By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MUMBAI, India – The trial of gunman Mohammed Ajmal Kasab for the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai has begun on Monday in India.  He is the only gunman charged.

Kasab was captured on the first day of the attacks and has been held in jail until his trial.

The proceeding was conducted over a video link from prison.  Kasab was not brought into the court room for security reasons.  The jail barrack in which Kasab stays has been bomb proofed.

Judge M.L. Tahiliyani asked Kasab to identify himself and where he was from.  Kasab replied that he was from Faridkot, in the Punjab province of Pakistan.

Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said that that Kasab was smiling as the charges were being read to him.  Kasab also asked for legal counsel and accepted a court appointed advocate.  Nikam said, “Kasab and his co-conspirators informed the court that they are not in a position to engage any lawyer, therefore they would be provided an advocate through legal aid committee.”

Kasab is charged with twelve criminal counts, including murder and waging war against India.  He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Pakistani officials have acknowledged that Kasab is Pakistani and that attacks were plotted on their soil.  Pakistan announced criminal proceedings against eight suspects.

India blamed the Pakistani Islamic militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, for the attacks last year and say that most are from Pakistan.  The relations between India and Pakistan has worsened because it blames Pakistan for not clamping down on terrorism.

As a result of the three day attacks, about 164 people were dead.  Nine other attackers were killed.  The terrorists targeted luxury hotels and a Jewish community center.

The next hearing is set for March 30, where Judge Tahilyani will appoint counsel for Kasab.

For more information, please see:

Associate Press – Trial Opens for Gunman in Mumbai Attacks – 23 March 2009

Express India – Court to Decide Kasab’s Lawyer From Legal Panel on March 30 – 24 March 2009

Times of India – Bomb-proof Jail Within Jail for High-Profile Kasab Trial – 19 March 2009

Voice of America – Mumbai Terror Strike Gunmen Faces Trial in India – 23 March 2009

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

AFGHANISTAN – United States President Obama declared that an extra 4,000 troops would be sent to Afghanistan in an effort to fight against the Taliban and al-Quaeda.

Obama said, “I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Quaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future.”

This announcement followed an Afghanistan-Pakistan policy review that occurred soon after he took the oath of office.

Obama warned that the same terrorists behind the September 11, 2001 attacks were plotting another attack on the United States from Pakistani soil.

He further stressed that Afghanistan was in peril of falling into the hands of Islamic militants.  He said that “[i]f the Afghanistan government falls to the Taliban or allows al-Quaeda to go unchallenged, that country will again be a base for terrorists.”

Therefore, the main goal is to rebuild civilian infrastructure within Afghanistan.  The 4,000 troops to be sent to Afghanistan is to train and support the Afghan police and army.  In addition, more troops are needed from NATO allies.  In sum, Obama hopes to build the Afghan army to 134,000 and the police to 82,000.  Agricultural specialists, engineers and lawyers would also be sent to the country.

The Afghan government fully supports Obama’s policy.  Presidential spokesman Humayun Hamidzada  stated that “the recognition of the regional aspect of the problem in Afghanistan and specifically recognition that the al-Quaeda threat is mainly emanating from Pakistan.”

However, Obama recognized that the plan could not be carried out alone.  Obama is focused on utilizing allies “to confront our common enemy.”  He said that the existence of al Quaeda and the Taliban pose an international security threat, especially to the nations that border Afghanistan.

“Together with the United Nations, we will forge a new Contact Group for Afghanistan and Pakistan that brings together all who should have a stake in the security of the region,” he said.  This contact group is set to include “our NATO allies and other partners, but also the Central Asian states, the Gulf nations and Iran; Russia, India and China.”

Although there has been tension between the U.S. and Iran, Obama hopes to strengthen their diplomatic ties.

“We see Iran as an important player related to Afghanistan.  We see this as a very productive area for engagement in the future.”

Iran foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi said, “We will participate in the Afghanistan meeting.  At what level, I don’t know yet, but we will participate.”

The U.S. further seeks help from the Pakistani government to put pressure on al-Quaeda.  In exchange, Obama is asking Congress to pass a bill that would authorize the tripling of spending in Pakistan to $1.5 billion each year over the next five years.  The money will be spent to help rebuild schools, hospitals and roads.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Obama Proposes Afghan Contact Group Including Iran – 27 March 2009

Associated Press – Obama: Taliban and al-Quaida Must Be Stopped – 27 March 2009

BBC – U.S. Rethinks Afghanistan Strategy – 27 March 2009

Boston Globe – Obama Plans More Afghan Reinforcements – 26 March 2009

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China –  YouTube, a Google-owned popular video sharing site, is blocked by the Chinese government since Monday.  According to Reuters, Chinese traffic to the site saw a sharp decline on Monday and almost all the traffic had stopped by Tuesday.  Google did not explain why Chinese authorities were barring access to YouTube.  “We do not know the reason for the blockage, and we’re working as quickly as possible to restore access to our users in China.”  However, Chinese authorities are known for blocking websites they deem politically unacceptable or offensive.

Many people speculated it is because of footages that a Tibetan exile group posted on YouTube. The videos show protesters being beaten, kicked and choked allegedly by Chinese police officers in March 2008 riots. The Tibetan government-in-exile says the footage shows the Chinese government’s “brutality”.  But a Chinese government official said video footage is “a lie” because many of the images and voices in the video had been pieced together from different sources.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Qin Gang, told reporters: “Many people have a false impression that the Chinese government fears the Internet. In fact it is just the opposite.”
He cites that China has the world’s largest online population and 100m blogs.  “China’s internet is open enough, but also needs to be regulated by law in order to prevent the spread of harmful information and for national security”, he added.  However,  Qing Gang did not did not directly comment on whether YouTube had been blocked in China.

Several civil rights groups criticize the Chinese government for blocking YouTube. The Global Network Initiative said the blocking of YouTube in China is “inconsistent with the rule of law and the right to freedom of expression”. Leslie Harris, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology made a similar statement: ” China’s actions fail to live up to international norms. Anytime a country limits or takes down content online , it must be forthright and specific about its actions and do so only in narrowly defined circumstances consistent with international human rights and the rule of law.”

For more information:

AP – YouTube blocked in China; official says video fake – 24 March 2009

AFP – YouTube confirms website blocked in China – 24 March 2009

BBC – China criticised over YouTube – 25 March 2009

BBC – China says Tibet video is ‘a lie’ – 25 March 2009

CNN – YouTube blocked in China – 25 March 2009

Reuters – “Unafraid” China apparently fears YouTube – 24 March 2009

Wall Street Journal – China’s YouTube Block: A Tibet Connection? – 25 March 2009

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PYONGYANG, North Korea – North Korean government had detained two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, for “illegally intruding” into the North Korea through its border with China.  They are reporters for Current TV, a San Francisco-based media founded by former Vice President Al Gore.

According to a Seoul-based Christian group, the two journalists were working on a story on North Korean refugees, who try to escape the country by crossing the river into China.  The two journalists planned to interview women forced by human traffickers to strip for online customers and meet with children of defectors.  They were arrested while filming North Korea from the middle of the frozen Tumen River, along North Korea’s border with China.  “The two were said to have ignored warnings from North Korean guards to stop filming,” the fourth person escaped arrest said.

Human rights activist and Protestant pastor, Chun Kiwon, who heads a missionary group providing assistance to North Korean defectors, said the two journalists had met him in Seoul to ask for his advice on their mission.  He says that they told him that they were going to do a program on North Koreans who have fled the North.

In recent years, tens of thousands of North Koreans have streamed across the border into China.  North Korea border guards have crossed the border to pursuit North Koreans or to rob Chinese towns, coal mines and businesses in area.  China often ignores foreign journalists trying to report on North Korea from the border, but North Korean guards often react angrily to reporters trying to film or photograph them.

The U.S. State Department already contacted North Korea and China to secure the release of the two journalists.  The spokesperson Robert Wood told reporters Friday, “There is a lot of diplomacy going on. There have been a number of contacts made.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – North Korea confirms two Americans detained – 21 March 2009

AP – Detained reporters drawn to NKorean refugee story – 21 March 2009

BBC – N Korea confirms reporters held – 21 March 2009

New York Times – N. Korea Says It Is Holding Reporters – 22 March 2009

Voice of America – Report: Detained US Reporters Likely in Pyongyang – 22 March 2009