A Voice for the Voiceless

Syrian Rebels Accused of Crimes Against Humanity

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – The Human Rights Watch has issued a report that alleges Syrian rebels killed 190 civilians and took 200 hostages during a single offensive in August. The particular offensive occurred on  August 4th in the Latakia province, which is home to many Alawites, a minority sect that supports President Bashar al-Assad.

The inside of a local Latakia house after the 4 August rebel attack. (Photo Courtesy of Human Rights Watch)

The attack began in the dawn hours and targeted more than a dozen villages. The report cites evidence, which includes video footage, that demonstrates the rebels attacked with a strategy focused on killing civilian men and keeping their women and children as hostages.

“Eight survivors and witnesses described how opposition forces executed residents and opened fire on civilians, sometimes killing or attempting to kill entire families who were either in their homes unarmed or fleeing from the attack, and at other times killing adult male family members, and holding the female relatives and children hostage,” the report says.

Joe Stork, acting Middle East director at HRW, said the abuses were “not the actions of rogue fighters.”

“This operation was a co-ordinated, planned attack on the civilian population in these Alawite villages,” he said.

The report states that out of the 190 dead civilians at least 67 were executed or unlawfully killed. For example, a video posted online by the rebels shows a fighter leading a peaceful woman in good health out of her house, yet she was found buried days later.

Additionally, two rebel groups are still holding over 200 hostages from the attack according to opposition sources. While negotiations for their release are ongoing, Human Rights Watch has called for their release and demanded that they be treated humanely.

In conducting the report, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 35 people, including survivors, emergency responders, and fighters on both sides. Further, the group completed an on-site investigation, documenting the destruction caused by the attack. The group also received medical reports for several victims that were consistent with execution.

The report “strongly suggests that the killings, hostage taking, and other abuses committed by opposition forces on and after August 4 rise to the level of crimes against humanity.”

For further information, please see:

BBC – Syrian rebels executed civilians, says Human Rights Watch – 11 October 2013

Human Rights Watch – Syria: Executions, Hostage Taking by Rebels – 11 October 2013

Guardian – Syrian rebels accused of killing hundreds of civilians – 11 October 2013

New York Times – Syrian Civilians Bore Brunt of Rebels’ Fury, Report Says –  11 October 2013

Kerry Says Aid Will Be Restored When Egypt Shows Signs of Democratization

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Speaking shortly after arriving in Malaysia, United States Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the United States’ cut in military aid to Egypt. According to Secretary Kerry, the Obama Administrations decision to suspend shipments of large-scale military systems, as well as suspend $260 million dollars in military aid to Egypt Wednesday, was made in response to the behaviour of Egypt’s rulers.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arriving at the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang, outside Kuala Lumpur. (Photo Courtesy of USA Today)

Secretary Kerry said the United States will consider restoring its aid, which amounts to approximately $1.5 billion to Egypt “on the basis of performance” that encourages democracy through elections.

Kerry said the suspension of a portion of the country’s military aid to Egypt does not signal a severing of ties between Washington D.C. and the military-backed government in Cairo over the ousting of democratically elected President Mohamed Morsy on July 3. Kerry said, “The interim government understands very well our commitment to the success of this government… and by no means is this a withdrawal from our relationship or a severing of our serious commitment to helping the government.”

Since Wednesday, the Egyptian government has slammed the Obama administration’s move to cut aid. Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Badr Abdel Atty, said Thursday, “It raises serious questions about U.S. readiness to provide stable, strategic support to Egyptian security programs amid threats and terrorism challenges it has been facing.”

The State Department announced its decision to freeze $260 million of the United States’ $1.5 billion annual aid package to Egypt is an attempt to pressure the Egypt’s military regime to restore democratic rule as soon as possible.

The United States will maintain aid to support for health and education and counterterrorism, spare military parts, military training and education, border security and security assistance in the Sinai Peninsula.

Israel Finance Minister Yair Lapid said that the Administration’s suspension of aid to Egypt should be adjusted to maintain Egypt’s commitment to maintain peace with Israel and counties to combat terrorism in the region.

Eric Trager of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said the administration’s cut to military aid was poorly timed. He argued it sends the wrong message to the Egyptian people. He said, “Cutting aid to Egypt at this moment sends the signal that America doesn’t have Egypt’s back when it’s facing significant challenges.” Trager argued that many Egyptians say the Muslim Brotherhood and the Morsy regime as an emerging fascist dictatorship. However, the administrations cut to aid comes as a direct response to the continued violence that has plagued the nation since the military government began cracking down on Muslim Brotherhood supporters.

For more information please see:

USA Today – Egypt Slams U.S. Aid Cut; Allies Concerned – 11 October 2013

ABC News – Kerry: Cut in Egypt Aid Is Not US Withdrawal – 10 October 2013

Al Jazeera – Kerry Links Egypt Aid to Rulers’ Performance – 10 October 2013

Reuters – U.S. Will Reconsider Egypt Aid Based on Performance: Kerry – 10 October 2013

Putin Dissident Sentenced to What Critics Claim is “Punitive Psychiatry”

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – Russia incarcerated a political dissident in a psychiatric ward, in a move that many call a return to Soviet Era punitive psychiatry. Human Rights Watch has questioned both the charges and the sentence.

Mikhail Kosenko has been ordered to indefinite confinement and treatment in a psychiatric ward, following his trial for assault on a police officer. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

On 6 May 2012, over two dozen protesters allegedly rioted against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration, set for the next day to mark Putin’s new six-year term. One protester, Mikhail Kosenko was arrested for assaulting a police officer.

At trial, Kosenko denied the charges, and the police officer, Alexander Kazmin testified that he did not want Kosenko punished because he did not recognize Kosenko as the assailant.

In his refusal to identify Kosenko, Kazmin stated to the court, “I’m not Russian trash.”

Nevertheless, Judge Ludmila Moskalenko told the court that “at the time the action was committed by Kosenko…he was in a state of insanity.”

On 8 October 2013, Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky District Court found Kosenko guilty of participating in the “mass disorder” and ordered the Putin critic to confinement and compulsory treatment in a psychiatric ward. As the court set no time for the sentence, critics claim the punishment is indefinite.

Kosenko met the verdict with silence, still locked in a cage. He had been held in pre-trial detention for 16 months.

Activists claimed that police detained nine protesters outside the courthouse as they chanted “Shame!” at the judge’s ruling.

While Kosenko had received outpatient psychiatric treatment prior to his arrest, human rights activists suggested the ruling was a return to the punitive psychiatry practiced against dissidents during the Soviet Era.

The condition, generally referred to as “sluggish schizophrenia”, was a mild form of schizophrenia routinely used during the Soviet Era to justify the incarceration of dissidents.

Kosenko’s family said his psychiatric condition was the result of trauma during military service, and he has remained both non-violent and without a police record.

In any event, the World Health Organization does not recognize “sluggish schizophrenia”.

“This is a clear case of a return to punitive psychiatry in Russia,” said Alexander Podrabinek, a human-rights activist and Soviet-era dissident. “This is the first such clear and obvious instance in the post-Soviet period.”

John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Programme Director said, “To incarcerate Mikhail Kosenko forcibly in a psychiatric unit smacks of the worst excesses of the now defunct Soviet Era when dissidents were languishing in mental institutions, treated as mental patients only because they dared to speak their mind. Mikhail Kosenko is a prisoner of conscience put behind bars for peacefully exercising his right to protest and should be released immediately.”

For further information, please see:

Amnesty International – Russia: Abhorrent Use of Punitive Psychiatry to Silence Dissent – October 8, 2013

Reuters – Putin Critic Sentenced to Detention in Psychiatric Ward – October 8, 2013

RIA Novosti – Russian Protester Committed to Psychiatric Hospital Over Riot – October 8, 2013

Washington Post – Russian Protester Sent for Forced Psychiatric Help, Rights Groups Say Ruling is Soviet Style – October 8, 2013

North Korea Allows Mother of Jailed American to Visit

By Brandon Cottrell
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

PYONGYANG, North Korea – Myunghee Bae, the mother of Kenneth Bae, arrived in North Korea yesterday and planned to meet with Kenneth this morning.  In a statement earlier this week Myunghee said she didn’t “really know what to expect for [her] trip” and that all she wants is to see her son.

Kenneth Bae in his North Korean hospital room (Photo Courtesy CNN)

Kenneth was arrested in November 2012 as he entered Rason, North Korea.  The North Koreans say Kenneth, a Christian missionary and operator of a tourism business in China, used his business to set up bases for the purpose of toppling the North Korean government.  Kenneth’s trial and conviction occurred during a time of high tension between the US and North Korea, which stemmed from a North Korean nuclear test and a large scale US-South Korea military exercise.

Although tensions have since eased, the North Koreans revoked an invitation to U.S. envoy Robert King, who in August had been scheduled to travel to North Korea and negotiate Kenneth’s release.  All the while, Kenneth’s health has been deteriorating.

Kenneth, who was sentenced to 15years of hard labor but could have been sentenced to death, has been in a hospital for the past two months.  Myunghee says Kenneth is suffering from diabetes, an enlarged heart and back pain, among other ailments.  She also said that when she last saw Kenneth during a video prison interview that “he looked so different and he lost so much weight.  I could not believe that prisoner was my son.”

Myunghee also said that, “As a mother, I worry endlessly about his health” and that she wants “to see him, comfort and hold him in person.  I miss him so much.”  She hopes that through her visit she can encourage Kenneth to hang in there.  She had tried to see him sooner, but North Korea had denied her earlier visitation requests.

In recent years, North Korea has arrested several US citizens.  While North Korea maintains that the arrests resulted from such citizens preaching Christianity or threatening the government, the US claims North Korea is using these detained citizens as “bargaining chips.”  There is still hope Kenneth could be released in the future, as in the past, North Korea has released US citizens after high-profile visits from former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

 

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Kenneth Bae’s Mother in North Korea to Visit Her Imprisoned Son – 11 October 2013

BBC – Jailed US Man Kenneth Bae’s Mother In North Korea Visit – 10 October 2013

CBS News – Kenneth Bae’s Mother Travels To North Korea To Visit Son – 11 October 2013

CNN – Kenneth Bae’s Mother Visits North Korea To See Imprisoned Son – 11 October 2013

UN Security Council Calls for Peacekeeping Force in CAR

By Erica Smith
Impunity Watch Report, Africa

WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America — On Thursday, The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution urging the UN to establish a peacekeeping operation in Central African Republic (CAR).

Seleka Rebels (photo courtesy of The Telegraph)

The resolution calls on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to submit a report within 30 days that would outline possible international support to the African Union lead peacekeeping mission known as MISCA. The resolution requires that Ban’s report contain “detailed options for international support to MISCA, including the possible option of a transformation of MISCA into a United Nations peacekeeping operation, subject to appropriate conditions on the ground.”

The 15-member Council also called for “the holding of free, fair and transparent presidential and legislative elections” to be held within 18 months after the beginning of the transition period which took effect on the 18 August. The council noted in it’s resolution that  there are widespread “violations of international humanitarian law and the widespread human rights violations and abuses, notably by Seleka elements,” and demanded “that the Seleka elements and all other armed groups lay down their arms immediately.”

CAR has fallen into widespread lawlessness since the March ouster of President Francois Bozize by the Seleka rebels. Human rights groups have noted widespread looting and killing of civilians. 30 people were killed Tuesday when armed men attacked a village and Human Rights Watch has described what it says is Seleka’s deliberate killing of civilians between March and June of this year and its deliberate destruction of more than 1,000 homes.

Laurent Fabius, France’s foreign minister, warned that the Central African Republic could become a new Somalia unless immediate action is taken.

UN officials say that the crisis in CAR has failed to generate much international interest because it has  been largely overshadowed by other conflicts, especially the civil war in Syria.

For more information, please see:

Chicago Tribune — U.N. Security Council asks for Central African peacekeeping options — 10 October 2013

Financial Times — UN backs peace plan for African nation — 10 October 2013

UN News Centre — Central African Republic: Security Council reinforces UN office, backs African Union peacekeeping role — 10 October 2013

Voice of America — UN Calls for Peacekeeping Force in CAR — 10 October 2013

The Wichita Eagle — UN tackles collapsing Central African Republic — 10 October 2013

BBC News — Central African Republic violence leaves 30 dead — 8 October 2013