Report: Military Activities Carried Out By Myanmar Regime May Constitute War Crimes

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

RANGOON, Burma (Myanmar) – World Leaders have converged in Myanmar’s remote capital for the summit for the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean). The Summit marks the first time the country has hosted such an event since the country began adopting political reforms four years ago. United States President Barack Obama, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang will join ASEAN leaders in the capital Naypyidaw for the meetings that will likely address crucial issues facing the region including territorial disputes in the South China Sea. For the Myanmar government the Asean summit is intended to highlight the country’s recent reforms and serve as a symbol that the country is abandoning military dictatorship and joining the international community.

A young Rohingya woman carries her sick baby to a clinic at Dar Baing Muslim refugee camp near Sittwe, Rakhine State, in western Myanmar, on Monday. The Rohingya minority lives under apartheid like conditions in Myanmar, many living in camps for internally displaced peoples. (Photo Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal)

Under Thein Sein, a reformist former general, most sanctions against the state have been lifted and foreign investment have begun to flow into the country as it has been welcomed back into the international community after enacting sweeping reforms including the release of most political prisoners, including opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The Myanmar regime has also promised to hold free and fair elections next year. Despite reforms, which have been rewarded by the international community with investments and the Asean Summit, granting legitimacy to the regime, the Myanmar government has been criticized for the continued mistreatment of the country’s 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims. More than 100,000 Rohingya have fled the country by boat in the last two years. Another 140,000 are living under apartheid conditions in displacement camp.

Just days before world leaders landed in Myanmar for the summit a Harvard University study was released detailing alleged war crimes committed under the regime’s military dictatorship. According to the report, published by human rights researchers at Harvard Law School Military activities carried out by Myanmar’s powerful Minister of Home Affairs Minister Ko Ko, who was head of the army’s Southern Command while the country was ruled as a military dictatorship could constitute war crimes. The report cites evidence that the Home Affairs Minister and two other generals were responsible for the executions, torture and enslavement of Burmese civilians by military officials during a large-scale offensive against ethnic rebels.

The authors of the report say there is enough evidence to justify the issuance of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court. The Myanmar government responded to the report by saying that what happens during times of conflict is often unavoidable and argued that now is a time to look forward and not back. “We are going through a democratic transition,” said Nay Zin Latt, one of the president’s political advisers and an ex-army officer. “Everyone should be encouraging the reform process rather than putting further obstacles along the way.”

However Ko Ko remains a high ranking official, now in command of internal security, overseeing the police force. “Ko Ko oversaw egregious rights violations in eastern Myanmar,” Matthew Bugher, global justice fellow at Harvard Law School and a principal author of the report said. “His prominent position in Myanmar’s Cabinet calls into question the government’s commitment to reform.”

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Myanmar hosts world leaders for ASEAN summit – 12 November 2014

The Wall Street Journal – U.N. Chief Urges Myanmar to Protect Minority Rohingya – 12 November 2014

CNN International – Myanmar: Rohingya not welcome – 11 November 2014

The New York Times – report cites evidence of war crimes in Myanmar – 5 November 2014

Russia Appears to be Repeating Crimea Tactic in Donetsk

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – The already-shaky ceasefire agreed to on September 5 in Minsk, Belarus seems to be in its final days. NATO has confirmed a new Russian presence in and around Donetsk, Ukraine, following reports from the past few days of Russian tanks, troops, and supply trucks crossing the Ukrainian border after mobilizing for the past week along the Russian side of the border. As seen in Crimea, however, they all remain unmarked and without identifying insignia.

A column of unmarked tanks spotted near Donetsk, a pro-Russian stronghold. (Photo courtesy of the New York Times)

Ukrainian military officials, monitors for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and NATO have all confirmed the presence of Russian troops and various military equipment in and around Donetsk and flowing into the country. One convoy of 43 unmarked military trucks was witnessed Tuesday heading towards Donetsk. Five of the trucks were towing 120mm howitzer artillery pieces, and five others were carrying multi-launch rocket systems. A report last week reported more than 40 Russian trucks and tankers, also unmarked, and 19 of which were towing 122mm howitzers, were in Ukraine. There is an estimated 7,000 Russian troops inside Ukraine now, along with an estimated 100 Russian tanks, more than 400 armored vehicles, and more than 150 self-propelled artillery and multiple rocket launchers.

Along the border of Ukraine on the Russian side is a very alarming sight as well. According to Phillip Karber, a former Pentagon strategy advisor who has worked with the Ukrainian government, between 40,000 and 50,000 Russian troops remain just across the border, along with another 350 to 400 tanks, more than 1,000 armored vehicles, and 800 self-propelled artillery.

In a fight that has claimed over 4,000 lives, it appears that fighting may go back to pre-ceasefire numbers and could claim many more lives very shortly. Although the Russian troops, vehicles, and equipment in Ukraine are all unmarked, U.S. General and NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe Philip Breedlove states, “[t]here is no question any more about Russia’s direct military involvement in Ukraine.” Russia continues to deny any of the alleged involvement. In response, Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said Ukraine will no longer pay attention to Moscow’s denials of involvement, that Ukraine is “repositioning our armed forces to respond to the actions of the fighters.”

For more information, please see:

New York Times – Russian Troops Crossing Into Ukraine, NATO Says – 12 November 2014

Reuters – Ukraine redeploys troops, fearing new rebel offensive – 12 November 2014

Time – Russia Sends More Convoys Into Ukraine as Cease-Fire Collapses – 12 November 2014

CNN – Ukraine violence flares as ceasefire collapses – 11 November 2014

Daily Beast – Thousands of Putin’s Troops Now in Ukraine, Analysts Say – 11 November 2014

 

Magnitsky Justice Campaign: Pussy Riot to Lead Tribute to Sergei Magnitsky at the British Parliament on the Fifth Anniversary of His Murder in Russian Police Custody

11 November 2014 – This month marks the fifth anniversary of the killing in Russian police custody of 37-year old anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who exposed a $230 million fraud perpetrated by Russian government officials and organised criminals.

While his death ignited worldwide condemnation and lead to numerous political and legal calls for justice around the globe, five years on there is still no justice in Russia for Sergei Magnitsky.

To mark the memory of Sergei Magnitsky and the fight against corruption which he gave his life for, politicians, artists, journalists and campaigners will gather in London on Tuesday 18 November 2014 to participate in a major panel by Henry Jackson Society to be held at the British parliament.

The session chaired by Chris Bryant, MP, is entitled ‘Prospects for Russia after Putin: Five Years from the Death of Sergei Magnitsky.’

Among the panelists are members of the Russian punk protest group Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, who were previously jailed in Russia for staging an anti-Putin protest in a Moscow church. Also participating will be Hon Irwin Cotler MP, former General Prosecutor of Canada, who represented prisoners of conscience Nathan Sharansky and Nelson Mandela; former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov; environmental activist and opposition leader Evgenia Chirikova; and Franco-Russo journalist Elena Servettaz, author of the book, “Why Europe Needs a Magnitsky Law”.

“This event will commemorate Sergei Magnitsky’s legacy by bringing together some of the top human rights campaigners to discuss Russia after Putin, and if there is a chance for the kind of Russia that Sergei Magnitsky believed in,” said a Magnitsky Justice Campaign representative.

Sergei Magnitsky was a 37-year old lawyer and outside counsel for the Hermitage Fund, who was tortured to death in Russian Interior Ministry custody after he testified about the involvement of Interior Ministry officials in the theft of his client’s companies and the $230 million theft. The Russian officials responsible for his arrest, torture and killing were absolved from any responsibility, promoted and decorated with state honours.

For more information, please contact:

Magnitsky Justice Campaign

+44 2074401777

info@lawandorderinrussia.org

lawandorderinrussia.org

 To register your attendance at the Magnitsky event, please go to Henry Jackson Society website:

http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2014/11/18/prospects-for-russia-after-putin-five-years-from-the-death-of-sergei-magnitsky/

Two American’s Freed in North Korea; Thousands of North Koreans Remain Unlawfully Detained

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

PYONGYANG, North Korea – The word’s attention was turned to North Korea over the weekend when the secretive regime released two American citizens, Matthew Todd Miller and Kenneth Bae. The Americans had both been charged with crimes against the North Korean state and sentence to hard labor. The two were the last Americans held by North Korea following the release last month of Chris Fowle. The released of the two Americans may have been an attempt to shine a more favorable light on the regime and draw the word’s attention away from the crimes committed by the regime. Including crimes against the tens of thousands of people detained in labor camps by the regime. The release of the two Americans came just days after the publication of a damming report by the United Nations’ special rapporteur dealing with North Korea which called on the case to be referred to the International Criminal Court, which could potentially lead to an indictment of North Koreas new leader Kim Jong Un.

A satellite image of a village in the northern part of North Korean political camp 16 (Kwanliso) taken in September 2011 was released by rights group Amnesty International as evidence of forced labor camps in North Korea. (Photo courtesy of CNN International)

A report relapsed by ­Marzuki Darusman, the United Nations’ special rapporteur dealing with North Korea called on the North Korean regime to by referred to the international criminal court due to the country’s gross violations of human rights.  “The international community must seize this unique opportunity and momentum created by the commission of inquiry to help to make a difference in the lives of the people of Korea, including victims, and to ensure accountability of those responsible for serious violations of human rights, including crimes against humanity,” Darusman wrote in his report. Darusman ]’s report comes six months after a United Nations commission of inquiry released a 372-page report detailing human rights abuses and crimes against humanity committed by the secretive state including allegations of brainwashing, torture, starvation and imprisonment for “crimes” such as questioning the system or trying to escape the country, or for secretly practicing Christianity and other faiths.

The North Korean regime allegedly practices a form of collective punishment known as “three generations of punishment” in which three generations of a single family are forcibly imprisoned in North Korea’s labor camps. The system was established by North Korea’s founding leader, Kim Il Sung, as a means of whipping out the entire families of political dissidents under the theory that if one person commits crimes against the state their offspring will as well. Under this system children born in the late 20th or even the 21st century may remain in prison for the alleged crimes of their grandparents. Shin, A survivor of North Korea’s Camp 14 stated that he had no idea why he was in prison or even that the outside world existed. “Because I was born there, I just thought that those people who carry guns were born to carry guns and prisoners like me were born as prisoners, he said.”

An estimated 150,000 North Koreans are detained under the regimes inhuman labor camp system. The North Korean state has never acknowledged that prisons camps exist in the country but survivors have relayed horrific stories of starvation, fearsome labor, torture, rape and murder through public execution. Under the “three generations of punishment” regime entire generations are born, live and die in these horrifically inhuman prisons. Last year Amnesty international released satellite images purportedly showing evidence of existence and even the expansion, including the construction of new housing blocks and production facilities, at two of the isolated regime’s largest camps or “kwanliso,” Camp 15 and Camp 16. Both prison camps are used to hold political prisoners. “The gruesome reality of North Korea’s continued investment in this vast network of repression has been exposed,” said Rajiv Narayan, Amnesty International’s East Asia Researcher. “We urge the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those prisoners of conscience held in political prison camps and close the camps immediately.”

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – North Korea Frees Two Detained US Citizens – 9 November 2014

The Washington Post – U.N. Human Rights Report Says it’s Time to Hold North Korea to Account — In Court – 28 October 2014

CNN International – Photos Show Scale of North Korea’s Repressive Prison Camps — Amnesty – 4 December 2014

CBS News – Horrors Revealed At North Korean Prison Camp – 30 November 2012

U.N. Tries to Refer North Korea Human Rights Cases to ICC

By Hojin Choi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PYONGYANG, North Korea – Japan and the European Union circulated a draft resolution encouraging the U.N. Security Council to refer potential human rights violations in North Korea to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The draft resolution is based on a 372-page report from the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on North Korea, led by chief author, Michael Kirby, a retired Australian judge.

The report described wide-ranging human rights abuses, including torture, starvation, rape, enslavement and killing that could only be described as “extermination.” The report also highlighted prison camps, alleged to be political detention facilities holding some 120,000 individuals. The North Korean regime has vehemently denied the existence of any such facilities.

43 U.N. member-states have signed on in support of the draft resolution. The resolution will be discussed in the General Assembly’s Third Committee, which generally deals with human rights issues. While no members of the General Assembly hold a veto power, unlike the Security Council, the General Assembly does not have authority to issue legally binding orders.

This is the first time that any member-states have moved to refer the North Korea case to the ICC. The coalition was built largely on support from the United States. John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, made a bid to raise the profile of human rights issues in North Korea. The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. presented an award to Michael Kirby in a display of gratitude and support for the draft resolution and its findings. Kirby urged the member-states to push the Security Council to refer the case to the ICC.

“The truth in this report is very concerning to the world community, and your country has to face up to it,” Kirby proclaimed.

China and Russia, two of the fifteen member-countries of the Security Council, will likely use their vetoes against any attempts to refer the case to the ICC. The Foreign Ministry Spokesperson for China, Hua Chunying, said during a daily news briefing, “we believe that for the issue of human rights, referring a case to the ICC is not helpful to improving a country’s human rights situation.”

Kirby, anticipating China’s veto, commented that “we [will] continue to [work] in hopes that China, as a great power, will act as a great power should.”

North Korea refused to admit to any of the allegations contained in the report. North Korea’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador, Jang Il-hun, said that “in my country we don’t even know the term ‘political prisoners.” He warned that North Korea would take countermeasures against any efforts to charge the leader, Kim Jong-un, with human rights violations at the ICC.

On October 15, North Korea circulated another draft resolution calling for “an end to the practice of calling into question the human rights situation of specific individual countries.” About 60 U.N. member-states attended the meeting.

Kim Song, center, of North Korean mission alleged at the United Nation’s meeting that there has been “a political conspiracy by the United States and hostile forces” (AP)

North Korea also insisted that the country has improved its human rights situation by providing a “free, compulsory educational system” and “free medical care.” It said the report was based on “wild rumors” spread by “hostile forces.”

Even though the General Assembly resolutions have almost annually criticized human rights situations in North Korea, Iran, Myanmar, and Syria, this is the first time such a resolution has recommended referral to the ICC.

For more information please see:

The New York Times – Coalition Seeks to Send North Korea to International Court Over Rights Abuses – 25 October 2014

Reuters – At U.N., China asked to back rights case against North Korea – 26 October 2014

The Korea Times – Pyongyang challenges UN’s accusation of human rights violations – 26 October 2014

Reuters – U.N. draft urges ICC referral for North Korea, but Pyongyang fights back – 9 October 2014

The New York Times – North Korea Challenges U.N. Report on Violations – 20 October 2014