By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KATHMANDU, Nepal – Thousands of Maoist activists gathered outside the capital in Nepal at the main government headquarters, where police claim protesters had tried to enter a prohibited area. According to a local news source, the rioters were calling for the resignation of the president.

 Protesters advancing as police try and contain the riot in Katmandu. Photograph courtesy of The New York Times.

The police fired tear gas at a crowd of protesters who were blocking access to administrative offices in the capital. A Nepalese reporter from Republica noted that there were some minor injuries to police officers and picketers. One police officer stated, “We used force after the protesters tried to breach our security cordon,” said deputy superintendent of police Kanchha Bhandari. He also stated that 14 rounds of tear gas were fired.

Before violence erupted, demonstrators began gathering in Katmandu before dawn. Many of them arrived by bus from outlying towns and villages. As the crowd mounted, thousands of heavily armed National Police officers were mobilized.

The protesters were led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the former guerrilla fighter better known as Prachanda, who had been the leader of the 10-year Maoist insurgency that overthrew the Nepalese monarchy in 2006. Earlier in the week, Prachanda warned the government that he and his supporters could be forced to “take up arms” if the government used the police and military to block demonstrations, according to a local news agency.

Most civil servants and politicians were able to reach their offices in the Singha Durbar, although The Himalayan Times reported that local schools were closed for the day.

Prachanda and other Maoist leaders assert that the general defied a peace accord, which was backed by the United Nations, that would have integrated about 20,000 former guerilla soldiers (a large percentage of which are unemployed) into the Nepalese military. Protests such as this one are not unique occurrences.  Prachanda and his supporters have held several mass riots, demanding the resignation of the government and the removal of the president.

For more information, please see:

NY Times – Protesters Clash With Police in Nepal – November 12, 2009 

Yahoo! World News – Nepal riot police clash with protesters: witnesses – November 13, 2009 

Thaindian – Maoist protesters, police clash outside Nepal presidential palace – November 12, 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Rights activists and petitioners in China are being abused in a network of illegal “black jails” in major Chinese cities.

Human Rights Watch said, “Since 2003, large numbers of Chinese citizens have been held incommunicado for days or months in secret, unlawful detention facilities known as ‘black jails’ by state agents who violate detainees’ rights with impunity.”

Government agents and security forces regularly abduct people off the streets of Chinese cities and imprison them after stripping them of their possessions.  The black jails are operated in state-owned hotels, nursing homes and psychiatric hospitals.

Those who are usually jailed in the black jails are Chinese from rural areas who come to Beijing from rural areas of China looking for redress of abuses ranging from illegal land confiscation to police torture.

 

Detainees in China’s black jails.  Courtesy of Reuters.

The detainees are held without legal justification and face physical torture, theft, extortion and intimidation and are deprived of food, sleep and medical care.

The “black jails” also function as holding centers where petitioners, rights activists and members of illegal religious groups are held before being transferred to other facilities.

One detainee from Jiangsu province said, “[The abductors] are inhuman…two people dragged me by the hair…my two hands were tied and I couldn’t move…two women…beat my head [and] used their feet to stomp my body.”

Another detainee said, “They never told me the reason why they detained me…and didn’t tell me how long they were going to detain me for.” 

In addition, those in black jails are psychologically abused, including receiving threats of sexual violence.  A former detainee said that the guards told her that if she ever tried to escape, she would be taken to a male prison where inmates would take turns raping her.

China’s Foreign Ministry has denied the existence of black cells in China.  However, Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch said, “The existence of black jails in the heart of Beijing makes a mockery of the Chinese government’s rhetoric on improving human rights and respecting the rule of law.”

For more information, please see:

Earth Times – Rights group exposes China’s ‘black jails’ – 12 November 2009

Human Rights Watch – China: Secret “Black Jails” Hide Severe Rights Abuses – 11 November 2009

Mail Online – China accused of human rights abuses in secret ‘black jails’ – 12 November 2009

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia  

CHARSADDA, Pakistan- At least 24 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a car bombing in the town of Charsadda, police say.  The blast occurred as shoppers walked through the main market of the town, which lies north-east of Peshawar.  

More than 300 people have been killed in a number of attacks as Pakistani troops launched an assault against the Taliban in South Waziristan.

90 pounds of explosives were placed in a car which then exploded outside the busy market intersection.  So far no one has claimed responsibility, but authorities have blamed similar attacks in recent weeks on the Taliban.

Eyewitness said the vehicle blew up on a road lined with fruit and juice shops, leaving the ground littered with slippers, body parts, and broken push carts.  One witness told reporters “It was a terrible scene. There were injured and wounded everywhere… I joined the relief and rescue operation and myself removed about a dozen casualties.”  Early evidence points to a suicide attack, because body parts and sneakers of the suspected bomber were recovered from the site.

The attack is the third in as many days in the North West Province.  On Monday, a suicide bomber in a rickshaw killed at least three people and wounded five others near a police checkpoint in Peshawar.  On Sunday, at least 12 were killed in a suicide bomb attack near the city in the village of Mattani, including the mayor who had opposed the Taliban. Less than two weeks ago, a car bomb killed 112 people in a Peshawar market, the deadliest attack in more than two years in Pakistan.

Syed Shoaib Hasan of the BBC says ordinary citizens are becoming targets in bomb attacks at an increasing rate.  As the Pakistani army presses an offensive against Taliban militants in the border area with Afghanistan, suicide bombers have stepped attacks on civilians and police officers in northwest Pakistan in an attempt to shake the government. 

The government has pledged to press ahead with the offensive, stating that the recent atrocities against the citizens was evidence of the desperation of the militants. “They are not able to target freely, and that’s why they are targeting innocent people,” said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for North West Frontier.  “But we and the people of Pakistan are determined to continue this jihad against terrorists undeterred.”

For more information, please see;

BBC News- Deadly Blast Hits Pakistani Town – 10 November 2009

New York Times- Car Bomb Adds to Toll in Northwest Pakistan– 10 November 2009

MSNBC- Police: Bomb Kills 24 at Market in Pakistan– 10 November 2009

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia 
 
 Azerbaijan law enforcement arrested two bloggers who posted an internet video depicting the nation’s president as a donkey delivering a press conference.  Police allegedly apprehended the two individuals for skirmishing at a restaurant.  The bloggers, however, claim that the hooliganism charge was a pretense for arresting them for their oppositional political statement.  

Emin Abdullayev and Adnan Hazhidzade were sentenced on Wednesday (Nov. 11) to two and two-and-a-half years in prison respectively.  The two have been in custody since the incident actually occurred in July.  The bloggers’ sentencing incited the criticism of numerous civil rights groups and U.S. officials, who claim that court’s decision signifies significant regression in the path towards democracy-based structure reform.  

The U.S. State Department also expressed concern and disfavor towards the two young men’s sentencing.  The Department’s spokesperson, Ian Kelly, blatantly berated apparent denial of the bloggers’ rights to a fair hearing, relating that the Azerbaijan courts used questionable investigations and secretive hearings to fabricate the crimes against the bloggers.  The U.S. State Department further criticized the disproportionately harsh legal penalties the two bloggers faced, particularly considering a supposed failure to properly detain and charge the two bloggers.  Ian Kelly also expressed his concern for the speech rights of Azerbaijan’s citizens. 

By disallowing its citizens the right to demonstrate disagreement with the current governmental structure, Azerbaijan denies a fundamental means of expression conducive to sociopolitical reform.  Opposition to such speech demonstrates a state’s unwillingness to accept shifts in the dynamic between citizens and the state, which promotes stagnation in political progress.  

The defense attorneys for Abdullayev and Hazhidzade assert that the State merely wants to condemn the two youths for their involvement in political activism and dissent groups.  Abdullayev himself admitted to experiencing a feeling of profound honor in enduring state sanctions for his beliefs.  Despite this pride in accepting punishment, though, the bloggers’ lawyers announced that they will immediately appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.  

Activist groups voiced concerns that the arrest of the two bloggers represents the Azerbaijan government’s minor agenda to eliminate political protest within the state.  Azerbaijan officials have yet to release statements addressing these allegations.     

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Bloggers jailed in Azerbaijan – 11 November 2009

BBC News – Azerri bloggers given prison terms – 11 November 2009

Worldwide AP – Azerbaijan opposition bloggers sentenced to jail – 11 November 2009

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Officials from Australia and Sri Lanka recently began discussions to inhibit the extensive people-smuggling into Christmas Island and other regions of Australia.  The Australian and Sri Lankan foreign ministers met in Colombo on Monday to discuss maritime security with Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.  The issue of Sri Lankan refugees seeking asylum in Australian territory became more imminent while the two nations planned discussions on the social detriments and dangers of people-smuggling, as refugee boats bound for Australia were captured just this week.  Many of the Sri Lankan asylum-seekers are of the Tamil minority race, who endure increasing and persistent persecution in Sri Lanka due to the May defeat of the Tamil Tigers rebel group.  Although most of the refugees are civilian nationals with no actual affiliation with the Tamil Tigers, the Sri Lankan government has taken no measures to mitigate rights violations perpetrated against the Tamil minority.  Discrimination in employment and other fundamental rights further push the Tamil minority out of Sri Lanka to seek a decent mode of living.    

The Sri Lankan Tamil minority began emigrating to Christmas Island, which serves as a haven for many people of troubled countries.  However, accumulating an excessive emigrant population due to years of entering refugees, Australia’s border patrol elevated security around the island’s surrounding waters.  

Australian guards also solicited the assistance of the Indonesian border patrol to curtail the influx of refugees into Christmas Island and Australian land.  Indonesian vessels have captured numerous Tamil boats and escorted them to Indonesian docks.  Many passengers on the captured vessels refused to leave the docked boats until Australia granted them asylum, sometimes engaging in hunger strikes and other forms of protest.  

Although the Australian maritime security vessels have saved Tamil boats facing trouble in the water, Sri Lanka and Australia both explicitly express their contempt for human-smuggling.  Both nations argue that the operators of the refugee boats are simply opportunists capitalizing off the dire situation of the Tamil minorities.  Sri Lankan officials also suggest that the Tamils leaving Sri Lanka represent a poor class of people searching for a greater livelihood, denying any allegations of persecution.  

The Australian and Sri Lankan governments mutually agreed to prohibit the use of force to deter or detain Tamil refugee boats.  However, Sri Lanka’s denial of human rights violations raises issues concerning its motives for wanting to keep the Tamil minority within Sri Lankan borders.   


For more information, please see:   

Al-Jazeera – Boat people on Colombo talk agenda – 09 November 2009

The Australian – Tamil economic refugees: Sri Lanka – 12 November 2009

VOA News – Asylum Seekers Adrift on Boat – 27 October 2009