By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – The local Chinese government arrested Guan Jian, a reporter investigating allegedly corrupt real estate transactions in Taiyuan.  He has been held incommunicado ever since.  Jian’s son, Guan Yufei told Reuters that the family has not hear anything from Jian since police took him away. “His friends couldn’t reach him, his colleagues couldn’t either. At first we thought he had just gone on a reporting trip, but then after several days when he still wasn’t in touch, we got worried,” Guan Yufei said in a phone interview.

Police seized guan Jian’s work over bribery allegations, the official Xinhua News Agency said. He was arrested at a Taiyuan hotel by police officers from Zhangjiakou in the neighboring province of Hebei. Video footage recorded by the hotel’s security camera shows him being forcibly taken away in a car by five men.

It is the second case this month of a journalist being arrested because of reporting on alleged abuse of authority and corruption in Shanxi. CCTV reporter Li Min has been held since 4 December. Li Min, was investigating the prosecutors for a story when they traveled to Beijing to seize her, Chinese media said.  According to local news reports, authorities have accused her of accepting gifts from the brother of a businessman involved in a corruption story she was working on.  A lawyer working for Li’s family said that she appeared to be the victim of a “terrifying” abuse of power to silence her work.

Also, in 2007, a local journalist Lan Chenzhang was beaten to death at the site of a Shanxi mine accident.  Police accused him of posing as a journalist to extort money from the mine owners.  All cases highlight the risky situation that Chinese journalists find themselves when trying to report on corruption.  “Abuse of authority by local officials is common in this region, which is biggest source of coal in China and is riddled with corruption,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It is becoming increasingly dangerous for journalists to investigate corruption allegations involving officials. We urge the central government to investigate these cases and punish those who are really guilty.”

For more information, please see:

Committee to Protect Journalists – Two Chinese journalists face corruption charges in Shanxi – 16 December 2008

Reporters Without Boarders – A second reporter arrested after investigating suspected corruption in Shanxi province – 5 December 2008

Reuters – Chinese reporter chasing corruption claims disappears – 15 December 2008

South China Morning Post – A cleaner press needed, as well as a freer one – 17 December 2008

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HANOI, Vietnam – Today, nearly one in four Vietnamese use the internet and the number is steadily increasing. Vietnam authorities are worried over the growing number of bloggers and their increased use of the internet to express their views against the government. Currently, all Vietnam media agencies including televised news, radio and newspapers are state run. “They (state media) decide what we will hear, what we will read and what we will see,” said a blogger who identifies himself as Mr. Cold. “They are slaves of the Communists.”

In response, a senior Vietnamese internet security expert said that the Vietnamese authorities plan to police the content of dissident blogs through random checks and self-policing by the country’s blogging community. Authorities currently block some oversea websites that are critical of the government and authorities usually block anything they deem as encouraging public protest or any views that will anger China.

The government crackdown on bloggers has caused widespread criticism. “These new censorship regulations are not in accordance with freedom of speech, a right recognized by the Vietnamese constitution and international conventions signed by Vietnam,” said Le Minh Phieu, a Vietnamese legal scholar living in France.

On December 5, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court confirmed the September verdict and sentencing of Nguyen Hoang Hai, who uses the weblog name Dieu Cay and is a member of the online Free Vietnamese Journalists Club.

Dieu Cay has taken part in anti-Beijing demonstrations about a sensitive sea territory dispute with China and was arrested in April, days before the Olympic torch passed through former Saigon.
After a quick proceeding, the court upheld the sentence of two-and-a-half years imprisonment for Dieu Cay on the charge of tax fraud. “The police refused to let Dieu Cay pay his taxes in order to fabricate evidence of his guilt,” Dieu Cay’s lawyer told Reporters Without Borders. “This conviction was premeditated by the authorities.”

Many see Dieu Cay’s sentence as politically motivated. “The court took no account of new evidence submitted by Dieu Cay’s defence,” Reporters Without Borders said. “These rushed proceedings clearly show that the authorities are persecuting this blogger. The appeal court’s verdict was an unjust decision resulting from a trumped-up charge.”

Shawn Crispin, a Southeast Asia representative for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said “Nguyen Van Hai’s harsh treatment was meant to send a message to all of the country’s bloggers.”

For more information, please see:

AFP –  Vietnam Court Upholds Blogger’s Jail Term – 4 December 2008 

RFA – Vietnam to Police Blogs – 12 December 2008

RSF – Leading Blogger’s Conviction Upheld on Appeal – 5 December 2008

San Francisco Chronicle – Bloggers the New Rebels in Vietnam – 14 December 2008

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Former Khmer Rouge prison chief Dutch’s trial is pushed back due to prosecutor’s appeal to include more charges. Thus far, Dutch has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. The prosecutors want to expand the scope of Dutch’s indictment to include conspiracy to murder and starving and torturing Cambodians in the 1970s.

However, the judges of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal rejected the prosecutor’s appeal for conspiracy and allowed for pre-meditated murder and torture. In part, the court’s reasoning for rejecting the conspiracy claim was to expedite the trial.

There is also disagreement between the prosecutors themselves whether to charge more people involved in the Khmer Rouge regime, under which 2 million lives perished. Currently, there are five key members of the Khmer Rouge regime awaiting trial. International co-prosecutor Robert Petite believes that several more ex-Khmer Rouge members should be investigated; however, Chea Leang, his Cambodian colleague, sharply disagrees. They might file a joint letter of disagreement to the court asking judges to intervene.

This disagreement represents the first conflict between international and domestic officials. Even though the Khmer Rouge Tribunal is a UN funded court, it is still a Cambodian court. The government’s involvement in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal has been under scrutiny since many of the high officials were ex-Khmer Rouge members.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Khmer Trial Clears Final Hurdle– 5 December 2008

BBC – Prosecutor Dispute at Khmer Trial– 9 December 2008

Phnom Penh Post – Tribunal Hit by Row Over New Probes– 9 December 2008

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – French expatriate and author Harry Nicolaides was charged of “lese majeste” and jailed in Thailand since August. On December 4, Reporters Without Borders called for the immediate release of Nicolaides who faces up to 15 years in jail. Reporters Without Borders said, “We urge the Australian authorities to do everything within their power to secure the repatriation of Harry Nicolaides as quickly as possible.” The organization added, “He is being held in very harsh conditions and his morale is at a very low ebb.”

Nicolaide’s lawyer claims Nicolaides is suffering from poor health and requested bail on the grounds of medical reasons. The lawyer’s request was rejected for the fourth time on November 22.

The Thai government does not allow any published material that insults the Thai monarchy. The charges relate to Nicolaide’s book published three years ago, Verisimilitude, which alluded to the Crown Prince mistreating one of his mistresses.  The book did not gain much success as only 50 copies were sold; however, it was dug up by Thai authorities and Nicolaides is in jail for writing a book that was deemed to insult the Thai monarchy.  Nicolaides has since retracted his book and insists that he never meant to insult the Thai monarchy.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Nicolaides “has been refused bail on four separate occasions, which we of course regret, but it’s not possible for the Australian Government to seek to interfere in the judicial or legal processes of another country.” In the meantime, Smith said the Australian Embassy in Thailand has made 30 representations to the Thai government about Nicolaides’ case and is “treating this very seriously.”

Thailand has accused and arrested other nationals for insulting their monarchy in the past. In 2006, a Swiss National was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for insulting the Thai monarchy and he was ultimately released and deported after a few weeks. Earlier this year, a BBC journalist was accused of insulting the Thai monarchy a charge that BBC vehemently denies.

For more information, please see:

AP – Thai King’s Illness Sparks Anxiety Amid Crisis– 4 December 2008

RSF – Australian Author Denied Bail for the Fourth Time– 4 December 2008

The Australian – Stephen Smith Cannot Help Jailed Aussie Harry Nicolaides in Thailand – 9 December 2008

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MUMBAI, India – The terrorist attacks in Mumbai resulted in 188 people dead and at least 200 injured. The gunmen opened fire in several locations including a railway station, restaurant, hospital, a Jewish center, and two hotels, the Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi-Trident.

India has made clear that it suspects that the attacks originated in Pakistan. India believes that the attack “was carried out by elements from Pakistan” and “the government expects that strong action would be taken against those elements.”

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari told CNN’s Larry King that “Pakistan is in no way responsible.” “Even the White House and the American CIA have said that today. The state of Pakistan is, of course, not involved. We’re part of the victims.”

One of the captured gunmen is held in police custody. According to Indian officials, he is Pakistani and trained by Lashkare-Tayyiba, a terrorist group based in Pakistan that has aligned itself with al Qaeda. Lashkare-Tayyiba has denied any involvement.

Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee stated that the 10 attackers hijacked a trawler in Karachi and arrived in Mumbai by way of dinghies.

Mumbai’s police chief, Hasan Gafoor, said that a global positioning system (GPS) was recovered showing that the attackers originated in Pakistan.

India has demanded that Pakistan extradite 20 suspects who have taken refuge in Pakistan. Most of them are rebel leaders and many were connected to the 2001 attack on India’s Parliament and the 2006 attack on the Indian embassy in Afghanistan.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi stated that “this is not a time to point fingers” and proposes a common strategy between the two countries.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said as she went to New Delhi, India, “Everyone should cooperate fully, and Pakistan in particular needs to cooperate fully and transparently.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – India Makes Protest to Pakistan – 1 December 2008

CNN – Rice Heads to India to Ease Tensions – 2 December 2008

U.S. News & World Report – India Points Finger at Pakistan Over Mumbai Terrorist Attacks – 2 December 2008