Total Death Toll (March 18, 2011 — May 29, 2012): 14,093
Children: 1,012 (777 males and 235 females)
Women: 865
Death Under Torture: 545
Military Personnel: 1,148
Victims by the Various Regions:
Homs: 5,144
Idleb: 2,245
Hama: 1,942
Daraa: 1,446
Rural Damascus: 1,086
Deir Ezzor: 558
Damascus: 495
Aleppo: 479
Latakia: 325
Al-Hasaka: 103
Tartous: 70
Raqqa: 59
Qunaitera: 50
Swuaida: 14
For the full report, please see:
Syrian Network for Human Rights — Syrian Revolution Victim Summary — 2 June 2012
By Melike Ince
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel has recently found itself at the center of an ironic controversy amidst this week’s release of an annual US human rights report. It claims that Israel is denying basic public services to African asylum-seekers.
It has become common practice for Africans escaping persecution to illegally enter Israel through Egypt. While those with official refugee status are provided with health care and work permits, asylum-seekers do not receive either of these services despite their great need for them. The report also mentions that Israeli officials occasionally refer to asylum-seekers as “infiltrators” and associate them with “the rise in crime, disease and terrorism.” Right wing parties have also been known to compare the immigrants’ existence to a cancer in the body of Israel.
Angry Israeli citizens took to the streets in protests and riots this week, attacking Africans and shattering African-run shops to express their frustration over the situation. Many attribute the increased violence in southern Tel Aviv to the Africans. Locals have also accused the immigrants of decreasing employment among nationals and argue that there are insufficient economic resources to provide for the 60,000 illegals currently in Israel. Africans for many years considered Israel to be peaceful and tolerant but now find themselves living in fear.
“I cannot live this way. I’m afraid for my life,” said Amene Tekele Haymanot, an illegal immigrant seeking refugee status.
In an effort to calm the tense population, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the violence but promised “the infiltration problem must be resolved and we will resolve it.” The government hopes that the security barrier that is currently under construction near the Egyptian border will hinder illegal entry. If it succeeds in doing so, Israel plans to begin the deportation process soon after its completion
Those sympathetic to the Africans’ plight believe that race is playing a role in the conflict, and the irony of the situation is not lost on them. It was not long ago that those of Jewish ancestry were escaping their own persecution in Europe and settling in Israel. In the past year, Israel has received over 4,000 applications for asylum but has approved just one. Though it is considering deportation as one potential solution, international law will likely render Israel unable to send any of the illegals back to their home countries due to the risks of persecution there.
For further information, please see:
CNN News – Why Did Anti-immigration Sentiment Boil Over in Israel? – 31 May 2012
Jerusalem Post – Tel Aviv: Clashes, Arrests at Anti-African Demo – 30 May 2012
Al Jazeera – Should Israel be Responsible for Immigrants? – 29 May 2012
BBC News – Israel Denies African Migrants’ Rights, Says US – 25 May 2012
by Stuart Smith
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania
JAKARTA, Indonesia — On May 21, 2012, a crowd of local Muslims and police surrounded members of the Congregation of Batak Protestant Churches Filadelfia parish, a Lutheran congregation based in Bekasi, Indonesia, just outside Jakarta, preventing them from attending Sunday worship, according to NPR. The congregation was headed to pray in an empty lot because they had been barred from building a church there by the local mayor’s “zero church” policy. It was the second confrontation in less than a week on the congregation by local Muslims, reported the Jakarta Post.
Displaying signs stating that Muslims are prepared to wage Jihad against the congregation, the crowd demanded the congregation return to their homes. According to local Muslim resident Irwan Taufik, the Christians are responsible for the confrontation. “The Christians,” he said, “should have gathered the community leaders and clerics together and asked us, ‘Can we worship and build a church here?’ But if in fact the people are not willing and reject the request, then why must they insist?”
Yet, the congregation refused to be deterred and as tensions mounted, truckloads of riot police arrived, but did not separate the Christians and Muslims. Reverend Palti Panjaitan, leader of the Filadelfia congregation, stated, “If my brothers are the killing type, then I am ready to be killed. That’s it! Tell the police I am ready to be killed right here. If it’s a riot you’re worried about, then arrest the rioters, not me.”
Finally, only after police informed the congregation that their safety can no longer be guaranteed were the Christians forced to return home.
The confrontation, Panjaitan believes, was the result of efforts by the militant Islamic Defenders Front, which, police records indicate, was involved in 34 instances of violence and destruction in the past two years, to incite conflict between the local Muslims and Christians. The previous week, bowing to pressure from the Front, authorities denied Lady Gaga a permit to perform in Jakarta.
According to the Jakarta Globe, the increasing religious intolerance by hardline Islamist throughout Indonesia, and especially in Bekasi, is deeply troubling to human rights groups, including the Asian Human Rights Commission. “There’s now a religious intolerance case almost every day in Indonesia,” said Bonar Naipospos, a Setara Institute researcher, in an interview with BBC News. “There’s been a marked increase in cases over the last decade. The government doesn’t do anything about it because it is worried about losing the Muslim vote. Even though the majority of Indonesian Muslims are moderate- they are the silent majority. If we don’t fix this we could go from being a moderate country to one dominated by extremists.”
Panjaitan agreed. “The majority of the Muslims here are tolerant, but they are easily influenced by the intolerant,” he said. “Actually, tolerant people in Indonesia are in the majority, but they are passive. I wish they would be more active and say ‘no’ to the intolerance which is now increasing in Bekasi.”
However, for now, the Filadelfia congregation holds their Sunday worship, complete with prayer, singing and protesting, in downtown Jakarta, right across the street from the presidential palace.
For further information, please visit:
BBC News — Is Indonesia Becoming Less Tolerant? — 28 May 2012
Asian Human Rights Commission — INDONESIA: Judgement by the Supreme Court upholding freedom of religion disregarded by police and Bekasi local authorities — 25 May 2012
NPR — Hard-Line Muslims Test Indonesia’s Tolerance — 24 May 2012
Jakarta Globe — Human Rights Group Calls on Bekasi District Chief to Protect Filadelfia Church — 21 May 2012
Jakarta Post — HKBP Filadelfia church congregation harassed- again — 21 May 2012