Australia Must End Discriminatory Practices Against Aborigines

November 22, 2009

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia – In a visit to the Australian region of Utopia last week, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Irene Khan urged Australia to rescind its laws, putting an end to discrimination against Aboriginal people.

Khan estimates that approximately 45,000 Aboriginal people have been affected by certain measures, in particular, those that allow land confiscation and interference with income payments.

After a report revealed large amounts of abuse and violence in these communities, the government enacted discriminatory practices as part of the 2007 Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER).

Critics of NTER, including Amnesty International, believe that it imposes harsh measures on all Aboriginal people living in the Northern Territory. One such practice is “compulsory income management”, which stipulates that individuals shall receive half of their welfare payments in the form of the Basics card, a “virtual payment” which can only be spent in particular shops on certain goods.

Amnesty claims that Australia has breached its international obligations on human and indigenous rights by imposing these measures, which have left the Aborigines feeling stigmatized and lacking the flexibility to manage their own lives.

“Disempowered, robbed of their dignity, threatened with the loss of their identity and attacked on their own ancestral lands”, Khan is shocked by these human rights violations.

In her statement, Khan said “[i]ndigenous people . . . deserve the same respect, safety and protection as does any Australian . . . but this will not be achieved in a sustained manner under the Emergency Response which is stigmatizing and disempowering an already marginalized people and which is in violation of Australia’s international obligations.”

Khan found the existence of human rights violations within one of the world’s most developed nations to be “inexcusable” and “morally outrageous.”

Individuals living in these communities are subject to chronic violence, housing problems, and health issues. Alcohol and substance abuse are also rampant.

Australia’s Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin, indicated that Australia would put forth legislation to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in the Northern Territory.

The government suspended the Racial Discrimination Act and Northern Territory anti-discrimination legislation, which allowed it to enact NTER and intervene into the affairs of Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. In doing so, the government contributed to worsening poverty levels in Aboriginal communities.

The Secretary General of Amnesty has called on Australians to put an end to this disparity.

For more information please see:
New Tang Dynasty Television – Amnesty Cracks Down on Australia – 21 November 2009

Associated Press – Amnesty boss urges equality for poor Aborigines – 18 November 2009

Amnesty International – Australia: Government must overturn law which discriminates against aboriginal people – 18 November 2009

ABC News – Shocking Conditions in Utopia: Amnesty – 16 November 2009

Canadian Official Claims Canada Indifferent to Torture of Transferred Detainees

November 22, 2009

22 November 2009

Canadian Official Claims Canada Indifferent to Torture of Transferred Detainees

By William Miller,

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

Richard Colvin Testified that Canada was ignoring the torture of detainies transfered to Afganistan custody before a Parlimentary Comittee on Wednesday (PHOTO: Guardian)

OTTAWA, Canada – Richard Colvin, former second in command at Canada’s Embassy in Kabul Afghanistan, testified before a parliamentary committee on Wednesday November 18 that Canada transferred numerous Afghan detainees to afghan authorities despite knowing that they would likely be subjected to torture. Colvin further testified that many of the detainees where not involved in the insurgency.
Colvin implicated Canadian government departments including the Department of Foreign Affairs and international trade the department of defense and the Privy Council headed by the Prime Minister. All had received reports regarding the torture of transferred detainees over an 18 month period from 2006 to 2007 but failed to act on them. It was internationally known that Prisoners transferred to Afghan authorities were being tortured. Both NATO and the United Nations have previously raised concerns of abuse by officials in Afghanistan.

Colvin Testified that lax reporting systems brought Canada very close to being complicit in the torture. Both Britain and the Netherlands transferred detainees to Afghanistan authority but did so in lesser numbers and kept better records and actively monitored prisoners to safe guard them against torture. Canada allegedly went to great lengths not to address the problem and went so far as refusing to take phone calls from The Red Cross for months when they attempted to warn officials of the torture.

Unlike Britain and the Netherlands, Canada filed no reports on prisoner transfers. Officials claim that this was done for security reasons but Colvin alleges that it was to guard against the press and the public becoming informed of detainee torture. In 2007 government officials issued reports to their department not to write or record any statements about detainee torture and to sensor those in existence after the Globe and Mail reported on the torture of transferred prisoners.

Harper claims that he sent reports to Canadian Government officials himself over a 17 month period when Canadian Officials where denying that detainees were tortured.

Torture methods used on the prisoners included electric shock, beatings, and exposure to open flames, sleep deprivation and several other methods. Prisoners where often tortured for months at a time. If Calvin’s assertions are verified, Canada could face investigation for war crimes by the International Court.

Officials Colvin named in his testimony include Margrete Bloodworth, former National Security Advisor for Prime Minister Steven Harper, David Sproule, former Ambassador to Afghanistan, and half a dozen other high ranking officials.

For more information, please see:

CBC – A Who’s Who of Officials Named in Richard Colvin,s Testimony – 20 November 2009

Guardian – Canadian Diplomat Alleges Troops in Afghanistan Were Complicit in Torture – 20 November 2009

Ottawa Citizen – Grave Allegations – 20 November 2009

Japan Urged to Help Improve North Korea’s Human Rights

November 22, 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW YORK, United States – Several nongovernmental organizations have submitted a letter to the prime minister of Japan asking the new Japanese government to take leadership in help improving human rights in North Korea.

Prime Minister of Japan, Yukio Hatoyama. Courtesy of Reuters.

These organizations have also urged Japan to focus on North Korean refugees and the fate of Japanese who migrated to North Korea between 1959 and 1984.

Although Japan has previously raised awareness regarding North Korea’s human rights abuses, for example, the plight of Japanese abductees, the letter to the prime minister encouraged Japan to “play a stronger and more proactive role in promoting and protecting the human rights situations in North Korea.”

To do so, the organizations provided suggestions, such as raising human rights issues with North Korea in the future, pressuring China to protect North Korean refugees, accepting North Korea refugees who have no ties to Japan, and continuing to accept former migrants who return to Japan from North Korea.

Tokyo director of Human Rights Watch Kanae Doi said, “Abuses against North Korea take place right on Japan’s doorstep, but Japan has been largely silent on human rights issues except for abductions of Japanese citizens.”

Doi added “The new Japanese government should lead the way in raising wider human rights issues with North Korea.”

Between 1950s and 1980s, more than 93,000 Japanese migrated to North Korea as a result of a campaign by pro-North Korean groups which labeled North Korea as “heaven on earth.”

However, according to North Korean defectors, the North Korean government sent some of those migrants to labor camps where they died of starvation, lack of medical care and physical abuse. Some migrants who escaped North Korea have resettled in Japan, but the Japanese government does not have a clear policy on their resettlement.

Just last month, Japan, along with the European Union, submitted a resolution to the UN General Assembly in efforts to bring more awareness to the human rights conditions in North Korea.

“Improving human rights conditions in a country such as North Korea is a daunting task, but Japan should not waste this opportunity to help North Koreans both in and outside the country,” said Doi.

The letter to the prime minster also included topics such as offering food aid to North Korea and including human rights in bilateral and multilateral talks with the North.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Japan: Press North Korea on Human Rights – 19 November 2009

Human Rights Watch – Joint letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on North Korea – 19 November 2009

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan – Japan-North Korea Relations – May 2004

North Korea Dismisses UN Resolution on Human Rights

November 22, 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – Earlier this week, the UN adopted a resolution condemning North Korea for its “systematic, widespread, and grave violations” of human rights in a 96 to 19 vote and urged Pyongyang to “respect fully all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

This resolution, adopted on Thursday, was co-sponsored by 53 nations and was approved by a special committee of the UN General Assembly. As a result of this resolution, the UN will be conducting a comprehensive review called Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the human rights conditions in North Korea next month. All UN member states are subject to UPR.

Some of the human rights abuses mentioned in the resolution include cruel and degrading punishment such as public executions and extrajudicial detentions, which are all prevalent in North Korea.

Demonstrators protesting North Korean refugee repatriation. Courtesy of AFP.

The resolution also expressed concern for fundamental freedoms of children, especially in terms of lack of access to basic economic, social and cultural rights, and the rights of North Korean refugees who seek asylum.

South Korea was a co-sponsor and voted for this resolution. Its Foreign Ministry released a statement saying they voted in favor because human rights are “universal values that must be handled separately from other matters.”

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the UN resolution for being groundless. A spokesman for the North’s Central News Agency said the resolution is “nothing but ‘a stereotype political plot’ that forges hostility against the North every year.”

He added, “As we always did (in the past), we squarely reject the ‘resolution’ that the U.S. and its followers manipulated to harm our ideology and system under the pretext of protecting human rights.”

The UN also pointed out how North Korea continuously refuses to cooperate with UN special agents who monitor human rights in North Korea.

Although this resolution is not binding, it does lay the foundation for UN members to take action against North Korea for its human rights violations.
For more information, please see:

The Korea Times – UN Condemns Human Rights Abuses in North Korea – 20 November 2009

JoongAng Daily – Seoul backs UN vote condemning North – 21 November 2009

Yonhap News – U.N. urges N. Korea to respect all human rights – 20 November 2009

Soy Growers Spray Paraguayan Indigenous with Pesticide

November 22, 2009

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

DEPARTMENT OF ALTO PARANÁ, Paraguay-217 indigenous Guarani were sprayed with pesticide last week after refusing to vacate their ancestral land. The government confirmed that there were no crops present where the pesticide spraying took place.

A formal eviction of the indigenous people was set for the same day, but a district prosecutor canceled the mandate right before execution. The local government’s refusal to evict the Guarani apparently led the soy growers to take matters into their own hands.

Over fifty men claiming ownership of the land arrived on November 6th and tried to remove the Guarani by force. The people resisted, using their bows and arrows. Later that day, an airplane sprayed pesticide directly above their homes. The pesticide is thought to be the same as that which is regularly used on soy crops. Over 200 people reported sickness and fainting. At least seven people were taken to the hospital. One person remains in critical condition.

Amnesty International has condemned the “use of apparently toxic pesticides to intimidate an indigenous community after they resisted being forcibly evicted from their ancestral lands.” Amnesty International noted the “worrying precedent” set by the Human Rights Commission of the Paraguayan State, who rejected a draft bill returning ancestral lands to another indigenous group, leaving ninety families homeless.

Amnesty International finds that even the most isolated indigenous groups are at risk due to deforestation. Satellite imagery shows that deforestation in the north of Paraguay occurs uninterrupted despite government regulation.

Paraguayan indigenous groups complain that they are not sufficiently protected against private commercial interests. An expert from the University of Maryland stated that the “economics and politics of Paraguay make sustained improvement unlikely.” Paraguayan researchers for Amnesty International say that “indigenous peoples’ lives are being put in jeopardy by those who should protect them,” calling the acts against the Guarani, “predictable.”

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered Paraguay to return ancestral lands to two indigenous communities. It is not clear whether that order has been carried out. Amnesty International has urged Paraguay to recognize international human rights standards, which recognize the right to traditional lands as crucial to indigenous peoples because they are a vital element of their sense of identity, livelihood, and way of life.

For more information, please see:

Global Voices-Paraguay:Indigenous Group Sprayed Aerially with Pesticides-12 November 2009

CNN-More than 200 Paraguayan Villagers Thought Sprayed with Pesticide-11 November 2009

Amnesty International-Paraguay Indigenous Community Threatened by Illegal Eviction and Pesticide Attack-10 November 2009