By Alishba I. Kassim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India -The debate over the death penalty has emerged in India after three people were found guilty for the 2003 bombing in Mumbai. During this shocking attack, over 50 people were killed and around 180 were injured. The defendants, Ashrat Ansari, Haneef Sayyed, and his wife Fahmeeda, have been sentenced to death, as Judge MR Puranik presiding over an anti-terrorist court claimed they “should be hanged by the neck until dead”.

The defendants’ lawyers will appeal the conviction; Haneef Sayyed’s counsel has reasoned that a life sentence without parole would be just and his wife’s lawyer claims that Fahmeeda unwillingy participated in the attacks due to pressure from her husband. However, the chief public prosecutor, Ujjwal Nikam, said that anything less than capital punishment would be a “mockery of justice”. Interestingly, the death penalty is not a common punishment in India, and tends to be either postponed for long periods of time or commuted.

The three defendants practice Islam, and have declared that their attacks were a response to the violence against Muslims in Gujarat the previous year. They are supposedly connected to the dreaded Lashkar-e-Tayyiba group, which conducts attacks against India in opposition to its occupation in Kashmir. The group was banned in Pakistan after 9/11, and has been held responsible for numerous acts of terrorism in India, as well as linked to the three-day attacks in Mumbai last November. Pakistan has now increased its search for those responsible for the attack, asking Interpol to step in as well. The defendants have denied all allegations about their suspected involvement with the group.

For more information, please see:

BBC – India to Execute Bomb Trio – August 6, 2009

CNN – Pakistan Launches Global Manhunt for Mumbai Suspects –    August 6, 2009 

BBC – India and the Death Penalty – August 4, 2009  

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGALORE, India – Police forces in India are accused of undermining democracy and breeding brutality.  Human Rights Watch is urging the Indian government to take major steps to rectify the police system that facilitates and encourages human rights violations, such as torture, illegal detention and extra-judicial killings.

(Source: AFP)

For example, in one case, a death of a woman killed while in custody was passed off as a suicide.  In other cases, suspects have been tied to wooden sticks and tortured until they fainted.

India’s dysfunctional police system is the result of poor working conditions and a culture that encourages impunity by allowing the police to commit human rights abuses so as to alleviate excessive workload and not create a backlog of cases. 

85% of the Indian police comprise low-ranking officers who work long hours and live in cramped quarters far from their homes.  Furthermore, most of the policemen are not trained to handle complex criminal investigations.  Indian police officers also receive immunity from prosecutions for actions conducted while on “official duty.”  For example, official figures from 2005 show that 23 policemen were charged with atrocities, but none were convicted.

“India is modernizing rapidly, but the police continue to use their old methods: abuse and threats.  It’s time for the government to…fix the system,” said Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch.  He also added, “Police who commit or order torture and other abuses need to be treated as the criminals they are.  There shouldn’t be one standard for police who violate the law and another for average citizens.”

(Source: AP)

Often, religious and sexual minorities, women, and lower-caste Indians are the victims of police abuse because they lack money and political connections.  Many Indians also avoid contact with the police out of fear.

A Supreme Court decision in 2006 mandated police law reforms, but the Indian government has failed to implement the court order.  The government elected in May has promised to actively pursue police reforms.
For more information, please see:

AFP – Indian police culture breeds brutality: report – 4 August 2009

BBC – Indian police accused of abuses – 4 August 2009

Human Rights Watch – India: Overhaul Abusive, Failing Police System – 4 August 2009

Reuters – India’s police undermine democracy, human rights – HRW – 4 August 2009

By Alishba I. Kassim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Last week Muslim protestors in Gojra, Pakistan set fire to Christian houses, resulting in seven dead, and over twenty injured. The cause of this outbreak of violence in the province of Punjab was an allegation against Christians, who had supposedly desecrated the pages of the Quran at a wedding. Over forty houses were burnt during the outbreak, and around 100 were looted, as the two religious groups engaged in gunfire.

The Federal Minister of Minorities, Shehbaz Bhatti, declared that no such desecration of the Islamic text had occurred. The minister claimed the allegations were “baseless”. In light of the violence and unfortunate deaths of the two men, four women, and one child, all of whom were Christian, over a thousand Christians would not acknowledge the dead until the government held the demonstrators responsible. Now, two hundred people have been arrested.

The provincial minister of human rights and foreign affairs in Punjab, Kamran Michael, called for three days of mourning for the victims, causing all Christian institutions to close down. The leader also denounced the current Pakistani “law of offenses relating to religion” which strictly prohibits any debasement of the Quran, possibly leading to life imprisonment or the death penalty. The minister called for a change in the law, helping to protect minorities against the predominantly Muslim societal structure.

For more information, please see:

The Hindu – Communal Clashes in Pakistan – August   5, 2009 

CNN – 200 Arrested in Violence against Christians in Pakistan – August 3, 20 09 

CNN – Pakistani Police Patrol Streets after Christians Murdered – August 2, 2009 

By Alishba I. Kassim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan – Independent journalist, Dilmurod Saidov, was sentenced to 12 ½ years in prison following what many call a “flawed” trial.

The trial was brought on by politically motivated charges according to Human Rights Watch, and was riddled with “procedural violations.” Several witnesses withdrew their testimony claiming to have given false evidence earlier. Saidov was arrested on February 11 at his home in Tashkent and accused of extortion by Asliddin Urinboev, head of the Agricultural Equipment and Tractor Park. Urinboev alleged that Saidov had sought to extort $15,000.00 from him with the help of another individual, Marguba Juraeva. After both their arrests, Juraeva gave written testimony implicating Saidov, but rescinding her testimony the following day saying she was under the influence when she had given it.

Saidov was convicted of extortion and forgery in a closed session at the Tailak District Court. Neither Saidov’s lawyer nor his public defender were informed of the trial date in advance. The court secretary said the sentencing was closed “in the interest of security” and did not comment further.

Local human rights agencies on ground in Uzbekistan believe that Saidov was prosecuted and convicted because of his efforts to expose local officials’ abuse of power and corruption. Uzbekistan has a history of jailing reporters and human rights activists according to Human Rights Watch. “Dilmurod Saidov is well known for his courageous work to expose rampant corruption in Uzbekistan and this conviction is clearly an attempt to stop him,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The trial was a travesty of justice, and Saidov should be freed immediately.”

The investigation and trial were plagued with inconsistencies and violations according to Human Rights Watch. Court hearings were repeatedly conducted without prior notice to Saidov’s attorneys. Other witnesses who spoke out against Saidov claimed they had been detained for two days in pretrial detention and pressured into making allegations against Saidov.

Saidov is amongst 13 other human rights defenders and journalists currently being detained in Uzbekistan pending trial. Several other civic activists and independent journalists are serving sentences on what many groups call “politically motivated charges.”

 

For more information, please see:

Ferghana – Free-Lance Journalist Saidov Jailed to 12.5 Years – August 3, 2009  

Human Rights Watch – Free Journalist Sentenced to Over 12 Years – Augu  st 3, 2009

Nasdaq – Uzbek Journalist Jailed for 12 Years – August 3, 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia– Thousands of Malaysians protested in the country’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, against a controversial and archaic law enacted during the British colonial era called the Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial.

Police using water cannon against protesters (Source: Reuters)

5,000 police, using tear gas and water cannons, clashed with 15,000 protesters.  This protest, which was unauthorized by the government, led to more than 200 arrests, and many protesters ran to local shops and alleys in order to avoid being arrested.  In Malaysia, meetings of more than four people require permits, and the police have previously used tear gas and chemical-laced water against demonstrators.  The Malaysian government and the police had warned that they would not allow this protest as allowing such a rally would undermine public peace.

The protest was backed by Malaysia’s biggest opposition party, and the protesters had originally planned to march peacefully to the national palace and submit a petition to the king denouncing the Internal Security Law.  Opposition activists have long claimed that this law is sometimes used to imprison government critics or to dampen dissent.  Malaysia’s prime minster had promised to consider amending the Internal Security Act, but other government officials have repeatedly stated that the Act is necessary for national security.  Nazri Aziz, Cabinet Minister responsible for legal affairs, said, “The [Internal Security Act] will not be abolished.”

Police and protesters in Kuala Lumpur (Source: AP)

Regarding the police blockade and the government’s refusal to allow the protest, the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, said, “The police are really brutal.  This clearly shows [the government’s] intolerance to any dissent…We gather here today to fight a cruel law.”

Human rights groups have estimated that at least 17 people are being held under the Internal Security Act, mainly for links to militants or document forgery. 

For more information, please see:

AP – Malaysian police tear gas, scuffle with protesters – 1 August 2009

BBC – Protest at Malaysia security law – 1 August 2009

Philstar – Malaysia activists protest detention without trial – 31 July 2009