Month: July 2006

Cluster bombs used against civilian populated areas, HRW says

From the BBC…

Israel urged to shun cluster bomb
US-based Human Rights Watch says Israel has used cluster bombs in civilian areas during its assault on Lebanon.

The group says an attack using the munitions on the village of Blida last week killed one person and injured 12.
It says the explosives – which disperse after impact – are “unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable”, and should not be used in populated areas.
The Israeli military says their use is legal under international law, and that it is investigating the Blida incident.
‘Outdated’
Critics say cluster bombs leave behind a large number of unexploded bomblets, which often kill long after they are fired.
“Our research in Iraq and Kosovo shows that cluster munitions cannot be used in populated areas without huge loss of civilian life,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The group believes that the use of cluster munitions in populated areas may violate the prohibition on indiscriminate attacks contained in international humanitarian law.
“They’re not illegal per se, but certain attacks may be illegal,” Washington representative Bonnie Docherty says.
“The law of war requires you to distinguish between soldiers and civilians, so when you are using an outdated, unreliable weapon in a populated area, it is likely that the attack violates international humanitarian law,” she told the BBC.
“We have researchers on the ground who are investigating them and will investigate other claims related to cluster munitions, as well as other incidents in the ongoing conflict.”

Continue reading Cluster bombs used against civilian populated areas, HRW says

More on anti-torture website

I posted before something on one of my favorite human rights websites that monitors torturers in Egypt.

I received a message from the website editor, with more background information:

This website was founded last January, aiming at covering news about torture crimes committed by Egyptian Ministry of Interior. The working team of torture in Egypt believes that raising people’s awareness of their rights is the first step to create a solid anti-torture movement.
I was the first member who joined the website staff, now we are a growing team editing, searching, publishing news and reports about torture crimes committed in Egypt by the interior ministry, and support those whose rights were violated.

Now, here is our story…
March 2005
Me sitting staring at my PC, a scream came from one of Al-Nadeem reports: “They should die otherwise we will do!” It was a woman telling here experience in a police station, meaning by” they” the police officers.” Nothing could compensate what I suffered,” she explained.

26 June 2005
Alaa is standing in a demonstration lifting a banner says “religion is for God and torture is for all!”
Amr came to the demo, carrying a huge list contained names of men, women, young, old, Muslims, Copts, political activists, criminals, innocents… etc. All were tortured by the interior ministry heroes. Some of them were tortured to death.

August 2005:
Me again in front of my PC trying to build a blog, where I can publish some simple researches about torture I prepared.
I sent an email to Alaa seeking his help. He encouraged and sent me some extra material.

January 2006
Amr, Alaa and me sitting in a café with their laptops preparing new and bigger website named “torture in Egypt.” Each one of us was talking about the role one would play in this website.

Today, al hamdu lelah, we have more sources, many people are helping, we send a periodical newsletter to a huge number of people ,we guide some fans to NGOs where they can volunteer, and the most important, people are now more aware of their right of protection against torture.

Police ban solidarity protest

A blogger with Al-Ghad Party reports that a group of young party activists tried to organize a demo on Sunday in solidarity with the Lebanese resistance, and to mark the 23rd of July “Revolution,” but were banned by the police.

As they were coming out of the party building, the activists were met by General Sami Seidhom, and a phalanx of CSF and State Security agents, according to blogger Mohamed el-Sa3eed. General Seidhom hurled slurrs and threatened the activists with detention if they stepped into the street, el-Sa3eed said. The activists retreated upstairs to the party office, and chanted from the balcony overfacing Tal3at Harb Square. Security forces, according to el-Sa3eed, banned Al-3arabiya crew who arrived at the scene from filming.

SCF: Israel set war plan more than a year ago

An article from the San Francisco Chronicle, published last Friday

Israel set war plan more than a year ago
Strategy was put in motion as Hezbollah began increasing its military strength
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Friday, July 21, 2006

Jerusalem — Israel’s military response by air, land and sea to what it considered a provocation last week by Hezbollah militants is unfolding according to a plan finalized more than a year ago.

Continue reading SCF: Israel set war plan more than a year ago

Iraq to break apart?

I’ve been feeling guilty recently about not writing the horrible events of the past few weeks in Iraq because I’ve been too focused on Lebanon. I won’t go into details now, but just want to signal this story by Patrick Cockburn in the Independent:

A car bomb in a market in the Shia stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad yesterday killed 34 people and wounded a further 60 and was followed by a second bomb in the same area two hours later that left a further eight dead. Another car bomb outside a court house in Kirkuk killed a further 20 and injured 70 people.

“Iraq as a political project is finished,” a senior government official was quoted as saying, adding: “The parties have moved to plan B.” He said that the Shia, Sunni and Kurdish parties were now looking at ways to divide Iraq between them and to decide the future of Baghdad, where there is a mixed population. “There is serious talk of Baghdad being divided into [Shia] east and [Sunni] west,” he said.

Although some people, notably among those who pushed for invading Iraq in the first place, think partition is a good idea, I don’t see how it’s going to happen without even more bloodshed.