David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Child rights activists in Sri Lanka have criticized a plan by the prime minister ordain 2,600 boys as Buddhist monks by next May. Prime Minister Jayaratne says the move is designed to advance the ideology of Buddhism  and life the youth out of poverty.

 

Many Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka are usually ordained at a very young age. Not for nothing next May marks the 2,600th anniversary of Lord Buddha’s enlightenment.

Activists say are adamant over the number and age of the practice of ordaining monks at such a tender age. Reports have surfaced around child sexual abuse in the temples, thought these same accusations are vigorously denied by authorities.

Sri Lanka’s National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has arrested scores of Buddhist monks for alleged sex abuse of boys in their care in recent years.

Just one monk was convicted on sex abuse charges. There have been numerous allegations of abuse from parents and children.

Mr. Jayaratne  says all the young monks will be looked after by the government

Mr. Jayaratne told BBC News the young monks would be helped financially and funded to go to university. The government also plans to provide financial assistance to their families, he said.

Child rights experts claim this fashion of recruitment steals the youth from young boy, in a country hoping to motivate its population; there are more viable options opponent’s challenges.

“I can’t fully compare it with Tamil Tigers’ child soldier recruitment, but there are some similar aspects”, Professor Harendra de Silva Child rights activist said.

They say children as young as 10 have a universal right to be with parents, siblings and friends until they reach the age of 18.

Dr. Hiranthi Wijemanne, an activist who is nominated by Sri Lanka to a United Nation child rights panel, said the leading Buddhist monks should show an example by opposing such schemes.

“I think it is our duty to oppose ordaining boys as it is a clear violation of children’s rights,” she said. She articulates that children from wealthy families are rarely ordained at such a young age.

Leading pediatrician, Harendra de Silva, urged the Sri Lankan authorities disallow the Buddhist temples to repeat “what happened in the Catholic Church”, with clear reference to the child sex abuse scandal that led Pope Benedict to offer a formal apology in recent news.

“I strongly condemn this crime against our children,” he said, adding that the government should improve the country’s economy rather than “allowing the children to be abused”.

No public discussion regarding child abuse, particularly in Buddhist temples, will be publicized as this topic is taboo in Sri Lanka, as it is in many conservative societies in South Asia.

The BBC sought, Children’s Affair Minister Tissa Karalliyadda for the government’s interpretation of the wide spread hesitation and fear the boys could be abused, but she was unavailable for questions.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Sri Lankan activists oppose plan to train boys as monks – 15 October 2010

UPI World News –Group slams enforced monk recruitment – 15 October 2010

Lankajournal –Sri Lankan activists oppose plan to train boys as monks – 15 October 2010

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China — Two dozens of retired Chinese Communist Party members who once led the country under the leadership of Mao Zedong former Chairman, have challenged the government and called for freedom in speech and press.

The group, drawn from the military, state media, and academia, bluntly criticized the party’s Central Propaganda Department as an “invisible black hand” powerful enough to censor the prime minister Wen Jiabao’s call for greater political openness and an end to government control of media outlets.

The open letter by party elders including Li Rui, Mao’s secretary, was published on the Internet.

“What right does the Central Propaganda Department have to muzzle the speech of the premier?’’ stated the letter, referring to a branch of the party that focuses on ideology. “What right does it have to rob the people of our nation of their right to know what the premier said?’’

In late August, during a visit to the economically vibrant city of Shenzhen, Wen made remarks on the need for the Chinese government to adopt democratic election system. His speech, however, were never reported in most of the strictly controlled mainland press. Wen’s remarks to the U.N. General Assembly were also similarly vetted and removed in the mainland media when he made references to political reform.

The letter was released amid escalating tension following the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned Chinese democracy activist Liu Xiaobo.

The Chinese government continued to express its vilification as it cancelled another meeting with Norwegian officials and denouncing the award as an offense to the Chinese people and a cunning plan to try to change the country’s political system.

“Some politicians from other countries are trying to use this opportunity to attack China,” Ma Zhaoxu, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday. He added that the prize, announced Friday, “shows disrespect for China’s judicial system” because the recipient is a convicted criminal under the Chinese law.

Liu was given the Peace Prize for his courage and struggle to advocate for human rights and democracy, the Nobel committee said Oct. 8. The 54-year-old political dissident was ordered jailed last year for 11 years for organizing Charter 08, an open letter demanding democratic elections and freedom of assembly, which are guaranteed in China’s constitution.

Although initially signed electronically by thousands of intellectuals, students and former Communist Party officials, Charter 08 has since been blocked on the Internet and is hardly known to any Chinese.

In the meantime, Liu’s wife updated her Twitter account harshly criticizing the government for keeping her under house arrest and said she hopes to travel to Norway to accept the prize on behalf of her husband.

In response to her confinement, Richard Buangan, a United States Embassy spokesman, said in an e-mail, “her rights should be respected, and she should be allowed to move freely without harassment.”

“We urge China to uphold its international human rights obligations and to respect the fundamental freedoms and human rights of all Chinese citizens,” he added.

For more information, please see:

The Boston Globe – Chinese elders call for more freedom – 14 October 2010

The New York Times – Beijing Calls Nobel Insult To People Of China – 12 October 2010

The Washington Post – In China, silence greets talk of reform – 13 October 2010

Protestors demanding a release of Liu, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize recipient (Photo courtesy of BBC)

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – When a group of people – two dozen bloggers, rights lawyers and academics – gathered at a Beijing restaurant to celebrate the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, the police rushed in and arrested them.

Although 10 of the 20 people who had been picked up were released, three of them were given eight-day jail terms under the charge of “disturbing the peace” and seven were escorted out of Beijing, according to Zhang Zuhua, an activist who is in touch with the detainees.


Liu Xiaobo, the 54-year-old scholar and author, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his outstanding contribution to human rights, is currently serving an 11-year sentence on charges of “inciting subversion of state power” imposed after an allegedly unfair trial. 

Liu is widely recognized amongst activists as a prominent government critic who has repeatedly called for human rights protections, political accountability and democratization in China.

Ever since the Norwegian Committee announced the winner of the prize, the Chinese government reacted with unrestrained anger.

In a series of attempt to downplay the awarding of the prize, the chinese Government called in the Norwegian ambassador in Beijing for a dressing down, placed a number dissidents under house arrest and blocked nearly all Internet sites and news media from disseminating any information regarding the Nobel Peace Prize.

It was impossible for Chinese citizens or Web surfers to learn about the honor bestowed on their countryman. Plugging “Liu Xiaobo” or “Nobel Peace Prize” into a search engine resulted in blank screens and error messages.

Only the Global Times, an English-language newspaper controlled by the Chinese government, contained information on the prize, although in completely contrasting tone.

Liu, the newspaper’s unsigned editorial said, is “an incarcerated Chinese criminal.” Awarding him the prize was a “paranoid choice” that was “meant to irritate China.” The Nobel Peace Prize has been “degraded into a political tool that serves an anti-China purpose.

“It seems that instead of peace or unity in China, the Nobel committee would like to see the country split by an ideological rift, or better yet, collapse like the Soviet Union,” the editorial said.

Zhou Xiaozheng, director of the law of Sociology department at People’s University in Beijing, when asked about to which extent people are aware of either Liu or the Nobel Peace Prize, said, “[t]hey don’t know, and they don’t want to know, because it’s dangerous to know.”

“As soon as I hear a foreign journalist wants to know about the Nobel Peace Prize, I can sense the danger,” said Zhou.

In response to these hardline approaches by the Chinese government to silence the award, Catherine Baber, Deputy Asia-Pacific Director at Amnesty International, expressed concerns.

“This award can only make a real difference if it prompts more international pressure on China to release Liu, along with the numerous other prisoners of conscience languishing in Chinese jails for exercising their right to freedom of expression,” she said.

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – China, Angered by Peace Prize, Blocks Celebration – 10 October 2010

Amnesty International – LIU XIAOBO’S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WIN PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON CHINA RIGHTS VIOLATIONS – 8 October 2010

The Los Angeles Times – Chinese media stay resolutely silent on Nobel winner – 10 October 2010

By David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch, Asia

JAKARTA, Indonesia – On Wednesday, a Dutch judge turned down demands by a separatist group for the arrest of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia on charges of human rights abuse if he set foot in the Netherlands, a court spokeswoman said.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (L) postponed a visit planned this week to the Netherlands, citing a human rights trial in the host country that might threaten him with arrest [AFP]

Yudhoyono’s cancelled his trip to the Netherlands came after the Republic of South Moluccas (RMS) group requested The Hague District Court to order his arrest.  Indonesian authorities beat the RMS after it declared independence in 1950.

The Netherlands government voiced its regret at the decision and said it had reassured the president he would have diplomatic immunity.

Three Dutch citizens supporting Moluccan separatists filed the claims. The group holds President Yudhoyono responsible for the alleged mistreatment and torture of detained Moluccan separatist activists.

The Indonesian government has been suspected of abusing human rights in suppressing local separatists in the region. Indigenous Moluccan groups live in Maluku Province in the eastern part of Indonesia, and they have laid claim for self-governance, which is claimed to have been promised more than a half-century ago as Dutch rule came to an end.

Members of the separatist group are frequently subjected to torture, arbitrary arrest and extrajudicial killings by Indonesian security forces, human rights organizations say.  Ninety political prisoners have been sentenced or are awaiting trials for separatism in the region, with some serving sentences as long as 20 years, said Andreas Harsono, Indonesia consultant for Human Rights Watch.

Indonesia frequently hands down lengthy jail terms, with a maximum of life in prison, for displaying banned “separatist symbols.” Indonesia’s Special Detachment 88 antiterrorism squad has recently been accused of rights abuses, including torture of separatists in Maluku.

Citing international legal custom, the foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, of the Netherlands, said his government had assured Indonesia that the president’s immunity could not be challenged by a claim filed in a district court.

“For Indonesia, for me, if this lawsuit is held while I’m visiting, that concerns our self-respect as a nation; it concerns our honor as a nation.” said President Yudhoyono.

The visit would have been the first in 40 years for an Indonesian president to the Netherlands, Indonesia’s former colonial ruler. Given the complex history of the two countries, even recent relations have often been tense.

Historically, the RMS has had a strong base in the Netherlands, many Moluccans emigrated there when Indonesia gained independence, some having served as soldiers in the Dutch army. The Dutch government initially promised their exile would be temporary, and they were settled into temporary refugee camps.

Mahfudz Siddiq, of the Indonesia’s parliament, told Al Jazeera that the RMS represents a serious threat to Indonesia’ territorial integrity.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera English – No arrest warrent against Yudhoyono – 6 Oct 2010

New York Times – Dutch Court Rejects Demand for Indonesia President’s Arrest – 6 Oct 2010

BBC – Dutch court dismisses Indonesian president arrest call – 6 Oct 2010

By David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

RANGOON, Union of Myanmar – The anticipated release of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, scheduled for November 13, has placed the Burmese government under International pressure.  Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won in a landslide election success in Myanmar in 1990, but the military junta overruled the results.  

Suu Kyi, has become the icon of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement and remains the military government’s most well-known opposition.  Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. Critics say the coming elections aim to create a disguise of democracy. The regime recently passed a law that made her ineligible to stand in the November 7 election because of her court conviction, due to a bizarre incident in which an American swam to her lakeside home.

The November poll is part of the junta’s long-announced “roadmap to democracy”, but critics have dismissed it as a sham designed to keep the military in power.

The country needs to show the world that its November elections are credible by releasing Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said this week.

“The regime has repeatedly claimed it intended to release her on various dates over the years and has then failed to follow through on its commitment to release her.  So, ultimately, I don’t tend to follow what they say, but rather what they do,” said attorney Jared Genser, who is based in Washington.

Mr. Ban said after Monday’s meeting, that the ministers had reiterated the need for the election process to be “more inclusive, participatory and transparent”.

Nyan Win, the foreign minister, rejected international condemnation on Tuesday, insisting that the junta is committed to a “free and fair” vote.

But, uncertainty continues to mount over whether the military regime will actually release the 65-year-old human rights and democratic activist, known reverently among Myanmar’s people as “The Lady”, will remain until the moment she appears in public.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) was forcibly disbanded in May, under the new and prohibitive election laws.

Government hurdles to opposition candidates include a fee of $500 per candidate, the equivalent of several months’ pay, for the majority of the Burmese people.

The National Democratic Force (NDF), a breakaway opposition party, is among those planning to contest the vote, a decision that put it at odds with Suu Kyi.

A Myanmar analyst based in Thailand said any release would come with conditions and that Suu Kyi “won’t be free to go out”.  “It’s a military dictatorship. No matter what the legal background of the issue, if they don’t want to release her, she won’t be released,” Aung Naing Oo said.

Along with promises to release Suu Kyi, the government, this week, moved to quash what it views as attempts to undermine the vote.

For more information, please see:

CNN World – Lawyers skeptical about Myanmar releasing Suu Kyi – 1 October 2010

Al Jazerra English – Suu Kyi to be ‘freed’ after polls – 1 October 2010

BBC – UN chief call for ‘inclusive’ Burma election – 27 September 2010