Sri Lankan asylum seekers detained in Indonesia, denied entry to New Zealand

Sri Lankan asylum seekers detained in Indonesia, denied entry to New Zealand

By Brianne Yantz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Earlier this month the Indonesian Navy intercepted a boat containing over 85 Tamil Sri Lankan refugees bound for New Zealand.  Many were waving New Zealand flags or holding signs that read “Our future life is in New Zealand,” the New Zealand Herald reported.  However, the refugees were detained and New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key, publicly announced that the asylum seekers would not be permitted to enter the country.

Sri Lankan asylum seekers display signs after their boat was intercepted by the Indonesian Navy. (Photo Courtesy of AP/ New Zealand Herald)
Sri Lankan asylum seekers display signs after their boat was intercepted by the Indonesian Navy. (Photo Courtesy of AP/ New Zealand Herald)

Key also noted that of the thousands of refugees that seek asylum in New Zealand only 750 a year are accepted. He firmly stated that New Zealand would not accept anyone who did not follow the normal channels.  Key stated that allowing the refugees into the country without going through the proper legal channels would promote smuggling.  As Key explained to The Telegraph, “if you are going to take this boat, there are just thousands and thousands of other boats which will come.”

Many have since criticized Key and accused him of exaggerating the issue.  To his critics, the probability of a mass influx of asylum seekers to New Zealand is not as likely or harmful as Key believes.

According to TamilNet, Keith Locke, the Green Party MP in New Zealand, stated “there is room in our country for more Sri Lankan asylum seekers.  In the last 3 years we have not even filled our 750 annual refugee quota.”  Locke further argued that Key’s mother was in fact an asylum seeker, fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939 for Britain.

TamilNet also reported that Tamil groups in New Zealand believe that Key’s stance is misguided; Key’s judgment has been clouded by poor advice and hostile propaganda from the Government of Sri Lanka.

The Tamil organizations pointed out that the Tamils in Sri Lanka are currently being suppressed by a military dictatorship and that the nation’s war crimes have received little to no international coverage.  Therefore, the lack of public sympathy for the refugees comes as no surprise.

Despite these criticisms, Key has maintained his stance on the issue and the refugees remain in Indonesian custody.

However, one major political figurehead, who is also the leader of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) political party in Indonesia, has requested the refugees at least be set free.  According to MSN News, MDMK leader, Vaiko, reportedly wrote to Indonesia’s Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, arguing that the refugees were not illegal immigrants and “as per International Law, their right to seek asylum cannot be curtailed by Indonesian authorities.”

For more information, please see:

TamilNet – Prime Minister criticized in New Zealand’s parliament over Tamil refugees – July 16, 2011

MSN News – Vaiko wants PM to put pressure on Indonesia to release Tamils – July 14, 2011

New Zealand Herald – PM accused of overstating refugee issue – July 13, 2011

Radio New Zealand – PM criticised over stance on asylum seekers – July 12, 2011

The Telegraph – New Zealand shuts door on Sri Lankan asylum seekers – July 12, 2011

Thailand Waits on Election Commission

By: Greg Donaldson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – The Thai Election Commission has decided to hold off on certifying the newly elected prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, citing it needed to look into several legal matters regarding the election.  This act has many calling into question the intentions of the Election Commission.

Yingluck Shinawatra (Photo Courtesy of the Asia News Network)
Recently elected Yingluck Shinawatra. (Photo Courtesy of the Asia News Network)

In a historic election that had a voter turnout of seventy-four percent, Shinawatra and her party Pheu Thai (also called “red shirts”), won a projected 261 seats in Parliament, while the former prime minister’s party only took 162 seats according to the Election Commission. Other exit polls show Pheu Thai’s win to be even larger reports Reuters. However, the Election Commission has the ability to take away an elected candidate’s victory if it finds laws were broken during the election.

Much of the controversy that surrounds the elections revolves around the fact that the newly elected prime minister is the sister of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Shinawatra was overthrown in a 2006 military operation. Since his overthrow, lower and upper class Thais have been sharply divided.

Thaksin has been barred from politics by the courts and currently lives in exile in Dubai to avoid prison sentences that he calls politically motivated. However, one of Yingluck Shinawatra’s slogans for her campaign was “Thaksin thinks, Pheu Thai acts”.

The Thai news media have treated Ms. Yingluck as the presumptive prime minister.  The local newspaper Thai Rath stated on Wednesday the Election Commission “needs to clarify to the public why it is working so slowly.”

The paper further noted that “The role of the Election Commission in the recent election reeked like a bad odor,” and there were many suspicions about why the process was so jammed up.  The Bangkok Post explains that “only blatant cases of election fraud with strong evidence beyond reasonable doubt should bar anyone from initially entering public office.”

On Wednesday red-shirt leadership warned the Election Commission about their dissatisfaction over the delay in certification of newly elected members. Thida Thawornseth, chairwoman of the movement, called on the red shirts to “keep your batteries full and get ready for action in any situation.”

Thida described the Election Commission’s move as an attempt by the “ruling elite” to prevent the country emerging from its political crisis.” If the people’s interest is destroyed again, (the red-shirt movement) is ready to protect it,” she added.

The election results represent how sharply the country is divided into “red” and “blue” provinces. The blue areas, concentrated in Bangkok and southern Thailand support the departing government, while the reds support the Pheu Thai party whose members are generally poorer, less educated, and reside in the northern parts of the country.  More than half of the voters whose monthly income was less than $165 (USD) voted for Pheu Thai while less than a third voted for the Democrat Party.

For more information, please see:

Bangkok Post — Smooth Transition is Heart of Democracy – 15 July 2011

Asia News Network — Thailand’s red shirts warn of backlash if election body delays endorsement of Yingluck — 14 July 2011

Asia News Network — Thai election commission delays endorsement of Yingluck, partymates – 13 July 2011

New York Times — New Thai Government is Delayed by Legal Challenges — 13 July 2011

Time — Thai Election Board Delays Certifying Winners – 12 July 2011

Reuters – Thaksin party wins Thai election by a landslide — 3 July 2011

LBGT Groups Picket Russian Embassy in London

By Greg Hall
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe 

LONDON, England – Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals picketed the Russian Emabassy in London on July 1 urging Russia’s voting rights at the Council of Europe be suspended because of the country’s violations of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).  On October 21, 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that banning gay pride events violated the right to freedom of assembly. It also ruled that Moscow authorities had unlawfully discriminated against activist Nikolay Aleksandrovich Alekseyev and the organizers of gay pride events on the basis of sexual orientation, and had subsequently denied them a remedy.

LGBT supporters protest outside the Russian Embassy in London (Photo Courtesy of Pink Paper).

The year after the court ruling, Moscow authorities banned the pride event.  Four different applications were made and all four of them were denied.  Eighteen people attempted to defy the ban and hold the event.  However, they were aggressively arrested and persecuted by homophobic groups and religious counter-protesters, just as has happened in the previous six years.

As a consequence of violating the ruling of the European Court on Human Rights, the picketers called for Russia’s voting rights in the Council of Europe to be suspended.  Five people were arrested for picketing a Russian Embassy in France when they went to deliver a petition signed by 14,000 people opposing Russia’s defiance.

Moscow’s Deputy Mayor told the event organizer, Nikolai Alekseyev, that his application to hold the event had been rejected due to the large numbers of objections it had received from members of the public.  However, Nicola Duckworth, Director of Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Programme, responded, “The Moscow City Authorities must overturn their decision to ban this year’s Moscow Gay Pride.  So-called public morality concerns can never be used to justify restrictions on the freedom of expression of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people”.

A poll released in June found that 61 percent of Russians oppose gay pride marches in Russia.  A year ago, 82 percent said that they disapproved.  Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: “The arrest, mistreatment and detention of LGBT activists is illegal under Russia’s constitution, which guarantees the right to peaceful assembly.  It is alarming that this homophobic repression is taking place in Russia’s most liberal city, St Petersburg.  The Council of Europe must take disciplinary action against Russia over its further violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The Russian government must not be allowed to defy the ECHR with impunity.”

For More Information Please See:

Pride Source — LGBTs Picket Russian Embassy in London — 14 July 2011

Pink Paper — Five People Arrested Outside Russian Embassy in Paris — 11 July 2011

Pink Paper — Russian Police Arrest 14 People in Demonstration Row — 27 June 2011

Peter Tachel — Gay Activist Will Defy Ban — 25 May 2011

Amnesty International — Moscow Authorities Ban Gay Pride Event — 18 May 2011

UNHCR — Russia: European Court Rules Gay Pride Ban Unlawful — 21 October 2010


New Egyptian Government Takes Shape as Protests Continue

By Zach Waksman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – On Tuesday, the military announced that it was planning to adopt a “declaration of basic principles” that would oversee the drafting of a new Egyptian constitution.  But even as the ruling military council begins this process, public concerns remain over whether the revolution of January 25 has brought about the reforms it sought to achieve.

Despite this apparent show of good faith, thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday, referred to as “The Friday of Final Warning,” to repeat the demands that spurred the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak.  This time, however, their anger was aimed at Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), and interim Prime Minister Essam Sharaf.  Once they finished their prayers, the dissidents chanted, “The Military Council is illegitimate” and “Down with Tantawi,” while also using poetry, song, caricature, and graffiti to express displeasure with the current regime.

As of Thursday, at least a dozen Tahrir protesters were in the midst of a hunger strike.  One of the strikers, Mohamed Fawzy, said that he would not accept treatment until the protesters’ demands have been met.  Those demands include the public trial of all officers who participated in killing protesters during the revolution and a public trial of the Mubarak family and other symbols of his regime.  They also want limits on the SCAF’s power and a purge of all government and state institutions, including banks and the media, of corrupt members of the previous regime.

To some, putting new people in power will not be enough.  Mohamed El-Baradei, a former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency who is running for president, opined that the government will have to change its policies.  “The revolution’s demands are clear.  We need an empowered government and a change of policies,” he wrote on his Twitter page.

Even after Tuesday’s announcement, the primary concern among the protesters is that the declaration will provide the military with a broad mission that could limit democracy in the name of preserving a secular state.  Tahani el-Gebali, a judge who is assisting in drafting the declaration, supports a broad role in the new government for the armed forces.  She believes that “[t]he military’s legacy gives it a special credibility.”  This credibility justifies its level of responsibility in protecting the new constitution’s legitimacy.  The military has traditionally had almost total autonomy in Egypt, including a budget that was not disclosed to the Parliament.

Ibrahim Dawrish, who helped create a new constitution that reduced the political role of Turkish armed forces, and who had taken on a broad mandate after a coup in 1980, told the New York Times that the SCAF seemed to be trying to imitate the Turkish model, which created political turmoil in Turkey for years.  “The constitution can’t be monopolized by one institution,” Dawrish said.  “It is Parliament that makes the constitution, not the other way around.”

Frustration appears to be growing within the military.  Even as anger towards them increases, the SCAF remains steadfast in its claim of being only a temporary regime.  Major General Mamdouh Shaheen, a council member, told a news conference that the military would remain in power until an elected government was in place, adding that the SCAF “does not want to stay in power.”

Whether that is true remains to be seen.  The final version of the declaration will provide some answers to that question, but will raise new questions as well.

For more information, please see:

Al-Masry Al-Youm – El-Baradei: Revolution wants policies, not people, changed – 17 July 2011

Ikhwanweb – As Protests Continue, Egyptians Determined to Fulfill Revolution’s Demands – 17 July 2011

New York Times – Egypt Military Moves to Cement a Muscular Role in Government – 16 July 2011

Daily News Egypt – Thousands in Tahrir on ‘Final Warning Friday’ – 15 July 2011

Al-Ahram Weekly – Must do better – 14 July 2011

Al-Ahram Weekly – Protesters’ demands –14 July 2011

Al-Ahram Weekly – Together we stand – 14 July 2011