By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India – After last month’s bombing of New Delhi, Indian Muslim leaders protested unfair targeting by the police.  They demand that the Indian government protect their community from persecution.

Muslims accused police of conducting witch hunts, forcing innocent young men from their homes, and reinforcing stereotypes about Muslims.

Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari, leader of the largest mosque in north India, the Jama Masjid, stated, “Today, with the injustice and harassment, Islam and Muslims in this country are under threat.”  “We have been quiet a long time, but we cannot take this anymore.  We too have rights.”

The impact of the persecution has become an issue with the upcoming 2009 election.  The attacks on Christians and Muslims are polarizing a secular government and Hindu-nationalist opposition.  Bukhari said that Congress nor the oppsing Bharatiya Janata (BJP) would work for the Muslims.  Some say that the Muslim leaders are using these events to their advantage.  “Just as the congress and the BJP use terrorism to secure their voter base, the Muslim leaders are also using it to secure their position,” said Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management.

The election commission stated that it would hold five state elections in the months of November and December in order to gauge the current political climate leading up to the early 2009 election.
However, with the Congress party in power and losing ground to the BJP, Bukhari stated that the Congress party cannot be trusted to do justice to the Muslims.  Although it is trying to reestablish itself as the frontrunning party, a number of smaller regional parties are reaching out to the Muslims in order to put pressure on Congress.

The government held a National Integration Council meeting last Monday, the first meeting since 2005, to discuss the communal tension.

For more information, please see:

Daily Times – Indian Muslims Angry for Being Targeted in Bomb Probe – 17 September 2008

Reuters – Indian Muslim Leaders Slam Government on Crackdown – 14 October 2008

The Times of India – Terror Attacks:  Muslim Leaders Call for Introspection – 12 October 2008

BANGKOK, Thailand – Anti-government protesters rallied in Bangkok yesterday, holding pictures of Thai Prime Minister Somachai Wongsawat that labeled him a “murderer.”  On October 7th, two people were killed and hundreds were injured.  Human Rights Watch released a report demanding that the Thai government examine the possibility that the deaths were politically motivated.

Prime Minister Somachai Wongsawat addressed the nation amid a political crisis between his ruling party, People Power Party, and the opposition, People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD).  The PAD began its street protests in Bangkok on May 25, 2008.  Prime Minister Somachai Wongsawat told the press,  “The government cannot just abandon its work and responsibility. We have many major projects coming up.”

However, Army Chief General Anupong Paochinda publicly blamed the Prime Minister, saying he should take responsibility for the violence and hinted at a possible resignation for the leader.

However, Prime Minister Somachai Wongsawat announced that he would not resign despite calls for his resignation after the violent confrontation between police and protesters .

Human Rights Watch called on the Thai government to initiate an independent and impartial investigation into politically motivated violence by both the ruling and opposition parties since the violence started last week. Some demonstrators were carrying guns, iron rods, and rocks. Rioters were setting fire to parked cars. The police have been accused to firing tear gas into the crowd and wounding many.

Prime Minister Somachai Wongsawat established a special panel to look into the incident and said he expected a report in the next 15 days. He said, “Whatever the result” of the investigation, “the government will accept it. If someone has to take responsibility, we will accept it.”

“Instead of attacking each other on the streets, the Thai government and PAD should use democratic and legal channels to end their disputes,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should only use the force necessary to protect public security, while PAD should end violence, vacate government buildings it has occupied, and disarm its supporters,” he added.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Rights Group Call for End to Thai Political Violence – 15 October 2008

International Herald Tribune – Thai Leader Shrugs Off Call to Quit – 17 October 2008

Herald Tribune –Thai Protest Marchers Call Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat a Murderer– 18 October 2008

Human Rights News – Thailand: Government and Protesters Should End Political Violence – 15 October 2008

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HAN NOI, Vietnam – On October 15th Hanoi People’s Court sentenced Nguyen Viet Chien, a journalist for a well-circulated newspaper, to two years in jail. In 2006, Chien was one of two journalists who reported on a corruption scandal in the Ministry of Transport.  The scandal resulted in the resignation of the minister and the arrest of several high-ranking officials.

Chien maintained his innocence in court.  He stated, “With my journalist conscience, I can say I never have any other purpose in mind when writing my reports but exposing wrongdoing and fighting corruption.”

Last May, Chien and another prominent newspaper journalist, Nguyen Van Hai, who also reported on government corruption, were arrested. They were accused of “abusing freedom and democratic rights.”

Hai pleaded guilty after a two day trail.  In order to receive a lighter sentence, he accepted that he made “professional accidents” in his reports. The court freed Hai for “co-operating with investigators and showing remorse.” However, the court and sentence Hai to re-education camps for two years.

During the trial, prosecutors focused on the reporters’ conduct.  According to a leaked indictment, the reporters’ stories had “serious consequences, negatively affecting the ideology, morale and psychology of the public at a sensitive point of time,” referencing the 10th Vietnamese Communist Party Congress in April 2006.

The indictment also asserted that Nguyen Viet Chien and Nguyen Van Hai “exploited their position as journalists to write sensitive, false information… Hostile forces took advantage to attack and distort the Party Congress, negatively affecting the preparation of the congress.”

The verdict of the two trials received condemnation from abroad. The US embassy in Hanoi called the verdicts “disappointing” and Reporters Without Borders called the sentences “a terrible step backwards.”

For more information, please see:

BBC – Vietnam Trial Tests Media Freedom – 14 October 2008

BBC – Vietnam Sends Journalist to Jail – 15 October 2008

BBC – Vietnamese Media Trial Condemned – 16 October 2008

International Herald Tribune – Vietnam Jails Journalists in Graft Reporting Trial– 15 October 2008

Reporters Without Borders – Newspaper Reporter’s Two Year Sentence Deals Severe Blow to Press Freedom – 15 October 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Local officials in North China hid a coal mine explosion that killed more than 30 miners three weeks before the Beijing Olympics, state media reported.  The accident occurred at 8:30 am on July 14th in Lijiawa Coal Mine of Yuxian county. Some explosives illegally stored in the pit blast off, killing more than 30 miners.  The investigation report indicated that after the mine disaster, the corpses were taken away and kept hidden in surrounding areas, where the grieving families were also taken to be paid off.  “Cash was used to keep them quiet as well as threats and other means, and the miners and their families were not allowed to reveal the facts to the outside,” said the report.  The investigation also showed that some township and county officials had collaborated with the mine owners to conceal the accident.

Chinese government has punished 25 Communist Party and government officials involved in covering up the mine accident.  Another 23 officials of various administrative departments were also under investigation.  Governor Hu Chunhua said the Hebei province has serious problems with work and food safety.  “This is a shocking case,” quoted governor Hu Chunhua.  He called on officials of all levels in the province to take a lesson from the vital safety accident.  Hebei is also home to Sanlu Dairy, company of the chemical-tainted milk powder that officials have blamed for killing four children and making many several thousands sick.

However, the investigation report did not explain why the deaths took so long to come to light. Some observers of Chinese politics said the cover-up appeared to be another instance of officials seeking to avoid recriminations before the Olympics, when they were under intense pressure to avoid accidents and protests.

A total of 3,786 coal miners died in gas blasts, flooding and other work accidents in China last year.  The Lijiawa blast was not the only recent disaster to involve suggestions of official concealment and neglect.

For more information, please see:

AFP – China probes cover-ups in mine accidents: state media – 08 October 2008

China Daily – 25 officials punished over mine accident cover-up – 07 October 2008

Reuters – China milk scandal province hid mine disaster – 08 October 2008

Xinhuan – Three officials ousted for coal mine accidents in N China – 08 October 2008

By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

ALMATY, Kazakhstan – In a recently released report by Freedom House, the organization condemns Kazakhstan for not making significant progress in meeting international standards for democracy and law.  Freedom House is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to democracy and freedom around the world.

Freedom House also stresses that the lack of progress by Kazakhstan undermines the European Human Right Watchdog, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).  Kazakhstan is scheduled to take over the chairmanship of OSCE in 2010.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been widely criticized for tolerating no political dissent.  In June, he promised to create a more democratic parliament, relax electoral laws, and make it easier for political parties to register.  President Nursultan Nazarbayev also pledged to amend laws that severely restrict press freedom.  However, few of these reforms will be completed by their promised end of 2008 deadline.

“Freedom House urges U.S. officials to stress that Kazakhstan must take its OSCE commitments seriously if it wants to maintain its current relationship with Washington,” said Jeffrey Goldstein, Freedom House’s senior program manager for Central Asia.  He continued, “Kazakhstani citizens deserve to be accorded the democratic freedoms their leaders have promised to provide, yet their government continues to impede basic rights, from freedom of speech to freedom of religion.”

For more information, please see:

Daily Telegram – Rights Group Slams Kazakhstan ‘Democracy’ – 1 October 2008

Freedom House – News Report: Kazakhstan Falls Short of OSCE Commitments – 30 September 2008

News Blaze – Kazakhstan Falls Short of OSCE – 30 September 2008