The denial of medical treatment is a way by which Iranian authorities put pressure on political prisoners.

Zanyar and Loghman Moradi are two political prisoners who, under torture, signed a document holding them responsible for the murder of a regime official that took place in a Kurdish city in Iran.

According to a report by Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Zanyar and Loghman Moradi been subjected to torture and threatened with rape.

Neither of these two political prisoners have been allowed visits with their families in more than six months.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

High Court takes cognisance of daughter’s plea: After 37 years, doc’s death reopened; to be probed as murder (As written by Bangalore Mirror.Page 1. 19/09/2012)

His daughter’s suspicions about the nature of his death were heightened when she was warned not to write about the incident in a blog. She approached the High Court, on whose directions the Ashoknagar police have registered a murder case.

Till a few years ago, Roshini Mathan believed that her father had died in an accident. But a phone call warning her to stop writing about her father’s death in ablogaroused her suspicions. With the help of her husband, a doctor, she approached the high court, and the 37-year-old case has now been reopened by the police as one of murder.

According to Roshini, her father JA Mathan, originally from Kolar, was a doctor attached to a PHC in Kollur of Yadgir district. A Hindu, he was married to Agnes Flora, a Christian. Roshini was born a few years after the marriage. According to Roshini, her mother allegedly entered into an extra-marital relationship which led to a split between her parents.

“My father was transferred to Bangalore and posted as health advisor in the department of health services. He started a clinic on Palm Grove Street in Austin Town. On October18, 1975, he was called to his clinic as a woman, Saraswathi, had come there complaining of chest pains. Later, he was found dead on the road some distance away from the clinic,” Roshini said.

“Roshini was two and a half years old at the time. Instead of taking the body to a hospital to confirm the death, Flora and several relatives had the body buried in the cemetery of St Patrick’s Church by convincing the church authorities that it was an accident case. We searched for documentary evidence of the accident but couldn’t find anything in any police station or hospital. Hence, we strongly suspect he was murdered,” Roshini’s husband Savio Pereira said.

“I was writing about my father on my social service society blog. After this, I received calls from two people who threatened me with dire consequences if I did not stop writing about my father’s death under mysterious circumstances,” Roshini alleged. “I lodged a complaint in this regard with the Madiwala police,” she added.

“After this incident, our suspicions about Dr Mathan’s death were heightened. We filed a writ petition and the High Court of Karnataka advised us to submit a complaint to the Ashoknagar police. The case has now been reopened as one of murder,” Savio Pereira told BANGALORE MIRROR.

Mathan’s body was found on the road, some distance away from his clinic. Roshini lost her father J A Mathan when she was two and a half years old.

AUTHOR: Roshni Pereira
URL: http://voiceofwomenindia.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: roshniper [at] gmail.com

Mr. Benigno Aquino III, 1 President Republic of the Philippines
Re: PHILIPPINES: Children of murdered journalist in the Maguindanao massacre subjected to overt surveillance

Dear President Republic of the Philippines,

Names of person facing threats:
1. Noel Christopher Reblando, 36 years old
2. James Ryan Reblando, 35
3. Maria Priscilla Zainal, 23

They are all children of Alejandro “Bong” Reblando, one of the 32 journalists murdered in the Maguindanao massacre
Place of incident: At their home in Barangay Calumpang, General Santos City
Date of incident: From November 23, 2011 to present

I am writing to express my grave concern and request your prompt intervention to ensure the security and safety of the children of Alejandro “Bong” Reblando, one of the 32 journalists murdered in the Maguindanao massacre, who are facing continuing threats on their lives. His children, whose names are mentioned above, had reported the threats after taking up the prosecution for the murder of their father, Alejandro, on behalf of their mother, Myrna.

I am aware that Myrna, who herself had to endure threats and risk, had to stop attending her husband’s murder trial and undergo ongoing treatment due to the trauma that she had suffered, and from the negative experience she had in court.

Myrna thus asked her children to represent her case in the criminal prosecution; and for them to take responsibility as complainants for criminal prosecution. I believe her children are now facing threats due to their role in the prosecution of the case. I am aware that Myrna herself had a Php three million bounty on her head for anyone who could murder her as a result of her refusal to withdraw her complaint for murder.

Also, the threats to life of Myrna and her children are real, not subjective, as certified by Jose Manuel Mamauag, Focal Commissioner for Mindanao of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), on May 23, 2011, stating that:

in the course of my visitation in Mindanao as Focal Commissioner for that area, I had the opportunity to meet and get confirmation from people probing into the November 23, 2009 Maguindanao Massacre of the existence of continuing serious threats on the life of Myrna P. Reblando and her children, all heirs of massacre victim and Manila Bulletin journalist Alejandro “Bong” Reblando. The seriousness of such threats renders very risky the stay of the Reblandos in their “unsecured” place of residence”

Since May 2011, no adequate and state-sponsored protection had been afforded to ensure the security and safety of Reblando’s six children. Thus, what his children could do was to report the overt surveillance that they noticed at their home in General Santos City to the closest police station. Here is the excerpt of the report:

On November 23, 2011 at 1:04pmNoel Christopher Reblando “appeared to this office and requested to put on record as alleged that OOA (on or about) 12:37 November 23, 2011 he saw a person in military uniform push his single motorcycle and passed to the front of their residence by the time that he was saw by the said person who is in military uniform. He start his single motorcycle and speed up towards north direction” [quoted verbatim].

On the same day, his other son also reported:

James Ryan Reblando “appeared to this office and requested to put on record that sometimes of the first week of October there was a group of Muslim’s person from North Cotabato was for him it was gaining information for his father was a victim of Maguidanao massacre (Bong Reblando) and 2nd time sometimes of 3rd week of October 2011 a group of three (3) malefactor boarded on top down passed three (3) times to the front of their residence and sight seeing to their house, by the time that they got assumed said top down speed-up towards south direction” [quoted verbatim]

On December 9, 2011, his other daughter also reported:

Maria Priscilla Zainal “appeared to this office and requested to put on record as alleged that OOA (on or about) 5:05pm of this date one multicab color white stop fronting a little to their house boarded with one person and sight seeing to their house from the northside of their home the driver drove his multicab slowly mobiling to the south direction of their home” [quoted verbatim]

Although the threats to Myrna and her children were properly and immediately reported to the police authorities, no action was taken to investigate this matter apart from merely recording their complaints.

I trust that you will take immediate action on this matter and ensure the safety of Myrnas family.

AUTHOR: William Nicholas Gomes
URL: www.williamgomes.org
E-MAIL: williamgomes.org [at] gmail.com

Introduction:

The execution wave that began after the June 2009 post-election protests in Iran is still going on with high frequency . According to the present report, the execution figure in 2011 was the highest reported since the beginning of 90′s.

Iranian authorities continue executing several hundred prisoners each year in the pretext of fighting drug-trafficking. Among those executed for drug trafficking in 2011 we find alone mothers of dependent children, who were subjected to unfair trials and executed and those whose families do not even afford to pay the expenses for their funeral.

What distinguishes the 2011 report from previous years is the dramatic increase in the number of public executions. The number of executions carried out publicly in 2011 in Iran is more than three times higher than the average in the previous years.

There is no indication that the Iranian authorities’ execution machine will slow down in 2012. In the first two weeks of January 2012, an average of 3-4 people have been executed in Iran every day. By the end of January 2011, 11 executions have been carried out publicly.

At the same time, Iranian authorities are threatening to execute more people for other “crimes”. The Iranian Supreme Court has recently approved the death sentence of Iranian-born Canadian permanent resident Saeed Malekpour for running “obscene” websites. He is now at imminent danger of execution.

Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who converted to Christianity at the age of 19 and who was sentenced to death for Apostasy in 2010, might also be in danger of execution. There is serious concern that approval of the new Islamic Penal Code (IPC) by the Guardian Council might lead to more death penalties for Apostasy.

Iran Human Rights is also concerned about reports indicating Kurdish political prisoners Zanyar and Loghman Moradi might be in danger of execution.

There are also indications that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani- the 43-year-old mother of two whose stoning death sentence was stopped, thanks to a worldwide campaign- might be in danger of execution.

Recently, an Iranian judge has indicated that the stoning verdict for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani can be converted to death by hanging.

Commenting on this report, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR said: “There is little doubt that the Iranian authorities use the death penalty as a political mean. The dramatic increase in the number of executions shows that the Iranian regime is more than ever dependent on spreading fear to prolong its survival. Death penalty in general and public executions in particular- are the Iranian regime’s most important instrument for creating fear in the society.” He added: “We urge the international community to put sustainable focus on the human rights violations and particularly on the death penalty in Iran, and take further steps to stop the Iranian regime’s execution machine.”

The figures included in this report are mainly based on information announced by the Iranian authorities. However, some figures are based on reports from reliable unofficial sources. During the past two years IHR has concluded that the number of the executions not announced by the official Iranian sources is much higher than previously anticipated. A significant portion of the unofficial figures included in this report has been prepared thanks to the individuals in Iran who, despite all the risks, have contributed with invaluable information to make the report somehow closer to the reality. IHR must emphasize that the actual number of the executions in Iran is probably much higher than the figures included in its annual report.

Sources

The present report uses the Iranian authorities as its main source. 62% of the executions reported here are based on the news published by state-run media news agencies and newspapers and the statements made by high-ranking officials within the Iranian judiciary. Like last year, IHR has received reports on large numbers of executions that have not been announced by official Iranian sources. Many cases are directly communicated to IHR (though a direct witness, family member, lawyer, or key sources within the Judiciary) or reached us through other human rights organizations. The annual report only includes non-official cases which have been confirmed by at least two different independent sources.

Some facts:

• At least 676 people were executed according to IHR’s annual report 2011
• 416 of the 676 executions (62%) were announced by the Iranian authorities
• 65 executions were carried out in public. This is the highest number of public executions in more than 10 years.
• At least 4 juvenile offenders were among those executed in Iran in 2011
• At least 15 women were executed in 2011. Executions of 13 of these women were not announced by the Iranian authorities
• 3 young men were executed convicted of sodomy
• One man was executed convicted of “apostasy”
• More than 80% of those executed were convicted of drug trafficking
• Only 9% of those officially executed for drug charges were fully identified
• IHR has received reports of secret or “un-announced” executions in more than 15 different Iranian prisons
• More than 70 additional executions reported to IHR, are not included in the annual report due to difficulties in confirming some of the details

2011: The highest number of annual executions in the past 11 years Sources: Amnesty International (AI) and Iran Human Rights (IHR):

• 2000: 165 (AI)
• 2001: 75 (AI)
• 2002: 316 (AI)
• 2003: 154 (AI)
• 2004: 108 (AI)
• 2005: 94 (AI)
• 2006: 177 (AI)
• 2007: 317 (AI)
• 2008: 350 (IHR), (346; AI)
• 2009: 402 (IHR), (388; AI)
• 2010: 546 (IHR) (adjusted to 646)*
• 2011: 676 (IHR) : Official: 416 non-official: 260
• 100 of the 140 executions in the province of South Khorasan (Birjand) that were confirmed by the Iranian officials have been added to the 2010 numbers

Drug trafficking:

As in previous years drug trafficking was the most frequently used charge against those who were executed in 2011 in Iran. 81 % of those executed in 2011 (71% of the official and 88% of the unofficail cases) in Iran were convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death by the revolutionary courts. The trials were conducted behind the closed doors and it is not known whether the prisoners had access to lawyer or not. Since more than 80% (91% of the official and 81% of the unofficial cases) of those executed for drug-related charges are not identified by last (family) name it is not possible to confirm the charges. In 2011, there was at least one person who was primarily arrested sentenced to death for participation in anti-regime protests, but was later executed convicted of drug trafficking (see Case 2, below). IHR can not rule out that there might be other similar cases among those executed for drug trafficking.

The figures presented in this report are in line with the report published by Amnesty International in December 2011 (Amnesty International report: Addicted to death).

IHR has received reports indicating that many of those executed convicted of drug trafficking have not been subjected to fair trials.

Case 1:Executed for drug trafficking:

Three women – Leila Hayati, Hourieh Sabahi and Roghieh Khalaji- and two men- Mostafa Ahmadi and Ghanbar Shojaei- were arrested in January 2009 and charged with keeping and trafficking of narcotic drugs. They had no access to lawyer during their interrogations and were tried and sentenced to death by Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court in Hamedan, with no right to appeal. Laila Hayati was executed on September 28 while the four others were executed on October 8. None of the executions were announced by the official Iranian sources.

Hourieh Sabahi (35) was alone mother of five children, one of them being disabled, and Roghieh Khalaji (32) was alone mother of a 12-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter when they were arrested. Hourieh’s family didn’t even have the money to pay for her funeral after her execution. These are only some examples among the several hundred who were executed for “drug trafficking”.

Case 2: Arrested after a protest demonstration but executed for drug trafficking

Execution for sodomy:

Six young men were executed in Ahvaz on September 5. The state run Iranian news agency ISNA reported that three of those executed were sentenced to death by the Ahvaz evolution court, convicted of “unlawful” acts and acts against Sharia, based on the articles 108 and 110 of the Iranian Islamic penal code.

Articles 108 and 110 of the Iranian Islamic Penal code are part of the chapter covering the punishment of “Hadd” for “sodomy”. Article 108 says: “sodomy” (or Lavat) is sexual intercourse between men”, and article 110 says:”Punishment for sodomy is killing; the Sharia judge decides on how to carry out the killing”. The spokesperson of Iran Human Rights (IHR), Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, said:”(these) executions for sodomy might be among the rare cases were the Iranian authorities admit to having executed men convicted of homosexual acts”. He added: “Iranian authorities normally present such cases as rape, but rape as not been mentioned in this case”.

There have been some changes made in the new IPC recently approved by the Guardian Council. The term “homosexual” is presented as a charge in the new law for men who engage in same-sex relations. Previously it was only used for women.

***

Punishment for homosexuality is flogging or death under Iran’s new Islamic Penal Code:

Article 233: the person who played an active role (in sodomy) will be flogged 100 times if the sex was consensual and he was not married, but the one who played a passive role will be sentenced to death regardless of his marriage status. If the active part is none Muslim and the passive part Muslim, both will be sentenced to death.

Articles 236-237: Homosexual acts (except for sodomy) will be punished with 31 -99 lashes (both for men and women)

Article 238: Homosexual relationship between women where there is contact between their sexual organs will be punished with 100 lashes

***

Moharebeh:

Moharebeh (war against God) is a term commonly used by the Iranian authorities for those who are either involved in armed struggle against the authorities or have connections with such groups. Some of those who were convicted of Moharebeh through connection with the banned opposition groups are named below:

 Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei: Both convicted of Moharebeh through connections with the banned organization Mojahedin-e-Khalgh ( MEK/MKO). They had allegedly visited their children who were staying at Camp Ashraf, participated in the post-election protest demonstrations and sent pictures and reports of the demonstrations to MKO sources outside the country. They were executed in Tehran’s Evin prison on January 24.

 Hussein Khezri, convicted of Moharebeh through membership in the banned Kurdish organization PJAK. He was executed on January 15. in the prison of Urmia

 Farhad Tarom was executed for membership in the Kurdish Democratic Party on January 26. in the prison of Urmia

Apostasy:

The sentence of Apostasy in Sharia is death, but Apostasy is not explicitly mentioned in the new IPC. However, the new law makes it easier for judges to issue the death penalty for Apostasy because the new article 220 states: “If the present law is silent about any of the “hodoud” cases, the judge is referred to article 167 of the Constitution.” Article 167 of the Constitution states: “The Judge is bound to attempt to rule on each case, on the basis of the codified law. In case of the absence of any such law, he has to deliver his judgment on the basis of official Islamic sources and authentic fatwa.” The reference to article 167 was previously made in the Civil code but now it is also included in the Penal Law.

Executions of minor offenders:

Iran continued executions of juvenile offenders in 2011. At least four people were convicted of offences they had allegedly committed when they were under the age of 18. Two of them were under 18 years of age at the time they were executed. Two other juvenile offenders were executed in 2011 according to unofficial sources but IHR hasn’t confirmed their age yet.

1. Alireza Molla-Soltani (17): Convicted of murder, Alireza Molla-Soltani was hanged publicly on September 21, 2011 when he was still 17 years old. Source: Iranian media

2. A. N. : Convicted of rape and murder in 2008 when he was 17 years old. Hanged publicly together with three others in Bandar Abbas on April 21. Source: Iranian media

3. H. B.: Involved in the same case as A.N., was 17 years old at the time committing the offence. Hanged publicly together with three others in Bandar Abbas on April 21. Source: Iranian media

4. Hamid Hashemi (16): Belonging to the Arab minority in Ahwaz, was according to Ahwaz news executed in the prison of Ahwaz together with five others allegedly because of participating in a protest. Source: Ahwaz news, Unofficial

5. Vahid M.: Executed for drug trafficking on September 18 according to the state run ISNA news agency. Full name: Vahid Moslemi, Afghan citizen who according to the rights group “Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran” (HRADI) was a juvenile when arrested (age not yet confirmed by IHR)

6. Mohammad N.: Executed together with Vahid M. and 20 other prisoners on September 18 (ISNA). Full name: Mohammad Nourozi, Afghan citizen and juvenile when he was arrested according to HRADI (age not yet confirmed by IHR).

***

Iran has ratified UN convention on the rights of the child which bans death penalty for the offences committed at under 18 years of age. But according to the IranianIslamic penal the minimum criminal age I 9 years for girls and 15 years for boys. In the new IPC that was recently ratified by the Guardian Council some changes have been made with regards to death penalty for juveniles. However, according to the article 90 of the new law a death sentence may still be applied for a juvenile who has reached “maturity”, if he or she has committed crimes that are considered to be “claims of God” and therefore have mandatory sentences (such as sodomy, rape, theft, fornication, apostasy and consumption of alcohol for the forth time).

***

Women:

Execution of only three of the (at least) 15 women who were executed in 2011 has been reported by the Iranian authorities. The other executions have been reported to us through reliable unofficial sources. This trend might indicate that the Iranian authorities do not announce execution of the women prisoners in order to avoid international attention since the international opinion seems to be more sensitive to execution of women.

1. Zahra Bahrami: Executed on January 28 in Tehran’s Evin prison. Iranian-Dutch citizen. Charge: drug trafficking. Originally arrested in connection with anti-regime protests and sentenced to death for Moharebeh. (Source: Iranian state media)

2. NOT IDENTIFIED: Executed on February 28 in the prison of Urmia. Charge: drug trafficking (Source: HRANA)

3. NOT IDENTIFIED: Executed on February 28 in the prison of Urmia. Charge: drug trafficking (Source: HRANA)

4. Adiva Mirza Soleiman: Executed on March 14 in Tehran. Jewish. Charge: Unknown (Source: HRANA)

5. NOT IDENTIFIED: Executed on March 14 in Tehran. . Charge: Unknown (Source: HRANA)

6. NOT IDENTIFIED: Executed on May 24 in Vakilabad prison of Mashhad. Charge: drug trafficking(Source: ICHR)

7. NOT IDENTIFIED: Executed on May 24 in Vakilabad prison of Mashhad . Charge: drug trafficking (Source: ICHR)

8. NOT IDENTIFIED: Executed on May 24 in Vakilabad prison of Mashhad. Charge: drug trafficking (Source: ICHR)

9. Begam N.: Executed on July 20 in the prison of Rafsanjan. Charge: drug trafficking. (Source: ISNA, Iranian state media)

10. Leila Hayati: 29 year old, executed on September 28 in Hamedan. Charge: drug trafficking. (Source: IHR)

11. S. M. B.: Executed on October 3 in Rasht. Charge: Adultery, allegedly sentenced to death by stoning, but hanged. (Source: IHR, further details are being investigated)

12. Roghiyeh Khalaj: 32 year old, executed on October 5 in Hamedan. Charge: drug trafficking. (Source: IHR)

13. Horiyeh Sabahi: 35 year old, executed on October 5 in Hamedan. Charge: drug trafficking. (Source: IHR)

14. NOT IDENTIFIED: Executed on November 29 in the prison of Kermanshah. Charge: drug trafficking. (Source: Fars news agency, Iranian state media)

15. Nahid A.: Executed on December 24 in the prison of Urmia. Charge: drug trafficking. (Source: Mukrian news agency)

Public executions:

In 2011 Iranian authorities carried out a record number of at least 65 public executions. Six of these executions have not been reported by the Iranian authorities.

Most of those hanged publicly were convicted of Rape/sexual assaults (30 of 66), followed by murder ( 16 ), Moharebeh/armed robbery (10), drug trafficking (6) and kidnapping (1).In at least 2 of the public hangings, the execution was carried out by a civilian (as qesas, or retribution)

Geographical distribution of the public executions:

A child is watching a public execution in Iran in Khomeinishahr in October 2011. IHR has urged the international community and the United Nations to put a ban on the public executions.

Reports of secret/non-official executions

In 2011 IHR received a large number of reports about executions not reported by the Iranian authorities. Execution reports from more than 15 different prisons throughout Iran have been confirmed. IHR has received reports of more than 70 other executions that haven’t been included in the present reports. These cases are in the process of being confirmed.

Some of the unofficial executions are not announced by official media, but the lawyers and family members of the prisoners were notified prior to the execution. In other cases, executions are categorized as “secret” since neither the lawyers or family members were informed before the execution took place.

IHR received reports in 2010 of 60-70 executions carried out in Birjand prison. Due to the lack of details surrounding their cases, those executions were not included in the annual report. However, In June 2011, Mohammad Bagher Bagheri, a provincial Justice Ministry official in the South Khorasan province, said 140 drug smugglers had been executed in the province in the past Iranian year (21 March 2010 to 20 March 2011; Mehr News agency, 25. June 2011). IHR has received credible reports about three episodes of executions in Birjand prison in the period from January 2011 to March 2011. Two of these episodes have been confirmed by Iran’s Prosecutor General Mohseni Ejei (Fars news agency 31. January 2011; Siasat-e-rooz, 28. February 2011). Based on the available information IHR has included 100 of the 140 Birjand executions in the 2010 annual report (causing the annual number to increase from 546 to 646). Additionally, 40 of the executions are included in the 2011 annual report.

The primary sources for the other un-announced executions have been Iran Human Rights (IHR), Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran (HRDAI), International Campaign for the Human Rights (ICHR), Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Mukrian news agency, Ahwaz news, RAHANA and Association for Defence of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran (ADAPP).

IHR has only included the cases that have been confirmed by two independent sources, in its annual report.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

Freedom Front Plus member Jaco Mulder

Eric Nkuna and Fortunato Simbine -who had been attacking and terrorising Afrikaner families on Krugersdorp’s smallholdingings throughout 2009– yesterday were found guilty of four charges of housebreaking and armed robbery: Eric Nkuna also was found guilty of executing Afrikaner family-man Juan van Eeden, 28, in Noordheuwel on 10 October 2009. The court heard that these two armed black males had waged a reign of terror throughout the Krugersdorp smallholdings area – and which included very cruel, long-term psychological and physical torture of their Afrikaner victims.

Ügen Vos writes in Beeld from KRUGERSDORP regional court that Eric Nkuna and Foftunato, the two black attackers who had terrorised Afrikaner families at the West Rand throughout 2009, were found guilty on four charges of housebreaking and armed robbery: and that Nkuna also found guilty of murdering a local Afrikaner resident due to ‘insufficient evidence’. Nkuna and Simbine were infamous for their campaign of terror in 2009 during which they often tortured their Afrikaner victims psychologically and physically: the mother of two little girls testifying that the men had asked her children ‘who they wanted shot dead first, ‘mommy or daddy’?

Magistrate Keith Page found Nkuna guilty of murdering Juan van Eeden (28) op 10 Oktober 2009 in Noordheuwel, Krugersdorp. Page ruled however that there was insufficient evidence to link Simbine to the murder. State prosecutor Micky Thesner emphasized the evidence before the court that the residents ‘often were tortured psychologically and physically’.For instance, during their attack on Mrs Marie Cloete and her two- and seven-year-old daughters, and Mr Harry Kok on 25 February 2009 the Afrikaners were held at gunpoint for hours.Mrs Cloete testified that Nkuna and Simbine smoked a marijuana-cigarette during the family’s ordeal: and asked her children ‘which one of your parents should be shot dead first’. They apparently surmised that Mr Kok was the father of the children, she testified. Nkuna also threatened to rape Mrs Cloete in her youngstest child’s bedroom. The attackers drove off in her Ford Tracer.

Juan van Eeden was executed with a single-shot through his neck:

Mr Juan van Eeden ‘s murder also was horrific, the court heard. Mr Van Eeden tried to lock himself in the main-bedroom of his home on 10 October 2009 while Nkuna broke in at 2am. Nkuna broke down the bedroom door and ‘coldbloodedly shot dead Van Eeden with a neckshot’, the court heard.

Finger-print on their .45 pistol was linked to cartridge at Van Eeden’s murder scene:

On 22 Oct 2009 the two terrorists had also attacked Mr Johan Potgieter in Noordheuwel after poisoning his staffordshire-terriër. However this was a crucial turning point for the police in tracing the two men: Potgieter was able to push an emergency service’s button while the two armed black males stormed into his bedroom. In their haste to flee before the armed response unit would arrive, they lost a .45 pistol – with Simbine’s finger-print on it. And this .45 pistol provided the positive proof, the vital link that the cartridge which was used to murder Mr Van Eeden, was directly linked to Simbine. On 23 October the gang attacked Mrs Johanna Paulina Erasmus at her home in Noordheuwel. They tried to strangle her, then beat her unconscious with a spanner and fled with a Mercedes Benz 230 which was traced by her tracking company and the West Rand Reaction Unit – and both men were arrested.

The terror campaign against the Afrikaners of Krugersdorp continues unabated: even Freedom Front Plus MEC Jaco Mulder feels unsafe inside his own Noordheuwel home…

However while these two men have been arrested and tried, the campaign of terror against the Afrikaners around Krugersdorp continues unabated. On Nov 1 2011, Krugersdorp Noordheuwel families suffered a wave of senseless knifing attacks: with one girl surviving with horrid mutilations carved into her body by two black men in a frenzied attack. The 22-year-old girl lives right across the home of the Gauteng premier Mrs Nombula Mokonyane…

The girl was attacked at 11am on Nov 1 2011 in her home in Noordheuwel Krugersdorp. She was deliberately mutilated by the two black males with knives who stabbed her repeatedly in the frenzied attack She fought back courageously and managed to send an SOS to her mother – which caused her attackers to flee. Nothing was robbed.

This incident was only one of a series of senseless knifing attacks targetting Afrikaners throughout this region. The victim’s identity is not released for security reasons, the police said.

Freedom Front Plus member Jaco Mulder said after the incident he no longer feels safe with his family in their Noordheuwel home. Mulder, who is a MEC- member of the Gauteng provincial security committee, said that there are spates of attacks and house-breakings targetting people in their homes. “The criminals clearly do not fear any of the law-enforcement agencies in South Africa. Criminals move around freely in suburbs, and use exquisitively-detailed intelligence and information about the daily habits of their identified victims. The SAPS and the neighbourhood-watch initiatives are falling down flat when it comes to crime-intelligence.’

This is the way the above terror-campaign against the Afrikaner families of Krugersdorp was reported by the English-language SA news media: they very carefully avoided any mention of the fact that all the families targetted were Afrikaners… on smallholdings: Guilty verdict for two Mozambicans – February 7 2012 at 09:45am Two Mozambican criminals who terrorised homes in Krugersdorp, west of Joburg, in 2009 have been convicted on four counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, according to a report on Tuesday. Eric Nkuna and Fortunato Simbine targeted townhouse complexes in the Noordheuwel area, frequently inflicting psychological and physical torture on their victims.Nkuna was also found to have murdered Juan van Eeden, 28, at his townhouse complex, but there was insufficient evidence to link Simbine to the crime, Beeld newspaper reported.In one incident, a family was held captive for hours, the mother was threatened with rape and the two daughters, who were seven and two respectively, were asked which of their parents should be shot first.In a separate case, Simbine left a fingerprint at the scene of the crime after holding up Johan Potgieter at his home.In another incident, a woman was choked, then beaten with a monkey wrench, before they stole her car.Sentencing will take place later this week.

In other news today, the housekeeper of Cheetahs logistics manager Sakkie Wessels was arrested for suspected link to a killer-gang one of whose members, the now arrested Moses Malatji, has been charged for torturing to death the Afrikaner artist-dj Paul van Vuuren of Phalaborwa. Staansaam self-defence unit of Phalaborwa reports that the housekeeper of Cheetahs team logistics manager Sakkie Wessels was arrested for suspected links with a violent crime gang. The gang is suspected of recently breaking into his farm-house. The gang is also suspected of spreading a reign of terror across the Free State and countrywide. One of its members (picture) who was recently arrested is suspected of the gruesome torture-murder of artist Paul van Vuuren, 55, of Phalaborwa.

Percy Van Rooijen, Wes Geldenhuys warn urgently that many farm-attacks targetting Afrikaner smallholders are expected at the Brits smallholdings
Feb 7 2012 – 11:00 am: Wes Geldenhuys – Urgent: all farmers on smallholdings and farms in the Brits region – Hekpoort, Wolhuters Kop, Sandfontein, DeKroon, Sonop settlement and surrounding areas, be alert: A trucker reported that the blacks are going ‘all-out’ in those NW areas to murder and plunder us. Farm-attacks will be inevitable with organised groups of five to six each from about 7pm at night especially when you are watching TV inside. They figure you are drunk during those times on weekends. This trucker does not want to report this to the police because he’s scared they will kill him.”

Mr Geldenhuys who issued the warning, lives in Amanzimti and is in the security business there – escorting for small companies. Just after 5am am on Tuesday Feb 7 2012 he writes me that ‘when he drove up to his business, a trucker-trailer was in his parking area where the crew had spent the night. I woke them up, asking them to move. ‘The driver, I estimate aged about 50, got in behind the wheel, and I ask him where’s he’s from, since we’re speaking with each other in Afrikaans and he says from Brits. I ask him about the way things are going there, and he tells me that he’s talked to these blacks in that area and what they were planning.”

AUTHOR: Adriana Stuijt
URL: http://censorbugbear.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: a.j.stuijt [at] knid.nl

The five prisoners who were hanged in public were identified as:

1. Rahmat Heydari, convicted of kidnapping, murder and armed robbery. He was arrested four weeks ago and his judicial process lasted less than a month.

2. Esmaeil Hamidi Mahmood Abadi, convicted of armed robbery

3. Ali Hadavinia, convicted of armed robbery

4. Mohammad Nabi Tavakoli, convicted of kidnapping and rape

5. Ramin Darakhshan, convicted of rape and kidnapping

Age of none of the prisoners was mentioned in the report.

According to this report seven other prisoners were hanged in the Adelabad prison of Shiraz this morning. All these prisoners were convicted of drug-related offences and none of them were identified by name. Along with todays’s executions at least 54 people have been executed in Iran in the first two weeks of January 2012.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

The state run Iranian news agency Aftab reported that 9 prisoners will be executed in Shiraz (southern Iran) in the coming days.

According to this report two of the prisoners were convicted of rape, one prisoner convicted of murder and two prisoners were convicted of armed robbery. These prisoners will be hanged publicly, while four other prisoners who were convicted of drug-related offences will be hanged in the Adelabad prison of Shiraz.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

Nepomuceno Moreno, searching for his son

Mexican human rights defenders have been under attack over the past weeks. The murders of Nepomuceno Moreno of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD), whose son was forcibly disappeared apparently by government security forces in Sonora; and Trinidad de la Cruz, leader of the autonomous, indigenous community of Santa Maria Ostula, Michoacan; and the shooting of Norma Andrade, leader in the movement to bring justice to the victims of femicides and the disappearance of young women in Ciudad Juarez, sent shock waves through the human rights community. We were left with the loss, and a sense of fear and impotence that can only be countered with action.

Each case below ends with actions of solidarity. Not only is it vital to demand justice in these cases, there is an URGENT need to protect surviving relatives and activists. We have already seen too many cases of entire families (like the Reyes of Valle de Juarez) and communities systematically murdered or displaced because we did not protect them or demand an immediate end to the persecution.

In addition to the specific actions, please take a moment to send organizational letters of condemnation and solidarity to  info@cipamericas.org. We will channel them to the organizations at risk and to the authorities responsible for bringing these crimes to justice. Add your voice to the indignation and pressure to solve these crimes and protect human rights defenders in Mexico.

NEPOMUCENO MORENO NUÑEZ

The murder of Nepomuceno Moreno Nunez on Nov. 28, 2011 caused much consternation here, even in a nation accustomed to murder. Nepo, as he was called, was very well-known within the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity; he accompanied both caravans for peace and spoke out frequently at demonstrations regarding the forced disappearance of his son. According to Mr. Moreno’s testimony on July 1, 2010 his son Jorge Mario Moreno Leon was taken into custody by state police near Ciudad Obregon, Sonora. His family has not heard from him since. By available evidence, his disappearance was a crime carried out not by members of organized crime, but by police. Even with the clear implication that security forces were involved in the disappearance, the state Governor, Guillermo Padres, refused to meet with Mr. Moreno and there have been no effective investigations of the crime. Jorge Mario Moreno remains missing.

Mr. Moreno had received numerous death threats related to his demands to find his son and his protests against the government for its possible involvement in the crime and failure to act. He requested protective measures from the government, and delivered the case of his son and the request for protective measures directly to President Felipe Calderon at the second meeting with the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD). For his efforts, he was shot dead in broad daylight in the capital city of Hermosillo, Sonora. State government officials added insult to injury by immediately declaring that the main line of investigation had to do with supposed ties of the victim to organized crime. Smearing the name of the murdered to cover up government responsibilities has become a common procedure in this war on drugs that reveals itself more each day as a war on the people.

The MPJD issued a statement Nov. 29 saying “the bullets that killed him were the only response Nepomuceno received to his love as a father, his desire for justice and his decision to join the movement for peace in Mexico… We hold the federal and state  authorities responsible for the death of Nepmuceno, for omission, since they failed to respond to our friend’s demands for protective measures. We demand that the state of Sonora solve the homicide case and arrest the guilty parties, as well as providing the measures necessary to ensure the security of Nepomuceno’s relatives… ”

ACTION: Write in English, Spanish or your language to demand justice in the case of the assassination of Nepomuceno Moreno and the safe return of Jorge Mario Moreno Leon. Send mails to:

President Felipe Calderon felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx,
Secretary of the Interior secretario@segob.gob.mx

National Human Rights Commission correo@cndh.org.mx 

NORMA ANDRADE:

Human rights organizations and defenders strongly condemn the recent attack on Norma Esther Andrade, president of the organization Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa, A.C. (Bring Our Daughters Home), committed on Dec. 2 in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, and demand full protection for her and members of her family.

We demand justice and full protection for the Andrade family, an immediate impartial investigation and punishment of those responsible.

We demand respect and security for all human rights defenders in Ciudad Juarez.

Norma Andrade has a long history as an organizer against femicides, and for justice and women’s rights. After the assassination of her daughter, Lilia Alejandra, in 2001, she co-founded with Marisela Ortiz the organization Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa (NHRC), to bring to justice the cases of women murdered and disappeared in Ciudad Juarez.

According the report from NHRC, the attempt on her life occurred “when she was getting into her van to drive to work. At that moment and in the company of her two grandchildren, an unidentified assailant approached her and fired a gun repeatedly, shooting her five times in the abdomen, right shoulder and right hand.”

Since NHRC was founded, its members have received thirty threats and acts of harassment, none of which have been investigated by the authorities despite the fact that the majority were reported. Since 2008, four members of the organization have received precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The seriousness of the threats and attacks has forced members of the organization to change residence, and some of them to seek refuge in the United States.

The attack on Norma Andrade is not an isolated incident. It forms part of a disturbing pattern of attacks on women human rights defenders who denounce violence against women and impunity in Mexico, especially in the state of Chihuahua.

We reiterate that it is the responsibility of the State to provide protection for human rights defenders and guarantee the safety and security of individuals at high risk due to their activities to promote human rights and justice.

We charge the Mexican government with assuring the life, security and physical and psychological integrity of defender Norma Andrade and her family. We join in with the NHRC and other organizations and networks of human rights to  demand:

• That the Mexican government comply with its obligation to protect men and women human rights defenders in Mexico
• That immediate protection be provided for all members of NHRC, particularly the Andrade family
• That the government of the state of Chihuahua guarantee the resources and measures necessary for the care and protection of Norma Andrade, and the security of human rights defender Marisela Ortiz, and Norma Andrade’s daughter, Malu Garcia Andrade who is assisting her mother
• That the case be fully and promptly investigated with impartiality and professionalism and that the perpetrator or perpetrators of the attack be sanctioned according to the law
• That all acts of threats and harassment denounced by NHRC be fully investigated
• That local, state and federal government officials abstain from public acts and declarations that tend to criminalize the victim or minimize the case and its grave implications
• That federal and state government establish immediately a mechanism to guarantee the protection of all women human rights defenders in Mexico.  

Signed by: Network of Women Human Rights Defenders-Mexico (80 human rights defenders and organizations), CIP Americas Program, Just Associates, AWID

Update: Ms. Andrade was released from the hospital in Ciudad Juarez before full recovery because the hospital administration claimed it could not guarantee the safety of its staff due to threats. Her daughter, activist Maria Luisa (Malu) Garcia Andrade issued a statement denouncing that the Federal Police protection for her mother has been withdrawn and municipal police protection has been faulty.

ACTION:

Along with organizations of the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Mexico we are seeking signatures to the following declaration. Please send signatures to natalia@justassociates.org as soon as possible. Thank you for your support, CIP Americas Program, Just Associates, AWID

Trinidad de la Cruz, shortly before his assassination

TRINIDAD DE LA CRUZ CRISOSTOMO

The following is information compiled mainly from our partner Desinformemonos, a Spanish-language e-magazine. Their team of reporters committed to social justice has spent long periods writing on and accompanying the people of Ostula.

On Dec. 6, Trinidad de la Cruz Crisóstomo was captured, beaten and kidnapped. His body was found shortly thereafter.  Trino–as he was known to many–accompanied members of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity to the Nahua autonomous community of Xayakalan, in Ostula, Michoacan that day. The group was kidnapped by an armed commando; the other members were released unharmed but Trino was brutally beaten in their presence and subsequently murdered.

The National Association of Democratic Lawyers has termed the crime an “extrajudicial execution”. The cars traveling to Xayakalan were originally escorted by Federal Police. As they approached the town, the police reportedly announced that they would go no further “due to the presence of armed groups” and withdrew. The group reached the village but was abducted shortly after leaving to return to Santa Maria Ostula. The abandonment by the official escort–mandated by law–was a critical contributing factor to the crime.

Trinidad de la Cruz, 73, was the head of the indigenous Nahua community communal guard and a leader in 2009 when the group recovered some one thousand hectares along the Michoacan Pacific coast by law belonging to them but coveted by powerful interests– drug traffickers, tourism and mining developers, and government.

Trino’s murder eliminates a key defender of human rights but also is aimed at weakening a community that has risked everything to defend its natural resources. The community opposes the government’s top-down development plans that hve not even been revealed to the community. Among these are a project to build a new highway as part of the Sustainable Regional Plan for Michoacan and that includes the construction of hotels and residential areas. The Plan also includes large tourist developments along the famous surfing beaches of the area. The community has begun small-scale tourist projects but refuses to cede its land to large developers. It also opposes the government’s rural land program Procede as a form of privatization of communal lands and has refused to enter into negotiations with mining interests, out of concern over the social and environmental effects.

Following the assassination of Trinidad de la Cruz, and the October assassination of community leader Pedro Leyva, the situation in the community is critical.  Gloria Muñoz of Desinformémonos writes:

The forty families who inhabit the village of  Xayakalan, in Ostula, Michoacán, are totally unprotected faced with threats from the armed group that assassinated Trinidad de la Cruz Crisóstomo. Although they put out a alert regarding their situation informing that they fear another attack, up to now the Secretarty of the Navy in charge of the zone has not initiated rounds, despite having established a checkpoint just minutes from the town.. thi is a violation of the agreement of lat Nov. 28 in a meeting between members of the community of Ostula, among them Trino, and representatives of the federal and state governments, in which they promised to apply security measures for the population, including rounds.

In this context, the current offensive follows the neoliberal manual on indigenous territories that stipulates first instilling terror through assassinations and disappearances, until families are forced to abandon their lands and displacement is complete…

We demand immediate guarantees for the security of the community of Xayakalan, investigation and prosecution for the murders,  and the legal resolution to disputes over the lands that belong to them, providing clear title to the community.

ACTION:

1. Sign this petition at change.org (in Spanish):http://www.change.org/petitions/gobierno-federal-mexicano-y-al-gobierno-de-michoacn-alto-a-la-guerra-de-exterminio-contra-la-comunidad-nahua-de-sta-ma-ostula (Translation: Stop the war of extermination against the Nahua community of Santa Maria Ostula, Michoacan)
2. Send statements of support, demanding government protection and justice in the assassinations to info@cipamericas.org

AUTHOR: Laura Carlsen
URL: www.cipamericas.org and http://americasmexico.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: lecarlsen [at] gmail.com

KIA fighters in Burma

Much has been made of late of the ‘concessions’ by the Burmese regime to dialogue and possible political liberalization that began with the release from house arrest of opposition figure, and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi. Indeed while such moves should be applauded and welcomed one cannot help but wonder if they are little more than a cynical public relations exercise by the country’s military leadership to curry international support for an easing of sanctions against the regime.

The strongest evidence that the new ‘civilian’ (sic) government of President Thein Sein is little more than an iron fist in a velvet glove comes from the continuing offensives by the Burmese military against ethnic minorities such as the Kachin and Karen. Indeed Derek Mitchell the new US special envoy for Burma confirmed on October 17th that there were credible reports of human rights abuses by the military against women and children including murder and rape. More recently allegations have been made that the Burmese Army, the Tatmadaw, has used mortar rounds that have contained poisonous gas in attacks on fighters of the Kachin Independence Army in three war zones: Ga Ra Yang village, Shwe Nyaung Pyin village and Waingmaw Township. On October 30th the Kachin News Group stated that soldiers from the KIA reported that black smoke billowing from areas where the mortar shells landed had left victims dizzy, struggling to breathe and vomiting for several hours. While there is no independent verification of the alleged use of chemical weapons if true such attacks would be in violation of the 1925 Geneva Protocol that prohibited the use of chemical and biological weapons.

These attacks are only the latest in an intensification of hostilities against ethnic groups that have occurred in recent months despite calls by President Thein Sein for national reconciliation. Criticism has also come from Burma’s neighbors. On October 29th Indonesia’s foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa urged Burma’s leaders to make concrete steps towards reconciliation while earlier this year in July Aung San Suu Kyi issued an open letter to the President in which she called for an urgent ceasefire and offered to act as a mediator. Besides the KIA the Burmese Army continues to be engaged in offensives against other armed ethnic groups including the Karen National Union and the Shan State Army.

While the Burman (Bamar) constitute about two-thirds of the country’s population Burma nevertheless is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world with 135 distinct official ethnic groups recognized by the government itself. Many of the country’s most important ethnic minorities (the Kachin, Karen, Shan etc) are located on the country’s mountainous borders and have been in conflict with the central authorities for over four decades. While full autonomy for the Frontier Areas, including a Kachin State, was agreed in the historic Panglong Agreement signed in February 1947 by Aung San Suu Kyi’s father, Aung San, the agreement was effectively scuttled following his assassination and the creation of irregular militia under the command of Ne Win who would later overthrow the democratic government of Burma in 1962. Following the establishment of his own personalized Burmese Road to Socialism Ne Win launched a brutal policy against ethnic and political rebels known as the ‘Four Cuts’. The policy was designed to cut the four main links of food, funds, intelligence, and recruits between insurgents, their families and local villagers and largely consisted of a policy of forced relocation and ethnic cleansing. Opponents of the regime internally and externally fear that the military is using the latest concessions to political opponents to deflect attention from the renewed offensives. Whether this is the case or not, what the incidents reveal is that gross abuses of human rights continue in Burma on an almost daily basis and that an investigation of the latest claims of the use of chemical weapons is urgently needed.

AUTHOR: Dr. Jason Abbott
URL: http://profjabbott.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: jason.abbott [at] louisville.edu

Rashid said that in response to the appeal by the president, the foreign ministry of Saudi Arabia communicated that only the family of the deceased have the right to pardon the convicts according to the Koran.

Scores of Arabs at Justice Square near Al Hakam Palace in Riyadh witnessed the executions of the Bangladesh citizens were Ma’mun Abdul Mannan, Faruq Jamal, Sumon Miah, Mohammed Sumon, Shafiq al-Islam, Mas’ud Shamsul Haque, Abu al-Hussain Ahmed, Mutir al-Rahman, the rights watchdog report said.

Three other Bangladeshis were sentenced to prison terms and flogging indicted in same crime.

Most of the defendants have no defense lawyer, have insufficient fluency of Arabic language to follow proceedings and in many cases are not informed of the progress of legal proceedings against them, said AI’s Middle East and North Africa director, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

The organization also pointed out that majority of those executed recently in Saudi Arabia is migrant workers from poor and developing countries.

The beheadings bring the number of executions in Saudi Arabia this year to at least 58, more than double than the 2010 figures. Twenty of those executed in 2011 were foreign nationals, the AI press statement said.

AUTHOR: Saleem Samad
URL: http://bangladeshwatchdog.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: saleemsamad [at] hotmail.com