UN Calls on Cambodian Government to Release Detainees

By: Nicole Hoerold
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA — In May 2016, the government of Cambodia detained five human rights defenders. The government alleges that these individuals criminally assisted a woman in making false claims while under investigation by the Cambodian Anti-Corruption Unit. On January 25, 2017, two human rights experts called on the Cambodian government to release the detainees, as the charges against them were ruled “arbitrary” by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Photo Courtesy of: UN Photo
The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Photo Courtesy of: UN Photo

Cambodia is a signatory to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, which explicitly prohibits the “use of criminal provisions as a pretext to suppress and prevent the legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression and to silence human rights defenders.” In May 2016, UN human rights experts sent a joint urgent appeal to the Cambodian government on the status of the five detainees. The request has yet to be addressed.

Experts are concerned about a lack of transparency in the Cambodian legislature as well as conflicts between Cambodia’s political parties. In September 2016, a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern on this topic, noting that there is a high degree of intimidation and opposition between the country’s political groups.

Despite an international call for action, the Cambodian government has yet to respond and continues to detain the five human rights activists.

For more information, please see:

UN News Centre – Cambodia: UN experts call for immediate release of five human rights defenders – 25 January, 2017

JURIST – UN rights experts call for immediate release of 5 human rights defenders in Cambodia – 25 January, 2017

Human Rights Watch – Cambodia: Drop Farcical Investigation of Human Rights Defenders – 7 February, 2017

UN – International Convention on Civil and Political Rights – 19 December, 1966

Cameroon Blocks Out Internet in Some Parts of the Country

By Samantha Netzband 

Impunity Watch, Africa Desk Reporter

YAOUNDE, Cameroon– Cameroon has blocked internet access in the North West and South West parts of the country.  These parts of the country have been home to anti government protests in the past few weeks.  Many feel that the blockages are unnecessary and counterproductive.

Demonstrators in Bamenda

Anti government protests in Bamenda. (Photo Courtesy of BBC Africa)

For many, the blockages are believed to target protesters, so they are not able to use social media. Some people with mobile cell phones have also received threatening text messages stating that if they post inaccurate information online they will be subject to excessive fines and even jail time.  Cell phone providers haven’t been helpful, replying to customer service complaints that there are other forms of communication available to those who have had the internet blocked.

Because the South West region of Cameroon is a major technology center in the region, some companies have been forced to relocate workers to other parts of the country in order to continue work.  While internet blockages have been common for the past 12 months, it is the blockages in the North West and South West, which are mainly English speaking, that have caused protests.  These protests have been happening since the beginning of the year and Cameroonians only become more frustrated by the lack of access.  Everyone from businesses to activists have been affected by this blackout.

For more information, please see:

BBC Africa – Why has Cameroon blocked the internet? – 8 February 2017 

Eyewitness News – Cameroon Torn By Protests Over Internet Blackout – 8 February 2017

Os News – Internet Shutdown Hits Businesses in Cameroon – 8 February 2017 

Quartz Africa – Cameroon has shut down the internet in its English-speaking regions – 23 January 2017

Women’s March Organizers Plan General Strike

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON DC, United States — The organizers of the Women’s March last month announced a plan to hold a general women’s strike on a date that is yet to be determined.  The plan for the strike has been announced across the official social media accounts for the Women’s March, declaring there will be a “General Strike: A Day Without a Woman.”  The idea of a general strike comes from labor-oriented political movements where people leave their place of employment to demand political action.

The will of the people will stand.

A post shared by Women's March (@womensmarch) on

(Photo Courtesy of Salon)

The general strike comes on the heels of the Women’s March which took place last month, in which over three million Americans across the nation protested their dissent for the new president.  The official website of the Women’s March thanked participants, however also noted that the “march forward does not end here.  Now is the time to get friends, family and community together and make history.”

Organizers of the Women’s March have voiced their praise for boycotts of companies that support President Trump, and reinforce their commitment to engage in “actions that affirmatively build community, strengthen relationships and support local, women- and minority-owned businesses” at a time when “foundational principles of freedom and equality are under threat.”

Many other organizations have called for strikes against the new presidency as well.  Strike4Democracy has a general strike planned for February 17, and according to its Facebook page, over 16,000 people will be participating.  The organizers of this strike are encouraging people to strike from work or school and spend the day doing community service.  The strike is also calling upon members of Congress to defend the Constitution.  Writer Francine Prose wrote an article in the Guardian, calling for a general strike following President Trump’s executive order temporarily banning travel from seven countries.

There are no other details about the women’s general strike aside from the caption on the Instagram picture announcing the strike, which reads “The will of the people will stand.”  The Instagram post is the only public announcement that has been made about the general strike so far.

 

For more information, please see:

CNN — ‘A Day Without  Woman’ — Women’s March Organizers Plan General Strike — 7 February 2017

The Huffington Post — Women’s March Organizers are Planning a ‘Day Without a Woman’ — 6 February 2017

Marie Claire — The Woman’s March Organizers are Planning a Women’s Strike — 6 February 2017

Salon — “A Day Without Women”: Women’s March Group Announces Plan to Hold a General Strike — 6 February 2017

Syria Deeply: U.S. Ponders Safe Zones Amid Block of Refugee Ban, Amnesty Says 13,000 Hanged in Saydnaya Prison, Battling ISIS in al-Bab

We review key developments in Syria, including President Assad’s claim that some refugees are terrorists, Russian warplanes accidentally killing Turkish troops and more than 100 women and children freed in a prisoner swap in Hama.

PUBLISHED ONFeb. 10, 2017 READ TIMEApprox. 2 minutes

Assad Says Refugees May Be Terrorists, Should Return to Syria

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad said some refugees who have fled his country are “definitely” terrorists, Yahoo News reported.

Nearly 5 million people have fled Syria in the past six years, after largely peaceful demonstrations were met with state violence in 2011. Since then, the country has spiraled into a complex proxy war, with half the pre-war population internally displaced amid the violence. Most of the country’s refugees have settled in Syria’s neighboring countries.

“For me, the priority is to bring those citizens to their country, not to help them immigrate,” Assad told Yahoo News. He added that he would not take sides on President Donald Trump’s attempted ban on refugees and immigrants from Syria. “It’s an American issue,” he said.

Russian Warplanes Accidentally Kill Turkish Soldiers in Syria

Russian aircraft accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers in Syria on Thursday, Reuters reported. Both countries were involved in an operation against the so-called Islamic State in Syria, a Turkish military statement said.

“During an operation by a Russia Federation warplane against Islamic State targets in the region of the Euphrates Shield operation in Syria, a bomb accidentally hit a building used by Turkish army units,” the Turkish military said in a statement.

Eleven other people were wounded in the incident, for which Russian president Vladimir Putin blamed poor coordination between the two countries. Putin also called his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Erdogan, to express his condolences.

A statement from the Kremlin on Thursday said Ankara and Moscow have agreed to increase military cooperation in Syria.

More Than 100 Women, Children, Released in Prisoner Swap

The Syrian government and rebel factions exchanged more than 100 prisoners and hostages on Tuesday, some of them children, Reuters reported.

Some 112 people, including 24 children, were swapped between rebel and government representatives in Hama, according to the United Kingdom-based monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Half of them were female prisoners released from government-held areas and then taken to opposition-held areas. In exchange, rebels freed female hostages and three unidentified men who were then taken to government-held areas in the coastal region.

Prisoner swaps in Syria are rare, but have been increasing recently, the SOHR said.

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert: Myanmar, Syria and Central African Republic

Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting and updating situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

Myanmar

Since the start of a counter-insurgency operation in Rakhine state on 9 October 2016, the Myanmar government has been perpetrating attacks against the Rohingya community that may amount to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. On 3 February the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a report based upon interviews with Rohingya asylum seekers, detailing widespread and systematic attacks, including extrajudicial and summary executions, disappearances and torture. Of the 101 women interviewed by OHCHR, 52 reported having personally been raped or subjected to other forms of sexual violence. Human Rights Watch reinforced this evidence on 6 February, reporting that government forces had committed coordinated and systematic rape and other sexual violence against Rohingya women and girls. Both reports indicate that women and girls were targeted because of their ethnicity and religion. On 6 February the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, stated that ongoing violations against civilians may be a “precursor of other egregious international crimes.”

UNHCR

Syria

On 7 February Amnesty International released a report detailing allegations of a calculated and systematic campaign of abuse and extrajudicial killings by the Syrian government in Saydnaya prison, outside Damascus, between 2011 and 2015. As many as 13,000 prisoners, mostly civilian opponents of the government, were secretly hanged, while thousands more have died due to torture and starvation. According to the report, every week groups of up to 50 prisoners were hanged following a 1-3 minute trial that took place at the Military Field Courts. According to interviews with former prison guards and administrators, bodies were then buried in mass graves on the outskirts of Damascus. The widespread mass executions are part of an ongoing and systematic campaign of crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Syrian government.

Central African Republic

After nearly four years of conflict and despite a UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSCA) with a robust protection of civilians mandate and more than 12,000 troops and police, civilians in the Central African Republic (CAR) continue to suffer as a result of fighting between shifting alliances of armed groups. In Ouaka prefecture the Popular Front for the Renaissance of CAR (FPRC), a predominately ethnic Goula armed group, has entered an alliance with the Patriotic Movement for CAR (MPC), in an attempt to expel the Union for Peace in the Central Africa (UPC), a predominately Fulani group, from Bambari. According to the UN Special Representatives for CAR and for Central Africa, the clashes have killed civilians and caused widespread displacement. MINUSCA has drawn a “red line” along the Bakala-Ippy axis, which prevents the FPRC/MPC from going south towards Bambari, and the UPC from going north towards Bria and Mbrés.

Meanwhile, in Ouham-Pendé, the rebel group Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation (3R) attacked the town of Bocaranga on 2 February. The group continues to clash with anti-balaka militias in the region, and recent fighting has displaced around 9,000 people.

According to the UN Secretary-General’s latest report on MINUSCA, since the end of September 2016, an estimated 287 civilians were killed “due to clashes between armed groups and a resurgence in criminality.”

UN Photos

Connect With Us