Impunity Watch: Asia

Calls to Cease Transport of Refugees to Burma

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – On February 5, Thai military and civilian officials sent three families of Karen refugees to a site in Burma. The group was comprised of twelve adults and children. They were being sent from a temporary refugee site at the Thai border, and moved to Ler Per Her, a camp for internally displaced persons inside Karen state, in Burma.  The fear is that by sending them to designated "return zones" in Burma, they are in serious risk of human rights abuses and landmines.

The families are part of a group of thirty families recently singled out to return to an area in Burma from which they fled after fighting in mid-2009. Thai military officials gave assurances to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that any returns would be voluntarily, but the return followed weeks of aggressive tactics to coerce the refugees to return.

In May and June 2009, approximately 4,500 Karen fled pervasive use of forced labor and a military offensive in northeastern Karen state by the Burmese army and their proxy-militia, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, against the anti-government Karen National Union and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army. They crossed the border and settled into Nong Bua and Mae U Su, two temporary refugee sites in Tha Song Yang district of Tak province in western Thailand. An estimated 2,400 of the refugees are living in rudimentary quarters in these isolated temporary sites close to the border.

According to a Human Rights Watch spokesperson, Thai authorities are cajoling and threatening Karen refugees to head back into harm’s way, while maintaining Thailand is not breaching international refugee law. The Thai government should reverse course before these refugees are harmed by mines or pressed into forced labor by the Burmese army.

Local Thai military officials claim there is no fighting across the border in Burma and assert that it is safe for the Karen to return. However, refugees at one of the sites told Human Rights Watch there has been extensive planting of landmines in their villages back in Burma, and they fear being used as forced porters by the Burmese army and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army.  

It is unclear if more families will make their way back to Burma, but Human Rights activists continue to support the cessation of transporting refugees to potentially lethal landmine areas.

For more information, please see:

World News - Thailand: Cease Intimidation of Karen Refugees - February 5, 2010 

Bkhmer News - Thailand suspends repatriation of Karen refugees - February 5, 2010

Human Rights Organization - Thailand: Calls Made to Cease Intimidation of Karen Refugees - February 5, 2010 

More Convictions in China’s Mafia Trials

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – A former top police officer from China’s southwest region was put on trial earlier this week for collusion with gangsters.

Wen Qiang, ex-deputy police chief of one of China’s major cities, Chongqing, is the highest-ranking figure involved in the ongoing Chongqing mob trials.

In efforts to eliminate nationwide corruption, Chinese authorities had launched a huge mafia crackdown last year leading to charges against hundreds of people and detention of 3,300 people.  The authorities have thus far convicted more than 30 people.

Wen's trial began with corruption charges where he was accused of protecting businessmen, government official and mobsters.  He has also been accused of accepting more than US$2 million in return for allowing the mafia to flourish. 

In addition, Wen has been charged with several counts of rape, including raping a female college student, and of luring women into prostitution.

Xie Caiping, Wen’s sister-in-law who is known as “the godmother” of Chongqing’s underworld, also received a 20-year jail sentence.  Xie was charged with running gambling operations, drug trafficking, and giving and collecting bribes. 

Wen’s wife is also standing trial for taking bribes worth US$1.2 million

Chen Mingliang, known as the “richest Godfather” in Chongqing, and Zhou Yong, another mafia member, were among 33 others who were sentenced this week.

At least nine people have been executed or sentenced to death in these trials.

The Chongqing mob trials have shocked the Chinese public by exposing the impunity enjoyed by Chinese mob kings while they terrorized the city of Chongqing.

Some claim that this crackdown will be important in maintaining Chinese public’s faith in the Communist leadership.

Russell Leigh Moses, a scholar on Chinese politics, said, “These trials are noteworthy in that the Party leadership wants people to understand that officials who collaborate with organized crime will be dealt with harshly.”

China’s President Hu Jintao commented, “The life or death of the party depends on whether or not we have strong will to punish or prevent corruption,” and has recently asked that the government step up their efforts to combat corruption.

For more information, please see:

AFP – China sentences two more to death in mafia trials – 4 February 2010

CNN – Trial begins in Chinese corruption crackdown – 2 February 2010

My Sinchew – Chinese cop sentenced to death in mafia trial – 1 February 2010

Shanghai Daily - Top cop faces corruption trial in home city - 25 January 2010

Chained Child Shows Fear of Child Trafficking in China

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – A father, afraid his son would be taken from the same spot where his four-year old  daughter was abducted just two weeks ago, chained the toddler to prevent anyone from snatching the young boy. Chen Chuanliu is unable to afford child care, and secured his son to a lamp post outside Huaguan shopping mall in Beijing so he could go to work as a pedicab driver.

Pedicab driver Chen Chuanliu chains his 2-year-old son to a lamppost outside Beijing mall to avoid being abducted. Image courtesy of: The Guardian.

Chen's daughter is like the tens of thousands of children that go missing each year in China. Many are the offspring of impoverished migrant workers like Chen, whose children are kidnapped and then sold. It is reported that Chinese officials have announced that the problem is on the rise. In fact, the problem has grown so acute that authorities have launched a campaign to crack down on child trafficking. The country is struggling to cope with a wave of child abductions, and allegedly has more than 200 babies and toddlers stolen every day, according to some estimates. It is considered a lucrative business in which an abducted girl child can fetch $1,200 and a boy anything up to $5,000, far more than the average annual salary in urban China.

Last year a national DNA database was created to reunite families. A website featured the photographs and details of rescued children in hopes that their parents could identify and prove they were related. Officials say they have saved around 2,000 children and returned at least some to their parents.

Despite a newly launched effort to reunite abducted children, Chen's daughter still remains missing. According to him, "The police didn't tell me anything – I don't know whether they have opened a case or not. They just told me to look around the area myself." Officers have apparently begun to look for the girl by reviewing footage from surveillance cameras, however, Chen's daughter has been missing for over two weeks.

Chen's story is not all that unique. His wife, Yang Caihong, has learning disabilities and is unable to care for the children, and the couple have no relatives in the city. Although the family has lived in Beijing for several years, China's household registration system means they are still regarded as migrants, which means that they are not entitled to free nursery care like official residents.

Since the effort has begun to clamp down on child trafficking in China, officials have begun to launch multi-month investigations. In late December, following a nine-month investigation, police arrested eleven people suspected of abducting and trafficking dozens of babies within the last two years. In making the arrests, police were able to rescue 28 boys before being sold.

Chen is not confident that even with China's new initiative to stop child abductions his son would not go missing. While the world remains shocked by the site of a padlocked toddler to a lamp post, one father believes it is for the child's own protection.

For more information, please see:

London: Daily Mail - Childcare, Chinese style: Rickshaw driver chains two-year-old son to a post while he's at work  - February 4, 2010

Yahoo! News - Chinese dad leaves toddler in chains - February 4, 2010  

New York Daily News - Boy in China Tied to Lamppost While Father Works - February 5, 2010 

China Digital Times -  China Arrests 11 Suspected Child Traffickers: Media - December 2009 

North Korea to Release U.S. Missionary

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea announced that it would release the American missionary, Robert Park, who entered North Korea illegally on Christmas Day.

Park was arrested after entering North Korea in order to publicize the human rights abuses occurring in the North.  He had specifically wanted to ask the country’s leader, Kim Jong-il, to close down its concentration camps and free the prisoners. 

According to the North Korea’s official news agency, Korean Central News Agency (K.C.N.A.), authorities said that “the relevant organ of the DPRK decided to leniently forgive and release [Park], taking his admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoing into consideration.”

K.C.N.A. reported that Park had confessed that after entering North Korea and meeting its citizens, he realized that he was wrong about North Korea.

North Korea’s news agency report quoted Park as confessing, “I seriously repent of the wrong I committed, taken in by the West’s false propaganda.  What I have seen and heard in the North convinced me that I misunderstood it.”

The report said that Park’s misconceptions of North Korea were shattered when he first met the North Korean border guards who apparently protected Park’s human rights, and Park was further surprised when he realized that religious freedom was protected in the North after visiting the country’s capital, Pyongyang. 

Park was quoted as saying, “They even returned my Bible to me.  This fact alone was enough to convince me that there was a complete freedom of religion.” 

The news agency also quoted Park as saying, “I would not have committed such a crime [trespassing into North Korean border] if I had known that the DPRK respects the rights of all the people and guarantees their freedom and they enjoy a happy and stable life.”

Regarding Park’s release, a South Korean research institute director, Kim Yeon-Chul, observed that “the North is making a friendly gesture towards Washington as Pyongyang is actively seeking to open dialogue with the United States.”

However, a South Korean Christian activist, Jo Sung-Rae, commented that K.C.N.A.’s interview is not to be trusted.

K.C.N.A. has stated that Park voluntarily agreed to the interview, and there currently is no information regarding Park’s release date.

For more information, please see:

AFP – North Korea to free ‘repentant’ US missionary – 4 February 2010

NYT –North Korea Says It Will Release U.S. Missionary – 4 February 2010

WSJ – North Korea Says It Will Release American Missionary - 4 February 2010

Human Rights Watch Condemns Sri Lanka's Detention of Tamil Tigers

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBIA, Sri Lanka -  

Human Rights Watch recently released a report requesting that the Sri Lankan government cease its indefinite detainment of suspected members of Tamil Tigers hiding among civilians.  The Sri Lankan government has engaged in internally displacing members of the Tamil ethnic minority since the defeat of the Tamil Tigers resistance group in Spring 2009. 

The government’s apparent triumph effectively ended a civil war that has been plaguing the island nation of Sri Lanka for over twenty-six years.  Subsequent to dismantling the Tamil Tigers, the Sri Lankan government encamped over 300,000 nationals in refugee camps, claiming that such extensive detention was necessary in order to identify and remove any remaining Tamil Tigers from the many civilians.  The Sri Lankan government also claimed that they needed to remove landmines which could be strewn about the areas surrounding the refugee camps before allowing any of the Tamils to go return to their homes.

Life in refugee camps has subjected even civilian Tamils to derisory conditions and numerous human rights violations.  The constantly inadequate supply of food, clothing, and shelter has left hundreds of thousands to suffer and wait for freedom, completely uninformed as to when they will be released.  Furthermore, monsoon rains have made it difficult for supplies to reach the Tamils at the refugee camps and raised concerns of water-borne diseases spreading throughout the camp populations. 

Although the Sri Lankan government has recently allowed some of the Internally Displaced Persons to return home, and continues to do so in large increments, there is allegedly an estimated 11,000 members of the Tamil Tigers who continue to hide among the Tamil civilian nationals.  There has been no word for Colombo concerning the fate of these individuals, and the aforementioned Human Rights Watch report focuses specifically on the mistreatment of these suspected Tamil Tigers.

Human rights groups and the international community have recently condemned the Sri Lankan government over a video depicting the executioner-style murder of suspected Tamil Tigers by Sri Lankan military officials.  A response from Colombo stated that the video was doctored, yet scrutiny of the disturbing footage showed no evidence of tampering.  The Tamil Tigers who remain detained have been denied any rights and have no information as to why they have been apprehended or how long they will remain in custody of the government.  The alarming occurrence of these enforced disappearances represents one among many human rights violations stemming from the end of the war with the Tamil Tigers.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera - Fractious Sri Lanka Seeks Unity - 01 February 2010

Christian Science Monitor - As Tamil refugees resettle.... - 01 February 2010  
 
Human Rights Watch - Sri Lanka: End Indefinite Detention of Tamil Tiger Suspects - 01 February 2010  

Political Violence in Karachi Continues

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KARACHI, Pakistan - The politically motivated attacks plaguing Pakistan throughout the month of January have fatally ensued over the past three days.  Pakistani police forces have reported that over twenty-six casualties resulted from the violence as of this morning, which brings the total count of deaths to approximately sixty-seven.  Unknown assailants have been executing attacks on numerous Pashtun activists with allegiance to the secular Awami National Party with gunfire since Friday.  The ANP appropriated blame for the series of attacks on the also secular Muttahida Quami Movement, to which the Urdu speakers of Karachi hold their allegiance. 

The MQM was also blamed for numerous other attacks against the Pashtun ethnic group.  All of the attacks have been perpetrated in the Pashtun area of Karachi.  The MQM group has denied responsibility for the attacks, but the chief of the ANP stands by his allegations.  Sporadic gunfire has followed all of the attacks.  The violence has clearly made a significant impact on civilian life in Karachi, as Pakistani nationals of Pashtun background can no longer live peacefully while the rival political factions engage in deadly skirmishes in the city.

The attacks upon the predominately Pashtun-populated areas of Karachi have also had significant implications for the economy of the city.  Karachi itself represents an economic hub for the nation of Pakistan, housing the main stock exchange and central bank.  Not only have investors felt an economic downturn caused by the political violence, but the population of Karachi faces more severe troubles arising from the resulting tensions. 

Numerous organizations comprised of gangsters and drug cartels have exploited the confusion and pandemonium taking place as of recent in Karachi streets.  While law enforcement struggles to guard against any more anonymous attacks and efficiently clear scenes after gunfire, and the falling economy increases levels of distress throughout the city, illicit activity threatens to bolster chances of further violence. 

Home Minister Mirza has spoken outwardly against the turmoil in Karachi, stating that the peoples affected signify a source of Pakistan’s repute and livelihood and that attacks against them are counterintuitive for the nation’s survival. 
 

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera - Deadly ethnic violence hits Karachi - 02 February 2010

BBC News - Karachi ethnic clashes kill '12' - 01 February 2010

DAWN - Karachi killings politically motivated, says Mirza - 03 February 2010 

China Responding With Rules to Combat Forced Eviction

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Chinese authorities are reacting and trying to calm angered people threatened to be evicted from their homes. For decades now, China has engaged in heavy urban development, causing millions of citizens to relocate. Many are left homeless, sometimes with inadequate or no compensation as crews move in to decimate certain areas. In turn, some regions have implemented rules that are designed to curb abuses by developers and demolition crews which have been the cause of poverty, unrest and deaths.

The draft rules were issued by the state council, China's cabinet, on January 29. The regulations aim to ban developers and demolition crews from forcing people out through violence or by shutting off their access to essentials such as water or electricity. They would also demand that compensation be set at market price and that where homes are judged "old and dangerous," 90% of residents would have to agree to the specified project or development. The rules also require that demolitions would be halted if occupants brought lawsuits. These rules are far more interactive and cognizant to the needs of citizens, who at present, have no say thereby allowing developers to go ahead even when challenged.

Despite the named and codified grievances, critics warn of potential loopholes in the rules, and express concern hat enforcement will be difficult because it is at least as important as the changes on paper. Before these rules even entered draft form, academics declared practices by developers as a breach of the constitution. Professors from Peking University said that such unfair practices took place in both cities and the countryside, and that land could be seized in some circumstances.

One professors, Shen Kui, said,: "I'm basically satisfied; this is progress and there are some big changes." He went on to state that he believed the rules, still in draft form, would take effect within months, and that "the regulations will decrease the new cases where you get violence, but of course it also depends on a change in attitude from local governments … Courts [also] need to be more independent when dealing with these cases."

What is clear, is that after several highly publicized incidents of individuals setting themselves on fire, China is striving to respond to displacement and forced eviction by developers.

For more information please see:

BBC News - China outlines plans to outlaw forced evictions - January 30, 2010

Telegraph - China moves to calm unrest over property seizures - January 29, 2010

Financial Times - China shakes up rules on land seizures - January 29, 2010  

American Defects to North Korea to Join the Military

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – An American crossed into North Korea from China on Monday and is being detained by North Korea for illegally entering the communist country.

The unidentified American is apparently seeking asylum in North Korea and wants to join the North Korean military.

An anonymous source from North Korea said the 28-year old American said he came to North Korea because he “did not want to become a cannon fodder in the capitalist military” and instead “wants to serve in the North Korean military.”

North Korea’s Central News Agency broke the news of this case on Monday.  The news agency reported that the American was arrested for trespassing and that he is currently under investigation.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service unable to confirm the report, and the U.S. Embassy in Seoul had no comment regarding this case.

This is the second case in the past month of Americans being detained by North Korea.  In late December, the North detained an American missionary, Robert Park, for illegally crossing the North Korea-China border.

The U.S. State Department has requested the Swedish government to act an intermediary as the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents U.S. interests in North Korea, because the North and the U.S. have no formal diplomatic relationship.

The State Department spokesman said that the report is being investigated; however, at the present time, there is no information regarding the man’s name or occupation.

The detention of Americans comes at a time when North Korea ignored warnings from both Washington and Seoul and fired live artillery into the sea by the disputed border area between the North and South Korea.

Experts have said that North Korea may use detainees as bargaining chip with the U.S. in negotiations concerning North’s nuclear programs.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – North Korea holding second U.S. citizen, U.S. says – 29 January 2010

Telegraph –American ‘defected’ say North Koreans – 30 January 2010

The Washington Post – Report: Detained American seeks asylum in NKorea – 30 January 2010

Twelve Die in North West Suicide Attack

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KHAR, Pakistan- A suicide bomber blew himself up at a military checkpoint in a market in northwest- Pakistan on Saturday, officials said.

Senior administration official Iqbal Khattak told the Associated Foreign Press that a man wearing a vest packed with explosives walked up to the post in Khar, the main town in the restive tribal region in Bajaur, and detonated himself.  "So far 12 deaths have been confirmed, two of them were paramilitary soldiers," he said.  Mr. Khattak also added that more than 20 others, all civilians, were wounded.  A senior military official, speaking anonymously, confirmed the blast and casualties.

The suicide bomber wanted to proceed towards the government buildings and military barracks nearby, but the soldiers stopped him.  The soldiers were killed when the bomber blew himself up.  The checkpoint resides in the town's main bazaar which was shut down after the blast.  Mr. Khattak said three vehicles and four shops were destroyed in the bombing.

Bajaur lies in Pakistan's volatile tribal belt region bordering Afghanistan.  Since the ouster of the hardline Taliban regime from Kabul in late 2001, Bajaur has become a stronghold for hundreds of Islamist extremists.

The attack came a day after Pakistani security forces killed at least 24 suspected militants in air strikes and clashes in Bajaur.  One paramilitary soldier was killed and three wounded in Friday's clash.

Helicopter gunships and jets have pounded suspected militant hideouts since Tuesday, as the military step up operations in the region, the scene of a major anti-militant operation launched in August 2008.

In February 2009, the army said Bajaur had been cleared of Taliban militants following the August 2008 operation.  But security situation has been deteriorating.  The BBC's Islamabad-based Aleem Maqbool says the numerous attacks over the last six months show the militants still possess a significant presence in the area.

Close to the Afghan border, Bajaur has been suspected of being the hiding-place of top al-Qaeda leaders such as Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Pakistan's military has been focusing on a major offensive, launched in October, nearby throughout the Talibban stronghold of South Waziristan.

For more information please see:

BBC News- Suicide Bomber Attacks Checkpoint In Pakistan -30 January 2010

AFP- 12 Killed In NW Pakistan Suicide Attack: Officials- 30 January 2010

The Long Way Journal-  Suicide Bomber Kills 12 Pakistanis In Bajaur- 30 January 2010

Hong Kong Legislators Resign Over Universal Suffrage

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HONG KONG, China– Thousands of people gathered outside Hong Kong’s Legislative Council to show support for pro-democracy lawmakers who resigned recently over “the slow pace of democrati[z]ation” in Hong Kong.

The five pro-democracy politicians who resigned were told by the head of Hong Kong’s Executive Council last week that their plan to push for a referendum on universal suffrage was unconstitutional. 

Pro-Beijing media and Chinese authorities have also claimed that the referendum would be unconstitutional because it is not stipulated in the Hong Kong Basic Law agreed to between Chin and the United Kingdom before Hong Kong was returned to China.

This referendum was in response to the government’s proposal on electoral reforms, which pro-democracy parties opined did not sufficiently address the issue of direct representation.

Tanya Chan, one of the resignees, said she hopes the resignation will result in universal suffrage so that Hong Kong’s chief executive and legislators are elected and functional constituencies eliminated.

Pro-democracy proponents have criticized functional constituencies because they allow some voters to vote twice, first in a direct election and then again in functional constituencies. 

A former British colony, Hong Kong currently directly elects only half of its 60 legislators and popular vote is not allowed for the chief executive position.  Thus, some feel that despite Hong Kong’s efforts in fighting for democracy for the last two decades, one-person-one-vote is still far away.

Another lawmaker, Alan Leong Kah-kit, said in his resignation speech that the current voting system in unfair and should be changed to “protect human rights and the rule-of-law as well as provide for better governance and quality of life.”

Religious groups have also organized a forum on constitutional reform.  Bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, Card Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, said, “I’m angry at the local government’s political reform proposal which offers neither progress nor any direction.  It gives people no choice….”

A recent survey showed that 60% of Hong Kong residents support universal suffrage.

For more information, please see:

AsiaNews – Card Zen calls for referendum to decide Hong Kong’s democracy – 18 January 2010

Monsters & Critics – Top Hong Kong adviser warns against democracy referendum – 22 January 2010

Spero News – Five democratic lawmakers resign to allow ‘referendum’ on universal suffrage – 28 January 2010