Iran News in Brief, 5 February 2015

Protests in Buenos Aires to Demand Explanation of Nisman’s Case

BUENOS AIRES – Thousands of members of the Argentine Workers’ Central Union (CTA) and humanitarian organizations marched in the streets of Buenos Aires demanding an explanation for the death of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who died shortly after he had leveled accusations against President Cristina Fernandez.

Wednesday’s protests were organized by CTA, a union umbrella group that opposes the government, together with social organizations including the Association for the Clarification of the Unpunished Massacre of the AMIA, the Jewish community center which was bombed in 1994.

Nisman, who was investigating the attack, was found dead in his residence with a shot to his head on Jan. 18, four days after he accused the president and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman of allegedly orchestrating a plan to cover up an Iranian role in the bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association.

At the end of the march, the demonstrators read out a joint statement demanding, among other things, the “immediate” opening of all secret files of the AIMA case and the creation of an independent commission in parliament to “analyze them, arrive at the truth and initiate legal proceedings and punish the guilty.”

“We are protesting against the fact that the AIMA case is at zero. There is total and absolute legal impunity. And to add to that is Nisman’s death. There has to be an investigation to determine what happened. Twenty years cannot lead us to impunity,” said the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel, who also participated in the march.

The president of the Association for the Clarification of the Unpunished Massacre of the AMIA, Laura Ginsberg, described Nisman’s death as “a political crime” that “has once again highlighted the impunity and the lack of truth.”

“We demand the opening of the secret files that the Argentine government continues to conceal and that they be handed over to a commission of inquiry,” Ginsberg told Efe.

The legislators decided to hold a public hearing in Congress next Wednesday to discuss Nisman’s death and the accusations he had made against the president.

They also agreed to draw up a document pledging that they work together to demand an explanation into the Nisman case which could be signed by all political parties with seats in parliament.

In a statement, the opposition legislators said that they had also agreed to seek an audience with the Supreme Court to “convey the need for it to arbitrate means to ensure the independent work of judges and prosecutors in the investigation into Nisman’s death, as well as in the charges leveled by prosecutor in the AIMA case.”

11 Colombian Troops Punished for Killing Civilian

BOGOTA – The Colombian Inspector General’s Office, or “Procuraduria,” dismissed and banned from military service for a decade 11 marines who “arbitrarily” executed a civilian whom they falsely claimed was a guerrilla, the institution said Wednesday.

The office said that the soldiers’ deeds were “very serious” in a communique, adding that it ruled as it did because the men could not prove that the murdered civilian was really a rebel, as they maintained, a situation that constitutes a “serious violation of International Humanitarian Law.”

“The defense did not manage to prove that the victim was directly participating in the hostilities ... of the conflict the country is experiencing,” said the Procuraduria, which did not specify when the killing occurred.

The dismissed soldiers belonged to the Cobra Reconnaissance Group with the 1st Counterinsurgency Battalion, which is part of the 1st Marine Infantry Brigade operating in the Caribbean province of Sucre.

During the investigation, evidence was presented that the victim lived with his family in the northern town of El Carmen de Bolivar, had a job and friends “who testified as to his good habits” and denied that he was a guerrilla, claims that corresponded with his lack of a criminal record or other brushes with the law.

In sum, the authorities ruled that the soldiers violated international norms that prohibit “attacks on the life, health and physical and mental integrity” of people, a situation that applies to all those affected by an armed conflict.

The soldiers may appeal the ruling.

Holocaust-expert judge takes on Argentine bombing case

Argentina - AFP - Feb. 4th 2015 - A respected Holocaust expert was named Wednesday to take over as judge in the politically explosive case of a 1994 Jewish center bombing that has shaken Argentina since the lead prosecutor’s mysterious death. 


The case had become a hot potato in the courts amid revelations that late prosecutor Alberto Nisman had drafted an arrest warrant for President Cristina Kirchner before he was found dead in his apartment with a gunshot wound to the head last month. 
Three judges had asked to recuse themselves from the case, which has gripped Argentina since Nisman, 51, turned up dead on the eve of a congressional hearing at which he was expected to accuse Kirchner of covering up Iranian officials’ involvement in the deadly bombing. It was the worst terror strike on Argentine soil in the country’s modern history. 
The federal authority for criminal courts finally ended the impasse by ordering one of the three judges, Daniel Rafecas, to take on the case. 
Around 2, 000 people meanwhile rallied behind a banner that read 'enough impunity' as they marched through Buenos Aires, calling for answers. 
'I think we will end up with the truth,' said Argentine Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel, who marched at the head of the crowd, calling for an investigation by an independent commission. 
According to polls, some 70 percent of the population believe they will never know the truth behind Nisman’s death. 
Rafecas, a human rights expert, has authored studies on the Holocaust that earned him awards from three Argentine Jewish groups: B’nai B’rith Argentina, the Argentine Jewish Society and the Buenos Aires Holocaust Museum Foundation. 
He is also known for trying military officers for abuses committed during the South American country’s 1976-1983 dictatorship. 
The bombing at the Argentine Jewish center known as AMIA, killed 85 people and wounded 300, the deadliest such attack in Argentina’s history. 
After the initial investigation ended with no convictions, Nisman was named in 2006 to reopen the case. 
He accused Iran of ordering the attack via Lebanon-backed militant group Hezbollah, and requested arrest warrants for five Iranian officials including former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. 
On January 14, four days before he was found dead, Nisman filed a 300-page report accusing Kirchner, foreign minister Hector Timerman and another senior official of trying to shield the Iranian suspects in exchange for oil.

Obama Meets Muslim Leaders to Address Internal and External Challenges

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Barack Obama has met his country’s Muslim leaders to discuss a range of national and foreign policy issues.

Health reform, violence and discrimination against Muslims, the White House summit on extremism and the fight against the jihadists of the Islamic State were some of the matters discussed, the White House said in a statement Wednesday after the meeting.

“The president reiterated his administration’s commitment to safeguarding civil rights through hate crimes prosecutions and civil enforcement actions,” the release said.

Obama also expressed the need to keep up the fight against the IS and other terrorist groups that “commit horrific acts of violence, purportedly in the name of Islam,” the statement added.

The president used the occasion to highlight the “major contributions” of Muslim Americans to the nation and encouraged the leaders of this community to continue being involved in civil society

Iran News in Brief, 4 February 2015

Blogger's note : Iran and Cleric's comment

Hold on , Iran regime has called for the " Execution " of anyone at home or abroad who opposes the clerical regime?

Openly calling for terrorism abroad, Kayhan wrote ?   ( What the heck ) ???

I am missing something here,  and they want nuclear weapon's ?   (  Oh my God )