“The Magnitsky Files” to be Screened at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Monaco Marking its European Premiere

Press Release

4 July 2012 – “The Magnitsky Files,” an 18-minute documentary showcasing the links between the Russian government and organised crime, will be premiered at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Monaco on Thursday, 5 June 2012 at 12:30 pm.

The event entitled “Rule of Law and the Sergei Magnitsky Case” has been organized by members of national parliaments from a number of OSCE countries including: Joao Soares (Portugal), Walburga Habsburg-Douglas (Sweden), Matteo Mecacci (Italy), Tony Lloyd (UK), Hedy Fry (Canada), Doris Barnett (Germany) and Oleh Bilorus (Ukraine).

The screening will be taking place at the OSCE Parliamentary assembly’s annual meeting in which 320 members of parliament from 56 OSCE countries will be gathering to discuss human rights, conflict prevention and promotion of democracy throughout OSCE countries.

After the screening of “The Magnitsky Files”, William Browder, who is running a global campaign for justice for his late lawyer, will be leading a discussion about the Magnitsky case and what it means for the rule of law in Russia. He will also be working with members of different national parliaments around the world to promote visa sanctions and asset freezes of Russian officials implicated in Magnitsky’s persecution.

“The Magnitsky Files” show how Russian officials who have approved massive fraudulent tax refunds have close links and travelled on numerous occasions jointly with criminals who perpetrated the thefts.

“It was the exposure of these crimes and illicit connections that cost Mr Magnitsky his life,” said U.S. Senator John McCain (http://www.scribd.com/doc/98337177/Untitled).

Subsequent investigations by independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta showed that serial thefts from the Treasury continued after Sergei Magnitsky’s death, and that over $800 million was stolen between 2006 and 2010. Officials implicated in the thefts and their families have been shown to have enriched themselves with $47 million in property and assets held both in Russia and abroad.

“The Magnitsky Files” is dedicated to late Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer for the Hermitage Fund, who uncovered and testified about the role of government officials in the serial thefts from the treasury, who then was arrested by the same officials he had testified against, and tortured to death in custody.

Over 250,000 Russians have already watched “Magnitsky Files” on Youtube since its release last Thursday (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaQP8IAITmk&feature=channel&list=UL). It has become one of the most frequent posts on Twitter, live Internet blogs and other social media. Russian state TV channels, however, have refused to show it or refer to it in any of their programming.

The U.S. premier of the “Magnitsky Files: Organized Crime Inside the Russian Government” documentary took place in Washington, D.C. last week with U.S. Senator John McCain and Freedom House’ David Kramer.

 

For further information please contact: 

Hermitage Capital

Phone:             +44 207 440 17 77
E-mail:             info@lawandorderinrussia.org
Website:          http://lawandorderinrussia.org
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Twitter:            @KatieFisher__
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ICTJ In Focus June 2012 Issue 14

ICTJ In Focus June 2012 Issue 14

Syrian Revolution Digest – Monday 9 July 2012

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

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

Assad’s War!

He’s fighting against Al-Qaed’a, the Americans, the Israelis, the French, the Saudis, Alien invaders, zombies, vampires, shadows, windmills, voices in his mind… Indeed, Assad is already a legend in his own mind, and had his madness not resulted in so much bloodshed, his life story might have made good material for a mediocre high-school comedy. But the bloodshed, and the fact that the fate of millions is at stake and that a country is coming undone… to describe his war as tragic will be the understatement of the century.

Monday July 09, 2012

Today’s Death toll: 82. The Breakdown: 23 in Deir Ezzor, 18 in Idlib, 8 in Aleppo, 8 in Hama, 7 in Daraa, 7 in Homs and 6 in Damascus Suburbs.

News

Op-Eds & Special Reports

Abrams says he hopes the US is doing more for the opposition than it is claiming publicly, if only for the role the US will want to play in a post-Assad Syria. “If it’s the Saudis and the Qataris giving money and guns to the opposition, then it’s the Saudis and Qataris who are going to have influence when that opposition is in power,” he says, “and the US won’t have the influence it could’ve had.”

Turkey remains widely admired in the Middle East, but the excitement at Erdogan’s tough talk against Israel that made him so popular in the Arab world a couple of years ago has cooled. And for all their military might and economic muscle, the Turks now find themselves with almost no leverage in Damascus.

Gen Tlas’s defection is therefore significant for two reasons. First, although his absence will not in itself be a major blow, the signal it sends to other non-Alawite elites could be important. Other generals may not have Gen Tlas’s wealth and connections; some might still be tempted to leave while they can.

Video Highlights

The pounding of Tal Kalakh, Homs Province http://youtu.be/a0PlBSi0l_Q Sounds of warhttp://youtu.be/mcZe5ubGJoQ The town nearby of Ghonto gets pounded as wellhttp://youtu.be/jyUFWndey_g , http://youtu.be/jSaSjVdmBTs ,http://youtu.be/MwjwSQ54QTc Homes catch fire http://youtu.be/C8xCemFkmgw Rastanis also pounded http://youtu.be/pGsAKWwpup4 Some martyrshttp://youtu.be/u46TwHm1ueU

And of course, the pounding of Old Homs continues: Jouret Al-Shayahhttp://youtu.be/TShYJ6dLGGM , http://youtu.be/5OJJ9AYCKMs ,http://youtu.be/wB204DT-Of4 , http://youtu.be/TtBgMZRJWYY ,http://youtu.be/s3Fii88vGJY Al–Qarabis http://youtu.be/ld_EQFGpZVQ Tanks venture inhttp://youtu.be/fzgc5pAnt1c BMPs and armored vehicles patrol and pound the neighborhood http://youtu.be/OVT6BG1s_IU , http://youtu.be/K_aSU0eDw7AKhaldiyeh http://youtu.be/rppu_-9VTzc , http://youtu.be/QoJEtXTWhkA

The pounding of Basr Al-Harir http://youtu.be/oEbxtI4dFpY ,http://youtu.be/IW32lNdk2js the farmland around the town has been minded by pro-Assad militias, which led to the death of these two workers when their tractor hit a minehttp://youtu.be/VLjyFRunxCM

The pounding of Na’eemah, Daraa Province http://youtu.be/kUERJx4dkwY The pounding of Daraa City http://youtu.be/8uas4pDEMKY The pounding of Bosra, Daraa Provincehttp://youtu.be/maJrQP504Mg The pounding of Khirbet Ghazalehhttp://youtu.be/idCBbROUojc

The pounding of Ariha, Idlib http://youtu.be/TdX-hq2z5uI The pounding leaves many dead lying in the streets http://youtu.be/IKTOYCA6lk8 Some of today’s martyrshttp://youtu.be/5yM9T2C9nfo , http://youtu.be/DGXuvflya8Q The woundedhttp://youtu.be/w8XrkuVAqn4 , http://youtu.be/d6JLXV1XDn4

The pounding of Eizaz, Aleppo Province http://youtu.be/uvv_OC_epgg

Two Shiite Protestors Shot and Killed by Saudi Authorities

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Two Shiite protesters, Akbar Al-Shakuri and Mohammed Al-Filfil, were shot and killed by police in the Saudi Arabian town of Qatif.  The police were sent to disperse those who gathered to protest the arrest of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqer Al-Nimr.

Protesters
Shiite protesters in Saudi Arabia march down a street hours after the arrest of Shiite cleric Nimr Baqer Al- Nimr. (Photo Courtesy of Al Bawaba)

A statement from an Interior Ministry spokesman, Major General Mansour Turki, said the deaths followed a protest in the village of Awamiya after the arrest of Nimr, but said that no clash occurred between protesters and police.

“Security authorities had been notified by a nearby medical center on the arrival of four individuals brought in by their relatives,” Turki told Reuters.  “Two of them were dead, the other two were slightly injured.  Competent authorities initiated investigations over the incident.”

The Awamiya protests followed earlier demonstrations held in Qatif, where at least six protestors were shot and killed after the city held the largest protest it has seen since November and December.

“In the aftermath of the arrest … a limited number of people have assembled in the town of Awamiya,” Turki said. “Gun shots have been overheard in random areas of the town. However, there was no security confrontation whatsoever.”

Hussain Al-Alk, a resident of Qatif and a staffer at the Adala Center for Human Rights, states that hundreds of protesters gathered in Qatif hours after Nimr was shot and arrested last Sunday.  Alk believed that Nimr was arrested because the government adhered to the demands of influential Sunnis to escalate its pressure on Shiite opposition.

“It seems that in the last month the government became too worried. The Sunnis have started saying, ‘Why when the Sunnis are talking against the government you are arresting him immediately, while Shias, you are not doing anything to him,'” said Alk.

Saudi officials stated that Nimr hurt his leg when authorities were chasing him.  Seen as a radical cleric by the government, Nimr was arrested because the Interior Ministry considered him an “instigator of sedition.”  The Ministry also said that he would be interrogated after he receivedtreatment for his injury.  The official Saudi press agency reported that Nimr was arrested after he and his followers exchanged fire with security forces and crashed into a police vehicle.

Nimr’s brother, Mohammed, stated that the cleric was arrested while driving from a farm to his house in Qatif.

“He had been wanted by the interior ministry for a couple of months because of his political views,” Mohammed said.  “In the past couple of months he has adopted a lot of Shiite issues and expressed his views on them, demanding their rights.”

Mohammed also said that the cleric was previously detained for several days in 2004 and 2006.

In a sermon delivered ten days ago, Nimr confidently stated that he would be arrested or killed, saying that he had only “heightened” the claims of his supporters.  Shiites in the Sunni-ruled kingdom say they struggle to get government jobs or university places, that their neighborhoods suffer from under-investment, and that their places of worship are often closed down.  The government denies charges of discrimination.

For further information, please see: 

Al Bawaba — Saudi Arabia: Two Shiites Killed During Clashes with Police — 9 July 2012

Al Jazeera — Saudi Protest Crackdown Leaves Two Dead — 9 July 2012

BBC News — Two Die During Saudi Arabia Protest at Shia Cleric Arrest — 9 July 2012

Rasid — Saudi Security Forces Kill Two Protesters in Qatif — 9 July 2012

Reuters — Saudi Arabia Says Two Killed after Cleric’s Arrest — 9 July 2012

Argentina’s Former Dictators Sentenced to Jail Time for Baby Thefts

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone, Argentina’s former dictators were sentenced on Thursday, August 6, to fifty years (Videla) and fifteen years (Bignone) in jail for masterminding a plan to steal the children of political opponents, kill their mothers, and send them to live and be raised by “good” military families.

Former Dictators, Bignone and Videla, Were Sentenced to 15 and 50 Years in Prison Respectively. (Photo Courtesy of The Telegraph)

The verdict last week was the conclusion of a trial that began in February 2011, during which hundreds of hours of testimony were heard proving that these kidnappings were a deliberate policy action carried out by the top leaders of Videla and Bignone’s regimes. British journalist and one of the main witnesses in the trial, Robert Cox, noted that “the kidnapping of newly born babies is the last crime that former members of the military regime are willing to admit. It’s like the Nazis, what they did was so terrible they could never admit it.”

Shortly after Videla’s regime came to an end and Argentina’s democracy was restored in 1983, a “Never Again” commission was created documenting thousands of crimes against humanity throughout the military regime. However, hardly any of these crimes were brought to court and prosecuted until the late Nestor Kirchner was elected to the presidency 20 years later.

While an estimated 30,000 people were killed under Videla and Bignone’s regimes, this trial was brought in order to establish the true identities of about 500 babies that were alleged to be stolen by the dictators. At the conclusion of the trial, the prosecution could prove that over 100 babies were stolen—some were born in captivity, while others were kidnapped with their families, and raised by other families linked to the dictatorship.

Spectators watched in anticipation and celebration as the verdicts were announced on large television screens outside the federal courthouse of Buenos Aires. Human rights activist Tati Almeida exclaimed, “This is an historic day. Today legal justice has been made real — never again the justice of one’s own hands.”

Today, 105 of these kidnapped children, now in their 30s, have undergone DNA tests and have been reunited with their families through the efforts of an organization called Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo that was created by the mothers of missing women whose infants were stolen.

As the effort to restore Argentina’s democracy continues, Juan Garcia, who was left at an orphanage after his father was murdered by a military guerrilla group, said, “We’ll continue this fight for justice.”

 

For further information, please see:

Belle News – Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone Found Guilty of Babies Theft in Argentina – 9 July 2012

The Guardian – Jorge Rafael Videla Convicted of Baby Thefts – 6 July 2012

The Telegraph – Former Argentine Dictators Found Guilty of Baby Thefts – 6 July 2012

Winnepeg Free Press – Argentina’s Dictators Guilty of Stealing Babies From Prisoners – 5 July 2012