By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PHNOM PEHN, Cambodia — The Khmer Rouge prison boss, Kaing Guek Eav, more commonly known as Duch, admitted personal responsibility for the torture and murder of more than 12,000 people. He shocked the war crimes court by asking to be acquitted and released.

Khmer Rouge prison boss, known as Duch, stands beside a security guard during the closing arguments of his trial. Curtesy of The Guardian,

Duch is one of five aging senior cadres facing trial in the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians who were murdered or died of starvation or overwork. From 1975 to 1979, before being removed after an invasion by the Vietnamese, the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge regime sought to create an agrarian utopia by abolishing religion, money and schools and forcing most of the population onto collective farms.

Duch’s nine-month trial concluded with Duch asking the judges to consider his co-operation with the court, and proceeded to ask that the 10 years he had already served in jail be used as his sentence, and set him free. In the last statement of his concluding remarks, he said: “I would ask the chamber to release me, thank you very much.”

The statement reportedly came only two days after he told the court he was ultimately accountable for the deaths that occurred while he headed the Khmer Rouge’s Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh. Duch had admitted, “I am solely and individually responsible for the loss of at least 12,380 lives.” Duch was claimed to be responsible for the thousands of deaths, most of whom were tortured detainees at the notorious S-21 prison, where Duch was commander, before inflicting death in the nearby “killing fields.”

Officials involved in the proceeding seem skeptical. Prosecutor, William Smith, said outside of the court, that he was surprised by Duch’s last-minute change of heart. Smith stated, “The fact that he entered a request for an acquittal reinforces in our mind that his remorse is limited.” The prosecution has asked for 40 year’s jail for Duch, 67.

The judges are expected to deliver a ruling in March of next year. The maximum penalty they can impose is life imprisonment.

For more information, please see:

Sydney Morning Herald – Killing fields accused may not live to face court – November 27, 2009

The Times Online – Please release me begs Khmer Rouge torturer-in-chief – November 27, 2009

The Guardian –Cambodia torturer Duch – killer of 12,380 – asks court to set him free – November 27, 2009

CNN – Closing arguments end in Khmer Rouge trial – November 27, 2009

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

Vetribel Jaseeharan, a publisher for North Eastern Monthly, and his wife Vadivel Valarmathi, were charged with conspiracy to discredit the government.  He and his wife were detained for articles they published in their magazine.  They were acquitted of all charges.  

The judge stated that a confession where Jaseeharan admitted to supporting the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels was gained while under duress and that the medical records presented showed signs he had been tortured.  A court official said, “The attorney general withdrew the charges as the judge noted that the confession was not made voluntarily.”

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were a rebel group in Sri Lanka who had been fighting the government for the last two decades, with armed uprising beginning in 1983.  Government troops finally defeated the Tamil Tigers in May, when the Tigers finally laid down their guns, ending a long civil war.  International press groups however, say that Sri Lankan Journalists are still burdened with major restrictions on reporting. 

J.S. Tissainayagam, a reporter for the North Eastern Monthly, and the man who wrote the two articles which Jaseeharan and his wife published, was in August sentenced to 20 years in prison.  The found him guilty of “causing communal disharmony”, “racial hatred” and raising money for “terrorism” through his writings about the victimized Tamils during the war.  The international Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the world’s largest organization of journalists condemned the judgment, which in addition sentenced Tissainayagam to hard labor while in prison. 

The court stated that the only offense of Jaseeharan was to publish the articles written by Tissainayagam.  

Several Sri Lankan reporters have been killed in recent years by unidentified groups.  Lasantha Wickrematunga, a leading anti-establishment editor was among the many victims, he was shot dead near his office.  Government figures show that nine journalists were killed and another 27 assaulted in the past three years, with activists stating that more than a dozen journalists have been killed.

For information, please see:

International New 24/7- Tamil Reporter Jailed for 20 Years on Terror Charges – 31 August 2009

BBC NEWS- Detained Tamil Publisher is Freed  – 26 October 2009

Khaleej Times- Sri Lanka Frees Publisher Held for 19 Months – 26 October 2009

The Peninsula- Colombo Frees Publisher Held for 19 Months -27 October 2009

Global Security.Org- Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – A report issued by Amnesty International documented how migrant workers in South Korea are beaten, sexually exploited and denied wages.

South Korea was among the first Asian countries to give legal recognition of rights to migrant workers, and granted these workers the same status as Korean workers in terms of equal labor rights, wages and benefits.  South Korea also implemented Employment Permit System (EPS) to protect migrant workers’ rights.

As of September 2008, an estimated 220,000 migrant workers were working in South Korea.   However, despite the EPS, South Korea failed to sufficiently monitor work sites, including properly investigating cases of inadequate medical treatment and unfair dismissals.

Migrant workers protesting in South Korea.  Courtesy of Asia Resource Monitor Center.

The report said migrant workers are at greater risk for industrial accidents because the workers handle heavy machinery and dangerous chemicals without protective gear or being properly trained.

Amnesty’s report also told tales of migrant workers who were being forced to work night shifts and long hours, and cases of employers withholding their paychecks.

Roseann Rife of Amnesty said “Despite the advances of the EPS system, the cycle of abuse and mistreatment continues as…migrant workers find themselves at the mercy of employers…who mistreat them knowing their victims have few legal rights and are unable to access justice….”

The report pointed out that women in particular are at risk.  Female workers are recruited as entertainers in towns that house U.S. military camps where they face sexual exploitation.

One female Filipino singer told Amnesty, “I was forced to fill drinks quota…The Korean club owner tried to force me to have sex with the customers by threatening to send me back to the Philippines….”

“These women are double victims, first they are trafficked and then they become ‘illegal’ migrants under South Korean law when they attempt to escape…,” said Rife.

One researcher, Norma Kang Muico, criticized the South Korean government’s narrow definition of human trafficking saying, “[According] to UN Protocols to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, trafficking…involves the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of…coercion….”  South Korea singed the Protocol in 2008.

Muico stated, “Migrant workers are not criminals and they have…[the] right to pursue happiness….”

For more information, please see:

AFP – Migrant workers face abuse in SKorea: Amnesty – 21 October 2009

Amnesty International – MIGRANT WORKERS TREATED AS ‘DISPOSABLE LABOUR’ IN SOUTH KOREA – 21 October 2009

The Korea Times – Amnesty Raps Korea Over Plight of Female Workers – 21 October 2009

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

TAIPAI, Taiwan –  As efforts to enforce ties with former diplomatic rival, China, there is concern that the media in Taiwan may be hampered. Awareness of the shift in content gained prevalence after press freedom index, published by Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, revealed that Taiwan fell 23 spots to number 59 in 2009.

The index, based on questionnaires completed by hundreds of journalists and media experts, reflects press freedom violations that took place between September 2008 and August 2009. While Reporters Without Borders said Taiwan’s press freedom was not in danger, it attributed the downgrading partly to the ruling party‘s attempt to interfere in the media.

Head of Reporters Without Borders Asia desk, Vincent Brossel, stated, “The state must take action to improve records and prevent restrictions, violence or any sort of obstacle to the media freedom.”

 

Local journalists in Taipai work on covering a story in October 2009. Photograph Curtesy of Yahoo! World News.

 Those who are critical of the change in media coverage, as well as journalists, observe that the recent Reporters Without Borders index report is a warning of how far the island is prepared to go to appease its giant Chinese neighbor and influence.

Skeptics note that, Taiwan’s government, which took office in May 2008, pledged a more pro-Beijing stance to strengthen political and trade relations.  A cabinet spokeswoman, Su Jun-pin, however, stated, “We did not see any media being pressured for criticizing the government when it was not doing enough. The government humbly accepted the criticism.”

There is further concern shared by journalists and media experts. One commentator said, “It all comes down to business, as public and private sectors aim to cash in on China’s rising economic clout.” Another from the National Chung Cheng University stated, “We see political considerations weighing on the handling of news as the government makes the development of cross-strait ties its priority.”

Regardless of the extent of China’s political or economic clout, the fear by media personnel is that beyond kowtowing and broadcasting stories China wants transmitted, journalists will be forced to report their coverage as a one-sided story – hampering press freedom.

For more information, please see:

TaiPai Times – Taiwan slides 23 places in global press freedom index – October 21, 2009 

Yahoo! World News – Concerns over Taiwan press freedom amid China thaw – October 25, 2009 

Radio Taiwan International – Taiwan to write to NGO to clarify falling press freedom – October 22, 2009

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

DEOGHAR, India- Five woman in a remote village of Deoghar district in India were paraded naked, beaten and forced to eat human feces by villagers after being branded as witches.  The local police stated the victims were Muslim widows who the local clerics labeled as witches.  Correspondents say abuse of women branded as witches is commonplace, but the rare video of the incident has incited outrage in India.