UPDATE: Nauru’s Supreme Court Finds Parliament Meeting Illegal

UPDATE: Nauru’s Supreme Court Finds Parliament Meeting Illegal

YAREN, Nauru — Yesterday, Nauru’s Supreme court declared an amendment passed in a controversial Parliamentary session two weeks ago illegal. The amendment would have ousted two key Cabinet Ministers and given the Opposition party a majority in Parliament.

On Easter Saturday, Parliament Speaker and Opposition member, David Adeang, called a Parliamentary session without notifying the Government. With three members out of the country and the electricity disconnected, Mr. Adeang gathered mostly Opposition members to amend the Citizen Act. Although the meeting lacked a quorum, the amendment would force two of Nauru’s senior Cabinet Ministers out of office for having dual citizenship.

President Marcus Stephen stated that Foreign Minister, Dr. Kieren Keke, and Finance Minister, Frederick Pitcher would not be disqualified from their positions. Mr. Adeang subsequently accused the President of seeking to stage a Parliamentary coup.

On Monday, Chief Justice Robin Millhouse of the Supreme Court declared the impromptu Parliament session illegal and all rules decided at the meeting, thus, void.

Mr. Adeang believes the Court’s decision effectively overturns 40 years of Parliament practices in Nauru. Meanwhile, President Stephen has praised the Supreme Court, calling the holding a stabilizing influence on Nauru’s government.

For more information, please see:
ABC News: Australia — Nauru judge blocks citizenship law change — 08 April 2008

Radio New Zealand International — Nauru speaker at odds with Supreme Court ruling — 08 April 2008   

Radio New Zealand International — Nauru Government says Court has ruled that Speaker acted unconstitutionally — 07 April 2008

BRIEF: Turkish Defendants Lack Legal Representation

ISTANBUL, Turkey – A new study, conducted by Istanbul Bilgi University and the Open Society Justice Initiative, concluded that less than 10 percent of criminal defendants in Turkey are represented by a lawyer.  The report is based on empirical data collected from over 600 case files opened in 2000-2001 and closed before 2005.  In addition, the researchers observed 173 court proceedings in Istanbul courts and interviewed over 75 criminal justice actors.

The report, Alone in the Courtroom: Accessibility and Impact of Criminal Legal Aid before Istanbul Courts, found that approximately 75 percent of criminal defendants sentenced to prison were never represented by a lawyer and that in less than 8 percent of the cases were lawyers present at the police interrogations.

Turkey’s Code of Criminal Procedure requires that free legal aid be provided to all criminal defendants, regardless of financial standing.  However, the report finds that only less than 2 percent of defendants exercise this right.  One of the likely causes is that there is a lack of awareness among defendant’s about their right to free legal aid.


For more information, please see:
Open Society Justice Initiative – New Report from Turkey Finds Accused Lack Legal Representation – 6 April 2008

Open Society Justice Initiative – Alone in the Courtroom: Accessibility and Impact of Criminal Legal Aid before Istanbul Courts – June 2007

International rights group urges India to investigate unmarked graves in Kashmir

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SRINAGAR, India – Amnesty International, an international human rights group, urged the Indian government to launch an immediate investigation into nearly 1,000 unidentified graves found in the remote-hit region of Kashmir during the past two years.  Amnesty International wants the government to determine if any of the graves contain the bodies of those listed as missing by local rights groups.  Human Rights Watch also released a letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), indicating that HRC should insist that the Indian government take strong steps to hold accountable members of its security forces responsible for torture, arbitrary detentions, killings, and “disappearances”.

The plea from Amnesty International comes after a local rights group, the Association of Parents of Disappeared People, said it discovered nearly 1,000 unidentified graves scattered in cemeteries around the town of Uri. Uri is one of the most violent parts of Kashmir and neighbors the Pakistan-administered zone of Kashmir.

“The grave sites are believed to contain the remains of victims of unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other abuses which occurred in the context of armed conflict persisting in the state since 1989,” Amnesty International said in a statement.

Last week police in Indian-administered Kashmir rejected a demand for action to identify the bodies.  At least 200 demonstrators led by senior leaders of Hurriyat held a protest in Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir, against what they called gross human rights violations by security forces.  The protestors carried placards reading “Stop human rights violations” and pictures of “missing persons”.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but claimed by both in its entirety.  Many Islamic groups have been fighting mainly Hindu India in Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a union with mostly Muslim Pakistan.  The insurgency has left more than 43,000 people dead by official counts while rights groups put the toll at 70,000 dead and disappeared.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Amnesty urges Kashmir grave probe – 07 April 2008

Human Rights Watch – India: UN Rights Council Should Tackle Impunity – 07 April 2008

International Herald Tribune – International rights group urges India to probe unidentified graves in Kashmir – 07 April 1008

Reuters – Amnesty urges India to probe unmarked Kashmir graves – 07 April 2008

UPDATE: East Timor: Civilian Killed in Pursuit of Rebels

DILI, East Timor — On Saturday, East Timor’s military shot and killed a civilian believed to have aided rebel attacks on the President and Prime Minister in February. The military plans to launch a 10 day operation this week in pursuit of rebels that remain in hiding.

On February 11, rebel ex-soldiers seriously wounded President Jose Ramos-Horta in an assassination attempt outside his home. That same morning, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao escaped a similar attack unharmed.

In response, Brigadier-General Taur Matan Ruak has assembled a 2,000 strong military and police force that will begin door-to-door searches for rebels on Wednesday. Ruak has warned that civilians involved in hiding or providing food and aid to rebels will also be prosecuted. “At first we didn’t want to use gunfire in the operation, but some people are not cooperating with us and are still hiding,” said Ruak. The operation will last 10 days or until the rebels surrender.

On Saturday, the civilian was shot in Meliana, a district west of the capital, Dili, after attacking a soldier with a machete. Two rebels surrendered to the military that same day.

The recent violence stems from a 2006 incident where 600 military members were fired for protesting alleged discrimination. In the bitter dispute, the army divided into factions, causing 37 deaths and forcing 150,000 from their homes. 

For more information, please see:

Reuters: India — East Timor army kills rebel supporter in operation — 06 April 2008

Reuters: UK — East Timor to use force against rebels – army — 04 April 2008

Opposition Group to Boycott Egyptian Elections

By Ben Turner
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Egypt’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, announced that they will boycott the country’s April 8 elections after being allowed to field candidates in only 20 out of 52,000 contested council seats.

The Brotherhood says that 800 of its members have been arrested in recent weeks and thousands more have been intimidated in an organized crackdown to prevent them from registering as candidates.  The boycott will have little effect on the results of the election, with 90 percent of the seats certain to go to President Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party.  But the boycott will reinforce the idea that the Egyptian government is refusing to allow any opposition groups from participating in the election process.

The Brotherhood said the government has ignored “thousands” of court rulings supporting the Brotherhood’s right to field candidates for local offices.  The Brotherhood accused the ruling National Democratic Party has instead obstructed the registration of opposition candidates.

“It is to the extent that we feel we are not competing with a normal party but with a group of corrupt people who are willing to even resort to illegal and unethical means,” the group’s statement said. “The party of corruption and despotism is afraid of any contest.”

The Brotherhood is an Islamic political party.  The Egyptian constitution bans political parties based on religion and all of the group’s members run officially as independents.  While the group is officially banned, it is widely tolerated in the country.

The Brotherhood says it wants to promote peaceful and democratic reform to bring about an Islamic state and tackle corruption. But critics say it cannot be trusted and hint that its violent past has never been renounced.

Egypt’s election is being set against the backdrop of an economic crisis across the country.  Inflation has skyrocketed as the price of bread, rice and cooking oil have all nearly doubled since the beginning of the year.  All three products are staples of Egyptian cooking and the rising prices have left many Egyptians struggling as the wages have not kept pace with inflation.

The United States and international human rights groups have criticized the Egyptian government’s crackdown on the Brotherhood but Washington has exerted little pressure for reform on Mubarak, one its staunchest allies in the Middle East.

“We always encourage countries in the region and around the world to do everything that they possibly can. And is there more to do? Absolutely. There’s more to do in Egypt,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. “But fundamentally, they’re going to have to arrive at their own decisions about the pace and the direction of this reform.”

For more information, please see:
Guardian – Muslim Brotherhood to Boycott Election – 8 April 2008

Wall Street Journal – Opposition Party in Egypt Plans to Boycott Municipal Elections – 8 April 2008

AFP – Clashes Erupt Anew in Egypt Strike City – 7 April 2008

Associated Press – Police, Protesters Clash in North Egypt – 7 April 2008

BBC – Egypt Opposition Boycotts Polls – 7 April 2008

International Herald Tribune – Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Opposition Group Urges Boycott of Municipal Elections – 7 April 2008