As part of Amnesty International's 2012 death penalty campaign, The Guardian and animators from Sherbet tell the story of lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who has saved 20 of the 40 juveniles he has defended from execution in Iran, and of Behnoud Shojaee, one of those whom he could not save:
Sometime late last Aug. 8, NATO warplanes flying from Europe arrived over the Libyan farming village of Majer, where forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi were withdrawing and anti-Qaddafi forces were claiming ground. Civilians were in motion, too — seeking pockets of safety away from the roaming sides, neither of which fought with precision or clear rules. This is the type of situation in which air support can be especially risky and in which, even with a careful calculus of modern target planning, mistakes are likely.
The aircraft that night have never been publicly identified by NATO, which has treated their origins and nationalities as strict military secrets.
See also The Latest from Iran (26 March): Ahmadinejad Grabs the Spotlight
1845 GMT: Foreign Affairs (Syrian Front). President Ahmadinejad, meeting a Syrian envoy in Tehran, has praised the Assad regime: "I am very happy that Syrian officials are managing the situation well....I hope the situation in Syria improves day after day."
Ahmadinejad said there was no limit to expanding ties with Syria, and Iran would do "all in its power to support this country".
The President also castigated the US, "By chanting false slogans of defending people's freedom, the Americans want to take control of Syria, Lebanon, Iran and other countries and we should be aware and stand firm against their plots."
Tuesday, March 27, 2012 at 6:12 | James Miller in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran A video illustrating that, despite reports of juveniles tried in military courts (see 0847 GMT), all Egyptian children love the ruling armed forces
2040 GMT: According to the Locall Co-ordinating Committees of Syria, the Assad military has begun an assault on the town of Saraqeb in Idlib Province:
Idlib:Saraqeb: The regime's army continues to encircle the city amid a widespread deployment of tanks in the southern part, where continuous gunfire and explosions were reported. The regime's army has also surrounded hospitals to deny entry to the wounded; this led residents to treat the wounded in field hospitals along the city's perimeter. Electricity is still cut off for the fourth consecutive day.
The regime's arrest campaigns are still ongoing as well, and the number of detainees is now in the hundreds. Moreover, residents cannot bury the martyrs who fell during the days-long regime siege on Saraqeb because of the continuous shelling and bombardment. The random shelling has also damaged the Information Office, which therefore cannot post any videos that document the harsh reality in the area
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1845 GMT: According to a survey conducted by the Ankara-based MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research Center, 61.7 percent of respondents said they supported children's receiving education in their mother tongue on the condition that they learn Turkish.
1825 GMT: In order to increase the cooperation against the PKK-Syria camp, the Iraqi Kurdistan regional government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani will make his first diplomatic visit to Ankara.
1740 GMT: Ahead of the 'Friends of Syria' meeting on April 1, Ankara heeds the two-day meeting of Syrian opposition groups in İstanbul. Out of 200 representatives of the country, the only group left out of the two-day meeting is the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) because of its affiliation with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"This is by far the most significant meeting as far as the Syrian opposition is concerned,” a Turkish official told journalists.
Recommendations for the Bahraini Government
To immediately end ongoing human rights violations
a. To immediately end the violent repression of protests; to completely cease use of
birdshot and excessive tear gas; and to recognise the fundamental right to associate.
b. Unconditionally release political prisoners and end torture, arbitrary detention, and
incommunicado detention;
c. Take measures to ensure the reinstatement of all remaining workers and employees
who were dismissed from their workplace for peacefully exercising their right to
freedom of expression, political opinion, and assembly;
d. To ensure that sacked workers are reinstated in the same positions, with the same
contracts, that they are compensated and to discontinue the signing of pledges;
e. To end the harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders, political activists
and journalists
President Ahmadinejad with Afghan President Karzai (left) and Tajik President Rahmon (right)
See also The Latest from Iran (25 March): Expanding the Sanctions
2050 GMT: Nuclear Watch. If true, this Associated Press report does not bode well for the resumption of talks on 13 April over Iran's uranium enrichment:
[Diplomats say] sensibilities generated by failed previous rounds and disputes on what should be discussed are keeping them from finding a venue.
They say the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China oppose Iran's choice of Istanbul because the last round of talks there 14 months ago ended in failure.
They say Iran, in turn, rejects Vienna because it is home to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is trying to probe allegations Tehran secretly worked on nuclear weapons.
The diplomats said Monday other venues are still being discussed and the start of the talks is not in jeopardy.
(For what's it worth, I think this is posturing and the talks will go ahead in Istanbul --- if not, this would be a slap in the face by the US and allies to Turkey, as it tries to elevate its broker's role in international affairs.)
Monday, March 26, 2012 at 9:29 | James Miller in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 2002 GMT: A late-afternoon surprise from the State Department. While we could have guessed that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be traveling to Turkey for the "Friends of Syria" meeting, we were not aware that she would be traveling to Saudi Arabia to discuss Syria first:
ecretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from March 30-31, 2012. While in Riyadh, she will meet King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. She will also attend the First Ministerial Meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council-U.S. Strategic Cooperation Forum. In her conversations, she will discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues, including ongoing security cooperation in the region, as well as the international community’s continuing efforts to stop the bloodshed in Syria.
Secretary Clinton will then travel to Istanbul, Turkey from March 31-April 1 to attend the second meeting of the “Friends of the Syrian People.” This meeting will build upon steps that our friends, allies, and the Syrian opposition continue to take in an attempt to halt the slaughter of the Syrian people and pursue a transition to democracy in Syria. While in Istanbul, Secretary Clinton will also conduct bilateral meetings with Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu and other foreign leaders.
What does this mean? We could read a lot into a short statement, but it certainly means that Clinton is seeking regional unity on Syria. Remember that Saudi Arabia walked out of the last "Friends of Syria" meeting because of a lack of perceived progress in ending the crisis. Whatever the FoS decides, they will look weak and illegitimate without the backing of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, and the other major regional players.
1957 GMT: The Syrian government has banned all male citizens under the age of 42 from traveling internationally:
The Obama administration’s decision to begin releasing $1.3 billion in annual military aid for Egypt will avert a disruption in arms sales that might have cost thousands of U.S. jobs and as much as $2 billion in contracting penalties for the U.S. government.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, invoking U.S. national security interests,...used her authority to waive congressional conditions on the aid that require Egypt to demonstrate democratic progress. Her decision, assailed by human rights advocates, also took account of domestic factors that are important in an election year.
Due to Israel’s apartheid checkpoints, it took us a day to reach Jericho, which is roughly one hour from Allenby Bridge. I waited eagerly, imagining myself walking around the old city of Jerusalem before heading to Gaza. We wasted over four hours waiting for the Israeli soldiers to let us pass through their checkpoints. Being from Gaza made my crossing procedures even more complicated. I spent the whole trip to Jericho counting minutes and hours. The more time we wasted, the less likely it became for me to tour Jerusalem. The time limit that Israel imposed by closing Erez at 7:00 pm made me stressful.
At sunset, I finished all the crossing and security procedures. I hurried to the exit to find my taxi driver sweating, standing by his parked car next to the door waiting for us. He rushed me inside the car, saying that he had to drive me to the District Coordination Offices (DCO) right away to get a permit to leave before it was too late. People from Gaza get permits to cross through Erez back to Gaza there, and people from West Bank get permits to enter Jerusalem and other “Israeli” territory.
