U.S. Ambassador to Spain Meets with Spanish Authorities Amid Latest NSA Spying Allegations

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MADRID, Spain – Spanish authorities have called on the United State Ambassador to Spain, James Costos, to discuss alleged spying by the U.S. National Security Administration on Spanish citizens.

U.S. Ambassador to Spain, James Costos, met with Spanish authorities after the El Mundo story came out. (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

The Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, produced a graphic which it claimed to be an NSA document that had recorded information on over 60.5 million phone calls in Spain between December 10, 2012 and January 8 of earlier this year.

The Spanish Foreign Ministry issued a statement after a meeting between Spain’s Secretary of State for the European Union, Inigo Mendez de Vigo, and U.S. ambassador to Spain James Costos.

“Spain has relayed to the United States the importance of preserving a climate of trust and its interest in understanding the full reach of practices that, if true, would be considered inappropriate and unacceptable between allies,” the Spanish foreign ministry stated.

“We will continue to confer with our allies, such as Spain, through our regular diplomatic channels to address the concerns that they have raised,” Costos said in a statement.

Madrid has also asked the United States to provide additional data from the NSA about this alleged surveillance. U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered a review of U.S. surveillance programs after Snowden leaked documents that raised alarm in the U.S. and abroad.

Spain has so far resisted calls from Germany for the European Union’s 28-member states to reach a “no-spy deal”, after reports that the NSA monitored the phone of German chancellor Angela Merkel.

El Mundo has stated it had reached a deal with Glenn Greenwald, the Brazil-based journalist who has worked with other media sources on information provided to him by Snowden, to gain access to these documents about the phone surveillance. El Mundo stated the telephone monitoring did not appear to track the content of calls but recorded information about their duration and location.

Representatives from the European Union are expected to meet with officials in Washington, D.C. to convey their concerns this week. The representatives from the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs are expected to speak with members of the U.S. Congress and security officials to gather more information about the recent allegations of U.S. spying on European leaders and citizens.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Spain Summons US Ambassador Over Spying – 28 October 2013

BBC News – NSA Surveillance: Spain Demands U.S. Explain “Monitoring” – 28 October 2013

The Independent – NSA “Tapped 60m Spanish Phone Calls” as Country Joins France and Germany in Latest Snowden Revelations – 28 October 2013

New York Times – Spain Summons U.S. Ambassador in Spying Scandal – 28 October 2013

 

 

SNHR: Urgent Appeal

More than 3,000 residents of Sadad village (south east Homs) are now trapped in the village after clashes between the the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other armed groups from one hand, and regime forces from the other.  Both conflicting parties have imposed a curfew, preventing residents from leaving their homes, and food and medical supplies are running low due to the curfew.

Syrian Network for Human Rights calls on the concerning international aid organizations, especially the International Committee of the Red Cross, to respond quickly and evacuate the civilians.

SNHR also calls on these international bodies to exert real pressure on the conflicting parties to allow civilians to leave or at least admit entrance to those providing humanitarian and medical assistance.

Saudi Women Defy Driving Ban

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – More than 60 Saudi women claimed to have answered the call for women across the country to defy the state law forbidding women from driving in Saudi Arabia. This display of civil disobedience took place on Saturday, when activists for women’s rights across Saudi Arabia called on women to get behind the wheel of a car in defiance of the ultra-conservative state’s discriminatory laws.

Saudi women defy driving ban across the country on October 26 (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

The campaign for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, particularly the campaign for the right of women to drive, has gained international attention on social media after numerous Saudi women filmed themselves driving in open defiance of the law and posted the videos to YouTube.

Saudi authorities stopped five women who were spotted driving in Riyadh. Fawaz Al-Meeman, an assistant spokesmen for the Riyadh police, said, “each case was dealt with accordingly.” He explained that the women were not taken to police stations. Instead, they were detained in their vehicles until their male guardians arrived at the scene, at which point they were released into the custody of their guardians.

Mai Al-Swayan posted a video to YouTube showing her driving from her home to a nearby grocery store in defiance of the law. She said, “I drove on the highway and was noticed by a couple of cars but they were fine with it.”

While Riyadh police did not take any women to police stations for breaking the law banning women from driving, that was not the case in other cities. In Jeddah, photographer Samia El-Moslimany said she was taken into custody for having driven a car. She said she was taken to a police station where another woman was being detained for having driven a car.

Saudi Arabia’s spokesman for the Interior Ministry Mansour Al-Turki said Saturday was a “normal day, just like every Saturday,” and said that he was not aware of any violations to the driving law, but regional police spokesmen said that if violations of the ban on women driving did occur, they would be dealt with. “Not just on the 26th. Before and after. At all times.”

The Interior Ministry issued a warning earlier in the week in response to the calls of activists women who openly defy the law. The warning was issued to women caught driving as well as anyone taking part in demonstrations.

Adam Coogle, a Saudi Arabia researcher for Human Rights Watch said the discriminatory driving laws in Saud Arabia are shameful and that the Saudi Interior Ministry is trying to “deflate the momentum” behind the activists campaign through “direct, individual intimidation.”

There is not a specific traffic law that prohibits women from driving in Saudi Arabia, but religious edicts are often interpreted to mean women are not allowed to operate a vehicle.

Sheikh Saleh Al-Loheidan, a prominent religious figure in Saudi Arabia, claimed that driving can have a negative impact on a women’s ovaries. He claimed that “medical studies show that it would automatically affect a woman’s ovaries and that it pushes the pelvis upward.”

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Saudi Women Defy Driving Ban across Country – 27 October 2013

CNN – Saudi Arabia Women Defy Authorities Over Female Driving Ban – 26 October 2013

CNN – Why Saudi Arabia Can’t Ban Women from Driving Forever – 25 October 2013

CNN – Saudi Cleric Warns Driving Could Damage Women’s Ovaries – 30 September 2013

 

German Intelligence Delegates Will Visit White House to Discuss Spying

by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States –  The National Security Agency (NSA) has been listening in on calls made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the past ten years according to German Language news service Der Spiegel. Chancellor Merkel, outraged by the news, summoned the US ambassador for the first time in decades.

In response to news of NSA spying, officials from Germany and France have asked the United States to sign a no spying deal by the end of the year. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

German government spokesman Georg Streiter announced that officials from Germany’s foreign and domestic intelligence agencies will be traveling to the United States to talk with White House and NSA officials sometime in the near future.

“We are seeking a basis for cooperation between our [intelligence] services, which we all need and from which we have all received a great deal of information … that is transparent, that is clear and is in keeping with the character of being partners,” Merkel said.

European Union leaders, angry over allegations of widespread NSA spying, have reluctantly agreed to maintain their partnership with the United States.  Analysts suspect France and Germany may be seeking an arrangement similar to the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence-sharing agreement the United States has had with the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada since just after World War II.

News of Chancellor Merkel’s phone calls being bugged is just one of several reports that surfaced last week detailing widespread NSA spying.  Headlines in European newspapers this past week have included allegations that the NSA has been spying on millions of French citizens. Additionally, a British newspaper says it has obtained a confidential memo detailing NSA spying on 35 foreign leaders back in 2006.

A statement released by EU leaders Friday warned that “[a] lack of trust could prejudice the necessary cooperation in the field of intelligence-gathering.”

President Obama ordered a review of U.S. surveillance programs after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents detailing widespread spying operations that outraged US citizens.

For more information, please see:

NBC News – US spied on German leader Merkel’s phone since 2002: report – 26 October 2013

Times of India – German spy chiefs to head to US for talks – 26 October 2013

ABC News – Germany, France Want US to Agree to Curb Spying – 25 October 2013

BBC News – Top German spy chiefs to go to Washington for talks – 25 October 2013

TIME – Germans Coming to U.S. On Heels of Snooping Reports – 25 October 2013

Iran Hangs 16 Rebels in Retaliation for Border Attack

By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran-In retaliation for the deaths of at least 14 border patrol guards, Iran has hanged 16 rebels who were “linked to groups hostile to the regime,” stated the attorney general of Sistan-Baluchistan province.

Iranian border guards monitor the hostile south-eastern border with Pakistan (photo courtesy of BBC)

“These individuals were executed this Saturday morning in response to the terrorist action of last evening at Saravan and the martyrdom of the border guards,” said an Iranian prosecutor.

No details of the trial proceedings were given, with reporters speculating that the 16 rebels were already tried and convicted with their executions being brought forward after the ambush.

Details on the total number of border guards killed in the ambush were also unclear with some reports totaling the number at 20 while others reported the number to be closer to 17.

Iran’s Deputy Interior Minister Al Abdollahi stated, “Three soldiers have been taken hostage and taken to the other side of the border in Pakistan,” announcing measures would be taken to secure their release.  “We warned the rebel groups that any attack targeting civilians or members of the security forces would not go unanswered,” he further stated.

The attack occurred in a mountainous region outside of Saravan near the south-eastern border with Pakistan.  Saravan’s Member of Parliament, Hedayatollah Mirmoradzehi, blamed the attack on “anti-revolution guerrillas.”  However, unconfirmed reports have claimed that a rebel group called Jaish al-Adl was responsible for the attack.

Soraya Lennie, a reporter for Al Jazeera, said that Jaish al-Adl is a relatively new group that is vehemently anti-Shia and the Iranian government has put pressure on the Pakistani government to crack down on the group’s activities.

A historical unrest of mainly the Sunni Muslim population complaining of discrimination by Iran’s Shia Muslim authorities has been a catalyst for increasing deaths and tension along the Iran-Pakistan border.

The south-eastern border region is common to attacks with officials claiming that more than 4,000 police officers and soldiers have been killed in the area during three decades of fighting with drug traffickers.

A parliamentary committee on national security is meeting with relevant officials to look into the recent attack and address the long standing issue of deaths along the border.

This is not the first time that Iran has hanged captured rebels in retaliation.  Iranian authorities hanged 11 suspected rebel members who were held in Zahedan prison in December 2010 in response to a deadly bombing that occurred at the Shia mourning procession in Shabahar.

For more information, please see the following: 

 ABC News-Iran hangs 16 people in reprisal for Pakistan border killings-27 October 2013

Al Jazeera-Iran hangs rebels in border attack reprisal-26 October 2013

BBC-Iran hangs 16 rebels ‘in reprisal for border deaths’-26 October 2013

Gulf Times-Iran hangs 16 in reprisal for border attack-26 October 2013