Suu Kyi Issued Guilty Verdict

Suu Kyi Issued Guilty Verdict

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar– Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel laureate and democratic leader, was convicted for violating her house arrest by allowing an uninvited American man into her residence.  Suu Kyi had denied the charge claiming that the man had swam across a lake into her home, but the Myanmar court ordered Suu Kyi to serve another 18-month sentence of house arrest.

Suu kyi2 Aung San Suu Kyi (Source: AFP)

Human rights activists are calling this verdict politically motivated and that the decision is an example of Myanmar military government’s abuse of power.  Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch said, “This trial was a farce, a brutal distortion of the legal process.  By silencing prominent opponents through bogus trials, the generals are clearly showing why the elections they have been touting for next year won’t bring change.” Adams’ organization is demanding Suu Kyi’s immediate and unconditional release.

Human Rights Watch is also urging Myanmar’s allies and trade partners to denounce Suu Kyi’s guilty verdict and impose financial sanctions against Myanmar’s military leadership, in addition to asking the UN Security Council to take measures condemning the country’s military leaders.

Furthermore, world leaders have expressed their disgust and disapproval.  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he “deplores” the verdict, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the verdict “monstrous,” and French President Nicolas Sarkozy referred to the verdict as “brutal and unjust,” while U.S. President Barack Obama described Suu Kyi’s trial as “a show trial.”

Suu kyiYoung girl at a demonstration supporting Suu Kyi (Source: AFP)

Suu Kyi’s trial was closed to the public, and foreign diplomats and the press were only allowed to observe on a few occasions.  Criminal trials of political prisoners in Myanmar do not meet international standards.  Myanmar judges are not independent and the defense is not given sufficient opportunity to present its case.

Suu Kyi has told her defense team to proceed with an appeal, and her lawyers filed a petition with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights claiming that Suu Kyi is being arbitrarily detained in violation of international human rights law.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi Verdict ‘Reprehensible’ – 11 August 2009

MSNBC – Myanmar court convicts Nobel laureate Suu Kyi – 11 August 2009

UPI – Rights group: Suu Kyi verdict power abuse – 11 August 2009

Update: Charles Taylor Trial

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – During trial proceedings on August 4, Charles Taylor denied the existence of any secret bank accounts.  He is accused of hiding large sums of money in secret bank accounts around the world.  The money is said to have been gained through illicit diamond trading with Sierra Leonean rebels from the RUF (Revolutionary United Front).

“I challenge the prosecutor to bring any evidence of a bank account that I have — they know it’s a lie but they keep repeating it.  I ask anyone on this planet, if you know of any account that I opened or if you know anyone who was acting in my interest, you are obliged to come forward and say it,” said Taylor.  Adding, “What bank account has the UN found out for me?  Nobody ever brings factual evidence but it is repeated, repeated and repeated, and you can never put things straight.”

The prosecutor is and has been working with the UN Sanctions Committee to discover and recover any moneys and assets that might be hidden.  Taylor maintains that they will not find any and evidence proving his innocence might take a while to emerge.

“I may be dead and gone before somebody will say Taylor did not have any money or assets all over the world,” he said.

Taylor also denied allegations that he aided RUF in attacking diamond fields.  When questioned by lead defense counsel Courtenay Griffiths about what he had to gain from helping the rebels, he said, “absolutely nothing. The allegation is false. I had everything to lose in the process if anything like that happened.”

The former Liberian President also called on the United States and Britain to declassify and release radio intercepts.  He says that these recordings could clear him of the crimes charges and that the US has the power to “unravel this case.”

Charles Taylor is facing 11 counts of murder, rape, sexual enslavement, torture and recruiting child soldiers and of aiding Sierra Leonean rebels during the civil war that lasted from 1991-2002.

For more information, please see:

CharlesTaylorTrial.org – Taylor Tells Court He Has No Secret Bank Accounts; Says He Did Not Give Orders to RUF Commander Sam Bockarie – 08 August 2009

AP – Ex-Liberian Chief Pushes Back at US Government – 07 August 2009

AP – Ex-Liberian Prez Wants to Hear US Radio Intercepts – 06 August 2009

CharlesTaylorTrial.org – Taylor Dismisses Allegations of His Hidden Wealth as Lies – 04 August 2009

Nepal Widows Protest Cash Incentives for Marriage

By Alishba I. Kassim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KATHMANDU, Nepal – 200 Nepali women marched through the capital to publicly denounce a government scheme that offers to pay cash incentives to men for marrying widows.

The government says the scheme seeks to help widows who face social and cultural barriers in a majority Hindu society. Moreover, it has been deemed necessary in part because of the 10-year-long civil war that claimed up to 13,000 lives and widowed many women. Often widows are ostracized and discriminated against due to religious and cultural beliefs. The government believes cash incentives will help persuade men to marry them and re-integrate them into society.

Several women and human rights agencies in Nepal strongly disagree saying the payments “reduce widows to a source of cash.” They propose the money should be spent improving education and healthcare for widows and their children.

One of the protest organizers and founder of the group, Women for Human Rights, Lily Thapa, said “We are totally against the government’s decision to give 50,000 rupees as an incentive for couples to marry. This goes against the principles of human rights. That’s why we urge the government to bring in other social security measures to empower women who are widowed.” Many campaigners have also expressed concern that the cash incentives could encourage men to marry widows and later abandon them. They further warned that the scheme would turn women into cash cows and open up a portal for human traffickers.

“It is the right of single women to live as they want. But society does not treat them properly. They are looked down on, and we want to change that” said finance ministry spokesman, Shankar Adhikari.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Nepal Widows Dismiss Marriage Cash Incentive – August 10,   2009  

Reuters India – Widows Protest Marriage Incentive  – August 10, 2009

The New Zealand Herland – Nepal Offers $970 to Marry Widows – August 10, 2009  

Human Rights Group Urges Kenyan Government to Step Up Security Forces

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – A human rights organization has called on the Kenyan government to improve security in northern Kenya in order to prevent killings and cattle rustling.

The Kenyan government’s human rights watch dog, the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) accused state agencies of being too lenient in dealing with the insecurity in the Upper Eastern region and challenges them to step it up.

KNCHR condemned the recent killings that occurred in Isiolo, Samburu, Tigania, Igembe, Garbatula and Laisamis, and announced that security forces have not taken appropriate action to detain those responsible.

“Insecurity in the region has brought development to a near standstill and we need to note that when people already have very little, the impact of insecurity in terms of the clashes takes them back to step one,” said KNCHR Commission Vice-Chairman Hassan Omar Hassan.

The insecurity has been fueled by increasing allegations that cattle rustling has been commercialized.  Sources say that more than 70 people, including security agents, have been killed and over 5,000 livestock stolen since December 2007. The commission also alleged a cover up by the local provincial administration and other security officials who are trying to make the situation appear less serious than it actually is.

There are currently thousands of cattle and goats grazing in the Shaba National Reserve and they are being protected by local militiamen.  The Kenya Red Cross said tension was also high between communities in Gambela where close to 10 people were killed and more than 1,700 families were displaced last month.

“The government must nip this crisis in the bud,” Hassan added. “This insecurity is further aggravated by alleged militia harbored in the park which endangers safety of the tourists,” he said.


For more information, please see:

Capital News – KNHCR Condemns Killings in Upper Eastern – 9 August 2009

Daily Nation – Boost Security to Avert Raids, Urges Group – 9 August 2009

Kenya Broadcasting Corporation – KNCHR Condemns Killing in North Eastern – 9 August 2009

Iranian Official Acknowledges Torture of Prisoners

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
 
TEHRAN, Iran – On August 8, a top judiciary official in Iran acknowledged that some of the protestors detained after the June 12 presidential election had been tortured.  This was the first such acknowledgement by a senior government official.
 
Qorbanali Dori-Najabadi, Iran’s prosecutor general and the official who made the acknowledgement, said that “mistakes” were made during the interrogations, and “those who were involved should be punished.”  Dori-Najabadi’s statement was made as the government held the second day of hearings for the approximately one hundred jailed protesters.
 
Protests broke out after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of the presidential election.  Many Iranians believe the election was rigged, and that those who were jailed were tortured in attempts to elicit “confessions” implicating Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading reformist presidential candidate, and Mehdi Karroubi, another reformist candidate, for trying to incite a “velvet revolution.”
 
Mousavi has gained the support of many of the country’s reformist clerics, including former president Mohammad Khatami.
 
After the first day of hearings on August 1, Khatami questioned the legitimacy and constitutionality of the trials, and said that the court erroneously relied on “confessions taken under certain circumstances which are not valid.”
 
Many of the arrests and interrogations were carried out by the Revolutionary Guard and the Basij militia.  In the past, the Iranian judiciary has been unable to hold members of either group accountable, and it is unclear whether it will be able to do so in this instance.
 
For more information, please see:
 
New York Times – Iranian Acknowledges Torture of Some Protesters – 8 August 2009
 
ABC (Australian Broacasting Corporation) – Iran Protesters Suffered “Medieval Torture” – 3 August 2009
 
Al-Arabiya – Iran Protesters Confessed After Torture:  Mousavi – 2 August 2009
 
BBC News – Torture Claim Against Iran Trial – 2 August 2009
 
The Guardian – Jailed Iran Reformists “Tortured to Confess Foreign Plot” – 26 June 2009