ICTJ In Focus July 2012 Issue 22

ICTJ In Focus July 2012 Issue 22

Russian Parliament Defames Magnitsky Posthumously to Fight Magnitsky Act in Washington

Press Release
Hermitage Capital

11 July 2012 – In an effort by Russian Federation Council members visiting Washington to fight against Magnitsky sanctions, the group handed a dossier to US Senators defaming Sergei Magnitsky posthumously and fully contradicting the conclusions of the Russian President’s Human Rights Council report on the Magnitsky case.

In their report, members of the Federation Council claimed that Magnitsky never discovered the theft of $230 million of taxes from the government. This is contradicted by four of his testimonies before and after his arrest (http://russian-untouchables.com/eng/testimonies) as well as President Medvedev’s own Human Rights Council report which referred to a state-sanctioned cover up of the theft (http://russian-untouchables.com/eng/civil-right-council).

The Russian Federation Council’s report also claimed that the wounds on Magnitsky’s body which were inflicted on the night he died, had nothing to do with his death on November 16th, 2009. This was contradicted by the President’s Human Rights Council and the Moscow Public Oversight Commission also which conducted an independent investigation into Magnitsky’s detention.

They further claimed that Magnitsky’s arrest was “legal” in spite of the fact that he was arrested by the very same officers who he had testified against on 5 June 2008 and 7 October 2008 (http://russian-untouchables.com/rus/docs/D423.pdf).

Finally, and most cynically, they claim that Magnitsky was a “drunk” and “out of shape.” They say these conditions led to his death. This was not true and contradicted by his widely known reputation as one of the most respected professionals in Moscow.

“In addition to prosecuting Magnitsky posthumously, these representatives of the Putin regime now want to defame him posthumously. Their moral compass is completely backward if they think this is going to sway the people who want justice for Sergei Magnitsky,” said a Hermitage Capital representative.

 

For further information please contact:

Hermitage Capital

Phone:             +44 207 440 17 77
E-mail:             info@lawandorderinrussia.org
Website:          http://lawandorderinrussia.org
Facebook:        http://on.fb.me/hvIuVI
Twitter:            @KatieFisher__
Livejournal:     http://hermitagecap.livejournal.com/

Syrian Revolution Digest – Tuesday 10 July 2012

THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

A Bloody Bit of History Repeating!

There is nothing about the situation in Syria: a dictator and his inner circle manipulating sectarian sentiments pitting few social groups against others, perpetrating massacres and spreading mayhem, all in order to remain in power… The reality is: we’ve seen this scenario playing out many times before. The indifference of international leaders and their confusion have always been part of the plot as well. But that’s exactly what makes this situation so tragic. The suffering is also real.

Tuesday July 10, 2012

Today’s Death toll:  71. The Breakdown: 19 in Deir Ezzor, 12 in Damascus (11 in Suburbs, 1 in City), 11 in Aleppo, 8 in Homs, 7 in Daraa, 7 in Idlib, 3 in Hama  and 1 in Lattakia.

News

Op-Eds & Special Reports

A country at war with itself. Bombs and civilian massacres. Yet, in Damascus, the music plays on.

Some 10,000 lives have been lost during the Syrian government’s vicious crackdown on protesters, according to the United Nations, and the violence is threatening to spread to neighboring countries.  Yet in the capital of Damascus, the music plays on for the nation’s elite. To the Christians, Alawites, and secular Sunnis, President Bashar Assad has guaranteed stability in the country.

“In general, we want to see all sanctions tightened and strengthened,” said Ammar Abdulhamid, a political activist based in Washington. “But the issue of diesel is complicated, as our own people could get hurt.” More on the Venezuela Connection in CNN’s: Venezuelan diesel shipments to Syria fuel controversy

Not one or two or three or four or five towns are getting pounded every day, but dozens. Dozens of towns and suburbs and villages across Syria are getting shelled indiscriminately using heavy artillery, tanks and helicopter gunships. The whole thing is happening in full light of day. Why is this permissible? What happened to promises of “never again?”

Video Highlights

Members of the FSA manage to capture one of Assad’s security chiefs Brig. Gen. Munir Shlaibeh, an Alawite from the town of Jableh. He was responsible for running an anti-terrorism unit based in the Midan District in Damascus, and is known for involvement in the Seydnaya Prison Massacre in July of 2008. He says “there are no terrorists” and asserts that his unit did not kill anyone. He was obviously physically abused. He keeps shuffling around, which might suggest that he was beaten on the soles of his feet. He was forced to chant “Curse your soul Hafiz.” He was asked if he planned to defect and join the FSA, he replied “they will execute my children.” He insists though that “President Bashar has no knowledge of what’s happening.” He says he thinks the Salafi Sheikh Adnan Arour, popular among Islamist protesters, to be a “moderate” cleric and says that he wishes the FSA will treat him fairly.  http://youtu.be/H9RSFM0xc7Y This is a leaked video showing the aftermath of the Seydnaya Massacre, we can see Brig. Gen. Shlaibeh appearing in civvies, as is the habit of security chiefs, at the end of the clip (1:16) http://youtu.be/o6x6r9WqdIE

The town of Hreitan, Aleppo Province, gets pounded again http://youtu.be/JXeLUYHQaykdespite the presence of UN monitors http://youtu.be/YL5UuMxw9lo Local resistance provides security http://youtu.be/-KBWK3xYEsI Helicopter gunships flies over the town at low altitude observing the observers http://youtu.be/DwCbnuq5HaQ UN monitors inspect damage and talk to locals http://youtu.be/ghmoECYbfkU

Nearby Eizaz is pounded with tanks http://youtu.be/Pzd13ZtgwEg Hayan is also poundedhttp://youtu.be/JNbwrnzdqME , http://youtu.be/D5gzATzMMBg ,http://youtu.be/_7B4g1Se0_8 , http://youtu.be/0Unwo03GYWU In nearby Anadan, local fighters take control of a tank http://youtu.be/WaA_BsNcwIg

Nearby Houla is pounded as well http://youtu.be/wyW91zuv8tM Talbisseh is pounded again http://youtu.be/kAhE_C4TOdE , http://youtu.be/XumgM5Cu0g4

As for Homs City, you can just taste the hate driving the nonstop pounding of the Old Homs:Jouret Al-Shayah http://youtu.be/z-ipsXLrLHs , http://youtu.be/howUqDMp9Vk ,http://youtu.be/fpW56ZOQ5oQ , http://youtu.be/zvu-d23G4dM ,http://youtu.be/YA0DIHNyKd8 Hamidiyeh http://youtu.be/TtncEjDJ-70

Khan Shaikhoon, Idlib Province: local resistance bring down a chopperhttp://youtu.be/_hbBA22XnNA

Towns and communities in Daraa Province continue to heavy pounded including by helicopter gunships as is the case in Jizah http://youtu.be/FfnrPpMcFSE We can hear local activists laugh as they film this scene showing missiles leaving the chopperhttp://youtu.be/A0Y4EkHyS58 Obviously, the attempt to terrorize is not successful, but the havoc and the deaths wrought are all too real.

In Hama, the villages along Jabal Shahshabo continue to be poundedhttp://youtu.be/LiDdt1B449I , http://youtu.be/VXLC9STWCz8

In Damascus Suburbs, pro-Assad militias continue to perpetrate their massacres in Eastern Ghoutah region – the strip of forest and farmlands to the East of Damascus City. The latest massacre took place in Deir Al-Asafeer http://youtu.be/PF2-cJWSJpQ Nearby Harastais pounded http://youtu.be/tQHBK1m_6qU

In Lattakia Province, local fighters are trying to defend against the ethnic cleansing of the last remaining Sunni enclaves in the mountain facing the coasts where the population is made up of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen. On July 8, local fighters killed 20 pro-Assad militias in an ambush http://youtu.be/H9RSFM0xc7Y

Woman’s Public Execution Sparks Protest

By Mark McMurray
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

KABUL, Afghanistan— On Wednesday, over one hundred people took to the streets of Kabul to protest the execution of a 22-year-old-woman.

An Afghan woman protests in Kabul. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

Najiba, the woman executed last month, was accused of adultery in a village in Parwan province, sixty miles north of Kabul.  Caught on tape, the execution has been broadcast by news outlets across the world.  The horrific video shows a woman being shot multiple times while men who gathered to watch the murder cheer.  Protestors and the international community, reacting to the footage, have called for the government of Afghanistan to do more to protect the rights of women.  In response to mounting pressure regarding the incident, government officials blamed the killing on the Taliban.  The group has denied the killing, saying it would have conducted the execution according to proper sharia (Islamic) law.

Wednesday’s march saw protestors make their way from the ministry responsible for women’s affairs to the UN headquarters in Kabul while chanting “We want justice!”  The group, which consisted mainly of women, included mothers with babies and children in school uniforms further demanding “Death to the men who killed our sister!”

Sinkai Karokhail, a member of parliament who marched with the protestors, told AFP, “The execution of the woman by the Taliban was a crime … the government must do everything to bring the culprits to justice.”

With a recent pledge of $16 billion for development from Tokyo donors due to be paid out over the next four years, the news of the execution raises questions about the proper role of aid within Afghanistan.  Wazhma Frogh, a leading women’s rights activist in Afghanistan, said at the protest, “We are grateful for the aid money, but we want it to be used to bring women justice and peace, the Afghan government needs to be held accountable.”

Afghan women are starting to feel more left out of society, as years of war and cautious donors threaten to roll back the gains women have made in the country following the downfall of the Taliban.  Additionally, with foreign troops set to leave by the end of 2014, there is a real concern about the advancement of women’s rights in the country currently ranked as the world’s worst place to be a woman, according to a major global poll last year.

For further information, please see:

Afghanistan Times – Afghans Protest Recent Public Killing of Woman – 11 July 2012

Reuters – Afghan Women Protest for Rights After Public Execution – 11 July 2012

Telegraph – Afghan Women Protest Over Woman’s Public Execution – 11 July 2012

VOA – Afghan Activists Protest Woman’s Public Execution – 11 July 2012