By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar Junta continues its judicial crackdown on political activities.  Two journalists were sentenced for seven years each.  Thet Zin, editor of the local Myanmar-language journal Myanmar Nation, and Sein Win Maung, the paper’s manager, were convicted for undermining the government under the country’s Printing and Publishing Law.  They were also being charge for possessing documents deemed to be subversive, including a UN Special Human Rights Report on Myanmar. The same day, 13 members of the ’88 Generation students group’ were sentenced to six years in jail.

Thet Zin founded the Myanmar Nation in 2006.  He is a former political prisoner and had previously worked as a reporter and editor for several weekly journals, including News Watch and Ah Lin Tan.  Thet Zin and Sein Win Maung were arrested in February in a raid in which military intelligence officers seized the UN Special Human Rights Report on Myanmar, Shan ethnic leader Shwe Ohn’s book on federalism, and a VCD containing footage of the 2007 September uprising.

“In the case of Thet Zin and Sein Win Maung, the judges have imposed the maximum penalty allowed under the press law. What is the most shocking is that none of journalists, bloggers, poets, activists or monks who have recently been sentenced, committed a crime defined as such under Burmese law. Their sole crime is to peacefully oppose the junta”, the worldwide press freedom organization said.

Myanmar courts sentenced more than 100 people, including activists, writers, musicians and Buddhist monks to jail since last month.  Myanmar Junta, which has held power since 1962, frequently arrests artists and entertainers regarded as opposing the regime.

For more information, please see:

AP – Journalists caught in crackdown by Myanmar junta – 01 December 2008

Reporters Without Borders – Two journalists jailed for seven years as wave of sentencing continues – 29 November 2008

The Irrawaddy – Judicial Crackdown in Burma Continues – 28 November 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

1. Do not attempt to escape. The punishment is death.

2. Never gather in groups of over three people or move around without the guard’s authorization. The punishment for unauthorized movement is death.

3. Do not steal. If one steals or possesses weapons, the punishment is death. The punishment for failure to report the theft or possession of weapons is death.

4. Obey your guards. If one rebels or hits a guard, the punishment is death.

5. If you see outsiders, or suspicious-looking people, report them immediately. The punishment for abetting in the hiding of outsiders is death.

6. Keep an eye on your fellow prisoners and report inappropriate behavior without delay. One should criticize others for inappropriate behavior, and also conduct thorough self-criticism in revolutionary ideology class.

7. Fulfill your assigned duties. The punishment for rebelling against one’s duties is death.

8. Men and women may not be together outside the workplace. The punishment for unauthorized physical contact between a man and a woman is death.

9. Admit and confess your wrongdoings. The punishment for disobedience and refusal to repent is death.

10. The punishment for violating camp laws and rules is death.

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KABUL, Afghanistan – As a result of UNICEF’s report on violence against Afghan Children, the United Nations (UN) said that violations of children’s rights are rising on account of war in Afghanistan, especially with respect to deaths of children in civilian casualties, recruitment of children to armed groups, and sexual abuse.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated that “the report focuses on grave violations perpetrated against children in Afghanistan and identifies parties to the conflict, both state and non-state actors, who commit grave abuses against children.”  He continued, “In particular, the report highlights the fact that children have been recruited and utilized (as fighters) by state and non-state armed groups.”

Ban also said that although the Afghan government demobilized 7,444 child soldiers in 2003, there has not been any monitoring of children who are vulnerable to democracy.

One case that the report documents is that of children utilized by the Taliban as suicide bombers.  Children as young as 12 years old are forced or tricked into performing these acts.  The government have also been having children serve on their police forces, such as the Afghan Auxiliary Police and the Afghan National Police.  Ban insists that the age of young soldiers be verified in order to protect children in accordance with human rights laws.

Children are also victims as a result of militant attacks on civilian targets.  Children are being inadvertently killed during battle between U.S. and NATO and Afghan forces.  The U.N. insists that all rules of war are followed, especially with respect to children.

Violence against children also occurs in the form of sexual abuse.  Ban states that “Boys [are] kept cloistered and used for sexual and harmful social entertainment by warlords and other armed group leaders.”  The U.N. urges the Afghan government to take action by legislating against sexual violence.

For more information, please see:

AP – UN: Afghan Children Being Recruited as Fighters – 25 November 2008

Reuters – Violence Against Afghan Children Rising: U.N. – 23 November 2008

UN News Centre – Afghan Conflict Claiming More Child Casualties as Insurgency Spreads – UN report – 21 November 2008

By  Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DEHLI, India –Chunchun Kumar is an ordinary citizen from Bihar’s Nawada district and while he was drinking tea with his friends, a group of drunken policemen vandalized the tea house and brutally beat Kumar and his friends. The six police officers were beating up a temple priest at a village temple before going to the teashop. According to Kumar, he and his friends were beaten “black and blue” before the police started shooting at them. Kumar was shot in the abdomen.

Kumar and the villagers complained to the police authorities. India police acknowledged the incident. Bihar Anil Sinha, the director general of police said, “Two of the policemen who were inebriated vandalized the tea shop and began firing despite protests from their other colleagues. They were arrested and, although they have been released on bail, they are facing criminal charges.”

Activist say that torture is rampant in India, especially among the poorer societies. Henri Tiphagne of People’s Watch, a nongovernmental organization, said, “The problem of torture is very serious. Today we have around 1.8 million cases of police torture in India.” Tiphagne added, the victims of torture “are generally the (low-caste) Dalits, the tribals and the Muslims. And torture is used by those who are in power, those who possess, the landlords and the companies who put pressure on the police to carry out torture.”

However, Anil Sinha denied that police torture was widespread in India, “It’s a kind of stereotype being dished out by the NGOs and activists. And because police have a bad reputation, so people take such allegations to be correct. We do not condone any human rights violations by police in any manner, and such cases are rare. We have a mechanism in place to deal with such cases and penalize the guilty.”

According to Meenkshi Ganuly of Human Rights Watch, almost all the police stations in India are guilty of torture.

Kashmir Singh was a Pakistani prisoner held captive in Indian prisons for 14 years. In 2005, Singh and five other Pakistani prisoners were released as a sign of good-will from the Indian government. However, Singh has lost his kidney and mental stability due to torture during his years in captivity. Sigh’s sister said, “It had shocked us, as Pakistanis were never treated like this. This does not mean, we want the Indians being subjected to the inhuman treatment, but our government must prevail on India to review its torturous policy.”

For more information, please see:

BBC – The Wrong Side of Law – 18 November 2008

The News – Pakistanis Subject to Brutality in Indian Jails – 27 November 2008

Wikio – India: On the Wrong Side of Law – 19 November 2008