By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Former Tamil Tiger leader, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, more widely known as Colonel Karuna, was appointed as Member of Parliament by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday.  President Rajapaksa made the appointment with the advice of Karuna’s brother and Sri Lankan Secretary of Defense, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Karuna stated, “Tamil people can now have the faith of solving their own problems through parliamentary democracy. We should forget the bitter past experiences and work to win the trust of the Tamils.”

Karuna faces opposition from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).  The JVP has filed a Fundamental Rights petition against the appointment calling it “immoral” and suing him in the Supreme Court to have him removed.  The JVP alleges that the vacancy Karuna took belongs to them because it opened up when one of their politicians won a powerful provincial post in August.

Karuna’s new appointment also meets serious protests from human rights activists.  After recently having been arrested in the United Kingdom for carrying a false passport and serving jail time, human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Coalition to Stop Child Soldiers have called for authorities there to investigate and prosecute Karuna for his past international war crimes.  Authorities in the UK replied stating that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.

Karuna served as the eastern commander for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which fought against the government and killed hundreds of police officers.  The Tamileela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP),the paramilitary group of which Karuna led after his leadership of the Tamil Tigers, has been accused of abducting children to serve as soldiers, torture and extortion. The TVMP was a group that split from the LTTE and was loyal to Karuna.

For more information, please see:

BBCSinhala – MP Karuna:  “Travesty of Justice” – 7 October 2008

Reuters – Breakaway Tiger Leader Sworn into Sri Lanka Parliament – 7 October 2008

Tamil Sydney – Sri Lanka Bestow Democratic Decoration to a War Lord – War Criminal Karuna Becomes Nationalist MP – 8 October 2008

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

GUWAHATI, India – In the northeast state of Assam, India, violence erupted between Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh and Bodo tribal groups on Friday resulting in almost 50 people dead, 500 homes set on fire, and more than 85,000 displaced and seeking housing in government relief camps.  Twenty-one thousand paramilitary officers were deployed to the three districts that have been affected in addition to the already-imposed curfews and shoot-on-sight orders.  More than 15 of the killings were done in police firings.

The conflict has arisen from a history of the local tribes’ fear of being overrun by Muslim immigrants. Almost half of Assam’s population are Muslim settlers.  Analysts claim that the clashes were sparked by a student movement campaigning ainst the immigrants.

Despite the history of tension between Muslims and Bodo tribes, state officials blame the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) for fueling the violence.  NDFB is a Christian rebel group that wants independence and secession from India.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, a minister supervising security and relief measures, says that the NDFB has implemented a plan of “ethnic cleansing” in order to “drive out all the non-Bodos from the area.”  Moreover, in 2005, the NDFB entered into a ceasefire with the Indian government in New Delhi, though it has never renounced its independence struggle.  It claims that the government has neglected their welfare, ignored development of the region and flooded it with immigrants.

Sarma stated that four cadres of the NDFB were arrested on Sunday for firing at the police with machine guns in one of the districts and that if NDFB members continue to engage in violence, then the government might have to reconsider the ceasefire agreement.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Troops Sent to Quell Tribal Clashes in India’s Assam – 6 October 2008

Assam Tribune – Death Toll 40:  80,000 Displaced:  500 Houses Burnt – 6 October 2008

Reuters – More Die as Clashes Continue in India’s Troubled Assam – 7 October 2008

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – On October 5th, another regional journalist was gunned down in Thailand. Wallop Bounsampop was the editor of Den Siam, a local newspaper in Chonburi province in the south of Bangkok. Wallop is the fourth journalist to be murdered this year.

Wallop was murdered in a motorcyle drive-by shooting when he was helping his wife at a local restruant. Two men on a motorcyle dorve by and shot at Wallop five times hitting him twice and killing him instantly.

Wallop was an active member of the district council, and he was reporting on corruption of local politicians. Some allege his murder was linked to the controversial articles written about his opponents who are scheduled to run against him in elections next month.

Only a month earlier, Jaruek Rangcharoen, a regional correspondent for the Bangkok-based Matichon Daily, was gunned down in the central province of Suphanburi. Like Wallop, Rangcharoen was reporting on local politicians. Rangcharoen’s case is still unresolved. However, police said they have a few witnesses that could lead to descriptions to key suspects.

The string on voilence against journalist in Thailand has led to a public outcry. Reporters without Borders said, “We call on the police and judicial authorities to give themselves the means to deal with it,” and “If no real progress is made in solving these four cases, more journalists are likely to be killed at a time when Thailand is still embroiled in a political crisis.”

For more information, please see:

Guardian – Fourth Thai Journalist Murdered – 8 October 2008

Interesting Times – Murder of Journalist Raise Death Toll to 4 in 2008 in Thailand – 8 October 2008

Reporters without Borders – Local Newspaper Editor Gunned Down, Fourth Journalist Murdered This Year – 7 October 2008

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – On October 6th, Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin went on trial for “sedition.” Petra is a well known journalist and blogger for Malaysia Today. His article, Let’s Send the Altantuya Murderers to Hell, published earlier this year, accused the Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, of murdering a young Mongolian woman, Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Petra’s article claims Razak and his wife plotted Altantuya’s murder after she demanded money from Razak to end their extramarital affair. Currently, two police officers, a think-tank director, and close friend of Razak are on trial for collaborating the murder of Altantuya.

Petra has been in jail since September 12th under the Internal Security Act (ISA).  Under the ISA, Petra has to serve a two year sentence for “insulting a political leader” and “insulting Islam.”

If Petra is found guilty of sedition, he can be incarcerated for another three years. “They are penalizing him twice… It’s double jeopardy,” Marina, Petra’s wife, told reporters of the Associated Press.

Many supporters showed up outside the district court, wearing T-shirts that bore the slogan “Free RPK.” The Worldwide Press Freedom Organization said the Malaysian government is using the judiciary for their own means, “The government is abusing the law in order to silence critical voices and to gag free expression.”

For more information, please see:

BBC – Malaysia Writer in Sedition Trial – 6 October 2008

Malaysia Today – Suffering the ISA – 8 October 2008

Reporters without Borders – Blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin Goes on Trial for “Sedition” – 6 October 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Two Chinese dissidents, Gao Zhisheng and Hu Jia, are top candidates of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.  The Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo’s International Peace Research Institute’s decision to honor Hu or Gao may increase tensions between the West and China.

China’s foreign ministry suggested Tuesday that it hopes Chinese human rights activists will not win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.  “For the past few years we see that many people in the world have dedicated themselves to world peace and scientific and human progress and have been properly awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize,” he said.  “However,” Qin added, “some of the prizes went against Mr. Nobel’s initial purpose. We hope the Nobel Prize should be awarded to the right people.” The award went to the Dalai Lama 19 years ago, against strong objections from Beijing.

Gao, born in 1964, is a lawyer who has protested the treatment of members of the Falun Gong movement.  Hu, 35, has been outspoken on environmental and AIDS matters and more recently has criticized the treatment of Gao.

They were both arrested and jailed before the Beijing Olympics to keep them out of the public eye.  Gao was arrested in August 2006, convicted in a one-day trial and placed under house arrest. He was convicted because of nine articles posted on foreign Web sites, state media reported at the time. Gao has been beaten, harassed and given a suspended jail sentence in the last few years.  He was also reportedly targeted by an assassination attempt.  Hu was convicted last April of inciting subversion, and is now serving a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence.  Hu’s wife has been placed under house arrest.

Peace researcher Stein Toennesson, director of the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, Norway, said the prize committee might pick a Chinese activist “in view of the fact that the Olympic Games did not bring the improvement many had hoped for, but instead led to a number of strict security measures.”  According to a BBC Asia analyst, Andre Vornic, the Nobel committee is unlikely to be swayed by crude pressure, he says. If anything, a perception of bullying could further stack the odds in favor of China’s jailed dissidents.

For more information, please see:

AP – China suggests Nobel should not go to activist – 07 October 2008

BBC – China makes Nobel prize warning – 07 October 2008

Bloomberg – Nobel Peace Prize May Go to Chinese Activist, Angering Beijing – 06 October 2008

Voice of America – China Warns Against Awarding Nobel Prize to Dissident – 07 October 2008