Iraqi Vice President Maintains Innocence after Receiving Death Sentence

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi and his Chief Officer Ahmad al-Qahtan were sentenced in absentia by the Criminal Court of Iraq last Sunday to death by hanging for the murders of Suhad al-Khafaji, a lawyer, and the National Security Officer, Talib Balasim.  Speaking at a press conference in Turkey on Monday, Hashemi insisted his innocence and denounced the verdict, calling it “politically motivated.”

Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi said in a press conference last Monday that his conviction was “politically motivated.” (Photo Courtesy of the Guardian)

“While reconfirming my complete innocence and my guards, I totally reject and will never recognize the unfair, unjust and politically motivated verdict, which was expected at the beginning of this ridiculous lawsuit,” he said.  Hashemi fled Iraq in December after the government announced the charges against him.  The court has given him 30 days to return to Iraq to appeal the charges, but Hashemi has said that he will not return.

Since his escape, Hashemi, a Sunni, continues to criticize Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, his longtime rival, accusing him of manipulating the Iraqi judiciary.  In a statement regarding Maliki, Hashemi’s political party, the secular Iraqiya political bloc, said that “[t]he conduct of court hearings only reinforces the feeling that the sentence by the court is politicized and predictable.”

Hashemi’s case has created an issue for the Iraqi government, as it has fueled resentment from Sunnis and Kurds against Maliki, who critics say is monopolizing power.

“The verdict is unjust, politicized, illegitimate and I will not recognize it,” Hashemi said.  “But I put it as a medal of honor on my chest because it was Maliki, not anyone else, behind it.  I’m proud that it is Maliki, and not anyone else, to target me.”  He also said that “[t]he death sentence is a price I have to pay due to my love for my country and my loyalty to my people.  I reiterate that I’m innocent, and am ready to stand before a fair judicial system and not a corrupt one under Maliki’s influence.”

Hashemi’s defense team also accused the court of losing its objectivity and siding with the Shia-led government.  In his closing argument, attorney Muayad Obeid al-Ezzi, head of the defense team, said that “[f]rom the beginning and through all procedures, it has become obvious that the Iraqi judicial system has been under political pressure.”  In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ezzi said “This ruling has no legal value or effect.  In-absentia rulings cannot be considered final or enforced.  It should remain with the court until the person sentenced is handed over to authorities or arrested.”

The Iraqi government has also accused Hashemi of playing a role in 150 bombings, assassinations, and other attacks from 2005 t0 2011 – most of which were carried out by his bodyguards and other employees.

The verdict against Hashemi is also expected to spark tension with neighboring Turkey.

“Political tensions are likely to escalate in Iraq and relations between Ankara and Baghdad could also worsen in the coming months,” said John Drake, a security specialist.  Drake added that Hashemi’s death sentence “will certainly exacerbate divisions between Maliki and Iraqiya.  This could hinder the work of Parliament.”

For further information, please see:

Al Bawaba — Iraqi VP Rejects Death Sentence — 10 September 2012

Al Jazeera  — Iraq Vice-President Rejects Death Sentence — 10 September 2012

BBC News — Iraq VP Tariq al-Hashemi Rejects Guilty Verdict — 10 September 2012

Guardian — Iraqi Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi Attacks ‘Unjust’ Verdict in Terror Trial — 10 September 2012

National Iraqi News Agency — Death Sentence to al-Hashemi and his Chief Office — 9 September 2012

Colombia Begins Peace Talks With FARC Rebels

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Peace talks began this week between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as the FARC Rebels. The FARC are Latin America’s oldest guerrilla army and have been active for nearly 50 years. FARC Leader Rodrigo Londono confirmed that talks had opened up in a video released on the FARC website.

FARC Rebels marching on patrol. (Photo Courtesy of The Telegraph)

This will be the first time that formal peace talks have commenced between the Colombian government and the FARC Rebels since 1999, which ultimately disintegrated after the rebels regrouped and continued to carry out attacks and kidnappings against government and civilian targets.

While FARC proposed a ceasefire during these peace talks, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos refused the proposition, announcing that until talks have proceeded, combined military and police forces will continue assaults on FARC camps. The bi-lateral cease fire is expected to be reintroduced as FARC has announced it will reprise the issue during talks in October.

The rebels are likely to address issues such as the distribution of government held land to the people. The Colombian government, on the other hand, will likely address the rebel’s link to drug trafficking and the reincorporation of guerrilla members into society, a sensitive topic considering the large amount of Colombian citizens still thought to be held hostage by the rebel army.

Established in 1964 as a Marxist revolutionary movement, FARC has become infamous for funding itself through the drug trade, holding hostages for ransom, and for the murder, rape, extortion and torture of many people. FARC is responsible for the kidnapping and disappearing of numerous military officials, soldiers and Colombian citizens throughout its fifty years, in a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. FARC alleges that they are not currently engaging in kidnapping and have not done so since February. Reports from the New Hope Foundation – an NGO that collects the records of from concerning the abductions in Columbia – dispute that claim, suggesting that the FARC still hold an estimated 400-694 Colombian citizens hostage somewhere in the jungle. FARC negotiators, however, have reiterated that they are no longer actively abducting Colombians or holding them hostage for ransom.

These peace talks were announced just three weeks after Colombian FARC rebels blew up an oil pipeline in the Narino department of Columbia. This was just the latest in a series of pipeline attacks; 67 incidents have been reported between January and June 2012, compared to 84 for all of 2011.

 

For further information, please see:

El Pais – And if the FARC say they do not kidnap, what about those missing in Colombia?  – 7 September 2012

La Vanguardia – The FARC pose a bilateral ceasefire in peace talks  – 6 September 2012

The Herald Sun – FARC rebel chief confirms Colombia peace talks  – 4 September 2012

International Business Times – Colombia Holds Informal Talks With FARC Rebels In Hopes Of Ending Half-Century Of Conflict  – 30 August 2012

The BBC – Colombian “Farc rebels ‘ blow up oil pipeline in Narino – 19 August 2012

Trouble In Paradise: Police Brutality in the Maldives

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MALE, Rep. of Maldives – Amnesty International, the London based human rights watchdog, released a report on Wednesday, September 5, exposing potential human rights violations in the Maldives.

Activists and police clash on the streets. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

The report included interviews from survivors of the alleged human rights violations and their families.  Those interviewed include lawyers, activists, medical professionals, security officials and senior politicians.  The interviewees stated that military troops and police arbitrarily detained innocent citizens with unnecessary force and tortured them.

One incidence of a human rights violation involves a premarital sex affair between a 16 year old girl and a 29 year old man.  The Maldives has a history of handing down corporal punishment to women for having extramarital or premarital affairs.  The 16 year old was found engaging in sexual activity with the 29 year old man when the girl’s family went out searching for her when she was missing.  Soon after the 16 year old girl’s family filed a complaint with the local police department regarding her indiscretions.

Under Islamic religious law, girls between the ages of 13 to 18 are forbidden from having premarital sex.  The 16 year old girl was sentenced to a public flogging with a cane when she turned 18.  The public floggings were reportedly handed down by local village chiefs who act as judges.  Courts in the Maldives may not be independent of the Islamic government so the influence of the religious government could be unavoidable.  The 29 year old man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his crime.

The rising violence by military troops and police may be in response to peaceful public protests regarding past human rights violations.  Protestors were reportedly beaten, pepper sprayed, and some women were perhaps sexually harassed during the military and police crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations.  The public protests lead to the country’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, to step down from office.  Nasheed has alleged that a police mutiny and a military coup backed by Islamic extremists forced him to step down.

Nasheed’s replacement, Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik, is in support of the military and police actions.  Specifically, it was alleged by Asian Centre for Human Rights that Manik’s support of the military and police actions was part of a broader plan to unite Islamic fundamentalists in the upcoming 2013 election.  Despite widespread criticism by international human rights advocates, the case of the 16 year old girl’s sentence to a public flogging with a cane may not be suspended due to the new direction of the Maldives government under Manik.

 

For further information, please see:

New Age Bangladesh – Abuses rise in Maldives under new regime: Amnesty – 6 September 2012

BBC – Amnesty accuses Maldives government of beatings and torture – 5 September 2012

International Business Times – Maldives: 16-Year-Old Sentenced to 100 lashes for Pre-Marital Sex – 4 September 2012

Japan Today – 16-year-old Maldives girl faces public flogging for pre-marital sex – 4 September 2012

Dozens Killed in Sudanese Army and Rebel Attacks

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan—The Sudanese army and rebel militants clashed late last week on Thursday, September 6, 2012, leaving dozens of people dead and injured. The army noted that it killed thirty-two rebel insurgents who moved in and attacked a small village in the western Darfur area.

The Media Has Still Been Unable to Get a Casualty Count as the Borders Continue to Create Obstacles to Transportation. (Photo Courtesy of CapitalFM News)

Near the South Sudan border, in the village of South Kordofan, forty-five rebels were also killed. These casualty claims, however, have not yet been verified, as there is still restricted access to both the Darfur and South Kordofan regions.

A spokesman of one of the biggest rebel groups called the Justice and Equality Movement noted that his rebel group attacked and killed the army soldiers in order to repulse an attack on the village.

About a year ago, several rebel groups in the two separate states of Sudan and South Sudan, formed an alliance with the goal of toppling President Omar al-Bashir’s regime. It was also a year ago that South Sudan won its independence from Sudan. This split cooled down decades of fighting between the mainly Muslim north, and the Christian south. The division of the country was finally carried out after a 2005 peace deal that finally ended a 22-year civil war. The capital city of Khartoum blames and accuses residents of the South Sudan region of backing these rebel insurgents.

Throughout March and April of this year, Sudan and South Sudan fought along their unmarked borders, which then began to spark the fear of a wider war between the divided countries. This fear led to a United Nations Security Counsel resolution ordering a ceasefire as well as negotiations amongst the African Union.

The latest clashes between the army and the rebel groups comes just as the United States warned the United Nations of a suspected “outright conflict” between the two Sudanese states over a border dispute that has been going on for over a year now. Susan Rice, United States ambassador to the United Nations, was the one to bring this suspicion to the United Nations after a meeting of the Security Council.

One thing that complicates this border struggle even further is that South Sudan has accepted the border roadmap that was proposed by the African Union, while Sudan refuses to do so. An agreement deadline was set for early August on August 2, 2012; however, this deadline failed to produce an agreement between the two sides. The United Nations criticized Khartoum for refusing to undertake the suggestions of a demilitarized zone and border monitoring mechanism that was first proposed by the African Union.

Currently, Sudan and South Sudan are holding talks in Ethiopia in order to discuss a solution regarding border security. Both sides in this dispute will be kept under pressure for the remainder of September in order to set up a deal by their new deadline on September 22, 2012.

 

For further information, please see:

The Associated Press – Sudan Army Push Repulsed Near Kadugli: Rebels – 9 September 2012

Daily News Egypt – Renewed Clashes Between Army and Rebels in Sudan Leaves Dozens Dead – 9 September 2012

News Day – Dozens Killed in Clashes Between Sudan Army and Rebels – 9 September 2012

BBC News – ‘Dozens Killed’ as Sudan’s Army and Rebels Clash – 8 September 2012

CapitalFM News – Sudan Army, Rebels Clash on Two Fronts – 8 September 2012

Unauthorized Protesters Met by Riot Police in Bahrain

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain – On Friday, members of Bahrain’s Shi’ite Muslim majority congregated in the capital for an anti-government demonstration but were suppressed by riot police. The protesters, organized by the opposition group al-Wefaq, planned to stage a march on Manama, but armored vehicles blocked the roads. Police also fired tear gas and stun grenades at the demonstrators.

Riot police using tear gas to break up attempted march in Manama. (Photo Courtesy of Al Jazeera)

The Bahraini government has dealt with these uprisings through the use of martial law, troops from Saudi Arabia, and police from the United Arab Emirates.  Approximately fifty people have been killed, and hundreds have been arrested since the Shi’ite protest movement began in February 2011.  These demonstrators gathered in Manama despite a ban on unauthorized demonstrations.  Thousands of like-minded protesters participated in a government-approved march just a week prior, which passed without incident.

On Tuesday, the High Criminal Court of Appeal in Bahrain upheld the convictions and sentences of thirteen men who received jail sentences of between five and twenty-five years for their roles in setting up last year’s pro-democracy demonstrations.  Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, said that the “court decision [was] another blow to justice and it shows once more that the Bahraini authorities are not on the path of reform, but seem rather driven by vindictiveness.”

While the general purpose of the protests is to seek political and economic reform for the marginalized Shi’ites from their authoritarian Sunni monarch, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, it is clear that Tuesday’s court decision has been a major motivating factor in recent demonstrations.

At Friday’s protest, groups held banners that read sayings like “Freedom for the prisoners of conscience” and “We want an independent judiciary.”

Demonstrators hold banners in protest of Tuesday’s court decision. (Photo Courtesy of Amnesty International)

Such demonstrators have encountered police intervention on a daily basis. If Friday’s march was any indication of the future, the Shi’ites are going to continue their protests and the government’s police are going to continue to put down those uprisings with force.  As long as Bahrain’s Sunni government refuses to make any concessions to its Shi’ite opposition, it is likely that the number of protesters killed and arrested will continue to rise.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Police Fire Tear Gas at Bahrain Protesters — 8 September 2012

BBC — Bahrain Protesters Clash With Police in Manama — 7 September 2012

Reuters — Bahrain Police Fire Tear Gas at Banned Anti-Government Protest — 7 September 2012

Amnest International — Bahrain Must Free Prisoners of Conscience After Outrageous Verdict — 4 September 2012

Impunity Watch — Thousands Gather in Bahrain’s First Authorized Protest Since June — 3 September 2012