By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan – Protestors clashed with local police forces in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek over the current prime minister’s failure to place the Kumtor gold mine under state ownership.

The central government headquarters were stormed by protestors on Wednesday, who demanded that the current prime minister, Zhantoro Satybaldiyev, step down from power in favor of new leadership that would do more good for the general public.  Kamchibek Tashiyev, leader of the nationalist Ata Zhurt party, led the charge.

Tashiyev and his supporters in the nationalist Ata Zhurt party attempted to pass a law earlier this year to nationalize the Kumtor mine but failed to garner enough support in parliament for the initiative to pass.  The current prime minister’s decision to defend foreign interests in the mine fueled the anger of the nationalists who were attempting to place Kyrgyzstan’s economic interest back into Kyrgyz hands.

Police resorted to violence in their response to the uproar with tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowd of angry protestors.  The Kyrgyz Health Ministry reports that 10 protestors were injured, three of whom are being treated for gunshot wounds.  No police were injured during the clash.

The Kumtor mine is perhaps the largest gold mine operated in Central Asia by a foreign interest.  The Canadian company, Centerra, operates the mine generating roughly $1.9 billion in profits each year.  The current administration’s reluctance to nationalize the gold mine in favor of keeping the operations in foreign hands is alleged to be a sell-off of Kyrgyzstan to foreign interests.

The former Soviet country has been marked by violent protests since its independence in 1991 which led to the disintegration of two presidencies.  Both former presidents fled abroad to escape the bloody protests.  The most recent upheaval over the Kumtor mine has been the most violent outbreak since the April 2010 revolts which lead to the overthrow of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

Attempts have been made in the nation’s brief history to attract foreign investors to the highly impoverished yet resource rich country.  Violence from nationalists groups viewing foreign investment as an unwelcomed, however, has perhaps deterred foreign interests from established a strong economic foothold in the nation.  Other experts, however, believe that the most recent fit of violence will not scare off potential investors.

Political analysts also believe that Tashiyev and his Ata Zhurt party may be using the conflict over the nationalization of the Kumtor mine as a grab for power.  Tashiyev has called for an official overthrow of the current administration but has disappeared after the riots over the mines.

For further information, please see:

Hurriyet Daily News – Rioters attack government buildings in Kyrgyzstan – 3 October 2012

Registan – Tashiev Leads Bishkek Protests – 3 October 2012

Reuters – Kyrgyz police repel protesters seeking ouster of government – 3 October 2012

The Washington Post – Rioters led by nationalist politicians attack government buildings in Kyrgyzstan – 3 October 2012

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MALÉ, Maldives – On Monday, Maldives’ ex-president, Mohamed Nasheed, did not attend his court hearing in Malé.  Mr. Nasheed faces charges of abuse of power for unlawfully ordering for the arrest of Maldives’ chief criminal court judge, Abdullah Mohamed.

Last week, the Hulhumale Magistrate Court directed the ex-president to appear before it Monday but also, to not leave Malé without its permission.

In addition to his failure to appear in court, Mr. Nasheed did not seek the court’s approval when he left the capital to participate in election campaigning.

According to Associated Press, Mr. Nasheed, who served as Maldives’ first democratically elected president, believes that he was “forced from office in a coup d’etat.”

“The coup has not yet been completed,” Mr. Nasheed informed the AFP news agency after his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) held a protest in Malé last Friday to criticize the charges against him.

Furthermore, according to BBC, the ex-president denies the charges against him and believes that the trial is politically driven.  To Mr. Nasheed, the court’s purpose in restricting his travels was to prevent him from campaigning in the upcoming elections.

“Once they started to set up a fabricated court, bring in judges who are not judges of that court, and the whole structure of it is so… politically motivated, it is very obvious it is not meant to serve justice,” Mr. Nasheed shared.

In any event, if Mr. Nasheed is convicted, he may face up to three years in jail or banishment to a remote islet in the archipelago.  Furthermore, it may bar him from disputing future presidential polls.

“People will not allow the regime to steal the next election. A free and fair election is our over-arching goal,” said Mr. Nasheed.

After he either resigned or was forcibly moved by the Maldives police, Mr. Nasheed’s deputy, Mohamed Waheed, replaced him as president.

According to the Associated Press, the new president’s spokesman, Abbas Riza, denied Mr. Nasheed’s allegations against the court and said that the court order was “the usual practice, according to the country’s law.”

For more information, please see:

Aljazeera – Maldives ex-president to face trial – 01 October 2012

Associated Press – Maldives’ ex-president fails to show in court – 01 October 2012

BBC – Maldives ex- President Mohamed Nasheed defies court – 01 October 2012

Boston News – Maldives court orders police to bring ex-president – 01 October 2012

 

 

 

 

 

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Cambodian land rights activist and journalist, Mam Sonando, was sentenced to a 20 year jail term by the Phnom Penh court for allegedly inciting a mass rebellion against the central government.

 

A well-known critic of the current Cambodian prime minister and political administration, the 71 year old Sonando was accused of urging villagers in the eastern Kratie province to take up arms as part of a greater coup.  Hun Sen, the Cambodian prime minister, believes that Sonando was attempting to secede and establish his own separatist state with the rebelling villagers.

Sonando and his supporters have denied all allegations, and he has maintained his plea of not guilty despite being handed a guilty verdict by the panel of three judges in the Phnom Penh court.  The insistence by the central government of the existence of an actual rebellion is alleged to be mere puffery.  It is believed, by Sonando and his supporters, to be a political move to silence critics and keep the current abuses of the administration quiet.

The current administration has been known to forcibly evict Cambodian citizens from their land.  The central government’s alleged aim is to usurp private citizens’ lands and utilize it for agricultural purposes.  Industries, such as rubber, sugar, and mineral exportation, has exploded in recent years.  Cambodia has enjoyed quite an economic boom which has led to the current land disputes and possible abuses in basic land rights of private citizens.

From a special report by the U.N. Human Rights Council, Cambodia’s population is growing increasingly “desperate and unhappy” over the abuses by their government.  The government has been believed to be using these land grabs as a tool of repression.  A leading environmental campaigner and journalist, who had been reporting on issues such as the current land disputes, was found dead in the trunk of a car.

Last May, clashes between protestors and the central government’s armed forces over land disputes lead to the death of a 14 year old girl in Kratie.  Sonando has, now, been found guilty of assisting these villagers and inciting rebellion among their ranks.  His supporter’s have, however, believed that his recently found guilt and impending incarceration is a victory.  They now have possible direct evidence of abuses by the government, such as prosecuting baseless claims against government critics and activists.

The EU has been under immense pressure to freeze tariff free exports from Cambodia.  The tariff free exportation has, perhaps, contributed to the recent economic boom which has tempted the central government to forcibly and illegally steal land from private citizens.  The EU has also issued a statement doubting the legitimacy of the Cambodian courts.

 

For further information, please see:

BBC – Cambodia jails journalist Mam Sonando over ‘plot’ – 1 October 2012

International Business Times – Myanmar Revisited? Cambodian Pro-Democracy Activist Jailed For 20 years – 1 October 2012

Reuters – Cambodia rights activist jailed 20 years on disputed conviction – 1 October 2012

The Phnom Penh Post – Activist Mam Sonando gets 20 years – 1 October 2012

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – On Monday, the Menki Farm displacement camp’s remaining 1,160 Sri Lankan Tamils departed.  At one point, the Menik Farm lodged 300,000 people and was considered the world’s largest camp for internally displaced people (IDP).

In 2009, the Sri Lankan government opened the 700-hectare Menik Farm in northern Sri Lanka as an IDP location.

According to Reuters, after approximately three years succeeding the Sri Lankan civil war, authorities have closed Menik Farm, which previously housed tens of thousands of war-affected civilians.  When it the displacement camp shut down on Monday, there were 346 people left.

Although the United Nations (UN) has approved of the closing of the displacement camp, it cautioned that many still need help to restore their lives.

“This is a milestone event towards ending a chapter of displacement in Sri Lanka some three years after the civil war which ended in May 2009,” said Subinay Nandy, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator in Sri Lanka, this past Tuesday.

According to BBC, some are “left in the jungle” with no resources to rebuild their homes and lives.  One hundred and ten (110) families from Keppapilavu village said that they were prevented from returning home and were subsequently redirected to patches of vacant jungle area instead.

However, Sri Lanka’s army spokesman Vijtha Ravipriya rejected such claims and believed that most people were “very happy” with the help they received from the army.  “People have to go to their villages. The military is helping them renovate and reconstruct their homes so the people are very happy,” said Mr. Ravipriya.

Furthermore, erected army camps were only designated on government land.  “I categorically reject the complaints.  Some areas are no-go to prevent unnecessary accidents.  There are only very limited areas of army camps and they are on government land,” continued Mr. Ravipriya.

Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, a politician from the small and radical Tamil National People’s Front party has been publicizing the situation of the displaced persons.  “The government hurried to empty the Menik Farm camp because of the universal periodic review on Sri Lanka’s human rights situation coming up soon in Geneva,” Mr. Ponnambalam relayed to BBC.

Civil society activists estimate that about 26,000 people remain displaced by military occupation of their land in Sri Lanka.

For further information, please see:

Tamil News – Sri Lanka: Displaced Tamil families ‘left in jungle’ – 28 September 2012

BBC – Sri Lanka: Displaced Tamil families ‘left in jungle’ – 27 September 2012

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – Sri Lanka’s displacement chapter nears end with closure of Menik Farm – 27 September 2012

Reuters – U.N. welcomes closure of controversial Sri Lankan “war” camp – 26 September 2012

 

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MANILLA, Philippines – The Filipino legislature introduced a new “cybercrime” law, Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which will increase punishment for criminal libel.  Furthermore, it grants authorities the power to shut down Internet websites and monitor online traffic.

In the statute, a section states that criminal libel apples to conduct “committed through a computer system or any other similar means which may be devised in the future.”

According to Business Mirror, the labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMO) believes that the law “will not curtail freedom of expression and of the press, but will also allow the government to bring down web sites [sic], blogs[,] and social networking sites with ‘libelous’ contents.”

The “cybercrime” law augments the minimum punishment from six (6) months to six (6) years with the potential of the maximum punishment of twelve (12) years, doubling the minimum.

According to the Guardian,  Human Rights Watch (HRW) believes that the punishment for Internet libel is a blatant and grave threat to freedom of expression, specifically, freedom of press.

“The cybercrime law needs to be repealed or replaced,” urged Brad Adam, HRW’s Asian Director.  “It violates Filipinos’ rights to free expression and it is wholly incompatible with the Philippine government’s obligations under international law.”

Recently, a number of journalists in the Philippines have been imprisoned for libel.  For example, radio journalist Alexander Adonis, convicted five (5) years ago, spent two (2) years in jail.

In regards to Mr. Adonis’s case, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) concluded that the Filipino government violated the international covenant of political and civil rights.

For further information, please see:

Guardian – Philippines law threatens press freedom – 28 September 2012

National Inquirer – ‘Cybercrime Prevention Act unconstitutional’ – Senator Guingona – 27 September 2012

Business Mirror – Law vs cybercrime to curtail press freedom-groups, senator – 25 September 2012

National Union of Journalists – Cybercrime law threatens freedom of expression – 18 September 2012