”

Additionally, in that case, investigators refused to consider an alternative explanation for the death – that the elastic band from the bed sheet wrapped around his threat as he jumped off his bed pretending to be Spiderman.  Harris, who spent more than 7 years in prison, was exonerated when the prosecutor’s office moved to dismiss the charge, after evidence was introduced that the police had indeed coerced her into confessing.

Though justice was delayed for these 87 individuals, and is likely being delayed to hundreds currently in prison, Rob Warden, executive director of the Center of Wrongful Convictions, has said that “the more we learn about wrongful convictions, the better we’ll be at preventing them, and, of course, at correcting them after the fact as best we can.”

For further information, please see the following:

BBC – Study: Record Number Of US Convicts Cleared In 2013 – 4 Feb. 2014

Huffington Post – A Record Number Of Inmates Were Exonerated Last Year For Crimes They Didn’t Commit – 4 Feb. 2014

Global Post – Wrongful Convictions Overturned At Faster Clip In 2013 – 4 Feb. 2014 

Time U.S. – Record Number of U.S. Prisoners Exonerated in 2013 – 4 Feb. 2014

Widespread Corruption Reported Across Europe, Suggestions for Change Follow

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BRUSSELS, European Union – The European Union Anti-Corruption Report, a first of its kind, highlighted “breathtaking” corruption across the EU. The report offered suggestions to help reduce corruption.

A new report revealed perceptions of corruption across all 28 EU countries. (Photo courtesy of Irish Independent)

While presenting the European Union Anti-Corruption Report, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem stated that corruption in the EU costs the bloc’s economy 120 billion euros per year. That amount is roughly the same as the EU’s annual budget. Malmstroem called the extent of EU corruption “breathtaking.”

The first-of-its-kind report analyzed all 28 EU Member States, looking into existing measures, problems, and successful policies related to corruption. Over three-fourths of surveyed persons in the report said they believed corruption is widespread in their own country. More than a half added that corruption levels were on the rise.

The report suggested more accountability standards, control mechanisms in public authorities, improve the effectiveness of courts and police, protection for whistleblowers, more transparent lobbying practices, and increased transparency through e-tools.

The EU Commission plans to meet with all Member States, European Parliament, and national parliaments to discuss and work on recommendations discussed in the report. A follow-up report is being planned for about 2016 to measure European progress.

“There are no corruption-free zones in Europe,” Malmstroem said.

While carrying the lowest levels of witnessed corruption, Finland and Denmark each had three percent of respondents claim that corruption in their country was widespread.

Greece and Italy ranked as the top countries in which respondents believed corruption was widespread; Lithuania, Spain, and the Czech Republic tied for the third place ranking. The report highlighted that countries behind in their scores of “perceptions and actual experience of corruption” include Croatia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece.

“In these countries,” the report stated, “between 6 and 29 percent of respondents indicated that they were asked or expected to pay a bribe in the past 12 months, while 84 percent up to 99 percent think that corruption is widespread in their country.”

When it came to doing business in the EU, more than 40% of companies claimed that corruption is a problem for European operations.

In a press conference, Malmstroem said that corruption destroys democracy and the trust in public institutions. “It undermines our internal market, it hampers foreign investment, it costs taxpayers millions, and in many cases it helps organized crime groups do their dirty work.”

While Bulgaria, Romania, and Italy were noted hotspots for organized crime, white-collar crimes and VAT fraud were deemed widespread in many EU countries.

“The price of not acting is simply too high,” Malmstroem concluded.

For further information, please see:

RT – Cost of Corruption across EU Equals Its Annual Budget – EU Commission – February 4, 2014

AFP – ‘Breathtaking’ EU Corruption Costs 120 bn Euros a Year – February 3, 2014

BBC – Corruption across EU ‘Breathtaking’ – EU Commission – February 3, 2014

Irish Independent – Corruption Costs EU £99bn a Year – February 3, 2014

New York Times – Study Details Graft in European Union – February 3, 2014