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.
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.
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.
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
Deadly Blast Hits Hezbollah Stronghold in Beirut
By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
BEIRUT, Lebanon-A suspected car bomb has caused a massive explosion at a Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut. The explosion occurred in the Haret Hrek district during rush hour.
Images of the explosion appeared on Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV show depicting firefighters putting out multiple cars on fire. The footage also showed one building with its façade blown off and also damage to several other neighboring buildings.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry has reported that at least five people were killed and as many as twenty wounded from the blast.
“Suddenly, the whole area went bright and we started running away. I saw two bodies on the street, one of a woman and another of a man on a motorcycle was totally deformed,” reported Ali Oliek, an accountant who works in a nearby office.
Authorities brought in bomb sniffing dogs, and at one point announced that there was the possibility of another bomb in the vicinity, sending crowd members into frenzy. Hezbollah security agents and Lebanese troop worked together to block off the area to keep out the angry crowds surrounding the blast sight.
“There are a large number of people trying to get to the explosion site but security forces are trying to keep people away. They fear there might be another bomb, another attack,” reported Rula Amin, an Aljazeera reported located in Beirut.
“This is the heart of the Hezbollah stronghold and it’s considered a safe zone but not anymore. It seems like the bomb is not big but this area is very crowded and there are a lot of people on the streets at this time of the day. Security in that area is usually very tight, so to be able to put that car bomb there is a major violation,” continued Amin
This attack is one of several that have occurred in Beirut over the last few months, including one last week. In November, twenty five people were killed by a suicide bombing at the Iranian embassy in southern Beirut. Explosions have also occurred in other nearby Hezbollah districts in Sunni Mosques in the northern city of Tripoli.
“This is a big battle against terrorism, it targets everyone. It doesn’t matter where they are from. The perpetrators are trying to incite violence among the Lebanese people,” stated Ali Hassan Khalil, the Lebanese health minister.
Tensions between sectarian groups in Lebanon have increased due to the civil war in neighboring Syria.
For more information, please see the following:
Al Jazeera-Deadly explosion hits Lebanese capital-2 January 2014
Deutsche Welle-Deadly explosion hits Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut-2 January 2014
Sky News-Deadly Blast Rocks Lebanese Capital Beirut-2 January 2014
USA Today-Deadly blast hits south Beirut neighborhood-2 January 2014