By: Greg Donaldson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia– At least 1600 people were arrested last Saturday after police officers rushed to break up a protest seeking electoral change. Police ended the protest by firing tear gas and water cannons. While injuries were low, the Daily Star reports that a 59-year-old taxi driver died during the rally as he attempted to flee from tear gas. The police, however reported that the man was a bystander whom died of a heart attack based on reports by the Jakarta Globe.

The protest was organized by a coalition of opposition groups known as Bersih 2.0. The government had already declared Bersih an illegal organization and anyone found with any Bersih-related materials could be arrested says CNN.

Prior to the protest, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim wrote on his blog:

“Our reason for gathering is pure and simple — to demand that the electoral roll be cleaned, that the postal voting system be reformed, that indelible ink be used, a minimum 21 day campaign period be instated, free and fair access to media for all be provided, public institutions be strengthened, and for corruption as well as dirty politics to be stopped.”

The Malaysian Bar Council said in a report Tuesday that its monitors witnessed the police using tear gas and water cannons “arbitrarily, indiscriminately and excessively” and “beating, hitting and kicking the rally participants.”

The protesters, it said, acted in a “peaceful and calm manner,” except for an incident in which “one or more” people threw plastic bottles at a television reporter reports the New York Times.

On Wednesday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak defended the actions of his government. “Public order is very important in Malaysia because if we allow for street demonstrations, there’s no end to it, there will be another group that wants to demonstrate.” Mr. Najib also explained that while the government had banned protests in the capital city, the protestors had the option to hold their event outside of the capital city but refused to do so.

Najib accused opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of planning the rally and manipulating rally organizers to gain support for his campaign to become the new prime minister says the Daily Star.

On Thursday, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia announced that it planned to examine police conduct during the protest. Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah, a member of the commission, said they decided to act after receiving complaints from the public, protest organizers, and rights groups. “We are also acting on media reports and our own observations during the rally,” said Abdullah in a New York Times report.

Saturday, US State Department Spokesman Mark Toner described concerns over the events last weekend. “Obviously, we stand for… the right for people to freely express their democratic aspirations and express their views freely.”

Toner stressed that the US would stand up for Malaysians’ “universal right” to assemble but stressed that it was the responsibility of protesters here to do so in a non-violent manner reports the Malaysian Insider.

For more information, please see:

Sydney Morning Herald —Condemn Malaysian crackdown, US urged – 18 July 2011

BBC — US concern at Malaysia crackdown on protests – 14 July 2011

Malaysian Insider — US voices concern over Bersih crackdown – 14 July 2011

New York Times — Malaysian Prime Minister Defends Muzzling of Protests – 14 July 2011

CNN — Malaysian authorities crack down on protesters – 12 July 2011

Daily Star — Malaysia defends protest crackdown – 11 July 2011

Jakarta Globe — Malaysian PM Defends His Regime’s Protest Crackdown – 10 July 2011

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.

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

By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch, Asia

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar – Myanmar is facing criticism for their use of prisoners as tools of war. The Myanmar military has forced inmates to act as porters and human shields on the battle field while those who attempt escape face possible torture and execution.

Porters are forced to carry the military’s equipment through areas believed to be heavily populated with landmines and are also forced into the direct line of fire to prevent military forces from being hit by bullets.

In a statement by Human Rights Watch, former porters have “described witnessing or enduring summary executions, torture and beatings, being used as human shields to trip land mines or shield soldiers from fire, and being denied medical attention and adequate food and shelter.”

One escaped porter illustrated the experience by stating that he and other porters “were carrying food up to the camp and one porter stepped on a mine and lost his leg. The soldiers left him, he was screaming but no one helped.”

Karen Human Rights Group, which is based in Myanmar, and Human Rights Watch conducted interviews of former porters who had fled from the battlefield. These interviews are used in a report, titled “Dead Men Walking”, about the use of convict slave labor. According to the interviews, the inmates are chosen at random from prisons across the country. While some of those chosen have been convicted of serious offenses, others have committed only minor crimes such as brawling.

The use of inmates for acts of war has been a systematic practice in the country and dates back to as early as 1992. In January approximately 1,200 male prisoners were forced to serve as porters during two military operations which were carried out with the support of the army, the police and prison authorities.

For decades the Myanmar military has fought against various ethnic armies who are seeking autonomy. In addition, the report calls for an investigation into the military and the ethnic rebel groups for not only forcing civilians to become porters, but also for recruiting child soldiers and using landmines in conflict.

The use of porters has been ignored by the new civilian led government in Myanmar despite the call of inquiry that has been supported by 16 countries including the United States and Britain.

Human Rights Watch has stated the use of convict slave labor constitutes a war crime and is demanding that the United Nations launch an investigation into the use of prisoners in Myanmar.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Rights group slams Myanmar use of convict porters – 13 July 2011

Asian Correspondent – ‘Dead Men Walking’: Burma’s convict army porters – 13 July 2011

MSNBC – Rights group: Myanmar uses ‘convict slave labor’ – 13 July 2011

Reuters – Myanmar army turning prisoners into war zone porters: groups – 13 July 2011

By Greg Donaldson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KATHMANDU, Nepal – For many Nepalese women, who were forced to become sex slaves in their youth, help is on the way. Last Saturday in a documentary entitled “Nepal’s Stolen Children” the CNN Freedom Project uncovered the lucrative sex trafficking industry that has plagued Nepalese women for years. Hosted by actress Demi Moore, the program featured the 2010 CNN Hero of the Year, Anuradha Koirala, and her organization Maiti Nepal, which has rescued over 12,000 stolen Nepalese children from sex trafficking since its founding in 1993.

Tony Maddox, executive vice president and managing director of CNN International said, “This is a multi-faceted story, but each side does not carry equal moral value. Modern day slavery is wrong. It needs to be stopped…CNN has committed our reporters around the world for the year to investigate an end to this global epidemic.”

Each year thousands of girls are lured into following prospective employers to a large city only to be forced into prostitution.

In the documentary, Moore speaks with several girls that were trafficked when they were as young as eleven years old. The girls told horror stories of being tortured if they refused to participate in sexual activities. Traffickers would do anything from force-feeding these young girls growth hormones to make their bodies become more women-like to electrocution.

Radika, one of the rescued girls, recounted her stay at a brothel. She explained that if she refused to have sex with a man she would be burned with cigarettes on her body or hot water would be poured on her. She went to the brothel with her baby son, but was separated from him. If her child cried, his tongue would be burned with a cigarette.

In 2004, the cost to buy a sex-trafficked Nepalese girl was approximately 2,400 (USD) reports the WNN. Arresting traffickers can be difficult as adequate police enforcement generally does not exist in rural Nepal.

In the CNN documentary, Nepal’s Prime Minister, Jhalanath Khanal, cites the extensive poverty of the country as being one of the reasons why women of Nepal are suffering so much. The country’s poor economic situation leads many young girls to look for a better life. The WNN reports that Nepalese girls are cheaper to buy, much more cooperative, and are easier to control.  However, Prime Minister Khanal vowed to tackle the issue as part of the new federal constitution that will “provide every kind of right to women.”

Anuradha Koirala believes that the problem begins with the offenders’ attitudes towards women. However, she feels that male attitudes can be changed by allowing men to play major roles in preventing sex trafficking reports the Jakarta Post. Anuradha also hopes to globalize the issue.

“You and me and everybody, we expect this issue to be globalized. One day we hope this will end and that we have a traffic-free society.”

Through Maiti Nepal, Anuradha has provided more than a shelter for these girls and young women, she has created a home. It is a place for them to heal, go to school, learn a skill, and for some who are infected with HIV/AIDS, it is the place where they can spend their days surrounded by love, reports CNN.

Moore has also co-founded the “Demi and Ashton Foundation” with the goal of eliminating child sex slavery and human trafficking.

For more information please see:

CNN — ‘Nepal’s Stolen Children’ airs Sunday @ 8pm (ET) — 6 July 2011

The Jakarta Post — Anuradha Koirala: Stopping sex trafficking – 4 July 2011

The Kathmandu Post — Tracing trafficking trails — 13 January 2011

CNN — Woman fighting sex slavery named CNN Hero of the Year – 22 November 2010

Women News Network — Lost Daughters — An ongoing tragedy in Nepal — 5 December 2008

By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch, Asia

NEW DELHI, India – Gay rights activists are outraged at statements made by India’s health minister in which Ghulum Nabi Azad described homosexuality as “unnatural” and a “disease” from the West and implied that homosexuality is responsible for the majority of India’s HIV rate.

Azad is quoted as stating “Unfortunately there is this disease in the world and in this country where men are having sex with other men, which is completely unnatural and shouldn’t happen, but it does.”

The remarks were made at a conference in which officials addressed the fact that HIV has affected approximately 2.5 million people living in India and 7.3 percent of homosexuals have been diagnosed with HIV.

The statements came as some parts of India have begun to increase their acceptance of homosexuals and homosexuality. In July 2009, homosexuality was decriminalized by New Delhi’s highest court which found that “consensual sex amongst adults is legal, which includes even gay sex and sex among the same sexes.”

Anjali Gopalan, founder and executive director of the Naz Foundation which fights the spread of HIV, has said that Azad “let a golden opportunity pass, for narrow sectarian gains, when he should have used the platform to address the concerns of the country as a while.”

Following the backlash resulting from the statements, Ghulum Nabi Azad has since clarified his remarks and stated that the statements were taken out of context.

For more information, please see:

CNBC – AP News in Brief at 5:58 am EDT – 5 July 2011

The Hindu – Azad Clarifies on ‘Gay-Sex-is-Unnatural’ Remark – 5 July 2011

The New York Times – India’s Health Minister Calls Homosexuality ‘Unnatural’ – 5 July 2011