Thousands of Muslims Protest Anti-Islam Film Outside Google’s London HQ

By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

LONDON, U.K. – Several thousand British Muslims gathered outside Google’s London offices Sunday to demand that the company remove the anti-Islamic film, “The Innocence of Muslims,” from its subsidiary website, YouTube.

Muslim protestors gathered outside Google’s London HQ, on Buckingham Palace Road. (Photo Courtesy of The Telegraph)

For several hours Sunday, protesters filled the street in front of Google’s London headquarters, forcing Buckingham Palace Road to be closed for at least three hours almost up to the Palace gates.  Barricades were erected, and protestors carried signs with messages such as “We love our prophet more than our lives” and “Prophet Muhammad is the founder of freedom of speech.”

Khalid Mahmood, of campaign group Voyce, explained that the demonstration against Google was the first in the UK, and that other acts would follow.  He said: “This is a demonstration against hate speech on the internet and YouTube in particular.”

The protestors specifically want the 14 minute video from the allegedly forthcoming “Innocence of Muslims” film, which has caused great controversy in the Muslim world in the last month, permanently blocked.

The protest comes only a few days after al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called for a holy war against the US and Israel over the same video.

Organizer Masoud Alam explained that the video presents an issue not of freedom of speech, but rather of religious intolerance.  He stated: “This is not freedom of expression, there is a limit for that. This insult of the Prophet will not be allowed.”

Muslims came to London for the protest from many corners of the U.K., including some reported from Birmingham, Blackburn, Manchester, Peterborough, and even Glasglow.  Around 800 imams in British mosques took part in organizing the protest.

It is estimated that between 3,500 Muslims, according to BBC News, and 10,000 Muslims, according to the Telegraph, participated in the protest.

Women are difficult to spot in protest photographs and video.  However, according to one protestor, they were present nonetheless “right at the back.”

Organizers plan further protests in the city in coming weeks, including a one million-strong march in London’s Hyde Park.

“Until it is banned we will keep protesting,” Alam affirmed.

“The Innocence of Muslims” video was uploaded on YouTube in July by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a California-based Egyptian-American, who is now in custody for the unrelated charge of violating the terms of his probation for a pre-existing fraud offense.

Violence surrounding the video erupted in September when an Arabic-language version became available on YouTube.  Amid the resulting violence, four Americans, including the US ambassador to Libya, were killed in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.

Thereafter, Google and YouTube restricted access to the video in Egypt and Libya.  However, Google continues to assert that this video is not hate speech because hate speech is speech against individuals, not against groups, according to the New York Times.  Because the video criticizes Islam, but not the Muslim people, YouTube finds it to be allowable.

A Spokesperson YouTube said: “We work hard to create a community everyone can enjoy and which also enables people to express different opinions. . . This video – which is widely available on the Web – is clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube.”

However, the protestors feel differently.  Sheikh Faiz Al-Aqtab Siddiqui, an imam, explained the severity of the situation: “Terrorism is not just people who kill human bodies, but who kill human feelings as well. The makers of this film have terrorized 1.6 billion people. Organizations like Google are key players and have to take responsibility for civility. You can’t just say it doesn’t matter that it’s freedom of speech. It’s anarchy.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Anti-Islam Film Protest Outside Google’s London HQ – 14 October 2012

Global Post  – 10,000 Muslims Rally Outside Google’s London HQ Over US-made Anti-Islam Film: Report – 14 October 2012

The Telegraph – Muslims Protest ‘Age of Mockery’ as Thousands Descend on Google HQ – 14 October 2012

The Guardian – Al-Qaida leader calls for holy war on US and Israel over anti-Islamic film – 13 October 2012

The Telegraph – US Filmmakers Banned from Britain over Anti-Mohammed Video – 12 October 2012

The New York Times – As Violence Spreads in Arab World, Google Blocks Access to Inflammatory Video – 13 September 2012

16-Year-Old Boy Killed in Ghana During Round-Up of Illegal Miners

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ACCRA, Ghana—Today, police in Ghana began investigating the death of a young Chinese boy who was killed during a security crackdown of illegal gold mining in Ghana. The security officials arrested approximately 100 Chinese nationals in Ghana during a round-up in the Ashanti region of Ghana which is rich in gold and near Ghana’s second largest city of Kumasi. These Chinese nationals remain detained in Ghana. The Ghanaian military argue that the death was an accident, but that further investigation is under way.

Ghanaian Police Investigate Death of 16-Year-Old Chinese Boy. (Photo Courtesy of Updated News)

Chris Kpodo, Ambassador of Ghana said, “We have received reports about the death of a 16-year-old boy of Chinese nationality. It is regrettable, and the government has ordered an investigation into the incident.” He also noted, “We will be granting the ambassador (of China) a diplomatic access to visit the detainees and speak with them.”

Any Chinese men and women in poor health have been released on bail. The rest of the individuals who were arrested were given water and medicine and provided with health checks.

In the past year, there have been many incidents of Chinese citizens being detained and arrested for illegal gold mining. The Ghanaian security officials have just recently vamped up their efforts in cracking down on these types of activities.

Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Gong Jianzhong, said last month that many Chinese miners are also victims. They lack poor paperwork and therefore become trapped in Ghana by local agents and mine owners. Jianzhong hopes that Ghana can solve this problem at its root rather than only arresting illegal Chinese miners and possible killing some of them.

According to Ghanaian law, foreign companies in Ghana are only allowed to work independently in certain large and open-pit mines. Dai Yan, the former counselor to Ghana, noted that China is not a colonizer “as the West has historically been, and mining cooperation is supposed to be mutually beneficial as Ghana is rich in resources and China can provide technology, equipment and funding.” He also added that this type of cooperation may work to expand job creation.

The Chinese Embassy has now called on all Chinese nationals in Ghana to fully abide by Ghanaian related laws and regulations in order to safeguard and protect their own interests.

 

For further information, please see:

China Daily – Ghana Detains 100 Chinese for Illegal Mining – 14 October 2012

Global Times – Ghana Killing Protested – 14 October 2012

Reuters – Ghana Investigating Death of Chinese Boy During Miner Round-Up – 14 October 2012

Updated News – Ghana Investigating Death of Chinese Boy During Miner Round-Up – 14 October 2012

Buenos Aires First Legal Abortion

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – The Argentinian Supreme Court issued a ruling late Thursday night which granted an abortion to a women rescued from a prostitution ring.

nothing
Pro-Abortion Activists Rally In Buenos Aires. (Photo Courtesy of Today Online)

Argentina like most South America heavily identifies itself as Roman Catholic and 95% of all abortions that take place in the continent are illegal. Yet in March 2012 the Supreme Court ruled that abortions in the case of rape or pregnancies that threaten the women’s life are legal. Buenos Aires has since drafted regulations in order to implement that ruling, limiting the abortions to within the first 12 weeks of gestation of a rape victim’s pregnancy.

The 32 year old women, whose name has been withheld for security reasons had been kidnapped and forced in sexual slavery. Upon her rescue the women made the decision to go against her faith and the protests of her family and terminate her pregnancy.

However this would not be a private affair as controversy stirred up when anti-abortion activists identified the woman and protested outside her home, and then again at the hospital.

What was supposed to be Buenos Aires first legal abortion under the new abortion regulations turned into a spectacle of legal arguments and demonstrations from both sides of the debate. Scheduled for Tuesday, moments before surgery was supposed to take place the anti-abortion group “Pro-Family” received an injunction from a judge effectively stopping the procedure. The judge claimed that there had been no evidence of rape.

For another three days, the woman was forced to wait in what Amnesty International calls “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.” Debates on both sides of the argument stirred as the judge’s decision was appealed to the Supreme Court. Soon after the Supreme Court overturned the lower judge’s decision the trafficked woman was in the hospital despite numerous nurses and doctor’s refusal to take part.

Argentina’s Health Ministry made sure to clarify that abortion was indeed legal in certain circumstances and there would be no punishment for those who carried out the procedure.

Proponents for abortion call this a victory for women’s rights. In 2007 The National Health Research Program and the Ministry of Health of the Nation produced research that showed there were approximately 450,000 to 600,000 illegally performed abortions in Argentina.

The battle in Latin America continues, currently only Cuba has authorized full and legal abortions for its citizens. However, next week Uruguay will continue its legislative action and is expected to legalize elective abortion.

For further information, please see:

Today Online – Rape Victims Struggle To Get Legal Abortions In Argentina – 14 October 2012

La Nacion – They Have 5 Hospitals For Abortion – 13 October 2012

The BBC – Argentinian ‘Sex Slave’ Allowed Abortion After Ruling – 12 October 2012

CNN – Argentine Court Allows Abortions In Rape Cases – 14 March 2012

Pagina 12 – The Figures For Open Debate – 2 June 2007

Chávez Consolidates Power Post-Victory

By Margaret Janelle R. Hutchinson
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

 CARACAS, Venezuela – Hugo Chávez, 58, won his third six-year term as president of Venezuela last week.  Yesterday he swore in a new vice president and replaced six senior Cabinet ministers.  Many of the replaced government officials announced their plans to run in gubernatorial races in states currently controlled by the opposition.

Chávez, surrounded by supporters, celebrates his victory last Sunday over opposition party candidate Capriles. (Photo courtesy venezuelanalysis.com)

It appears Chávez is wasting no time strengthening his party’s influence throughout the nation as part of his strategy to achieve his stated intention of remaining in power until 2031.

The race up to the election last Sunday October 7, 2012, was the tightest Chávez has faced since he first gained power in 1996.  The obvious inequity in campaigning has lead some to declare that the election was “free, but not fair.”  Nevertheless, Chávez won 55 percent of the vote in the election, beating the opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles Radnski, by 11 percentage points.

Chávez’s win may prompt a reexamination of relations between the government and the opposition, which, up until now, have been so polarized that neither side has recognized the other’s legitimacy. During the campaign, Capriles even refused to pledge himself to accept the official results announced by the National Electoral Council.

Signs immediately following the elections indicate that the mutual distrust may be easing.  Keeping a promise he made on election day, Chávez phoned Capriles and for the first time refrained from using derogatory language against his former rival.  More important, Chávez committed himself to “extending a hand” to his opponents and made a call for “national reconciliation,” which would even include business interests of all sizes.

All major opposition leaders firmly resist the use of massive government expenditures to finance ambitious goals.  Up until now, the programs that Chávez claims create the conditions for “socialism” have been financed by windfall oil revenue.  Thus, for instance, expropriations to bolster the nation’s mixed economy are designed to allow state companies to compete with private ones in hopes of controlling inflation, which at over 20 percent is the highest in the continent.  Another costly and ambitious area of investment has been community councils, which receive financing to carry out their own public works projects and to form what the government calls “communes.”  The main opposition parties may be divided with regard to the role of the state, but none of them go along with the type of transformation to which Chávez is committed.

Perhaps the knowledge that he couldn’t move forward with many of his plans with opposition leaders in power is what prompted Chávez to shake up his Cabinet yesterday.

Former Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, 49, replaced Elias Jaua as Chávez’s vice president. Maduro, a burly former bus driver, is considered the member of Chávez’s government with the closest ties to Cuba’s Fidel and Raul Castro.

The vice presidential job has assumed new importance because of Chávez’s recent struggle with cancer and rumors have circulated that Maduro is being groomed as his successor.

Jaua will be the ruling United Socialist Party’s candidate for the governorship of Miranda, Venezuela’s second largest state, which is the power base of Capriles.

Among the Cabinet changes was the appointment of General Nestor Reverol as the new minister of the interior and justice, replacing Tareck El Aissami, who will run to be governor of Aragua. Reverol had led Venezuela’s anti-drug body.

Admiral Carmen Melendez is the new head of the Office of the Presidency, replacing Erika Farias, who will seek the governorship of the west-central state of Cojedes.

Chavez also named journalist Ernesto Villegas to run the ministry of communications and public affairs; Aloha Nunez to the head of the ministry of indigenous affairs and Cristobal Francisco to the top post at the environment ministry.

In the swearing-in ceremony aired on state television, Chávez called on his new ministers to continue “the fight to transform the old capitalist and bourgeoisie state … into a socialist state.”

He also called for greater government efficiency.

Years of inadequate maintenance, corruption and perceived incompetence have left Venezuela’s infrastructure in a sorry state.  A blast in the Amuay oil refinery in late August killed 42 people (six are still missing).  Across the country, roads and bridges have collapsed or been washed away by rains, severing main transport arteries.

Citizens complain of crime, unemployment and poor public services.

Over the past year or so, the president has begun to spend his war chest. Calculations are that public spending has expanded by 30% in real terms over the 12 months prior to August.  Some of this has gone on new “grand missions”, as Mr. Chávez calls his social programs, the most important of which promised in 2010 to provide over 350,000 new homes by the end of 2012. That compares with under 600,000 new homes (by official estimates) in the previous 11 years.

Notably, over 3 million people are registered for the new program, providing the government with valuable electoral data.  The government insisted up to the election that an opposition victory would dash the hopes of the homeless, even though Mr. Capriles promised to keep that program going.

Chávez is at a strategy crossroads.  The continuation of far-reaching programs that invigorate the rank and file will meet resistance from opposition leaders who claim they are not sustainable over the long run.  On the other hand, major concessions to the opposition would run the risk of dampening the enthusiasm of his followers.  While the strategies of change and national reconciliation may not be mutually exclusive, it will take considerable political skill to combine the two in ways that overcome the intense political schisms that have divided Venezuela in recent years.

For further information, please see:

The Auburn Plainsman – Venezuela election reminder of how bad it could be – 14 October 2012

iFocus – Venezuela’s Chavez names new cabinet ministers – 14 October 2012

Fox News – Venezuela’s Chavez swears in vice president, 6 other ministers in post-election shake up – 13 October 2012

Reuters – Venezuela’s Chavez shuffles cabinet, then tweets about it – 13 October 2012

venezuelanalysis – Venezuela Reelects Hugo Chavez. What’s Next? – 12 October 2012

The Economist – The autocrat and the ballot box – 29 September 2012

 

Recent Recording of Al-Zawahiri Promotes Additional Violence and Protests

By Emily Schneider
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Middle East – Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s top leader, allegedly called for more protests against offensive depictions of the prophet Mohammed and praised the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya last month, according to a recently released audio recording.

Yemeni protestors burn the American flag outside the U.S. embassy in Sana’a. (Photo courtesy of AFP)

Individuals around the Muslim world protested against “Innocence of Muslims,” an anti-Islam movie produced in the United States in the weeks after September 11. The video, which had been available online since July, went viral following the anniversary of the September 11 tragedy and sparked violent reactions throughout the Middle East.

Although many protests were peaceful demonstrations against the offensive depiction of the prophet Mohammed, quite a few protestors blamed the United States government for the film. The low-budget film was privately produced. U.S. officials have condemned the video, stating that it in no way reflects the views or opinions of the government and it was not sanctioned by Washington.

In Egypt, 224 people were injured in protests, according to the Health Ministry. In Yemen, demonstrators were able to breach embassy security and storm the grounds, where they burnt the American flag before being repelled by security forces. In Pakistan, mobs ransacked banks, cinemas, and government offices. Demonstrations also took place in Lebanon, Malaysia, and Bangladesh.

But the most troubling attack occurred in Benghazi, Libya, where four members of the U.S. Embassy were killed, including Christopher Stevens, the U.S. Ambassador to Libya. U.S. officials initially believed the attack on the U.S. mission compound was part of the demonstrations taking place immediately outside the compound. The protest was sparked by the “Innocence of Muslims” video and modeled after similar protests that took place in Cairo earlier that day.

But as more information has become available, U.S. officials have reevaluated their original assumption. It seems now, that the incident was not a spontaneous overflow of the protests, but instead an organized and deliberate, albeit opportunistic, attack. Officials now believe that “extremists” used the protests in Benghazi as a diversion to launch their attack on the compound.

“In the immediate aftermath, there was information that led us to assess that the attack began spontaneously following protests earlier that day at our embassy in Cairo,” Shawn Turner, spokesman for Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, said. “As we learned more about the attack, we revised our initial assessment to reflect new information indicating that it was a deliberate and organized terrorist attack carried out by extremists.”

Now, over a month since the first protests, demonstrations outside U.S. embassies are declining. Al-Zawahiri’s address to “free and distinguished zealots for Islam,” lauding those who have taken part in the demonstrations thus far, was posted on Islamic websites early Saturday and calls for a renewal of the protests.

Although the authenticity of the recording cannot be completely confirmed, al-Zawahiri offered a similar message in his last video in September, when he condoned violence in Syria. That video, entitled “The Lion of Knowledge and Jihad: martyrdom of al-Sheikh Abu Yahya al-Libi,” was released on September 11, 2012 and marked his thirteenth statement of the year. In that video, he confirmed the death of Abu Yahya, who was killed by a U.S. drone in Pakistan.

In the latest recording, al-Zawahari stopped just short of claiming responsibility for the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi. He did, however, offer support and praise to those who orchestrated the attack.

“May God salute the free honest believers who stood up and stormed the American Consulate in Benghazi and those who demonstrated in front of the American Embassy in Cairo and brought down the American flag and raised the banner of Islam and Jihad instead,” Ayman al-Zawahiri said in the recording.

“In the pretext of personal freedom and freedom of expression, America allowed the production of a movie that was aimed to defame the beloved prophet Mohammed, even though this alleged personal freedom that they boast about didn’t stop the Americans from torturing the Muslim prisoners” at U.S. facilities, the audio recording says.

“I call upon [protestors] to continue their confrontation against the American Zionist crusader transgression and I call upon all Muslims to follow their leads,” he said.

For further information, please see:

CNN- In Message, al Qaeda Leader Purportedly Calls for More Protests – 13 October 2012

The Guardian – Al-Qaida Leader Calls for Holy War on US and Israel over Anti-Islamic Film – 13 October 2012

RT.com – Al-Qaeda Leader Calls for More Anti-US Protests – 13 October 2012

CNN – What We Know About the Libya Attack – 14 October 2012

CNN – Death, Destruction in Pakistan Amid Protests Tied to Anti-Islam Film – 21 September 2012

Al Jazeera – Hate Video, Muslim Protests and Dignified Responses – 20 September 2012

BBC News – Anti-Islam Film Protests Spread Across Middle East – 13 September 2012