David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch, Asia

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Andrew Holmes is one of five soldiers accused of killing Afghans for sport. They’re also accused of mutilating corpses and keeping grisly souvenirs as troops allegedly covered up the deaths of their victims. Holmes’ lawyer denies the charges and says he will fight them vigorously.

Pfc. Andrew Holmes of Boise, Idaho, faces military officials Monday who will determine if there is enough evidence to court martial him over the premeditated killing of three Afghan civilians.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai was briefed about the Army’s investigation into a “rogue” Stryker platoon in southern Afghanistan while the soldiers were deployed there earlier this year, an Army investigator testified yesterday.

Camero, testifying by phone Monday morning at an Article 32 hearing for Pfc. Andrew Holmes, said that the Army was careful to contain information about the investigation because it didn’t want to inflame the Afghan populace’s sentiment against U.S. soldiers.

“We didn’t want the public to know,” he said.

As one of five U.S. soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade accused of killing for sport and staging the deaths to look like legitimate war casualties, Holmes will face an Article 32 hearing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.  Spc. Jeremy Morlock was the first of the five to face an Article 32 hearing.

12 U.S. soldiers have been charged in what they called a conspiracy to murder Afghan civilians and cover it up; along with charges they mutilated corpses and kept grisly souvenirs.

Five of the soldiers face murder charges, while seven others are charged with participating in a cover-up.

According to the military documents, the five were also involved in throwing grenades at civilians.

His civilian lawyer, Dan Conway, said his client did not kill any civilian and was ordered by his supervisor, Gibbs, to keep a human finger.

“There is no proof that … Holmes caused or conspired to cause the death of any human being unlawfully,” Conway said.

The Army refuses to comment on any aspect of any of the cases and has sought to limit circulation of evidence, especially since videotaped interrogations of some of the soldiers and alleged written confessions by some soldiers were leaked.

Holmes’ attorney said he plans to put on a vigorous defense of his client, arguing that he killed no one.

“The only way these kinds of allegations can occur is the command is completely derelict in supervising, meaning there involved or there are ignoring that this kind of conduct may be occurring,” Conway said. “And I don’t know which one it is at this point.”

Holmes’ attorney, Dan Conway, pressed Camero, who was part of a team that went to the scene of a related May killing, to gather evidence about the investigation to highlight the Army’s lack of physical evidence from the January incident in which Holmes was involved.

Camero said the decision to visit crime scenes rested with higher-ranking officers who were aware that the location of the January incident was in hostile territory.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Soldier accused of Afghan sport killings faces hearing – 15 November 2010

The News Tribune – Stryker murder scandal details shared  with top level of Afghan Government – 15 November 2010

Boise Weekly – War: More  Testimony in the Holmes Case – 15 November 2010

Some voters at gunpoint (Photo courtesy of Radio Liberty/AFP)

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar – A day after the historic elections held for the first time in twenty years in Myanmar, thousands of new refugees fled into Northern Thailand on Monday. The fighting broke out between the Myanmar Army and ethnic rebels. Although the election was disguised as a movement towards democracy, it has been widely denounced by the international community as fraudulent, with citizens not having the freedom to vote correctly.

The International Organization for Migration and the UNHCR (High Commissioner for Refugees) says that “the fighting between the Myanmar military and an ethnic minority armed group, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), following the Myanmar elections on Sunday, resulted in an estimated 12,000 people fleeing into Thailand at the Mae Sot and Three Pagoda Pass border crossing points.”


UNHCR spokesman, Andrej Mahecic, said refugees started to cross the border early Monday on foot and on inner tubes across the Moei River. According to Mahecic, many of the refugees testified that they fled because they were afraid for their lives after their houses were attacked while other said they fled the sound of fighting.


”Many collected their children from school and fled to Thailand with only the clothes on their back, some even barefoot,” said Mahecic. “At first, only women and children were crossing, but later in the day more men arrived. Among the new arrivals are mothers with newborn babies as young as five days and 15 days.”  


A government election has not been held in Myanmar since 1990 when leader of the National League for Democracy Party (NDL), Daw Aung San Suu Kyi won with 60 percent of the popularity vote. However, it didn’t take too long until the military intervened and denied her power and continues to hold her in custody to this day.

Many unsung heroes demanded the return of their civil and political rights, which have been denied by the military-led government for more than 26 years. However, the government often resorted to violent repression to deal with its citizens’ demands for freedom, and it is estimated that more than 10,000 citizens have died in the process.

This led to thousands of refugees fleeing the military junta for survival and personal freedom. One of the countries that has housed these refugees is India. This past week, when US President Barack Obama paid a diplomatic visit to India, he mildly rebuked India for its diplomatic silence on Junta rule.

” When peaceful democratic movements are suppressed, as they have been in Burma (Myanmar), then the democracies of the world cannot remain silent,” President Obama said.

At least 7000 refugees have fled Myanmar in the past 22 years and are now residing in parts of India, where they still face problems. Living conditions are poor but what is worse for refugees is witnessing India’s reluctance to oppose the military Junta back home.

”My heart aches, but my mind accepts the truth,” says Htay, Burmese refugee now living in Janakpuri. So many seek refuge in other countries. Nyuant Mungpi who has settled down in India three years ago says he was disappointed to see the daily grind here.

”Most Burmese in India want the UNHCR to recognise our refugee status. We want to go to the US, Canada or Australia. There is very little recognition for us, unlike the Tibetans.” says Mungpi.

For more information, please see:

VoA News – Thousands of Burmese Flee Following Elections, Fighting – 9 November 2010

The Times of India – They want India to speak up – 12 November 2010

Geneva Lunch – Burma/Myanmar refugees flooding Thailand – 11 November 2010

Pacific.Scoop – Burma’s elections highlight cruel tale of repression by junta – 9 November 2010

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar’s first election in two decades is causing much controversy. On Sunday, people voted in about 40,000 polling stations opened across the country. However, the vote is widely expected to end in victory for the Union Solidary and Development Party (USDP), which is backed by the country’s military junta.

Some of the larger parties contesting in this election, such as the Democratic Party and National Democratic Force, have accused the government of unfairness, including illegal collection of advance ballots and voters being threatened by the government if they don’t back the ruling junta’s party.

Signs of voter intimidation were also reported by the Chin Human Rights Organization, which said that in a ward in Chin State, western part of country, one of the polling stations was at an army checkpoint.

”How can people feel free to vote for the party of their choice if soldiers are watching them?” said programme director Salai Za Uk Ling.

Another problem was allegedly related with advance voting. Local authorities are believed to have helped the USDP to force people to vote early and for the junta party.

”We have learned that the USDP, together with ward authorities, is trying to get advance votes by cheating, bribing or threatening people,” said a letter from the Democratic Party to the Union Election Commission in the capital Naypyidaw.

International communities were quick to criticize this election procedure, the one notably by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“You look at Burma holding flawed elections today that once again expose the abuses of the military junta,” she said.

“It’s heartbreaking because the people of Burma deserve so much better,” she told university students in Melbourne, Australia.

The military junta has banned foreign journalists and international monitors from scrutinizing the vote. Thirty-seven parties were on the ballot, but most of these parties not backed by the military junta suffered from severely restricted campaigns and high fees for candidacy. Most of these parties’ political statements were also censored.

The constitution of Myanmar reserves 25 per cent of the seats in parliament for military appointees, while opposition parties have suffered major barriers. As a result, hundreds of opposition politicians, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, are under house arrest or in prison. Aung San Suu Kyi, now 65, has been held under house arrest for most of the time since the past election in 1990.

According to the military junta, her latest term of detention is to end one week after the election. However, similar promises have been breached in the past and there is no way to know what restrictions might be imposed even if she is set free.

“These elections are going to be neither free, nor fair, or inclusive. There is nothing in these elections that could give us grounds for optimism,” British Ambassador to Burma Andrew Heyn said.

For more information, please see:

Bangkok Post – Junta faces threat claims – 6 November 2010

The New York Times – Myanmar Votes in Election Controlled by Military – 7 November 2010

CBC News – Burma holds 1st vote in 20 years – 6 November 2010

Bloomberg Business Week – Complaints mount on eve of Myanmar election – 6 November 2010

David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch; Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – The Roman Catholic priests of Sri Lanka have been vocal and resilient to the government forces since the country’s civil war that recently ended. As a result of their diligence as leaders of their land, several bishops have gone missing after reported conversations with government officials.

In the past four years at least two Roman Catholic priests have gone missing after reporting the government troops brutality against the last Tamil offensive, the church says.

The archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Ranjith, who is soon to become a cardinal, said that attempts were being made to change the demographic make-up of northern and eastern Sri Lanka, which currently have an ethnic Tamil majority.

“This could be a dangerous trend if it is not arrested; unless people are allowed to move in and move out in a proper way without any colonization as such, with or without government approval.”

Kingsley Swampillai, the bishop of Trincomalee and Batticaloa, said one of the priests disappeared after security forces conducted special questioning on him.

Recently Bishop Swampillai along with several of the diocese in the region testified before a commission looking into the governments function and handling of the country’s civil war.

The civil war, which ended just last year, when troops defeated a rebel group called the Tamil Tiger, who raised wide spread tensions over the fight for a separate state.

The conflict, according to the United Nations estimates that up to 100,000 people were killed. And similar numbers disappeared as infighting came to a halt.

The government’s response to the whereabouts of missing priests is that, the commission will promote reconciliation and they have rejected all international calls for an external investigation.

Bishop Swampillai, who heads the main diocese in eastern Sri Lanka, told the commission there were numerous missing and disappeared Sri Lankans whose fate had been unknown for many years now.

The government has not recorded any of the missing cases over recent years.

A timeline and snapshot of the missing bishops include- Rev Father Nihal Jim Brown, who vanished in Jaffna in 2006; and another, Father Joseph Francis, in his late 70s and had “got involved with” the Tamil Tiger militants while living in their heartland.

Bishop Swampillai said Father Francis was among those leaving the war zone in May 2009 and passing through the military checkpoint at Omanthai when people travelling with him saw him taken in for special questioning.

“And then he was no more – nobody saw him thereafter,” the bishop said.

Former wife of a Tamil Tiger official, testifying at the commission hearings in northern Sri Lanka six weeks ago mentioned that Father Francis had vanished.

Most bishops have remained highly critical of the security forces, and more so with the recent trend of events.

“The rights have been violated with impunity by the security forces and by unidentifiable persons and groups especially in the north and east. The situation has worsened by the state sponsorship of paramilitary groups during the height of the war, out of the former militants.”

For more information, please see:

BBC – Sri Lanka bishop accuses forces over missing priests – 4 November 2010

Journalist for Democracy in Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka bishop accuses forces over missing priests – 4 November 2010

CathNews Asia – Lankan bishop accuses sercurity forces – 4 November 2010

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – A month after Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Chinese jailed dissident, Lui Xiaobo, the Chinese government has increased its crackdown on human rights activists advocating for release of Mr. Xiaobo and improvement in human rights.

A series of report reveals that various methods are used by the government to subdue conscience voices of these activists. Some are confined to their homes, others were followed and harassed while some went completely missing.
After all, there is no sign of abating.

One prominent human rights lawyer, Chen Guangcheng, released in September after years in prison became subjected to house arrest since early October in his hometown in Shandong Province. He is not allowed to receive any visitors or get out of his home. Mr. Guangcheng has been a vocal critic of government policies, especially of forced abortions by local officials in an attempt to enforce the one-child policy.

Pu Zhiqiang, a civil rights lawyer, claims that he was detained for three days in a hotel after the Nobel announcement October 8 and remains under heavy surveillance. “Everywhere I go, a policeman will follow me for sure,” he said by phone. “Sometimes I ask them to drive my car for me.”

Li Heping, another human rights lawyer, said that after Liu was announced as Nobel Peace Prize winner, police officers brought comforters and slept at the door of his apartment and now follow him everywhere, including to meetings with clients. “Once my friend sent me a text message to invite me to dinner,” he said. “They knew, and came and asked me for the details.”

Similar things happened to another lawyer, Li Fangping, who claims that three policemen have been following him ever since there was announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Some are facing a more dire situation. Ding Zilin, who heads a group of relatives of victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown disappeared along with her husband, Jiang Peikun, on Oct. 14. Activist Feng Zhenghu in Shanghai was also missing after being taken away by police Monday.

Many fear that such surveillance, harassment and detainment will continue at least through the Nobel awards ceremony scheduled in Oslo on December 10.

Hong Kong-based Human Rights Watch researcher Nicholas Bequelin called the date of awards ceremony “the big looming deadline.”

“The government doesn’t want to make the situation worse by arresting anyone,” Bequelin said. “But they want to keep an eye on all the known activists and dissidents.”

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – China: House Arrest For Rights Lawyer – 4 November 2010

The Washington Post – China continues crackdown on activists – 28 October 2010

AP – China pressures European governments over Nobel – 3 November 2010