By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Despite Taiwan’s status as one of the world’s freest countries, the 2010 report by Freedom House, a Washington-based human rights watchdog, downgraded Taiwan’s score on civil liberties.

For example, Tu Sheng-hsiung, an owner of a hot pot restaurant in Taiwan, hung up a sign prohibiting Korean customers from eating at his restaurant.  This move was sparked by Tu’s anger and disapproval of a Korean athlete’s behavior at the recent East Asian Games held in Hong Kong where a Taiwanese taekwondo player was knocked unconscious due to South Korean player’s illegal action.

Although Tu argues that his move has gained wide support, Taiwanese lawmakers have been pushing for an anti-discrimination legislation which, if ratified, would make Tu’s act punishable.

Taiwan’s legislators are attempting to combat discrimination based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, mental or physical disabilities, and gender or sexual orientation.

Under this anti-discrimination bill drafted by the Chinese Nationalist Party, employers will be required to provide equal salary package for all employees and business owners will not be allowed to discriminate against customers.

The draft rules also forbid use of discriminatory words, such as “pigs” or “Taiwan dogs,” between Taiwanese and those from mainland China.

Although the bill’s intent is laudable, many have voiced concerns, especially because civic groups have been excluded in terms of enforcing the law if the bill is implemented.

Taiwan’s Labor Rights Association Director Wang Chuan-ping opined that enforcing this bill would be difficult.  She reasoned, “It would be hard to define what ‘discrimination’ is at work because employers can always come up with an excuse to avoid being charged after firing or refusing to hire someone based on ethnicity or sex.”

Wu Jia-zhen, director of a Taiwanese NGO, commented that several anti-discrimination clauses already exist in other laws, such as Taiwan’s Immigration Act and the Act for Gender Equality in Employment.

She pointed out that having the specific anti-discrimination clause in these laws have had little effect in combating inequality.  Wu blamed the attitudes of public servants for the ineffectiveness of anti-discriminatory laws adding that such laws can only be effective if people’s attitudes change.

Nevertheless, the drafters of the bill claim that the “new law will enhance…broader protection of equal rights.”

For more information, please see:

The China Post – Lawmakers push for law to combat discrimination – 4 January 2010

Taipei Times – Groups question discrimination bill – 23 January 2010

Taiwan News – Freedom House downgrades Taiwan’s civil liberties rating – 13 January 2010

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea– For the first time, South Korea’s government funded human rights watchdog, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK), released a report on the alleged human rights abuses in North Korea.

The report said that the number of North Korean political camps has declined, but it also detailed inhumane conditions like torture and executions of North Korean political prison camps where more than 200,000 people are estimated to be imprisoned.

NHRCK official said in the six political prisons in the North where people are held indefinitely, “Nearly every type of human rights violation has occurred in those political concentration camps including the secret execution of prisoners [without trial].”

North Korea incarcerates entire families for minor political wrongdoings by one particular member of the family, such as damaging Kim Jong-il’s photo or singing South Korean songs.  Defectors who try to escape to China or South Korea are also punished, and the punishments have grown harsher over the past three years.

Inmates are not given clothes or shoes, but are provided only shelter and food.  Conditions for female inmates are especially harsh as they are often called in by the authorities and sexually assaulted.

Importantly, NHRCK’s report reflects a change within the South Korean government.  In the previous two administrations, South Korea remained silent on the issues of North’s human rights abuses and avoided directly criticizing North Korea’s rights violations.

However, the recent assessment by NHRCK shows South Korea’s willingness to publically confront North Korea concerning its human rights abuses.

Nonetheless, this report comes amid new tensions where Pyongyang threatened Seoul with a “holy war” after reports came out regarding South’s contingency plan for resolving the current political, social and economic instability in the North.

NHRCK plans on translating the report into English and sending it to the UN Commission on Human Rights as well as other international organizations to bring awareness of the atrocities still happening in North Korea.

Some experts have criticized the NHRCK report saying that it may further deteriorate relations between the North and the South.  Seo Bo-hyuk, a professor in Seoul, voiced his concern saying, “A unilateral demand from South Korea could stifle the improvement of inter-Korean relations.”
For more information, please see:

AsiaNews – More than 200,000 political and religious prisoners in North Korea – 21 January 2010

Chosun Ilbo- Seoul Breaks Silence on N.Korea’s Human Rights Abuses – 22 January 2010

VOA – South Korean Human Rights Body Breaks Silence on Abuses in North – 20 January 2010

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – The Chinese government continued to ease a six-month-old blackout on communications in the northwest region of Xinjiang by restoring some text-messaging services, according to the state news media, however, cellular companies in Beijing and Shanghai have been told to suspend text services to cell phone users who are found to have sent messages with “illegal or unhealthy content.” The effort is an attempt to further what the Chinese government calls, “a campaign against pornography.”

Originally, restrictions on Internet access, international telephone service and text messaging were put in place after ethnic violence last July killed at least 197 people and injured more than 1,700 in the regional capital, Urumqi. The government says it severed communications to ease tensions it claims were inflamed by social networking sites and text messages.

The increased surveillance of text messages is the latest in a series of government initiatives to tighten control of the Internet and other forms of communication. Since November, the government has closed hundreds of Web sites in the name of weeding out pornographic and pirated material.

Xinjiang, with its combustive mix of Han and Uighur ethnic groups, has been under a heightened state of security of internet access since the rioting, which was the deadliest outbreak in China in decades. But, in recent weeks, the authorities have begun to restore limited Internet service. It has allowed the region’s 20 million residents to view pages from the Communist Party’s main newspaper, People’s Daily, which is the official Xinhua news service. The ban has also been eased to allow access to two popular Web portals.

In response to scrutinized text messaging monitoring, Kan Kaili, a professor of telecommunications at Beijing University, called the routine surveillance of cell phone messages a violation of privacy rights and the Chinese Constitution. According to Kalli, “They are doing wide-ranging checks, checking anything and everything, even if it is between a husband and wife,” he said. Kalli went on to say that, the government had established no clear legal definition of unhealthy content. He also said commercial authorities such as phone companies, even though government-owned, should not be involved in checking the contents of private messages.

As it stands presently, according to China Daily, China Mobile will suspend the text-messaging function for phone numbers whose users are suspected of transmitting unhealthy content while the police evaluate the users’ messages. If the authorities clear a user of any violation, they will issue a certificate allowing text-messaging services to be resumed, the newspaper said.

For More Information, please see:

The New York Times – Text Messages in China to Be Scanned for ‘Illegal Content’ – January 21, 2010

The Epoch Times – China’s All-Out War Against Internet Freedom – January 20, 2010

United Press International – Text message censorship in China – January 22, 2010

The New York Times – China Restores Text Messaging in Xinjiang – January 17, 2010

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – Numerous human rights groups and have been questioning and complaining against the trend of stringency in the Thai government’s superfluous enforcement of its lese majeste laws.  Lese majeste laws are those which punish citizens of a nation-state for speaking ill or somehow violating the dignity of the reigning sovereign of that particulate state. The recent excessiveness of indicting Thai nationals for speaking ill of King Bhumibol has been noted to exceed the limits prescribed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  In unreasonably enforcing its lese majeste, the Thai government has executed extensive monitoring practices which impinge upon the privacy of Thailand’s residence.  Being a party to the ICCR, Thailand violates the limits on punishing speech established by a collection of other nation-states.  Furthermore, the increase in indictments under the lese majeste creates conflicts with Thailand’s own constitution.Section 8 of Thailand’s constitution essentially affords the king inviolable status and grants him the greatest degree of reverence.  Any expressions, such as accusatory remarks or slander against King Bhumibol, can be punished by imprisonment for up to 15 months.  However, even more troublesome is the fact that nowhere in the legal codes of Thailand is there a definition or explanation of what sorts of statements constitute violations of the king.

Numerous individuals, from activists to news reporters, have been imprisoned.  The latest statistics from 2008 reveal that there are over 77 open cases of lese majeste cases.  The two latest alleged violators of Thailand’s greatly imposed  lese majeste law have  the possibility of serving between 10 and 16 years in prison.  A recent appeal in November 2009 reduced one man’s initial 12-year sentence to 2 years.

Much like the two new cases, many lese majeste violators are projected to come under arrest due to Thailand’s Compuer-Related Crimes Act.  Because of the lack of limitations delineated in Thailand’s bodies of law, there do not seem to be any legal restrictions concerning the extent to which Thailand law enforcement can censor and punish internet users who may speak badly of King Bhumibol.

Amnesty International has recently demonstrated its support for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s movement to establish a panel to carefully scrutinize the enforcement of lese majeste laws.