House Budget Amendment Creates Possibility of Government Shutdown

by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – The House of Representative passed an amended version of the Senate spending bill early Sunday that removed funding for the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Congress has until Monday at midnight to agree on a new spending bill or face shutting down the federal government for the first time in 17 years.

House members worked well into the night debating the amended budget that removed funding for the healthcare law. (Photo courtesy of The Guardian)

A shutdown of the federal government would require hundreds of thousands of federal employees to be placed on unpaid leave until a budget bill could be passed through Congress.

The amended bill passed by the House would place a one year delay on the implementation of the ACA and remove a tax on medical devices that aimed to help finance the healthcare law.  The ACA is set to begin enrolling uninsured Americans into the program on October 1, the beginning of the federal government’s fiscal year.

“The American people don’t want a government shutdown, and they don’t want Obamacare” House Republican leaders said in a joint statement.  The Republican leadership then called upon the Senate to vote on the bill in order to avoid a shutdown.

Democratic leaders are holding firm against passing the bill, refusing to convene the Democratically-controlled Senate to vote on the bill passed by the House.  Senate majority leader Harry Reid promised to strip out the healthcare provisions of the House bill, calling the attempt to delay the ACA “pointless.”

“After weeks of futile political games from Republicans, we are still at Square 1,” Reid said, adding “[w]e continue to be willing to debate these issues in a calm and rational atmosphere. But the American people will not be extorted by Tea Party anarchists.”

The White House issued a strongly worded statement Saturday, saying “Any member of the Republican Party who votes for this bill is voting for a shutdown.”

President Obama has promised to veto the House version of the bill.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – US shutdown looms amid political rifts over health law – 29 September 2013

Reuters – Wall Street braces for volatility as shutdown seems likely – 29 September 2013

The Guardian – US government on verge of shutdown as House votes to delay health law – 29 September 2013

Wall Street Journal – U.S. Nears Shutdown as House Votes To Delay Health Law -29 September 2013

The New York Times – U.S. Shutdown Nears as House Votes to Delay Health Law – 28 September 2013

Bahrain Court imprisons 50 Activists

By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain-Following charges of inciting anti-government protests to topple the government force, 50 people have been sentenced to between five and fifteen years in jail for “training elements to commit violence and vandalism and attacking security men.

Demonstrators campaign for better human rights in Bahrain (photo courtesy of BBC)

Activists reported that the government accused the convicted of being involved in the February 14 Revolution Youth Coalition and other protests against the government since 2011.  The group has been described as a terrorist organization by Bahrain’s head of public prosecution.

Since February 2011, daily protests have been ongoing by members of the Shia Muslim majority who are demanding that the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty give up power.  When asked for comment, an official said a government statement regarding the matter was in preparation.

“This was a sham trial with a political verdict, they should be released immediately,” stated Maryam Al-Khawaja, president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.  It was further stated that it was a “black day for justice.”

Other civil rights groups have reported that many of those convicted were denied access to a lawyer and provided confessions under torture.  In a separate action, two police officers were jailed for torturing a protest to death in his prison cell in 2011.

Sixteen of the defendants were hand fifteen year terms, while four were jailed for ten years and the other thirty defendants received five years.

“This is the result when you have a court with a judge appointed by the king of Bahrain.  The court is just a tool to suppress the opposition and human rights defenders, and to acquit those who torture and kill protesters,” stated Yousif al-Muhafda, deputy-head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.

One of the defendants to receive a fifteen year sentence was Njai Fateel, who is a well-known blogger and protest organizer who had been jailed and tortured twice before his latest arrest in May.  Fateel has been prevented from providing testimony describing torture in prison in.

Another defendant was Rihanna al-Moussawi who was arrested for taking part in an anti-government rally during the Formula One race in April.  She was sentenced to five years and was also denied a lawyer.

“All of those who were jailed today are activists and protest leaders in their villages.  The authorities just want to send a message to the opposition to stop and to accept the political situation as it is,” stated Muhafda.

For more information, please see the following: 

Alakhbar-Bahrain jails 50 activists for up to 15 years-September 29, 2013

Aljazeera-Scores of activists imprisoned in Bahrain-September 29, 2013

BBC-Bahrain unrest: 50 Shia Muslims sentenced to up to 15 years-September 29, 2013

New York Times-Bahrain Dissidents Said to Get Prison Sentences-September 29, 2013

 

Nigerian Students Killed While Asleep

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

ABUJA, Nigeria – Roughly 50 students were killed as suspected Islamist gunmen attacked a college in north-eastern Nigeria.

Rescue workers and family members gather to identify the shrouded bodies (photo courtesy of Kuwait Times)

The students were shot dead while they were asleep in their dormitories at the College of Agriculture in Yobe state. The gunmen also torched the college’s classrooms.

The attack is blamed on the Boko Haram extremist group, even though there has been a four and a half month old state of emergency covering three states and one-sixth of the country.

“They attacked our students while they were sleeping in their hostels, they opened fire at them,” Provost Molima Idi Mato of Yobe State College of Agriculture said.

Mato further said he could not give an exact number for death toll because security forces are still recovering bodies of students mostly aged between 18 and 22. The Nigerian military has collected 42 bodies and transferred 18 wounded students to a local hospital.

In addition, Mato reported that about 1,000 students had fled the scene.

Most of those killed were Muslims, as is the majority of the college’s student body.

The college is roughly 25 miles from another school that suffered from a similar attack around Damaturu town. There are no security forces stationed at the college despite the attacks.

Two weeks ago, state commission for education Mohammed Lamin urged all schools to reopen and promising protection by soldiers and police.

In June, Boko Haram carried our two attacks on schools in the region. At least nine children were killed in a school on the outskirts of Maiduguri, while 13 students and teachers were killed in a school in Damaturu.

In July in the village of Mamudo in Yobe state, Islamist militants attacked a school’s dormitories with guns and explosives, killing at least 42 people, mostly students.

Boko Haram regards schools as a symbol of Western culture. The group’s name translates as “Western education is forbidden.”

Some of Boko Haram’s fighters have trained with al-Shabab in Somalia.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has said in video addresses that his group wants to end democracy in Nigeria and allow education only in Islamic schools.

Its uprising poses the biggest security challenge in years to Nigeria which is Africa’s biggest oil producer and its most populous nation with more than 160 million people – almost equal numbers of which are Muslims and Christians.

Boko Haram militants have killed more than 1,700 people since 2010.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News – Nigeria attack: Students shot dead as they slept – 29 September 2013
Scottish Express – Gunmen massacre Nigeria students – 29 September 2013
Kuwait Times – Militants storm Nigeria college, kill 50 students – 29 September 2013
Yahoo! News – Nigeria College Attacked: At Least 40 Killed – 29 September 2013
Sky News – Nigeria College Attacked: At Least 40 Killed – 29 September 2013
The Globe and Mail – Boko Haram blamed after attack on Nigerian college leaves as many as 50 dead – 29 September 2013