Lebanese Military Deployed to Tripoli Amid Rising Community Violence

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon–Two people were killed Monday in northern Lebanon in a fight that broke out between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime and the Lebanese military, which is struggling to control tensions and prevent outbreaks of violence stemming from the Syrian civil war.

Flag’s flown in pro-Assad demonstration by supporters of Hezbollah (Photo courtesy of The Jerusalem Post)

Monday’s violence was the latest in a series of clashes that have broken out since last Tuesday. 17 people have been killed and more than 100 people wounded since the violence began last week. The fighting broke out in the Bab al-Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen districts of Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest city located about 30 miles from the Syrian border.

Communities in Lebanon are deeply divided between supporters and opponents of the Assad regime. Supporters of the Hezbollah movement within Lebanon have sent fighters and resources into Syria to support the Assad regime while Sunni organizations have also sent fighters and smuggled weapons and other resources into Syria to support Syrian Rebels.

Lebanon’s interim government deployed the Lebanese army to Tripoli on Monday in response to last week’s violence. The conflict in Syria has exacerbated tensions in Lebanese communities, supporters of Hezbollah and supporters of Sunni Organizations have accused each other of using the city of Tripoli as a base for organizing and sending, fighters, weapons and other resources across the border into Syria. Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that “security forces will take every step to put an end to the violence and chaos.”

The sudden influx of Syrian refugees into Lebanese communities, including Tripoli, has raised community tensions and placed new strains on the state. Syrian refugees now make up a quarter of Lebanon’s population. The refugee crisis has spread the countries institutional systems thin and raised tensions in the region.

While Lebanon has remained in relative state of peace following the 2006 civil war the influx of Syrian refugees into the state since the start of the Syrian civil war has put new strains on state resources and has sparked a rise in tensions between communities.

By this time last year 300,000 Syrian Refugees has crossed the border into Lebanon. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expects that by early next year, two million refugees will have crossed into Lebanon. One in four people in Lebanon is a Syrian refugee, the sudden influx of people into the Lebanon population has left rescues stretched thin in the state, and the crime rate has increased by 30% over the past year.

Lebanon is still struggling to support 400,000 Palestinian refugees who remain in the country, many of whom are livening in desperate poverty and in communities where violence is common. As a result of this bitter experience Lebanon has so far failed to provide basic services to Syrian refugees, unlike Jordan, which has accepted a large number so Syrian refugees, Lebanon has so far refused to provide refugee camps. Shelters cannot have more than a basic timber-and-plastic frame, so far the building of permanent and semi-permanent structures by refugees has been prohibited.

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Lebanon army deploys amid violence in Tripoli – 28 October 2013

Reuters – Two die in northern Lebanon in spillover from Syria war – 28 October 2013

The Guardian – Lebanon suffers under the strain of a refugee crisis now out of control – 26 October 2013

Jerusalem Post – Syrian civil war spreads to Lebanese city of Tripoli – 27 October 2013

Magnitsky’s Mother Sues Russian Prosecutor Who Organized the Cover-Up of Her Son’s Death

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Distribution

29 October 2013 – Nataliya Magnitskaya, the mother of the late whistle-blowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, has sued Russian Deputy Prosecutor Victor Grin for his role in exonerating all Interior Ministry officials who falsely arrested and tortured her son in custody. The lawsuit will be heard on Wednesday, 30 October 2013, at 11 am at the Moscow City Court(http://www.mos–gorsud.ru/sudz/apellechionnaya_instance/ua/?pn=13).

“The conclusion by Deputy General Prosecutor of Russia …unquestionably violates the rights of Mr Magnitsky’s mother ..and is in deep contradiction with the conclusions by members of the President’s Council on Human Rights,” says the complaint filed by Mrs Magnitskaya’s lawyer.

In his own review of the case, Deputy General Prosecutor of Russia Victor Grin stated that no violations were found in the acts of Interior Ministry officials on the Magnitsky case. It was issued on the request of the Russian Investigative Committee in 2011 and was used by the Investigative Committee to justify not opening any criminal investigation into those officials.

A local district court in Moscow earlier refused Mrs Magnitskaya’sapplication. The refusal was issued by district court judge Igor Alisov, who also posthumously convicted the late Magnitsky in July in the first ever trial of a dead man in Russian history. Judge Alisov has since been promoted by order of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Moscow City Court.

The lawsuit filed by Mrs Magnitskaya’s lawyer also asserts that the decision by judge Alisov was backdated and that it was then covered up.

“The decree [by judge Alisov] is unlawful, there are signs of falsification in its issuance,” says the complaint filed with the Moscow City Court.

According to the complaint, judge Alisov told Mrs Magnitskaya’s lawyer on 17 April 2013 that he had not yet considered the complaint. A month later, judge Alisov sent a refusal to consider the complaint dated 27 March 2013, i.e. three weeks before the meeting with the lawyer.

A probe was then carried out by the Tverskoi district court chair Ms Solopova into this discrepancy which found “carelessness” in the acts of judge Alisov. The probe was based on the “oral conversation held with judge Alisov on 6 September 2013” in which judge Alisov explained the identified discrepancy by “the work overload, the lack of attention during the production of the court order.”

The challenge brought by Mrs Magnitskaya is one in a series of lawsuits in which she seeks to compel the Russian state to bring to justice those responsible for the arrest, torture and murder of her 37-year old son.

For further information, please see:

Law and Order in Russia

China Announces Two Suspects in Tiananmen Square Car Crash

By Brian Lanciault
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China– Chinese police have announced two suspects, reportedly from the tense Xinjiang region, after a car crash at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square resulted in the deaths of five people.  Analysts said the incident looked like a premeditated attack.

Business resumed as usual at Tiananmen Square, after a deadly crash injured 38 and killed five. Chinese authorities have announced two suspects involved in the incident. (Photo Courtesy of AP)

The crash — in which an SUV drove along the pavement through crowds and then caught fire at the capital’s well-known sensitive site — killed three people in the car and two tourists, according to Beijing police.

The square lies next to the Forbidden City, a former imperial palace and top tourist attraction.  It was the location of pro-democracy protests in 1989 that were violently crushed by authorities, garnering international attention.

Police identified two suspects and four license plates, all from Xinjiang, in relation to a “major case” on Monday. The notification was posted in hotels across the area.

Police instructed hotels to be on alert for “suspicious” guests and motor vehicles.  Security guards from several hotels in Beijing confirmed they had received a police notice.

A version posted online by 64tianwang.com, a Sichuan-based human rights news site, gave the suspects’ names, identity numbers and registered residences, while urging hotels to report any potentially relevant information.

The authenticity of these reports has not been confirmed.

Xinjiang, in China’s far west, is home to ethnic minority and largely Muslim Uighurs.

State media has reported several violent incidents there and a rising militant threat. Uighur rights groups complain of ethnic and religious repression, in an area where information is tightly controlled.

Police have arrested 140 people in Xinjiang in the past months for allegedly spreading jihad. Twenty-two Uighurs were killed in August in an “anti-terrorism” operation, the official news agency Xinhua reported.

One of the suspects named in the notice was from Lukqun, where state media said 35 people were killed in June in what Beijing had labeled a “terrorist attack”.

Chinese political expert, Willy Lam, said the Tiananmen incident “looks like a terrorist attack” but warned that more information was necessary to reach such a strong conclusion.

“If it is indeed a terrorist attack it shows that Beijing’s efforts in trying to stamp out terrorism have not been very successful,” he added.

But Ilham Tohti, a prominent Uighur intellectual, said the police notice was not definitively linked to the Tiananmen crash, and even if a Xinjiang car was involved, it would not establish that members of the minority were responsible.

“Some media has suggested it was a terrorist attack carried out by Uighurs, without evidence being produced,” he said.

“I worry that this event, even though it may have nothing to do with Uighurs, could lead local governments to increase repression and discrimination.”

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying declined to elaborate on the incident at a press briefing, but said that while Xinjiang “enjoys sound economic and social development”, it sometimes experiences violence and “terrorism”.

“We sternly oppose and crack down on such incidents to ensure the safety and security of society as well as people’s lives and properties,” she added.

The reports and witnesses said the SUV drove along the pavement outside the Forbidden City on the north side of the square before crashing into the crowd.

In addition to the five fatalities — one of them a female tourist from the Philippines — another 38 people were injured, police said.

Images posted on Chinese social media sites showed the blazing shell of the car and tall plumes of black smoke.

The square appeared normal on Tuesday, with no sign of any damage at the crash site.

For more information, please see:

BBC News– Tiananmen crash: China police ‘seek Xinjiang suspects’— 29 October 2013

LA Times– China leaders were nearby during apparent Tiananmen Square attack— 29 October 2013

New York Times– Beijing Crash May Be Tied to Unrest in Xinjiang — 28 October 2013

AFP– China names suspects after Tiananmen crash — 29 October 2013

Reuters– China suspects Tiananmen crash a suicide attack— 29 October 2013

U.S. Drone Strike Kills Two Somalians

By Brandon Cottrell
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America 

MOGADISHU, Somalia – A United States military strike in Somalia today has left at least two members of the al-Shabab military group dead.  Of those killed, was the group’s top explosives expert.  It is also believed that an al-Shaba commander linked to past suicide bombings was also killed in the strike.

A U.S. drone strike killed at least two members of the al-Shabab militant group (Photo Courtesy CNN).

According to Abu Mohamed, an al-Shabab member, the drone was fired at a vehicle traveling in Somalia’s Middle Juba region.  While it is not clear how he knew it was a drone strike, he said that he did not see any helicopters in the sky.

Other witnesses also confirmed that a strike had occurred and that at least two Somali men had been killed.  Several witnesses also reported seeing a drone flying away from the scene.  One of those witnesses said that he “came to the scene shortly after [he heard loud bangs] . . . [and] saw two dead bodies.  Then al-Shabab fighters came . . . and took the bodies.”

Another witness also weighed in, saying that “We don’t know who was killed but I can confirm that there was an attack, aircraft sounded over the sky and a few minutes later a heavy explosion followed. No one can dare go to check what happened, the Shebab will kill you.”

A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, further confirmed the strike when he said that there was a US counterterrorism strike against a target in Somalia.  He, however, did not give any further details.

Today’s drone strike comes less than a month after a US Navy SEAL operation in Somali, where they tried to capture or kill Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir, who is one of the lead planners al-Shabab attacks.  Pentagon Press Secretary George Little, speaking about the Navy SEAL operation, said that, “While the operation did not result in [a] capture, [the operation] demonstrated that the United States can put direct pressure on al Shabab leadership at any time of our choosing.”

Furthermore, todays drone strike  indicates that US remotely piloted attacks are continuing even though President Obama has stated that the use of drone strikes, which has been criticized for causing civilian causalities, could and would be constrained.

For more information, please see:

CBS News – U.S. Drone Strike Kills Two Suspected Al-Shabab Militants In Somalia – 28 October 2013

Global Post – US Drone Strike Against Shebab In Somalia – 28 October 2013 

NBC News – US Kills Two Top Leaders Of Terror Group That Attacked Kenya Mall – 28 October 2013

Washington Times – U.S. Drone Strike Kills Two Al Shabaab Terrorists In Somalia – 28 October 2013

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