Sri Lankan Government Arrests Prominent General

Sri Lankan Government Arrests Prominent General

Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter,  Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – The Sri Lankan government recently designed and carried out the arrest of General Sarath Fonseka.  The General was once heralded by the Sri Lankan government as one of the most valuable military players in the civil war against Tamil Tigers opposition group.  General Fonseka served the government as a leader in Sri Lanka’s struggle against the rebel organization; a war that had been plaguing Sri Lanka for over a quarter-century.   However, due to significant political friction between General Fonseka and President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the two fell out with one another and Fonseka lost his revered status among government officials.

Fonseka has been charged with war crimes and conspiring to execute a coup against the current Sri Lankan government.  It has also been alleged that Fonseka maintains and exploits connections with anti-government groups to further promote and realize his apparent designs to overthrow the government.  General Fonseka, however, denies the allegations.

The arrest of General Fonseka has incited protesting and some violence on Sri Lanka streets, as anti-government protestors, angry civilians, and government forces clash with one another.  Political leaders question the motives behind the extra-judicial arrest, and remain apprehensive about the foreseeable maltreatment of General Fonseka.  The leaders of anti-government groups have released statements relating their concern for the life of the General, fearing the possibility of his execution while in custody.

The details of Fonseka’s actual arrest suggest a denial of fundamental legal rights and perpetuate the bad faith in the Sri Lankan government’s dealings.  General Fonseka, having lost the post-war elections to President Rajapaksa, accused the government of fixing the election.  Government forces subsequently stormed the military leader’s campaign office and “dragged” him away, charging the general with various war crimes.

The civil war in Sri Lanka between government forces and the Tamil Tigers left over 7,000 civilians dead and raised myriad other human rights issues.  The government’s treatment of Tamil nationals during the period following the war’s end and up until now remains questionable and has provoked much international pressure.    President Rajapaksa has undertaken the practice of identifying and arresting military personnel whom he believes threaten national security in post-war Sri Lanka.

Held captive by the government, General Fonseka eats only when his wife brings him food during visits.  His fate, in the hands of an unscrupulous Sri Lankan government, remains unclear.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Protesters clash in S Lanka Capital – 10 February 2010

BBC – Sri Lankan Gen Sarath Fonseka’s arrest to be challenged – 10 February 2010

Time – Sri Lankan Opposition Leader Arrested – 10 February 2010

The Sri Lankan government recently designed and carried out the arrest of General Sarath Fonseka.  The General was once heralded by the Sri Lankan government as one of the most valuable military players in the civil war against Tamil Tigers opposition group.  General Fonseka served the government as a leader in Sri Lanka’s struggle against the rebel organization; a war that had been plaguing Sri Lanka for over a quarter-century.   However, due to significant political friction between General Fonseka and President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the two fell out with one another and Fonseka lost his revered status among government officials.
Fonseka has been charged with war crimes and conspiring to execute a coup against the current Sri Lankan government.  It has also been alleged that Fonseka maintains and exploits connections with anti-government groups to further promote and realize his apparent designs to overthrow the government.  General Fonseka, however, denies the allegations.
The arrest of General Fonseka has incited protesting and some violence on Sri Lanka streets, as anti-government protestors, angry civilians, and government forces clash with one another.  Political leaders question the motives behind the extra-judicial arrest, and remain apprehensive about the foreseeable maltreatment of General Fonseka.  The leaders of anti-government groups have released statements relating their concern for the life of the General, fearing the possibility of his execution while in custody.
The details of Fonseka’s actual arrest suggest a denial of fundamental legal rights and perpetuate the bad faith in the Sri Lankan government’s dealings.  General Fonseka, having lost the post-war elections to President Rajapaksa, accused the government of fixing the election.  Government forces subsequently stormed the military leader’s campaign office and “dragged” him away, charging the general with various war crimes.
The civil war in Sri Lanka between government forces and the Tamil Tigers left over 7,000 civilians dead and raised myriad other human rights issues.  The government’s treatment of Tamil nationals during the period following the war’s end and up until now remains questionable and has provoked much international pressure.    President Rajapaksa has undertaken the practice of identifying and arresting military personnel whom he believes threaten national security in post-war Sri Lanka.
Held captive by the government, General Fonseka eats only when his wife brings him food during visits.  His fate, in the hands of an unscrupulous Sri Lankan government, remains unclear.

UN To Review Fiji’s Human Rights Record

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania
SUVA, Fiji — The Fiji government has allegedly misrepresented its human rights record in a report to the United Nations.

The UN Human Rights Council is scheduled to review the human rights situation in Fiji on Thursday, February 11 in Geneva.

The report allegedly contains statements indicating that Fiji’s Government is indeed respecting human rights, such as freedom of speech and religion.  However, in its submission to the Council, Amnesty International claims this is inaccurate.

According to Amnesty International’s Pacific Researcher, Apolosi Bose, “[g]overnment assertions that human rights are protected in Fiji are an insult to its citizens, who have had to endure surveillance, intimidation and threats by the military.”

Since April 2009, when Commodore Frank Bainimarama refused to continue to abide by Fiji’s constitution, the government has violated human rights and upset the rule of law in that country. Several magistrate judges have been dismissed without explanation.  The media has also been subjected to censorship on a daily basis.

Furthermore, pastors and administrators at the Methodist Church of Fiji have been arrested since July 2009.  Not only did the government suspend the church’s annual conference until 2014, but it also arrested church officials, detained them and charged them under the Public Emergency Regulations (PER).

In April 2009, the government enacted these regulations, which allowed it to violate basic human rights while at the same time it shielded itself from dissent or criticism.  These regulations enable the government to suppress news and other comments which are highly critical.

According to Amnesty, “[m]ore than a thousand people have been assaulted, threatened, intimidated or subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment, arbitrary arrests, and detention by the military for either being critical of the authorities or on trumped-up charges.”

The PER, extended every thirty days, authorize Fiji’s security forces to prohibit meetings, use lethal force where they feel necessary, and to regulate the use of any public place.

Human rights organizations have suggested that Fiji not renew the PER upon their expiration this month.

Human Rights Watch has also expressed concern over Fiji’s submission.

The organization believes that abusive policies undertaken by Fiji’s military government must be corrected to ensure the nation returns to a democratic rule.   Otherwise, the human rights situation will worsen.

The deputy director of Human Rights Watch Asia, Phil Robertson stated that UN involvement in Fiji is necessary.  “Without an impartial judiciary and other independent institutions to provide checks and balances on the military government, an active role by the UN human rights office is crucial… The UN and its member states need to insist that Fiji abide by its international human rights commitments.”

The UN Human Rights Council is conducting the review in accordance with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, where the Council assesses the human rights record of every state that is a member of the UN.  The UPR occurs on a rotating basis once every four years.

This is the first review of Fiji’s human rights record.

For more information please see:
Amnesty International – Fiji: Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review: Seventh Session of the UPR Working Group of the Human Rights Council, February 2010

Pacific.Scoop – Amnesty accuses Fiji regime over human rights record report to UN – 10 February 2010

Radio New Zealand – Human rights groups scathing about Fiji claims to UN body – 10 February 2010

Human Rights Watch – UN Rights Council: Demand End to Fiji Abuses – 09 February 2010

Iran Begins Advanced Enrichment of Uranium

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran has begun enriching uranium at a purity level of twenty percent. The state-run media in Iran reported on February 9 that the increase in purity allows for the production of a higher grade of nuclear fuel. This action was defiance of many Western countries who remain concerned that Iran’s ultimate goal with their nuclear program is the ability to manufacture  weapons of mass destruction.

An unnamed Iranian official told Iran’s Arabic-language Al Alam channel that “Today (Iran) started to make twenty percent enriched nuclear fuel…in the presence of IAEA inspectors at Natanz.” Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Ali-Asghar Soltanieh, announced that the government informed the UN’s atomic watchdog that would begin enrich the fuel at the higher level.

This announcement from Iran was met with calls from the United States and its allies for the imposition of stronger UN sanctions against Iran over it’s nuclear program. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates explained that “the only path that is left to us at this point, it seems to me, is that pressure track but it will require all of the international community to work together.” A spokesman for the US State Department, PJ Crowley, did make it clear that the US government had “no interest in creating additional hardships on the Iranian people.”

The enriching of uranium to twenty percent does not by itself produce nuclear fuel that could be easily used in a bomb. The level of uranium enrichment that is required for a nuclear weapon is ninety percent. The concern from Western countries lies with the fact that the technological jump to get from twenty percent to ninety percent is fairly straightforward.

Iran’s top nuclear official, Ali Akba Salehi, also said that the Iranian government would build ten new enrichment plants next year. This is despite the fact that there are still problems with its first one. The United States and its allies, in response to this news, said that the time had come “fore the adoption of strong sanctions.” The UN Security Council has already imposed three rounds of sanctions against Iran in response to it’s uranium enrichment activities.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Iran ‘Begins Advanced Enrichment’ – 9 February 2010

BBC – Iran ‘Starts Enriching Nuclear Fuel to 20%’ at Natanz – 9 February 2010

New York Times – Small Step in Iran’s Nuclear Effort Suggests Ambitions for a Weapon, Experts Say – 9 February 2010

Voice of America – Iran Defies West, Begins Boosting Uranium – 9 February 2010

Fighting Continues In Northern Yemen

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’NA, Yemen – Ten Yemeni soldiers have been killed, most of them by snipers, and 18 wounded in a fresh outbreak of fighting with Shiite rebels in north Yemen, a military official said on Monday. The latest clashes come days after the government announced a timetable for a ceasefire, to which the rebels have yet to respond. The fighting took place around the northern city of Sa’ada, in Harf Sufyan, which lies to the south of the city, and in the Malahidh border area, the official told the AFP on condition of anonymity.

The rebels, meanwhile, reported the deaths of two children in what they said was Saudi shelling near the border in northern Yemen. The children, aged five and 10, were killed when one of almost 150 shells fired by the Saudi army towards positions near the border crashed into their farm, the rebels said in a statement on their website.

Yemen’s defence ministry said this week that the government would stop its war with rebel Houthi fighters if they were to begin complying with its six conditions. Ceasefire terms, presented in August, included removing checkpoints, ending banditry, handing over all military equipment and weapons, and releasing civilians and military personnel. But a government official said on Sunday that the ceasefire deal should have included a pledge by the group not to attack neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

Government officials have said Houthi leaders twice rejected the terms, while Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the Houthis’ leader, said last week that his fighters had twice declared they wanted to end the conflict.

The latest round of clashes erupted on August 11, when government forces launched “Operation Scorched Earth” — an all-out offensive to stamp out the uprising. Saudi Arabia entered the conflict on November 4th , a day after Houthi forces killed a Saudi border guard and occupied two villages within Saudi territory. The rebels accused the kingdom of aiding Yemeni forces, a charge it denied.

The rebels announced their withdrawal from Saudi territory on January 25.
The UN refugee agency says that about 250,000 people have been displaced by the fighting.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Yemen’s Houthi Truce Under Scrutiny – 10 February 2010

Tehran Times – Saudi Forces Raid Yemen’s Northern Villages – 10 February 10

AFP – Ten Soldiers Killed in North Yemen Clashes – 9 February 2010

CNN – Fighting Erupts in Yemen During Peace Talks, Journalist Says – 6 February 2010

ICC Clears Rebel Leader of War Crimes Charges

By Jonathan Ambaye
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa Desk

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – On Monday, February 8, 2010 the judges of the International Criminal Court ruled that there is not enough evidence to send Darfur rebel Leader, Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, to trial on charges he commanded an attack on African Union peacekeepers in 2007.
Garda is alleged to have ordered over 1,000 members of the different factions of the Justice and Equality Movement in an attack with a multitude of military weaponry, on the Haskanita base of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) in North Darfur.

 A panel of three judges, in a 103 pg decision, said that prosecution failed to prove Garda, who is the leader of the Darfur United Resistance Front (“URF”) played a role in the killings of 12 soldiers in 2007.  The courts chamber said, “Considered as a whole, the evidence of the prosecution witnesses from AMIS regarding the purported existence of an armed group under the command and control of Mr. Abu Garda in the area of Haskanita at or around the time of the attack is not sufficient to support the prosecution’s allegations.” The chamber further said, “The same evidence appears, rather to point to other individual acting as commanders of rebel armed groups in the area”.  Garda was the first of many individuals to appear before “The Hague based court in connection with the Darfur case.” Garda surrendered himself voluntarily last year to confront the charges he adamantly says he not guilty of.
 The judges based their ruling on the lack of consistency in the prosecutions primary argument. The prosecution’s case rested on testimony by seven witnesses who spoke to two meetings that took place prior to the attacks. The testimony failed to convince the judges that Garda was present saying, “that the cumulative evidence is weak and unreliable due to inconsistencies inherent in them.”

This decision actually marks “the first time in the history of the court that the prosecution failed to move a case past the confirmation of charges hearings on at least one of the counts contained in a summons to appear or an arrest warrant.”
For more information please see:
All Africa – Hague Court Attacks Prosecution Evidence– 9 February 2010

BBC – ICC Rejects Darfur Rebel Charges – 9 February, 2010

Sudan Tribune – Darfur Rebel Leader Cleared of War Crimes Charges – 9 February, 2010