Court of Appeals to Hear Fiji Coup Case in March

Court of Appeals to Hear Fiji Coup Case in March

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – Fiji’s ousted Government has appealed a High Court decision validating the military coup of the government in 2006.

Today, Fiji Court of Appeal Judge Justice Ian Lloyd said that the parties’ attorneys will gather on Thursday to discuss substantive matters of the case. Among the parties’ lawyers are Former Attorney General, Qoriniasi Bale, and Suva lawyer, Tevita Fa. Both Bale and Fa are representing the ousted Prime Minister and leader of the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua Party (SDL), Laisenia Qarase.

In 2006, the Interim Prime Minister led a military takeover of Fiji’s Federal Government. In October, the High Court in Fiji ruled that the 2006 coup was legitimate. Mr. Qarase has challenged that decision, calling it a “miscarriage of justice.”

Justice Gates, who delivered the judgment validating the coup, has said that, “No one has suggested His Excellence failed to act honestly, impartially, neutrally and what he gauged was in the best interest of the nation; that is, of all of the inhabitants of Fiji, it is not for this court to inquire into the details of his act at that moment on whether one action would have been better done in another way but it is certainly open to conclude his intention were to unify the people of Fiji.”

The appeal is scheduled to be heard in March 2009.

For more information, please see:
FijiLive – 2006 coup appeal set for March 09 – 18 November 2008

Radio New Zealand International – Fiji coup case appeal to be heard in March – 19 November 2008

Junta Sends More Activists to Jail

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar – A special court set up by the Junta government in Myanmar handed out jail terms of up to nine-and-a-half years to 11 more activists, mainly from the opposition NLD party, according to the Associated Press.   Earlier this week, five monks were jailed for six-and-a-half years and at least 14 student activists were given 65-year jail sentences for participating in anti-junta protests last year.  The sentence of 11 activists brings the total number sentenced this week to more than 60.

It is unclear why the authorities have acted against the opposition now.  However, human rights groups say the government is intensifying efforts to curb dissent ahead of elections in 2010. “Now they won’t be able to participate in the election,” said Soe Aung, the spokesman for the National Council for the Union of Burma, a Thailand-based umbrella organization for exile groups. “The generals are trying to put the final nail in the coffin to keep themselves in power forever.”

Myanmar authorities also have split up pro-democracy activists who were given long jail terms this week and transferred them to different prisons around the country, relatives of sentenced activities said.  The sister of prominent activist Htay Kywe said she met her brother on Saturday at notorious Insein prison in Yangon, but when she returned on Sunday he had been transferred to a jail about 700 miles from Yangon.  “He is very thin and not in good health. I did not think they could be transferred very quickly like this, I am really sorry for this,” she cried.  Then, she added: “If we can appeal for him, I will do. He said they have just tried for peace and national reconciliation.”

Nyan Win, the spokesman for the National League for Democracy (NLD) party confirmed the transfers.  He told AFP that “It’s like increasing the sentencing. Not only family members but also the person himself or herself is in difficulty.”  He said that party lawyers Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein had also been transferred.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Myanmar activists moved to separate prisons: relatives – 16 November 2008

AP – Myanmar activists moved to separate prisons: relatives – 16 November 2008

AP – Myanmar courts imprison more democracy activists – 17 November 2008

BBC – Burma court jails more protesters – 14 November 2008

Impunity Watch – Myanmar Sentenced 14 Democracy Advocates to Jail for 65 Years – 12 November 2008

Cuban Children Not Allowed to Leave Island

By Karla E General
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

HAVANA, Cuba – Cuban children of medical professionals domiciled in the United States are being prevented by the Cuban government from being reunited with their parents. The Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), a U.S. group that represents Cubans in exile, has criticized the Cuban government of holding the children hostage in Cuba even though many of them have U.S. visas.

A 2006 Homeland Security policy allows Cuban doctors and medical professionals living abroad legally to bring spouses and children to the U.S., but this has been made nearly impossible because the Cuban government refuses to grant exit visas according to a 2005 report by the Human Rights Watch. The children are being denied visas because many of the doctors living abroad have been classified as traitors by the Cuban government for their failure to return to Cuba after being sent to work in government-sponsored events or missions overseas.

CANF representatives plan to file formal complaints against the Cuban government with international organizations such as the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Cuban Doctors Say Children Held Hostage – 18 November 2008

Miami Herald – Cuba Won’t Let Our Kids Leave, Medical Workers Say – 18 November 2008

Miami Herald – Cuban Doctors: Children Kept From Leaving Island – 18 November 2008

Uzbek Human Rights Activist Recalls 3 Year Prison Stay, Honored by HRW

By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan – Although Uzbek Human Rights Activist Mutabar Tojibaeva was released from the Tashkent City Prison 6 months ago, she regularly has nightmares of her three year stay in the jail, which included 112 days in solitary confinement.

In 2005 Tojibaeva openly criticized the Uzbek government after the massacre in Andijan.  In Andijan the Uzbek government attempted to stop an antigovernment uprising.  She condemned the shooting of hundreds of mostly unarmed civilians by government forces.  Tojibaeva is the head of the Burning Hearts Club, an unregistered nongovernmental organization (NGO) in the city of Margilan.  She has also helped ordinary people seek justice, and she has also monitored trials and published reports on illegal child labor.

Tojibaeva was later arrested and was charged with 17 counts of criminal activity, which included slander, extortion, tax evasion, polluting the environment and membership in an illegal organization – her own unregistered NGO.  4 months after her arrest she was sentenced to eight years in prison.

In 2007, prison authorities placed Tojibaeva in the prison’s psychiatric ward without informing her lawyers.  Prison authorities forced Tojibaeva to take daily medication. Her family also told Human Rights Watch (HRW) that she was forced to spend 40 straight days in the ShIZO (punishment cell), causing her health to deteriorate. Tojibaeva was later diagnosed with cancer and on March 18, 2008, had surgery at the Tashkent Oncological Hospital.  Soon after Tojibaeva was released for health reasons and must continue to serve a three year suspended sentence.

Recalling her experience in prison, Tojibaeva said, “Those classified as political prisoners, such as practicing Muslims or government critics, face ill-treatment and torture.  They are subject to verbal abuse, as well as physical and psychological pressure. Prison workers treat them like animals.  They never get proper food.  Prison food largely consists of boiled porridge and cabbage soup. Inmates have to wait for hours — sometimes in the snow or rain — outside the prison canteen to get lunch or dinner.”

HRW has honored Tojibaeva with the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.  The award is a unique collaboration among 10 of the world’s leading human rights organizations to give protection to human rights defenders worldwide.  The chairman of the jury of the Martin Ennals Award, Hans Thoolen, described Tojibaeva as “an exceptionally brave woman in a country where standing up for human rights is a dangerous activity that can lead to imprisonment and death; where human rights defenders often have to choose between prison or exile.”

Presently, Tojibaeva is in Germany receiving medical treatment but does not plan on staying in the country long.  Tojibaeva says she will return to Uzbekistan to continue her campaign to improve the human rights situation.

For more information, please see:

Daily Times – Uzbek Activist Jailed for 10 Years – 24 October 2008

Eurasia – Arrests, Beatings, Torture All Party of Job Description for Uzbek Rights Activists – 15 November 2008

Human Rights Watch – Uzbek Human Rights Activist Honored – 15 May 2008

Immigrant Children Mistreated at United States Border

By Maria E. Molina

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

DALLAS, United States – The Center for Public Policy Priorities has released A Child Alone and Without Papers which reveals that children are mistreated when they are removed from the United States and repatriated to their home countries.  The report found that children’s rights, safety, and well-being, are compromised contrary to international law and U.S. child welfare standards.  The paper reported that children are transported home unsafely and denied access to representation.

Children interviewed for the study reported going without water at U.S. Border Patrol stations, being handcuffed and having their requests for medical attention ignored. At least one child reported being struck and knocked down by an agent.

According to the study, many children faced complicated immigration proceedings without legal representation. Last year, 50 to 70 percent of detained unaccompanied minors went before an immigration judge without a lawyer.  The study found that , at  times, consulates were not notified that children from their country were being removed, a violation of an international treaty.

Children flown to non-bordering countries were shackled during the flight and those taken by vehicle across the border to Mexico were transported in kennel-like compartments.  Mexican officials reported that children were returned in the middle of the night and brought to ports of entry that were not specified in agreements.

According to the study, an estimated 43,000 unaccompanied illegal immigrant children were removed from the U.S. in 2007.

For more information, please see:

Center for Public Policy Priorities – De Falta de Representacion a Maltratamiento: Reporte Demuestra Lo Que Pasa A Ninos Indocumentados – 13 November 2008

Houston Chronicle – Study Says Immigrant Children Mistreated – 14 November 2008

Market Watch – From Lack of Legal Representation to Maltreatment: Report Reveals What Happens to Undocumented, Unaccompanied Children Removed From U.S – 13 November 2004