50 Tamil Migrants to be Released From Custody

December 27, 2009

27 December 2009

50 Tamil Migrants to be Released From Custody

By William Miller

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

Picture of The Tamil migrants aboard the ocean lady last October (PHOTO: CTV.com)

VANCOUVER, Canada – Narindar Kang, a lawyer representing the seventy-six Tamil migrants found aboard a cargo ship last October, has said that about fifty of the migrants will be released from custody and will be allowed to settle with family already residing in Canada. According to Kang, immigration officials have already cleared about twenty-three of the detained migrants for release and are currently working to clear as many as two dozen more. All the migrants will be released subject to strict conditions.

The migrants were taken into custody in October when they were found aboard the Ocean Lady off the coast of British Columbia. Authorities have confirmed initial suspicions that the group was comprised of Tamil Refugees fleeing persecution which came in the wake of a twenty-six year long civil war in Sri Lanka.

The government has been apprehensive to release the migrants and grant them refugee status because of fears that some of the migrants may be members of the Tamil Tigers. The Tamil Tigers are a military unit which fought in the Sri Lankan Civil War. The Canadian government recognizes the group as a terrorist organization because of their use of suicide bomber tactics.

Kang has adamantly denied that the migrants he represents are associated with any terrorist group. He said “Many of these young men are highly educated professionals … Once time passes and people come to know (this, they will realize) they never posed a threat and those individuals certainly should have been released a long time ago.”

Migrants who are released will have to comply with strict conditions. They will be required to post bonds ranging between 2,000 and 10,000 dollars. They will also be required to report to immigration officials on a weekly basis and to not associate with any terrorist group, particularly the Tamil Tigers.

All seventy-six of the Migrants found aboard the Ocean Lady have made claims for refugee status. Information as to why the remaining migrants are not being released has not been provided either to the detainees nor their lawyers. Most of those being released are expected to settle with family in the Toronto and Montreal arias. They are expected to be released some time next month.

For more information, please see:

Canadian Press – Up to 50 Tamil Migrants in BC Soon to be Released Immigration Lawyer – 26 December 2009

CTV.com – 50 Detained Tamil Migrants to be Released: Lawyer – 26 December 2009

CBC News – More Tamil Migrants Set for Release – 24 December 2009

Militant Russian Separatists Claim Credit for Killing of Orthodox Priest

December 27, 2009

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – The killing of a Russian Orthodox priest last month was the responsibility of a Islamist militant group based in the Northern Caucasus region, according to the website of the separatist group’s leader.

Doky Ymarov, the separatist leader, declared on his website earlier this week that “one of our brothers who has never been to the Caucasus took up the oath of [Doky Ymarov] and expressed desire to execute the damned Sysoyev.” The identity or affiliation of the shooter who killed Daniil Sysoyev, the Orthodox priest, last month in the Saint Thomas Church in Moscow has yet to be confirmed.

Ymarov went on to explain that the killing of Sysoyev was brought on by his distribution of pamphlets viewed as insulting to Islam. “Those in the future who defame Islam and insult the religion of Allah will suffer the fate as Sysoyev.” Ymarov has pledged to unite the various militant Islamist groups in the Caucasus region towards achieving the goal of establishing a separate nation governed by Islamic Sharia law.

Sysoyev had received past death threats for his efforts to convert Muslims to Christianity, as well as his books on his observations of the Russia’s responses to Islam’s presence in Russia, entitled “An Orthodox Response to Islam”. Sysoyev also published a text encouraging Russian women against marrying Muslim men.

The death of Sysoyev marks the second death of a Russian Orthodox priest in the last two months. Additionally, according to the Interfax News Agency there have been twenty-six Orthodox priests killed in Russia since 1990. The Caucasus region has also seen the killing of a number of Islamic clerics in recent years. The killings of religious leaders have heightened the tensions between the Russian Orthodox Church and the more than twenty million Muslims currently in Russia.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Islamists claim killing of Russian priest – 26 December 2009

RADIO FREE EUROPE – Militants Claim Russian Priest Slaying – 26 December 2009

VOA – Wave of Clergy Killings in Russia – 23 December 2009

TELEGRAPH – Russian priest who criticised Islam assassinated in his church – 20 November 2009

Concern of Escalating Conflict in West Papua After Death of Kelly Kwalik

December 27, 2009

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

MANOKWARI, West Papua – There is growing concern about the possibility of escalating conflict in the Papua region of Indonesia in the wake of the death of the Free West Papua Movement leader, Kelly Kwalik.

Kwalik was the leader of Papua’s separatist movement and has been fighting for Papuan independence for the last 30 years. He was on Indonesia’s most wanted list for many of those years.

Kwalik was conducting a raid in the Papuan town of Timika. He led a group of separatists who have been fighting for independence from Indonesia for decades. Kwalik was killed in a shootout with the Indonesian police.

Police had been hunting Kwalik for a long time, searching through the vast jungles of the Indonesian province.

Agus Riyanto, a spokesman for the Papuan police, stated that Kwalik was shot while trying to escape the police.

For decades, the separatist movement has resented the Indonesian government. Guerrillas often launch hit-and-run attacks against Indonesian troops with bows and arrows and World War II-era rifles.

Amnesty International has accused the Indonesian police of abuses in the province, claiming that dozens of independence demonstrators have been wrongfully arrested and killed.

During the burial of Kwalik, tribal leaders continued to allege human rights abuses by the Indonesian government.

At the funeral, around 400 people followed the casket of Kwalik through the streets of Timika. Kwalik’s casket was draped in the outlawed Morning Star flag of Papuan independence (anyone who waves the Morning Star flag may be confined in prison for life).

The death of Kwalik has triggered anti-Indonesian protests and calls for independence for the Melanesian region.

Anger has been directed at the mine site Freeport McMoRan, which operates a huge gold and copper mine north of Timika, that has been at the center of allegations of rights abuses against Papuans.

Police blamed Kwalik for a series of attacks, including an attack on Freeport McMoRan. Kwalik allegedly led an attack that killed two employees of Freeport.

Kwalik had denied the allegations and some believe that the Indonesian security forces launched the attacks as a way of extracting more protection money from Freeport.

Papuan Customary Council spokesman Dominicus Serabut stated: “Freeport is responsible for the death of Kelly Kwalik and that is why Freeport must be shut down…General Kelly Kwalik was not involved in the shootings in the area of Freeport Indonesia.”

Those who supported Kwalik and his movement thought of him as “a brave fighter in the struggle to defend genuine truth and justice for the people of Papua, and for all the tribes on the face of the Earth who yearn to stand strong for these values.”

Since the death of Kwalik, the struggle for independence has taken a huge blow. Analysts said that Kwalik’s death may fuel anti-Indonesian sentiment, which underlies the need for talks with separatist leaders.

Analyst Muridan Widjojo, who has been involved in efforts to foster trust and dialogue between the two opposing sides, stated: “Kwalik’s death will intensify the Papuan people’s struggle for independence…There will be growing distrust among Papuans towards the central government. This is a strong reason why a peaceful dialogue becomes an urgent need.”

Although Kwalik was one of the most active commanders and was the backbone of the separatist movement, other militants can replace him.

Widjojo stated that at least six other leaders are still at large across the region and they could increase attacks on security forces and other Indonesian-ruled entities as revenge for Kwalik’s death.

He strongly suggests that there is no other way but to hold peaceful dialogue in order to prevent a possible backlash.

Before Kwalik’s death, there had been promotion of dialogue through the West Papua National Coalition for Liberations, an umbrella organization of independence groups that has been seeking talks with Jakarta.

Papuan human rights advocate Theo Hesegem condemned the shooting of Kwalik and said his death would only disrupts efforts to promote dialogue.

Hesegem stated: “If this kind of violent approach continues to be used, the Papuan people will become more convinced that they have to be separated from Indonesia.”

Australian academic Damien Kingsbury, of Deakin University, who was involved in the negotiations that clinched a peace deal in the Aceh region, believes that Kwalik’s death has created “new opportunities” for a settlement.

Kingsbury stated: “The death of Kwalik…may allow the West Papua Coalition an opportunity to streamline its internal negotiating position….The question will be, in his second and final term of office, whether Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is serious about taking up the option of negotiation.”

The Indonesia Human Rights Committee is calling for an internationally mediated dialogue between Papuan representatives and the Indonesian government.

The Committee also says that the New Zealand government should publicly back negotiation and dialogue as the “path to peace” in the region.

For more information, please see:
Pacific.Scoop – Kelly Kwalik Died to Free the People of Papua – 24 December 2009

Radio New Zealand International – New Zealand NGO calls for dialogue to ease Papuan tensions after Kelly Kwalik killing – 24 December 2009

Jakarta Globe – Kwalik’s Death Could Fuel Anti-Indonesia Sentiment in Papua – 22 December 2009

BBC News – Indonesia police ‘kill’ Papua separatist Kelly Kwalik – 16 December 2009

Rights Activist Enter North Korea

December 27, 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – In an effort to raise awareness of North Korea’s human rights abuses, a Korean-American rights activist illegally crossed a river into North Korea from China.

Activist Robert Park during an interview. Courtesy of Reuters.

The 28 year-old activist, Robert Park, heads a coalition of about 100 groups which works to shed light on North Korean defectors and the rights abuses within North Korea.

Park crossed the Tumen River near the northeast border city of Hoeryong on Christmas Day carrying a letter for the North’s leader Kim Jong-il. Witnesses said Park shouted, “I am an American citizen. I am bringing God’s love,” as he crossed the Tumen River. Witnesses said Park was not stopped by the North Korean border guards.

The letter he was carrying is said to include demands for opening the tightly-controlled border so that North Korea can receive shipment of food and medical aid as well as a request to close all political concentration camps.

Park was reported to have said he would carry a message calling for Kim Jong-il to step down as the North Korean leader and for compensation to the rights abuses victims.

In an interview with Reuters earlier this week, Park said he felt that it was his duty as a Christian to make this journey to North Korea and that he did not want the U.S. government to try freeing him.

He added that he would prefer to be arrested so as to pressure the governments of the U.S., South Korea and Japan to improve North Korea’s human rights record and to address the suffering of innocent North Koreans.

Park said, “Through the media and through sacrifice[,] we are looking for the global leaders to be forced to give an account. There is no excuse.”

In addition, Park commented, “Until the concentration camps are liberated, I do not want to come out. If I have to die with them, I will.”

North Korea has not released any statements concerning Park.
For more information, please see:

Reuters – U.S. rights activist crosses into North Korea: reports – 25 December 2009

UPI – Rights activist crosses into North Korea – 26 December 2009

Yonhap News – Activist breaches N. Korea border for human rights campaign: activists – 26 December 2009

Indonesia: The Continuous Struggle to Combat Corruption

December 27, 2009

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

JAKARTA, Indonesia – It seems that corruption is a way of life in Indonesia, and for many Indonesians, it is trite to pass a small bribe to an official to get a task or favor done. The practice is embedded in so many facets of life in Indonesia that it is virtually impossible for civilians to escape having to engage in bribery or evade its effects.

Corruption costs the country’s economy billions of dollars every year. According to a recent report by the US-based Human Rights Watch, it is estimated that corruption in Indonesia’s forestry industry alone costs the economy $2 billion a year, which is dramatic since Indonesia is home to the world’s third largest area of tropical rain forest impacted by the huge degree of illegal logging that occurs.

Dealing with corruption in forestry is not only area Indonesia is seeking to clamp down on efforts of fraud. The European Union has come out with a report saying that one of the main reasons its investors are reluctant to come to Indonesia is the perception of high levels of graft in the country. The government acknowledges there is a problem, but says that like all developing countries, Indonesia is not perfect. According to Gita Wirjawan, the individual responsible for trying to attract more foreign funds to Indonesia’s economy, “One has to take a long term view of Indonesia.” Wirjawan went on to say that, “There may be some questions or concerns about Indonesia – but that applies to just about every country in the world… we’re on the right trajectory and we’re heading in the right direction.”

In early December, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reasserted his pledge to lead an endeavor against corruption in Indonesia. In a televised speech on the eve of International Anti-Corruption Day, Yudhoyono asked the public to work together to fight graft, saying he wished to create a clean government as his legacy by the end of his term in 2014. Yudhoyono claims to have done a lot to eradicate corruption since he assumed power in 2004, and stated that reforms within the Attorney General’s Office and the National Police would continue to be the top priority of his administration in the coming five years.

Photograph of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono discussing anti-corruption efforts. Image courtesy of Asia Sentinal.

Apart from statements by government officials, editorials in Indonesian newspapers have called him weak and indecisive in his handling of the case of the Corruption Eradication Commission, or the KPK as it is known in Indonesia, one of the few institutions people in this country actually have faith in.

Photograph of an anti-corruption demonstration. Image courtesy of BBC World News.

One civilian, James Sundah, a 50-year-old musician lost his driving license and tried to get the local police to help him replace it. Instead, he was forced to get a new license. He was told by police that “it would be a quick and painless procedure” and he knew that this was a hint to most Indonesians to pay some money and get your license, but Sundah refused. He tried to go through the official procedure to re-obtain his license, but his application and test were denied several times. Sundah said, “I was a couple of points short each time – but when I asked to see the test papers, the officials refused. The others in my exam room told me that if I just paid an extra $20, I would get my license.” Sundah stated that the police must have grown tired of his persistence, because finally he was given his license. When Sunday asked to see his exam paper after passing, he said, “I looked at it and I spotted the question: ‘What would you do if you hit someone in an accident?’ I got the question wrong because the correct answer, according to the official exam paper was to run away!”

Photograph of James Sundah and family driving. Image courtesy of BBC World News.

Despite stories like Sundah’s and so many other Indonesians forced to endure and submit to nefarious practices, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has publically announced its effort to target corrupt officials and agency backroom wheeling and dealing

For more information, please see:

BBC World News – Indonesia battles with widespread corruption – December 24, 2009

Asia Sentinal – Anti-graft Day in Jakarta – December 9, 2009

The Jakarta Post – SBY renews pledge to lead corruption jihad – December 8, 2009