Reporters Shot in Bangkok Due to Work on Local Corruption

Reporters Shot in Bangkok Due to Work on Local Corruption

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – Jaruek Rangcharoen, a journalist who reported on government corruption was shot last week. Rangcharoen was a regional reporter for the Bangkok-based newspaper, Matichon. Police reported that Rangcharoen was shot several times in the head when he was on his way home from a local market. The Thai Journalists Association (TJA) believes the murder of Rangcharoen was an attempt at silencing the media.

Rangcharoen was reporting on the corruption of local government officials in the central province of Suphanburi. Previously, the governor of Suphanburi has said that Rangcharoen’s articles have brought him in direct opposition with local politicians and businessmen.

Media safety has been a problem in Thailand. In 2005, Santi Lammaninin, a Thai journalist was shot dead near a beach resort. Police said that Lammaninin’s murder was possibly linked to his journalist work.

In August, another Matichon reporter, Athiwat Chainurat, was shot dead in his home. Like Rangcharoen, Chainurat was reporting on local corruption of high-ranking officials. Police suspected Chainurat’s murder was related to news reports written by the victim, which caused conflicts with a high-ranking government officer in the district. The perpetrator for Chainurat’s case has not been found yet.

Due to the danger to journalists in Bangkok, the Press Freedom Association has said, “The current political crisis should not be used as an excuse for allowing impunity to take hold in cases of crimes of violence against the press. Otherwise Thailand could end up in the same tragic situation as the Philippines, where many journalists are murdered each year.”

In addition, Reporters without Borders commented that they “urge the police chief and other competent authorities to move quickly to ensure that both the perpetrators and the masterminds are brought to justice.”

For more information, please see:

APF – Thailand: Journalist Shot Dead Near Beach Resort – 2 November 2005

Bangkok Post – Matichon Reporter Shot Dead at Home – 3 August 2008

Reporters without Borders – Another Provincial Correspondent of Bangkok Daily Gunned Down – 30 September 2008

Child Bride’s Divorce Sparks Discussion of Women’s, Children’s Rights

By Nykoel Dinardo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Photo: Nujood Ali and her attorney Shada Nasser, Courtesy of CNN InternationalImage_nasser_and_ali

SANA’A, Yemen – On September 16, ten-year old Nujood Ali returned to school as a second-grader. Although her actions may not sound unusual, Nujood Ali has become a role model and example for women’s rights activists in the Middle East and her return to school is seen as a major step towards gender equality.  Ali has become the focus of international attention because she filed for divorce in April against her 30 year-old husband, Faez Ali Thamer, and won.

In Yemen, Ali was the first child bride granted a permanent divorce by the court.  Her father arranged her marriage in February.  When asked why he married his daughter at the age of ten, he explained that two of her sisters had been kidnapped and forcibly married.  He believed that, by arranging her marriage, he was protecting her from a similar fate.

Less than a month after Nujood Ali was granted a divorce, nine-year old Arwa Abdu Muhammad appeared a hospital in Sana’a.  She complained that her husband had been beating and sexually assaulting her for eight months.  These two cases have generated a lot of media coverage and brought attention to the risks of child marriage.

Some consider child marriage to be a part of Islamic culture and conservatives often cite the fact that the Prophet Muhammad married his favorite wife when she was nine to support it.  Nonetheless, it has been a hot topic among human rights groups.  The United Nations Population Fund has a section dedicated to Child Marriage as a Form of Gender-Based Violence.  It explains that those married at a young age face high risk of health problems commonly associated with early sexual activity and childbirth.

In Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Human Rights Commission has been pushing for new laws to increase the minimum age for marriage to 17 years.  However, in Yemen, despite laws setting the minimum marriage age to 15 – girls are often married younger.  In an interview with CNN, Ali said that she hopes that her actions make “people listen and think to not marry girls so young.”

Shada Nasser, a women’s rights advocate in Yemen and Ali’s lawyer, said that since the press coverage of Ali’s divorce she’s been contacted by several child brides.  Nasser said that she plans on doing everything she can to help them.

For more information, please see:

Baltimore Sun – Yemen Divorcee Reclaims Childhood –  28 September 2008

CNN International – Helping Child Brides Break Free – 25 September 2008

Jerusalem Post – Ending Child Marriage in Saudi Arabia – 10 September 2008

New York Times – Tiny Voices Defy Child Marriage in Yemen – 29 June 2008

United Nation’s Population Fund – Forms of Gender-Based Violence and Their Consequences

New Zealand PM Calls on Fiji to Establish a Legitimate Government

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – New Zealand’s prime minister has announced that Fiji must establish a legitimate government committed to reform before relations with Fiji can be mended.

“The return of a legitimate government committed to advancing a process of reform and national reconciliation would allow us to start down the road of normalization and reconciliation,” said New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark.

Clark believes Fiji’s path to progress should start with the Pacific Islands Forum proposals held in Niue in August. Specifically, Clark suggests that Fiji’s interim government should strive to avoid isolation from the other Pacific communities.

While Clark admits that establishing a successful dialogue between stakeholders in Fiji would be difficult, she also is hopeful that “given goodwill and commitment on all sides, an inclusive and independent political dialogue process could generate outcomes acceptable to all.”

Despite many difficulties facing Fiji’s return to democratic rule, Clark has observed “widespread willingness” among leaders to find solutions, implement reform, and, most of all ,arrive at a reconciliation.

For more information, please see:
Fiji Village – Clark Calls On Fiji To Engage – 01 October 2008

Fiji Daily Post – Fiji -NZ relations depend on legitimate govt: Clark – 01 October 2008

Religious Freedom in China, North Korea and Myanmar

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

The annual U.S. State Department report on religious freedom heavily criticizes Asian governments’ religion record.  The report says that China’s repression of religious groups intensified during the last year, citing Beijing’s crackdown on Tibetan Buddhists, and its harassment of Christians and members of the Falun Gong as evidence.  The Chinese government undertook a “patriotic education campaign,” which required monks and nuns to sign statements personally denouncing the Dalai Lama. The State Department also found that over the past year, Chinese officials detained and interrogated several foreigners about their religious activities. Officials alleged that the foreigners had engaged in “illegal religious activities,” forcing the cancellation of their visas.

In North Korea, the report said, “genuine religious freedom does not exist.”  According to the report, North Korea government deals harshly with those who engage in religious practices considered unacceptable by the regime. Religious and human rights groups outside the country report that members of underground churches are beaten, arrested, tortured, or killed because of their religious beliefs.  They estimate that 150,000 to 200,000 people are held in political prison camps in remote areas of North Korea, some for religious reasons.  Refugees and defectors who have been in prison said that prisoners held because of their religious beliefs generally are treated worse than other inmates.

The report also condemned Myanmar’s military Junta for restricting spiritual activities and abusing its citizens’ rights.  In Myanmar, “the government continued to infiltrate and monitor activities of virtually all organizations, including religious ones. Christians faced restrictions and Muslims suffered violence and close monitoring,” the report said.  Recently, an independent US group is carrying out unprecedented studies to determine whether Myanmar’s military rulers, accused of rampant human rights abuses, have committed international crimes.

For more information, please see:

AFP – US group studies potential war crimes by Myanmar military – 1 October 2008

BBC – ‘China repression grows’, says US – 19 September 2008

CNN – U.S.: Chinese targeted religious groups before Olympics – 19 September 2008

International Herald Tribune – US criticizes Asian governments’ religion record – 20 September 2008

U.S. Department of State – 2008 Report on International Religious Freedom – 19 September 2008

Voice of America – North Korea Religious Persecution – 30 September 2008

Voice of America – US Religious Freedom Report Faults North Korea, Eritrea, Iran – 19 September 2008