Russian President Putin Nixes Ban on Protests at Sochi Winter Olympics

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SOCHI, Russia – Russian President Vladimir Putin has lifted a ban on demonstrations at the Winter Olympic venue of Sochi.

President Putin was at a rehearsal of the Games’ opening ceremony on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of ABC News)

President Putin amended a decree to allow activist groups to conduct demonstrations and marches at pre-approved sites. In a statement released by the Kremlin, Putin indicated that the sites would be approved by the venue’s security force. The Russian President was at the Olympic venue as recently as Saturday, when he attended a rehearsal of the Winter Games’ opening ceremony.

“Gatherings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets, which are not directly connected to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, could be staged on January 7 – March 21 2014… only after agreeing with… a local security body,” the release stated.

The ban on rallies had been imposed in August as a part of security crackdowns as a direct response to two suicide bombings in Volgograd which killed 34 people. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, however there is are groups in Southern Russia who aim to carve a separate Islamic state out of the region (including Sochi) that are thought to have ties to the attacks.

Campaign groups had been advocating for a lift of the bans, pleading that they violated Russia’s constitution. The International Olympic Committee praised Putin’s decision, the latest in a series of gestures aimed at silencing critics of Russia’s human-rights record.

“It is in line with the assurances that President Putin gave us last year and part of the Russian authorities’ plans to ensure free expression during the Games whilst delivering safe and secure Games,” the committee stated.

The Russian President has planned to utilize the Sochi Olympics to show a political turnaround under his administration after the fall of the Soviet Union. Last month, the Putin also freed several of Russia’s most notorious prisoners: former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and two members of the female punk group Pussy Riot.

Human Rights groups have criticized Russia’s treatment of migrant workers, particularly at Olympic sites, and have advocated for a boycott of the Sochi Games over a law banning the spread of “gay propaganda” among minors, saying it violates basic freedoms.

A December opinion poll showed that President Putin’s public approval rating fell to its lowest level in over 13 years as the country is facing high inflation and a struggling economy.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Sochi Winter Olympics: Vladimir Putin Lifts Blanket Ban on Political Protests – 4 December 2014

Al Jazeera – Russia Eases Restriction on Olympic Protests – 4 December 2o14

BBC News – Winter Olympics: Russia to Allow Protests in Special Zone – 4 December 2014

Russia Today – Putin Lifts Ban on Protests at Sochi Olympics, Orders Area Specially for Rallies – 4 December 2014

Three Journalists Detained in Cairo for Alleged Ties to Muslim Brotherhood

By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt-For the past eight days, three Al Jazeera journalists working for the broadcaster in the Cairo, have been detained by Egyptian police.  They include the Al Jazeera’s chief of the Cairo bureau, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, producer Baher Mohamed, and correspondent Peter Greste.

The three Al Jazeera journalists detained in Cairo (photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

Greste is an award-winning journalist who joined Al Jazeera English after working with CNN and BBC.  He won the Peabody Arad in 2-12 for his documentary on Somalia.  Fahmy worked for CNN and the New York Times before joining Al Jazeera.

Egypt’s interior ministry claimed that the journalists had held illegal meetings with the Muslim Brotherhood which was declared a terrorist group this past week.  Al Jazeera denies the accusations against its team and has expressed outrage at the continued detention of its journalists without charge.

“The allegations that are being made are totally false and unfounded,” claimed Al Anstey, managing director of Al-Jazeera English.  Anstey also stated the reporters were operating in Cairo legally, covering a number of other topics besides protests supporting the Brotherhood, including traffic congestion and soccer games.

General Hisham Barakat, Egypt’s top prosecutor, has ordered that the journalists be held for 15 days for suspicions of spreading false news harmful to state security.  Further accusations allege the journalists set up a media network aimed at “tarnishing Egypt’s image abroad and harming its political position.”

Egyptian authorities arrested the journalists in a five-star hotel in Cairo, claiming they confiscated a number of cameras, microphones, computers, gas masks, cash, and statements that include incitement of student protests.

Concern for Mohamed Fahmy’s health has caused him to be moved from the city’s Torah Prison to a hospital facility.  His shoulder, which was already dislocated from a previous fall, was fractured when the journalists were transported to a Cairo police station for interrogation.

“He is in pain and sleeps on the floor in a maximum security prison which is bad for a broken shoulder,” stated Ragia Omran, a lawyer for the Cairo based Arab human Rights Institute.  Both Fahmy and Greste were expected to undergo further questioning today.

Several global media freedom organizations have joined the movement for the immediate and unconditional release of the journalists.  Those organizations include the Committee for Protection of Journalists, Reporters without Borders, and International News Safety Institute.

Al Jazeera’s Cairo offices have been stormed several times and a court order has barred its local affiliate from broadcasting in Egypt since September.

For more information, please see the following: 

Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera team still detained in Egypt-05 January 2014

Guardian-Arrested al-Jazeera journalist’s health causing concern, says Egyptian lawyer-01 January 2014

Washington Post-Egypt: Al-Jazeera journalists’ detention renewed-31 December 2013

BBC-Egypt crisis: Al-Jazeera journalists arrested in Cairo-30 December 2013

Mediterranean Navies Rescue More Migrants Seeking Protection from the European Union

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BRUSSELS, European Union – Over 1000 migrants were rescued this week in the Mediterranean region. The European Union has called for countries to continue saving migrants traveling dangerous routes, amidst calls to restrict benefits for EU citizens migrating within the bloc.

Italian authorities rescued over 1000 migrants from the Mediterranean. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

On 2 January 2014, Italian naval authorities rescued 233 migrants who were first noticed New Year’s Day, about 80 miles south of Lampedusa. The boat measured only 33 feet (10 meters) long, and all of the migrants were without life jackets.

On 3 January 2014, an additional 823 migrants in four overcrowded boats were rescued in an operation separate from the 2 January events. Those migrants primarily came from Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq, and Pakistan.

Smugglers often use unseaworthy boats packed beyond safe capacities. Frontex, the European Union border agency noted that tens of thousands of people are rescued from the Mediterranean annually. European authorities estimate that, during January to September 2013 alone, roughly 31,000 migrants entered the EU illegally by crossing the Mediterranean.

In a statement released by the Italian navy, the rough seas and the boat’s “precarious state of buoyancy” were the deciding factors in transferring the migrants to the San Marco navy ship. The migrants will be transferred to the port of Augusta, which is located on the island of Sicily. Many migrants came from Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia, Pakistan, Zambia, and Mali.

Refugees seeking asylum in European Union countries frequently travel toward Lampedusa because it is the closest Italian island to Africa. In recent years, many have come from African nations and Syria. In October, 366 migrants from Africa died when a ship to Lampedusa sank just off-shore; within days, another boat capsized, killing the 34 people on board.

For twenty years, most migrants have entered the European Union through Italy, Greece, and Malta, a Mediterranean island.

While Italian authorities rescued migrants spotted around New Year’s Day, the Greek Coast Guard rescued 85 migrants, including 20 women and 15 children, a few miles southwest of Astypalaia, an island in the Aegean Sea. After offerings of food and water, the Coast Guard safely transferred the migrants to Astypalaia, and towed their sailboat to another island.

The Ministry of Mercantile Marine, in cooperation with Greek police, plan to transfer the migrants to a larger island for medical examination and any necessary treatments, as Astypalaia has only one doctor to assess all rescued migrants, in addition to the island’s residents.

Dangerous methods of migrating to the EU have created a call for greater discussions about the issue, amidst calls from Germany to prevent internal migration from encouraging “benefit tourism.”

In addressing both internal and external migration, the EU must ensure that its work to prevent abuse of freedom to one group does not abuse the rights of others.

For further information, please see:

New York Times – Italy: More Migrants Rescued at Sea – January 3, 2014

Reuters – Italian Navy Rescues over 1000 Migrants from Boats in 24 Hours – January 3, 2014

BBC News – Migrants Spark German Coalition Rift Amid Welfare Angst – January 2, 2014

CNN International – Italian Navy Rescues 233 Migrants from Mediterranean Boat – January 2, 2014

Greek Reporter – 85 Illegal Immigrants Found in the Aegean Sea – January 2, 2014

Bahrain Claims Iran Is Providing Training to Rebels

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Middle East

Manama, Bahraini–Bahraini officials have accused rebels opposed to the Gulf State regime of receiving training, including explosives training, from members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. According to the regime officials these rebels have received this training in order to carry out terror attacks inside of Bahrain.

Bahrain’s chief prosecutor Osama Al-Oufi said five people have been arrested (Photo Courtesy of Al Jazeera)

Osama al-Oufi, Bahrain’s Chief Prosecutor, reported in a statement that the nation’s intelligence service has reported that “Bahraini Ahmed Mahfuz Moussawi, currently living in Iran, had planned terrorist bombing operations targeting institutions and places vital to the sovereignty and security of the kingdom.”

According to al-Oufi he is also accused of “jeopardising the safety and security of the kingdom, injuring persons, terrorising citizens and residents, disturbing public peace, spreading chaos, and preventing government institutions and authorities from performing their functions.”

According to the Prosecution investigations revealed that the main suspect in this case had attempted to arrange a meeting in Iraq in order to coordinate the smuggling of shipments of explosives and weapons. Al-Oufi said “Based on the findings of the investigations, the public prosecution issued an arrest and search warrant against the accused and search their homes and properties, to seize any weapons and explosives found in their possession, and any items related to their criminal activities. Surveillance of the movements of the terrorist group led to the arrest of two of its members who were on a boat receiving weapons, munitions and explosives to be smuggled from a boat at sea into the country. Three other accused group members were also arrested.”

Al-Oufi stated that five people have been arrested who have “admitted joining a group to carry out terrorist attacks” he added that these suspects have also admitted to traveling to Iran in order to receive “training in Revolutionary Guards camps and then received sums of money.”

The Gulf state is currently led by elite members of the minority Sunni population. However, since members of the Shia majority led an uprising against the state, calling for democratic reforms, members of the majority Shia opposition have continued to call for reforms. Since 2011 the Bahraini state has accused Iran, a Shia regime, of being behind the opposition movement.

Confessions given to Bahraini police officials have been under fire in recent years. Widespread and excessive force, including confessions under duress and torture, was detailed in a report by an international human rights commission led by Cherif Bassiouni. The Bahraini regime has claimed it is taking steps to address these concerns. However, human rights activists claim these abuses continue in the Gulf State.

For More Information Please See:

Al Jazeera – Bahrain Accuses Iran of Training Rebels – 3 January 2014

Gulf News – Bahrain Suspects ‘Trained at Iran Camps’ – 2 January 2014

Reuters – Bahrain Says Probing Torture Claims by Men Jailed in Bombs Case – 31 December 2013

Reuters – Analysis: Bahrain Impasse Risks More Instability in 2014 – 31 December 2013