By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Photographs depicting kindergarten teachers in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang allegedly abusing young children were posted on the social networking site “Weibo” last Wednesday.

The pictures that were taken and uploaded on China’s social networking site, Weibo, showed a teacher holding up a student by the ears as the student screamed and writhed in pain.  The teacher can be seen smiling in the photograph as she is holding up the child by the ears.

Additional photographs displayed a child being put upside down in a trash can and a child’s mouth being sealed with tape.  A video also circulated on social networking sites which showed a teacher slapping a five year old girl in the face repeatedly.

Parents of the students at The Blue Peacock Kindergarten, the location where these abuses took place, have cried out in public outrage for the alleged abuse that their children have suffered.  The father of the girl who had been slapped repeatedly alerted local police after his daughter arrived home from school with bruises on her face.  The classroom’s security camera confirmed the physical punishment.

The teacher who held up the student by the ears was later identified as Yan Yanhong, a 20 year old private kindergarten teacher from Wenling city.  Yan was detained by local police on Thursday after the infamous photos were posted on the internet.

Yan, a 20 year old unlicensed teacher, commented to local news sources that the photo depicts her and the student merely having some fun.  Her fellow teacher who had helped Yan take the pictures was punished by being placed under a 7 day administrative detention.  The teachers have also been ordered by local authorities to publically apologize to students and parents.

Because kindergarten is not about of China’s nine-year compulsory curriculum, it does not enjoy the adequate necessary government funding and assistance.  There is a severe shortage of public kindergartens so the rise in private schools providing early education to Chinese students has stepped up to fill the void.  Unlicensed teachers, like Yan, have also been hired hastily by these private schools to help relieve the shortages of available private education for young Chinese children.

Private kindergartens often do not have proper supervision like their public counterparts.  The teachers are also severely underpaid due to cost cutting measures implemented due to the financial pressures of operating these schools.  An average private kindergarten teacher in the Zhejiang province of China can expect to earn roughly 20,000 RMB, which is about 30% of the salary enjoyed by their public school counterparts.

Local laws also do not provide favorable protection to the students.  Chinese law does allow for the charge of abuse to be applied to teachers who harm their students.  The punishment of these abusive teachers is also left up to school administrators and the educational authorities.

Pundits have expressed a need for the Chinese government to up their spending on early childhood education.  Currently, the Chinese government spends about 1.2 of total educational expenditures on kindergarten education programs; developed countries spend an average of 6-8%.

For further information, please see:

Shanghai Daily – Abuse scandal kindergarten head sacked – 28 October 2012

BBC – China outcry over picture of teacher hurting pupil – 25 October 2012

China Daily – Abusive teacher exposes lack of supervision – 25 October 2012

Global Times – Kindergarten teachers detained for “ear pulling” in East China – 25 October 2012

Huffington Post – Chinese Kindergarten Teacher Allegedly Lifts Student Off Ground By Ears, Shares Photo On Internet – 24 October 2012

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – On Thursday, authorities offered up to a $32,000 reward for information revolving around the series of self-immolations in China’s Tibetan-inhabited region, Gannan.  Furthermore, authorities anticipate awarding $7,7000 for information regarding planned immolations.

According to BBC, Chinese authorities issued a notice stating that the immolations have “seriously impacted social stability and harmony as well as people’s ability to live and work.”

The note further stated, “Anyone who reports and informs the legal authorities on the people who plan, incite to carry out, control and lure people to commit self-immolation will be awarded 50,000 yuan.”  Furthermore, anyone is able to provide information regarding the “black hands,” those behind four recent self-immolations, will be receive 200,000 yuan.

Since February 2009, approximately 60 ethnic Tibetans, many of whom were nuns and monks, have committed self-immolation to protest China’s rule in Tibet.  Moreover, the recent “black hands” incident occurred near the Labrang monastery.

As China’s dominant ethnic group, Han, moves into historically Tibetan areas, countless Tibetans accuse the Chinese government of eroding their culture and suppressing their religious freedom.

“This fourth self-immolation in the space of a week underlines that protests in Tibet are continuing and intensifying. We can only expect this to continue until Tibetans are granted the freedom they demand,” shared Free Tibet’s Stephani Brigden.

On Wednesday, the government attributed the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Dalai Lama, for promoting self-immolation.  However, according to AFP, the Dalai Lama has not denounced such acts and prefers to remain “neutral.”

 

For further information, please see:

Examiner – China offers rewards for information about immolations – 26 Oct. 2012

Hindustan Times – Self-immolation: China police offer reward for info on “planned” suicides – 26 Oct. 2012

AFC – China offers rewards to expose Tibetan immolations – 25 Oct. 2012

BBC – Tibet immolations: China offers rewards for information – 25 Oct. 2012

 

 

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SITTWE, Myanmar – Violence between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists flared up again in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine causing the deaths of approximately 60 inhabitants, roughly 31 of which were women.

Rakhine was the stage of a brutal conflict between the majoritarian Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims last June when the rape and homicide of Buddhist woman was blamed on Muslims.  Last June’s violence caused countless deaths and thousands more were displaced when their homes burned to the ground.

Officials are still investigating what exactly set off the violence this time around.  In addition to the existing casualties, dozens of others sustained injuries and thousands of homes along with several religious buildings were destroyed.

An accurate picture of the situation in Rakhine is still elusive as the state access is restricted making the information difficult to verify.  Witnesses to the violence and tragedies, however, have reported that at least 25 men and 31 women have been killed.  Roughly 1,900 homes have also been set ablaze.  It is still uncertain which side, whether the Buddhists or the Muslims, have sustained the most casualties.

The violence has affected the towns of Yathedaung, Kyaukpyu, Kyauk Taw, and supposedly countless others.  Thousands have begun to flee their homes, and approximately 50 boats carrying Rohingya Muslims were reportedly headed for Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state.

Those fleeing are believed to be heading to the refugee camps situated in the outskirts of Rakhine capital, Sittwe.  The prior conflict in June had already displaced thousands of inhabitants who have been bunkered down in the makeshift camps for months.

The U.N. expressed its concerns regarding even more displaced inhabitants fleeing for the already overcrowded camps in the periphery of Sittwe.  The thousands of refugees fleeing their homes and seeking safety include many women and children.

The international community watches on as the United Nations and local police forces call for calm and peace among the conflicting groups.  President Thein Sein had negotiated ceasefires and uneasy peace between the two conflicting groups in the past; however, the government has been unable to implement a permanent solution to the violence.

The estimated 800,000 Rohingya Muslims are still considered illegal immigrants in Myanmar, and Bangladesh, where many have fled from, continues to deny Rohingyas refugee status.  Amnesty International has demanded Myanmar to repeal the 1982 citizenship law that continues to subject Rohinya Muslims to their stateless condition.  However, the state of affairs regarding Rohingya citizenship in Myanmar has yet to be addressed.

For further information, please see:

Bangkok Post – 20 die in Myanmar violence – 25 October, 2012

BBC – Burma Rakhine clashes death toll at 56 – state officials – 25 October, 2012

Centre Daily Times – 56 dead in new ethnic violence in Myanmar – 25 October 2012

Reuters – Sectarian violence worsens in Myanmar’s volatile west – 25 October 2012

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Today, the director-general of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Major General Anwar Hossain, stated that the last of the frontier force’s mutiny-driven battalion is near disbandment.

“Three of the (mutiny-driven) battalions have been abolished earlier while the fourth one, the 44 Battalion, is set to be abolished early next month on completion of due processes,” stated Major General Hossain.

On Saturday, the Bangladesh military court found 723 border guards, the former Bangladeshi Rifles (BDR), guilty of “joining and leading the mutiny.”  The mutiny, which occurred in 2009, had lasted for 33 hours at BDR’s headquarters in Dhaka.  Moreover, the military courts neither permitted the defendants to obtain legal counsel nor grant a right to appeal.

“In all, 735 border guards were charged. Two died during the trial and 10 were acquitted,” relayed prosecutor Gazi Zillur Rahman to the AFP news agency.  “Of the 723 found guilty, 64 soldiers were sentenced to seven years in jail.”

According to Indian Daily News, hundreds of nurses and sportsmen, who have previously represented Bangladesh internationally, were among those convicted.

Two days after, a Bangladesh court jailed 723 border guards for their involvement.  Moreover, the court stated that the verdict was final in a sequence of mass trials lead by the Bangladesh military.

According to BBC, approximately 6,000 people have been jailed for the mutiny over pay and conditions with 74 people dead.  Moreover, among the deceased were at least 57 senior army officers whose bodies were dumped in sewers.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has faulted the trials for the death of these suspects while in custody of authorities and for others who were tortured and beaten.

In response, the Bangladesh military has casted HRW’s claims as baseless.  Moreover, the Bangladesh military alleged that the death of the suspects were from natural causes, such as heart related complications.

According to News Track India, Major General Hossain stated that four new battalions have been created with nearly 10,000 new recruits to replace the border force’s strength after the disbandment of the 24th, 13nth, 36th and 44th battalions.

The BGB, also known as “The Vigilant Sentinels of the National Frontier,” is the oldest uniformed force in Bangladesh and is predominantly responsible for the country’s border security. It is also the Ministry of Home Affair’s paramilitary force.

For further information, please see:

News Track India – Bangladesh Border Guards to abolish last mutiny-stained battalion – 24 Oct. 2012

Zee News – B’desh Border Guards to abolish last mutiny stained battalion – 24 Oct. 2012

BBC – Bangladesh mutiny: 723 border guards jailed – 22 Oct. 2012

India Daily News – Bangladesh jails 723 guards for 2009 mutiny – 20 Oct. 2012

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

TOKYO, Japan – On Tuesday, Japanese authorities arrested two United States sailors for allegedly raping a Japanese woman on the island of Okinawa.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Osamu Fujimura, shared that ministry defense representatives informed United States officials that “the incident is completely unacceptable.”

“[We] have strongly requested measures to increase discipline and prevent things like this from happening again,” said Mr. Fujimura.

“This should never have been allowed to happen,” stated Japan’s Prime Minister, Yoshihiko, to Japanese reporters.

The two sailors were identified as Petty Officer 3rd Class Skyler Dozierwalker and Seaman Christopher Browning of the Fort Worth Naval Air Base in Texas.  Furthermore, according to information relayed to the Huffington Post, the two men were drinking before they purportedly raped her.

United States Ambassador, John Roos, stated that the United States was “extremely concerned by recent allegations of misconduct” by the two servicemen.

“We are committed to cooperating fully with the Japanese authorities in their investigation,” continued Mr. Roos.

On Friday, Lieutenant General Salvatore Angelella apologized in a statement that announced the United States’ plan to impose a curfew.  “I want to personally apologize for the grief and trauma the victim has endured,” shared the lieutenant.

The curfew confines United States military personnel to the base, a personal home, or hotel between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.  This curfew will affect an estimated fifty thousand servicemen currently stationed in Japan.

It is important to note that the relationship between the United States and Okinawans has already been strained by events in the past.

Last month, more than one hundred thousand gathered to protest the deployment of the Marine Corps Osprey aircraft.  Many Okinawans believe this is adding to the already heavy United States presence in the area.

Furthermore, prior to Tuesday’s attack, in August of this year, a U.S. Marine was arrested for purportedly molesting and assaulting a woman Okinawa’s capital, Naha.

Moreover, in 1992, three United States personnel allegedly gang-raped a twelve-year-old girl on Okinawa.  The event caused the United States to reduce military presence on the island.

The United States currently bases approximately twenty six thousand troops on Okinawa.

For further information, please see:

CNN – U.S. troops in Okinawa on curfew after arrests in rape case – 19 Oct. 2012

New York Times – Curfew is Imposed on the U.S. Military in Japan Amid Rape Inquiries – 19 Oct. 2012

BBC – US troops held over Okinawa alleged rape – 17 Oct. 2012

Huffington Post – Okinawa Military Rape Arrests: Japan Decries U.S. Troops in Sexual Assault Allegations – 17 Oct. 2012