By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – After months of what General Fonseka has claimed to be unlawful detention, the former key organizer of Sri Lankan armed forces now demands freedom from captivity.  General Fonseka’s unsuccessful run against Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka’s presidential elections cost him his liberty, as Rajapaska, the remaining president, accused Fonseka of running with militant, anti-government designs.  High tensions between Rajapaksa and Fonseka intensified when, following the end of the quarter-century civil war against the Tamil Tigers, Fonseka acted on political aspirations.  Fonseka’s policies contravened Rajapaksa’s ethically questionable regime, further alarming the former president and resulting in his efforts to undermine Fonseka’s potential to ascend to office.

Among other allegations, Rajapaksa charged General Fonseka with interacting and supporting anti-government organizations.  Rajapaksa also claimed that General Fonseka illegally procured arms to advance his purposes.  Under the notion that General Fonseka was planning a forceful rule of the state, Rajapaksa ordered law enforcement to arrest and retrieve General Fonseka from his campaign offices and detain him.  A pending trial will determine the validity of these suspect charges.  The court marshal for Fonseka’s supposed effort to run for office while still serving under the Sri Lankan military was recently adjourned for two weeks for parliament’s inaugural session.

In his first public statement since his detainment on February 8th, General Fonseka expressed his hopes that the parliament would support the rights and liberties of the Sri Lankan people and unite in the interest of an honest nation.  The Sri Lankan government has long been accused of myriad human rights violations and morally tenuous policies and practices.  Fonseka’s remarks suggest his discontent with the state’s operations, despite his significant involvement in the military’s victory over the Tamil Tigers.

Although Fonseka’s attempt to rise to the presidency failed, his Democratic National Alliance party was able to occupy as total of seven seats in parliament.  Afforded the opportunity to speak in the house, Fonseka described his detainment as “illegal detention” and an example of the multiple “injustices” perpetrated by the Sri Lankan government.

The ultimate fate of the general remains to be decided, and it seems uncertain how his minimal influence in parliament will effect the pending decision of his fate.  However, Fonseka’s captivity appears to be an extension of Sri Lanka’s history of rights violations against its own people

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Sri Lanka’s Fonseka demands freedom -22 April 2010

BBC – Detained opposition leader in Sri Lankan parliament – 22 April 2010

Los Angeles Times – Sri Lanka defends arrest of candidate Sarath Fonseka – 10 Februar 2010

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – The continual violence between insurgency groups and US and Nato forces in Kandahar has recently claimed the lives of three youths, aged between eleven and fifteen.  The children were playing near a donkey cart in a residential locality, where their uncle, who had significant involvement in the election  of President Hamid Karzai, serves as a local chief.  The children jumped on the donkey cart and triggered a concealed explosive device.  The blast also injured two police officers and two civilians.  Screams were reported to  be heard from inside a nearby residential compound, and the scene after the blast has been described as “carnage”.

Explosions were apparently to a donkey fitted with a remote detonator.  The weight of the children upon the cart likely activated the detonator, resulting in the  explosion.  A Taliban leader claimed responsibility for the attack and also asserted that the attack actually took the lives of eleven people.  It does not seem to be reported, however, whether or not this count has been confirmed.  Furthermore, the Taliban agent divulging the alternate number did not identity the other supposed victims as either civilian or combatant, making the additional entailed human rights issues based on his information difficult to determine.

Previous reports expressed that only one boy had been killed while the two civilians and pair of policemen had been injured.  Further confusing the account of the blast, the Taliban fighter claiming responsibility for the attack asserted that the attack was intended to effect “foreigners”, and that eleven foreigners were successfully killed.  The purpose of the attack, however, was discovered to be a response to a US military strike that has been planned to remove Taliban presence from the Kandahar region.

The instances of attacks outside Kandahar carry severe implications for both  the effort to oust the Taliban and the right of civilians to live in peace.  Violence occurring in residential areas suggests that the perpetrators of such strikes have accumulated the resources and disposition to strike areas not directly involved in the conflict.  This has the effect of terrorizing non-combatants and leaving no areas immune to such attacks.  Such reckless regard for human life also signifies the difficulty of attempting to undermine a group that kills merely to demonstrate their presence.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Children killed in Afghan blast – 19 April 2010

CNN – Donkey cart at police post, killing 3 children – 19 April 2010

Yahoo! News – Three children killed in Afghan blast – 19 April 2010

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand- On Tuesday, protesters dug their heels deeper, fortifying their encampment in Bangkok’s hotel-and-shopping district and threatened to “wage a big war” to bring down the government.  The Thai army has stated its intentions to use live ammunition against “red-shirt” anti-government protesters in certain circumstances.

A spokesman for the army said that soldiers were ready to use their weapons “decisively”.  The army warned that is was ready to use force if provoked.  Soldiers in combat gear guarded nearby sections of the capital, are prepared to use tear gas and rubber bullets, in addition to live ammunition in self defense, if fighting were to occur.  The Thai army alleges that protesters were arming themselves with crude weapons such as small bombs, and sharpened bamboo poles.  Spokesman Col Sansern KaeKamnerd told reporters “We can no longer use the soft to hard steps…We have to keep a distance between troops and demonstrators.  If they try to break the line, we will start using tear gas, and if they do break the ling, we need to use weapons to deal with them decisively.”

The “Red Shirt” protesters, mostly comprised of poor, rural demonstrators,  have demanded that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva call early elections.  They have occupied the tiny Rajprasong district for more than a month and now are camping in nearby main roads covering several city blocks.  On Monday, security forces moved to nearby Silom Road to prevent Red Shirt incursions in the the area’s central business district.

This standoff in Bangkok has cost city merchants tens of millions of dollars. Key protest leader  Nattawaut Saikua stated ” We will fortify our rally campground to ward off any invasion before we go out to wage a big war.”  He also stated that once troops move out of Silom Road, the Red Shirts would stage a march down the road.

Saikua indicated that the protesters were open to negotiations to end 40 days of confrontations in the city, saying  “Our group is always open to outsider suggestions.  Whatever group wants to propose a solution to the crisis, we’re happy to hear these solutions.”

However there has been no sign of compromise on the horizon, although Abhisit said he would not set a date for protesters to be forced out of their encampment.

For more information, please see:

BBC News- Thai Army ‘Ready To Use Live Fire Against Red-Shirts’– 20 April 2010

WDAM.Com- Thai Protesters Fortify Camps in Heart of Bangkok– 20 April 2010

Inthenews.co.uk- Thai Army Ready To Use Weapons “Decisively’ Against Protestors– 20 April 2010

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