Impunity Watch Essay Contest Award Winner Kayla McCall’s Essay: Our Time is Now!
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As Security Forces Crack Down on Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood the Egyptian Government has Taken Steps to Outlaw the Political Party
By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Middle East
CAIRO, Egypt – Egyptian State media reported that an improvised explosive device was detonated at a police station in Downtown Cairo wounding two workers Monday. Three people on a motorcycle reportedly threw a homemade grenade style explosive devise at the police station. There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.
The attack came just a day after Egypt’s state run news agency reported Sunday that former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will stand trial for charges of inciting murder and violence. The military backed government is essentially holding Morsi responsible for the deaths of protesters and other civilians since security forces began violently cracking down on protesters. The ousted President is also being investigated for his escape from prison during the 2011 uprising against former president Mubarak. While no formal charges have been brought, he has been accused of murder and conspiring with Hamas during his escape.
Egyptian security forces have killed hundreds of supporters of President Morsi since opponents of the coup began protesting the government after Morsi’s removal from power on July 3. Like the former president many of the protesters have been accused by the government of inciting violence and even coming terrorist attacks.
As part of its crackdown on supports of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist political parties the military backed government has been excluding Islamists from the transitional process. The transitional government recently named a constituent assembly with almost no Islamists members. The government gave the assembly 60 days to review amendments that would repeal Islamic policies established over the last year by the Muslim Brotherhood led government and other more hard-line Islamic parties under President Morsi. The transitional government has also favoured policies that would officially raise the Egyptian military back to the elite status enjoyed under the presidency of the Military backed Dictator Hosni Mubarak.
The Nour Party has complained that the transitional government has had a deplorable policy of “exclusion of the Islamist current” in the commission of the review panel. The Nour Party was founded after the downfall of President Mubarak. The party also noted that the committee excluded members of the youth movements that ignited the revolution through social media driven demonstrations beginning on January 25, 2011.
The Egyptian government has also taken steps to outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood, returning it to the illegal status placed on the party, which won a majority of votes in Egypt’s polar vote that was forced on it under Mubarak. A judicial panel has advised an Egyptian court to dissolve the Muslim Brotherhood as a legal non-governmental organization, the mood would effectively outlaw former President Mohamed Morsi’s Political party.
For further information please see:
Reuters – Egypt Sends Mursi to Trial as New Constitution Advances – 1 September 2013
Al Jazeera – Bomb Blast Hits Cairo Police Station – 2 September 2013
Al Jazeera – Egypt Panel Urges Brotherhood Dissolution – 2 September 2013
CNN International – Egypt to Try Former President Mohamed Morsy in Protest Deaths – 2 September 2013
NBCNews – Improvised Bomb Wounds Two at Cairo Police Station – 2 September 2013
Mexican Authorities Arrest Members of Rival Drug Cartels
By Brandon Cottrell
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Over the weekend Mexican authorities arrested two members of competing drug cartels. Mario Nunez, member of the Sinaola drug cartel, was arrested on Friday for the murders of 350 people in 2011. Alberto Carrillo, member of the Juarez drug cartel, was arrested today for drug trafficking, murder, and money laundering. Neither Nunez nor Carrillo resisted arrest.
Carrillo’s Juarez drug cartel is considered by many as one of the most powerful and violent cartels in Mexico. As of late, however, the Juarez cartel has lost some of its drug routes to Nunez’s Sinaola cartel. The rivalry between the cartels has contributed to the drug war in northern Mexico, where large fields of marijuana and heroin-producing poppies are located. The drug war there has left thousands of people dead over the past few years and minimal arrests have been made in those murders.
Eduardo Sanchez, a federal security spokesman, said that “Nunez played a key role in the wave of violence that has plagued northern [Mexico] . . . and is likely responsible for the murder of more than 350 people found in 23 clandestine graves.” Authorities believe that Nunez also hired hitmen to carry out some of the killings, which included mutilations and decapitations of the victims.
Nunez, who could face up to 40 years in prison in Mexico, is also wanted in the United States on drug trafficking charges. It is not clear, however, if the United States will send an extradition request for him.
Over the past six years, over seventy-thousand people have died as a result of drug-related violence in Mexico, with many of the victims being civilians. However, Carrillo’s arrest marks the third high-profile drug cartel arrest this year as authorities have intensified their campaign against the cartels.
Additionally, with Nunez’s arrest Mexican authorities have captured 63 of Mexico’s 122 most wanted and dangerous criminals. Many of those arrests can be attributed to President Pena Nieto’s promise to tame the cartels and restore order. However, nearly half of the Mexicans questioned in a recent poll believe that drug violence has worsened since Nieto took office in December and an another third believe that Mexico is less safe as a result of Nieto’s strategies.
For more information, please see:
BBC – Juarez Cartel Boss Alberto Carrillo Caught in Mexico – 2 September 2013
Daily Mail – Drug Cartel Leader Nicknamed ‘Ugly Betty’ is Captured in Latest Round of High Profile Arrests by Mexican Police – 2 September 2013
Fox News – Mexico Captures Suspected Leader Of Juarez Drug Cartel – 2 September 2013
Global Post – Mexico Detains Cartel Operator Mario Nunez Meza Tied to 350 Murders – 30 August 2013
International Business Times – Mexican Drug Lord Mario Nunez Arrested for 350 Murders – 30 August 2013
Militants Attempt to Disrupt Supply Line in Afghanistan
By Kevin M. Mathewson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
NANGARHAR, Afghanistan — Militants have attacked a U.S. base in the Nangarhar province near the Pakistani border, setting dozens of parked NATO supply vehicles on fire, officials said. Dressed as Afghan police officers, three insurgents were killed after a lengthy gun battle with helicopter gunships. The incident was described as an “attempted but unsuccessful coordinated attack by enemy forces”.
Ahmad Zia Abdulzia, a Nangarhar provincial spokesman, said militants wearing suicide vests and carrying weapons initiated the attack and that Afghan and U.S. forces exchanged gunfire with the insurgents until NATO helicopters joined the fight. The encounter began at approximately 6:30 A.M. and lasted three and a half hours.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in an upwelling of violence in Afghanistan. The violence is being interpreted by some as an effort by the Taliban to test the strength of Afghan forces ahead of the planned withdrawal of U.S.-led forces anticipated to occur by the end of next year.
The U.S. provides the bulk of military presence in Afghanistan with 68,000 troops, followed by the U.K. with 9,000 troops.
Officials have stated that no Afghan or U.S. soldiers were killed in the raid, and the attacks never gained entry to the base.
The financial cost of the attack to the United States is likely to be enormous. “Our investigation shows some 41 vehicles – supply trucks and vehicles belonging to U.S. forces – were destroyed in the attack.” Abdulzai said.
The U.S. base is home to roughly 66,000 American troops along with forces from other countries. The base is an essential stopping point for NATO vehicles. The highway between Jalalabad city and Torkham, leading to the base, has been closed due to the attack.
Militants have frequently targeted the supply line through Afghanistan, leading NATO to a shift in transporting a majority of its supplies along routes in Central Asian states instead of through Pakistan.
For further information, please see:
BBC News – Taliban bombers attack US base in Afghanistan – 2 September 2013
UPI – Militants launch unsuccessful attack near U.S. base in Afghanistan – 2 September 2013
The Independent – Taliban attacks Nato base in Afghanistan – 2 September 2013
Yahoo! News – Afghan Taliban attack US base, NATO supply vehicles – 2 September 2013
Dutch-Born Former Nazi Officer Due in Court for Murdering POW in WWII
by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
Former SS officer Siert Bruins, accused of murdering a Dutch resistance fighter over 70 years ago, is set to appear in court on Monday in Hagen, Germany.
Bruins, now 92 years old, is charged with the murder of Aldert Klaas Dijkema back in September 1944, while Bruins was stationed at the Dutch-German border. Bruins could face life imprisonment if he is found guilty of the murder.
Bruins, originally from Groningen in the north-east of the Netherlands, is one of the last suspected Nazi criminals to be detained in Germany.
Another former SS officer, Heinrich Boere, was convicted of murdering three Dutch civilians during World War II back in 2010.
Bruins is accused of shooting POW Aldert Klaas Dijkema four times in the back, in September 1944 in the Appingedam area east of Groningen. Bruins has admitted being present at the scene of the murder, but denies being the triggerman to the shooting. He contends that he was marching alongside Dijkema when the shots occurred. An alleged accomplice to the murder has recently died.
“I was marching at the prisoner’s side. Suddenly I heard a shot and he fell,” Bruins has stated.
Bruins was one of roughly 30,000 Dutch citizens who worked with the Nazis during the German occupation of the Netherlands.
After the collapse of the Third Reich, Bruins was sentenced to death by the Netherlands in April 1949 for participating in this murder, as well as two other shootings, and the sentence was converted to life imprisonment. However, Bruins had become a German citizen, as Germany conferred German nationality on all foreigners who aided the Nazis during World War II. Accordingly, Dutch authorities failed to detain Bruins because he fled to Germany, as Germany does not extradite its nationals.
Bruins was, however, detained by the German authorities and sentenced to seven years in prison in February 1980 for the murder of two Jewish brothers in Delfzijl in the Netherlands in April 1945.
For more information, please see:
The China Post – Former SS Officer to Stand Trial in Germany – 2 September 2013
BBC News – Nazi Murder Trial: Ex-SS Man Siert Bruins Due in German Court – 1 September 2013
The Gulf Today – Former SS Officer, 92, to Stand Trial in Germany – 1 September 2013
Huffington Post – Siert Bruins, German Man, Charged With Nazi War Crimes – 1 September 2013