Stateless North Korean Children in China

Stateless North Korean Children in China

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

DANDONG, China – Korean children are being left to fend for themselves in China where they are not afforded any protection as stateless children.

Some children are left behind in China when their North Korean mothers who defected to China are forced to repatriate to North Korea when caught by the Chinese authorities.  Other children are abandoned by mothers who defected to China and then have fled to South Korea to start a new life away from hunger and oppression.

According to aid workers, there are about 2,000 “defector orphans” in China.  In addition to these children, there is an estimated 10,000-20,000 “stateless orphans.”

“Stateless orphans” are children born between North Korean women who defected to China and then married Chinese men but were subsequently deported back to North Korea.

Stateless orphans do not have official Chinese registration paperwork; therefore, these orphans cannot receive education.  Late registration fee for children without paper is about $750, three times the monthly salary of average Chinese worker.

Support groups from various countries have found schools for ethnic Korean-Chinese children and have paid the registration fee for some children. 

Some children are fortunate enough to live with foster parents.  Despite Chinese laws forbidding taking in a stranger’s child as one’s own, a couple near the North Korea-China border who wished to remain anonymous have taken in some “stateless orphans.”

Another caretaker, Kim Hey-young, said that the children are in a “terrible state of neglect and malnutrition” when they first arrive at foster homes. 

Some children have also been subject to abuse.  One child, whose North Korean mother was taken away by the authorities, was then tortured by her alcoholic Korean-Chinese father.

In addition to the impact on the children of North Korean mothers who defect, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea also pointed out the flight of female North Korean defectors.

The Committee reported that North Korean women who are trafficked to China are usually trafficked into forced marriages.  Many North Korean women flee North Korea to escape famine but after being “sold” to Chinese men, these women have to endure backbreaking labor, physical assault, and sexual abuse.

Under UN’s refugee convention, China should not force defectors back to North Korea where they will face punishment and torture.

 
For more information, please see:

One Free Korea – Benefit Concert for Stateless Orphans in China – 21 January 2010

One Free Korea – China’s Loathesome Treatment of North Korean Children – 14 February 2010

Radio Free Asia – Korean Children Left n China – 12 February 2010

Czech Republic Outlaws Political Party

By Kenneth F. Hunt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – The highest court in the Czech Republic banned a right-wing political party this week, allegedly to protect Czech democracy. This is the first time that a party has been banned in the country for reasons other than financial irregularities since the country broke away from Slovakia in 1993.

The Czech Republic’s Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) outlawed the Workers’ Party on Wednesday February 17 based on factual findings that indicated a history of using racist and xenophobic language and related violence.

The Court felt that, specifically, homophobic and anti-Semitic language and a checkered history of violence towards gypsy groups constituted a were indicative  threat to Czech democracy.  The Court also linked the Workers’ Party to neo-Nazi and other white supremacy groups. Judge Vojtech Simicek rationalized the decision “as a preventive one”, necessary “to maintain the constitutional and democratic order in the future.”

In 2008, the government unsuccessfully attempted to ban the Worker’s Party, but a trial court dismissed the government’s petition.

For sure, the Workers’ Party has a history of “overzealous” protesting. In particular,  the Workers’ Party has often been involved with organizing and staging anti-gypsy communities in close proximity to Roma communities. These events, according to various press accounts, “typically” end in violence.

For example, in November 2008, 500 or more Worker’s Party members protested in the town of Litvinov. When the group attempted to march on a Roma suburb, some 1,000 riot police were called to diffuse the situation. Seven police and seven demonstrators were injured as a result.

The Workers’ Party has already launched an effort to appeal the decision. Workers’ Party leader Tomas Vandas says that the result was entirely political and designed to exclude the Party from national elections in May, calling the timing “highly suspicious”.

Mr. Vandas also disputed links to neo-Naziism or white supremacy, claiming there is “absolutely nothing” in the Party’s manifesto that indicates these extreme views.

Workers’ Party officials said that even if an appeal does not succeed, the Party will dissolve and regroup under a different name. Mr. Vandas suggested that the Party may now be called the Affiliated Workers’ Social Justice Party.

The Workers’ Party is normally unsuccessful in gaining a significant share of votes in Czech elections. For example, in 2008, only 1% of the electorate voted for Worker’s Party.

Nonetheless, political commentators and human rights group are worried that the NSS ruling will give the government precedent to dismantle other anti-establishment political parties, like the Communist Party which won 14 percent of the vote in 2009 elections.

For more information, please see:

EU OBSERVER – Czech court bans far-right Workers Party – 19 February 2010

BBC – Far-right Czech Workers’ Party to challenge court ban – 18 February 2010

NEW YORK TIMES – Czech Court Bans Far-Right Party – 18 February 2010

PRAGUE POST – Despite ban, Workers Party vows to go on – 17 February 2010

Lebanon Indicts Militants for Plotting Terrorist Attacks

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon– On Wednesday, a Lebanese military judge indicted 11 suspected members of an al-Qaeda inspired group with plotting terrorist attacks and monitoring U.N. peacekeeper movements, judicial officials said.

Military judge Samih Hajj charged the men with planning bombings against civilian targets and undermining the state.  A judicial source requesting anonymity told reporters that “Judge al-Hajj charged 11 suspected members of Fatah-al-Islam with forming an armed gang, spying on the army and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) troops (in southern Lebanon), and forging ID papers.”

If convicted, they could face the death penalty.  Among those charged, six are in custody while five still remain at large.  Two of the individuals who remain at large are Abdul Rahman Awad and Abdul Ghani Jawar, two Fatah al-Islam members accused of a deadly 2008 bus bombing in the northern city of Tripoli which killed 18 people, mostly soldiers.

Dozens of al-Qaeda inspired militants have been captured and charged in Lebanon during recent years.  The majority of those individuals are from the Fatah al-Islam group that fought a bloody three month battle against the Lebanese army in the summer of 2007 in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared near Tripoli.

The fighting killed more than 400 people including some 200 militants, 170 soldiers and 47 civilians.  In addition, close to 30,000 refugees were displaced after the camp was leveled during the fighting.

In June 2007, six peacekeepers of the UNIFIL were killed by a bombing in southern Lebanon while the Nahr al-Bared clashes raged.  At the time, Lebanese officials pointed the finger at Fatah al-Islam for the incident.

Since the Nahr al-Bared battle, there has been widespread speculation that the group has switched its base to the highly volatile Palestinian camp of Ain al-Hilweh in southern Lebanon.  Lebanese officials believe that Awad, who has been termed the “prince of Fatah al-Islam,” is holed up at Ain al-Hilweh, the largest of Lebanon’s 12 Palestinian camps.  However, because of longstanding agreement, the Lebanese army does not enter the camps, leaving security inside to Palestinian sanctions.

For more information, please see:

AFP- Lebanon Charges al Qaeda Linked Suspects with Spying– 17 February 2010

Reuters- Death Penalty Sought for Qaeda Suspects in Lebanon– 17 February 2010

The Wall Street Journal- Lebanon Charges 11 for Plotting Terrorist Attacks– 17 February 2010

Resistance Towards UN Sanctions Against Eritrea

By Jonathan Ambaye
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa Desk

ASMARA, Eritrea -In light of sanctions imposed on Eritrea by the United Nations Security Council, much blame is being put on the United States government for influencing the Council to push their own agenda. Eritrean media outlets are claiming that the sanctions that came in December after the U.N. Security Council Accused Eritrea of providing funds and weapons to Islamist insurgents in Somalia where violence has killed 21,000 people since 2007. The decision was supported by 13 of 15 council members and was designed to target Eritrea’s leadership, imposing an arms embargo as well as asset freezes and travel bans on individuals and firms to be designated by an existing sanctions committee.

These sanctions are believed to have been a part of a conspiracy “masterminded by United States intelligence agencies, especially the CIA,” said President Isaias Afwerki.  Protests  against the recent sanctions are being planned by the Eritrean Diaspora in the U.S.  to take place in Washington D.C.  at the White House.  The Eritrean government has responded to these protests by saying that they are not involved in any way with the planning or execution of the protest. “to the contrary, it is the people who arose spontaneously when they heard about this unjust sanction. Actually, young women, men, elders, and even children were very angry because they’ve been victimized for the second time. So, it was absolutely popular appraisal against the unjust resolution. This resolution is not only targeting Eritreans, it is targeting the Horn of Africa entirely,” said an Eritrean official.

The official also went on to explain the sanctions were not justified because the Council had no way of proving Ertitrea’s complicitiy in the ongoing security instability in Somalia. The official further said, “United Nations had nothing to do when member states were asking about the evidence. Some of them were blackmailed and some of them were silenced. Until today, there has been no proof that has come out from the U.N. and people are asking where is the proof? Where is the beef? Because no proof was submitted against Eritrea.”

For more information please see:

Reuters – Eritrean Media Blames US For UN Sanctions – 17 February 2010

Reuters – Eritrean Rebels Say Killed 17 Intelligence Agents – 18 February 2010

VOA – Eritrea Official Denies Asmara’s Involvement in Organizing Protest Against UN – 17 February 2010

Toronto Woman Awarded $25,000 for Racial Discrimination

By William Miller

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

TORONTO, Canada – A Toronto woman was awarded $25,000 by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for racial abuse she suffered at the hands of her former employer. Cheryl Khan, a former employee at Lynx Trucking Transportation brought the suit claiming she was subjected to repeated racial slurs by the owner of the company Lynn Tompkins

Khan is a thirty-six year old single mother with two sons ages seven and fourteen. She was hired by Lynx Trucking and Transportation in 2007.

Khan, along with several other Lynx employees testified in front of the Human Rights Tribunal that during her employment Tompkins repeatedly referred to her as a “Paki.” Khan further testified that Tompkins would often refer to Khans two sons as “half nigger babies” and repeatedly told her “that’s what you get for sleeping with a black man.”

Khan also said that she was not the only person of South Asian decent to be ridiculed by Tompkins. Tompkins would often refer to truck drivers as stupid immigrants and would often ask if there were any good white people he could hire.

Khan’s employment with Lynx ended on January 30 after she took two days off to take care of her youngest son who had been hospitalized because doctors feared he might have liver cancer. After being fired Khan filed a Human Rights complaint.

Earlier this month Adjudicator Eric Whist found for Khan. In a written opinion Whist said “”Having weighed the evidence before me I find, on a balance (of) probabilities, that (Tompkins) did repeatedly use the terms “Paki” and “nigger” as well as making other offensive comments to the applicant that he knew would be unwelcome.”

Whist ordered Tompkins to pay Khan $25,000 for discrimination as well as $6,750 in lost wages. He further ordered Tompkins to create an anti harassment policy and to undergo sensitivity training.

Khan has since found new employment. Tompkins maintains his innocence and says that while he may have been a tough employer who yelled from time to time he never used racial slurs.

For more information, Please see:

Rediff – Canadian Employer Fined $25,000 for Racial Slur – 18 February 2010

Toronto Star – Racist Taunts Cost Boss $25000 – 17 Feb 2010

Vancouver Sun – Toronto Woman Awarded $25,000 After Boss Used Racial Epithets – 17 February 2010