Update: Hussein Trial Postponed, Women Protesting Outside Sudanese Court

July 4, 2009

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Police launched tear gas and beat women in protest outside a Sudanese court on Tuesday. The women are protesting the trial of female journalist Lubna Hussein who is accused of violating Islamic law by wearing trousers in public. She faces 40 lashes.

There were 50 protesters, most of them women. Some of the women wore trousers to show solidarity with Hussein.

Islamic law was adopted after an Islamic rebel group led a coup and gained power in 1989. Activists and lawyers, however, say that the law’s interpretation is arbitrary.

Most of the women who were arrested along with Hussein during the raid were flogged and fined 250 Sudanese pounds (around $120). Hussein and two others, however, chose to go to trial.

Hussein chose to publicize her trial and has invited human rights workers, Western diplomats, and other journalists to witness it. She was required to wear the suspect clothing to court so that the judge and others could see it but she has chosen to wear the same outfit every day since the day she was arrested in order to highlight her case.

“I am not afraid of flogging. … It’s not about flogging. It’s not about my innocence. It’s about changing the law,” she said. She added that she would be willing to go to Sudan’s constitutional court and “to receive (even) 40,000 lashes” if the court rules against her.

The judge for the Khartoum Criminal Court adjourned Hussein’s trial for a month to seek clarification from Sudan’s foreign ministry. Hussein was working for the UN Mission in Sudan at the time of her arrest but submitted her resignation in order to avoid immunity and go on trial to challenge the dress code law.

For more information, please see:

AP – Police Beat Women Opposing Sudan Dress Code Trial – 04 August 2009

BBC – Protests at Sudan Woman’s Trial – 04 August 2009

CNN – Protests as Sudan ‘Tight Pants’ Trial Delayed – 04 August 2009

Impunity Watch – Woman Dares Court Over Flogging for Wearing Trousers – 02 August 2009

Chinese Baby Girls Being Sold for $3,000

July 4, 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China– An investigation by a Chinese newspaper found that about 80 baby girls in southern China’s Guizhou Province have been sold to childless families in the U.S. and Europe for $3,000 each. These baby girls were “confiscated” from families when the parents could not pay the $3,000 fine for violating China’s Family Planning Policy.

Chinese families in rural villages, unlike those living in urban areas, are allowed to have a second child to continue the family name and to help out with the farm if the first child is not a son. However, if the rural families have more than two children, they face a fine of $3,000, which is several times a farmer’s annual income. Accordingly, this is an unpopular policy among rural residents, and families in Guizhou Province who could not pay the fine had to hand over their babies to the local authorities.

Chinese couple whose six-month old baby daughter was taken away by the government (Source: NDDAILY.com)

Abandoned babies in China can be registered for adoption, but the investigation alleged that the local authorities confiscated the babies and then forged documents by labeling the babies as “orphans.” The adoption fee of $3,000 per baby was split between the local authorities and the orphanages. This type of foreign adoption program has been referred to as “Baby Economy,” and the local orphanages made huge profits.

Although China’s Family Planning Policy leaves some families devastated and gives rise to corruption in some villages, one official said, “This is the policy. You pay, or you let the government take care of the baby.” However, the babies are not raised by the government, but taken overseas.

Zhou Ze, a lawyer and professor at China Youth College for Political Science, commented that forcibly removing babies from their parents to make a profit constitutes abduction.

Adoption rules for foreigners in China were tightened in 2006, but the regulation has proven ineffective due to local government corruption.

For more information, please see:

BBC – China babies ‘sold for adoption’ – 2 July 2009

The Straight Times – Illegal babies sold – 4 July 2009

Telegraph – Chinese babies sold for adoption to US and Europe, report claims – 3 July 2009

UPI – Chinese baby girls sold for adoption – 2 July 2009

Pakistan’s 2 Million Refugee Crisis Worsens

July 3, 2009

By Alishba I. Kassim

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Pakistan’s 2 million refugees displaced by the fighting in the Swat Valley are now facing threats of disease as they cope with unsanitary conditions due to damaged water and sewage systems.

“There are major challenges facing the displaced and those still caught in the conflict areas. Health facilities have been damaged or destroyed,” said Eric Laroch, assistant director-general of the Health Action in Crises Cluster of the WHO. Since most of the displaced people are living with host communities, there is an “enormous strain” on the region’s health-care system the UN reported.

Pakistan’s refugees are threatened with diarrhea, measles, and respiratory infections as a result of the strain on the health service. So far the WHO’s early warning system has been able identify and control more than 30 potential communicable disease outbreaks. However, the refugee crisis is likely to worsen. “A displacement crisis the government said would only last for weeks looks set to go on for months with no relief in sight,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty’s Asia-Pacific director.

Pakistan’s government said that by June 30, civilians may be able to start returning to their towns and villages within a week. However, the offensive is still going strong and it is unlikely that they will be able to return soon. The recent fighting has produced the largest exodus in Pakistan since the country’s founding in 1947 and the UN said that only about a quarter of the funds it requested for the refugee crisis have been received. Meanwhile, in absence of effective aid from such agencies, hard-line Islamist charities are using this time to help the refugees and garner support.

For more information, please see:

Bloomberg – Pakistan’s Refugees Face Disease Threat – July 3, 2009

Miami Herald – Pakistan Short of Aid to Resettle Refugees – July 2, 2009

New York Times – In Refugee Aid, Pakistan’s War has New Front – July 1, 2009

Moroccan Court Decision Appears to Support the Restriction of Free Speech

July 2, 2009

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CASABLANCA, Morocco– On June 29 three Arabic language newspapers were ordered to pay three million Dirhams, about $372,300 US, for defaming a head of state. The papers, the Al-Massae, Morocco’s most popular daily paper, Al-Jarida Al-Oula and Al-Ahdath Al-Magrebia, were sued in an action brought by a public prosecutor on behalf of the Libyan Embassy. The action was based on content published by all three papers since the beginning of 2008 that allegedly defamed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

In addition to the three million Dirham fine, several individual reporters from each paper have also been convicted of “attacks on the dignity of a head of state” and fined 100,000 Dirhams (about $12,410 US) per reporter. The reporters had called Gaddafi’s viewpoint “childish,” criticized the political theories that Gaddafi presented in his Green book, and for reporting the arrest of Gaddafi’s son and daughter-in-law in Geneva for assaulting their servants.

The papers and their journalists are shocked and upset by this verdict. The Moroccan Press Union demonstrations staged immediately following the decision. If the convicted papers and journalists have to pay the fines, it could bankrupt all three papers.

The verdict has been taken as a direct attack on free speech and on Morocco’s developing press. Laws that restrict the press have been in effect throughout Morocco’s sovereign existence, but many of the laws were amended in 2001 granting the press more freedom.

The fines were not based upon a measure of damages that Gaddafi suffered, nor were the damages based upon the papers’ resources. The lack of basis for the fines makes it appear as though the fines were imposed as a means to scare journalists away from writing the stories that they want to and from expressing their opinions and analysis openly.

Mohamed Abdel Dayem, Committee to Protect Journalists program coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, said “The exorbitant amount in damages indicates that the courts are being used again to settle political scores with critical journalists and to put critical publications out of business.” In its annual report released this month the Moroccan Association of Human rights concluded that the right to a fair trial was violated in all proceedings involving journalists in 2008. The group said “the judiciary has been used by the state to settle scores with journalists, to seek revenge and terrorize citizens.”

The papers plan to appeal the verdict. Defense attorney for the papers Hassan Semlali has stated that this decision was a “clear violation of the law.” Furthermore, Editor of Al-Jarida Al-Oula, Ali Anouzla, said the ruling would not prevent him or his colleagues from “doing their job” and thinks that the decision was politically motivated.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera- Papers Fined for Gaddafi Libel – 30 June 2009

Magharebia- Moroccan Newspapers Ordered to Pay in Kadhafi Defamation Suit– 30 June 2009

Al Arabiya- Moroccan Newspapers Fined for Insulting Gaddafi– 29 June 2009

Committee to Protect Journalists- In Qaddafi Case Court Hands Down Harsh Judgment– 29 June 2009

Reuters- Moroccan Papers Fined for Defaming Libya’s Gaddafi – 29 June 2009

U.S. Senators calling for Vietnamese Priest’s Freedom

July 2, 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

WASHINGTON, U.S. – 37 U.S. Senators have written to Vietnam’s president asking for “immediate and unconditional release” of Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, a Roman Catholic priest who has been a strong advocate for democracy in Vietnam.

Father Ly is the founder of Bloc 8406, a pro-democracy movement that began in 2006. The Vietnamese government has accused Father Ly of spreading propaganda against its communist government.

Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly (Source: AP)

However, the U.S. Senators believe that Father Ly’s trial back in 2007 was seriously flawed. According to a human rights group, Father Ly was denied access to a lawyer and the security guards silenced him when Father Ly tried to speak during the four-hour trial. Thereafter, he was sentenced to eight years.

In their letter, the U.S. lawmakers said, “Given these serious flaws in relation to his arrest, trial and imprisonment, we request that you…allow him to return to his home and work without restrictions to his right to freedom of expression, association and movement.” The Senators added, “Father Ly’s arrest, trial and ongoing detention in this instance call into question Vietnam’s commitment to …fundamental principles.”

The Vietnamese Embassy in Washington did not confirm receipt of the senators’ letter, but Maran Turner of Freedom Now said imprisoning Father Ly would mean that U.S. government has placed Vietnam back on the list of “countries of particular concern” for violations of religious freedom. U.S. did place Vietnam on this list in 2004, but removed it in 2006.

Father Ly is well known in the United States for his longstanding fight in promoting religious freedom and democracy for Vietnam, and the 63-year old priest has been jailed three times for a total of 17 years since 1970’s.

For more information, please see:

AP – 37 senators seek freedom for Vietnamese priest – 1 July 2009

BBC – US call to free Vietnamese priest – 2 July 2009

NYT – 37 U.S. Senators Urge Vietnam to Free Imprisoned Priest – 1 July 2009