Sri Lanka: Poor Human Rights Record Noted on Day of Independence

Sri Lanka: Poor Human Rights Record Noted on Day of Independence

By Elizabeth Breslin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka- As Sri Lanka prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary of independence, its human rights record is in the spotlight.  Attention is also focused on the country due to a bombing of a bus on Saturday and then the bombing of a train station on Sunday by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (also known as the Tamil Tigers or LTTE), killing a total of 29 people and wounding over 100.

In its recently-released World Report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) found that in the conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lanka government, little consideration is shown for civilians.  HRW reported that the two sides “violate international humanitarian law… by indiscriminately firing on civilian areas and unnecessarily preventing the delivery humanitarian aid.”

In 2007, Sri Lanka enacted further Emergency Regulations giving the government broad powers to arrest and detain citizens without charge.  The government has used this power to arbitrarily arrest ethnic Tamils, journalists, and political activists.

Furthermore, HRW reported that “[g]overnment security forces are implicated in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, forcibly returning internally displaced persons… to unsafe areas, restricting media freedoms, apparent complicity with the abusive Karuna group, and widespread impunity for serious human rights violations.”

HRW found that the world community was concerned over the situation in Sri Lanka during 2007, but that action was “slow and lacked cohesion.”

Many countries have recently suspended aid due to concerns over Sri Lanka’s human rights record.  The US government has suspended over 110 million USD, the UK has suspended over 3 million USD, and Sri Lanka’s top donor, Japan, threatened to cut off aid as well if the violence continues.

Ethnic turmoil has affected the country for more than 30 years, and the separatist struggle has taken over 60,000 lives.  The civil war has emerged as Asia’s longest ethnic conflict.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – S Lanka anniversary amid tensions – 4 February 2008

AFP – Sri Lanka marks freedom day amid bombs and bloodshed – 3 February 2008

Nidahasa – Global Concern Over Worsening Human Rights Record of Sri Lanka – 1 February 2008

AFP – International action slow to stem Sri Lanka bloodshed: HRW – 1 February 2008

Human Rights Watch – World Report 2008: Sri Lanka Events of 2007 – 31 January 2008

Islamic Insurgents in Algeria Use More Suicide Bombings

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

THENIA, Algeria – Islamist armed groups in Algeria is increasingly relying on suicide bombers to deliver its strikes.

On Tuesday, a car bomb exploded outside a police station in northern Algeria, killing at least two people and wounding 23 others. Officers opened fire on a vehicle that was speeding toward the local police station in the town of Thenia. The vehicle exploded before it reached the building, leaving a 6-foot-wide crater. The force of the blast stopped a clock on nearby City Hall and damaged surrounding buildings.

Though no one immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack, authorities believe the bombing was carried out by an Algerian al-Qaida affiliate who was also behind twin suicide bombings that killed 37 people in December. On December 11, two small trucks loaded with explosive materials struck U.N. offices and a government building, killing at least 37 people, 17 of them U.N. workers.

The Algerian al-Qaida affiliate – emerged from an alliance between Osama bin Laden’s international terrorist network and an Algerian Islamist movement known as the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, or GSPC – has been actively calling for insurgency since January 2007. Before the alliance, the number of rebels fighting to set up purist Islamic rule had been falling dramatically after a decade of violence that began in 1992, when the then army-backed government canceled the country’s first multiparty elections to prevent a radical Islamic party from victory. Armed groups in return sought to overthrow the government, and up to 200,000 people were killed in the ensuing violence.

Violence has fallen since then, but the GSPC’s alliance with al-Qaida last year seems to have rekindled the main armed group’s interest in the revolt and they began to wage larger-scale bombings and target foreigners.

Algerian security forces have recently stated that they have dismantled a rebel gang responsible for the twin bombing of U.N. offices back in December. The forces killed two suspects and arrested another two.

For more information, please see:

The Associated Press – Group behind UN bomb dismantled – 1 February 2008

Reuters – Algeria says smaller rebel cells test terror hunt – 31 January 2008

Boston Herald – Car bomb blast outside Algerian police station kills at least 2 – 29 January 2008

Guardian Unlimited – Car bomb blast in Algeria kills 2 – 29 January 2008

Unrest Continues In Bangladesh

By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

DHAKA, Bangladesh – On January 31st, Human Rights Watch (HRW) publicly criticized the Bangladesh government’s treatment of civil rights.  HRW alleged that government has curtailed basic rights during its emergency rule. Brad Adams, Asia Director at HRW, stated, “The interim government is abusing its emergency powers to target individuals who are trying to protect workers’ rights in Bangladesh’s most important export industry. This should set off alarm bells among donors and governments who don’t seem to understand or care how the authorities are using the state of emergency to systematically suppress basic rights.”

The unrest between labor rights activists and government officials has escalated in the last few weeks. On January 22nd, authorities arrested a staff member of the American Center for Labor Solidarity, and two days later authorities questioned a Danish national who works for the Workers Rights Consortium. Criminal charges have also been filed against at least a dozen union members. Other activists also complain that they are under constant surveillance, and authorities are monitoring them for “engineering or inciting subversive activities within the garment industry.” Most recently, Mehedi Hasan, a field worker for the Workers Rights Consortium, was arrested and is still in police custody for his help in organizing union activities.

Bangladesh law enforcement has confirmed that Mehedi Hasan and other labor leaders were involved in provoking the unrest and protests in the garment industry. Court sources have reported that Mehedi Hasan confessed to interrogators that he collected information about workers’ problems and emailed the information to WRC headquarters in Washington DC. He also confessed to encouraging garment workers to press for their demands and holding meetings with garment workers.

Relations between journalists and Bangladesh authorities are poor. Journalists allege that the army, intelligence agencies, and paramilitary groups have threatened and intimidated them, warning them against defaming the government and army. Elaine Pearson, Deputy Asia Director at HRW, said, “The harassment and intimidation of numerous journalists and activists has instilled enough fear that the media is now censoring itself, especially when it comes to the military.”

Bangladesh is currently under emergency rule and has been so since January 2007. President Iajuddin Ahmed declared emergency rule because of weeks of violent street protests following electoral reforms. The government has promised new elections before the end of 2008.

For more information, please see:

The Daily Star – Provocation of Foreign Body, Labour Leaders Found in Probe –31 January 2008

Human Rights Watch – Bangladesh: Labor Activists in Export Sector Harassed –31 January 2008

Impunity Watch – Bangladesh Arrests Labor Rights Activist – 30 January 2008

International Herald Tribune – Bangladesh Rebuts Critical Human Rights Report– 1 February 2008

BRIEF: Violence Continues Despite Kenya Peace Plan

NAIROBI, Kenya – More than 20 people have died in Kenya following Friday’s agreement by the government and opposition on a framework peace plan.  Tribal gangs have continued to burn homes and tea plantations throughout the Rift Valley, sending even more residents from their homes.   

Further clashes have been reported in the Kericho district where opposition MP David Too was shot dead by a policeman on Thursday.  In Kericho, mobs set fire to slum dwellings inhabited by members of the Kikuyu tribe.  A youth manning a roadblock told Reuters: “Let Annan do his bit but there’s going to be no resolution.  The clashes will continue.” 

Also in the Rift Valley, in the town of Eldoret, a church was burned down by youths.  A witness said that those hiding inside the church managed to escape unharmed.   Furthermore, there are accusations that the police in Eldoret are using excessive violence, and that police have shot dead 16 people and injured 58 others in the last four days. 

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Kenya’s Rift Valley burns despite talks of peace – 2 February 2008

AFP – Dozens dead as clashes overshadow Kenya peace plans – 2 February 2008

AllAfrica.com – Kenya: Army Using Excessive Force in Eldoret – 2 February 2008

BBC News – Violence follows Kenya peace plan – 2 February 2008

Chadian Rebels Advance to Presidential Palace

By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

N’DJAMENA, Chad – Chadian rebels seeking to overthrow President Idriss Deby have made their way to the capital and are fighting government troops around the presidential palace.   The rebels closed in on the capital with their pickup trucks mounted with machine guns following battles against Deby’s troops on Friday northeast of the city.

There has been intense gunfire in the city and witnesses report that army tanks have been burning in the streets. The country’s foreign minister however has said the President is safe and that the situation is under control. French Defense Ministry spokesman Christophe Pazouk told the BBC that the rebels numbered in the thousands and that they had entered the city with surprising ease.

The French and US embassies had begun evacuation procedures however once the rebels entered the city the French mission told its citizens to stay at home under cover.  French President Nicolas Sarkozy discussed the situation of France’s former colony with Deby and reinforced its military contingent on Friday. 

The rebels have said that if they take over they will impose transitional rule for two years before organizing free and fair elections.  Chad has had several coups since their independence from France in 1960.   

President Deby has been in power since 1990, and several years ago caused an outcry when he changed the constitution to allow him to run for a third term.   He has repeatedly been accused of corruption in the new oil sector, and recently there have been several defections from his clan-based inner circle to various rebel movements. 

Chad accuses the Sudanese government of aiding the rebels, claiming the rebels advanced from the war-torn Darfur region heavily armed.  Khartoum has repeatedly denied any such accusations.

Meanwhile, the African Union leaders meeting in Addis Ababa expressed concern over the situation in Chad which has led to a delayed deployment of European Union peacekeepers. 

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Chad rebels fight inside capital – 2 February 2008

Reuters – Rebels enter Chad’s capital, fight around palace – 2 February 2008

Reuters – France, US prepare to evacuate nationals from Chad – 2 February 2008

VOA News – Chadian Rebels, Government Forces Clash Inside Capital – 2 February 2008

Bloomberg – France Prepares Evacuation of Foreigners in Chad Amid Fighting – 2 February 2008