Friday, May 6, 2016

Australia deports 12 Sri Lankan asylum seekers

Fri, May 6, 2016

Australia has deported the 12 Sri Lankan asylum seekers, who arrived within the Cocos Islands via sea in a boat on Monday, and they have returned to Sri Lanka this morning.

The Asylum seekers arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) early Friday morning in a special Australian flight. A woman and two children were among the deportees, authorities said.

All the deportees were arrested on arrival and handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) by the Immigration and Emigration officers, an official said.

Australian authorities intercepted the boat with the 12 Sri Lankan Asylum seekers when it came near the Cocos Islands, a territory of Australia. Australian Federal Police met the boat and escorted it to a mooring and the asylum seekers were then taken aboard an Australia Border Force vessel, according to Australian media.

It was the first asylum seeker boat reported to have arrived in Australia in nearly two years.
In an interview with a radio journalist, Australia's Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton said Australia has a a lot of assets at sea to stop asylum seekers entering the country's shores and send them back.

"We have air crews, we have surveillance techniques, we use a lot of support to make sure that we stop boats and if we find boats to turn them around where it's safe to do so," Dutton said.

"We have boats and we have some of the best people within the Australian Border Force and the Royal Australian Navy involved in Operation Sovereign Borders," he said.

A Rajapaksa politically victimizing me: Sajin

2016-05

While claiming that he was not willing to be a state witness in any court case, former UPFA MP Sajin de Vass Gunawardena said today that one of the Rajapaksas was attempting to politically victimize him.

Addressing a media conference held in Colombo, he said he would soon disclose the details and reliable evidence against this particular Rajapaksa whom he described as the ‘invisible hand’ spewing out many ‘baseless’ allegations against him.

He said every politician had started pointing fingers at him without any proof for temporary political advantages. Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila and Sri Ranga Jeyaratnam (J. Sri Ranga) are some of the politicians who level various allegations against him in the media, he said.

“Recently, J. Sri Ranga has told a television programme that it was me who handled the technical dealings in SriLankan Airlines. I have not worked at SriLankan and I have no connection with it. Sri Ranga’s allegations are fabricated stories. Meanwhile, I called the CID over an article published in a leading Sinhala paper that the CID had informed the Court regarding some foreign bank accounts belong to me. I was informed by the CID that such incident has not taken place in the Court. I should emphasize that it is the responsibility of the media to double- check and verify the facts before they are published,” he said.

Commenting on the ongoing investigations against him at the Criminal Investigations’ Department (CID), Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) and the Bribery Commission, Mr. Gunawardena said all of them are probing on his assets which have been earned by him according to a formal procedure.

“I earned my properties in a transparent manner. I have not stolen anything from anyone. All my assets have been accounted properly.”

He said that the investigations have been initiated based on the complaints lodged by his political opponents.

He said the particular Rajapaksa was administrating more than 12 web sites which were used to sling mud at him.

“I will not stop my political career despite such baseless allegations. I will continue my politics with the SLFP. I have not made any deals with anyone. I performed my duties according to the principles of my party. I have not gone beyond that. A very wrong misinterpretation has been given about me to the people. I am not afraid of any one because I know that I am innocent,” he said.

When asked by a journalist about his stance on the joint opposition, he said it was just an ‘imagery’ of some politicians and that had no political basis. He also said that he did not intend to join them who had caused the division within the SLFP.

Speaking about the incident in 2014 involving him and Sri Lanka’s former High Commissioner Chris Nonis, Mr. Gunawardena claimed that he did not assault Mr. Nonis and only an argument took place between them. He said the minute incident had been blown up by this Rajapaksa for political purposes.

“We did not fight. There were plenty of people around us when the incident happened. It was just an argument that was caused when I was defending our former media secretary over some issue. I intend to disclose everything about that incident in detail very soon. I anyway apologized to Mr. Nonis the following morning. This personal matter should not be considered a national problem,” he said. (Piyumi Fonseka)

SRI LANKA: Nawalapitiya Police detain and torture an innocent woman

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME-06 May 2016

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission received information that police officers attached to the Nawalapitiya Police have illegally arrested and severely tortured Ms. M K Malani, a resident of Dholosbage Estate, and later produced her before the Nawalapitiya Magistrate. She was detained when she tried to lodge a complaint at the Nawalapitiya police station regarding the death of her husband. She was hung from the ceiling in full view of her child, and forced to admit to killing her own husband. She is at present being held in detention at the Dumbara-Bogambara Prison, and her case remains pending at the Magistrate’s Court. This is yet another indication of the complete collapse of Sri Lanka’s policing service, the prime law enforcement mechanism in the country.

CASE NARRATIVE:

According to the detailed information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Ms. M K Malani, 38 years old, was a resident of a line-house (estate housing) at Dholosbage Estate in Nawalapitiya, Kandy District. She was married to Mr. R.P. Rengan Selvam and they have six children, the youngest being a son aged five years. The family is poor and destitute. The husband was a laborer, while Malani supported the family by plucking tea in the tea-estates. Mr. Selvam was addicted to liquor and as a result she suffered regular domestic violence. When she was expecting their sixth child she was severely assaulted by her husband and was treated in hospital for several months.

Due to the abuse, Malini had started a relationship with Nadaraj Thambiraj Shivakumar, and left her husband to live with him, taking her youngest son with her. She has been living with Nadaraj for the past five years. In early January 2016, Rengan extended an invitation to Malini and her new husband to visit him and expressed eagerness to see his youngest son.

On January 5, Malani, Nadaraj and her youngest son visited Rengan, and during the visit Rengan in his usual behavior started to hurl abuse at Malini. Later at around 10 p.m., he assaulted Malini and pushed her to the ground, at which both she and Nadaraj with their son left for Malini’s parents’ house.

On January 7, Malini learned that Rengan had been killed. She immediately visited the Gampola Police Station to make a complaint, but the police refused to accept her complaint since Rengan’s residence is not situated within the Gampola Police Division. Instead, the police officers informed her that some police officers from the Nawalapitiya Police Station would be arriving and she could go with them to the Nawalapitiya police station to lodge a complaint.

Several hours later several police officers attached to the Nawalapitiya Police Station arrived, and asked Malini to go along with them to the Nawalapitiya Police Station in the police jeep, to which she agreed.

At the Nawalapitiya Police Station, Malini asked some officers to record her complaint. Having waited for some time, she realized that the officers instead began to continuously question her about the incident. The officers then accused her of killing Rengan and implicated Nadaraj in the killing as well. She vehemently refused the allegations. Malini also observed that the police officers did not start any investigation regarding her complaint, nor did they ask about any details of the crime or the crime scene. The officers only continuously harassed Malini to admit to the commission of the crime.

After several hours of questioning, Malini was taken to an upper floor of the police station by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers, and her son was separated from her at that time. While she was being interrogated about the murder, to which she confessed not knowing anything, several police officers started kicking and assaulting her with their fists. She was then asked to keep her hands on the floor and police officers trampled on them with their shoes. She was assaulted with a plank and her clothes were torn and chili paste was rubbed on her face. Later she was hung from the ceiling with both hands tied and she was verbally abused and severely beaten. When she asked for water, she was told to urinate and drink. Her clothes were then removed and the CID officers started to sexually abuse her. Once again she was hung from the ceiling and severely beaten. In the night when she cried out in pain, she was given some balm while her son was watching her.

Several days later, on January 10, she was finally produced before the Magistrate of Nawalapitiya and remanded at the Dumbara- Bogambara remand prison in Kandy. She was once again produced before the Magistrate on April 1, and continues to be in detention.

Malini’s unlawful arrest without any evidence, torture in custody, the inhuman and degrading treatment meted out to her by officers attached to the Nawalapitiya Police station, and filing fabricated charges against her have grossly and blatantly violated all the fundamental rights guaranteed to Malini under Sri Lanka’s Constitution. Malini and her family are seeking justice, protection for their lives and their rights as enshrined in the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

The AHRC notes that a basic principle established in common law, reported by one of the greatest authorities on British law, A.V. Dicey, is that arrest can be justified only if there is an investigation on the basis of reasonable grounds that a person may have engaged in the commission of crime. Only then, could he or she be arrested, for the purpose of such investigation. As an exception to the general rule, a person can be arrested to carry out a sentence meted by the judiciary. Dicey goes further to state that established law in Britain in the mid-19th century, held that it is the duty of the magistrate to punish those who have carried out the arrest of anyone outside those two grounds.

Therefore, it is the duty of the magistrate to see that the victim who has been illegally arrested is compensated. That is the basis of the law introduced to Sri Lanka through our penal codes, criminal procedure code, and our constitutional law.

In this instance, the officers of the Nawalapitiya Police and thereby the state, have violated all the above principles of arrest, and acted in violation of the provisions of the penal code, the criminal procedure code and the constitution itself. This demonstrates the total collapse of all law enforcement agencies in the country, including most importantly, the judiciary itself.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

In view of the above blatant human rights violations, please send a letter to the authorities expressing your concern and requesting an immediate investigation into the allegations of illegal arrest, detention, torture and fabrication of charges against an innocent woman. The police officers of the Nawalapitiya Police have denied her the right to justice and an independent inquiry. Kindly request the authorities to prosecute those officers responsible under the criminal law of the country for abusing and misusing the powers of the State. All officers involved need to be subjected to internal investigations for breach of Police departmental orders. Please also urge the National Police Commission (NPC) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), to initiate a special investigation into the malpractices of police officers who abuse State powers.

Please note that the AHRC will write a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment to immediately intervene in this matter.

To support this case, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ________,

SRI LANKA: Nawalapitiya Police detain and torture an innocent woman

Name of the victim: M K Malani (38) of Dolosbage Estate Nawalapitiya in Kandy District

Alleged perpetrators: Police officers attached to the Nawalapitiya Police Station.

Date of incident: 7th January 2016
Place of incident: Nawalapitiya Police Division

I am writing to voice my deepest concern, regarding the incident where police officers attached to the Nawalapitiya Police have illegally arrested and severely tortured an innocent victim, Ms. M K Malani, who is a resident of Dholosbage Estate, and later produced her before the Nawalapitiya Magistrate. She was detained when she tried to lodge a complaint at the Nawalapitiya police station regarding the death of her husband. She was hung from the ceiling in full view of her child, and forced to admit to killing her own husband. She is at present being held in detention at the Dumbara-Bogambara Prison, and her case remains pending at the Magistrate’s Court.

This is yet another indication of the complete collapse of Sri Lanka’s policing service, the prime law enforcement mechanism in the country.

Ms. M K Malani, 38 years old, was a resident of a line-house (estate housing) at Dholosbage Estate in Nawalapitiya, Kandy District. She was married to Mr. R.P. Rengan Selvam and they have six children, the youngest being a son aged five years. The family is poor and destitute. The husband was a laborer, while Malani supported the family by plucking tea in the tea-estates. Mr. Selvam was addicted to liquor and as a result she suffered regular domestic violence. When she was expecting their sixth child she was severely assaulted by her husband and was treated in hospital for several months.

I wish to note that the basic principle established in common law, and which is reported by one of the greatest authorities on British law, A.V. Dicey, is that arrest can be justified only if there is an investigation on the basis of reasonable grounds that a person may have engaged in the commission of crime. Only then, could he or she be arrested, for the purpose of such investigation. As an exception to the general rule, a person can be arrested to carry out a sentence meted by the judiciary. Dicey goes further to state that established law in Britain in the mid-19th century, held that it is the duty of the magistrate to punish those who have carried out the arrest of anyone outside those two grounds.

In view of the above blatant human rights violations, I am requesting the immediate intervention of your good offices calling for an immediate investigation into the allegations of illegal arrest, detention, torture and fabrication of charges against an innocent woman.

The police officers of the Nawalapitiya Police have denied her rights to justice and an independent inquiry. Kindly request the authorities to prosecute those officers responsible under the criminal law of the country for abusing and misusing the powers of the State. All officers involved need to be subjected to internal investigations for breach of Police departmental orders. Please also urge the National Police Commission (NPC) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), to initiate a special investigation into the malpractices of police officers who abuse State powers.

I therefore request the urgent intervention of your good offices to ensure that the authorities listed below initiate an immediate investigation into the allegations of illegal arrest, detention, and torture and fabricated charges against an innocent woman by the police. I further request you to ensure the prosecution of the responsible persons under the criminal law on the misuse of power by state officers. The officers involved must also be subject to internal investigations for breach of department orders.

Yours sincerely,

-----------------------------------------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Pujith Jayasundara
Inspector General of Police (IGP),
New Secretariat,
Colombo 1,
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440
Email: com@police.lk

2. Mr. Jayantha Chandrasiri Jayasuriya
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department,
Colombo 12,
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
Email: administration@attorneygeneral.gov.lk

3. Secretary,
National Police Commission,
3rd Floor Rotunda Towers,
109 Galle Road,
Colombo 03,
SRI LANKA
Tel/Fax: +94 11 2 395960
Email: polcom@sltnet.lk

4. Secretary,
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka,
No 108 Barnes Place,
Colombo 07
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806
Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470
Email: sechrc@sltnet.lk

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

‘These are good lessons for us’ – says DIG Amarasiri Senaratne!

May 05, 2016

“Those days, we did what the bosses told us to do without thinking twice. Now, when we have to explain, there is no one to speak for us. The Thajudeen case will be an eye opener for the entire police force. Never work like the blind just because your superior officer told you to do so. I believe the entire police department will learn a lesson from this,” said DIG in charge of Colombo city traffic Amarasiri Senaratne to CID officials.

“The person who gave those orders was higher even than the IGP at the time. Sometimes even the IGP took advice from him. Actually, he was the unofficial IGP those days. Because of him, we have to waste our time at the Fourth Floor today. I will tell everything I know,” he said in front of all before giving his statement to the CID.

Meanwhile, reports say ex-IGP N.K. Illangakoon has become panicked just like retired DIG Anura Senanayake did.

He is worried by the exposure of his duplicity following our disclosure titled ‘Ex-IGP concealed Thajudeen murder evidence’ which was highlighted by state minister Sujeeva Senasinghe at a media briefing and other media giving it big publicity.

Also, expect a detailed report as to how Illangakoon blocked the arrest of ex-MP Sajin Vaas Gunawardena.

The then CCD director, SSP L. Ranaweera, who prepared the first investigation report in 2013 into the Thajudeen murder, will be a key witness in the case.

Youth arrested over 23 robberies in Jaffna

May 6, 2016

A 24-year-old youth suspected to be involved in a series of gold jewelry thefts in the Jaffna area has been arrested at Chunnakam.

He was arrested in an operation carried out by Chunnakam police following investigations into the robberies.

The suspect was allegedly involved in 23 robberies which had taken place in Chunnakam, Achchuveli, Tellippalai and Kopay areas.

Chunnakam police is conducting further investigations.

Korean attempts to smuggle S$40,000; fined Rs.18 mn

2016-05-06
A 45-year-old Korean was arrested by Customs officials at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) early this morning while he was attempting to smuggle 40,000 Singapore Dollars’ worth Rs. 4.3 million to Korea.

Preliminary investigations had revealed that the suspect, a businessman residing in Sri Lanka had smuggled similar currencies to Korea on a regular basis.

The currencies were confiscated and the suspect was fined Rs.18 million. (T.K.G. Kapila)

Mozambique’s Invisible Civil War

The government says everything’s fine. But that’s not what we heard from its victims.

BY TOM BOWKER, SIMON KAMM, AURELIO SAMBO-MAY 6, 2016

On April 28, local and Portuguese news outlets reported the discovery of a mass grave in central Mozambique containing some 120 bodies. A hasty inspection by local government officials concluded that the report was false — but two days later, a journalist who was prevented by police from visiting the grave itself found a pile of bodies nearby. Further investigations have discovered more bodies in the area.

The horrific discoveries add to a growing body of evidence that, almost a quarter century after the end of a 16-year civil war that killed a million people, Mozambique is once again mired in conflict. Our own investigation, which was supported by theJournalism Fund, confirms that the country’s civilian population is once again in the crosshairs — and that this time it’s the government that’s responsible.

Mozambique’s civil war was noted for its brutality, meted out in particular by Renamo, a rebel group that was founded, financed, and armed by foreigners bent on destabilizing the country: first by white Rhodesia, then apartheid South Africa. A peace agreement ended the war in 1992 and led to multi-party elections in which Renamo came second, as it has done in every election since. But the rebels retained an armed force despite agreeing to disarm, claiming that Frelimo, the ruling party, has also reneged on its promises.

The peace deal held until 2013, when skirmishes began once again in the country’s central regions. Renamo remains hugely popular there thanks to a perception — grounded in reality — that Mozambique’s economic development has benefited political elites rather than the common citizen. In stark contrast to the earlier civil war, the victims of violence over the last three years — which has included the looting and burning of towns and villages, rape, and murder — attribute it exclusively to government forces.

In fear for their lives, 12,000 Mozambicans have fled to neighboring Malawi since the middle of 2015. In recent months, the UNHCR, Doctors Without Borders, and Human Rights Watch have reported the refugees’ testimonies, in which they accuse government forces of torching their villages and carrying out sexual abuse and summary executions. It is fortunate that the plight of these refugees has been internationally recognized — but attention has, thus far, been limited to violence in the western province of Tete. In fact, human rights abuses in Mozambique have a far broader geographical scope.

Our investigation confirms that government forces have been the chief aggressors in Mozambique’s latest civil conflict, contradicting the dominant narrative propagated by state-owned media that blame the Renamo rebels. What’s more, we reveal a pattern of government violence against civilians that spans central Mozambique, not just the country’s northwest. Furthermore, we provide proof that government forces are behind recent attempts on the life of Afonso Dhlakama, formerly the rebels’ leader and now an opposition politician.

In the fall of last year, we heard from dozens of Mozambicans living in villages and refugee camps in both central Mozambique and Malawi.Our interviewees testified that the government, not Renamo, have been the aggressors in the fighting. Many say they have lived in peace with the rebel movement.

Our findings are supported by a study conducted by Mozambique’s Human Rights League in 2014, which also found evidence of rape and murder by government soldiers. The organization’s report remains unpublished amid funding issues and fears for the safety of its staff, but we have seen the draft and interviewed its lead author.

The reasons behind the renewal of fighting are unclear, but are usually put down to Renamo’s frustration at having failed to make any gains through democratic means. A 2015 report by London-based foreign policy think tank Chatham House talks of “a marked reversal of democratic progress” in the last years of former President Armando Guebuza’s 10-year term in power, and after losing yet another election in October 2014, Dhlakama, the Renamo leader, threatened to take power by force in six of Mozambique’s 11 provinces where the group had polled best.

Renamo is not blameless in the conflict; military convoys now escort traffic along the country’s main highways following a series of attacks on civilian buses. Renamo claims the buses are transporting government troops disguised as civilians — but even if that’s true, civilians have certainly been caught in the crossfire.

Clashes between Renamo and government forces have intensified throughout 2015 and into 2016. Other than the military convoys, the most obvious sign of the renewed conflict has been the flow of refugees into Malawi. In the face of growing evidence to the contrary, the Mozambican government continues to resist the interpretation that these “migrants” are fleeing government aggression. Mozambique’s foreign minister has evenaccused the UNHCR of trying to persuade the refugees to stay in Malawi. In March, state-owned media launched an all-out offensive — in newspapers, television, and radio — to allege that the so-called refugees are either Renamo operatives or Malawians looking for hand-outs from international NGOs.

First-hand testimonies from the refugees are emphatic, however, that the fault for the violence lies squarely with the government.

Verniz Jose Joao Algundias, a 32-year-old subsistence farmer, told us that in August 2015 he saw government troops arrive at his village in Ndande, in the coal-rich district of Moatize, apparently looking for Renamo troops. “When they didn’t find Renamo, they went for the population,” Algundias told us. “They burned 16 houses in one go. In the coming days they burned the rest. We have nothing to go back to.”

Ana-Maria Antonio, a 24-year-old single mother of four, says her village’s attackers were wearing the grey uniforms of the ironically-titled “Protection Police.” “When we heard shots, we went to hide in the river,” she said. “When we went back, our houses were burned. Those bandits are still there.”

Hundreds of kilometers away, on the road to Casa Banana, Renamo’s civil war redoubt in the hills of central Mozambique, we spoke to locals in the village of Mucodza. After we satisfied them that we were no threat, a group of four motorcycle taxi drivers explained why they were so nervous. “The FIR [an elite police unit] come through here quite a bit,” Toni said.“Whenever we see them, we hide. If you’ve been hit before, you flinch every time.”

He showed us bullet holes that mark most of the village’s houses. “They shot into the houses thinking Renamo men might be hiding in them,” Toni explained of a 2013 assault. Another motorcyclist, Agostinho Manuel, says government forces burned houses to the ground using flame-throwers. “When they want to try out new arms, they come and do it here,” he says.

Casa Banana was taken by government forces in 2014, and it seemed quiet when we passed by in October 2015. Dhlakama had just gone into hiding after his convoy came under attack twice within two weeks. A group of journalists travelling with the convoy confirmed the first attack, but the government denies responsibility for either incident.

According to the police, the second shoot-out on September 25 took place after Renamo men opened fire on a minibus which had tried to overtake the convoy. Locals who witnessed the incident, however, assured us that the minibus was caught in the crossfire of an ongoing firefight that started when the Renamo convoy was fired on from a nearby hill.

On the hill, we saw the remains of what seemed a well-planned ambush. At one vantage point, where Renamo’s burned out cars were still visible on the road, we found spent rocket launchers that had been discarded. Empty cardboard boxes bearing Mozambican military inscriptions littered the ground, along with the remains of food rations and military camping stoves. Locals told us they had found discarded police uniforms and bulletproof vests on the scene that were subsequently removed by police.

Dhlakama and his men escaped into the surrounding countryside, which is full of Renamo supporters, with government forces in hot pursuit. Fighting was reported in the surrounding villages in the days following the ambush, and when we arrived a month later, locals recounted how government forces had taken over a primary school from which they launched rocket propelled grenades at houses suspected of harboring Renamo militia.

The government denies being behind the attacks on Dhlakama — or even that there’s a civil war going on at all — describing the outbreaks of violence as localized disturbances which are dealt with by police, rather than the military.

In the meantime, Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, continues to deny knowledge of the wider campaign of terror his troops are waging against suspected Renamo supporters. In the face of testimony from people on the ground, his protestations ring hollow. And while the leader of the opposition suffers real threats to his life, so do his repeated calls for peace.

The reporting for this story was made possible by support from theJournalism Fund.

In the photo, Mozambican refugees wait for registration at the Kapise refugee camp in Malawi on January 7, 2015.

Photo credit: ELDSON CHAGARA/AFP/Getty Images

Bragging of free press, Israel jails 19 journalists

Palestinian journalists hold a rally demanding that Israel release their jailed colleague Omar Nazzal, in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, on 30 April.

Budour Youssef Hassan

6 May 2016

When Israeli police

briefly detained William Booth, The Washington Post’s bureau chief in Jerusalem in February, the incident sparked considerable media attention.

Photographs of Booth and his colleague Sufian Taha being removed from the Damascus Gate, an entry to the Old City, were widely circulated.

The incident was, however, quickly dismissed as isolated and

“regrettable” – in the words of an Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting Germany at the time, claimed that Israel does not arrest journalists and that the media in Israel is “lively and free.”

Netanyahu was lying: Israel frequently arrests and imprisons Palestinian journalists.

Nineteen Palestinian journalists are currently in Israeli detention, according to data issued by the Palestinian Prisoners Club.

The latest such detainee is 24-year-old photographer and reporter Hasan Safadi.

He was arrested on 30 April at the Allenby crossing, on his way back from a visit to Jordan. Israel controls that crossing, which connects Jordan to the occupied West Bank.

Safadi is a media officer with Addameer, a group campaigning for Palestinian prisoners.

He has also contributed to numerous publications, including Assafir, a newspaper published in Lebanon.

“After arresting him at the border, they also raided our home and confiscated several books and any papers that had Hasan’s name,” Ghazal Safadi, Hasan’s sister, told The Electronic Intifada. As she spoke, Israeli border police and special units were searching the family’s home in the Beit Hanina neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

“Hasan was arrested for doing his job, for writing, for documenting Israel’s violations.”

Hasan Safadi is scheduled to appear in court this Sunday.

Wave of attacks

Ghazal believes that her brother’s arrest is part of an escalating wave of attacks not just against journalists, but against all Palestinians trying to expose Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians.

Another Jerusalem-based reporter arrested last month was 25-year-old Samah Dweik.

A reporter for both the newspaper Al-Quds and the online Quds News Network, Dweik was arrested at her home in Ras al-Amoud, also in East Jerusalem, on 10 April.

“The army and police raided our home at approximately 9:30 am and turned it upside down while searching for documents belonging to Samah,” Israa Dweik, Samah’s sister, told The Electronic Intifada.

“They confiscated my laptop, as well as Samah’s and my mother’s mobile phone,” Israa added. “They took many books and have not returned anything yet.”

Samah Dweik was recently transferred to Hasharon prison, an Israeli jail where Palestinian women political prisoners are traditionally held, and faces charges of incitement.

Dweik was one of the few journalists closely following the case of Palestinian schoolgirl Marah Bakir, imprisoned for allegedly stabbing an Israeli soldier.

Israa Dweik feels it is ironic that – after Samah had spent so much time with Marah’s family and writing about Marah’s plight – Samah and Marah are now in the same prison.

Concealing occupation

“For Israel, covering the human suffering in Jerusalem and the aggression that Palestinians face on a daily basis is considered incitement,” Israa added. “They want Palestinians to remain silent and they want to conceal the true face of the occupation by arresting and persecuting people like my sister.”

Samah Dweik had been especially busy since an uprising against Israel began in October last year. She has covered in detail the effects of Israel’s crackdown on the Palestinian community in Jerusalem.

Among the topics she has written about were the arrest of Palestinian minors, home demolitions, the placing of Palestinians under house arrests and incursions by Israeli settlers into al-Aqsa mosque.

“Writing about Jerusalem and covering what happens in all of its neighborhoods was Samah’s primary mission,” said Israa. “She is looking to improve as a journalist and develop her experience and make a name for herself. But Jerusalem will always be her main focal point.”

To try to excuse its persecution of Palestinian journalists, Israel has often pressed charges of incitement. The charge has become so common that it appears Israel regards all Palestinian journalists who simply do their jobs as guilty of incitement – a vague and amorphous concept.

Sometimes, though, Israel does not even bother pressing charges. Some journalists are subject to administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

The TV journalist Muhammad al-Qiq is among those who have been held under administrative detention.

He helped draw attention both to Israel’s use of this practice – condemned by human rights groups – and to its persecution of journalists by undertaking a hunger strike.

After al-Qiq refused food for 94 days, Israel agreed to end his detention in February.

Another Palestinian journalist held under administrative detention is 54-year-old Omar Nazzal.

Nazzal, a member of the general secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the director of a private media firm, was arrested in March.

While traveling to attend a conference by the European Federation of Journalists in Bosnia, he was arrested at the Allenby crossing. He has since been placed under administrative detention.

Nazzal is a father of three daughters, the youngest of whom is 15. He was previously arrested during the first intifada for his activism with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and had faced a travel ban for more than two years.

“The arrest of Omar demonstrates Israel’s plan to silence Palestinian voices and to intimidate the entire Palestinian society,” Marilyn Rabadi, Nazzal’s wife, told The Electronic Intifada. “Israel constantly brags about its so-called free press, and unfortunately it seems many in the West subscribe to this myth. But reality couldn’t be more different.”

Rabadi is aware that her husband’s case has received more attention than that of many other detained Palestinian journalists. Yet she argues that the coverage of Nazzal’s case is still far less than he would receive if he was from the West.

“We are tired of just hearing condemnations that lead to no actual pressure on Israel to release journalists,” she said. “Palestinian journalists are arrested, beaten and harassed. Unless practical and genuine pressure is employed – not just rhetoric – these attacks against journalists will continue.”

Rabadi believes that it’s not just the so-called international community that is to blame for the impunity with which Israel carries out its attacks against Palestinian journalists.

“We obviously appreciate the support we got from the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate but the Palestinian Authority has done nothing,” she said. “They [the PA] claim to have some sort of sovereignty in the West Bank, but Israel can easily arrest people in the heart of Ramallah or at the crossing and all you could hear from the PA is soft, almost shy, condemnation.”

On 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, Nazzal issued a letter from jail, reiterating his commitment to defending the right to expression in Palestine.

“I was arrested for expressing my opinions, for practicing my job as a journalist, and for defending human rights, and particularly the rights of journalists,” Nazzal wrote. “My arrest is a clear attack not just against the freedom of the press, but also against union organizing and the freedom to work in general. It is an attack against the entire Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.”

“And on behalf of all imprisoned journalists, I pledge to you that we will not put down our pens,” Nazzal added. “Our voices will remain loud and the lenses of our cameras will always be prepared to document the crimes of the Israeli occupation in order to reveal them to the world.”

Budour Youssef Hassan is a Palestinian writer and law graduate based in occupied Jerusalem. Blog:budourhassan.wordpress.com.

Syrian opposition warns of 'imminent massacre' as forces storm Hama prison

Syrian government assault comes five days after prisoners began protesting against death sentences and conditions in jail

Friday 6 May 2016

Syrian government forces stormed the central prison in Hama on Friday evening in an attempt to bring an end to a mutiny, according to a Syria monitor.

"They fired tear gas grenades inside the prison after arresting the families of prisoners gathered outside the building concerned about their fate," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP.

Video footage posted on social networks which could not be independently verified showed a corridor filled with flames and smoke as a voice is heard giving the date as 6 May and the location as the central prison in Hama.

The sound of bursting tear gas grenades can be heard as inmates chant "Allahu Akbar!" (God is greatest) while others are heard coughing.

"There are reports of people falling unconscious and cases of suffocation", said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.

The mutiny began on Sunday when prison authorities tried to take five detainees to the military-run Saydnaya prison near Damascus, possibly for execution, according to a statement released on Friday by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

In reaction, several guards were taken hostage and prisoners took control of a section of the prison. Water and power supplies have since been cut.

"Hundreds of lives are at stake, and I call on the authorities to resort to mediation, or other alternatives to force," Hussein said in the statement.

"They should refer Syria to the ICC, so that there is a clear path to punishment for those who commit crimes like these.”

A video clip from earlier this week that also could not be independently verified purports to show prisoners inside the jail. At the end of the video, the man taping says they are protesting against death sentences given to their fellow prisoners.

Syrian activist group the Local Coordination Committees said about 800 prisoners, who are also protesting against conditions inside the jail, are involved.

The inmates are demanding trials, Abdel Rahman said.

Authorities have released 46 prisoners since the protest began, the Observatory said.

In a statement released on Friday, Syria's main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), called on international organisations "to intervene to prevent an imminent massacre" of prisoners.

The HNC urged the international community to "shoulder its responsibilities" and stop the government from carrying out "reprisals against the detainees".

France on Friday warned of "deadly reprisals from the regime" to end the mutiny and called on Damascus's allies to exert pressure "to avoid another massacre in Syria".

Last summer, Hama Central Prison saw a huge protest involving about 1,200 detainees who staged a sit-in demanding improvements in conditions. Prison authorities eventually backed down and the head of the facility was replaced.

More than 200,000 people have been imprisoned in government jails since 2011, according to the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria for its information.

Tens of thousands of political detainees are reported to have died of torture, of which the Observatory says it has verified 14,000 cases.

More than 270,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict since in started with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011

Why the US Will Not Sign the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

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by Ken Meyercord

( May 4, 2016, Boston, Sri Lanka Guardian) Critics of American foreign policy love to point out instances where our policy reeks of hypocrisy. No current issue in international affairs affords a better illustration of our inconsistent sanctimoniousness than the dispute over competing claims to insular territories (whether to call them “islands” or “rocks” is of great significance, as we shall see) in the South China Sea.

Symptomatic of our hypocrisy on this issue, we protest Chinese “aggressive” actions in the area by sailing the Seventh Fleet through the territorial waters of atolls turned into landing-strips to demonstrate our commitment to protecting freedom of navigation. Yet we refuse to sign the UN’s Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the international effort to formalize the rules governing freedom of navigation on the high seas. The convention, which has been around since 1982, has been ratified by over 160 UN member states, including China, but not by the U.S. of A.

Opponents of the UNCLOS, like Senators Portman and Ayotte, contend that the convention infringes on US sovereignty, in particular with regard to its provision for international arbitration of disputes (keep that in mind when the Permanent Court of Arbitration rules on a suit brought by the Philippines over China’s claims in the South China Sea). But I believe the main reason for our unwillingness to ratify the UNCLOS lies elsewhere.

The convention makes a distinction between “islands”, which can support human habitation, and “rocks”, which cannot. The territorial waters around either type of sea-bound outcrop can be claimed up to 12-miles out, but a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) can only be claimed around an island, not a rock.

We have a number of possessions in the Pacific, formally called US Minor Outlying Islands, around which we claim EEZs. Here’s a map showing them:

Most of these possessions were acquired in the late 19th century under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. There was a gold rush, so to speak, for guano deposits at the time as the phosphate-rich bird poop was much sought after as a fertilizer. The act authorized any American captain who stumbled on an uninhabited, unclaimed island covered in guano to claim it in the name of the United States. Under the act dozens of islands came into America’s possession, most of which we gave up once an island had been stripped clean, literally. Currently, none of our outlying islands have permanent residents.

As can be seen, the EEZs around these outlying “islands” cover a sizeable area. In fact, the projection used causes the EEZs in the South Pacific to look smaller than they actually are compared to zones in more northern latitudes. Just one of the equatorial EEZs, that around the Howland and Baker Islands, is larger than the EEZ off the California coast.

Under UNCLOS, many of these “islands” would be deemed mere rocks, not entitled to EEZs. The same is probably true of some of the “islands” in the Aleutian Islands chain. Hence, ratification of the Convention on the Law of the Sea would result in a significant diminution of our Exclusive Economic Zones, something our world-beaters are not likely to agree to readily.

Despite the rocky grounds for many of our own claims, we pooh-pooh Chinese claims based on similar grounds. I recently heard a former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks, belittle China’s claim to the Scarborough Shoal because it is almost underwater at high tide (see this video at the 2:55:26 minute mark); yet we claim not only the territorial waters but also an EEZ around a reef in the Hawaiian Islands chain, Maro Reef, which is entirely submerged, even at LOW tide.

As mentioned previously, the Philippines has taken China to court over its claims in the South China Sea. The court in question, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, is often referred to in the press as a “UN tribunal” to give it greater cachet, but, in fact, it is not part of the UN, being a body created in 1899 when imperialism ruled the waves. No wonder China refuses to participate in the proceedings (a Palestinian in an Israeli court stands a better chance) and will no doubt ignore an adverse ruling. If so, you can count on our media howling about China flaunting the rule of law, how outraged the “the international community” (read “NATO”) is, and the like.

Perhaps some courageous, soon-to-be-unemployed journalist will be brave enough to point out that when Nicaragua took us before the International Court of Justice – an actual UN body – over our mining of their harbors and other offenses, we refused to participate in the proceedings, claiming the court did not have jurisdiction. When the court ruled against us, we blocked enforcement of the ruling through our veto in the Security Council. Embarrassingly, in light of current posturing, one of the charges levelled against us was interrupting peaceful maritime commerce – this by the self-proclaimed protector of freedom of navigation in the western Pacific.

To the uninformed (read “Kathleen Hicks”), it will seem obvious to whom sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal belongs. Just look at how close they are to the Philippines and how far from China.
Ms. Hicks has probably never heard of Navassa Island, another Guano Islands Act possession of ours (see the map of US EEZs above). It lies far from our shores but just off the coast of Haiti, which also claims it. We’ve shown no willingness to give up the former El Dorado of avian defecation simply based on geography.

Similarly, when bemoaning how far China’s nine-dash-line delineating its claims in the South China Sea (shown as a solid red line above) extends from the Chinese mainland, we should consider what a line encompassing our own far-flung possessions would look like. Our line, like China’s, would reflect past naval exploits, not proximity to ours or someone else’s coast, and our line would extend much farther from our mainland than China’s does from theirs.

Adopting a conveniently faulty memory, we call for peaceful resolution of the disputes and require all disputants (read “China”) to refrain from aggressive actions, like populating disputed territories, but in 1935 we secretly started placing settlers on Howland, Baker, and Jarvis Islands, former Guano Islands Act possessions long forgotten and by then of lapsed and uncertain ownership. After a year of surreptitious colonizing, President Roosevelt revealed the sneaky scheme and proclaimed the islands American territory. That sort of behavior would not be condoned under the Convention on the Law of the Sea, another reason our wily buccaneers will not sign it.

Ken Meyercord is the author of The Ethic of Zero Growth. He is a retiree who lives in the Washington, DC area where he heads up The Iconoclast’s Book Club. He can be reachedat: kiaskfm@verizon.net.