By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

Sri Lanka – Human Rights Watch urged the Sri Lankan government to immediately drop charges and release Tamil journalist J.S. Tissainayagam, and two other detainees, Tamil publisher N. Jasiharan and his wife V. Valamathy last Sunday.

“The Sri Lankan government is shamefully using antiterrorism laws to silence peaceful critics in the media,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.  “This is no way for a government that claims to be a right-respecting democracy to act.”

Tissainayagam contributed to the Sunday Times, writing weekly columns, most of them pertaining to Sri Lankan government, such as security issues.  He was also editor of the Outreach website.  In 2006, he edited an article in the North Eastern Monthly.  According to Free Media Movement, North Eastern Monthlywas known as a pro-Tamil publication that was not considered connected to the terrorist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil-Eelam.

On March 7, Tissainayagam was arrested by Sri Lanka’s Terrorist Investigation Division.  Almost five months later, Tissainayagam was indicted by Colombo’s High Court on August 25 for violating Sri Lanka’s Emergency Regulations and the Prevention of Terrorism Act for inciting communal disharmony for printing and distributing the North Eastern Monthly magazine and aiding and abetting terrorist organizations through raising money for the magazine.

“We condemn J.S. Tissainayagam’s long detention and harsh charges for publishing a magazine, which should not constitute an offense,” said Bob Dietz, Committee to Protect Journalists Asia Program Coordinator.  “This is the latest step by the Sri Lankan government to intimidate journalists who write about security issues.”

Rajiva Wijesinha, Sri Lanka’s secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, denied that Tissainayagam was being detained merely for criticizing the government.  He said, “Some of their publications were designed to embarrass the Sri Lankan government through false accusations.”

For more information, please see:

Committee to Protect Journalists – Sri Lankan Journalist Indicted on Terrorist Charges – 25 August 2008

Human Rights Watch – Sri Lanka:  Free Journalists Unfairly Held – 2 December 2008

Tamil Insight – IFJ was Alarmed by the Transfer of Tissainayagam to Violent Magazine Prison -21 November 2008

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

Kazakhstan – Human Rights Watch urged the Kazakh government that it should make human rights reforms before taking chair to the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE).  Kazakhstan was chosen last year to become chair in 2010.  Human Rights Watch issued a 55-page report, “An Atmosphere of Quiet Repression:  Freedom of Religion, Expression and Assembly in Kazakhstan,” which documents Kazakhstan’s extensive restrictions on freedom of religion, express and assembly, all in contravention of human rights law.

The United States urged Kazakhstan to reform human rights violations by the end of this year.  U.S. assistant secretary of state for the region, Richard Boucher, stated that, “Despite slow and uneven progress, President Nazarbayev assured me earlier this year that Kazakhstan will stand by its commitments… Clearly, a great deal of work must be done by the end of 2008.”

President Nazarbayev promised last month for a more democratic Parliament, allow more media freedom, and change electoral law.

Opposing members of the OSCE and human rights groups protest the Kazakh appointment, stating that it is too early for the country to lead in democracy.

Human Rights Watch calls upon Kazakhstan to fulfill its pledges it promised OSCE and that are required of it as a member of the OSCE such as:  “revise the draft religion law to bring it into conformity with the Kazakh constitution and international human rights standards; Make public a review of the draft religion law by the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights; Place a moratorium on criminal libel cases and review the relevant articles in the Criminal Code with a view towards abolishing criminal libel, and establish a cap on defamation awards; and Abolish legal provisions that permit unnecessary restrictions on locations where demonstrations can take place.

Assuming Kazakhstan does take chairmanship, it will be the first post-Soviet country to lead the organization.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – An Atmosphere of Quiet Repression:  Freedom of Religion, Expression and Assembly in Kazakhstan – 1 December 2008

Human Rights Watch – Kazakhstan:  Fulfill OSCE Commitments on Human Rights – 1 December 2008

Reporters Without Borders – Kazakhstan ‘s OSCE Presidency Opposed After Heavily Biased Election Coverage – 22 August 2007

Reuters – U.S. Urges Kazakhstan to Uphold OSCE Values – 23 July 2008

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BIHAR, India – Journalist Vikas Ranjan was shot dead on November 25 in Bihar, a northern state of India. Ranjan, 32, was killed outside his office in Rosera, located in the Samastipur district, by three armed men. The gunmen waited at the entrance of the office, shot Ranjan and fled on motorcycles. Ranjan was pronounced dead upon arrival to a local hospital.

It is alleged that Ranjan’s murder was connected to his investigations on local drug trafficking in recent weeks.

Bihar regional director of Hindustan’s sister newspaper, the English version of the Hindustan Times, said that his family had received threats about two weeks before his death. He reported them to police but did not get any protection.

“We call for the investigation into Vikas Ranjan’s murder to be immediate, thorough and transparent,” said Bob Dietz, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Asia Program coordinator. “Correspondents in remote areas should be protected from attacks made in retribution for their reporting.”

Relatives of Ranjan and fellow journalists gathered outside the hospital where Ranjan died, calling for immediate action by the police and protesting police failure to afford him protection against threats.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar ordered proper police investigations into the murder. The official in charge of investigations said that three suspects had been identified and would be arrested in the next few days.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has spoken with authorities in Assam and Manipur, two other northeastern states where killings of journalists are prevalent, asking them to effectively investigate their deaths and protect journalists.

“Ranjan was the third Indian journalist to be murdered in the past two weeks,” said Reporters Without Borders.

According to CPJ’s Impunity Index, India ranks at number 13. The Impunity Index is a list of those countries where governments have failed to solve journalists’ murders.

For more information, please see:

Committee to Protect Journalists – Journalist Shot Dead in Bihar – 1 December 2008

Hindustan Times – Hindustan Reporter Shot Dead in Bihar – 2 December 2008

Reporters Without Borders – Journalist Investigating Drug Trafficking Gunned Down in Bihar State – 27 November 2008

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

Singapore – The High Court of Singapore fined Wall Street Journal Asia, a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co., the amount of $16,573 for publishing articles that criticized the judiciary. This is the largest amount issued by the Singapore court for such a case.

The ruling related to two articles published in June and July and a letter written by leading opposition leader and pro-democracy activist, Chee Soon Juan.  The Attorney General issued a statement saying the published letter alleges “that the Singapore judiciary is not independent” and it “further insinuated that the Singapore judiciary is biased and lacks integrity.”

The first editorial “Democracy in Singapore” was written by Chee, which commented about his lost defamation suit brought by Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, over an article that implied corruption on the part of the government.

The Attorney General further complained about another published letter to the editor that cited a report by the International Bar Association’s Right Institute on “human rights, democracy and the rule of law” in Singapore.

Among those listed as defendants were the newspaper’s publisher Dow Jones Publishing Company (Asia), Inc, international editor Daniel Herzberg and managing editor Christine Glancey. Judge Tay Yong Kwang found them guilty of “scandalizing the court.”

A Dow Jones Company spokesman said “Dow Jones is extremely disappointed with the ruling of the High Court and strongly disagrees with the court’s analysis that the editorials and letter to the editor constitute a contempt of court… contrary to what the attorney general has alleged. The Wall Street Journal Asia has not engaged in a ‘campaign’ of any sort against the Singapore judiciary. We will in the future continue to defend the right of The Wall Street Journal Asia to report and comment on matter of international importance, including matters concerning Singapore.”

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international media watchdog, has continually ranked Singapore as one of the lowest countries among freedom of press indexes. RSF condemned the ruling against The Wall Street Journal, “Another Dow Jones publication, the Far Eastern Economic Review, has also been prosecuted in Singapore … The way this company is being hounded by the government and the judicial system which takes its orders from Lee Kuan Yew and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is utterly deplorable. We urge the Singaporean authorities to stop prosecuting foreign news media.”

For more information, please see:

APF – Singapore Attorney General Sues Wall Street Journal Asia – 11 September 2008

RSF – Wall Street Journal Asia Unjustly Found in Contempt of Court – 26 November 2008

The Wall Street Journal Asia – Singapore Court Fines Wall Street Journal – 26 November 2008

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

Kathmandu, Nepal –The UN and human rights groups have been concerned with the high number of disappearances in Nepal.  In August 2004, after Amnesty International reported that more than 378 people disappeared in 2003, the UN issued a warning to Nepal on the International Day of Disappeared. However, the situation did not improve. In December 2004, the UN has sent a fact finding team to Nepal to investigate the large number of political disappearances.

The four-member UN fact finding team will interview families of the disappeared and a detention facility.

Many of these disappearances are politically motivated. Amnesty International reported that most cases are from the Nepalese government who detained suspected Maoists. There are also cases of rebels abductions, extrajudicial killings, and tortures of suspected security forces. Since 1996, 9,500 people, many of them civilians, have reportedly died since the internal fighting between the security forces and Maoist rebels. Brad Adams, Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, said, “Disappearances were perhaps the worst aspect of a dirty and ugly war in Nepal … Yet so far no one has been held accountable.”

Human rights groups say that Nepal has the highest number of disappearances, about 1,400 cases since the conflict began, which surpasses Colombia in the most number of disappearances.  Amnesty International said, “The unprecedented number of ‘disappearances’ is one of the most pressing human rights issues facing Nepal. Only by tackling the culture of abuse, ending the impunity of security forces and putting in place comprehensive legal and institutional reforms can the government halt the slide towards a human rights disaster.”

The Nepalese government denies these allegations. Nepalese officials says about 1,000 people have been released after being held in custody and only 300 people are still currently detained.

Human Rights Watch and Advocacy Forum sent a letter to the Nepalese government that urged the government to pass a bill to hold perpetrators accountable and to provide appropriate compensation to families of the disappeared.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – Nepal: Alarming Rise in “Disappearances” Fueling Human Rights Crisis – 31 August 2004

BBC – Alarm over Nepal Disappearances – 31 August 2004

BBC – UN Probing Nepal Disappearances – 6 December2004

HWR – Nepal: Adopt a Bill on ‘Disappearances’ – 25 November 2008