By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

Sialkot, Pakistan– Emotions are ran high on Wednesday while Pakistani Christians clashed with security forces during the funeral of a Christian teenager who police say hung himself while being held on accusations that he committed Blasphemy by defiling the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book.  Christian leaders and Human rights group in Pakistan believe he was murdered.

Fanish Masih was jailed after allegedly throwing a chapter of the Qur’an down a drain last week in the village of Jatheki.  Masih was found dead in his cell on Tuesday.  Jail superintendent Farooq Lodhi stated that Masih hung himself using the string from his pants.  Witnesses have stated the contrary however, stating that there were no strangulation marks on his neck, and his body was littered with injuries which were indicative of torture.  The National Commission of Justice and Peace, a Catholic advocacy group in Pakistan, called the death an “extra-judicial murder”, and demanded an investigation into the events.

Of Pakistan’s 175 million people, non-Muslims make up less than 5 percent of the population.  As a result these non-Muslims are particularly vulnerable to the anti-blasphemy on the books which carry the death penalty for derogatory remarks or any other actions against Islam, the Qur’an or the prophet Mohammad.  Under this system anyone can make an accusation, and often these rules are used to settle personal scores and vendettas.  According to sources, the claim of blasphemy against Masih was only made as a pretext to arrest him, who allegedly was in a romantic relationship with a Muslim girl, which was opposed by the girl’s family and religious radicals within the community.

According to the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), this latest case of violence against a non-Muslim demonstrates the recklessness and confidence of the religious leaders in their own impunity, along with how powerless law enforcement agencies have become before influential social groups.  This case is also an example of the extreme vulnerability which religious minorities in Pakistan suffer from.

For more information, please see:

Asian Human Rights Commission-Witnesses killed within prison walls: a Christian boy is accused of blasphemy and murdered– 16 September 2009

MSNBC- Christian’s death in jail sparks Pakistan unrest 16 September 2009

Pakistan Christian Post- Christian MNA Akram Masi Gill arrested in Sialkot -16 September 2009

By Megan E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
 
RANGOON, Burma– Though not present, final arguments were made by defense lawyers of Burmese opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The proceeding was closed to Ms. Suu Kyi while her attorneys argued against an extended house arrest at a hearing in Rangoon. The hearing was also closed to reporters. According to lawyer, Nyan Win, the Yangon Divisional Court will deliver its verdict on October 2.
 
Ms. Suu Kyi has spent 14 out of the past 20 years in detention. She is said to have violated the terms of her last house arrest sentencing, and the length of the penalty was extended for another 18 months. In effect, this extension would bar Ms. Suu Kyi from participating in next year’s elections. 
 
The timing of Ms. Suu Kyi’s appeal is extraordinary. As she awaits a sentencing verdict, one day earlier 7,0000 prisoners were granted amnesty by Burma’s military rulers. Prison amnesties such as the one announced Thursday usually mark important national days or are intended to deflect criticism ahead of high-profile international gatherings. This release is a memorial of the 21st anniversary of the seizure of power by the military junta in Burma. The amnesty also comes just ahead of the opening of this year’s U.N. General Assembly session. The event will be attended by Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein. Sein is the highest-ranking Myanmar government leader in more than a decade to participate.
 
Aside from the recent group of prisoners granted amnesty, among those still in capture are many political prisoners, not unlike Ms. Suu Kyi who represents the National League for Democracy (NLD). In the past 20 years, the number of political prisoners in Burma is reported to have doubled according to Human Rights Watch. The current number of political inmates is approximately 2,200. Of those released, 20 were held as political prisoners, two of whom are prominent NLD members. Another two are journalists who were jailed last year for reporting the Cyclone Nargis.
 
The NLD won elections in 1990, however, the military has never allowed the political party to assume power. The military seized power in 1962 and has not relinquished its authority to other political factions. Any information from Burma, including reports about Ms. Suu Kyi’s hearing and about a series of seven recent explosions in the northern part of the city of Rangoon, is tightly regulated. Burma’s military government strictly monitors the flow of information in and out of the country, and there has been no indication as to the cause or source of the blasts. 
 
For more information, please see:
 
BBC World News- Suu Kyi appeal ruling next month – September 18, 2009
MSNBC World Headlines- Myanmar junta closes Suu Kyi hearing again – May 21, 2009 
The Irrawaddy- Rangoon Court Postpones Suu Kyi Appeal Hearing – September 18, 2009
Yahoo! News- Myanmar’s Suu Kyi appeals conviction – September 18, 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea– After being held up by immigration officials in South Korea, activist and general secretary of World Uyghur Congress Dolkun Isa was released today and has returned home to Germany.  

Isa Dolkun.  Courtesy of UNPO. 

Isa, an exiled Uyghur activist who fled China back in 1997, became a German citizen in 2006.  Since then, Isa has travelled around the globe promoting human rights for Uyghurs.

Isa arrived in South Korea on Tuesday to attend a conference for the World Forum for Democratization in Asia.  However, South Korean official detained Isa without an explanation.  In a phone interview during his detention, Isa said, “I don’t  know what the reason is.  Korean immigration officials don’t explain…and just said I should stay here.”

One South Korean news agency did report that the authorities were investigating Isa because his name appeared in a Chinese list of alleged terrorists.  China has been accusing World Uyghur Congress for the recent violence and ethnic tensions in the Xinjiang region.

Amnesty International and other human rights group urged South Korea to release the “human rights defender” immediately.  Amnesty also stated that South Korea should not have denied Isa entry into the country saying, “We are…disappointed that the South Korean authorities did not permit Mr[.]  Isa to enter…to attend the World Forum for Democratization in Asia in Seoul as he planned.”

Furthermore, Underrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization said detaining Isa “threatened the image of South Korea as a lodestar for democracy” in Asia.  This group had also asked the South Korea government to reject the completely…fabricated accusations leveled against him by Chinese authorities.”

Moreover, Amnesty said that had Isa been deported to China, he would have risked “arbitrary detention, unfair trial, torture and other ill-treatment and possibly even the death penalty.

South Korea’s Ministry of Justice spokesman declined to provide details regarding Isa’s detention and release.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – SOUTH KOREA RELEASES SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE WORLD UIGHUR CONGRESS  – 19 September 2009

AP – South Korea holding Uyghur activist at airport – 18 August 2009

Taiwan News – South Korea releases Uighur activist after detention at airport – 19 September 2009

UNPO – WUC Secretary General Released – 18 September 2009

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 BAGRAM, Afghanistan – Afghan inmates held in the US’s Bagram military custody center will soon have their first opportunity to exercise expanded rights to challenge indefinite detention.  The Obama administration has prepared a new set of guidelines regarding the legal rights of over 600 Afghan inmates detained at Bagram air-base.  The administration hopes to implement the new system during this week.  The new system will also grant extended rights to an unknown number of captive nationals from numerous other Middle Eastern states.  The Obama administration aims to utilize the new system to separate extremist militants from civilians and moderate detractors, all of whom are currently imprisoned together.  An anonymous official of the US Defense Department made a statement that “We don’t want to hold anyone [we should not] have to.” 

Photo: Prisoners at the Bagram detention center (Source: Associated Press).

 Bagram air-base, located 40 miles north of Kabul, has been the US’s makeshift prison since 2002.  Though it faces less mainstream controversy than the infamous Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, human rights organizations have long been voicing distress over the plight of Bagram prisoners.  US torture techniques caused the death of two Afghan detainees hung from isolation cells in 2002.  Investigative reports have also noted sleep deprivation and abusive interrogations as other torments inflicted upon inmates.  

Many Bagram detainees have been imprisoned for up to six years, subject to conditions even more derisory than those at Guantanamo.  Unlike the detainees in Cuba, Bagram prisoners had no access to lawyers, were mostly unaware of the allegations against them, and were afforded only meager review of their designation as enemy combatants.

However, after passing Congressional review, the new detention program will assign a non-lawyer official to each detainee in Bagram.  With the aid of these officials, inmates will have an opportunity to challenge their detention before a military review board and have access to evidence to support their case.  

The local Afghan government seems receptive towards the new prison system.  Deputy mayor of Kabul, Wahaad Sadaat, regards the help of US military officials as a “helpful step” in securing inmates’ rights, and believes the US’s “legal assistance is of crucial importance.”  However, the Obama administration’s newly proposed system has not eluded domestic skepticism.  Ramzi Kassem, professor at the Central University of New York and attorney for a Bagram detainee, berates the new system as a ruse “meant to pull wool over the eyes of the judicial system.” Additionally, many human rights organizations have refrained from comment until they can judge the concrete results of the new system.

The world must wait to see the effectiveness of the Obama administration’s new detention system for the Bagram air base.  However, this proposal of new guidelines may signify a shift in the US perspective towards foreign detainees’ rights and the pursuit of more humane practices. 

For More information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – US expands Afghan prison rights – 12 September 2009

AlterNet – Very Bad News: Aghanistan’s Bagram Air Base Will Be Obama’s Guantanamo – 22 February 2009

The New York Times – Bagram Detention Center – 20 July 2009

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – New U.S. Plan Reportedly To Let Afghan Prisoners Challenge Incarceration – 14 September 2009

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MADURAI,  Sri Lanka – Lynn Pascoe, head of UN’s political affairs department, recently expressed concern over the lack of progress in the removal of Sri Lankan Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) from government-operated refugee camps.  Pacsoe and a small team flew out to Sri Lanka hoping to bolster the evacuation process.  Pascoe commented that “[The UN is] particularly concerned about the [IDPs] in the camps, and getting them…home.”

Photo: Tamil children stand behind razor-wire in an IDP camp (Source: Associated Press). 

Ethnic Tamils have been subject to inhumane conditions in refugee camps since the May defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam.  Military strikes on the rebel group effectively ended insurgencies plaguing Sri Lanka for over twenty-five years.  However, post-war sanctuary has been failing to provide proper living situations for the displaced Tamils.  Camp dwellers describe unsanitary conditions and a lack of soap and toothbrushes.  Movement within the camps is stringently restricted.  Many IDPs have been wearing the same clothes since they entered the refugee camps.  Food and medical supplies have also been inadequate to support the droves of IDPs forced to take shelter.  Tamil IDPs have also reported severe mistreatment at the camps, saying military overseers treat them more like prisoners of war than a protected population.  

The UN has delivered sharp warnings to the Lankan government that it may no longer be able to aid in funding the immense interment camps.  Fearing the failure of the camps, the UN firmly demanded the release of the unwillingly encamped IDPs.  Sri Lanka’s Colombo officials responded with a commitment to release 80-percent of the over 280,000 Tamils by the end of this year.  However, the Colombo government claims to be unable to successfully evacuate the interment camps until the Lankan military can identify and remove surviving Tamil Tigers from among the civilian IDPs.  Numerous human rights groups have criticized the Colombo government for forcing Tamil IDPs to endure sub-human conditions while performing prolonged and questionable screening processes.   

The Colombo government also stated that it would have to clear stray landmines strewn about the areas surrounding the camps before releasing Tamil IDPs.  Tamils in the interment camps, however, have voiced skepticism and discontent towards the government’s supposed safety measures.   

The extended encampment of Sri Lankan IDPs signifies the affliction of ethnic Tamils after a civil war which stole the lives of up 100,000 people.  The camps contain IDPs in mean conditions and cannot sufficiently supply fundamental necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter.  The UN and multiple human rights organizations continue to pressure the Colombo government into releasing civilians, yet it seems that until further action is taken, the fortune of nearly 280,000 Tamils remains uncertain. 

For more information, please see:
 
Al-Jazeera – UN ‘concerned’ over Sri Lanka camps – 14 September 2009 

CBC News – Sri Lankan refugee camps try UN patience – 11 September 2009

Express Buzz – Sri Lankan refugee camps worst in history – 14 August 2009

The Independent – UN warns Sri Lanka over prison camps – 12 September 2009