By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

HANOI, Vietnam – In a recent report from the US Embassy in Vietnam, Vietnam orphanages are accused of paying parents for their children and accepting babies that were not given up knowingly.

The report describes adoption brokers coercing poor mothers in small villages, hospitals selling babies whose parents cannot pay their medical bills, and a grandmother giving her grandchild up for adoption without the parents knowing.

Some brokers offer $450 to birth mothers for their babies, which is a year’s salary for most. In another instance, hospital officials turned over a baby for adoption because a mother could not afford to pay her $750 hospital bill. The large medical bill was purposely inflated by the hospital. In one case, a grandmother, who was taking care of her grandchild for weeks while the mother worked in another province, gave the child up for adoption.

The corruption and fraud in the Vietnamese adoption system stems from the donations foreign adoption services provide the local orphanages. Vietnamese law requires foreign adoption services provide funding to Vietnamese orphanages in exchange for adoption referrals from that orphanage. Typically, there is a set proportion of children for donations.

The report alleged that cash and in-kind donations from adoption services have been diverted by local orphanage officials to personal uses—such as private cars, jewelry, and a commercial real estate development.

The US Embassy report comes at a time when adoptions from Vietnam have jumped. In the last 18 months 1,200 Vietnamese children were adopted. Eight hundred and twenty-eight of the children were adopted by American families, which is a surge of more than 400 percent from the year before.

US law requires that the children be knowingly put up for adoption or be reported as abandoned. If the child is reported as abandoned, it is impossible to know if the children are genuine orphans. In 2003, 20 percent of adoptions were reported as abandonments. Now they make up 85 percent of adoptions.

The United States is asking for stronger regulations that include DNA tests for birth mothers and permission for surprise investigations in provinces that arrange US adoptions. Vietnamese officials, however, say that those regulations are unacceptable because adoption in Vietnam is a very private matter, and Vietnamese authorities should take part in any investigation.

Vu Duc Long, director of the Department of International Adoptions, commented, “The American side is trying to make it seem like this agreement is ending because of violations by the Vietnamese side. It’s not fair for them to blame us.”

For more information, please see:

AP – US Alleges Baby-Selling in Vietnam – 25 April 2008

TOP News – US Reports Adoption Fraud Widespread in Vietnam – 25 April 2008

VOA News – US Finds Fraud in Vietnam Adoptions – 25 April 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – A Chinese ship that was carrying three million rounds of assault rifle ammunition, 3,000 mortar rounds and 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades to Zimbabwe is being brought back to China, the Chinese government said today.  The ship, identified as the An Yue Jiang and belonging to COSCO, a state-owned shipping firm, was forced to abandon plans to unload in the South African port of Durban last week.

The news comes after the United States urged countries in southern Africa — particularly South Africa, Mozambique, Angola and Namibia — not to allow the ship to dock or unload.  It also asked China to withdraw the weapons shipment and halt further arms shipments to Zimbabwe until the post-election crisis is resolved.

However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, “The cargo was not unloaded because the Zimbabwe side failed to receive the goods as scheduled, so the Chinese company made the decision according to this situation.”  She also reiterated the shipment was a purely commercial transaction that did not break any laws or international obligations and had nothing to do with the ongoing political crisis.

The Chinese ship has sparked international condemnation for attempting to transport weapons to Zimbabwe that could be used to crackdown on Zimbabwe’s political opposition. China’s decision to turn the ship around was welcomed by the dockworkers, trade unionists, religious leaders, Western diplomats, and human rights workers.

China is a major supporter of Zimbabwe’s ruler Robert Mugabe, who has touted a “look East” policy of closer cooperation with China.  However, Beijing has shown signs of increasing embarrassment over its association with Mugabe.  Last year, China said that it had decided to halt all assistance to Zimbabwe except humanitarian aid. It was unclear if the contract of the weapons trade was signed before that pledge.

For information, please see:

AFP – Chinese arms shipment to Zimbabwe turning back: Beijing – 24 April 2008

AP – Zimbabwe arms deal is off – China – 24 April 2008

New York Times – Zimbabwe-Bound Ship Heads Back to China – 24 April 2008

Reuters – China says arms bound for Zimbabwe to be recalled – 24 April 2008

Wall Street Journal – China defended its arms shipments to Zimbabwe – 24 April 2008

XinHua – China arms trade conforms to laws, int’l obligations – 24 April 2008

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – The Khmer Rouge Tribunal adjourned a preliminary hearing for Khieu Samphan because his lawyer, Jacques Verges, erupted at the tribunal judges after learning his documents had not been translated into French.

Jacques Verges left the courtroom telling reporters that the judges had recommended to Khieu Samphan to find a new lawyer. He also told reporters, “French is an official language of the tribunal. There is not one page of the case file against Mr. Khieu Samphan translated into French. I should be capable of knowing what my client is blamed for. He continued by saying, “This is a scandal! This never happens except in dictatorships!”

The tribunal judges later said they would issue a warning to Jacques Verges for causing a postponement of the hearing.

Jacques Verges is famous for his legal work involving Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie, the Venezuelan terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal, the former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, and the confessed serial killer Charles Sobhraj.

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune – Attorney for Khmer Rouge Head of State Scolds Judges – 23 April 2008

By Elizabeth Breslin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Returning home from a church service on Sunday, priest and human rights activist Reverend M.X. Karunaratnam was killed by a roadside bomb in a rebel-controlled territory of Sri Lanka.  Rebels claim that a government bomb killed Karunaratnam, while the government denies any involvement.

Karunaratnam was the leader of North East Secretariat on Human Rights, a rights group focused on the rights of ethnic Tamils.  For this reason, many ethnic Tamils believe that the government targeted him specifically.  There are numerous reports which state that the bomb was in fact planted by Sri Lankan Army’s Deep Penetration Unit.

This incident preceded recent criticisms of the Sri Lankan government by international legal group International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP).  IIGEP was formed in 2007 to oversee an inquiry into 16 human rights violation cases in Sri Lanka; it includes members from the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and other countries.  On Tuesday, the group announced that the Sri Lankan government had not been meeting the IIGEP’s requests and lacked the political will to investigate rights abuses.  Instead of acting on their recommendations, the government had been disrespectful toward the IIGEP and was accusing it of purposely failing in its job by pushing an “international agenda” in an effort to force a United Nations rights monitoring mission on the country.

Reverend Karunaratnam perhaps understood the IIGEP’s frustration when issuing his last report on April 5th, stating: “The local [Sri Lankan] mechanism to ensure good governance with respect for human rights has miserably failed and there is widespread call for the establishment of a UN body to monitor human rights violations.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – Foreign experts step up human rights criticism of Sri Lanka – 22 April 2008

Tamil Sydney – Genocide: Sri Lanka Silences Yet Another Human Rights Activist– 23 April 2008

USA Today – Prominent priest killed in Sri Lanka blast – 21 April 2008

Xinhua News – Human rights panel denies int’l plot to discredit Sri Lanka – 23 April 2008

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan – Bishkek police raided the community center of Labrys, an organization which supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Kyrgyzstan, on April 8th.  Without a warrant, three police officers forced their way into the building, which also serves as a shelter for LGBT people and women suffering from domestic violence.

According to Labrys staff, they looked through private files and demanded to see documents regarding Labrys’ registration, statutes, and rent statements.  The officers threatened to arrest those present if they did not fully cooperate.  The police chief eventually joined the officers and said that the only way they would leave was if Labrys staff sent them copies of administrative and financial documents the next day, so Labrys staff agreed.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement last week demanding that the Kyrgyz police stop harassing the gay community.  According to Scott Long of the HRW LGBT Rights Program: “Police should protect organizations defending human rights, not use their power to harass and intimidate them. The raid sends a chilling message to anyone marginalized or stigmatized.”

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Kyrgyzstan: Halt Anti-Gay Raids – 17 April 2008