Asia

Rights Group Urging Bangladesh to Stop Extrajudicial Killings

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

DHAKA, Bangladesh – The latest report by the Human Rights Watch called on the Bangladesh government to take urgent action “to end impunity for human rights abuses and to establish rule of law.”  According to the report, although extrajudicial killings have decreased since a new government took power in January 2009, Bangladesh security forces routinely engage in unlawful killings.

Detainees are subjected to severe beatings, sexual violence and electrical shocks, but Bangladesh’s Constitution allows the parliament to pass laws that shield law enforcement officers and members of armed forces from prosecution.  Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said Bangladesh’s Constitution is in violation of international legal standards.  He also added that as a party to UN human rights conventions, Bangladesh’s “existing culture of impunity has to be torn down.”

Over the past five years, Bangladesh’s elite crime fighting force known as the Rapid Action Battalion, along with the police, are reported to be responsible for over 1,000 deaths, and have become a symbol of abuse and impunity.  “If you are a soldier, a member of the Rapid Action Battalion or the intelligence services, or a police officer, you can get away with murder in Bangladesh,” said Adams, “But those who kill or torture should be behind bars with other violent criminals.”

Faruk Khan, a senior member of the Cabinet, said that the Bangladesh government does not support extrajudicial killings and that proper action will be taken against those found guilty.

Odhikar, a Bangladeshi rights group, said 14 people have been killed so far in 2009.  Human Rights Watch is pushing for the Bangladesh government to set up witness protection programs and prosecute or take action against those who try to hinder prosecution.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Rights group slams Bangladesh state ‘murders’ – 19 May 2009

Associated Press – Watchdog: End Bangladesh’s extra-judicial killings – 18 May 2009

Human Rights Watch – Bangladesh: Executions, Torture by Security Forces Go Unpunished – 18 May 2009

Reuters – Rights group urges Bangladesh to end unlawful killings – 18 May 2009

Journalists Prohibited from Swat Valley Pakistan

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PAKISTAN – Journalists are fleeing the northwest region known as the Swat Valley due to fighting between the Taliban and the Pakistan military.  A military-imposed curfew has caused most newspapers to stop publishing.  Human rights groups urge the Pakistani government to provide journalists with security to remain in the area and with permits so that they can report past curfew.

“Journalists love the thrill of working in ‘conflict zones’ where they can cover events which change the course of history,” says Mazhar Abbas, the former Secretary General of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). “Sadly, this no longer holds true for Pakistani journalists required to cover the war in the Swat Valley where they face dire security threats,” Abbas continues. “Every other day, there is news of journalists being killed or kidnapped, or threats to their families in the war-torn areas.”

The latest military offensive has killed more than 1,000 alleged militants.  The recent fighting began in early May but has continued in Lower Dir and Buner districts since last month.  At least one million civilians have been displaced, 1,000 of which are currently in relief camps.  The military plans to attack Mingora, one of the main towns in the Swat Valley.  Mingora is believed to house at least 4,000 Taliban.

Yet there is no way to verify claims since these places have become too dangerous for journalists.

Reporters Without Borders stated that due to the lack of media presence “the Swat Valley has become a lawless area. . .  This situation is unacceptable and must be remedied by the government at once.”

Despite the devastation, the presence of military forces in the Swat Valley has restored hope to those who reside there. Afzal Khan Lala, who is known for his resistance to the Taliban in Swat, said, “The ongoing military operation has given people hope because [this military operation] is different from the past — it is restoring people’s confidence [in their government and the army].”  He continues, “In my opinion, if the operation moves forward the same way, it will not take months to [restore peace to Swat].”

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Pakistan: Offensive Kills 1,000+ Alleged Militants – 17 May 2009

Committee to Protect Journalists – Briefing: Pakistani Journalists Face Taliban, Military Threats – 30 April 2009

Index on Censorship – Pakistan: Journalism is First Casualty – 15 May 2009

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty – Swat Braces for Key Battle as Displacement Crisis Peaks – 15 May 2009

Reporters Without Borders – Journalists Flee Swat Valley En Masse – 12 May 2009

Hearing to Investigate Kyrgyz Defendants’ Allegations of Torture

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch, Reporter

KYRGYZSTAN – A hearing took place at Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court to investigate allegations of torture on Thursday.  Thirty-two defendants were arrested in October for protesting the government’s decision to prohibit the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Fitr.  The police arrested them, claiming they were Islamic “extremists.”  The defendants stood trial in the Osh Province a month later.  Many claimed they were tortured while in police custody.

“The prosecutor’s office should have started an investigation into the torture allegations a long time ago,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Torture is a common problem in Kyrgyzstan, and the Supreme Court hearing is a chance for the authorities to make clear that the abusers can no longer get away with it.”

The Osh Province Court found the defendants guilty of charges including incitement to cause or participate in mass unrest, separatism, attempted overthrow of the constitutional order, and spreading ethnic or religious strife.  They were sentenced between nine and twenty years in prison.

The Kyrgyz Human Rights Council requested ombudsman Tursunbek Akun to conduct an independent investigation. “The gross violation of the basic right to a free trial, the mass repression of ordinary citizens, torture, and blackmail by the law-enforcement agencies could undermine confidence in the state and trigger anger against its representatives and increase radicalism in the region,” the council said.

On February 20, 2009, the ombudsman declared his intention to have the rulings reviewed.  “Torture was widely used to get testimony. There were just four actual supporters of the Khizb ut-Takhrir party (among the accused) and the rest were placed in the same category. I plan to draw public attention to this,” he said.

According to Human Rights Watch, “law enforcement officials poured hot and cold water on them, beat them on the soles of their feet, and semi-suffocated them using plastic bags or gas masks. Detainees also had to stand in their underwear in a cold room with their feet in water for up to three days, were not allowed to use sanitary facilities, and did not receive needed medical treatment.”

Human rights organizations view the Supreme Court hearing as an opportunity to further investigate the torture allegations to ensure justice.

For more information, please see:

Central Asian Online – Kyrgyzstan Ombudsman Seeks Further Investigation of Nookat Events – 02 February 2009

Human Rights Watch – Kyrgyzstan: Investigate Torture Allegations – 13 May 2009

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty – Kyrgyz High Court Hearing Appeal by Religious Extremists – 15 May 2009

Atrocities continue in Sri Lanka

By Oscar J. Barbosa
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

COLOMBO – Sri Lanka, Ban Ki Moon, United Nations Secretary-General, called for an immediate ceasefire between the Sri Lankan Government and the revel Tamil forces.  The calling is due to an indiscriminate shelling of the Tamil coastal strip, where the Tamil Tigers have taken as the last stronghold. The region is inhabited by thousands of civilians cut in the crossfire, dying by the hundreds.

A temporal medical facility was attacked with a mortar bomb destroying the only functioning medical facility in the war zone. Due to the attack, 49 patients and bystanders were killed and 50 others were wounded.  The facility had also been attacked on May 2nd, when 64 civilians died.

The figures compiled by the United Nations showed that nearly 6,500 civilians had been killed over the last three months. The casualties’ calculations cannot be verified due to the government position of restricting doctors, aid workers, or foreigners into the war zone.  It is clear that at least 50,000 remain trapped in hell-like conditions.

As the fighting continues, there is an unclear global position in regards to the civil unrest.  Foreign ministers from Britain and France have flown to Sri Lanka to urge restraint and a halt to the bombings. Additionally, the Temils living in London, Toronto and in Tamil Nadu (India), have outspoken and lead demonstrations to demand an international intervention. The UN Security Council failed to take on the issue due to Russia, China, Japan and Vietnam’s block arguing that the fighting was an internal matter.

Priyanth Nallaratnam, a Tamil living in Toronto and participant of the protests said that:  “If the Prime Minister keeps on ignoring this, his ignorance of the community’s plight is just going to fuel the people even more, […] the Prime Minister [should] call for a ceasefire, expel the Sri Lankan ambassador, impose sanctions, send food aid and maybe deploy peacekeepers, among a long list of desired actions.”

Japan has also been pressured by Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group, Amnesty International, and Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. The four human rights groups urged Japan to support a formal action on the situation as a member of the UN.

The communication of the Human Rights groups, sent to the Japanese prime minister said that ” Japan, a powerful player on the humanitarian stage and the largest international donor to Sri Lanka, has an important role to play in saving countless civilian lives.” The letter also said that Japan had an important role to play to implement aid policies that ensure sustainable peace, human rights and development in Sri Lanka.

It is uncertain whether or not the international community will take action amidst intensive fighting with high collateral civilian casualties.

For more information, please see:

Zeenews – Human Rights groups ask Japan to flex muscle on Lanka – 12 May 2009
Posted Toronto – Tamils warn of more traffic chaos in new protest tomorrow – 12 May 2009
Times Online – Slaughter in Sri Lanka – 12 May 2009
The Independent – Forty-nine killed after hospital attacked in Sri Lanka – 12 May 2009

Junta Allows Doctor Visit to the Detained Opposition Leader

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar – After an American man allegedly sneaked into the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s home last week, Junta took her physician for questioning, according to the National League for Democracy spokesman Nyan Win.  Last week, an American man named John Willian Yeattaw swam 1 1/4 miles across Inya Lake to detained Suu Kyi’s home and “secretly entered the house”, according state-run press.  Myanmar authorities arrested the man.

Nyan Win says that the physician arrived at Sun Kyi’s house for her routine monthly checkup but was barred from entering.  Later, the authorities took doctor Tin Myo Win from his home for questioning, and have not returned since. “We don’t know where he was kept or why he was questioned,” Nyan Win said.

Human Rights groups have accused Junta of denying Suu Kyi adequate medical care.  Finally, Junta allowed a doctor to make a visit to Suu Kyi on Monday. Tin Myo Win’s assistant doctor, Dr. Pyone Moe Ei was granted a medical visit on Monday afternoon to Suu Kyi’s home, where she is under house arrest.  Suu Kyi was found to be suffering from dehydration and low blood pressure. A medical assistant has placed Ms Suu Kyi on an intravenous drip, and her health has improved since.  The doctor issued an appeal for Suu Kyi to be allowed further treatment for her condition.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the 63-year-old Nobel laureate, one of the world’s most famous political prisoners.  She has been living under house arrest without trial for 13 of the past 19 years.  Suu Kyi’s party won a victory in Myanmar’s 1990′ elections.  But military authorities ignored the results, and many party members are now in prison, in exile or in hiding.

For more information, please see:

AP – Myanmar arrests US man for entering Suu Kyi home – 07 May 2009

AP – Doctor of Myanmar’s Suu Kyi questioned by police – 09 May 2009

BBC – Burma’s Suu Kyi ‘in poor health’ – 09 May 2009

Times – Burma’s Most Famous Political Prisoner Gets a Surprise Visitor – 08 May 2009

United Press International – Doctor allowed access to Aung San Suu Kyi – 11 May 2009

USA – American arrested for allegedly sneaking into Burmese activist’s home – 07 May 2009

Washington Post – Myanmar junta allows doctor to see ailing Suu Kyi – 11 May 2009