Asia

The Right to Health Care Challenged In India

David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch; Asia

CHHATTISGARH, India – The right to health care is challenged as a misguided press began looking into claims by Kalluir, Senior Superintendent of Police, Dantewada, whom accused international humanitarian organization’s Medicines Sans Frontières (MSF), or doctors without borders and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) of “facilitating” treatment to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and promised to investigate both agencies.

The Maoist rebels are active across a large swathe of India
The Maoist rebels are active across a large swathe of India

The CPI (Maoist) Formed in 2004 is a guerilla organization committed to overthrowing the Union government through an armed revolution.

“Investigations have shown that these medicines have been prescribed by MSF doctors,” Kalluri said. “They even carry out surgeries for those (Maoists) wounded in encounters with the police”.

“They come in the name of helping the poor, but these foreign doctors treat the Maoists. If they want to work for the poor, surely they can work elsewhere,” said SRP Kalluri.

However, Director-General of Police Vishwa Ranjan said no such investigation was under way. “The ICRC is still in the process of signing an agreement with the government to operate in Chhattisgarh,” he said.

“We are not investigating either organization for supporting the Maoists,” he said, attributing Mr. Kalluri’s comments to confusion among the local press.

MSF’s India head Martin Sloot said the organization offers medical support to people who have limited access to healthcare, with support from the Chhattisgarh government.

“These allegations, as I understand them, are not true. MSF has worked in Chhattisgarh for quite some time. We are very transparent, and provide medical care to the entire population,” said Martin Sloot, who heads the MSF mission in India.

“We are not a political organization, we are medical organization. We believe in the principles of impartiality and neutrality, and that healthcare is a right,” said Mr. Sloot said, adding that MSF did not allow armed people into its health centers.

“I am surprised by the comments,” said Yahia Alibi, Deputy Regional Head of the ICRC. “We do not operate in Dantewada, but are running one primary health center in Kutru, Bijapur, with the full support of the local administration and the police.”

Both MSF and ICRC have won Nobel Peace Prize for their work in providing humanitarian assistance to people caught in situations of armed conflict.

The rebels are believed to be active in more than two-thirds of the country. They say they are fighting for the rights of the rural poor.

A government offensive against the rebels widely referred to as Operation Green Hunt – began last October.  It involves 50,000 troops and is taking place across five states – West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Chhattisgarh.
For more information, please see:

BBC – Red Cross and MSF accused of helping India Maoists – 21 January 2011

Times of India – Medecins Sans Frontieres, Red Cross treat Maoists: Dantewada – 20 January 2011

The Hindu – MSF and Red Cross aiding  Maoists: Dantewada police – 21 January 2011

Rights groups urge no repatriation of North Koreans to Hu

Obama is pressed to raise NK refugee issue with Hu (Photo Courtesy of White House/Pete Souza)

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

WASHINGTON, D.C., USA – Human Rights groups, including The North Korean Freedom Coalition (NKFC), are urging President Barack Obama to press China to stop repatriating North Korean refugees captured in China. President Hu Jintao of China met with President Obama on Wednesday and this has created a lot of hype amongst the media and public.

While most of discussion between two leaders is expected to revolve around setting a new course in economic cooperation and political reconciliation, human rights groups point to North Korean refugees over whom China has tremendous power and control.

“We urgently request that during your meetings . . . with President Hu Jintao… that you request China to end its current policy of repatriating North Korean refugees back to North Korea,” Suzanne Scholte, chairwoman of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, said in an open letter to Obama. “We believe that ending this policy of repatriation would have a very positive effect for China and North Korea.”

However, it is unclear, thus far, how much of concern has been expressed by President Obama on North Korean refugees. His primary agenda regarding North Korea is the North’s recent development of its nuclear weapons programs and its latest provocation against South Korea.

China has failed to join the international community in condemning North Korea on two series of attacks it carried against South Korea last year; sinking of the naval ship, Cheonan, in March, which took the lives of 46 marines, and shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in November, killing two civilians and two soldiers.

It is estimated that up to 400,000 North Korean refugees are hiding in China trying to find their way to another country, mostly South Korea. China, however, in violation of the 1951 U.N. Convention that requires countries to grant asylum to foreign refugees, and under a secret agreement with North Korea, treats defectors as economic immigrants rather than refugees, and repatriate them when caught in their soil.

Those repatriated to the North are subject to “a minimum of five years of labor correction” or “indefinite terms of imprisonment and forced labor, confiscation of property or death,” according to a U.S. State Department report released last year. According to Scholte, many female refugees are subject to becoming victims of human trafficking and sold as sexual slaves among chinese men.

“It is China’s repatriation policy that has created an environment in China that has led to human beings being bought and sold, as over 80 percent of North Korean females are trafficked . . . These women are our mothers, or sisters, and our daughters who are being bought and sold like animals just because they went to China to try to feed their starving children and families in North Korea,” said Scholte.


South Korea has taken in more the 20,000 North Koreans since the end of the Korean War (1950-53), while the United States have been accepting about 100 North Korean refugees under the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004.


For more information, please see:

Yonhap News – Obama urged to ask Hu to stop repatriating N. Korean refugees: rights group – 12 January 2011

The Korea Times – Obama pressed to raise NK refugee plight with Hu – 12 January 2011

The New York Times – U.S. Warning to China Sends Ripples to the Koreas – 20 January 2011

Indonesian Soldiers charged over Papua torture tried


The video uploaded on Youtube last October where Indonesian solders tortured Papuan civilians. (Photo courtesy of the Jakarta Times)

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia, Oceania

JAYAPURA, Papua – Three Indonesian soldiers who were accused of torturing two Papuan men were brought before a military court in Papua province on Thursday.

In October 2010, these soldiers featured in a 10-minute video in which they poke a burning stick to the genitals of unarmed bound Papuans and threatened to kill another with a knife. The video was uploaded onto Youtube by human rights activists and it immediately created an international furor.

The incident occurred earlier last year near Gurage village in Papua where Indonesian troops often violently clashes with poorly armed separatist rebels from the indigenous Melanesian majority.

The charge against the soldiers has been subject to doubts, however, as military prosecutors have charged the men with insubordination, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 months in prison.

“Before they were sent to their post, their commander instructed them not to commit any acts of physical or emotional violence against civilians. But they were disobedient,” said the lead prosecutor, Maj. Soemantri. 


On the question of whether the soldiers should be charged with the more serious offense of assault under the civilian Criminal Code, Mr. Soemantri said he and other prosecutors had been unable to obtain the necessary physical evidence and statements from the victims.

“We need physical evidence like medical examinations and witness testimonies, that is what we failed to get,” he said. 

“We only have the video to rely on as evidence.” 


Human rights activists say, however, the video is clear evidence of human rights abuse and that the three soldiers should face Indonesia’s Human Rights Tribunal. In addition, members of the Papuan Customary Council were able to meet with Kiwo, one of the victims in the video who had gone into hiding, and recorded his testimony. 



In the testimony, Kiwo said he had been tortured for more than 48 hours, was repeatedly beaten, suffocated and burned with cigarettes. He said his toes were crushed with pliers and that soldiers rubbed chili paste, detergent and salt into his open wounds. 


Despite these ample evidence of inhumane torture, defendants claim that they believed the victims were members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) because Kiwo was wearing a type of blue necklace commonly worn by OPM members.

Many are coming together to condemn this trial.

Haris Azhar, chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), is one of them. 

“This trial is biased, unreliable and offers no protection for the victims,” he said. 

Mr. Azhar added that the National Commission on Human Rights should declare the incident a gross human rights violation, take over the investigation and push for the military chief to move the prosecution to the civilian courts.


Another joining this condemnation is Rafendi Djamin, Indonesia’s representative to the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, who claims the government needed to hand out harsher punishments to stop such violations in the future. 



The Military Tribunal Law is not enough of a deterrent and should be revised, he said. Most of the articles in the law treat infringements by soldiers as disciplinary violations, he added. 



The closed-door trial is scheduled to resume on Monday. 


For more information, please see:

ABC News – Torture accused soldiers front Papua tribunal – 5 November 2010

The Jakarta Times – Military Court Tries Soldiers Accused of Papua Torture – 14 January 2011

Radio New Zealand – Three Indonsians charged over Papua torture – 14 January 2011

Kim orders shooting of North Korean refugees

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, Republic of Korea — North Korean border guards shot five refugees to death and wounded two others after chasing them across the frontier into China last month, according to a South Korean newspaper.

The incident took place near Hyesan, the North’s northeastern city, on December when the refugees crossed the frozen Yalu river which separates the border with China, Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, quoting a source in China.

It said North Korean border guards followed the refugees and opened fire on the Chinese side. After the shooting, the guards dragged the bodies and the wounded back across the border with the acquiescence of Chinese authorities.

According to Chosun Ilbo, such shooting by the North Korean guards after the refugees had already crossed the river has never occurred before.

It is alleged that Kim Jong-Un, son and heir apparent to leader Kim Jong-Il, has given orders to soldiers to shoot anyone who tries to cross the border without permission.

The South’s National Intelligence Service declined to comment on the report.

Open Radio for North Korea, a South Korea based radio station which broadcasts into the North, said Kim Jong-Un on January 3 called for a major crackdown on North Korean escapees currently dwelling in China.

The directive was in response to an official complaint from Chinese security authorities that the refugees are a burden on security, the radio quoted an informed source as saying.

Kim Jong-Un, the new leader of North who is believed to have also ordered an attack on Yeonpyeong Island of South On November 23, 2010, which killed two South Korean soldiers and two civilians, has denounced the refugees for undermining the communist state’s ideological foundations, it added.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans who fled hunger and poverty under the dictatorship are believed to be struggling and suffering in China as illegal immigrants, as a large number of women are sexually trafficked. If these refugees are found in China, they are repatriated to North Korea for probable harsh punishment, many of them forced into concentration camps where they could even face execution.

China, violating the UN treaty, treats North Korean refugees as economic migrants rather than refugees, a policy criticised by rights groups.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Report: N. Korea kills five refugees inside China – 11 January 2011

The Straits Times – N. Korea Kills Five Refugees Inside China – 11 January 2011

International Herald Tribune – Low Profile of an Heir Reinforces a Mystery – 7 January 2011

Two Tongan candidates question November election results

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga – After the historic November 2010 general elections in Tonga, which marked a transition away from the 165-year rule of the monarchy, two unsuccessful candidates are alleging fraud in the election results.

According to the Tongan Supreme Court, a candidate of the Vava’u 14 constituency, Siale Fifita alleges that the winner overspent the permitted amount on the campaign, carried out election propaganda beyond the cut-off date and used bribery.

According to Mr Tuita, supreme court registrar, says a businessman, Siosaia Moehau who was just four votes behind the winner of the Tongatapu 6 constituency is convinced he won the seat as he thinks there were a number of irregularities.

“Some of the grounds stated are: voting twice, which is false impersonation; another one was lack of police control; and the other grounds is voting after declaration of the ballots; and the last but not least is voting after 4pm, that was when the voting was supposed to have ceased.”

In November 2010, general elections under a new electoral law were held in Tonga, which determined the composition of the 2010 Tongan Legislative Assembly – a first popularly-elected parliament. For the first time in the nation’s history, a party formed by a pro-democracy movement emerged as the biggest winner in the election.

Four years prior to the election, anger over government’s forced political reforms led to riots in the Capital, Nuku’alofa. During the riots, gangs targeted businesses run by ethnic Chinese people. Hundreds were injured and eight people were killed as much of the town was burned down. Tonga suffers high unemployment and a quarter of its population live below the poverty line.

The November election drew 89% of the 42,000 registered voters to cast ballots, according to election officials. King George Tupou V called the election “the greatest and most historic day of our kingdom”.

Amid expectations and concerns for this new democratic nation, this election petitions came to light.

However, the Supervisor of Elections in Tonga, Pita Vuki, says it is common for one or two unsuccessful candidates to file petitions after an election as the Electoral Act permits.

“It’s quite normal for any candidates to file a petition if they feel there was something wrong in the conduct of elections or any behavior of any other candidates.”

For more information, please see:

Radio New Zealand – Tonga Supreme Court receives election petitions – 10 January 2011

BBC News – Strong showing for Tonga democrats in election – 26 November 2010

Radio New Zealand – Two failed Tongan candidates question election results – 10 January 2011