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Papua New Guinea Declares Australia’s Manus Island Detention Center Illegal
By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — On Tuesday, Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court ruled that Australia’s practice of detaining asylum seekers on Papua New Guinea’s (“PNG’s”) Northern Manus Island was illegal and must stop. Refugees and asylum seekers detained on Manus Island under Australia’s off-shore processing system will be allowed to seek hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in compensation.
There are currently 850 men in the detention center on Manus Island; roughly half have been found to be refugees.
The five-man bench of the court ruled the detention breached the right to personal liberty in the PNG constitution. PNG’s Supreme Court has ordered the PNG and Australian Governments to immediately take steps to end the detention of asylum seekers in PNG.
Of those currently located on Manus Island, the vast majority of men in the detention center have been found to be refugees. The court ruling said they were seeking asylum in Australia but were forcefully brought into PNG and locked in an Australian-funded center enclosed with razor wire.
In an excerpt released by the court as part of its opinion, the judges ordered: “Both the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments shall forthwith take all steps necessary to cease and prevent the continued unconstitutional and illegal detention of the asylum seekers or transferees at the relocation center on Manus Island and the continued breach of the asylum seekers constitutional and human rights.”
Furthermore, Justice Terence Higgins said the detention also breached asylum seekers’ fundamental human rights guaranteed by various conventions on human rights at international law and under the PNG constitution.
The camps have been widely condemned and many have called for their closure. Some detainees have been in the camps for more than three years.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has said the roughly 850 men being held at the Manus Island detention center will not be brought to Australia. In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Dutton said the legal proceedings did not alter Australia’s border protection policies, which he has said will remain unchanged.
Under Australia’s controversial immigration laws, anyone intercepted while trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to camps in Nauru and Manus Island. They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia.
Mr. Dutton further stated that refugees at Manus Island could resettle in PNG, and those whose claims for asylum were rejected should return to their country of origin.
For more information, please see:
BBC News – PNG court rules Australia’s Manus detention centre unconstitutional – 26 April 2016
CNN – Papua New Guinea court rules Australian offshore detention center illegal – 26 April 2016
Reuters – Australia’s asylum seeker detentions on PNG island ruled illegal – 26 April 2016
SBS – Manus Island asylum seekers to sue Australia over illegal detention – 26 April 2016
Environmentalist Mysteriously Dies While in Police Custody
By Christine Khamis
BEIJING, China –
29-year-old environmentalist Lei Yang died while in police custody last week. Police say that he was detained outside of a foot parlor near Beijing. The official cause of his death is unclear at this time.
Mr. Lei worked for the China Association of Circular Economy, an environmental organization with ties to the government. His family says that he was on the way to pick up friends from the airport when he was detained. Mr. Lei apparently left his home around 9 p.m., about an hour before he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Many among the public believe that Mr. Lei was tortured or beaten to death. There has been great speculation about what Mr. Lei was doing at the foot parlor, which is a common cover for a brothel in the region.
The prosecutor’s office in Changping, the county where the foot parlor was located, says that it is investigating Mr. Lei’s death. There have been no other official government comments on Mr. Lei’s death, nor are there any surveillance videos available from Mr. Lei’s arrest and detainment.
However, People’s Daily, a newspaper closely allied with the Communist government, published an interview with an officer in charge of an anti-prostitution raid, during which Mr. Lei was reportedly picked up outside the massage parlor. The officer told People’s Daily that they had not used excessive force with Mr. Lei and that he was detained for paying for paying for sexual services. The officer also stated that Mr. Lei had bitten officers and tried to escape police custody twice.
The police also say that Mr. Lei had a heart attack while in police custody and then was declared dead at the hospital. Xinhua, a state run news source, reported that family members said they had seen bruises on Mr. Lei’s head and arms. Police responded that Mr. Lei had hit his head while trying to escape.
Mr. Lei’s family has requested an independent autopsy. Results of the autopsy are set to be released next month.
Former alumni of Renmin University, where Mr. Lei obtained his master’s degree in environmental science, circulated four petitions online following the news of his death. One of the petitions stated that Mr. Lei should not have been executed without a trial and said that his death was not an accident. It called for authorities to conduct an independent inquiry into Mr. Lei’s death.
Prostitution is illegal in China, but such an offense for solicitors is usually punishable by some form of administrative discipline.
For more information, please see:
The New York Times – Chinese Man’s Death in Custody Prompts Suspicion of Police Brutality – 12 May 2016
South China Morning Post – Former Students Call for Full Inquiry Into ‘Suspicious’ Death of Beijing University Alumnus in Police Custody – 12 May 2016
Hindustan Times – Mysterious Death in China Raises Suspicions of Police Brutality – 12 May 2016
Radio Free Asia – Death of Man in Police Custody Sparks Anger, Raises Doubts in Beijing – 11 May 2016
Pakistan Rights Activist Killed
By Christine Khamis
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan –
Unidentified assailants gunned down a Pakistani rights activist in a drive-by shooting on Saturday in Karachi. The activist, Khurram Zaki, was known for his fight against the Taliban as well as Sunni extremist groups.
Mr. Zaki was gunned down at a restaurant while meeting with a friend by attackers on motorbikes. Two other people were wounded during the attack.
A splinter faction of the Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the shooting. Police say, however, that they are unable to verify whether the faction, known as the Hakeemullah Group, is behind the attack. The group has falsely taken responsibility for other attacks in the past.
A former journalist, Mr. Zaki was a blogger and editor for Let Us Build Pakistan, a pro-Shiite blog that supports democratic values.
He was especially well known for his campaign against Abdul Aziz, the head cleric of the Lal Masjid, a prominent Sunni extremist mosque. Mr. Zaki and other activists protested outside of the mosque after Mr. Aziz refused to denounce an attack on a school in Peshawar in 2014. 152 people, most of them schoolchildren, were killed in the attack. Mr. Zaki and the other activists then filed a lawsuit against Mr. Aziz for incitement to hatred and violence against the Shiites.
Mr. Zaki is the third human rights activist to be killed in Karachi since 2013. Another influential activist as well as a human rights lawyer were also attacked and killed by extremist groups. Asad Iqbal Butt, from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, says that such groups have begun to target activists who campaign against social and religious injustice and intolerance.
Colleagues of Mr. Zaki released a statement in which they pledged to continue to stand up to militant groups.
For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera – Activist Khurram Zaki killed in Pakistan’s Karachi – 8 May 2016
BBC – Pakistani Activist Khurram Zaki Murdered in Karachi – 8 May 2016
The New York Times – Pakistani Rights Activist Is Shot and Killed in Karachi – 8 May 2016
Voice of America – Pakistan Rights Activist Killed in Karachi – 8 May 2016
Syria Justice and Accountability Centre: Aleppo’s Cessation of Hostilities Meltdown
Source: Aleppo Media Centre Facebook page
As violence and civilian deaths surge in the embattled city of Aleppo, it has become increasingly clear that the Cessation of Hostilities (CoH) agreement established on February of this year has completely broken down. Fighting has intensified in Aleppo with over 250 dead in the past two weeks, approximately 50 of whom were killed in an airstrikeon Aleppo’s al-Quds hospital. The fighting has left many of the city’s inhabitants in dire need of humanitarian supplies. On Thursday morning, the US and Russia announced a 48-hour ceasefire agreement for the city of Aleppo. However, there have already been reports of violations, including strikes by the Syrian government. As the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC) wrote in March, any ceasefire agreement that does not include independent monitoring based on conflict maps to which all parties agree, as well as a system of accountability for those who breach the agreement, will not be effective.
The primary problem with the February CoH centers on Jabhat al-Nusra. In Aleppo in particular, the Assad government has used al-Nusra as a scapegoat to justify airstrikes. Since Jabhat al-Nusra is not party to the CoH, attacks on the group would not be considered violations. Statements by US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Army Col. Steve Warren have supported the Syrian government’s position by implying that al-Nusra’s presence in Aleppo makes it difficult to determine whether violations have occurred. Civilian reports, however, show that the airstrikes have extended beyond the areas under Jabhat al-Nusra’s control and have disproportionately affected civilians.
The disconnect between statements by international leaders and the reality on the ground is causing extreme frustration among Syrians who had a glimmer of hope that the CoH would help return a modicum of normality to their day-to-day lives. Although Jabhat al-Nusra has a presence in Aleppo, the city is subject to a complex configuration of fighting forces, the majority of which are opposition fighters party to the CoH. Airstrikes have been targeting these groups, as well as the civilians within their control, with numerous casualties reported since April 22. These attacks on civilians have gone far beyond what could be justified as collateral damage under international humanitarian law. Moreover, the Syrian government isnever justified in targeting hospitals, especially given the lack of evidence that Jabhat al-Nusra has militarily used medical facilities, such as the Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) supported hospital that was targeted last week. As for the latest cessation of hostilities agreement for Aleppo,recent breaches reveal the same inherent weaknesses. Moreover, President Bashar al-Assad made statements today that call for “attaining a final victory” against all armed opposition, demonstrating that he is unwilling to make distinctions between al-Nusra and fighting forces party to the CoH and putting into serious question his commitment to the peace process.
SJAC’s March blog post emphasized the importance of conflict mapping and independent monitoring agreed to by all parties in order for any ceasefire agreement to be both effective and durable. The United States has already proposed the idea of creating a detailed map with Russia that would lay out “safe zones” where civilians and members of moderate opposition groups could find shelter from the persistent attacks by the Syrian military and its allies. A clear map of the conflict would clearly show which groups control what areas and would prevent the Assad government from making excuses for its attacks. Independent monitoring is also crucial, as acknowledged by Secretary Kerry in a recent press release which proposed the idea of US and Russian staff working 24/7 in Geneva in order to monitor the CoH. Accountability is also necessary and can be as simple as unified announcements by the UN Security Council to condemn perpetrators. As of now, violations are shrouded in mystery and are easily dismissed by each side as politicized fabrications. An independent monitoring mechanism would shine a light on breaches, and create some form of accountability.
Without the implementation of proper ceasefire monitoring and mapping agreed to by all sides, the CoH will continue to be doomed to failure. A political solution cannot be achieved while the targeting and killing of civilians continue unabated. For this reason, SJAC urges the international community to establish these measures under the umbrella of the CoH as soon as possible. A failure to do so will provide cover for flagrant violations of the agreement, resulting in a further escalation of hostilities and more devastation for the Syrian people.
For more information and to provide feedback, please contact SJAC at info@syriaaccountability.org.