By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pervez Musharraf resigned the Pakistani presidency on August 18, 2008 under the pressure of impeachment from the coalition government and is now in the midst of facing charges, including treason and various human rights violations.  In May 2008, Human Rights Watch reported that human rights concerns in Pakistan included “arbitrary detention (including of lawyers and human rights defenders); lack of fair trials; mistreatment, torture and enforced disappearances of terrorism suspects and political opponents; harassment, intimidation and censorship of the media; violence against women; and discrimination against religious minorities. Since November 2007, the Government has severely interfered with democratic institutions and dissolved the independent judiciary.”

“A failure to hold Musharraf and the army responsible will only result in those abuses continuing and hamper Pakistan’s development into a full democracy,” said Ali Dayan Hasan of Human Rights Watch.

Musharraf is currently facing two criminal charges:  murder and treason.  Khalid Kwaja petitioned the Islamabad High Court to try Musharraf for the murder of rebel leader, Nawaz Akbar Bugti, which occurred at the army assault on the Red Mosque which occurred in 2006. Bugti’s death occurred while hiding out in a cave that collapsed during the assault.  A former judge stated that it is improbable that he will be convicted for this crime since he does not bear direct responsibility.

If convicted of treason, Musharraf would face serious consequences.  Musharraf himself has acknowledged that he violated the constitution by imposing a state of emergency in order to remove judges from the Supreme Court, who were in the process of ruling if he could legally serve another five year presidential term.  If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of death.

Musharraf may also face charges for the enforced disappearance of hundreds of terrorist suspects.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Universal Periodic Review of Pakistan:  Human Rights Watch’s Submission to the Human Rights Commission – 5 March 2008

MSNBC – Musharraf Unwinds with Tennis After Resigning; Much Speculation on Whether Ex-President Will Face Treason, Other Charges – 20 August 2008

Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization – Balochistan:  The Case Against Musharraf – 22 September 2008

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) was reportedly denied agency visitation rights at Fort Bonifacio by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) last week.  Their visitation, including lawmakers from the House of Representatives, was spawned by complaints by detained soldiers of their cell conditions.

CHR Chairperson Leila De Lima said Lieutenant Colonel Iluminado Lumakad, commanding officer of the Philippine Marine Corps Headquarters Battalion, refused to allow the CHR team to visit detained marine officers who plotted against the government in 2006.  Lima asserted that the CHR has a constitutional mandate that grants them visitation rights.

“The AFP has a lot of explaining to do. They do not have any authority in any capacity to prevent the CHR from conducting jail visitations. We need not have clearance from the higher ups just so we could visit detention cells throughout the country. Our constitutional mandate is clearly stated and that is what matters most,” De Lima said in her letter to Chief Alexander Yano of the AFP last week.

Lima and the CHR believes that it is important to allow for unannounced visits to detention centers in order to ensure conditions are humane and most importantly, to curb torture.  Lima told a news conference in Manila on Tuesday that CHR has documented more than 300 cases of torture since 2005.  Moreover, she stated that torture is prevalent in ordinary precincts and police stations, and even ordinary civilians who were arrested or detained arbitrarily by army or police forces were beaten, electrically shocked, burned with cigarettes, or suffocated with plastic bags.

Although the Philippines has signed on to the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) in April, the protocol has yet to be ratified in the Republic’s Senate.  In the mean time, the government seeks a three to five year deferment on its implementation.  Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita states that the government wishes to conform to United Nations standards by improving jail facilities and prison conditions.  Ermita said that regardless of whether the OPCAT was ratified, the government “wholeheartedly join[s] [their] colleagues in the community of nations in denouncing torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.”

Philippine jails are overcrowded, face regular outbreaks of diseases and needs to focus on the rehabilitation and reintegration of an inmate.  Waiting to enforce the OPCAT would allow enough time to address these issues.

For more information, please see:

GMANews.TV – RP Seeks 5 Year Exemption From Anti-Torture Protocol – 23 September 2008

INQUIRER.net – CHR Accuses Military of Denying Right to Visit Jailed Troops – 23 September 2008

Reuters – Torture Prevalent in Philippines – Rights Body – 23 September 2008

HANOI, Vietnam – Protests and violence broke out between the Vietnamese government and the Catholic Church in Vietnam regarding religious land disputes in central Hanoi. As many as 3,000 Catholics have gathered from all around Vietnam to hold vigils and protests in Hanoi. Tensions rose last Friday when the Vietnamese government started bulldozing the disputed area. Protesters said they were beaten by batons, and the police shot tear gas canisters into the crowds. The Hanoi Police denied the incident and said it was merely an “unintentional scuffle” that happened between the protesters and the police.

Since last December, protesters have been holding protests to what they believed to be an unjustified taking of lands, which was formerly a Vatican embassy and residence. However, the Vietnamese government claimed that under Vietnam law, land under management and socialist reform policies enacted in 1991 cannot be claimed. This law has generated more than 200 land disputes in Vietnam. The recent protests have been the most publicized.

The Vietnamese government criticized the area’s Thai Ha parishioners for instigating “public dissidence” in Hanoi.  In order to avoid more public outcry, Vietnamese authorities attempted to appease protesters by converting the land into a National Park and a public library for the “interest of the people.” However, many Catholics still view the disputed land as sacred and the protests continue.

For more information, please see:

AP – Vietnam Denies Use of Stun Gun to Break Protests – 29 August 2008

BBC – Vietnam Warns Priests Over Land – 23 September 2008

BBC – Prayers and Protest in Vietnam – 2 September 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PYONGYANG, North Korea – An independent report commissioned by the former leaders of the Czech Republic and Norway and a Nobel peace laureate, urged the international community to increase its level of intervention on North Korea’s human rights issues.  The report said the international community has far too long neglected the human rights situation in North Korea because of the nuclear threat.  The report comes as six-nation nuclear negotiations have stalled, with North Korea threatening to restart its nuclear reactor.  It said the discussion of human rights in those disarmament talks has largely been an “issue of secondary concern.”

The report pointed out one of the most pressing problems in North Korea – food distribution.  “Large segments of the North Korean population never receive any of the food provided by international relief agencies and other countries,” it said, noting that prisons still operate with “brutality and massive disregard for basic human rights.”  The report suggested that all dialogue with North Korea must make as a starting point Pyongyang’s commitment under global treaties and laws on rights and other issues, including the nuclear talks.  The report followed a 2006 assessment that accused Pyongyang of failing to live up to its responsibility under international law to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity.

North Korea recently took steps to restart its nuclear program after agreeing in November to dismantle it as part of an aid-for-disarmament deal. North Korea asked the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday to remove seals and surveillance equipment from a key nuclear facility, the UN nuclear watchdog said Monday.  The request came three days after North Korea confirmed it was working to restart the Yongbyon reactor, and no longer wanted US concessions promised under the aid-for-disarmament agreement. US State Department spokesperson Robert Wood told reporters at a news briefing that Washington is “very concerned” about North Korea’s actions. The six-nation aid-for-disarmament deal is deadlocked due to a dispute over verification of the declaration of the North’s nuclear program, which it delivered in June as part of the agreement.

For more information, please see:

AP – North Korea wants seals removed at nuclear plant: IAEA – 22 September 2008

KBS – NGO Urges Participation in NK Human Rights Issues – 23 September 2008

International Herald Tribune – Report faults North Korean human rights – 23 September 2008

Reuters – World seen neglecting N. Korea human rights abuses – 22 September 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar – Shortly before the anniversary of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and last year’s Buddhist-monk-led Saffron Revolution, two leading dissident websites in Myanmar have been shut down by a sophisticated cyber attack. The websites, run by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and the Irrawaddy news magazine, are operated by exiles outside Myanmar.  These websites are one of the few remaining sources of reliable news for people in Myanmar, however both were disabled on Wednesday.

Irrawaddy said Thai web host I-NET had confirmed on Wednesday its site had been under “distributed denial-of-service” assault.  Aung Zaw, editor-in-chief of the Irrawaddy online magazine, says his staff is gathering evidence and believes it will be able to identify the attackers.  He believes that the junta is behind the attack, just as it was behind the shutdown of Internet access in Burma during last year’s uprising.  Myanmar’s military junta has launched a series of crippling cyberspace attacks on dissident websites on the first anniversary of major protest marches by Buddhist monks, the Irrawaddy websites said on Friday.

DVB’s Thailand bureau chief, Toe Zaw Latt, said the agency’s website was only a small part of its reporting operations, and two major sources of news inside Myanmar, its radio and satellite television stations, both remained up and running.  The Internet inside Myanmar had also been running slower than its normal snail’s pace this week and Internet cafes had come under unusually tight surveillance, the Irrawaddy said.  Security was also tight on the streets of Yangon, with some vehicle checkpoints, one diplomat said.

For more information, please see:

Radio Free Asia – Cyber-Attacks on Burmese Web Sites – 19 September 2008

Reuters – Myanmar junta takes out critical websites – dissidents – 19 September 2008

Wall Street Journal – The Generals Go Cyber? – 19 September 2008