Syrian Judges to Hold Unity Conference in Turkey

Defected Members of the Judiciary Will Plan Comprehensive Law Code For Liberated Areas

Istanbul, Turkey – On May 1 and 2, 2013, the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies (SCPSS) hosted the Syrian Expert House, a gathering of Syrian academics, human rights activists, members of the political opposition, and professionals in Istanbul, Turkey to conduct a workshop on Constitutional Reform and Rule of Law in Syria. After two days of intense discussions, the Syrian Expert House concluded its meeting with specific collective recommendations for establishing rule of law and achieving constitutional legitimacy in the post-Assad interim period.

Workshop participants discussed a number pressing concerns regarding judicial affairs in Syria, most notably the status of the judiciary in the liberated areas and the challenges these courts face. Additionally, participants discussed how to achieve constitutional legitimacy after the fall of the Assad regime and unanimously decided that a return to the Constitution of 1950, without modification, would be the ideal solution for achieving this legitimacy. The 1950 Constitution is the only constitution in Syrian history that was drafted and approved by a Constitutional Assembly. It also has received popular support, despite the presence of some controversial articles regarding minorities and freedom of expression. However, in the absence of an entity with the legal authority to amend the constitution, the Syrian Expert House recommended that the 1950 constitution be accepted wholesale initially, with the expectation that amendments to the document would be the first order of business of a future Constitutional Assembly.

The participants recommended that the transitional interim government, formed immediately after the fall of the regime, set a date for popular elections to choose members of the Constitutional Assembly, which, in addition to amending the 1950 constitution, will be in charge of the formulation of a new Syrian constitution. The Syrian Expert House also identified steps for ensuring the independence of the judiciary through mechanisms and precise standards to protect the judiciary from executive interference in its decisions and in its structure. The “Judicial Authority Law,” which grants excessive power to the Syrian judiciary, was also discussed and it was unanimously agreed that this portion of the Syrian law code is not conducive to an independent and sound legal environment in Syria.

On the second day of the workshop, participants discussed the rule of law and legal protection during the transitional phase. Participants agreed to prepare a general conference for uniting all the defected judges and lawyers currently living in liberated areas or abroad into one national judicial body that would uphold one unified national transitional law code. The participants also formed a preparatory committee for this conference made up of eight members:

Dr. Radwan Ziadeh (Executive Director, Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies)

Judge Marwan Kea’yed (Unified Judicial Council)

Judge Ziad Al-Basha (Independent Judicial Council)

Judge Iman Shahoud (Independent Judicial Council)

Lawyer Mazen Jouma’a (Liberal Lawyers of Aleppo)

Lawyer Haitham al-Maleh (Head of the Judicial Office of the National Coalition)

Lawyer Mohammed Obaid (Legal adviser to the interim government and the National Coalition)

Lawyer Mohammed Sabra (Legal adviser to the interim government and the National Coalition)

Participants also discussed the most important laws that should be repealed or amended in the future transitional phase and at the same time warned judges about the pitfalls of interfering in the legislative process. The participants also discussed the importance of transitional justice in Syria and studied the mechanisms established by the National Preparatory Committee for Transitional Justice last month.

The president in charge of the formation of the interim government, Mr. Ghassan Hitto, visited the members of the workshop and received a briefing on their work and the challenges and difficulties faced by the judiciary. Mr. Hitto promised that the independence of the judiciary would be a priority of his government. He also urged the participants to continue to make efforts in order to achieve the aspirations of the Syrian people.

This workshop was the first of five workshops organized by the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies on behalf of the Syrian Expert House. Thematic topics of the five workshops included: constitutional and legal reform, political and administrative reform, electoral reform, security sector reform, and economic reform. The results of these workshops will be submitted in a general conference held by the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies and the Syrian Expert House in July.

Members of the Syrian Expert House first met in October 2012  in Istanbul, Turkey at a conference widely regarded as the most inclusive gathering of the Syrian opposition to date. The Syrian Expert House was established by the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies for producing thoroughly Syrian research outputs on the post-Assad political transition process in Syria. The Syrian Expert House will lay the necessary groundwork for promoting considered and deliberate reforms following the end of the Syrian conflict.

Prepared by the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies

Interpol Rejects Russia’s Politically Motivated Warrant and Rules in Favour of William Browder

Press Release

24 May 2013 – Interpol has rejected Russia’s attempt to misuse Interpol systems against William Browder, the leader of the worldwide campaign for justice for Sergei Magnitsky, by deleting its request from the Interpol’s channels.

“The decision by Interpol to delete the Russian “all points bulletin” for William Browder from the Interpol system is a clear sign that a deeply corrupt regime will not be allowed to freely persecute whistle-blowers who have exposed it. We hope that one day those responsible for Sergei Magnisky’s torture and murder will be brought to justice, with help from Interpol,” said a Hermitage Capital representative.

Interpol’s General Secretariat has now deleted the request from the Russian authorities seeking to “locate” Mr Browder in order to detain him on a Russian arrest warrant.

In its decision, Interpol’s General Secretariat has followed the recommendation from Interpol’s Commission for the Control of Files, who has found the Russian request to have a “predominant political character.” Interpol’s Commission for the Control of Files is responsible for the observance by Interpol and its entities of Interpol’s Constitution and data processing rules. Under Article 3 of the Interpol’s Constitution, any improper use of Interpol systems for political purposes is strictly prohibited.

The decision by the Interpol’s Commission for the Control of Files was issued during its 86th session held in Lyon on 23-24 May 2013.

On Monday, 27 May 2013, Mr Browder will continue his campaign for Magnitsky sanctions in Europe at the ‘Time for European Magnitsky Law’ event organised in Berlin within framework of the Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy & Human Rights 2013 (www.bhrc.de), on the invitation of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy and member of the European Parliament, Kristiina Ojuland. The Magnitsky campaign calls for visa sanctions and asset freezes on Russian officials involved in the false arrest, torture and killing of Sergei Magnitsky, and the $230 million corruption he had exposed. The law imposing such sanctions has already been adopted in the United States, and 16 Russian officials have been sanctioned by the U.S. Government.

For further information, please see:

Law and Order in Russia

U.S. Government Admits Drone Strikes Killed Four Citizens

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, United States — The Justice Department acknowledged for the first time this week that U.S. drone strikes have killed four American citizens in the Middle East since 2009.

In a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder (above) to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy on Wednesday, the Obama Administration acknowledged for the first time that U.S. drone strikes have killed four American citizens since 2009. (Photo Courtesy of USA Today)

The admission came Wednesday, the day before President Obama a new approach to the nation’s drone policy, in a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder to Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Based on generations-old legal principles and Supreme Court decisions handed down from WWII, as well as during the current conflict, it is clear and logical the United States Citizenship alone does not make such citizens immune from being targeted,” Holder wrote.

During counter-terrorism operations against al-Qaeda and other forces, the United States targeted and killed one American citizen—Anwar al-Awlaki—and acknowledged the deaths of three others as a result of U.S. drone attacks.  Those citizens—Samir Khan, an al-Qaeda propagandist; Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, the son of Anwar al-Awlaki; and, Jude Kenan Mohammed—were killed around the same time but “were not specifically targeted.”

The letter described the older al-Awlaki as the planner of the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner in 2009, and it said he plaid a key role in a failed attempt to bomb cargo planes headed for the United States in 2010.

The letter was a response directed by President Obama to congressional inquiries into the “administration[‘s] use of lethal force against U.S. citizens.”  The White House said it “informed the relevant congressional oversight committees that it had approved the use of lethal force against al-Awlaki in February 2010—well over a year before the operation in question.”

On Thursday, President Obama announced a new approach to drone strikes in the future, tightening the rules of who can be targeted.

“In the years to come, not every collection of thugs that labels themselves al-Qaeda will pose a credible threat to the United States,” Obama said at the National Defense University in Washington.

“Unless we discipline our thinking, our definitions, our actions, we may be drawn into more wars we don’t need to fight, or continue to grant presidents unbound powers more suited for traditional armed conflicts between nation states,” he said.  “This war, like all wars, must end.  That’s what history advises.  That’s what our democracy demands.”

The Administration said, moving forward, the U.S. military would be the lead authority for drone strikes instead of the Central Intelligence Agency.

For further information, please see:

Bloomberg Businessweek — Obama Sees Sunset on Sept. 11 War Powers in Drone Limits — 24 May 2013

CBS News — Attorney General Holder: Drones Killed 4 Americans Since 2009 — 22 May 2013

USA Today — Holder Says Four U.S. Citizens Killed in Drone Strikes — 22 May 2013

Voice of America — US Officially Acknowledges Drone Strike Killings — 22 May 2013

Police Shooting in Immigrant Neighborhood Sparks Sweden’s Worse Riots

By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Stockholm is burning, sparked by an incident of alleged police brutality twelve days ago.  According to the brother-in-law of the deceased 69 year-old male victim, the man returned home when he was accosted by a gang of youths, who he threatened with knife.  Later when police knocked on his apartment door, he mistook them for the gang and did not answer, prompting the police to break down the door.  The police in turn thought the woman inside the apartment, the man’s wife, was in danger, and shot the man.  Other reports indicate the man was still wielding the knife, and the police acted in self-defense.  The man, a resident of the primarily immigrant-dominated Husby neighborhood, had emigrated to Sweden from Portugal 30 years ago and married his Finnish wife.

(Photo Courtesy of The Local)

Since then, beginning Sunday evening five days ago, with the cry of “police brutality” the worst civil unrest in Sweden in modern times has erupted throughout the suburbs of Stockholm.  Rioters have particularly taken to burning cars as a sign of their contempt for the police, and more than 300 cars have met a toasty end.  A police station at one point was even set on fire, but the flames were quickly contained.  On one night, more than 200 people threw rocks at police.  On another night, firemen were called in to put out over 90 different blazes throughout the city.  Furthermore, shop windows have been smashed, and several police officers have been injured.

Local media also reported, however, that police officers used racist slurs, like “monkey” and “pig” while controlling the unrest.  Authorities say the claim is under investigation, although no formal reports of such an allegation have been filed.

Reza Al Bazi, 14, and his friend Sebastian Horniak, 15, said they witnessed the violence; Horniak said he saw police firing warning shots in the air and calling a woman a “monkey.”  “I got upset yesterday because I saw police attack innocent people, they beat a woman with a baton,” he said.

A small number of arrests were made each night, although generally those arrested were not from the area in which the arrests took place, leading to an increased belief that the rioters are in fact a smaller group that travel about to cause trouble.

Husby resident Marianne Farede, 26, spoke out angrily against the rioters: “It’s idiotic. They’re ruining things for the people that live here. We’re the ones that suffer. It’s our cars that are getting burned, it’s our money.  They’re just waiting for the smallest reason to take their frustration out on the police. I don’t know why they think police are their enemies? They aren’t their enemies. They’re doing their best to protect us.”

Although the death of the unnamed resident of Husby has been cited as the igniting force behind the riots, they represent a greater social tension.  Over the last century, Sweden has seen a swell in immigration, especially since WWII, and although its economy has done relatively well in light of the global financial crisis, Sweden has also seen the fastest growing rate of inequality of any Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country over the past 25 years.

Although many immigrants (15% Swedish population) come to Sweden due to its generous refugee policy, they struggle to learn the language and find employment despite numerous government programs.  For example, in Husby, where 80% of the 12,000 residents are immigrants, the overall unemployment rate was 8.8% in 2012, as compared to 3.3% in Stockholm as a whole.  Furthermore, a total of 12% in Husby received social benefits last year, compared to only 3.6% on average in Stockholm.

Integration Minister Erik Ullenhag emphasized that the actions of the rioters are not representative of the majority of immigrant youth.  “I’ve seen in the international media that this is a riot between young people in some parts of Stockholm and the society, but this is not true. It’s a small proportion. The majority of young people in Tensta, Husby, Rinkeby, they go to schools and they want to have opportunities in Sweden, and it’s important to tell that story,” he said.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt further stressed the need to end the violence and return control of the besieged neighborhoods to their residents.  “This is not OK. We will not give in to violence.  We must all help out to regain calm. The residents of Husby need to get their neighborhood back,” he said.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Rioters Continue to Battle Police in Sweden – 24 May 2013

Independent – Stockholm Burning: Riots Grip Surburbs as Violent Trouble Spreads – 23 May 2013

The Local – Minister: Stockholm Riots ‘Not Youth Versus Society’ – 23 May 2013

The Local – Stockholm Riots Spread South on Fourth Night – 23 May 2013

Al Jazeera – Sweden Riots Continue after Police Shooting – 22 May 2013

The Local – Stockholm Riots: a View from the Street in Husby – 22 May 2013