By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NAYPYIDAW, Burma – 19 North Koreans that were arrested in Burma for trying to defect to South Korea through Burma and Thailand were released by Burmese authorities.  Of the group, 15 were women and there was one seven-year-old boy. Instead of being jailed or deported back to North Korea, the refugees are now in detained in Thailand.

On December 2, 2008, Burmese authorities detained 19 North Koreans refugees near the Thai border for illegal entry.  Initially, Burma was going to try the North Korean refugees who can face up to three years in jail for illegal entry. However, refugee sympathizers and NGOs pressured the Burmese government to release the North Korean refugees and not to send them back to North Korea.

Burmese officials offered no comment on this issue. Burma has been trying to renovate strained ties with North Korea that was restored in 2007.

A Thai immigration official told Korea Times that the North Korean refugees surrendered to Thai authorities right away and said, “They were asking for political asylum in South Korea.”

He continued, “The South Korean embassy in Bangkok would have to notify us that their asylum applications were accepted, and then there must be an NGO group to give these refugees further assistance to reach their goal.”

Thailand does not formally recognize asylum seekers as refugees. However, Thai officials turnover many asylum seekers to NGOs and refugees groups that help asylum seekers settle in another country.

Thousands of North Koreans have fled North Korea due to property and political oppression.  Many of these refugees travel through China or Southeast Asia before seeking asylum in South Korea. South Korea is currently home to about 14,000 North Korean defectors.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Burma Frees North Korean Refugees – 1 January 2009

Irrawaddy –19 North Koreans Arrested at Thai-Burmese Border – 22 December 2008

Korea Times – Burma Sends 19 North Koreans to Thailand – 4 January 2009

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar – Chin, an ethnic group living in Myanmar’s western Chin state.  About 90 percent of Chin is Christian, account for about one percent of Myanmar’s 57 million people.  The Chin National Front (CNF) rebel group is still fighting the junta. The recent Human Rights Watch report shows a wide range of human rights abuses carried out by the Myanmar Junta.  The abuses include forced labor, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, religious repression and other restrictions on fundamental freedoms.  According to the report, tens of thousands of Chin flee across the border to India, and some of them were forced to return home.  Human Rights Watch called the Indian government to extend protection to Chin who have fled to the country to escape ongoing abuse in Myanmar.

The report is based on extensive research and interviews carried out from 2005 to 2008.  Human Rights Watch interviewed Chin who are currently living in Chin state, and who fled the country permanently, most in recent years.  A Chin man who fled to India told the group, “They tortured me and put me in jail for one week. They beat me on my head and ears — I still have a hearing problem. Then the army forced me to work at road construction and repair the army camp.”

Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch said ethnic groups like the Chin have borne the brunt of abusive military rule in Burma for too long.  “It is time for this brutal treatment to stop and for the army to be held to account for its actions. India should step forward to protect those desperately seeking sanctuary,” she adds.

Amy Alexander, a Human Rights Watch consultant, told at a press conference the Myanmar Junta targeted anyone suspected of links to the CNF.  Religious suppression was also rampant in Chin State, the only predominantly Christian state in mainly Buddhist Myanmar.  “The military government regularly interferes with worship services… and also destroys religious symbols and buildings,” she says.

For more information, please see:

AP – Report: Myanmar’s Chin people persecuted – 27 January 2009

AFP – Myanmar abusing Christian Chin minority: rights group – 27 January 2009

BBC – Burma’s ‘abused Chin need help’ – 28 January 2009

Human Rights Watch – Burma/India: End Abuses in Chin State – 28 January 2009

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Chinese authorities launched a 42-day “strike hard” campaign in Tibet since Jan. 18, 2009.  According to the Chinese-language state-run Lhasa Evening News, “Within three days of the launch of the winter “Strike Hard” campaign, the Lhasa municipal public security bureau had deployed 600 officers and around 160 police vehicles, and had conducted raids on seven housing blocks, 2,922 rented houses, 14 guest house and hotels, 18 bars and three Internet cafés in Lhasa.”

The authorities in Lhasa had rounded up and interrogated 5,766 Tibetans in the first three days of the campaign.  Dharamsala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) contends that the main objective of the campaign is probably to find participants in last year’s Lhasa unrest.  TCHRD assistant director Jampa Monlam said that police questioning is focused on last year’s March 14 demonstrations that turned into rioting in Lhasa.  “They are asking people where they were during the March 14 incident in Lhasa, whether they have an alibi, and so on. If you can’t prove where you were during that time, you will probably be detained.”

In addition, all visitors are required to apply for a temporary residence permit from the police if they wishes to stay for more than three days and less than a month in Lhasa, TCHRD said.

“Strike hard” campaign was first launched in China in 1983 to fight corruptions and crimes.  However, the motive of launching this campaign in China and in Tibet is very different.  The motive of launching such campaign in Tibet is to intimidate and eliminate those supporting Tibetan independence and human rights activists in Tibet.

For more information, please see:

Punjab Newsline – China grills 5766 Tibetans under winter “Strike Hard” campaign in Lhasa – 23 January 2009

Radio Free Asia – China ‘Strikes Hard’ in Tibet – 26 January 2009

Tibetan Review – 5,766 rounded up in Lhasa under winter ‘strike hard’ move – 26 January 2009

World News – 5766 Tibetan people questioned in winter ‘Strike Hard’ campaign – 24 January 2009

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – The Sri Lankan military declared a “safety zone” for the 250,000 civilians trapped in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)’s stronghold.  The military offensives have backed the LTTE into the town of Mullaitivu, located in Sri Lanka’s northeastern province.

Air force planes dropped thousands of leaflets to urge civilians to travel to the safety zone where the army will then transport them into government territory away from warfare.  The safety zone is a 14 square mile zone located in rebel territory.

Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said, “We will not fire into that area.”

The government says that it has set up temporary shelters in the Vavuniya area, south of the fighting.

The war between the Tiger rebels and the government have raised serious human rights concerns regarding the displaced civilians.  Human Rights Watch has accused the Tigers of preventing the freedom of movement of the people.  On the other hand, the Tigers claim that they protect the civilians who follow them of their own free will.

There is no way to confirm accounts since people are restricted people from going in and out of the area.

A day after the military declared a safe zone, the pro-rebel Tamil website, TamilNet, said that the army shelled a hospital, killing at least five civilians, in the Tiger controlled territory.

The military denied the allegations, stating that there was no need to fire at the hospital and that the statement was merely propaganda.

The LTTE have been fighting for decades to establish an independent homeland for the minority Tamils who claim they have suffered oppression by the Sri Lankan government and majority.  There have been over 270,000 deaths as a result of the violence.

The United Nations calls upon the Tigers to allow free passage to civilians and to UN staff to allow aid inside the territory.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – 250,000 Tamil Civilians Urged to Flee to Safety – 21 January 2009

BBC – Civilians ‘Die in Lanka Shelling’ – 22 January 2009

New York Times – Sri Lanka Presses Rebels, but at a Mounting Cost – 22 January 2009

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

AFGHANISTAN – Human Rights Watch claims that the U.S. investigation into the August 2008 air strikes on western Afghanistan was “deeply flawed” and thereby casts doubt over the military’s commitment to reduce civilian casualties.

On October 1, 2008, the Department of Defense published a summary of a report by Brigadier General Michael Callan of the August air strikes in Azizabad.

Following the summary, Human Rights Watch conducted its own investigations into the matter.

“The weaknesses in the Callan Report Summary call into question the depth of the Defense Department’s commitment to institute reforms that would reduce civilian casualties,” Human Rights Watch said in a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Separate investigations were conducted by the United Nations (UN), the Afghani government, and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.  Their investigations concluded that about 78 to 92 civilians were killed, whereas the Callan summary only reported five to seven.

After receiving much criticism by the UN and Afghani government, and the release of video footage demonstrating a high number of civilian deaths, the U.S. conducted its own investigation led by General Callan.

As a result, the Callan summary accepted that 33 civilians were killed, failing to recognize the numbers arrived at by the UN and government of Afghanistan and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commision; criticized their methodology; failing to acknowledge flaws in their own assessments, and; disimissing villager testimony.

The UN backs the government of Afghanistan.

“This is a matter of grave concern to the United Nations.  I have repeatedly made clear that the safety and welfare of civilians must be considered above all else during the planning and conduct of all military operations.  The impact of such operations undermines the trust and confidence of the Afghan people in efforts to build a just, peaceful and law-abiding state,” stated Kai Eide, the UN special envoy to Afghanistan.

Human Rights Watch, Asia Director Brad Adams stated, “There was great hope in Afghanistan that the Callan report would provide a credible and detailed analysis of the Azizabad airstrikes, place blame where it gell, lead to appropriate disciplinary action, and result in operational changes that would avoid such tragedies in the future.  Unfortunately, this has not happened.”

This year, there is an expected 30,000 increase in U.S. troops in Afghanistan and the civilian death toll could increase if military procedures remain unchanged.

For more information, please see:

Guardian – Afghanistan Demands End to NATO Air Strikes on Villagers – 26 August 2008

Human Rights Watch – Afghanistan:  U.S. Investigation of Airstrike Deaths ‘Deeply Flawed’ – 15 January 2009

Human Rights Watch – Troops in Contact:  Air Strikes and Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan – 8 September 2008

Reuters – U.S. Probe into Afghan Civil Deaths “Flawed” – 15 January 2009