By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YONGANG, Myanmar – U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Myanmar’s Government and opposition to increase dialogue in his latest report to the General Assembly.  The report covers Myanmar’s development between 23 October 2007 and 5 September 2008, when the junta faced global condemnation for its crackdown on the biggest opposition protests in almost 20 years.   It also highlights UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari failure to meet with Suu Kyi or win concessions from the regime when he visited Myanmar in August.

In the report, Ban said “it remains a source of frustration that meaningful steps have yet to be taken by the Myanmar authorities in response to the concerns and expectations of the United Nations and the international community.” The main U.N. demands have been for the junta to release political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and start a serious dialogue with the opposition.  However, it is unfortunate that specific suggestions of the United Nations to improve the credibility and inclusiveness of the political process have thus far not been taken up by the government.  Ban continued, “It is unfoHe urges all countries aiming for a solution in Myanmar to “work constructively together” in support of the UN’s efforts.

Myanmar Junta announced it had overwhelming public support in a May on an army-drafted constitution referendum, which was part of a process meant to culminate in multiparty elections in 2010 and end a nearly 20-year political stalemate.  However, Western countries have condemned the referendum as a sham.  Myanmar appointed a liaison officer to meet with the opposition leader Suu Kyi five times between November and January. The talks, the first since 2003, then stopped.  The UN also remains concerned about ongoing reports of armed conflict, associated human rights abuses, and humanitarian problems in ethnic minority areas, particularly in Kayin and Kayah states.

For more information, please see:

Bloomberg – Myanmar’s Failure to Talk With Suu Kyi Frustrates UN, Ban Says – 21 October 2008

Reuters – U.N.’s Ban frustrated by Myanmar inaction – 20 October 2008

UN News Centre- Enhanced dialogue among all parties vital for Myanmar’s political future – 20 October 2008

By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan – Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Kyrgyzstan government to protect lesbians, transgender men, and bisexual women from violence.  According to HRW, lesbians, transgender men, and bisexual women face violent abuse, including rape, from family members as well as strangers on the street.

The HRW report documents beatings, forced marriages, psychological and physical abuse endured by the lesbian, transgender men, and bisexual women communities.  “No one should have to confront brutality or danger because of who they are or whom they love,” said Boris Dittrich, advocacy director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at HRW.

The violence in Kyrgyzstan occurs with impunity as the government refuses to protect lesbians, transgender men, and bisexual men while allowing the atmosphere of prejudice to continue.  There is a pervasive social prejudice that leaves victims little hope that the government will protect them.  In some instances, the police participate in the abuse and harass organizations that attempt to protect possible victims.  Dittrich stated, “It is time for the government to protect these communities instead of denying they exist.”

The government has also ignored addressing the issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. In one case, an official actually endorsed hate and violence. Three years ago, a Ministry of Interior official said of lesbians and gay men at a human rights roundtable, “I would also beat them. Let’s say I walk in a park with my son. And there are two guys walking holding each other’s hands. I would beat them up too.”

Several persons interviewed by HRW recounted their past violent experiences.  One lesbian told how, when she was 15, her girlfriend’s brothers raped her brutally, saying, “This is your punishment for being this way and hanging around our sister.”  Another woman told of an acquaintance that locked her in a room and allowed several men to rape her. The men promised the acquaintance “that they would help her to ‘cure’ me of being a lesbian,” she said.  Another woman told HRW, “One time, these men on the street thought that I was a gay man and wanted to beat me up. I didn’t know which would be better, to say I was [a gay man] or to say, no I’m a lesbian. So I ran. They chased me and I just managed to get inside [my apartment], but they beat at the door for hours.”

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Kyrgyzstan: Protect Lesbians and Transgender Men From Abuse – 6 October 2008

Human Rights Watch – These Everyday Humiliations: Violence Against Lesbians, Bisexual Women, and Transgender Men in Kyrgyzstan – October 2008

United Press International- Kyrgyzstan Faulted for Human Rights Abuse – 6 October 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – A group of lawyers advising the families of children sickened in China’s tainted milk case facing growing official pressure to withdraw from the cases.  The group already has helped the parents of a 1-year-old boy who developed kidney stones after drinking tainted milk to file a lawsuit against the dairy company, Sanlu Group Co.  The court in Henan province has not yet decides whether it will hear the suit.

The tainted milk scandal caused at least four babies have died and more than 54,000 children have been sickened in China.  The Chinese government acknowledged the dairy industry was “chaotic” and had suffered from a grave lack of oversight, while pledging to monitor milk products from farm to dinner table.  However, the government has also imposed controls on media coverage of the crisis, and pressured families and lawyers to withdraw from cases related to the scandal.  Officials from the provincial government’s justice department in Henan province told at least 14 lawyers by officials to stop their activities, said Chang Boyang, one of the lawyers.  “They called me and my boss at my law firm and put pressure on me, and they said that this has become a political issue and that I ought to follow the arrangements set out by the government.” Chang said.  “If this suggestion is disobeyed, the lawyer and the firm will be dealt with,” Chang quoted the official.

Organizers of the campaign and some of the lawyers confirmed officials in some provinces have pressured volunteers or their bosses to give up the campaign.  “About two dozen of the lawyers have called these past days to say they want to quit the volunteer advice group,” said Li Fangping, a Beijing lawyer who helped organize the group.  “Some of them said that they or their offices were told they’d face serious repercussions if they stayed involved, ” Li Fangping added.

According to a Beijing-based lawyer, Li Jinglin, the Beijing Lawyers’ Association called a meeting with several of its serving officer members and the justice department to discuss the milk powder cases.  “At that meeting, those in charge said they had received a very clear message from the Hebei provincial lawyers’ association that we should not involve ourselves in Sanlu-related cases,” said Li Jinglin.

“There has been a direct instruction to all Chinese lawyers that they are forbidden from offering legal assistance to families of children who have drunk contaminated milk,” a lawyer who declined to be named said.  “The orders came from the legal affairs bureau in our district. Executive forces are putting pressure on them from all directions. Really, their hands are tied,” he said.

For more information, please see:

AP – Chinese lawyers face pressure to drop milk cases – 07 October 2008

AP – Second lawsuit filed in tainted milk scandal – 10 October 2008

Radio Free Asia – Lawyers’ Outrage at Milk Case Ban – 07 October 2008

Reuters – China milk victim lawyers say pressed to quit – 29 September 2008

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MANILA, Philippines – On behalf of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, human rights groups Karpatan and the Commission on Human rights discovered human bones in Bataan.  The excavation was conducted in order to search for evidence of victims of extra-judicial killings and the disappearance of activists, verifying the allegations of Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo.

On February 14, 2006, the Manalo brothers were suspected of aiding a local insurgency and were forcibly taken from their homes and placed in military detention camps where they were tortured over a period of 18 months.  On August 13, 2007, they escaped.  Their families filed writs of habeas corpus and they sought protection from the Court.

The Supreme Court granted the Manalo brothers’ writ of amparo and ordered the excavation to corroborate their testimony and search for other extra-judicial killings.

The anthropology team found human bones at the former camp in Bataan, which was the same site where Raymond Manalo testified he saw victim Manual Merino burned by soldiers in 2007.  The bones are currently awaiting identification.

The case of the extra-judicial killings and disappearance of activists were added to the last Monday’s impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.  This was the fourth impeachment complaint against Arroyo.  The complaint stated that Arroyo “committed culpable violations of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust and other high crimes.”

In addition, she was accused of “explicitly and implicitly conspiring, directing, abetting and tolerating with impunity as a state policy extrajudicial executions, involuntary disappearances, torture, massacre, illegal arrest and arbitrary detention, forced dislocation of communities and other gross and systematic violations of civil and political rights and engaging in a systematic campaign to cover up or whitewash these crime by suppressing and obliterating the evidence, blaming the victims, terrorizing, intimidating and physically attacking witnesses, their relatives, lawyers and supporters and human rights workers.”

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – Philippines:  Investigate Claims and Protect Manalo Brothers – 7 November 2007

The Daily Tribune – House Locks Out New Impeach Bid – 10 October 2008

GMANews.TV – Rights Group Finds Burnt Human Bones in Bataan – 14 October 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – China extended some of the rules that gave foreign reporters greater freedom during the Beijing Olympics.  The extension will allow more than 30,000 foreign journalists to continue travel freely across most of China for reporting, and interview Chinese citizens without government permission.

State news agency Xinhua said the temporary arrangement would become standard practice.  China’s Premier Wen Jiabao approved the new regulations after a day of silence on what would happen to one of the high-profile changes Beijing made as part of its efforts to host the August Games. Liu Jianchao, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said, “This is not only a big step forward for China in opening up to the outside world, for the foreign journalists it’s also a big step.”

However, the media freedoms are not unlimited. Tibet is still closed to all foreigners and journalists.  Journalists must still apply for travel permits just as tourists do. Li Jianchao also warned that other areas of China may be designated off-bounds or temporarily closed after disasters.

The move has been welcomed by the main organization representing overseas media in China, Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China.  “If properly implemented, we believe this will mark a step forward in the opening of China’s media environment,” said Jonathan Watts, president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China.

Jonathan Watts also urged the government to ensure that police and local officials respect the freedoms and the new rule.  The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China said it had received reports of 336 complaints of interference since the rules were introduced in January 2007, including 67 cases of harassment and intimidation during the Olympic Games.

Seymour Topping, a well-known American journalist, sees the lifting of the restrictions as an important step for China.  “The more restrictions on foreign correspondents’ work are lifted, the better chance there is for the world to become fully aware of China’s accomplishments and what it is attempting to achieve,” the former Pulitzer Prize administrator said.  “China used to be too wary of foreign journalists, but now the rules allow them to decide who to talk to,” Huang Youyi, editor-in-chief of China International Publishing Group, added.

For more information, please see:

BBC – China’s Press Freedoms Extended – 18 October 2008

China Daily – Reporting Made Easier for Foreign Media – 20 October 2008

Human Rights Watch – China: Olympics-Related Media Freedoms Should Not Expire – 15 October 2008

Reporter without Borders – What Rights Will the Foreign Press Have? – 17 October 2008

Reuters – China Extends Media Freedom Rules at 11th Hour – 17 October 2008