Thousands Protest Political Deal Behind Tahiti’s Presidential Election

Thousands Protest Political Deal Behind Tahiti’s Presidential Election

By Hayley Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

PAPEETE, Tahiti –- More than 8,000 Tahitians marched through torrential rain on Saturday to protest a political deal that effectively turned the leader of the smallest party in Parliament into the President of French Polynesia.

The Tahitian government has long been plagued with instability. In the last four years, there have been seven governments and five different presidents. While Tahiti has its own assembly, president, and budget, it is still a semi-autonomous territory of France, and receives subsidies, education, and security from the French government.

Before the election, Gaston Tong Sang, of the Tatou Aia party, was favored to win the presidency after his coalition won 27 of the 57 seats in Parliament, only two short of an absolute majority. Gaston Flosse, leader of the Tahoeraa Huiraatira (People’s Rally) party, was sworn into office last month after winning only 10 seats.

Flosse was elected after making a deal with his political foe, Oscar Temaru, who was also the leader of Parliament’s second largest party, Union for Democracy, which won 20 seats. The coalition combined enough seats in Parliament to win Flosse the election. On Friday, Temaru was made Speaker of the French Assembly.”The last one in the race is running the land” Tong Sang said.

Following Friday’s political deal, Flosse’s coalition immediately dropped from 30 to 28.“Tomorrow they will only be 20,” hinted an official to Tong Sang’s eight-party coalition, referring to a possible motion of no confidence against Flosse’s new government directly following the municipal elections.

News of the Flosse- Temaru political coalition was ill-received in Paris where the ruling party, Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), condemned the deal as “against nature.” Although once supportive of Flosse’s party, the UMP announced it would cut all ties to protest the election.

Saturday’s demonstration was also aimed at mobilizing Tahitians to vote against Flosse’s party candidates in the upcoming municipal elections which are scheduled for March 9 and March 16.   

For more information, please see:

The Sydney Morning Herald — Political deal angers French Polynesians — 3 March 2008

Tahiti Presse — Some 8,500 Tong Sang supporters march to protest Flosse’s election — 3 March 2008

Pacific Magazine — French Polynesia’s Flosse Unveils Coalition Government Line-up — 3 March 2008

Pacific Magazine — Close To 10,000 In Post-Election Pape-ete March — 3 March 2008

Radio New Zealand International — Nearly 9,000 march in French Polynesia against political deals — 3 March 2008

State of Emergency Declared in Armenia

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

YEREVAN, Armenia – On March 1, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan declared a state of emergency.  This declaration followed clashes between state police and protesters in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital.  The Armenian Health Ministry reported that the violence left eight individuals dead and 131 people, including 57 police officers, injured.

Protesters began to gather in the capital on February 20, to demonstrate against what they claim to be “rigged” elections.  The February 19 presidential elections resulted in Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian winning a 53% majority to the opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian’s 21.5%.  For ten days, protesters engaged in peaceful demonstrations, which consisted of mostly marches and slogan chanting.  By March 1, over 15,000 people had gathered in Yerevan to protest the election results.

The opposition and protesters claim that the government rigged the election in favor of Sarkisian, a close ally of Kocharyan, the current president.  While most media report that election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) claimed that the elections were “mostly democratic,” the New York Times writes otherwise.

According to the New York Times, OSCE observers concluded that 16% of the count was “bad” or “very bad.”  They state that in one recount, a Western observer opened an envelope supposedly containing ballots for Sarkisian; however, the top ballot was marked for Ter-Petrosian.  Also, there are claims that votes were bought and that television coverage, which is mostly state run, was “embarrassingly skewed.”

On March 1, protesters and state police clashed in the capital; resulting in President Kocharyan declaring a state of emergency.  The source of the violence is disputed.  According to Reuters, Kocharyan accused demonstrators of firing weapons and grenades and planning a coup.  However, the opposition states that weapons were planted near the demonstrators’ camp, that the police used force to disperse the opposition supporters, and that the violence escalated after a protester was killed by the police.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, both expressed concern over the lethal force used by the state’s police and military against the demonstrators.  HRW called for an immediate investigation of whether lethal force was used in accordance to international law.

The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials limits the use of lethal force to the minimum extent necessary.  This means that lethal force may be used only when less extreme means are insufficient to protect lives.

The state of emergency is in effect until March 20.  During this period all public gatherings are banned and a media blackout is imposed.

For more information, please see:
ArmenPress – Parliament Confirms State of Emergency, Health Authorities Confirm Death of 8 People Killed in Clashes – 2 March 2008

BBC – Eight Killed in Armenia Protests – 2 March 2008

Human Rights Watch – Armenia: Civilians Die as Police Suppress Demonstrations and Riots – 2 March 2008

The Independent – Riots over Vote Force State of Emergency in Armenia – 2 March 2008

International Herald Tribune – Armenia Clamps Down after Post-Election Violence – 2 March 2008

New York Times – Protesters and Police Clash as Armenia Unrest Grows – 2 March 2008

Reuters – Eight Killed in Armenia Protests, OSCE Sent – 2 March 2008

UN News Centre – Deadly Post-Election Protests in Armenia Concern UN Human Rights Chief – 2 March 2008

Human Trafficking Across North Korea-China Border

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PYONGYANG, North Korea – North Korea is a source for men, women, and children trafficking.  The men, women, and children are used for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. North Korea was rated as a Tier 3 country in US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Person Report in 2005. Since then, the government has failed to comply with minimal international standards to prevent the human trafficking from its borders.

Between 80 percent and 90 percent of the refugees from North Korean, especially women and young children, end up as trafficking victims in China. Reports estimate tens of thousands of North Koreans are believed to be hiding in China. Women and children are particularly vulnerable to traffickers in China because the Chinese government’s policy of detaining the refugees and sending them back to North Korea.

In the most common form of trafficking, North Korean women and children who voluntarily cross the border into China are picked up by trafficking rings and sold as brides to Chinese or placed in forced labor. However, sometimes North Korean women and girls are lured out of North Korean by the promise of food, jobs and freedom, only to be forced into prostitution, marriage, or exploitative labor arrangements once in China.

A young woman was sold to a 34-year-old Chinese man for marriage and deported to North Korea. There, she was thrown into a North Korean State Safety and Security Agency Camp, where she was forced to undress and physically abused. According to her statement, pregnant inmates were forced to miscarry on the grounds they were bearing Chinese children. She also expressed that she is willing to go back to the Chinese man who bought her first because she had a better life with him, as well for the benefits to her blind mother and young brother.

A senior U.S. official urged China to change its law to protect victims of trafficking instead of returning them home, and also to allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to operate along the border region with North Korea.

For more information, please see:

The Chosun Ilbo – Human Trafficking Thrives Across N.Korea-China Border – 2 March 2008

U.S. Department of State – North Korean Refugees Frequent Victims of Human Trafficking – 20 July 2005

U.S.State Department Trafficking in Persons Report – Human Trafficking & Modern-Day Slavery – June 2007

YonHap News – US Blames China on NK Human Trafficking – 3 March 2008

Land Clashes Break Out in Western Kenya as Power-Sharing Talks Resume

By Ted Townsend
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – At least 13 villagers were killed early Monday when dozens of people with assault rifles and machetes stormed a village in western Kenya. Among the dead were six children. Police in the area placed the blame on the Sabaot Land Defense Force, a militia group fighting for the redistribution of land in the Mount Elgon region in western Kenya. The victims were accused by the militia of not paying protection money, according to the police.

A National Police spokesman said the attack was in Embaski village, 300 miles northwest of Nairobi.  The village sees frequent, bloody clashes over land.

The militia reportedly shot some villagers, while others were burned alive in their homes. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a three-year old child hacked to death as he ran from his parents house and a pregnant woman burned alive in her own home.

The bloodshed in western Kenya was not necessarily linked to the chaos that has engulfed the country for months. However, land disputes were one of the major unresolved issues as power-sharing talks between the government and the opposition resumed in Nairobi.

Last week, the power-sharing deal was signed, ending months of turmoil that followed the disputed December 27, 2007 election in which over 1,000 were killed, and 300,000 more were left homeless. The committee in charge of the mediation talks will next work with “Agenda Four.” This covers, among other items, essential changes in law and the Constitution, and their application to disputes over land and wealth.

Former United Nations leader and Chief Mediator Kofi Annan left the country this week, after forty-two days of diplomacy. He left “confident Kenyans would finally have the peace they so much desired following the turmoil that saw community rise against another, leaving behind an unprecedented trail of blood, death, injury and destruction.” Annan paid tribute to both President Mwai Kibaki and opposition rival, Raila Odinga, for their leadership in coming to agreement. He added that the next phase of talks, led by a new mediator, Oluyemi Adeniji, were crucial especially as they pertained to land issues.

Annan urged Kenayns to support the agreement and hold their leaders to the promises made, believing long-term issues could be resolved within a year. Political negotiators for each side, however, expressed a desire to speed up their work.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Land clashes break out in Kenya – 3 March 2008

Associated Press – 13 dead in attack on Kenyan village – 3 March 2008

Reuters – Kenyan rivals see speedy resolution to crisis issues – 3 March 2008

allAfrica.com – Annan Leaves as Talks Team Tackle Agenda 4 – 3 March 2008

allAfrica.com – Annan Peace Deal – The Crucial Steps Ahead – 3 March 2008

BRIEF: Questions Surface Regarding Hunter’s Deportation

SUVA, Fiji — Australian publisher Russell Hunter’s expulsion fro Fiji last week has led Deposed Opposition Leader Mick Beddoes and others to ask questions about the interim government’s respect for the rule of law.  Specifically, Beddoes questions an amendment to the Immigration Act of 2003 that took effect the day after Hunter’s removal, which stipulated that orders of removal cannot be reviewed by the judiciary.  Beddoes said, “They’re saying it is pure coincidence that the law was brought in when Mr Hunter was being expelled and they think for some reason that the citizenry in Fiji are a bunch of idiots, and we can’t see through the lies that are being told to the people.”

Beddoes also believes that the change to the law represented a direct subversion of the judiciary.  He has questioned whether or not the judges issuing the injunction of Hunter’s removal were aware of the change or in the law, or if “the ink on the new law still drying when the court decision was handed down.” 

The interim government insists that the timing of the change in the immigration law was purely coincidental.  Interim Immigration Minister Ratu Epeli Ganilau said, “It would have been better for Government had this law come in before Russel Hunter was removed but it didn’t come into force until the day after. And I think the current immigration act was sufficient to actually effect the decision by Government to remove Russel Hunter on the grounds that he had breached the conditions of his work permit.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International — Fiji immigration law change not linked to Hunter expulsion, says interim minister — 03 March 2008

Radio New Zealand International — Fiji Immigration law amended to stop challenge over Hunter expulsion – Mick Beddoes — 03 March 2008

Fiji Times — Regime’s vote of no confidence — 04 March 2008