Criminal who Committed Crime as Minor may be Executed Tomorrow in Yemen

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen– The humanitarian organizations Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have pleaded with Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi to save the life of Mohammad Abd al-Karim Mohammad Haza’a. Haza’a, who may have been a minor when he was convicted, has been sentenced to death, and is scheduled to be shot by firing squad tomorrow morning.

The execution by firing squad of Mohammad Abd al-karim Mohammad Haza’a for a crime he committed when he was a juvenile is set for tomorrow, March 9th. (Photo Courtesy of Amnesty International)

Haza’a was first found guilty of murder in August 1999 by the Court of First Instance in Taizz. He was only sentenced to imprisonment and a payment of blood money, known as diya, because Haza’a was found to be seventeen at the time the crime was committed.

Under international law, states are strictly prohibited from utilizing capital punishment as a sanction against a minor who has committed a crime. Where a convict’s age is disputed, a presumption will arise in favor of finding the convict a minor. Any action would be stayed contingent on an investigation into the truth.

Nevertheless, on appeal, the appellate court amended Haza’a’s sentence to the death penalty. Because the dissenting judge believed that Haza’a was a child when he committed the murder, the judge refused to sign onto the decision.

Despite the uncertainty, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Appeals Court in April of 2008. The Supreme Court made no effort to re-examine what Haza’a’s age was when he committed the murder.  

The child rights researcher for Human Rights Watch, Priyanka Motaparthy, has urged the president of Yemen not to allow the carrying out of Haza’a’s sentence, which Hadi had inherited from previous president, Ali Abdullah Saleh’s consent.

Haza’a was originally set to be executed last week. His death was delayed a week due to the persistent efforts of groups like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Seyaj Organization for Childhood Protection, to stop the capital punishment, while evidence of his juvenile age exists.

If Haza’a is killed tomorrow, he will not be the first Yemeni minor to have been served with capital punishment. As a result of imprecise records and bad rulings, other minors have been sentenced to death. Currently, Haza’a is one of one hundred eighty criminals facing a death sentence for a crime committed by one when the criminal was a juvenile.

Other countries who have executed juveniles in the past five years include Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan.

For further information, please see:

Amnesty International – We Wish to Inform you That Tomorrow you Will be Executed – 8 March 2013

Human Rights Watch – Yemen: Halt Execution of Alleged Juvenile Offender – 8 March 2013

Yemen Post – In Response to Sejay’s Appeal, Taiz Court Suspends Death Penalty Against Juvenile – 27 February 2013

Tymoshenko Defender Stripped of MP Mandate and Immunity

By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – Serhiy Vlasenko is no longer a member of the Ukrainian parliament, or Rada.  He was stripped of his seat Wednesday, and the immunity from prosecution that goes with it.  Although Ukraine’s Highest Administrative Court claims that the reason Vlasenko was removed was because he illegally combined the occupations of legislator and lawyer, many believe the move was politically motivated.  Vlasenko is a member of the opposition party, Batkivshchyna, and acted as an attorney, for free, for jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Serhiy Vlasenko was stripped of his parliamentary mandate and immunity from prosecution in a politically motivated attempt to prevent him from defending former PM Tymoshenko. (Photo Courtesy of RFE/RL)

The court acted on a motion from Party of Regions political ally, Speaker Volodymyr Rybak, of current Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, which claimed that Vlasenko acted as a lawyer while holding office, a banned act.

Vlasenko has claimed that the Party of Regions desires his arrest in order to deprive Tymoshenko of a qualified legal defense.  He further says that he is aware of at least three criminal charges already against him.

However, opposition leader Arseniy Yatseniuk has promised that the Batkivschyna party plans to take all possible measures to prevent Vlasenko’s arrest.  “We will do everything so that Vlasenko is not arrested, including with the assistance of our Western partners,” he said on Thursday.

According to Member of the European Parliament Rebecca Harms, if Vlasenko is arrested and jailed, an Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine currently under discussion will not be signed.  Hams further emphasized that if the Ukrainian government continues to employ selective judgment of political opponents, the European Union would introduce sanctions against the Ukrainian authorities.

European Commissioner for Enlargement, Stefan Fuele, condemned the ruling, saying via Twitter: “Stripping a parliamentarian of his mandate like being done in case of Vlasenko is not European way. Does this bring Ukraine closer to EU?”

The United States State Department has also spoke out against the treatment of Vlasenko, saying efforts to deprive Vlasenko of his seat in parliament “appear to be politically motivated due to his connection with Tymoshenko.”  The State Department further noted that Vlasenko is not the first lawmaker to be forced out of Ukraine’s parliament.  Last month a Ukrainian court annulled the parliamentary mandates of two independent lawmakers: Pavlo Blaloha and Oleksandr Dombrovsky.  The United States called on the Ukrainian government to end “politically motivated prosecutions of opposition leaders and to abide by their international commitments to the rule of law and democracy.”

Former PM Tymoshenko has notably been a political adversary of current PM Yanukovich, of the Party of Regions.  In 2004, she led the Orange Revolution protests that stopped his first bid for the presidency.  However, in 2011, she was jailed on abuse-of-office charges, and now faces tax evasion and embezzlement charges, as well as suspicion of involvement in a political murder.  She claims she is innocent of all charges and that they are merely revenge from Yanukovich’s political camp.

Vlasenko remains undeterred by the loss of his parliamentary mandate.  “Today’s court decision does not influence my status as a defense counsel in the case of Yulia Tymoshenko. I will continue to defend her as before,” he said Wednesday.  “I realize that their goal was not just to withdraw my mandate – their goal was to stop me,”

For further information, please see:

Kyiv Post – Yatseniuk: Opposition to do Everything to Prevent Vlasenko’s Arrest – 7 March 2013

Kyiv Post – European Lawmaker: If Vlasenko Jailed, Ukraine-EU Association Agreement Won’t be Signed – 7 March 2013

Ukraine Business – Vlasenko Remains Tymoshenko’s Defender – 7 March 2013

The Independent – Ukrainian Defense Lawyer is Stripped of Seat – 6 March 2013

Returns – Ukraine Court Strips Tymoshenko Ally of Parliament Seat – 6 March 2013

RFE/RL – U.S. ‘Deeply Concerned’ Over Anti-Opposition Moves In Ukraine – 6 March 2013

Syrian Revolution Digest: Thursday, 7 March 2013

Enough Bullshit!

Let’s stop kidding ourselves, for the disintegration of Syria to stop a no-fly zone is needed. Anything less will not do. You cannot create a provisional government, or prepare people to handle the challenges of local governance if the air is insecure. Rebels and activists have been trying to do that for months now, and failing. Every potential success story in this regard is being pounded into oblivion by helicopters, MiGs and now Scuds. So, until the international community develops the will, the balls, the moral backbone to do it, the bleeding and the disintegration will continue.

Today’s Death Toll: 111 martyrs, including 5 women, 8 children and 2 martyrs under torture. 23 martyrs reported in Damascus and Suburbs, 23 in Aleppo, 18 in Homs, 17 in Idlib, 12 in Daraa, 9 in Deir Ezzor, 8 in Hama and 1 martyr in Raqqa (LCCs).

Points of Random Shelling: 395 points. Warplane shelling was reported in 19 points with the fiercest in Homs. 3 areas were targeted using cluster bombs in each of Talbesa in Homs; Heesh and Sermeen in idlib. 1 point was shelled using Surface- to- Surface missile. 5 points were targeted by detonating barrels while mortar shelling was reported in 117 points and artillery shelling in 147 points, 107 points were documented as targets of missile launchers. In addition ,Launching of 6 Scud Missiles by the regime Brigade located in Qutaifa was also documented (LCCs).

Clashes: 122. Successful rebel operations include downing a MiG in areas south of Idlib Province. In Daraa, fierce clashes were reported in the Golan, as FSA rebels succeeded in liberating Aljazeerah Detachment. In Damascus Suburbs, the FSA managed to repel attempts made by regime forces to storm Daraya as the siege enters its 115th consecutive day. In Damascus City, rebels also fought off regime attempts to take back control of the Jober-Abbasid Square Road considered to be the eatern gateway to the city. In Besieged Homs, several regime attempts to invade rebel strongholds were repelled. In Raqqa City, rebel forces continue their battle to assert their full control over the city (LCCs).

 

News

Video of Captive U.N. Peacekeepers in Syria

In the video, a man who identified himself as a captain in the Philippine battalion of the United Nations mission that patrols the cease-fire line in the region said the group was “safe in this place.” He said that the group had been rescued by “civilian people” during bombing and artillery fire near a United Nations observation post close to the village of al-Jamlah. Speaking in English, the captain said: “Civilian people helped us, for our safety and distributed us in different places to keep us safe. And they gave us good accommodation and gave us food to eat and water to drink.”

Syria rebels want troop pullback before freeing U.N. men “They will be passed to safe hands when possible – because the area is surrounded and the Assad regime is bombarding it,” said Abu Essam Taseel, from the media office of the “Martyrs of Yarmouk” rebel brigade which detained the Filipino peacekeepers… Wednesday’s detention of the peacekeepers by around 30 gunmen will also reinforce Western concerns that any weapons supplied to rebels fighting to overthrow Assad could end up being turned against Western interests.

Hezbollah backs end of Syria suspension from Arab League The show of support is the latest example of the Lebanese group’s increasing intrusion into the conflict on behalf of Syrian President Bashar Assad. A rise in clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Syrian rebels along the border of Lebanon indicates that the massive militia, which the U.S. designates a terror group, is getting more active in defending its ally.

Germany says EU right not to arm Syria rebels, risks too high “The decision of the EU not to lift in total the embargo was wise and was right. But it is necessary to show more flexibility and to understand that we have of course to support the … opposition in a responsible way,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told reporters at a briefing in London. “We have to avoid a conflagration in the whole region,” he added.

Syria’s healthcare system in tatters, aid group warns Almost two years of violence have devastated Syria’s once-extensive healthcare system and left many Syrians unable to access even basic services, representatives of the international aid group Doctors Without Borders said Thursday. “The situation for Syrian civilians inside Syria is catastrophic,” Christopher Stokes, the group’s general director, told reporters in a conference call. “The aid system is way too limited, and the health system inside Syria has collapsed.”

Thousands Flee Northern Syria After Latest Airstrikes A new flood of Syrian refugees is streaming into southern Turkey after the Syrian air force bombed the city of Raqqah, a provincial capital that the government lost control of earlier this week. The Syrian rebels overran Raqqah, capturing several high-ranking prisoners, including the provincial governor. Many residents supported the rebels, but when the air strikes began, they packed in a hurry and fled, believing it was safer to make a dash for the border than stay at home.

Syria opposition to pick interim PM next week Meeting to choose leader who will oversee creation of interim government is to be held in Turkish city of Istanbul.

Syria: Israel Spy Devices Allegedly Found In Coastal Region Syrian authorities have discovered Israeli spying devices that were apparently hidden in objects that resembled rocks, Syria’s state news agency said Thursday. SANA’s report said the devices are designed to photograph, register and transfer data. The agency said the objects were uncovered in Syria’s coastal regions, but gave no further details. The Israeli military declined comment.

 

Special Reports

That bike is the bomb: repurposed weapons of war in Syria
There are so many things to hate about Syria’s brutal civil war. But here’s a very small one to like: photos on Facebook of Syrians transforming war’s leftovers into useful everyday objects. It turns out that reclaimed bomb casings are great for making everything from motorcycle frames to water storage tanks. This is a glimpse of what hope looks like in the middle of one of the world’s bloodiest war zones…

Syria’s expensive fight for freedom
The common man is paying the price for a brutal regime, pathetic opposition and an international society that cares only about its own national interests… Given the inhomogeneous societies of the Levant, Al Assad’s intention might be to get the region involved in a grand sectarian war. To survive, he may even decide to play his final card — starting a regional war. On several occasions, he threatened to set the whole region on fire should his regime collapse. His arsenal of Scud missiles with approximately 700 warheads can hit deep inside Turkey. His arsenal of chemical weapons is also frightening and, should he approach the end of his political life, he might choose to use it. This is what many dub as the Samson Option — the choice in the absence of choices.

WHEN A CRIMINAL LEADS A COUNTRY
Surely the present Assad regime reads the splits about Syria policy on the U.N. Security Council, and the hesitancy of the Obama Administration to involve itself deeply in the war by supplying weapons to the opposition, in a similar way. “He’s not going to give up,” Al-Abdallah said of Assad. “He’s not going to leave the country. He’s going to stay until he dies or somebody forces him to leave power.”… This is no time to yield the arguments about international justice to the pessimists. Syria proves that stability built on cynicism and expediency is not stability at all.

Syrian and Iraqi Conflicts Show Signs of Merging
Washington should also push back on Baghdad’s emerging narrative that Sunni protests in Iraq are simply “spillover from Syria,” as National Security Advisor Falih al-Fayadh intimated on February 25. His statement that “the divisiveness in Syria might affect the unity of Iraq” conceals the fact that Baghdad’s own failure to support sectarian reconciliation since 2009 has been a key driver of Sunni unrest and should be corrected. The current wave of “preventive” arrests in and around Sunni portions of the capital only increases the risk of the spillover Fayadh warned against. The Sunni community would be reassured if Baghdad dealt firmly with new Shiite vigilante groups such as the al-Mukhtar Army, which seeks to exploit growing sectarian dread in the Shiite community by threatening to purge Sunnis from mixed neighborhoods.

In Kafranbel, Witty Slogans and Encroaching Islamists
Islamic extremism is the top priority for Fares and his secular-minded peers these days. He met with a local emir of Jabhat Al Nusra, which the U.S. designated a terrorist organization with ties to Al Qaeda in Iraq, a few weeks ago, and the emir said he wanted to raise their flag at Kafranbel’s protests. Fares refused, and now the town holds two protests each week. “They don’t like being called extremists but the truth is they are,” Fares said. “They want to impose their views on everyone. They see Islam through a pinhole and I see it through a window.” Fares said Jabhat Al Nusra was gaining followers because it’s organized, and has an established hierarchy that holds its members accountable, unlike the disorganized civilian activists and the Free Syrian Army. Nusra also has access to weapons, and is delivering much needed humanitarian aid, which the secular opposition can’t match due to a lack of resources. The confrontation in Kafranbel today is in the realm of ideas, and Fares hopes that it will remain that way. Nusra and other extremist groups have a “totalitarian vision for Syria that is the same as the regime’s and I fought the regime,” he said. Nusra and its followers deny the existence of a revolution in Syria, Fares said, claiming that revolution is “just a word invented by Che Guevara, and that we are in jihad. I’m not a jihadist, I’m a revolutionary.”

How Michel Kilo Negotiated a Tenuous Truce in Ras Al Ayn
Syria’s northern towns and villages, with their complex ethnic and religious divisions, are a tinderbox for internecine fighting. They contain fault lines between ethnic groups, Kurds and Arabs, and among competing forces within each group — battle lines that could trigger a disintegration of the Syrian state. Ras Al Ayn is a microcosm of them, arguably the most complex town in the region.

One on One: They’re Crating Up the National Museum
Syria Deeply: As part of our series of interviews with journalists covering the Syria crisis, we reached out to ABC News correspondent and “Nightline” anchor Terry Moran, who reported last month from the streets of Damascus. Here, he discusses the changes he saw in the Syrian capital. “Part of the horror of what’s happening in Damascus,” he says, “is just… the demoralization.”

Lt Col S. Edward Boxx, USAF: Observations on the Air War in Syria (PDF)
Giulio Douhet, Hugh Trenchard, Billy Mitchell, and Henry “Hap” Arnold were some of the greatest airpower theorists in history. Their thoughts have unequivocally formed the basis of modern airpower.1 However, their ideas concerning the most effective use of airpower were by no means uniform and congruent in their determination of what constituted a vital center with strategic effects. In fact the debate continues to this day, and one may draw on recent conflicts in the Middle East to make observations on the topic. Specifically, this article examines the actions of one of the world’s largest air forces in a struggle against its own people—namely, the rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

Max Boot: Syria Is a Regional Disaster
In the case of Syria the only realistic option is to hasten Assad’s downfall through the provision of weapons and training to the rebels and the use of Western airpower to create a no-fly zone and to assist the rebels with close air support in their operations. Those options may not seem very palatable (especially at a time when sequestration is badly hurting military readiness) but unless the administration changes course, the spillover and slaughter will continue to worsen.

My new paper, prepared for a briefing in Washington, D.C. that took place on January 15, 2013, is now out and is titled “Syria 2013: Rise of the Warlords.” It should be read in conjunction with my previous briefing “The Shredded Tapestry,” and my recent essay “The Creation of an Unbridgeable Divide.”

 

Video Highlights

Some of the captured UN observers are seen in this video saying they are safe in and being held by civilians http://youtu.be/_6E-ATZa8qk

Brining down a MiG in Jabal Al-Zawiyeh, Idlib http://youtu.be/f1a18p1oLXQ Meanwhile regime force pound nearby Heesh with explosive barrels http://youtu.be/XlT-TQn3w5A MiGs pound the town of Saraqib http://youtu.be/IrmLwPCxvn0

Yarmouk Camp, Damascus City: this Palestinian woman, we are told, discovers soon after her sister was killed in the pounding of the neighborhood that her brother-in-law was a regime informant. She reports him to the rebels and witnesses his execution http://youtu.be/DGC-_dujA5w The pounding of the restive neighborhoods soon continues http://youtu.be/NHlezkWqp5g

Meanwhile, the pounding of rebel strongholds in Eastern Ghoutah and adjacent neighborhoods in Damascus City continues http://youtu.be/GR5cwSpeEKw , http://youtu.be/bsRl9q32tEI

Rebels in Raqqah City show some of their prisoners: Sunni soldiers from different provinces doing their compulsory service: http://youtu.be/Bq9ScGAJ-Ic

Rebels document signs of shelling of the historic temple of Bel in Palmyra City http://youtu.be/A0O6n9N1I5E

The aerial pounding of rebel strongholds in Homs City continues http://youtu.be/NRZYoUQOZtQ , http://youtu.be/PpmpLNEDnTo , http://youtu.be/1kUEG1DVSQY , http://youtu.be/09bSwkGeo9M , http://youtu.be/OY96eZiX7DQ , http://youtu.be/E6-jn8RAneU

The aerial pounding of Deir Ezzor City continues http://youtu.be/dMKRJ0d8Ds8 , http://youtu.be/vkSON4w0zZo

The pounding of Daraa City continues http://youtu.be/HvAOIukSbko

HRW Report Details Persisting Horrors of Child Marriage in South Sudan

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

JUBA, South Sudan – On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report urging the South Sudanese government to increase efforts to protect girls from child marriage.

Sixteen-year old Akuot was beaten for three days after she refused to be married off to an old man who offered a dowry of 200 cows. (Photo courtesy of Voice of America/Brent Stirton/Reportage for Human Rights Watch)

In the 95-page report, “‘This Old Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him:’ Child and Forced Marriage in South Sudan,” the human rights group reveal that almost half of South Sudanese girls between 15 and 19 are married, with some marrying as young as age 12. Most of these girls are married off by their families against their will. This practice, according to HRW, “exacerbates South Sudan’s pronounced gender gaps in school enrollment, contributes to soaring maternal mortality rates, and violates the right of girls to be free from violence, and to marry only when they are able and willing to give their free consent.”

One girl among the 87 who were interviewed told HRW that her relatives pressured her to marry in exchange for the dowry. “I refused him but they beat me badly and took me by force to him. The man forced me to have sex with him so I had to stay there,” she said as she recalled her experience.

When asked why they did not ask for help, most of the girls replied that they did not know that they had the right to do so. The other girls added that if they resisted from being married off, they would “suffer brutal consequences at the hands of their families – including verbal abuse and physical assault, and sometimes even murder.”

“Girls who have the courage to refuse early marriages are in dire need of protection, support, and education,” said Liesl Gerntholtz, HRW women’s rights director. “The South Sudan government must make sure that there is a coordinated government response to cases of child marriage and more training for police and prosecutors on the right of girls to protection.”

The HRW report suggested some courses of action the government can take such as: setting 18 as the minimum age for marriage; ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (CRC), and other human rights treaties; and passing comprehensive family legislation on marriage, separation, and divorce.

“The global problem of child marriage strips women and girls of their livelihoods and creates a high risk of violence,” Gerntholtz pointed out. “South Sudan’s government must make good on its pledges of gender equality by putting human rights of women and girls at the heart of its development agenda,” she added.

 

For further information, please see:

All Africa – South Sudan: End Widespread Child Marriage – Government Should Protect and Support Girls Who Refuse Forced Marriage – 7 March 2013

Oye! Times – Human Right Watch Report Calls For An End To Child Marriage – 7 March 2013

Sudan Tribe – South Sudan: End widespread child marriage – 7 March 2013

Voice of America – End Child Marriage, Rights Group Tells South Sudan – 7 March 2013

Human Rights Watch Report Alleges Rising Religious Intolerance in Indonesia

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based human rights watch dog, recently released a report highlighting Indonesia’s rising religious intolerance and failure to protect religious minorities.

Police try to disperse a crowd of religious minorities. (Photo Courtesy of the BBC)

The one hundred and seven page report was compiled using research conducted from August 2011 to December 2012.  It includes over 100 interviews of local Indonesians, 71 of which were victims to crimes of religious intolerance.

The report also included information from the nonprofit Setara Institute, based in Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta, which found that 264 attacks of religious minorities occurred in 2012, 244 attacks were recorded in 2011, and 216 attacks were recorded in 2010.  These numbers show a steady increase in the amount of attacks motivated by religion against minorities in Indonesia over the course of the previous three years.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority nation in the world.  Muslims, of the Sunni variety, dominate the nation’s population, numbering around 210 million.  This massive majority has perhaps contributed to the growing religious intolerance.

Brutal attacks and constant harassment has been commonplace in Indonesia against the minority populations of Christians, Shia Muslims, and Ahmadiyah.  In addition to the attacks and harassment, the government’s actions, and lack of action, has exacerbated the situation.

Discriminatory regulations passed by the central government have had a significant effect on the religious minorities.  Local governments have allegedly refused to grant religious minorities permits to build new places of worship.  A Supreme Court decision which granted religious minorities the ability to build new places of worship has also been largely disregarded by many local authorities.

Local law enforcement has failed to curb the rising number of violent attacks being perpetrated against the religious minorities in the country.  Prosecutors have also failed to properly prosecute the few that have been brought in on charges of violence and have chosen to apply weak punishments for their crimes.

Secretary General of Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Ministry, Bahrul Hayat, released a statement, citing a government survey which was compiled at the end of last year, alleging religious harmony within the country is incredibly strong.   Bahrul Hayat urges the international community to disregard the few violations that may have occurred against religious minorities in the country.

The Secretary General believes that the few violations he noted should not be seen as the norm, but as the exception to the rule.  Many of the causes of conflicts within the country that may have been blamed on religious intolerance are actually socially, politically, culturally, or economically motivated.

HRW, however, still calls for Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to adopt a “zero tolerance” policy with regards to religious intolerance, discrimination, and the rising violence perpetrated against the religious minorities in the country.

For further information, please seeL

India Talkies – Indonesia urged to protect religious minorities from growing violence – 1 March 2013

BBC – Indonesia urged to tackle religious intolerance – 28 February 2013

Breitbart – Report: Religious violence rising in Indonesia – 28 February 2013

Business Mirror – Religious violence rising in Indonesia – 28 February 2013

Human Rights Watch – In Religion’s Name – 28 February 2013