By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SHANGHAI, China – Two Chinese factories have been found to have violated local labor laws, such as working employees for too many consecutive hours and failing to register more than 300 workers between the ages of 16 and 18.  The factories supply goods to Microsoft and other global companies.

In response to these reports, Microsoft Corporation said it is investigating allegations of worker abuse at a factory, which primarily produces computer mice, cameras as well as many other devices for the technology giant. KYE Systems Corporation is also reacting to the situation for products the factories make for it.

The ordeal is a response to effort by the National Labor Committee, a human rights group, a New York-based nonprofit that monitors the treatment and local practices of foreign workers by U.S. companies.  According to Charles Kernaghan, director of the National Labor Committee, “The factory was really run like a minimum security prison.” The report issued by the National Labor Committee states that KYE recruits employees, many of whom are 16 and 17 years old, to work 15-hour shifts six to seven days a week, paying them 65 cents an hour, which then is reduced to 52 cents an hour, after deductions for food.

The National Labor Committee went on to discuss conditions and treatment in its report. According to the group’s findings, workers are housed in cramped quarters in factory dormitories and prohibited from talking, listening to music or using the bathroom during work hours. Employees were also forced to work an excessive amount of overtime in March, clocking about 280 hours, the report said. The report also indicated that copies their employment contracts were not given to the employees. However, in response to these statements, company officials said that based on interviews with workers, there were no restrictions against using the restroom during shifts, and that it is the company’s policy to give workers 10-minute breaks for every two hours worked.

In a press interview, KYE Systems Corporation spokesman, Lai Jin-hui, insisted that factories did nothing wrong regarding overtime and had followed regulations that limit the workweek to 60 hours. But Lai acknowledged that the factories failed to properly register workers and would now fix the problem.

For more information, please see:

Yahoo! Finance – China factories break labor rules – 19 April 2010

 The New York Times – Chinese Suppliers to Microsoft Cited for Labor Violations – 19 April 2010

The Wall Street Journal – Microsoft to Probe Conditions in China – 19 April 2010

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – North Koreans appear to be better informed than ever despite living in the most reclusive country in the world.  Although there is no data on the exact number of North Koreans listening to overseas radio broadcasts, evidence has shown that the number is quite high.

Voice of America (VOA) has been broadcasting to North Korea since 1942 and Radio Free Asia (RFA) began its services in 1997.  More than a dozen radio stations from overseas, including the United States, South Korea and Japan, currently broadcast to North Korea.  In addition, North Korean defectors have founded three radio stations, including the Free North Korea Radio. 

Although smuggling news out of North Korea is risky, these news media employ stringers and underground informants in North Korea who have access to cell phones or those who can send interviews through China.  Almost 1,000 North Koreans use cell phones connected to Chinese networks and send stories about the food shortage and famine to Kim Jong-il’s health via text messages, photos and audio files. 

Consequently, there is information flowing in and out of the hermit kingdom. 

Based on the data South Korean researchers have collected, over 20% of North Koreans regularly listen to banned broadcasts.  North Koreans will either jam their government radios or buy smuggled radios from China.  The research also showed that nearly all of the listeners then shared the news they heard on the radio with family and friends.  Defectors have said that one of the leading motivations to defect came from listening to foreign radio broadcasts.

Furthermore, U.S.’s human rights envoy for North Korea, Robert King, has promised to increase funding for North Korean broadcasting.  Currently, VOA and RFA broadcast only five hours a day, and the stations operated by defectors run on a tight budget.

These may be signs of future demise of North Korea’s monopoly over information and media control.  However, control of information flow may be even more tightly controlled as the current North Korean government prepares for a regime change from Kim Jong-il to his son.
For more information, please see:

Business Week – North Korea Open Radio Prompts Wonder About Riches Over Border – 31 March 2010

NYT – Nimble Agencies Sneak News Out of North Korea – 24 January 2010

Press Reference – North Korea

WSJ – North Korea’s Radio Waves of Resistance – 16 April 2010

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

CHONGQING, China – Wen Qiang, a 55-year old former Chinese police chief, was sentenced to death in a gang corruption case for taking about $2.4 million from Chongqing crime syndicates in return for his promise to provide legal protection. Within 24 hours of Wen’s sentencing, a 54-year old banker, Wang Yi, was also sentenced to death for taking bribes.

Wen’s story has been the biggest in a series of related gang prosecutions in the south-western city of Chongqing. Wang’s tale, though a bit less sensational, has caused a similar reaction now that his conviction and punishment have been handed down.

In Wen’s case, back in August 2009, investigators were looking for 469 suspects from 14 different gangs. Even then, when Wen was acting as the director of Chongqing’s judicial bureau and a former police chief in the city, he was under internal investigation for suspicion of protecting criminals. In late summer of 2009 when intense investigation was instigated, Liu Guanglei, a member of the standing committee of the city’s Party Committee and team leader of the operation, told the Chongqing Evening News that gangs were involved in “prostitution, gambling, drugs and guns”, and that their crimes included murder and kidnapping.

Wen was detained last August and accused of protecting gang operations masterminded by his sister-in-law, Xie Caiping, 46, known as the “godmother” of the Chongqing underworld. Xie was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment in November for running illegal casinos and bribing government officials.

 The death ruling by the Chongqing No 5 intermediate people’s court passed sentence on Wen. When testifying about the money and its origin, Wen told the court much of the money he had accepted was for “birthday and new year” gifts. In addition to being found guilty of taking bribes, Wen was also found guilty of raping a university student in 2007 and 2008, according to a news report by Chongqing News. Wen remained silent throughout the trial on Wednesday and kept a straight face when the death sentence was delivered. He can appeal the sentence, but it is not likely that the court will reverse.

However, Wen was not alone – the court found a ring of corrupt Chongqing officials. More than 3,000 people, including 14 high-ranking government and police officials, have been arrested. Chongqing’s Communist party boss, Bo Xilai, said last month the crackdown was not over, and 500 or 600 cases “still haven’t been broken.” Even Wen’s wife was sentenced. She received eight years in prison for taking bribes in exchange for protecting gang members, according to Chongqing News.

In a comment to China Daily, Pan Jinggui, a law professor at the Chongqing-based Southwest University of Political Science and Law, said, “The verdict has sounded an alarm to all police officials – cherish, don’t abuse, the powers given to you.” He went on to say that, “It also reflects the government’s determination to fight corruption and has restored the public’s confidence in the judiciary.”

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Former Chinese police chief sentenced to death in gangland case – 17 April 2010

The Times of India – 2 top officials get death over graft in China – 17 April 2010

China Daily – Chongqing hails death for biggest fish– 17 April 2010

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW YORK, United States – China’s leading independent women’s rights organization, which was affiliated with Beijing University, was notified last month that its affiliation with the University has been terminated.

Under Chinese law, nonprofit organizations must be affiliated and sponsored by a government unit. 

The organization, Women’s Legal Research and Services Center, received numerous domestic and international accolades over the year for its work with the Chinese government on legislation concerning women and for bringing public interest lawsuits highlighting women’s issues like domestic violence and discrimination. 

The Center’s founder and China’s leading women’s rights activist, Guo Jianmei, expressed her concerns regarding the lack of justification for closing the Center as well as the message the government is sending to the public by shutting down an organization that has dedicated years to fighting discrimination against women, promoting the rule of law, and in aiding vulnerable members of the society.

In a recently released statement, the Center said its closing “was only the last one in the long series of difficulties faced by the center in its 15-year existence.”  The statement also described the hardship the Center faced, such as barriers in raising charitable funds and the Chinese authorities’ hostility regarding public interest litigation.  For example, just last month, Chinese government implemented new laws that place addition hurdles on domestic NGO’s raising funds from international donors.

Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch said, “The Chinese government should recognize that civil society groups play an essential role in remedying social problems and easing social tensions . . . Instead, it is . . . making China’s most vulnerable populations pay the price.”

Some of Beijing University alumni have written a public letter to the university and its president protesting the decision to end its ties with the Center but to no avail, and the domestic media has not been allowed to report on this matter.

Richardson added, “The closure of the Women’s Center is a serious setback for women’s rights and civil society in China.  The government’s general hostility towards civil society is starting to impact mainstream organizations . . . .”

For more information, please see:

All-China Women’s Federation – Beijing University Women’s Legal Aid Center – 25 March 2009

Human Rights Watch – China: Chokehold on Civil Society Intensifies – 12 April 2010

NGOs in China – Peking University Women’s Legal Aid Center loses its affiliation – 14 April 2010

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Three soldiers and three foreigners were left dead as the result of further violence in Kandahar.  A suicide bomber drove a vehicle into the populated region of the city and detonated, creating a high-impact blast that scattered debris and blew out the windows of multiple buildings.  The home of the brother of Afghan president Hamid Karzai was also damaged in the attack, though it is unconfirmed whether or not he was the target of this particular attack.

An alleged target of the attack, however, was ascertained moments after the strike occurred.  A provincial leader divulged that the suicide-bomber intended to take out an establishment for a security company.  Though there do not seem to be any published reports on the success of the attack, this instance was the second such attack in the city of Kandahar occurring this afternoon.  The city centre suffered another explosion earlier on as a car-bomb exploded in the proximity of a hotel, wounding multiple people and destroying some shops and vehicles.

The spike in violence in Kandahar seems to have been spurred by the extensive Nato and US offense initiatives which have also been occurring in Afghanistan.  The Nato and US strikes have long been criticized for their moments of insufficient discrimination when identifying targets, resulting in unreasonable numbers of civilian deaths .  The nature of the insurgent attacks, however, is thought to be pre-emptive in nature, perhaps in anticipation of more strikes by the West.

The attacks in Kandahar also follow another strike upon German soldiers in the northern region of Afghanistan.   Opposition fighters in the province of Baghlan let fire off at four German soldiers near their military camp station.  The German Defence Ministry claims that their soldiers came under rocket-fire.

The continuance of these attacks, it seems, will only proliferate the Western presence in Kandahar, which has been identified as a pivotal territory for terrorist activity.  US-led forces have occupied the region since 2001, subsequent to the September 11 attack on US soil.  The blasts in Kandahar today signify only a couple instances in what has become a long strain of attacks which often claim the lives of many civilians.  The violence in Afghanistan, unfortunately, sees no near end if the current trends persist and escalate.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Many dead in Afghan in blasts – 16 April 2010 (Mecca Time)

BBC – Afghanistan  attacks kill Germans… – 15 April 2010

Sky – No Britons Killed in Kandahar Blast – 15 April 2010