Thursday, February 6, 2014
Israel destroying emergency shelters of home demolition victims, says Red Cross
By Ali Abunimah
Palestinian victims of an Israeli home demolition in al-Mayta, Jordan Valley in January 2013.
(Keren Manor/ ActiveStills)
"The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has suspended distribution of tents and shelter materials to Palestinian victims of Israeli home demolitions in the occupied West Bank’s Jordan Valley because Israeli occupation forces are habitually destroying or confiscating them.
Jon Martin Larsen, ICRC spokesperson for Israel and the occupied territories, told The Electronic Intifada by telephone that his organization would continue to provide emergency supplies including hygiene kits, kitchen sets and mattresses to those made homeless by Israel.
“The difference now is that we will not be able to distribute shelter materials such as tents to people affected by house demolitions in the Jordan Valley and that is because we see a pattern of obstacles and confiscations since early 2013 of these tents and materials,” Larsen explained.
Larsen said that Israeli authorities were responsible for the confiscations and destruction. He added that ICRC had responded to 16 incidents of home demolitions involving some 70 households since the beginning of 2013.
Israeli authorities had confiscated or destroyed the emergency housing materials of more than 30 of those households, affecting about 200 persons, the ICRC spokesperson said.
“We are in constant dialogue with Israeli authorities on this and other matters related to the occupier’s responsibility,” Larsen continued.
“Under international humanitarian law it is the occupier’s responsibility to facilitate rapid and unimpeded assistance to people in need. It is also prohibited under international humanitarian law to confiscate and destroy private property.”
Larsen said that the Palestinian Red Crescent had announced that it would continue to provide emergency shelter materials to Palestinian victims of Israeli home demolitions.
He said he hoped that ICRC could resume distributing tents as soon as possible.
Ongoing demolitions
As Patrick O. Strickland reported for The Electronic Intifada this week, Palestinians have responded to Israel’s takeover of the Jordan Valley by retaking the forcibly depopulated village of Ein Hijleh.
In 2013 alone, more than 1,000 persons were displaced in eastern occupied Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank by Israeli demolitions and evictions, according to the UN.
The demolitions have continued into 2014.
Thousands of Israeli settlers live in illegal colonies in the Jordan Valley, a region Israel has announced it wants to keep its occupation forces in even under a “peace” agreement with the Palestinian Authority."
“No One is Safe”
GET THE REPORT
- Summary
- Methodology
- I. Background
- II. Illegal Arrests and Detentions of Women
- III. Torture and Sexual Abuse in Interrogations
- IV. Substandard Conditions in Women’s Prisons
- V. Government Responses to Allegations of Abuse
- VI. Shortcomings of the Legal System
- VII. International Legal Protections for Detainees
- Recommendations
- Acknowledgments
Iraq: Security Forces Abusing Women in Detention
Torture Allegations Underscore Urgent Need for Criminal Justice Reform
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
(Baghdad) – Iraqi authorities are detaining thousands of Iraqi women illegally and subjecting many to torture and ill-treatment, including the threat of sexual abuse. Iraq’s weak judiciary, plagued by corruption, frequently bases convictions on coerced confessions, and trial proceedings fall far short of international standards. Many women were detained for months or even years without charge before seeing a judge.
The 105-page report, “‘No One Is Safe’: Abuses of Women in Iraq’s Criminal Justice System,”documents abuses of women in detention based on interviews with women and girls, Sunni and Shia, in prison; their families and lawyers; and medical service providers in the prisons at a time of escalating violence involving security forces and armed groups. Human Rights Watch also reviewed court documents and extensive information received in meetings with Iraqi authorities including Justice, Interior, Defense, and Human Rights ministry officials, and two deputy prime ministers.
“Iraqi security forces and officials act as if brutally abusing women will make the country safer,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “In fact, these women and their relatives have told us that as long as security forces abuse people with impunity, we can only expect security conditions to worsen.”
The 105-page report, “‘No One Is Safe’: Abuses of Women in Iraq’s Criminal Justice System,”documents abuses of women in detention based on interviews with women and girls, Sunni and Shia, in prison; their families and lawyers; and medical service providers in the prisons at a time of escalating violence involving security forces and armed groups. Human Rights Watch also reviewed court documents and extensive information received in meetings with Iraqi authorities including Justice, Interior, Defense, and Human Rights ministry officials, and two deputy prime ministers.
“Iraqi security forces and officials act as if brutally abusing women will make the country safer,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “In fact, these women and their relatives have told us that as long as security forces abuse people with impunity, we can only expect security conditions to worsen.”
In January 2013, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki promised to reform the criminal justice system, beginning with releasing detained women who had judicial orders of release. A year later, the brutal tactics of security forces remain essentially the same and hundreds of women remain in detention illegally.
As fighting raged between a multitude of Sunni insurgent groups and government security forces in Anbar province in January 2014, Anbar residents expressed their frustration to Human Rights Watch over Maliki’s failure to carry out promised reforms. Residents’ lack of trust in security forces, caused by their policy of attacking residents in Sunni areas, including the abuses of women Human Rights Watch documented, is undermining the government’s military efforts against Al-Qaeda in Anbar, they said.
Many of the 27 women who spoke with Human Rights Watch described being beaten, kicked, slapped, hung upside-down and beaten on their feet (falaqa), given electric shocks, and raped or threatened with sexual assault by security forces during their interrogation. They said security forces questioned them about their male relatives’ activities rather than crimes in which they themselves were implicated. Security forces forced them to sign statements, many with fingerprints, which they were not allowed to read and that they later repudiated in court, they said.
One woman entered her meeting with Human Rights Watch in Iraq’s death row facility in Baghdad’s Kadhimiyya neighborhood on crutches. She said nine days of beatings, electric shocks, and falaqa in March 2012 had left her permanently disabled. The split nose, back scars, and burns on her breast that Human Rights Watch observed were consistent with the abuse she alleged. She was executed in September 2013, seven months after Human Rights Watch interviewed her, despite lower court rulings that dismissed charges against her following a medical report that supported her alleged torture.
Human Rights Watch found that Iraqi security forces regularly arrest women illegally and commit other due process violations against women at every stage of the justice system. Women are subjected to threats of, or actual, sexual assault, sometimes in front of husbands, brothers, and children. Failure by the courts to investigate allegations of abuse and hold the abusers responsible encourages the police to falsify confessions and use torture, Human Rights Watch said.
The vast majority of the more than 4,200 women detained in Interior and Defense ministry facilities are Sunni, but the abuses Human Rights Watch documents affect women of all sects and classes throughout Iraqi society.
Both men and women suffer from the severe flaws of the criminal justice system. But women suffer a double burden due to their second-class status in Iraqi society. Human Rights Watch found that women are frequently targeted not only for crimes they themselves are said to have committed, but to harass male family or members of their communities. Once they have been detained, and even if they are released unharmed, women are frequently stigmatized by their family or community, who perceive them to have been dishonored.
Iraq’s broken criminal justice system fails to achieve justice for victims either of security force abuses or of criminal attacks by armed groups, Human Rights Watch said. Arrests and convictions Human Rights Watch documented appeared often to have been predicated on information provided by secret informants and confessions coerced under torture.
“We don’t know who we fear more, Al-Qaeda or SWAT,” said one Fallujah resident, referring to the special forces unit that carries out counterterrorism operations. “Why would we help them fight Al-Qaeda when they’ll just come for us as soon as they’re done with them?”
Human Rights Watch reviewed a video in which a man representing himself as a leader of Al-Qaeda asks a crowd of onlookers in Ramadi, “What are we supposed to do when the army is raping our women? What are we supposed to do when they’re imprisoning our women and children?” Peaceful protesters posed these same questions to Iraqi authorities in mass demonstrations that began over a year ago, but Maliki’s promises to address these issues remain unfulfilled.
Women detainees, their families, and lawyers told Human Rights Watch that security forces conduct random and mass arrests of women that amount to collective punishment for alleged terrorist activities by male family members. Authorities have exploited vague provisions in the Anti-Terrorism Law of 2005 to settle personal or political scores – detaining, charging, and trying women based on their association to a particular individual, tribe, or sect, Human Rights Watch said.
In the vast majority of cases Human Rights Watch examined, women had no access to a lawyer before or during their interrogation, contrary to Iraqi law when security forces presented them with statements to sign, or at trial, either because they could not afford one or because lawyers feared taking on politically sensitive cases.
In every case Human Rights Watch documented in which women told the investigating or trial judge about abuse, the judges did not open an inquiry. Some dismissed the allegations, saying that they observed no marks on the defendant’s body or that the woman should have made the allegations earlier.
Iraqi authorities should acknowledge the prevalence of abuse of female detainees, promptly investigate allegations of torture and ill-treatment, prosecute guards and interrogators responsible for abuse, and disallow coerced confessions, Human Rights Watch said. They should make judicial and security sector reform an urgent priority as a prerequisite for stemming violence that increasingly threatens the country’s stability.
“The abuses of women we documented are in many ways at the heart of the current crisis in Iraq,” Stork said. “These abuses have caused a deep-seated anger and lack of trust between Iraq’s diverse communities and security forces, and all Iraqis are paying the price.”
As fighting raged between a multitude of Sunni insurgent groups and government security forces in Anbar province in January 2014, Anbar residents expressed their frustration to Human Rights Watch over Maliki’s failure to carry out promised reforms. Residents’ lack of trust in security forces, caused by their policy of attacking residents in Sunni areas, including the abuses of women Human Rights Watch documented, is undermining the government’s military efforts against Al-Qaeda in Anbar, they said.
Many of the 27 women who spoke with Human Rights Watch described being beaten, kicked, slapped, hung upside-down and beaten on their feet (falaqa), given electric shocks, and raped or threatened with sexual assault by security forces during their interrogation. They said security forces questioned them about their male relatives’ activities rather than crimes in which they themselves were implicated. Security forces forced them to sign statements, many with fingerprints, which they were not allowed to read and that they later repudiated in court, they said.
One woman entered her meeting with Human Rights Watch in Iraq’s death row facility in Baghdad’s Kadhimiyya neighborhood on crutches. She said nine days of beatings, electric shocks, and falaqa in March 2012 had left her permanently disabled. The split nose, back scars, and burns on her breast that Human Rights Watch observed were consistent with the abuse she alleged. She was executed in September 2013, seven months after Human Rights Watch interviewed her, despite lower court rulings that dismissed charges against her following a medical report that supported her alleged torture.
Human Rights Watch found that Iraqi security forces regularly arrest women illegally and commit other due process violations against women at every stage of the justice system. Women are subjected to threats of, or actual, sexual assault, sometimes in front of husbands, brothers, and children. Failure by the courts to investigate allegations of abuse and hold the abusers responsible encourages the police to falsify confessions and use torture, Human Rights Watch said.
The vast majority of the more than 4,200 women detained in Interior and Defense ministry facilities are Sunni, but the abuses Human Rights Watch documents affect women of all sects and classes throughout Iraqi society.
Both men and women suffer from the severe flaws of the criminal justice system. But women suffer a double burden due to their second-class status in Iraqi society. Human Rights Watch found that women are frequently targeted not only for crimes they themselves are said to have committed, but to harass male family or members of their communities. Once they have been detained, and even if they are released unharmed, women are frequently stigmatized by their family or community, who perceive them to have been dishonored.
Iraq’s broken criminal justice system fails to achieve justice for victims either of security force abuses or of criminal attacks by armed groups, Human Rights Watch said. Arrests and convictions Human Rights Watch documented appeared often to have been predicated on information provided by secret informants and confessions coerced under torture.
“We don’t know who we fear more, Al-Qaeda or SWAT,” said one Fallujah resident, referring to the special forces unit that carries out counterterrorism operations. “Why would we help them fight Al-Qaeda when they’ll just come for us as soon as they’re done with them?”
Human Rights Watch reviewed a video in which a man representing himself as a leader of Al-Qaeda asks a crowd of onlookers in Ramadi, “What are we supposed to do when the army is raping our women? What are we supposed to do when they’re imprisoning our women and children?” Peaceful protesters posed these same questions to Iraqi authorities in mass demonstrations that began over a year ago, but Maliki’s promises to address these issues remain unfulfilled.
Women detainees, their families, and lawyers told Human Rights Watch that security forces conduct random and mass arrests of women that amount to collective punishment for alleged terrorist activities by male family members. Authorities have exploited vague provisions in the Anti-Terrorism Law of 2005 to settle personal or political scores – detaining, charging, and trying women based on their association to a particular individual, tribe, or sect, Human Rights Watch said.
In the vast majority of cases Human Rights Watch examined, women had no access to a lawyer before or during their interrogation, contrary to Iraqi law when security forces presented them with statements to sign, or at trial, either because they could not afford one or because lawyers feared taking on politically sensitive cases.
In every case Human Rights Watch documented in which women told the investigating or trial judge about abuse, the judges did not open an inquiry. Some dismissed the allegations, saying that they observed no marks on the defendant’s body or that the woman should have made the allegations earlier.
Iraqi authorities should acknowledge the prevalence of abuse of female detainees, promptly investigate allegations of torture and ill-treatment, prosecute guards and interrogators responsible for abuse, and disallow coerced confessions, Human Rights Watch said. They should make judicial and security sector reform an urgent priority as a prerequisite for stemming violence that increasingly threatens the country’s stability.
“The abuses of women we documented are in many ways at the heart of the current crisis in Iraq,” Stork said. “These abuses have caused a deep-seated anger and lack of trust between Iraq’s diverse communities and security forces, and all Iraqis are paying the price.”
Real News Video: Scarlett Johansson Controversy Highlights Growing Boycott Israel Movement
Shir Hever: From John Kerry's recent boycott remarks to Oxfam dropping actress Scarlet Johansson over her support for West Bank-operated Sodastream, the Boycott, Divest and Sanction Movement continues to build solidarity with the Palestinian cause
Syrian military drop devastating 'barrel bombs' on city
Footage released online puports to show Syrian military helicopters dropping improvised "barrel bombs" on Darayya in south Damascus during the Geneva II peace summit
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
‘The walls of the cell were smeared with blood’ – third anniversary of Egypt’s uprising marred by police brutality
"As celebrations got underway for the third anniversary of Egypt’s uprising against the rule of Hosni Mubarak, elsewhere across the country security forces also sought to prevent anti-government gatherings, breaking-up marches and rounding up hundreds of protesters and bystanders.
The scale of arrests was staggering. More than 1,000 people were arrested in a single day according to the Interior Ministry. At least 64 people were killed and hundreds injured in the violence that broke out as security forces tried to clear the protests.
Eyewitnesses and former detainees have described to Amnesty International the beatings and ill-treatment they suffered at the hands of the security forces on 25 January.
Beatings in detention
One protester in Cairo told how demonstrators, including girls and women, were beaten upon arrest after security forces fired live rounds in the air. They were then shoved inside a microbus to be driven to a nearby police station where further beatings followed.
“I noticed that the walls of the cell were smeared with blood….I was beaten so hard that I was thrown from one side of the room to the other. I was slapped on my face, beaten on my head and cursed for criticizing the police and army...One of the girls told me later that the officer took off his shoes and beat her all over her body and on her face with them,” the released protester said.
At the police station the protester said the arrested men were blindfolded and beaten all over their bodies and on their faces. Several detainees, including children, were beaten so badly they were unable to walk. One man was bleeding from the head. Another detainee’s clothes were ripped to shreds.
Despite being found carrying banners and flyers inscribed with slogans against both the Muslim Brotherhood and the army, the protester has been accused of belonging to a banned group – a charge faced by many perceived supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Others told Amnesty International that they had witnessed detainees being given electric shocks.
It was not only adults who found themselves targeted by the security forces that day. For 15-year-old Samar – not her real name- the day of the third anniversary rapidly evolved into a nightmare. She was seized in downtown Cairo by a pro-government group, including women, who beat and dragged her along the ground ripping her clothes, before handing her to the police. The police accused her of being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood or the 6 April Youth Movement, before letting her go.
But her ordeal was not over yet. Shortly afterwards she was stopped again by two soldiers, who detained her because they found a gas mask and a first aid kit when they searched her bag.
She said she was taken to a military building and held alongside male detainees in an outdoor space.
“They made the men strip down to their underwear, blindfolded them, forced them to kneel and then used a sort of electric black taser to shock them on the shoulders and backs,” she said.
Samar was held there for two days before being released.
Lawyers complained to Amnesty International that public prosecutors had also refused to refer detainees to the forensics department for further examinations alleging that their injuries were “minor”.
Access to lawyers
Several lawyers also told Amnesty International that they had been denied access to a number of detention facilities including a Central Security Forces (CSF) Camp on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road.
Others said that they were intimidated by security forces and even threatened at gunpoint. Those who managed to gain access, including to the Tora CSF Camp, where at least 228 detainees were held, confirmed that they had seen several detainees with visible bruises on their faces and other parts of the body. Lawyers also said that by the time they were allowed in the camp most investigations had already taken place in their absence.
Amr Imam, a lawyer with the Front to Defend Egypt Protesters and the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre, was threatened at gunpoint by a man in a black uniform when he asked to see a group of detainees being held at Maadi Police Station, he told Amnesty International. He was struck in the chest with a rifle-butt. When he protested the man raised his machine gun and pointed it at him. Other members of the security forces followed suit. They threatened to shoot after counting to 10 if he did not leave.
Many detainees were also interrogated inside police stations and riot police [CSF] camps without access to lawyers – a clear violation of Egyptian and international law.
Amnesty International fears that many of the men, women and children arrested were merely exercising their right to freedom of expression and assembly or were bystanders.
Among those arrested are individuals sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood, members of the 6 April Youth Movement, as well as independent activists. As in previous cases in the aftermath of Mohamed Morsi’s removal they face a long list of identical charges ranging from murder to hampering traffic. No material evidence is presented by the public prosecution to link individual suspects to specific crimes and little effort is made to establish individual criminal responsibility.
One protester told Amnesty International that he was only freed after he declared his support for the Minister of Defence, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Three years ago many of those who took to the streets during the Egyptian uprising did so to express their anger at police abuse and brutality which had become routine in Mubarak’s Egypt.
Today the space for dissent and legitimate protests is rapidly disappearing.
While a handful of those arrested on 25 January this year have been released on bail, the vast majority remain in detention pending investigations.
As the scope of repression across the country continues to expand unabated, the hopes of freedom and justice are becoming more elusive. Questions also remain about how the upcoming presidential and legislative elections will proceed in a climate where differences of opinion are not tolerated."
OP-ED: Egypt’s Revolution Teeters as Sisi Seeks the Presidency
- Abdul Fattah al-Sisi is set to run for president and is expected to win handily. The ruling junta and the interim government have taken several steps to make this happen.
Interim President Adly Mansour recently promoted Sisi to Field Marshal, the highest rank in the Egyptian military, despite his lack of military combat. Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) followed Mansour’s action by giving the newly minted Field Marshal a “mandate” to run for president in response to the “desire of the masses.” Sisi’s response: It was his “duty” and an “obligation” to do so.
The Field Marshal is hoping the Egyptian “Street,” which rejected Nasser’s resignation after the disastrous defeat of the 1967 war, would crown him as another modern-day Pharaoh of Egypt.
To guarantee his victory at the polls and to shield him from parliamentary oversight, Mansour altered the so-called road map to allow for the presidential election to precede the parliamentary poll. Not to be outdone, Interim Prime Minister Biblawi announced a reshuffle of his cabinet, including the ministry of defence currently headed by Field Marshal Sisi.
Sisi’s high stakes political game comes barely 18 months after former President Morsi appointed him minister of defence and despite his previous statements that the military should shun politics and return to the barracks. While he was publicly declaring allegiance to Morsi and civilian control, he proceeded to conspire against the freely elected leadership and torpedo civilian rule.
Once Sisi “retires” from the military and the cabinet, he would be free to seek the presidency as a “civilian” person. He would then present himself to the Egyptian masses as the “Savior” and “Indispensable Man”—much like other military-turned-civilian dictators who preceded him. He seems to forget that shedding the military uniform and donning a business suit just doesn’t cut it anymore. The era of military dictatorships has passed.
The recent announcement by the two potential challengers Abdul Min’im Abu al-Futuh and Hamadayn Sabahi that they would not run for the presidency is seen to bolster Sisi’s presidential ambitions.
Sisi wants to resurrect the tradition of strongman rule despite its rejection by the January 25 Revolution. According to media reports, Sisi looks to former President Gamal Abdul Nasser as a role model and would like to emulate his rule. But he is too young to remember the period when Nasser’s wars cemented his cult personality.
Gen. Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. Credit: Secretary of Defence/cc by 2.0
Sisi was two years old when the Suez war occurred, seven at the start of the Yemen war, 13 during the 1967 war, and only 19 at the time of the 1973 October War. He graduated from the military academy in 1977 and pursued his political/military career in the halls of power, especially through Military Intelligence.
He is reputed to see previous leaders, including Sadat, in his recurring “visions” while asleep. These visions, some media reports speculate, have led him to believe he is destined to lead Egypt and to recapture its glorious past. This task requires a cult personality, which he and Egypt’s pliant state media have been feverishly nurturing.
The Field Marshal is hoping the Egyptian “Street,” which rejected Nasser’s resignation after the disastrous defeat of the 1967 war, would crown him as another modern-day Pharaoh of Egypt. Jihan El-Tahri, an Egyptian born world-renowned movie producer, has titled her forthcoming film on Nasser, Sadat, and Mubarak “Egypt’s Modern Pharaohs.” Sisi seems to be following in their footsteps.
The high stakes political game is set to begin in Egypt with Sisi’s expected announcement confirming his intention to run for president. Popular hysteria will carry him forward, but Sisi must realise this kind of mass adulation is short-lived and could turn against him fairly quickly.
Politically active and aware Egyptians will soon realise that Sisi’s presidency would result in three disastrous realities for Egypt: first, a return to military dictatorship; second, an emasculation of the January 25 Revolution; and third, a re-institution of the economically powerful plutocracy.
As Sisi’s presidency begins, Egypt will be suffering from high unemployment, a tanking economy, an anemic tourism industry, low foreign currency reserves, a poor human rights record, growing communal violence and even terrorism, but above all high popular expectations. The January 25 Revolution empowered Egyptian youth to search for dignity, freedom, social justice, and employment.
Like Morsi before him, Sisi will not be able to turn the country around, especially as human rights of secularists and Islamists are violated and illegal arrests, sham trials, and harsh sentences continue unabated. Sisi’s presidency is dangerous for Egypt and harmful to U,S, interests and security in the region.
Sisi’s Egypt and the U.S.
The (Washington-based) Working Group on Egypt sent a letter on Jan. 29 to President Obama expressing “deep concern” about U.S. policy toward Egypt. The letter added, “In fact, the brutal tactics now regularly used by the Egyptian government against civilians, the suppression of dissent, the crushing not only of the Muslim Brotherhood but of non-Islamist political actors, and economic regression are likely to erode the popularity of Egypt’s rulers in short order.”
Furthermore, the letter urges President Obama to demand that Egyptian officials take four concrete steps before U.S. aid is given to Egypt:
• “End the broad security and media campaign against those who peacefully oppose the actions of the interim government and the military, release the thousands of opposition group members, supporters, and activists now detained on questionable charges and with disregard for their due-process rights, and allow all citizens not implicated in violence to participate fully in political life;
• End the use of live ammunition to disperse protesters, which has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of unarmed demonstrators, and respect basic rights to freedom of peaceful assembly;
• Cease repression of other peaceful dissidents and drop investigations and lawsuits launched against youth activists, former members of parliament, journalists, and academics for peaceful activity protected by international human rights treaties to which Egypt is a signatory;
• Stop media campaigns against the United States and American organizations, which are contributing to an unprecedented level of anti-American sentiments as well as endangering Americans and other foreigners, not only in Egypt but in neighbouring countries where Egyptian media are present.”
If the interim government fails to take action on these issues, U.S. assistance to Egypt should be suspended. The letter further argues that a “trade-off between democracy and stability is false.”
A Sisi presidency, should it come to pass, will have to address the endemic economic and severe human rights problems facing Egypt. If Sisi fails to do so in his first year in office and continues massive, indiscriminate human rights violations, it would not be unthinkable for Egyptians to hit the streets demanding his resignation.
If that happens, he could find himself on trial next to his two predecessors in the same soundproof glass cage.
Real News Video: Egyptians Might Turn Against The Resurgent Security State If Economic Problems Are Not Addressed
AN EXCELLENT INTERVIEW!
Sharif Abdel Kouddous: U.S. strategic interests in Egypt have more to do with security of the Gulf than democracy, human rights, or rule of law
Sharif Abdel Kouddous: U.S. strategic interests in Egypt have more to do with security of the Gulf than democracy, human rights, or rule of law
Syria children maimed and tortured by Assad forces, says UN report
Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary general, urges warring factions to protect the young after evidence of 'unspeakable suffering'
Syrian children and their mother in Aleppo, Syria, 2013, after air strikes. Children are abused by Assad soldiers and recruited by rebels, says the UN. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
"Children in Syria have been tortured, maimed and sexually abused by Bashar al-Assad's forces and recruited for combat by the rebels fighting to topple him during the country's conflict of almost three years, a new UN report says.
The report, which highlights the treatment of children in the conflict from the beginning of the uprising against the president in March 2011 until 15 November 2013, was released this week to the security council and posted on the UN website on Tuesday.
The report cites the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, saying that Syrian children were subjected to "unspeakable suffering" during that time. Ban urged Syria's warring sides to "take, without delay, all measures to protect and uphold the rights of all children in Syria".
The uprising against Assad's rule began with largely peaceful protests in 2011 but evolved into a bloody civil war that has killed more than 130,000 people, according to activists. Millions of Syrians have been driven from their homes, seeking shelter in neighbouring countries or in safer parts of their homeland.
The conflict has hit the country's children hard. The UN said government forces had been responsible for the arrest, arbitrary detention, ill treatment and torture of children. Children as young as 11 have been detained by the authorities on suspicion of having links with armed groups.
Children in government custody have reportedly been beaten with metal cables, whips and wooden and metal batons, and suffered electric shock, mock executions, cigarette burns, sleep deprivation and solitary confinement, and sexual violence, including rape and threats of rape, the report says.
It was not clear what methodology for the findings was used and the summary of the report posted on the UN website did not say how investigators obtained their information.
Allegations of sexual violence by opposition groups were also received, but the UN was unable to further investigate them due to lack of access to areas in under rebel control, the report says.
While Assad's forces have used children as human shields in the fighting, the report also condemned rebels for "recruitment and use of children both in combat and support roles, as well as for conducting military operations".
During the first two years of the conflict, most killings and maimings of children were attributed to government forces, the UN report says. During 2013, the opposition forces increasingly "engaged in such acts", it adds. "Armed opposition groups also engaged in the summary execution of children."
The report states that UN investigators have not been able to reach many of the rebel-held areas for lack of security there, and consequently have been unable to further investigate and document those violations."
Is Facebook deleting history?
Disappearing Syria pages worry researchers
By Brian Whitaker
By Brian Whitaker
"Two years ago, in a letter to potential investors Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, wrote:
"By giving people the power to share, we are starting to see people make their voices heard on a different scale from what has historically been possible. These voices will increase in number and volume. They cannot be ignored ..."Through this process, we believe that leaders will emerge across all countries who are pro-internet and fight for the rights of their people, including the right to share what they want and the right to access all information that people want to share with them."
That was a fine aspiration and one that has been especially relevant to the conflict in Syria – a conflict which has been documented through social media in a way that no conflict has ever been documented before.
Facebook, which celebrated its tenth birthday yesterday, has played a major part in this. Besides giving a platform to voices that were previously unheard, posts on Facebook provide contemporaneous views of the Syrian conflict. Many of these may be rubbish and some may be offensive but they are all part of a multi-faceted public record of the war.
Among them, some contain valuable evidence that is (or could be) of interest to researchers, journalists, historians, etc – both now in the future – and it's not always easy to sort the wheat from the chaff. A post that might seem insignificant today can become very significant tomorrow, or years hence.
Unfortunately, though, Facebook has been deleting some of the Syria-related material in what seems to be a rather arbitrary fashion, and possibly as a result of complaints that are politically motivated. An article published by The Atlantic yesterday looks at this in detail.
There's no doubt that Facebook sometimes has to make difficult judgments. It acknowledges in its community standards document that may people want to share "experiences and issues" involving "graphic content that is of public interest or concern, such as human rights abuses or acts of terrorism". However, it adds that "graphic images shared for sadistic effect or to celebrate or glorify violence have no place on our site".
The rules also say that "organisations with a record of terrorist or violent criminal activity are not allowed to maintain a presence on our site".
Commenting on Facebook's Syria-related deletions, Felim McMahon of Storyful writes:
"From a journalistic point of view, Facebook pages that helped Storyful corroborate some of the most important content from Syria have been removed from the public domain. Most alarming of all is the suggestion [in the Atlantic article] that there is little scrutiny of complaints that lead to the closures, and little recourse for those who find themselves censored."
Blogger Brown Moses, who specialises in researching weapons used in the Syrian conflict is also complaining about deletions, especially in relation to the chemical attacks near Damascus on August 21 last year. In a series of tweets, he said:
"Regarding @Facebook wiping out opposition Facebook pages. This is something that I've really noticed during my recent research 1/3"I've been looking into the August 21st Sarin attack and thanks to @Facebook, nearly every Facebook page reporting on the attack is gone 2/3"This means that key information about the initial reports of the attack and photographs are gone. 3/3"
McMahon adds:
"Pages that helped Storyful pinpoint the chemical attack on Eastern Ghouta have disappeared. Indeed, we noted the rapid acceleration of page closures in the wake of that massacre, starting with the pages closest to the epicentre of the attack."
This does look rather suspicious and the Atlantic article hints at foul play by Assad supporters:
Activists believe groups supportive of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are gaming the system and reporting on their rivals. Facebook does not disclose information about who reported whom, making it impossible to confirm these theories. But the pro-Assad Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) – best known for its hacks of major news sites, including an infamous White House bomb hoax that sank the Dow 140 points – has publicly gloated about this tactic.“We continue our reporting attacks,” read a typical post from December 9 on the SEA’s Facebook page. “Our next target is the Local Coordination Committee of Barzeh [a neighborhood in Damascus], the page that is a partner in shedding Syrian blood and provoking sectarian division.” It then provided two links to photos on the Barzeh page that could get the page taken down. Soon afterwards, the SEA removed its post as if it had never existed.Though SEA campaigns aren’t always successful – Facebook says the “quality” of reports will always trump the “quantity” – activists believe the pro-Assad hackers have claimed some high-profile scalps in recent months. "
مؤتمر جنيف 2: بانتظار الجولة الثانية، ماذا تحقّق في الأولى؟
وحدة تحليل السياسات في المركز | 04 فبراير ،2014
بعد مفاوضات استمرت تسعة أيام، انتهت الجولة الأولى من مؤتمر جنيف 2 من دون تحقيق نتائج مهمة في مسار التسوية السياسيّة للأزمة السوريّة. وحتى الجولة الثانية من المفاوضات التي أعلن الوسيط الدولي والعربي الأخضر الإبراهيمي عن انعقادها في 10 شباط/ فبراير 2014، تبدو غير مؤكدة بعد أن "ربط" وفد النظام مشاركته بقرار الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد. ومع اختتام الجولة الأولى، بدأت التقييمات والتساؤلات بشأن حقيقة النتائج التي تحققت، وهل أصابت المعارضة أم أخطأت في المشاركة؟ وهل استغل النظام المؤتمر للتصعيد ميدانيًا؟ وهل ثمّة تغيير في الموقف الروسي بعد الإعلان عن زيارة يقوم بها وفد الائتلاف الوطني لقوى الثورة والمعارضة السوريّة إلى موسكو في 4 شباط/ فبراير 2014؟
انخفاض سقف التوقعات
في ظل الاستقطاب والفجوة العميقة التي تفصل بين النظام السوري والمعارضة وانعدام أي نقطة لقاء بينهما، لم يكن لدى أي من الأطراف التي حضرت مؤتمر جنيف 2 أي أوهام بشأن ما يمكن أن يتحقق خلال الجولة الأولى. ففيما اكتفت الأمم المتحدة والدول الراعية للمؤتمر بمحاولة كسر الجليد وجمع الطرفين في قاعة واحدة وجعل بيان جنيف 1 الأساس لعملية التفاوض، حاول طرفا الصراع من جهتهما تحقيق مكاسب إعلامية ودبلوماسية في ظل العجز عن تحقيق اختراق على صعيد القضايا السياسية، وحتى الإنسانية.
موقف النظام
استبق النظام السوري المؤتمر بإعلان تحفّظه عن نص الدعوة الرسميّة بذريعة أنها لا تلبي "تطلعات" الشعب السوريّ، داعيًا إلى التركيز على "محاربة الإرهاب". فالنظام لم يكن متحمسًا لانعقاد مؤتمر جنيف 2 وبخاصة أنّ غرضه "تشكيل هيئة حكم انتقاليّة كاملة الصلاحيات". ويبدو أنّ ترحيبه في وقت سابق ببيان جنيف 1 وموافقته على حضور جنيف 2 من دون شروط، كان لتجنب إحراج حلفائه الروس، وإظهار المعارضة وداعميها بوصفهم "عائقًا" أمام التسوية السياسيّة. ولمّا تأكّد انعقاد المؤتمر، سعى النظام لحرفه عن مساره مستفيدًا من الدعم الروسي، ومن تحسّن وضعه الميداني خلال النصف الثاني من عام 2013، وكذلك من رفض إيران الاعتراف ببيان جنيف 1. كما وظّف النظام قبول الدول الداعمة للمعارضة بفصل المسار السياسيّ عن العسكريّ الميدانيّ خلال المفاوضات لمصلحته، فاستمر في قصف حلب، وحاول التقدّم في المدينة وفي محيط مطارها، مستفيدًا من انسحاب تنظيم الدولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام "داعش" من بعض الجبهات، وتفرغه لقتال كتائب المعارضة. كما حاول الانتقام من مدينة داريا لرفضها شروط الهدنة التي اقترحها (على غرار ما جرى في المعضمية وبرزة) وبسبب صمود مقاتليها، ولا سيما بعد إسقاطهم مروحيّة حربيّة، وإفشالهم الحملة العسكريّة التي بدأها النظام ضدها مؤخرًا. أما حمص القديمة، فقد جدّد النظام قصف أحيائها للتنصل من موافقته في جنيف على إدخال 12 شاحنة من المساعدات الإنسانية، وتأمين خروج آمن للنساء والأطفال. وقد بلغ عدد القتلى خلال أيام الجولة الأولى 602 شخصًا، وذلك بحسب الشبكة السورية لحقوق الإنسان. ويعني هذا أنّ معدّل القتل بقي على حاله كما كان قبل المؤتمر، ما يؤكد على نقطة الفصل بين ما يجري على الأرض وبين مجريات العملية التفاوضية، وكأنّ المفاوضات تقع خارج الزمن الذي يعيشه السوريون تحت القصف.
وانطلاقًا من حرية العمل ميدانيًا التي تَحَصَّلَ عليها كأمر واقع في ظل اللامبالاة الدولية الفعلية، سعى النظام لقلب أولويات المؤتمر؛ فرفض الاعتراف بمرجعيته، وقدّم ورقة أخرى كي تشكّل مرجعيّة بديلة[1]. لكنه عاد - تحت ضغط روسي - فقَبِلَ بيان جنيف 1، على الرغم من أنه اشترط مناقشته بالترتيب، قبل الانتقال إلى البند التاسع المتعلق بهيئة الحكم الانتقالي. كان هدف النظام واضحًا وهو إطالة أمد التفاوض، وحرف مساره نحو ما يسمى "مكافحة الإرهاب" وإغراقه بالتفاصيل، وهو نهج نجح فيه خلال تعامله مع المبادرات السابقة، وذلك في تقليدٍ لأسلوب التفاوض الإسرائيلي في تجزئة الملفات والفصل بينها، مع فارق جوهري يتمثل في التجاهل الدولي الكامل لوحشيته وتدميره المدن بالبراميل المتفجِّرة[2]. ومن المعروف أنّ إسرائيل تعتبر "الإرهاب" قضية قائمة بذاتها وترفض ربطها بمسبباتها، وتشترط أولًا وقفه ومكافحته قبل الحديث في أي شأن سياسي. هكذا تسمي إسرائيل مقاومة الاحتلال "إرهابًا" لا علاقة له بالاحتلال، وهكذا يسمي النظام السوري العمل المسلّح المشتّت ضده "إرهابًا"، علمًا بأنّ السلاح لم يُرفع في وجهه إلا بعد ثورة سلمية دامت أكثر من عام، وتعرّضت لكل أشكال القمع وأعلى درجات العنف.
وفي جانب آخر، اعتبر النظام المؤتمر احتفاليّة إعلاميّة توفِّر له فرصة التواصل مع وسائل الإعلام والرأي العام الغربي. واهتم وفده بعقد المؤتمرات الصحفية (3 إلى 4 مؤتمرات يوميًا) أكثر من اهتمامه بحضور جلسات التفاوض. كما اصطحب وفدًا ضخمًا ضم نحو 50 إعلاميًا، ملؤوا قاعات المؤتمر الصحفية حتى يبدو الأمر بأنهم طرف ثالث يسألون أسئلة ودودة، وهم في الواقع لم يكونوا غير صحافيي النظام الذين لا يختلفون كثيرًا في التعاطي مع الأزمة عن موظفي مخابراته.
موقف المعارضة
نتيجة ضغوط دوليّة ووعود أميركيّة بإعادة النظر في تسليح المعارضة "المعتدلة"، شارك الائتلاف في جنيف 2 من دون توقّع نتائج سريعة أو كبيرة. وفي ضوء ذلك، سعى الائتلاف الوطني لتحقيق أهداف مرحليّة تتمثل في إعادة تكريس نفسه كممثل "مدني" للثورة السوريّة، و"تعرية" النظام أمام الرأي العام بصفته طرفًا غير جاد في طلب التسوية، فضلًا عن وحشيته ولاإنسانية في التعامل مع المدنيين من أبناء شعبه.
وبخلاف التوقعات، وعلى الرغم من قلة التحضير والخبرة، كان أداء وفد المعارضة السياسي والتقني مقبولًا قياسًا بالتجارب السابقة، ما أكسبه تأييدًا شعبيًا وزخمًا دوليًا، لكنه يحتاج إلى أن يُترجم ذلك إلى نتائج ملموسة على الصعيدين الإنساني والسياسي. وفي العموم، يمكن القول إنّ المعارضة نجحت في أمور وأخفقت في أخرى؛ فقد نجح وفد المعارضة في منع تشتيت المفاوضات، والتأكيد على مرجعية التفاوض وإجبار النظام على الاعتراف بجنيف 1. لكنه، من جهة أخرى، وبخلاف وفد النظام، لم يعر اهتمامًا كبيرًا للتواصل مع وسائل الإعلام الغربية، بل ركّز على وسائل الإعلام العربية، في حين كان يتعين عليه أن يستثمر وجوده في جنيف لمخاطبة الرأي العام الغربي بشكل مدروس. وعلى الرغم من التحسّن في الأداء وعدم تسجيل إشكالات حقيقية، فإنّ أداء المتحدثين باسمه اتسم بالارتجالية والافتقار إلى الخبرة في مخاطبة الرأي العام؛ إذ أصرّ السياسيون أن يؤدوا أيضًا دور الناطقين الإعلاميين، في حين غاب الناطقون المهنيون عن الوفد.
الأطراف الراعية
كان عقد المؤتمر في موعده المحدد بحضور دولي واسع يمثل الهدف الرئيس للدول الراعية (أميركا وروسيا) وكذلك الأمم المتحدة. فقد كان اقتناع هذه الأطراف يتمثل في أنّ الأزمة السوريّة بتعقيداتها وتشعباتها لا يمكن "حلها" أو تحقيق اختراق كبير في تسويتها من الجولة الأولى أو حتى في المدى المنظور. لذلك، غادر الوفدان الروسي والأميركي مكان انعقاد المؤتمر، ولم يتدخلا في مسار التفاوض وجلساته إلا عندما تعقّدت الأمور برفض النظام بيان جنيف 1، وتزايد احتمال انسحاب أحد الطرفين أو كليهما من المؤتمر، فاضطر الوفد الروسي إلى العودة من موسكو، والتدخل لإقناع وفد النظام بقبول جنيف 1 والموافقة على مناقشة الهيئة الانتقاليّة، لكن سرعان ما تبدّى من سلوك وفد النظام وتصريحاته أنّ هذه الموافقات لم تتعدَ الجانب الشكلي، وجاءت لتلافي إحراج النظام لحلفائه.
أين تمضي الأزمة من هنا؟
يشكّل انعقاد مؤتمر جنيف 2 بداية لانطلاق مسار تفاوضيّ يمثل "الطريق الوحيد" المتفق عليه حتى الآن لحل الأزمة السوريّة في ظل عدم وجود بدائل أخرى كالتدخل العسكريّ أو تفكك النظام أو هزيمة المعارضة. لذلك، فإنّ الأطراف الراعية سوف تصرّ على استمراره حتى إن لم يحقق نتائج سريعة، لأنّ توقفه والاعتراف بفشله يعني اتخاذ قرارات لا أحد يريد اتخاذها. وبناء عليه، يمكن أن يفيد جنيف 2 في تحقيق إحدى الغايتين:
أولًا، حل الأزمة: يمثل حل الأزمة السوريّة هدف عددٍ كبيرٍ من الأطراف حتى لو كانت فرص تحقيقه ضئيلة؛ فثمة قوى دولية وإقليمية جادة في رغبتها في إنهاء النزاع، لأنّ تداعياته لا تقتصر على الجانب الإنسانيّ داخليًا، بل أصبح نزاعًا إقليميًا تتصارع فيه قوى عدة لتعزيز نفوذها وحمايّة مصالحها. ونتيجة للتنوع الإثنيّ والدينيّ في المشرق العربيّ، فقد تلبّس الصراع السوريّ بلبوس طائفيّ، وصار يظهر في بعض صوره - بحكم الاصطفافات الإقليمية - كأنه صراع سنيّ - شيعي. إنّ استمرار الصراع قد يؤدي إلى انفجار إقليميّ ذي انعكاسات على النظام الدولي؛ فقد يؤدي إلى تفتيت المنطقة، وإعادة رسم خارطتها الجغرافيّة. وانطلاقًا من ذلك، قد تجد القوى الدوليّة في جنيف 2 فرصةً لإنهاء الصراع، وتجنّب احتمالات تصعيد غير محسوبة.
ثانيًا، إدارة الأزمة: قد يشكّل جنيف 2 مدخلًا لحل الأزمة، لكنه قد يشكّل أيضًا أحد أدوات "إدارتها" إذا تعذَّر الحل. وهنا مكمن الخطر؛ فإدارة الأزمة تعني استمراريّة الصراع، ولكن مع "حصره" في نطاقه الجغرافيّ، لتبقى المصالح الحيويّة للقوى الكبرى أو حلفائها بمنأى عنه، كما يساعدها ذلك في عدم تحمّل أعبائه؛ متذرعة بوجود مسار سياسي تفاوضيّ يجمع أطراف الأزمة. ومن ثمّ، يكون دور هذه القوى حثّ الأطراف على التفاوض، وتقديم المبادرات، وعقد الاجتماعات الدوريّة من دون "حسم"، في مشهدٍ يكرر سيناريو المفاوضات الإسرائيلية - الفلسطينية. إنّ هذا الاحتمال له فرصه ومبرراته في ظل سياسة إدارة الرئيس الأميركي باراك أوباما الخارجية القائمة على الانكفاء عن التدخل المباشر طالما لا يشكّل الصراع تهديدًا مباشرًا للأمن القومي للولايات المتحدة، وما تصريحات مسؤوليها، كالسفير روبرت فورد الذي أبلغ وفد الائتلاف بأنّ "مسار جنيف 2 شاق وطويل وقد يستغرق عامًا لتحقيق نتائج جدية"[3]، إلا مؤشر على أنّ الأمور قد تذهب إلى هذا الاتجاه. من جهة أخرى، يتوافق هذا الاحتمال مع رؤية إسرائيل للصراع السوريّ، ورغبتها في استدامته لتدمير قدرات سوريّة. أما إيران، فترى في سوريّة "معركة وجوديّة" لا يمكن أن تخسرها. وتعتقد روسيا أن لديها القدرة على التعامل مع تطورات الصراع السوري واحتمالاته ما دام محصورًا في الداخل عبر مداخل مختلفة مثل "حماية الأقليات". بناء على ذلك، لا يُتوقَّع أن يلمس وفد الائتلاف تقدمًا في الموقف الروسي خلال زيارته موسكو، بل على العكس، يبدو أنّ روسيا متجهة نحو خلق مزيد من الإرباك بتوجيه دعوات منفصلة لهيئات وشخصيات من المعارضة، للإيحاء بأنها تتواصل مع مختلف الأطراف، تزامنًا مع دعواتها الأخيرة إلى إعادة تشكيل وفد المعارضة إلى مفاوضات جنيف ليشمل شخصيات من معارضة الداخل. إنّ روسيا ترغب في إثارة نقاش بشأن ضرورة توسيع وفد المعارضة لكي تنتقل الضغوط الدولية من النظام إلى المعارضة من جهة، ولخلق خلافات داخل الوفد في الجولة الثانية من جهة أخرى.
في ظل هذا المشهد، ومن أجل تحقيق نتائج أفضل خلال الجولات القادمة، يتعين على المعارضة السوريّة أن تستمر في التركيز على أن يكون هدف التفاوض الرئيس هو تشكيل هيئة انتقاليّة كاملة الصلاحيات، والمطالبة بتحديد جدول زمنيّ للمفاوضات والمرحلة الانتقاليّة. وبشكل متزامن، يتعين ترتيب البيت الداخليّ ضمن الائتلاف وإصلاحه، بما في ذلك دعوة المنسحبين بعد انتخابات الائتلاف الداخلية الأخيرة للعودة، وزيادة التنسيق مع القوى العسكريّة والمدنيّة في الداخل بما يسهم في تجاوز غياب الإجماع داخل هيئات المعارضة بشأن المشاركة في المؤتمر، وبما يعزّز موقف الائتلاف وحضوره في جولات التفاوض المقبلة؛ فعلى الرغم من جلوس الوفود إلى طاولة المفاوضات، لم تتولد حتى الآن آليات ضغط حقيقية سوى الوضع الميداني. لذلك، لا ينبغي أن تنشغل المعارضة كثيرًا بتركيبة وفدها ومستوى الكفاءات والخبرات التي يتمتع بها، أو أي تكتيكات تفاوضية عالية يمكن أن يستخدمها، فلن يؤدي هذا إلى تغيير في موقفي روسيا والنظام في هذه المرحلة. إنّ المطلوب الآن هو الإصرار على الموقف المتعلق بآلية الانتقال من النظام الحالي إلى نظام ديمقراطي تعددي، وشرح جرائم النظام قبل الثورة وبعدها بصدقية عالية ووثائق مؤكدة. وفي هذه النقطة تحديدًا، يجب أن يحسِّن الائتلاف أداءه في التعاطي مع وسائل الإعلام، ولا سيما الإعلام الغربي حتى يتمكّن من إيصال الرسالة المطلوبة خلال الجولات القادمة. أخيرًا، من المهم - بالتوازي مع العملية التفاوضية - الاستمرار في العمل على تعزيز وضع حكومة الائتلاف كمؤسسة تنفيذية، وترتيب وضع الائتلاف كبرلمان للشعب السوري، وبذل الجهد كله على الأرض بالتنسيق مع الدول الداعمة للثورة لانتهاج بدائل أخرى في حال فشل مؤتمر جنيف 2 في تحقيق أهدافه أو في حال تعثّر مساره.
[1] تضمنت ورقة النظام خمس نقاط: 1) احترام سيادة سورية، 2) عدم جواز التنازل عن أي جزء منها والعمل على استعادة أراضيها المغتصبة كافة، 3) رفض أي شكل من أشكال التدخل والإملاء الخارجي وأن يقرر السوريون بأنفسهم مستقبل بلادهم، 4) رفض الإرهاب، 5) وقف التحريض الإعلامي. انظر: "النظام يقدم ورقة لقلب أولويات «جنيف 2»"، الحياة، 28 كانون الثاني/ يناير 2014:
[2] لمعرفة شكل البرميل المتفجّر، وطريقة صنعه، وأثره التدميريّ، انظر: "سيرة ذاتية لبراميل بشار الأسد"، زمان الوصل، 25/12/2013، على الرابط:
[3] مقابلة مع أحد أعضاء الوفد المفاوض، وقد أكد هذا الأمر ميشيل كيلو في مقابلته مع قناة الجزيرة في 29 كانون الثاني/ يناير 2014، في برنامج لقاء اليوم.
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