By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China –  After helping families whose children died during the earthquake in Sichuan in May last year, Huang Qi, a veteran dissident, was sentenced to three years in prison. He was arrested after raising awareness about poorly built schools which collapsed and killed thousands of children during China‘s massive earthquake last year. Huang was taken by the police in Chengdu in June 2008 and has been held in custody ever since. 

The verdict was delivered at the close of a 10-minute hearing at Wuhou District People’s Court in the city of Chengdu. Very few details about the charge were released, although activist’s wife and mother were allowed to enter the court to hear the sentence, and were present when Huang was given the maximum jail term for this crime. 

There is great concern that Huang was imprisoned for illegally holding state secrets in what some believe is an attempt by the Chinese government to squelch such information. Amnesty International said Huang was a victim of China’s “vague” state secrets laws, and that he should be released immediately. “The Chinese government is penalizing someone who is trying to help the victims of the Sichuan earthquake,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific director.

 Photograph of Huang Qi. Image Courtesy of Times Online.  

The government linked its charge against Huang in connection to the human rights Web site he founded. He was detained in 2008 after he made several posts on his blog that criticized the government’s response to the massive earthquake that struck Sichuan province a month earlier and killed about 90,000 people.  

According to one news source, Huang had also spoken to foreign media outlets about parents’ accusations that their children had been crushed in badly built schools. The government has attempted to quash such complaints, fearing the contentious issue could undermine the admiration and goodwill it earned for the massive rescue effort it led, boosted by volunteers and international aid.

Zeng, Huang’s wife, said the Wuhou district court in the western city of Chengdu gave no details about the state secrets charge, an ill-defined accusation often used by Communist leaders to clamp down on dissent and imprison activists. As a result of the charge, authorities were able to bar Huang from seeing his lawyer, and forbid the photocopying of court documents, according to Amnesty International. 

This current bout with authorities is not the only time that Huang has been imprisoned for voicing his opinion. He previously served a five-year sentence for “inciting the subversion of state power” in connection with material published on his website.  

Huang is not the only activity to investigate the Sichuan schools issue and is also not the only one to be prosecuted for his actions – or words.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – China activist Huang Qi sentenced to three years  – November 23, 2009 

Yahoo! World News – China activist who spoke out on quake gets 3 years – November 23, 2009 

ABC News – China Activist Who Spoke out on Quake Gets 3 Years  – November 23, 2009 

The Guardian – China jails earthquake activist – November 23, 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW YORK, United States – Several nongovernmental organizations have submitted a letter to the prime minister of Japan asking the new Japanese government to take leadership in help improving human rights in North Korea.

Prime Minister of Japan, Yukio Hatoyama.  Courtesy of Reuters.

These organizations have also urged Japan to focus on North Korean refugees and the fate of Japanese who migrated to North Korea between 1959 and 1984.

Although Japan has previously raised awareness regarding North Korea’s human rights abuses, for example, the plight of Japanese abductees, the letter to the prime minister encouraged Japan to “play a stronger and more proactive role in promoting and protecting the human rights situations in North Korea.”

To do so, the organizations provided suggestions, such as raising human rights issues with North Korea in the future, pressuring China to protect North Korean refugees, accepting North Korea refugees who have no ties to Japan, and continuing to accept former migrants who return to Japan from North Korea.

Tokyo director of Human Rights Watch Kanae Doi said, “Abuses against North Korea take place right on Japan’s doorstep, but Japan has been largely silent on human rights issues except for abductions of Japanese citizens.” 

Doi added “The new Japanese government should lead the way in raising wider human rights issues with North Korea.”

Between 1950s and 1980s, more than 93,000 Japanese migrated to North Korea as a result of a campaign by pro-North Korean groups which labeled North Korea as “heaven on earth.” 

However, according to North Korean defectors, the North Korean government sent some of those migrants to labor camps where they died of starvation, lack of medical care and physical abuse.  Some migrants who escaped North Korea have resettled in Japan, but the Japanese government does not have a clear policy on their resettlement.

Just last month, Japan, along with the European Union, submitted a resolution to the UN General Assembly in efforts to bring more awareness to the human rights conditions in North Korea.

“Improving human rights conditions in a country such as North Korea is a daunting task, but Japan should not waste this opportunity to help North Koreans both in and outside the country,” said Doi.

The letter to the prime minster also included topics such as offering food aid to North Korea and including human rights in bilateral and multilateral talks with the North.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Japan: Press North Korea on Human Rights – 19 November 2009

Human Rights Watch – Joint letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on North Korea – 19 November 2009

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan – Japan-North Korea Relations – May 2004

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – Earlier this week, the UN adopted a resolution condemning North Korea for its “systematic, widespread, and grave violations” of human rights in a 96 to 19 vote and urged Pyongyang to “respect fully all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

This resolution, adopted on Thursday, was co-sponsored by 53 nations and was approved by a special committee of the UN General Assembly.  As a result of this resolution, the UN will be conducting a comprehensive review called Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the human rights conditions in North Korea next month.  All UN member states are subject to UPR.

Some of the human rights abuses mentioned in the resolution include cruel and degrading punishment such as public executions and extrajudicial detentions, which are all prevalent in North Korea.

Demonstrators protesting North Korean refugee repatriation.  Courtesy of AFP.

The resolution also expressed concern for fundamental freedoms of children, especially in terms of lack of access to basic economic, social and cultural rights, and the rights of North Korean refugees who seek asylum.

South Korea was a co-sponsor and voted for this resolution.  Its Foreign Ministry released a statement saying they voted in favor because human rights are “universal values that must be handled separately from other matters.”

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the UN resolution for being groundless.  A spokesman for the North’s Central News Agency said the resolution is “nothing but ‘a stereotype political plot’ that forges hostility against the North every year.” 

He added, “As we always did (in the past), we squarely reject the ‘resolution’ that the U.S. and its followers manipulated to harm our ideology and system under the pretext of protecting human rights.”

The UN also pointed out how North Korea continuously refuses to cooperate with UN special agents who monitor human rights in North Korea.

Although this resolution is not binding, it does lay the foundation for UN members to take action against North Korea for its human rights violations.
For more information, please see:

The Korea Times – UN Condemns Human Rights Abuses in North Korea – 20 November 2009

JoongAng Daily – Seoul backs UN vote condemning North – 21 November 2009

Yonhap News – U.N. urges N. Korea to respect all human rights – 20 November 2009

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HANOI, Vietnam– Vietnamese officials have denied allegations about the intentionally censoring of Facebook, the social networking site. The state owned internet service provider FTP announced that there are negotiations with foreign companies to solve existing faults in the network to ensure access to Facebook’s US servers.

Many of the one million users in Vietnam have been reporting problems for days in accessing the recently launched Vietnamese –language version of Facebook. In addition, employees at web-management firms have said that the government ordered them to block access to the social networking site. It remains unclear the nature of the malfunctions.

Facebook is a global social networking site where users can manage their personal profiles by adding videos, pictures, and other friends. Facebook is also renowned for the social groups, and forums of political nature where the users express their views in various issues.

Vietnamese authorities have requested internet users to restrict the online publishing of personal concerns, and political views. Many bloggers and online journalists have been arrested in the last few months.

Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights assures the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This right also includes the ability of individuals to express their personal opinions without interference, and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any means that the individuals wish.

This incident of internet censorship is not new to the country. Vietnam strictly regulates internet access through legal and technological means.  The government says that their major concern is the flow of obscene and sexually explicit material. However, according to Sr. Emily Nguyen, a resident of Vietnam, “most of the filtered sites contain politically or religiously sensitive materials that have been observed as undermining the Communist Party’s hold on power, while porn site can be accessed unrestrictedly.”

Earlier in the year, after Asia News published a story about persecution Catholic in the country, popular Catholic English-language sites were also blocked.

Other sites which have been blacklisted include websites for groups such as Human Rights Watch, Writers Without Borders, Amnesty International and other human rights groups.

For more information, please see:

Catholic News Agency- Vietnamese Government Expands Internet Censorship to Block Catholic Websites–  6 August 2009

Rocket News- Vietnam Denies Blocking Facebook – 20 November 2009

BBC News- Vietnam Government Denies Blocking Networking Site – 20 November 2009

United Nations- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China –  Unlicensed clinics and illegitimate doctors are treating China’s ill citizens too poor to seek professional care. Beijing city government admits that the Chinese capital has a problem with illegal medical centers – known as black clinics. 

In 2008, Beijing city government closed down more than 3,300  unregulated, and sometimes dangerous, clinics. The facilities are set up to serve the capital’s poorest people, most of whom are migrant workers who have traveled to the city in search of work. They offer a cheaper alternative to the city’s government-backed clinics and hospitals. Though less expensive, the clinics are often dirty and lack the trained medical personnel to offer professional medical advice. It is also uncertain where these clinics obtain their medical treatment and equipment.

Most of these ‘black clinics’ are found on the outskirts of the city, often near large construction sites that can employ hundreds of migrant workers. The clinics are popular among migrant worker communities because most migrant workers are left out of the health care system in cities in China. According to one construction worker, Hu, he stated, “We never visit big hospitals. It costs at least 300 ($44) to 500 yuan ($73) to go there.” This figure is significant when laborers like Hu earn a monthly income of about 1,000 yuan ($146). As a result, a recent report issued by the Chinese government shows that unlicensed clinics and illegitimate doctors still rampant on 26 streets and compounds in seven districts, in Beijing, despite government attempts to rid the city of these illegal practices.

The problem persists even though China is currently in the middle of reforming its health care system and is trying to provide everyone with basic health insurance. Officials hope to persuade poorer people that they could be endangering their health by visiting black clinics.  According to one health authority, “As illegal medical practices are mainly concentrated in the hidden integration of urban and rural districts and rural areas, they are difficult to combat.”

Foreigners and many non-locals of Beijing have access to most of the public and private hospitals. It follows that, a number of foreign hospitals have become popular among expats and wealthy locals. Only by investing 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) can foreign-funded hospitals and clinics meet the government standards, in an attempt to ensure quality, and as a result, these foreign funded hospitals are more likely to accept private health insurance from abroad rather than their Chinese publicly funded counterparts – leaving poorer local citizens to fend for themselves.  

For more information, please see:

Global Times – Beijing outlines ills and cures for popular but bogus clinics – November 20, 2009

BBC News – Beijing’s poor visit illegal clinics  – November 20, 2009

China Daily – Illegal clinics put patients at risk – October 20, 2009