A German court convicted a 93-year-old man on Thursday for helping the Nazis
murder thousands of people while he served as a concentration camp guard

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


July 24, 2020

 

The New York Times: Former Nazi Guard Is Convicted In One Of Germany’s Last
Holocaust Trials
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“A German court convicted a 93-year-old man on Thursday for helping the Nazis
murder thousands of people while he served as a concentration camp guard more
than 75 years ago, in what might be one of the last verdicts to be handed down
to a living participant in the Holocaust. The Hamburg state court found Bruno
Dey guilty of 5,230 counts of accessory to murder — one for each person
believed to have been killed in the Stutthof concentration camp, east of Gdansk
in Poland, during the time he served as a guard there, from August 1944 to
April 1945. Mr. Dey, who was tried in juvenile court because he was only 17
years old at the time, was given a two-year suspended sentence, reflecting the
prosecutors’ acknowledgment of his contrition and willingness to cooperate with
authorities. But survivors and those representing them criticized the sentence
as too lenient. “It is unsatisfactory and much too late,” said Christoph
Heubner of the International Auschwitz Committee, who followed the trial. “What
is so upsetting for survivors is that this defendant failed to use the many
postwar years of his life to reflect on what he saw and heard.” The trial
against Mr. Dey was the latest in a push by prosecutors in the special office
for handling Nazi-era crimes to bring aging suspects to justice before it is
too late.”

 

Boston Herald: ICE Deports Former Irish Republican Army Terrorist Caught In
Massachusetts
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“A onetime member of the Irish Republican Army paroled after serving time for
bombing a police station in Northern Ireland decades ago was deported by Boston
ICE officials this week. Darcey McMenamin, who was 18 when he was charged in
the 1993 mortar attack on a police station west of Belfast, lost in his appeal
to both remain in the Boston area and be set free during the coronairus
pandemic. He was deported back to Ireland this week, the New England office of
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday. “There is no safe haven in
the U.S. for foreign nationals convicted of terrorist activities. ERO Boston
officers still continue their duties even during these trying times,” said Todd
M. Lyons, field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in
Boston. “Those who believe they can hide in the U.S. from their crimes
including terrorist activities they committed in other countries are in for a
rude awakening,” Lyons said. “ICE remains committed to removing dangerous
foreign nationals from the U.S., even those who may have managed to evade
immigration law for a lengthy period of time.”

 

United States

 

The Washington Post: Our Children Were Killed By Islamic State Members. They
Must Face Trial.
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“We are the parents of James Foley, Peter Kassig, Kayla Mueller and Steven
Sotloff. As Syria’s civil war unfolded, our children saw the Syrian people’s
suffering and wanted to help, whether by providing humanitarian aid or by
telling the world about this disaster. While carrying out this work, they were
abducted by members of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. They were
starved, tortured and beaten. According to witnesses, Kayla was repeatedly
raped by the then-leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Jim, Peter and Steven
were publicly murdered in the most brutal way imaginable. Nearly six years
later, their bodies haven’t been found. No one has faced justice for their
murders. Some of the men who allegedly committed these atrocities are now in
U.S. military custody in the Middle East. We implore President Trump, Attorney
General William P. Barr and the Justice Department to have the detainees
brought to the United States to face trial. Like any grieving relatives, we
want to know the full truth about what happened to our loved ones, and we want
to see our children’s murderers held accountable. These things can happen only
if the suspects are put on trial before a jury in an American court of law.”

 

NPR: 'I Am Antifa': One Activist's Violent Death Became A Symbol For The Right
And Left
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“News of an attack trickled out of Tacoma, Wash., just after dawn on a summer
morning in July 2019. The details were fuzzy at first — one dead, a fire, the
local ICE facility — but those who were close to Willem van Spronsen all said
the same thing: They just knew. Van Spronsen, 69, a Dutch-born immigrant,
musician and father of two, was a lifelong activist and early member of the
Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club, an armed antifascist group in the Seattle
area. He stood up to far-right leaders at local rallies, and he was a fixture
at demonstrations against U.S. immigration policies, especially family
separation. “Kids in cages,” he called it. Van Spronsen's belief in militancy
to fight injustice showed up in his song lyrics and street protests.
Eventually, friends say, it shaped what they call his “final action,” which
began around 4 a.m. that July 13. Armed with a semiautomatic rifle, authorities
say, van Spronsen crept onto the grounds of a sprawling immigration jail, set
his car on fire, tossed Molotov cocktails and died in a hail of police bullets.
As word of a death at the detention center got out, calls flew among members of
the John Brown Gun Club. “Was it Will?” they asked, hoping to be wrong about
their suspicions.”

 

Syria

 

CNN: ISIS Exploiting Coronavirus Security Gaps To Relaunch Insurgency, UN
Report Warns
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“There has been a significant rise in ISIS attacks in Iraq and Syria, with the
group exploiting security gaps in Iraq caused by the coronavirus pandemic to
relaunch and invigorate its rural insurgency in the country, according to a
report submitted to the UN Security Council that was made public on Thursday.
The wide-ranging report, put together by the UN monitoring team that tracks the
global jihadi terror threat, states that the group is consolidating in Iraq and
Syria and “showing confidence in its ability to increasingly operate in a
brazen manner in its former core area.” It states that the number of ISIS
attacks in Iraq and Syria “increased significantly in early 2020 as compared
with the same period in 2019.” Referring to the situation in Iraq, the UN
monitoring team stated that ISIS has “exploited security gaps caused by the
pandemic and by political turbulence in Iraq to relaunch a sustained rural
insurgency, as well as sporadic operations in Baghdad and other large cities.”
In recent weeks in particular, Iraq has seen a huge surge in Covid-19 cases,
with the number of cumulative cases surpassing 100,000 on Thursday compared
with fewer than 7,000 confirmed on June 1. Syria has far fewer confirmed cases,
but leaders of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces say ISIS has exploited
the fact that the pandemic has limited the SDF's mobility in the region.”

 

Daily Sabah: Bomb Attack Kills 2 Civilians In Syria’s Ras Al-Ain
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“Two civilians have been killed in a bomb attack in northeastern Syria’s Ras
al-Ain, local security sources said Thursday. A car bomb detonated near the
local assembly building in the center of Ras al-Ain, a city near the Turkish
border, also wounding seven other people, according to the sources, who asked
not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media. Local security
forces suspect the YPG/PKK terror group may be behind the attack near Turkey's
southern border, which also caused material damage. Ras al-Ain was liberated
from the control of the YPG/PKK terrorist group last October as part of
Turkey's Operation Peace Spring, launched to secure Turkey's borders by
eliminating the terror group from northern Syria east of the Euphrates River,
aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees and ensure Syria's territorial
integrity. However, the YPG/PKK terrorists continue attacks in Ras al-Ain and
the nearby city of Tal Abyad despite pulling out of areas under a deal reached
by Turkey and the U.S. on Oct. 17. Since then, Turkish soldiers and
institutions have implemented a wide range of measures to eradicate traces of
terrorism in the liberated Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad provinces by repairing
hospitals and schools, demining the region and providing vital COVID-19 aid.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The New York Times: In Afghan Attacks, Facts Are Murky. But It’s Clear Deaths
Are Piling Up.
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“For a full day after airstrikes on a remote village in western Afghanistan on
Wednesday, the only certainty was that people had perished. The most basic
facts — who had carried out the strikes, and how many Taliban and civilians
were killed — were impossible to pin down amid the denials, conflicting
statements and exaggerations. With the start of peace talks between the Taliban
and the government delayed by months, the Afghan war has spiraled into a
deadlier phase, even as the United States continues to withdraw its forces. Car
bombs, roadside bombs and airstrikes wreak carnage across the country, killing
dozens of Afghans everyday. But as the war has spread, the exact nature of the
attacks and their toll, particularly on civilians, has increasingly grown
opaque. The Taliban often flatly deny incidents that kill civilians, even when
the bodies are there to be buried. Protest and pressure turns the government’s
denials of civilian casualties in its operations into investigations that
rarely result in follow-through or answers. The U.S. military, after a deal
with the Taliban in February that was supposed to produce something resembling
a cease-fire between them, has quietly returned to striking Taliban units that
it sees as preparing attacks on its Afghan allies, but it no longer officially
acknowledges those strikes.”

 

Al Jazeera: Taliban Says Ready For Talks Next Month If Prisoner Swap Complete
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“The Taliban is prepared to hold peace talks with the Afghan government next
month straight after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, the armed group has
said, provided a continuing prisoner swap has been completed. The conditional
offer marks the first occasion a talks timeline has been floated since warring
parties blew past a March 10 deadline to begin negotiations. The development on
Thursday comes amid soaring violence that has threatened to derail US-backed
efforts to bring Kabul and the Taliban to the negotiating table and seek an end
to Afghanistan's nearly 19-year war. The Taliban is “likely ... ready to begin
intra-Afghan negotiations immediately after Eid in case the process of the
release of the prisoners is completed”, the armed group's political spokesman
Suhail Shaheen said on Twitter. He added that the Taliban was ready to release
the remaining Afghan security force prisoners in their custody, as long as
Kabul freed all Taliban inmates “as per our list already delivered” to
authorities. There was no immediate response from the Kabul government. The
prisoner-exchange issue, agreed to under a deal between the US and the Taliban,
has proved a major sticking point ahead of peace talks.”

 

Agence France-Presse: Eight Civilians Killed In Afghan Strike On Freed Taliban
Fighter
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“Eight civilians were killed when an Afghan air strike hit a group of people
gathered to celebrate a Taliban commander's release from prison, an official
said Thursday. The strike in the western province of Herat on Wednesday drew
condemnation from a top US diplomat and underscores the worsening violence in
Afghanistan's war even as the Taliban and Kabul are supposed to be preparing
for peace talks. According to Ali Ahmad Faqir Yar, the district governor in the
area where the strike took place, a group had gathered to welcome the Taliban
commander. “An air strike was carried out during the ceremony and civilians who
participated were among those killed,” he told AFP, putting the toll at eight
civilian dead and 16 wounded. Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special envoy to
Afghanistan, said photographs and witness accounts indicated that many
civilians, including children, had been killed. “We urge all sides to contain
the violence, protect civilians, and show necessary restraint as the start of
intra-Afghan negotiations is so close,” he said on Twitter. The defence
ministry, however, disputed both accounts and said none of those killed were
civilians. Afghan forces had carried out the strike “based on intelligence
photos and videos”, the ministry said.”

 

Pakistan

 

Associated Press: Bombing At Open-Air Market Wounds 20 In Northwest Pakistan
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“At least 20 people were wounded when a bomb went off at a busy open-air
market in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, police said. The bombing in the
town of Parachinar happened as people were buying fruits and vegetables from
vendors, police official Rehmat Hissain said. The victims, some of them in
critical condition, have been taken to hospital. No one immediately claimed
responsibility for the attack in this majority Shiite town in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan. The town, west of the
provincial capital of Peshawar, has been targeted by Sunni militant groups
several times in recent years, leaving dozens dead. The province’s former
tribal regions have long served as hideouts for the Taliban and other
militants. The government and the army claim they have cleared the area in
recent years but there have still been occasional attacks.”

 

Middle East

 

The Jerusalem Post: How Might Hezbollah Retaliate Against Israel?
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“Hezbollah has been prodded to respond to the death of one of its fighters in
Syria in what it says was an Israeli airstrike this week.  The terrorist group
– which has thousands of fighters, more than 150,000 missiles and controls part
of the government of Lebanon – says that Ali Kamel Mohsen was killed on July
20. Other members of the group may also have been harmed. Over the last several
days, Hezbollah supporters have put up hundreds of social media posts vowing
revenge. This kinds of rhetoric of “revenge” is similar to Iran’s claims that
it will avenge the death of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, who the US killed
in early January. What we know about Hezbollah is that it is an organization to
be taken seriously. When it paints itself into a corner by saying it will
respond to the killing any of its members, it tends to do something. However,
Hezbollah must weigh this against the regional reality. Israel is far stronger
today than on the eve of the 2006 war. The same Hezbollah leader, Hassan
Nasrallah, gambled in 2006 that Israel would not respond to his attack on a
patrol in which Israeli soldiers were killed and bodies kidnapped. He had been
watching Israel closely since the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, and
he had also watched how Israel responded to the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit by
Hamas in Gaza.”

 

Nigeria

 

Al Jazeera: UN 'Horrified' By Killing Of Five Aid Workers In Nigeria
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“The United Nations has said it is “utterly shocked and horrified” by the
killing of five aid workers by unknown armed groups in northeastern Nigeria.
The statement late on Wednesday by Edward Kallon, UN humanitarian coordinator
in Nigeria, followed the release of a video showing the murder of the
humanitarian workers who were kidnapped last month in Borno state. The Nigerian
government identified the victims as employees of the country's State Emergency
Management Agency as well as international aid organisations Action Against
Hunger (ACF), International Rescue Committee and Rich International. “They were
committed humanitarians who devoted their lives to helping vulnerable people
and communities in an area heavily affected by violence,” Kallon said. The aid
workers were abducted while travelling on a main route connecting the town of
Monguno with Borno state capital, Maiduguri. Kallon said he was troubled by the
number of illegal checkpoints set up by non-state armed groups along the
region's main supply routes. “These checkpoints disrupt the delivery of
life-saving assistance and heighten the risks for civilians of being abducted,
killed or injured, with aid workers increasingly being singled out.”

 

Africa

 

Foreign Policy Research Institute: Can Sudan Escape Its History As A Transit
Hub For Violent Extremist Organizations?
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“When the U.S. Department of State released its annual country reports on
terrorism a few weeks ago, many security analysts were curious how Sudan would
be assessed. The state has been officially listed as a sponsor of terrorism
since 1993 on account of its support for groups like the Abu Nidal
Organization, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda, among
others. According to the report on Sudan, “Despite the absence of high-profile
terrorist attacks, ISIS facilitation networks appear to be active within
Sudan.” Sudan’s security and counterterrorism forces continue to have
difficulties stemming the entry of fighters, weapons, and other illicit goods
from neighboring countries. Sudan lacks the technical and physical capabilities
to secure its borders, according to the State Department’s report. But Sudan
has taken several steps to normalize its relations with the global community,
tightening regulation of the country’s financial sector to reduce its
susceptibility to money laundering and exhibiting greater willingness to
cooperate with regional counterterrorism efforts. According to the U.S. State
Department, these include “operations to counter threats to U.S. interests and
personnel in Sudan.”

 

United Kingdom

 

NBC News: Two Of The ISIS Terrorists Dubbed The Beatles Admit Involvement In
Captivity Of Kayla Mueller, James Foley
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“Two of the British ISIS terrorists dubbed the “Beatles” further incriminated
themselves in the mistreatment of Western hostages in Syria, including
Americans Kayla Mueller and James Foley, in interviews obtained exclusively by
NBC News. In the interviews, the two men, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee
Elsheikh, for the first time admitted their involvement in the captivity of
Kayla, an aid worker who was tortured and sexually abused before her death in
2015. Kotey said, “She was in a room by herself that no one would go in.”
Elsheikh got into more detail, saying, “I took an email from her myself,”
meaning he got an email address the Islamic State militant group could use to
demand ransom from the family. “She was in a large room, it was dark, and she
was alone, and … she was very scared.” In one email reviewed by NBC News, ISIS
demanded the Muellers pay 5 million euros and threatened that if the demands
weren’t met, they would send the family “a picture of Kayla's dead body.”
Elsheikh also implicated himself in the abuse of American James Foley. “I
didn't choke Jim,” he said. “If I choked Jim I would say I choked him. I mean,
I've — I've hit him before. I've hit most of the prisoners before.”

 

BBC News: IS Prisoner Issue A Ticking Timebomb For The West
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“The latent danger posed by thousands of defeated and captured fighters who
joined the Islamic State (IS) group is festering and growing in the squalid,
overcrowded prison camps of north-east Syria, where riots and attempted
breakouts are becoming commonplace. IS has vowed to liberate them, along with
their wives and dependants, while a people-smuggling network is reportedly
being put together using bribery to secure covert releases. The ruling this
month by Britain's Court of Appeal that the British-born former schoolgirl
Shamima Begum, stripped of her UK nationality, had a right to return to the UK
to face justice has also thrown a spotlight on the issue. As has the recent
death in Kurdish custody of a British IS fighter. When IS lost the last of its
self-declared caliphate at Baghuz in Syria in March 2019 thousands of its
surviving members were rounded up and interned indefinitely in camps run by the
Syrian Kurds who had fought them. This, say critics, is unfinished business
that risks developing into a renewed security problem for the world.  Research
published by Kings College London Defence Studies this month warned that
escaping IS fighters were regrouping in other parts of the world and that there
was now a risk IS could regroup.”

 

France

 

Deutsche Welle: Families Of French IS Members In Syria Battle To Bring Them
Back
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“Antoine is used to standing his ground. The trade unionist has defended
workers' rights his whole life. But when his daughter M. suddenly left to join
so-called Islamic State (IS) in Iraq five years ago, he hit rock bottom. “It
was as if my house came tumbling down on top of me,” he told DW. “She had
always been a good student and we didn't see this thing coming at all. I told
her — do you know what you're getting yourself into? And what Salafism actually
means?” Raised in an agnostic family, the 26-year-old had converted to Islam
without telling her parents. Revolted to see how, apparently due to his
origins, her Franco-Tunisian boyfriend was struggling to find work as an
electrician, she left with him to “live their religion freely.” M. is one of
about 1,700 French nationals who joined IS in Iraq and Syria. Overall, 5,000
Western Europeans are believed to have done so. Now, about 1,000 of them are
thought to still be held in Kurdish camps and prisons. The French represent the
biggest group with more than 300 women and children in the camps and about 75
men in the prisons. Back in France, their families' fight to bring them back
has grown even more desperate since several dozen women and children
disappeared from the camp of Al-Hawl in northern Syria five weeks ago.”

 

Europe

 

El País: Spanish Prosecutors Seek Up To 41 Years For Perpetrators Of 2017
Barcelona Terrorist Attacks
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“Spanish prosecutors are seeking a 41-year prison term for Mohammed Houli, the
only surviving member of the terrorist cell that carried out attacks in
Barcelona and Cambrils in August 2017, killing 16 people and injuring over 140.
The written accusation by the prosecutor’s office, which EL PAÍS has seen, is
also demanding 36 years in prison for Driss Oukabir, who abandoned the plan at
the last minute, and eight years for Said Ben Iazza for providing assistance.
Neither one of them participated actively in the attacks. Prosecutors note that
even if convicted, under Spanish legislation Houli and Oukabir can only serve a
maximum of 20 years in prison. On the night of August 16, the day before the
attacks, Mohammed Houli had just dined inside a house in Alcanar, in Tarragona
province, which the terrorist group had illegally occupied and transformed into
a giant explosives lab. A little before midnight, there was a tremendous blast
in the house, where one of the occupants had been manipulating explosives. The
building was destroyed, killing the alleged leader of the cell, an imam named
Abdelbaki Es Satty who lived in the Catalan town of Ripoll. Numerous butane gas
canisters were found among the rubble.”



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