By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – Despite the recent revision in their constitution calling for more respect on human rights, North Korea is estimated to be holding 154,000 political prisoners in six prison camps.

North Korean camp.  Courtesy of Michael Danby. 

These political prisoners are held in separate camps from other criminals, i.e., those who commit robbery or murder, and are forced to work for more than ten hours a day for only about 200 grams of food. 

The prisoners, usually dissidents, defectors who have tried and failed in fleeing North Korea and those who have been “accused of being disrespectful towards the leadership” or lost a political power struggle, are also said to be denied any medical care.  They are forbidden from communicating with family members as well.

A South Korean government official, Yoon Sang-hyun, reported that North Korea had about 200,000 political prisoners in ten camps in the 1990s, but North Korea closed four of these camps after condemnation from the international community.

Yoon said, “North Korea perpetrates various crimes against humanity, including public executions, tortures or rapes, against those who try to escape.”

North Korea does have a history of being among the world’s worst human rights abusers, but North Korea has rejected any criticism on its human rights violations and the existence of gulags.

In another study released by the U.S. Congress, there were reports that North Korea’s concentration camps have “evolved into a mechanism for extorting money from citizens trading in private markets.” 

This report said that there has been a rise in “market activity” in recent years in North Korea, and markets are the “only source of food” for the poor.  However, the North Korean government has banned such market activity, arresting those who engage in market activity as “economic criminals” and sending them to camps. 

These economic criminals, held separately from political prisoners, are held in low-level labor camps and are allowed to go home in about one month.

Nonetheless, reports state that North Korean authorities have “extraordinary discretion” in determining who goes to these labor camps and who gets to leave.  Furthermore, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il has absolute power and executions are carried out under Kim’s discretion.
 

For more information, please see:

 
BBC – North Korea gulags ‘hold 150,000’ – 17 October 2009

Canadian Press – North Korea holds 154,000 political prisoners in 6 camps: S Korean lawmaker says – 17 October 2009

Chosun Ilbo – N.Korean Officials “Use Gulag to Extort Bribes’ – 7 October 2009

Korea Times – N. Korea Holding 154,000 Political Prisoners – 17 October 2009

By Megan E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Almost one year ago Liang Liwan gave information to Yves Cabannes, head contact of the United Nations Advisory Group on Forced Evictions. The result of her outreach was imprisonment.

A Chinese human rights group reports that Liwan has been in police custody since September 23, 2009 based on her attempt to contact officials within the United Nations regarding forced eviction and demolition in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. It was also reported that on October 3, Liwan was moved to an undisclosed location thereby leaving her family with no knowledge of her whereabouts or wellbeing.   

Liang’s imprisonment is based on information she conveyed to the United Nations Advisory Group on Forced Evictions in 2008 making them aware of the impending demolition of her home and several others by the local government. Following her contact with the United Nations, Liang’s husband was seriously injured in a beating by thugs in December of 2008.

In mid-August 2009, a conference was held at the School of Public Management of Zhejiang University, where Liang spoke about social problems facing ordinary Chinese citizens with personal antidotes to discuss along with her research. The United Nations informant Liang reached out to, Yves Cabannes, attended the conference. The event was organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a German foundation, the Centre Marc Bloch, a German social sciences research institution, and the Zhejiang University.

After the conference, Liang invited Cabannes and others to see the site of her home, which is being requisitioned by the government for expansion of the city’s East Railway Station. Liang gave them a tour of her home and while showing conference attendees her house, the police arrived and took Cabannes and others to the local police substation for questioning. Liang escaped and returned to the outskirts of Beijing to her temporary home, which she was renting while petitioning the government.

According to Amnesty International, sources say that on September 22, 2009, three men and one woman forced their way into Liang’s temporary home and attempted to force her to sign an agreement for the demolition. Liang refused. Liang was then detained in Beijing by officials and security police belonging to the city of Hangzhou. It is also reported that police may have threatened Liang’s husband stating that they were detaining his wife. 

It was then that Liang was taken to Hangzhou on September 27 and detained at two different locations before being transferred to an undisclosed location on October 3.

Human rights activists are concerned that Liang’s case is sadly one of millions of Chinese citizens who have been forcibly displaced by local governments across China in recent years.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights in China – Activist Detained After Telling UN Expert of Impending Eviction  – October 7, 2009 

United Nations – World Report 2009 – China – January 14, 2009

Center on Housing Rights & Evictions – Forced Evictions – Violations of Human Rights – Report 2007.

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

NEW DELHI, India– In a development charity’s report released to coincide with UN World Food Day; countries such as India and China have been praised for their efforts to tackle hunger.  However the ActionAid International’s “anti-hunger scorecard”, which ranks government efforts to combat hunger, critiques India, amongst other countries for their inaction in attempting to alleviate the problem of providing the “Right to Adequate Food” to their people.  This report ranks 51 countries where ActionAid has a presence or has data reliable enough to make comparisons.

The ‘Right to Adequate Food’ comes from the UN’s International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.  The right to adequate food is a human right for all, to have regular and permanent access, either directly or by financial means to adequate and sufficient food.  

The study estimates that globally one billion people are malnourished, which roughly represents one in seven of the world’s population.  The report criticizes the economically liberal India.  It states the ranks of the hungry have swelled by 30 million people since the mid-1990s, with nearly half of children in the country being under weight, placing it at number 22 after countries such as Ethiopia and Lesotho.  The study also reveals a contrast in the country where although India was ranked in the top three developing countries on the social protection indicator, many have gone hungry as a result of “poor implementation.”  India ranks sixth in developing nations in legal framework for addressing hunger and food rights, but the poor implementation of these laws and schemes has made it futile and difficult for the common man to have a right to adequate food.  Babu Matthew, director of ActionAid India said “The dark side of India’s economic growth has been that the excluded groups have been further marginalized, compounding their hunger, malnutrition and even leading to starvation deaths.”

The report notes the reason hunger in India exists is not because there is not enough food, but the population does not have access to it, and the exploitation of natural resources has led to “horrific displacement” of people, making many in the country poverty stricken.  Anne Jellema, the international policy director for ActionAid stated “It is the role of the state and not the level wealth, that determines progress on hunger.”  

Jellema also implored that “Massive and urgent support to poor farmers, and social welfare programmes for vulnerable groups, are needed to reverse growing global hunger. At the World Food Summit next month, donor countries need to announce an additional 23 billion dollars to support these measures.”

For information, please see:

BBC News-Mixed Messages in Hunger Report– 16 October 2009

Kaiser Family Foundation- World Food Day Marked, ActionAid International Releases Hunger Report– 16 October 2009

Hindustan Times- Half of India’s Children Malnourished, say NGO Report-17 October 2009

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations- Right to Food

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Within the past week, Chinese intellectuals and a government news agency posted two similar media declarations on the Internet.  Both declarations stated the need for more open media, acceptance of new media technologies, and interaction between journalists and audiences.

However, the “Internet Human Rights Declaration” drafted by 15 Chinese intellectuals stipulating ten specific items, including freedom of speech online, disappeared from online viewing soon after its first appearance.

Within two days, the Declaration had been blocked from viewing, and searches of the document on the web, including on China’s biggest search engine called Baidu.com, ended in failure.  This is contrary to President Hu Jintao’s promise at the World Media Summit for more media freedom and protection.

Bei Feng, journalist and one of the drafters of the Declaration, said Chinese government’s increasing severity with Internet censorship is what prompted the drafting of the Declaration. 

Ling Cangzhou, another journalist and drafter of the document said the Declaration’s purpose is to “bring the Chinese people’s attention to the current state of the internet and to stimulate thought on free speech and free media.”  Ling added that the Declaration was drafted within the scope of China’s constitution. 

Contrarily, others feel that China has made progress in protecting free speech online.  For example, criticism of the government can now be found on the web as 300 million Internet users of China have newly but firmly established a culture of “Internet activism” where grievances towards the government are expressed online.  Nevertheless, Chinese officials do maintain a tight control over the Internet, and they do block or filter certain sensitive keywords.

Although China has an iron grip over its web users, online freedom of speech is being encouraged by the authorities because it helps the officials gain a first-hand understanding of the current public sentiment. 

Ironically, there has also been a new movement where Chinese bloggers, despite worries that this could give the authorities the leverage for stricter Internet censorship, are asking for greater government intervention online against those who spread false information online to protect individual’s rights.
For more information, please see:

Asia Times – China torn over Internet freedoms – 8 October 2009

Global Voices Advocacy – China’s Internet: Two Media Declarations – 15 October 2009

Guardian – So, Comrade, tell me: why did you censor my website? – 6 October 2009

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – The U.N. recently released statements containing its sharpest lambast of the Sri Lankan refugee camps.  With the monsoon season looming over Sri Lanka, the U.N. and international human rights groups worry that the heavy rains and possible flooding will render the camps rife with water-borne disease and devastation. 

Conditions in the camps have long been criticized by the international community, as the Sri Lankan government has failed to provide adequate food, clothing, and shelter to displaced persons.  Annual summer rains foreshadowed the potential catastrophe of maintaining congested camps during the monsoon season; August rains destroyed housing structures and collapsed imperative delivery routes for supply vehicles.  Unable to cook and keep dry, the Tamil minority members endured dilemmas which would worsen during the monsoon season.       

Over 300,000 Sri Lankan nationals have been held in temporary government-run camps since the state military’s defeat of the Tamil Tigers this spring.  While the government’s victory effectively ended the civil war that plagued the island nation, human rights groups have asserted myriad issues concerning the treatment of citizens in the aftermath.  The Sri Lankan government made numerous promises of improving camp conditions and liberating displaced persons, but few of their planned initiatives ever came to fruition.
 
(Photograph courtesy of AFP)

 

Besides monitoring and pressure from the U.N., displaced refugees voiced requests to resettle from the camps.  However the government’s liberation process has been lethargic at best.  Furthermore, tensions between the Tamil minority and camp workers have lead to situations in which military-men abused and otherwise mistreated displaced persons.  Additionally, the government’s screening process to identify and remove Tamil Tigers among the camp dwellers has extensively prolonged the Tamil minority’s detainment period.  

 

The Sri Lankan government assured the U.N. that its camp facilities were prepared to endure the torrential rains and flooding of the monsoon season.  The government claimed that it will install proper drainage to mitigate the effect of the rains.  However, given the government’s history of hollow promises concerning vacating and the betterment of its interment camps, there is no reason to believe any further measures will be taken.  Also, the U.K. announced that it would cease all but life-saving assistance funds after the floods subside.  Without additional funding, the Sri Lankan camps may endure more declines in conditions and facilities, as well as longer internment.  

‘

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Sri Lanka defends internment camps – 12 October 2009

American Free Press – UN ratchets up criticism of Sri Lankan Camps – 29 September 2009 

BBC News – UK to cut Sri Lanka camp funding – 6 October 2009