Most Wanted Suspect Arrested in China for Trafficking Children

May 23, 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China– China’s Ministry of Public Security arrested Zhang Weizhu, one of the most wanted criminals for human trafficking in China. Zhang is the third suspect to be arrested after the Chinese police launched a nationwide campaign against human trafficking in April.

Despite the efforts by the Chinese police, the parents of kidnapped children claim that the government efforts are not enough to curb this growing social problem. The parents are prevented by the police and neighborhood security committees from staging protests to bring attention to the problem. A parent of a missing child with the surname Mo said, “On the day we planned to hold the protest, the police kept watch at the bus terminal and intercepted us.”

Parents who try to report their missing children to the authorities are often met with refusal by the police, and the local media has failed to publicize information regarding the abducted children. A mother with the surname Deng said, “The TV station demanded a note from the police station proving that our child was really missing.” She added, “But the police station said this was a big criminal case and…cannot be publicized. They said it would have a bad effect on society.”

Young Chinese girl in Anhui Province (Source: AFP)

Nevertheless, Zhang Xinfeng, the Vice-Minister of Public Security, released a statement urging all authorities to continue their efforts in cracking down on the human trafficking rings and to compile a DNA database to identify the missing children.

There is apparently a huge market for children in China, and both boys and girls are being trafficked. 260 children were freed after the Chinese police solved 312 child trafficking cases since the campaign started in April, and there is a reward of 50,000 yuan ($7,326.55) for information leading to the arrest of the suspects on the top 10 most wanted list.
For more information, please see:

China View – China arrests most-wanted suspect in human trafficking cases – 22 May 2009

People’s Daily Online – Vice police chief vows to strike against human trafficking – 15 May 2009

Radio Free Asia – China Vows Action on Trafficking – 21 May 2009

Shanghai Daily – Police net third trafficker – 22 May 2009

Yemeni Police Kill Three in Clash with Protesters

May 22, 2009

By Nykoel Dinardo
Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

ADEN, Yemen – Three people died following protests in Southern Yemen during the week of May 18, after police clashed with the protesters. One man died at the scene of the protest. The other two died in the hospital shortly thereafter. At least twenty-five others were injured and another 120 were arrested for their involvement.

The protests were focused on the political status of South Yemen. The protests marked the 19th Anniversary of Unity Day, the day when South Yemen and North Yemen were united at one nation. The people of South Yemen have claimed independence and many of the organizations leading the protests are considered separatist organizations. Most of the protests have been organized by the Southern Movement, a group that is strongly against the government in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a.

Yemen is the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula; however most of the oil reserves are located in South Yemen. A large portion of the population is also located in the South. Residents in the South claim that they face discrimination and live in poor economic conditions. As the economic crisis has hit the country, residents of the South claim that they have been denied jobs and property so that they could be reserved for Northern residents.

Over 3,000 protesters were trying to go into Aden City to protest these conditions when they were met by security forces that were sent to break up the groups. When the protesters met the security forces, they used themselves as human shields when police fired live rounds into the crowd. They also shot tear gas into the groups of people.

State-run news agencies in Yemen refused to admit that the clash took place, despite reports of the clash in many international news sources. The news agency, SABA, claims that the deaths were not caused by security forces but instead by “rogue elements.” According to Aden Governor, Adnan al-Jefri, the event has been escalated and magnified by the media. He told SABA on May 21 that there had been “no clashes…between security forces and demonstrators in Aden.”

For more information, please see:

CNN – Yemen Denies Reports of Deadly Clashes – 22 May 2009

AFP – Yemeni President Urges Dialogue After Deadly Clashes – 21 May 2009

Al-Bawaba – Yemen: At Least Three Killed in Clashes – 21 May 2009

BBC – Civil War Fears As Yemen Celebrates Unity – 21 May 2009

Reuters – Three Killed as Police Disperse South Yemen Protest – 21 May 2009

SABA – Aden Governor: No Clashes Between Citizens and Security – 21 May 2009

Canada Convicts First International War Criminal in Landmark Decision

May 22, 2009

By Karla E General
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MONTREAL, Canada – A Quebec court today found Desire Munyaneza guilty of all seven counts of war crimes committed in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, under a Canadian law enacted in 2000 that allows residents to be tried for crimes committed abroad.

Munyaneza, 42, the first person to be convicted under Canada’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, was found guilty on all counts related to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, in connection with the three-month genocide perpetrated by Rwanda’s Hutu group. The actions of the Hutus resulted in the murder of an estimated one million members of Rwanda’s Tutsi group as well as moderate Hutus.

Munyaneza, an ethnic Hutu and son of a wealthy businessman, first came to Canada with his family in 1997, but was refused refugee status. He was arrested in Toronto in 2005 following an RCMP investigation that linked him to the murder and rape of civilians, and of leading attacks against ethnic Tutsis at the National University of Rwanda during the genocide. The organization known as African Rights also linked Munyaneza to Rwandans indicted by the United Nations International Criminal Court, and accused him of being a leader in a militia group that raped and murdered dozens of people. He was 27 at the time of the genocide.

Each of the seven counts that Munyaneza was convicted of carries a lifetime prison sentence.

Haitian Migrants Continue to be Targets of Mob Violence in the Dominican Republic

May 22, 2009

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

PETIONVILLE, Haiti – The Dominican Republic’s treatment of Haitian migrants was protested by over 150 people in front of the Dominican Embassy after the lynching of a Haitian migrant in the Dominican Republic. Carlos Nerílus was tortured and beheaded on May 2nd, as an angry mob watched and took pictures. There is no evidence that local authorities took any action to stop the lynching.

Haitian immigrants have increasingly been victims of mob violence in recent years. A report by Amnesty International found there to be “deep rooted racial discrimination” against Haitians in the Dominican Republic. The report can be found here.

Human Rights groups have expressed concern about discrimination and mass expulsion of Haitians in the Dominican Republic. Between 20,000 to 30,000 Haitians are deported from the Dominican Republic each year. Haitian immigrants have no way to normalize their immigration status without documents, thus widely limiting access to health care and fair labor conditions. Dominican-born children of Haitian migrants are denied Dominican citizenship.

Roughly 1 million Haitian nationals currently live in the Dominican Republic, most of which are undocumented and work in exploitative occupations such as agriculture and domestic service. Last year authorities uncovered a child trafficking ring that forcibly employed Haitian children as beggars.

In response to the beheading, the Dominican Republic has promised to prosecute those responsible.

Fiji’s Military Regime Faces EU Sanction

May 22, 2009

By Angela Marie Watkins
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – The European Commission canceled a grant worth more than $32.6 million to Fiji in a sign of growing international impatience at the military regime’s refusal to hold elections.

A statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade indicated that the cancellation “is the inevitable result of the interim government’s failure to return Fiji to democracy.” The statement went on to say that “Fiji and its people continue to bear the consequences of the interim government’s intransigent attitude.”

The United States and Fiji’s most affluent neighbors, Australia and New Zealand, have also imposed targeted sanctions.

The sugar industry is Fiji’s second-largest after tourism and contributes between six and eighth percent of the country’s total gross domestic product.

In early 2007, the European Union found that interim regime’s military coup of Fiji’s democratically elected government in 2006 had violated the Cotonau Agreement. Under that agreement, sugar produced by developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific are given subsidized and preferential access to European markets. The EU announced in October 2007 that subsidies would be tied to progress toward democracy.

The military government says it will not hold elections before 2014. Recently, it has imposed a state of emergency under which the media is censored.

Last month, the military regime tightened its grip on power leading to its suspension from the Pacific Islands Forum, a regional bloc that represents the common interests of regional island nations.

For more information, please see:
Bloomberg – EU Cancel Substantial Aid to Fiji – 20 May 2009

Radio Austrailia – Australia Backs EU’s ‘Firm Line’ Canceling Sugar Aid to Fiji – 20 May 2009

AFP – EU cancels 2009 Fiji sugar assistance – 20 May 2009