By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia  MANILA, Philippines– An appeal to the UN for funds to help the millions of Indonesians hit by the floods and storms in the Philippines has raised only a quarter of the total which they were looking for.

John Holmes, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator stated that in its relief appeal for $74m has only garnered $19m so far.  The region has been hit by back to back typhoons in about a weeks time which has lead to landslides and widespread flooding, resulting in over 650 deaths and many left homeless.  

Predicting the situation may be dire, Mr. Holmes said the UN may need to increase the size of its emergency appeal.  Weeks after Typhoon Ketsana hit on September 26 and Parma hit on October 3, many villages are still flooded with water, increasing the risk of diseases spreading.  Mr. Holmes stated that “Water has been standing already now for three weeks, and is still waist, or chest-deep in places…The longer the water is there and is stagnant, the greater the risk diseases which come from water- malaria, dengue fever, diarrhea, skin infections, leptospirosis.”  The Philippine government has estimated that about six million people have been affected by these Typhoons.  The numbers of homeless as a result are in the hundreds of thousands.

The government has estimated the cost of the damage could be at least $350m, with expectations that losses to agriculture and fisheries will be much more.  The UN estimates that the flooding has destroyed crops including rice worth an estimated $117m, which will lead to food shortages in the country unless aid is received.

The ‘Right to Adequate Food’ is derived from the United Nation’s International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.  The right to adequate food is an inherent human right for all, to have regular and permanent access, either directly or by financial means to adequate and sufficient food.  Unless additional aid to the Philippines is sent by the UN this right to adequate food will not be realized.  

For more information, please see:

Media with Conscience- UN IN PHILIPPINES FLOOD AID APPEAL– 07 October 2009

BBC News- Toll Rises in Philippine Flooding  – 10 October 2009

BBC News- UN Philippines Fund ‘Falls short’ -13 October 2009

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

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China– In a speech at a meeting of global media leaders, the World Media Summit, President Hu Jintao promised that China would protect the rights of international news agencies reporting in China.

Along with China’s economic boom, news coverage on China also grew significantly over the years.  China has improved the reporting environment for foreign press in the past six years by loosening the tight control the communist government had over reporters, but Chinese officials continue to censor certain sensitive topics, including coverage of human rights.

Chinese government has stringent control over their media, and journalists are severely restricted as to what they can and cannot report.  All media in China are also owned by the government.

Although the Chinese government eliminated their policy of requiring journalists to obtain permission to travel to cities outside of Beijing or Shanghai, journalists still complain of assault and detainment when traveling in smaller towns and the countryside.  Furthermore, access to government ministers is near impossible, and public officials are often reluctant to go on record.

However, President Hu said, “[China] will continue to make government affairs public, enhance information distribution, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of foreign news organizations and reporters, and facilitate foreign media coverage in China….”

News Corporation Executive Rupert Murdoch, one of the attendees of the Summit, criticized the Chinese media market for being too “sheltered.”  He urged for more openness saying, “China will ultimately decide its own fate, but unless the digital doors open, opportunities will be lost and potential will not be realized.” 

Murdoch also pointed out that China’s state-run media has hindered growth and development of China’s media industry.  He added that the Chinese government should also address copyright piracy so that Chinese media companies can generate more profits.

This Summit was attended by 300 media representatives from 80 different countries.  Some rights groups have criticized China for hosting this meeting since China has a history of censorship and limiting reporting opportunities for foreign journalists.
For more information, please see:

AP – China pledges to protect foreign media – 9 October 2009

Irish Times – Chinese leader supports rights of media groups – 10 October 2009

WSJ – Murdoch Urges China to Open Up to Media – 8 October 2009

By Megan E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

LUCKNOW, India- A report released on October 7, “No Tally of the Anguish: Accountability in Maternal Health Care in India,” reveals that tens of thousands of women and girls in India are dying during pregnancy, childbirth, and the weeks that follow. Human rights activists are concerned with this finding which suggests that government programs that guarantee free obstetric health care are unsuccessful in their efforts.

Family mourns death of adolesent girl who died after giving birth. Courtesy of Care2.

The research for the report was conducted between November 2008 and August 2009 by the Human Rights Watch included field research and interviews with victims, families, medical experts, officials and human rights activists in Uttar Pradesh (located in Northern India) and surrounding areas. Researchers reviewed government surveys and reports by local and international nongovernmental organizations. The area was selected because it has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in India, though government surveys show it is not alone in struggling with these problems, including recordation errors such as statistics indicating the number of women actually dying from pregnancy related complications.

The report includes breakdowns that show how specific cases were failures and the result that occurred. For instance, Kavita K. is tracked in the report and indicates that she developed post-partum complications, that the local community health center was unable to treat her. Testimony from her father, Suraj S. was also included, in which he states that the family tried to bring her to three different governmental hospitals, but none wanted to admit her. The fourth hospital took Kavita in as a patient, but an hour after treatment she died.

While India has created programs such as, the National Rural Health Mission, to improve rural health, with a specific focus on maternal health, the report illustrates the shortcomings and gaps in these governmental sponsored programs. The “concrete service guarantees,” including free care before and during childbirth, in-patient hospital services, comprehensive emergency obstetric care, referral in case of complications, and postnatal care clearly is not reaching the tens of thousands of Indian women and girls still dying from these and related child birthing complications. One of the biggest criticisms is accountability.

By Megan E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SHAOGUAN, China– A court in the southern region of China sentenced a man to death for his involvement in a brawl in July. Chinese officials believe that he was the trigger to the deadly riots which occurred in the far western region of Urumqi located in the Xinjiang province.

 Map of Xinjiang. Courtesy of BBC News.

The factory brawl in Guangdong province in June left two Muslim Uighurs dead and 14 others seriously injured. According to State media, the fight erupted between a group of Han Chinese and ethnic Uighur workers from Xinjiang at a Hong Kong owned toy factory in Shaoguan, in the Guangdong province. The violence broke out after a rumor spread that some Uighurs had raped two women form the factory.

A report was released and stated that two Uighur workers were beaten to death in the fight, and three men were severely injured. Other Han then turned on the Uighurs, beating them with iron bars and stopping medical personnel from treating the wounded, it added. Two men faced charges of intentionally harming others. Nine others were given prison sentences of five to eight years, Xinhua news agency reported. The courts in Shaoguan also gave another man life imprisonment, and nine others got sentences ranging from five to eight years in jail, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The man given the death sentence is reportedly a Han Chinese.

The incident sparked the fighting in July between Uighurs and members of China’s dominant Han ethnic group. A subsequent protest by the Uighur community in Urumqi, the capital of the western Xinjiang region, erupted in violence on July 5, with at least 197 people killed and another 1,700 injured. The turmoil is thought to be the worst ethnic violence in China for decades. The government says most of the dead were Han Chinese, but the exile activist group the World Uighur Congress claims many Uighurs were also killed.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC World News – Death sentence over China riots – October 9, 2009

Reuters – China gives death sentence over Uighur brawl case – October 10, 2009

Kyodo News – Man sentenced to death over southern China factory brawl – October 10, 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – In an effort to defend mothers’ right to raise their own children, activist are trying to set up what would be South Korea’s first organization of unwed mothers.  This is seen as an unusual step in a “society that ostracizes unmarried mothers.”

South Korea has been trying to improve their image as a “baby exporter.”  However, due to social and cultural pressure, thousands of unwed South Korean mothers choose abortion, which is illegal but widespread, or adoption, which is “socially shameful.”

For example, in 2008, about 90% of babies who were adopted were born to unwed mothers.  In general, almost 96% of unmarried, pregnant women in South Korea choose abortion.

Some Korean families with pregnant, unwed daughters often move to hide the pregnancy, and unmarried women with children usually lie about their marital status in fear that they will be evicted by landlords and their children shunned at schools. 

Unwed single mom, Mok Kyong-wha, with her son.  Courtesy of International Herald Tribune.

33-year old unwed mother, Lee Mee-kyong, said, “Once you become an unwed mom, you’re branded as immoral and a failure.  People treat you as if you had committed a crime.  You fall to the bottom rung of society.” 

Another South Korean woman Chang Ji-young, who gave birth last month, said, “My former boyfriend’s sister screamed…over the phone demanding that I get an abortion.  His mother and sister said it was up to them to decide…because it was their family’s seed.”

One American doctor, Richard Boas, who adopted a Korean baby girl back in 1988, started a group called “Korean Unwed Mothers Support Network,” which defends the rights of unwed pregnant women so that these women can receive support and resources if they choose to keep their babies, instead being compelled to choose adoption. 

Jane Jeong Trenak, Korean adoptee who grew up in the U.S., said, “What we see in South Korea today is discrimination against natural mothers and favoring of adoption at the government level.”  Activists are claiming that “Culture is not an excuse to abuse human rights.”

For more information, please see:

Korean Unwed Mothers Support Network – On further reflection – 13 September 2009

NYT –Group Resists Korean Stigma for Unwed Mothers – 7 October 2009

Yonhap News – Korean Unwed Mothers Pushed to the Brink Become Brave – 8 October 2009