By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HONG KONG– While cheering crowds with red flags took the streets in celebration of its National Day and 60 years of Communist rule in China, protesters dressed in black lined the streets of Hong Kong denouncing China’s human rights record.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, did not participate in China’s nationwide celebration because Hong Kong is allowed to enjoy “Western-style civil liberties as part of its special semiautonomous status.”  Accordingly, Hong Kong is where Chinese frequently hold events that highlight China’s human rights abuses and other issues that cannot be discussed in mainland China.

Hong Kong protesters.  Courtesy of AP.

Emily Lau Wai-hing of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party said, “If China wants to emerge as a strong, big power[,] it should respect the human rights of its people.  Just having economic development is not enough.”

Residents of Hong Kong marched through the downtown financial district holding placards with reminders of China’s 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy march in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.  The marchers also chanted, “We want human rights.  We don’t want a sanitized National Day.” 

Followers of Falun Gong also marched in silence, holding signs that read, “Dissolve the Chinese Community Party” and “Get rid of the red menace.”

Hong Kong protesters criticized China’s slow progress on human rights and democracy.  Pro-democracy activist Szeto Wah said, “[W]e can serve as a window – information about China can reach the outside world and information from the outside can flow in,” referring to Hong Kong’s role in shedding light on China’s problems since Hong Kong respects freedom of press and speech.

Lee Cheuk-yan, legislative council of Hong Kong, said, “After 60 years of communist rule[,] we see a regression in human rights and we can see that the Community Party has stepped up the effort in squeezing and suppressing human rights in China.”

The protesters also carried a fake coffin, which symbolized victims who were persecuted by China’s authoritarian and communist regime, to the Central Liaison Office, which is the Chinese government’s liaison office in Hong Kong.
For more information, please see:

AP – Hong Kongers protest on China’s National Day – 1 October 2009

New Tang Dynasty Television – Hong Kong Residents March for Human Rights in China – 2 October 2009

Tibetan Review – Protests dominate China’s National Day in Hong Kong – 3 October 2009

VOA – Protesters Denounce China’s Human Rights Record – 1 October 2009

By Megan E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

XINJIANG, China– In July, Chinese police detained more than 1,500 people after violence between ethnic Uighurs and Han Chinese left 200 dead.

The riots broke out on 5 July after an initially peaceful protest by Uighur youths, apparently prompted by an earlier riot in a factory in southern China. In the outbreak of violence, shops were smashed and vehicles set alight and passers-by set upon  rioters.

The Chinese government says 197 people died and more than 1,700 were injured. It maintains that most of the dead were Han Chinese, but the exile activist group, the World Uighur Congress, claims many Uighurs were also killed. The government has insisted the violence which followed was engineered by Uighurs in exile, chiefly World Uighur Congress leader Rebiya Kadeer. The far west autonomous region borders Russia, Mongolia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Many Uighurs in this area want more autonomy and respect for their culture and religion, Islam, than China’s strict centrist rule permits.

This incident is described as one of the most serious incidents of ethnic unrest in the country’s recent  history. To much of the world’s surprise, China remained open about the events and was willing to allow reporters media access. Zhou Bing, a political commentator in Hong Kong, said this represents a loosening of the controls the foreign media might have expected in such circumstances. According to Bing, “They wanted the rest of the world to understand that this was a clash between two ethnic groups, rather than a separatist movement, to frame it as people fighting over local issues, not independence.” However, as tension mounted, China wanted to ensure that, within its own borders, its coverage did not further inflame ethnic tensions, and as such, media restrictions were thereby imposed.

The China Daily said that most of the arrests were made in Urumqi and Kashgar, a southern Xinjiang city with a heavy concentration of Uighur people. Charges include vandalizing public property and transport, organizing crowds to cause bodily harm to others, robbery, murder and arson. The state newspaper did not give a breakdown on how many Uighurs and how many Han would go on trial, but it said more than 170 Uighurs and 20 Han lawyers had been assigned to the suspects.  

Four months later, China and the rest of the world await to hear the final outcome. The city’s procuratorate said it has instituted public prosecutions in the Intermediate People’s Court of Urumqi against 21 suspects. A woman from the political department of the Urumqi Intermediate Court confirmed that charges had been issued, but would not her name or any details. The report did not say what the penalty those charged would face if convicted, but just after the riots, Urumqi’s Community Party, Secrtary Li Zhi, said that the death penalty would be sought in some of the serious cases.

For more information, please see:

China View: Xinhua News Agency – 21 suspects involved in Urumqi riot prosecuted  – September 25, 2009

China Daily – Top Xinjiang official stresses development to ensure stability – September 29, 2009 

BBC – China ‘to charge 83 over riots’ – August 4, 2009 

The Associated Press – China charges 21 with murder in July riots – September 25, 2009

 By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN– In a video posted on the social networking site Facebook, Pakistani soldiers are seen abusing Taliban suspects in a 10 minute video.

This video would be clear proof of such abuse, as it shows men in military attire beating suspects as officer looked on giving instructions.  At present time it is not clear where the film was shot, but conversations that are heard on the video suggest that it is recent and possibly shot in the Swat Valley.  

Human rights groups have previously accused the military of being involved in torture and extra judicial killing in the Swat valley region.  The Pakistani army has said that before commenting, it would need to examine the video.  Gen Athat Abbas, head of Pakistan army’s public relations wing stated “This is a very serious accusation,…..I cannot comment o nthe video till we have examined it. This will take some time as the army headquarters will have to be involved in the process.”

In the video it shows and officer interrogating several suspects, including some who are very old, and are presumed relatives of men who are being sought.  When the officer does not receive adequate answers, he orders the soldiers to punish the suspect who proceed to beat the suspect with belts and whips, along with kicking him all over with their heavy boots.  After the first round of punishment, the officer declares that unless the suspect tells all, he would administer “hard punishment”, telling the suspect “You don’t want me to cut off your hands and feet.”

If confirmed this would be the first clear proof of the Pakistani army being involved in the abuse of detainees.  Human rights groups, including The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) have accused the army of such violation during the recent Swat campaign, which the army has consistently denied, calling them “baseless”.

For more information, please see:

BBC News- Video Shows Pakistan Army ‘Abuse’– 1 October 2009

Associated Press- Video Appears To Show Army Abuses-2 October 2009

Breaking News 24/7- Video Appears To Show Pakistani Troops Punching, Whipping Militant Suspects– 2 October 2009

 

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PYONGYANG, North Korea – The new North Korean Constitution, revised in April of this year, explicitly mentions human rights for the first time.  The last time North Korea revised its constitution was back in 1998.

The contents of the newly revised constitution includes putting greater weight on military-first policies, power concentration in the National Defense Commission, emphasis on socialism over communism, as well as naming workers, farmers and working intellectuals as pillars of the nation.

More importantly, the new constitution uses the phrase “human rights” for the first time.  Article 8 of the new constitution says, “The State respects and protects the human rights of the workers, peasants and working intellectuals who have been previously freed from exploitation and oppression and have become masters of the State and society.”  This is a change from the 1998 revision which stated that the State will “defend and protect the interests” of the same list of workers.

However, observers claim that the reference to human rights is merely to portray a sense of “normalcy” to the international community.  Optimists have suggested that this could be a real effort on the part of North Korea to improve its international reputation, but experts are interpreting this as a “preemptive move against growing international condemnation of Pyongyang’s human rights record.” 

North Korean military officers.  Courtesy of Jakarta Globe.   

An anonymous source said, “Pyongyang is not interested in human rights; the labour camps that are still active are proof of that.  The population lives in extreme poverty and famine comes on cyclical basis.”

The introduction of new constitution coincides with U.S. appointing a new special envoy, Robert King, for North Korean human rights.  In 2008, U.S. Congress approved the North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act, which calls for “activities to support human rights and democracy and freedom on information in North Korea,” for another four years.

Some have suggested that since North Korea knows that any talks with the U.S. will include a human rights component, the revision was a counter-move.

The revision also comes in time when the media has reported that Kim Jong-il’s health is failing and that he is preparing to hand over his position to his youngest son, Kim Jong-un.
For more information, please see:

Asia News – From Communism to the ‘militarised state’, Kim Jong-il introduces new constitution – 30 September 2009

The Daily NK – Human Rights in Revised North Korean Constitution – 28 September 2009

JoongAng Daily – King named as human rights envoy to North – 26 September 2009

The Korea Times – NK Constitution States Kim Jong-il as Leader – 28 September 2009

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 MAIWAND, Afghanistan – A roadside bomb planted beneath a crowded inner-city bus travelling along the fringes of Kandahar killed 20 civilians on Tuesday.  Among the dead were 10 children.  Additionally, many more civilians incurred injuries from impact and debris.  The blast left the bus burning and twisted, demonstrating the power of militant groups’ improvised explosive devices (IED).  The victims of the blast were rushed to a nearby hospital in Kandahar.  
 

 
 This latest attack signifies the increasing danger Afghan civilians must face when traversing public roads. Although roadside bombs are utilized to kill foreign troops, over 1,500 Afghanistan civilians have fallen victim to these lethal mechanisms.  The western district in which this tragedy occurred has long been a zone of combat between insurgents and Western armed forces.  As a result, many varieties of traps remain strewn about the city streets.  Afghan citizens often travel along roads used by Western military forces where enemy combatants lay roadside bombs and other IEDs.  A Taliban spokesperson stated that the organization does not intentionally target civilians, disclaiming responsibility for the attack.  However, despite the designs of the Taliban and other insurgent factions, IED’s, the deadliest weapons used in Afghanistan, continue to indiscriminately take the lives of the innocent. 

The attack in Maiwand exacerbates over 8 years of war-weariness and discontent felt among the Afghan population.  While a seemingly fruitless war against terrorism continually plagues their land, this summer’s questionable elections suggest that the corrupt officials have moved to silence the political voice of the people.  These travesties represent a violation of Afghan nationals’ fundamental rights to live in peace and democratic right to participate in the selection of their leaders.  

The Obama administration continues to formulate strategies for the Afghanistan front, yet the Taliban and other militant organizations steadily exploit violence to demonstrate their presence in key areas.  Members of the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization have expressed pessimism in the West’s ability to prevail in this war.  Until the West begins employing effective tactics, it seems Afghan civilians must continue living in fear of being caught in the tides of war.  

 

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Dozens die in Afghan roadside blast – 29 September 2009

The L.A. Times – 30 killed when Afghan bus hit roadside bomb – 29 September 2009

Yahoo! News – Taliban roadway attacks spread fear in Afghanistan – 29 September 2009