Middle East – Page 3

Iraqis Go to Polls in Provincial Elections

Filed Under: Digest

Iraqis voted for provincial council members on Saturday in an election many hoped would be more inclusive of ethnic and tribal sects than the 2005 national elections widely boycotted by Sunnis and Sadrists. As the U.S. military presence in Iraq diminishes, the elections are seen by some as a test of Iraq’s ability to govern independently, maintain security gains, and build a governing coalition of diverse ethnic groups.

Elections occurred in 14 of the country’s 18 provinces, with over 14,000 candidates running for 440 seats. Unlike the elections in 2005, voters could select candidates individually and were not limited to selecting pre-made “lists” of candidates. President Nouri al-Maliki’s Dawa party is hoping to gain power in southern predominantly-Shiite provinces, four of which are currently controlled by followers of Moqtada al-Sadr.

Voting was postponed in three predominantly Kurdish provinces in the North until January, and indefinitely postponed in the province surrounding Kirkuk. Control of these regions is hotly contested between Arab, Kurdish and Yazidi groups that have been unable to reach a power-sharing agreement.

Security for the elections was extremely high, with driving prohibitions and more than 6,000 checkpoints throughout the country. No election-related deaths were reported during the day.

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Obama's Envoy Supports Gaza Cease-Fire

Filed Under: Digest

George Mitchell, President Obama’s top envoy to the Middle East, is currently on an eight-day “listening tour” of the region. Recently, he met with Israeli and Palestinian officials to discuss the cease-fire between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants in Gaza. During the meeting, Mitchell told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that “a sustainable and durable cease-fire” was necessary. He also expressed the “deep concern” of President Obama over “the loss of Palestinian life and the humanitarian needs in Gaza.” Mitchell stressed that the objective of the United States was to create long-term peace. Israel is asking for international assistance in preventing Hamas militants from smuggling weapons into Gaza and firing rockets into Israel. This initial meeting with Mitchell is part of an effort by the Obama administration to help promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

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Detainee Poses Early Challenge for Obama

Filed Under: Digest

If Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan’s nomination as Solicitor General is successful, one of her first tasks will be the February 20th brief in an enemy combatant case, Al-Marri v. Pucciarelli, addressing the Bush Administration’s assertion that the President may order the military to seize legal residents of the United States and hold them indefinitely without charging them with a crime.

Ali Al-Marri is a Qatari student and legal U.S. resident who was arrested in Illinois in December 2001 for fraud. Upon receipt of information identifying him as a sleeper agent for Al Qaeda, those charges were dropped and he was transferred to military detention. The government is holding him without charges at the Navy brig in Charleston, S.C. Intelligence officials argue that Al-Marri is particularly dangerous, which makes deportation problematic, and charges may not be filed due to the potential involvement of torture in evidence gathering.

While Al-Marri’s continued detention is arguably legal as a result of post-September 11 congressional legislation, given the President-elect’s public statements against such detentions, the Obama Administration may find it a politically difficult position to maintain.

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UNHCR: Permit Gazans to Flee Across Borders

Filed Under: Digest

The UN official responsible for refugees, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres, has declared that civilians who wish to flee fighting in the Gaza Strip must be allowed to pass across borders. Both parties should not deny access at their borders to anyone attempting to avoid the fighting. In addition, he called on both Israelis and Palestinians to abide by international humanitarian principles in all conduct.

A variety of organs of the UN have expressed increasing concern over the continuing violence in Gaza. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, in addition to Mr. Guterres, have pressed for an end to the fighting and for increased access for humanitarian aid workers and supplies.

Although humanitarian efforts through agencies like UNICEF and the World Food Programme are ongoing, the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen.

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Controversy on the Seas

Filed Under: Student Features

The INS Tabar, an Indian warship, encountered three pirate vessels approximately 320 miles south-west of the Omani coast in the Gulf of Aden late Tuesday. When the pirates fired upon the Tabar, it retaliated, sinking the “mother ship” and forcing the would-be hijackers to abandon one of their two speedboats. The second speedboat escaped and there is no casualty count at this time.

At least 92 ships have been attacked in and around the Gulf of Aden so far in 2008, more than triple the number in 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau. At least 14 of those ships are still in the control of hijackers. This includes a Ukrainian freighter loaded with tanks, artillery and other weaponry and a Saudi supertanker with two million barrels of oil valued at approximately $100 million. The pirates responsible for these attacks are mostly based in Somalia and the UN estimates between $25 to $30 million has been paid in ransom to them this year.

International anti-piracy patrols have been deployed in the area since August and international shipping organizations hope the Indian Navy’s actions set an example for addressing the hijackers. Meanwhile, the cost of increased piracy is expected to spread to consumers as shipping companies face higher insurance bills.

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European Court Annuls Iranian Fund Freeze Order

Filed Under: Digest

On October 23, the Court of First Instance of the European Communities annulled the December 2007 renewal of an order of the EU Council freezing the assets of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI). The Court found that there was insufficient legal justification for the order. It doing so, it relied on a 2007 British decision removing the PMOI from a list of organizations concerned with terrorism. According to the Court, the Council had failed to provide additional evidence to justify keeping the PMOI’s funds frozen.

Under the authority of a December 2001 regulation, the Council can freeze the funds of organizations involved in terrorism. Since May 2002, the Council has identified the PMOI as one such organization. The PMOI, a pro-democracy movement founded in 1965, claims to have ceased military operations in 2001. It has repeatedly litigated the Council’s decision to freeze its assets. In December 2006, the organization won an annulment of the Council’s decision on the basis of procedural and evidentiary defects. The Council renewed the freeze order and remedied these defects.

Although the Court approved of the Council’s procedural remedies, it still invalidated the December 2007 freeze order. The Court cited an November 2007 British Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC) decision ordering the Home Secretary to remove the PMOI from its list of proscribed organizations concerned with terrorism. POAC called classifying the PMOI as a terrorist organization “perverse” and “unreasonable.” Given this forceful declaration by a competent national authority on the same evidence before the Council, the Court reasoned, the Council’s assertion that the Home Secretary intended to appeal the decision did not constitute sufficient grounds to maintain the freeze order. The Court also noted that the Home Secretary cannot appeal POAC’s findings of fact, thus requiring the Council to submit additional evidence beyond what POAC considered in order to justify continuing to freeze the PMOI’s assets.

The Council reaffirmed the decision to freeze the PMOI’s funds in July 2008, citing the availability of new information. A PMOI challenge to that decision is still pending.

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