By Elizabeth Breslin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KABUL, Afghanistan – The United Nations (UN) released a statement yesterday demanding that the Afghan government do more to bring human rights violators to justice.

The UN recognized that Afghanistan has a young government.  However, during the past three decades of conflict many Afghan citizens have suffered numerous abuses; if they are not addressed immediately the victims will continue to suffer and the impunity will undermine the future of the Afghan government.

In 2005, the government did adopt a plan to address past abuses and promote peace and reconciliation for the country.  Nevertheless, according to the information UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour collected during a recent visit, the plan has not been implemented.  Part of the problem is that Afghanistan does not have strong political representation on national and international levels, and the government has not created an environment conducive to the respect of human rights.

The statement also recognized that the government needs to devote more attention to the current problems of women and girls.  Their right to life is threatened due to high mortality rates and violent home situations (see Impunity Watch article here).

In the UN statement, Chief Human Rights Officer Norah Niland said: “One often hears the phrase ‘action speaks louder than words.’  Here in Afghanistan, the lack of action speaks volumes.  At a minimum, there needs to be the space for a national dialogue that acknowledges the injustices and suffering that have occurred.  The voices of victims need to be heard.”

For more information, please see:

Impunity Watch – BRIEF: Women in Afghanistan in Danger – 26 February 2008

Jurist – Afghanistan must do more to stop human rights abuses: UN Official – 18 March 2008

Reuters – Afghan govt must bring rights abusers to justice-UN – 18 March 2008

UN News Centre – Afghanistan must do more to address impunity, advance human rights-UN – 18 March 2008

BEIJING, China – Michael Smith, an Australian tourist, captured violence in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in video on Friday.  The video shows Tibetans smashing windows and setting fire to Chinese shops and cars, while people are heard cheering. Han Chinese, China’s largest ethnic group, operated many of the businesses targeted by the rioters.  It also shows Chinese security forces, but no clashes between them and the rioters. No deaths or injuries were seen on the video.

Smith said he “met so many Tibetan people on the streets, so many young Tibetan boys just screaming for Tibet’s freedom.”  One young Tibetan male shouted to Smith’s camera “We don’t have any freedoms.  “The Tibetan people are going crazy.  It’s absolute mayhem on the streets,” Smith said.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Tourist video shows riot, flames in Tibetan capita – 18 March 2008

CNN – Tourist films Tibet riots – 18 March 2008

BEIJING, China – On Tuesday Hu Jia, a prominent human rights activist and dissident, stood trial on subversion charges. His trial lasted approximately three hours. Hu Jia was charged of subversion for writing articles that criticized China for its human rights record. Prosecutors provided six articles he had written, which they suggested featured criticisms so serious that they were threats to the state. After the trial, Hu Jia’s lawyer, Li Fangping, said, “We believe his articles are expressing peaceful views that do not concern state security but that represent criticism of the current system.” The parties expect a verdict in the next week.

Human Rights Watch [HRW] has publicly criticized the matter and called forChina to drop the charges against Hu Jia. Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at HRW, commented on Hu Jia’s case, “His arrest was political, the charges are political, and his trial is political

Human rights groups have pointed to Hu Jia’s recent arrest and trial as an unfortunate but common occurrence in China. Many allege that China has recently cracked down on dissidents to silence criticism before the Olympic Games. According to the Dua Hia foundation, a non-profit group located in San Francisco that is involved in Chinese legal issues, there has been a sharp increase in arrests for subversion and other related crimes. In 2007, 742 people were arrested for charges like subversion, which is more than twice the amount of persons arrested in 2005.

For more information, please see:

HRW – China: Trial of Leading Activist a Sham – 17 March 2008

Impunity Watch – Chinese Dissidents Detained and to Stand Trial for Criticisms– 10 March 2008

The New York Times – Chinese Rights Advocate Tried – 19 March 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – China has shutdown several of the world’s most popular websites in an apparent attempt to censor international coverage of the violence in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. The Google-owned YouTube, the video-sharing website blocked in China on Sunday after footage of recent deadly protests in Tibet appeared on the site.  Some videos on YouTube show a public gathering, including Tibetan monks in their distinctive saffron robes and peaceful marching.  The most hits video (over 80,000 so far) actually shows bodies on the streets, protesters throwing rocks at Chinese army vehicles and other images.

Popular news sites reporting on the riots, such as CNN, The Guardian, the BBC, Google News, and Yahoo have allegedly had all or parts of their sites blocked. Flickr, the photo-sharing website, Wikipedia, and the LA Times, the US newspaper, are among the other sites to which access has been cut off.  These websites have been subject to what is known as ‘keyword filtering’, where a Chinese internet user attempting to load a page which contains words such as ‘Tibet’ or ‘Dalai Lama’ or ‘riot’ will see the site stall.

Foreign journalists being denied access and foreign tourists ordered out of the city.  Foreign media have been banned from Tibet, CNN and British Broadcasting Corp. broadcasts of a speech by the Dalai Lama were also blocked, the newspaper said.  According to a CNN video, says the station has not been able to send a team to report the news.  Some stations, such as the BBC, picked up photos and other contributions from tourists in Tibet. The BBC and CNN are only broadcast within international hotels and diplomatic compounds in China.

China strictly controls access to information, the only footage broadcast by state-run media so far has been a short clip showing Tibetan rioters in the city destroying Chinese shops, but nothing has been released on the resulting crackdown by police.

For more information, please see:

AP – China Blocks YouTube Over Tibet Videos – 16 March 2008

AFP – YouTube access blocked in China after Tibet clips appear – 16 March 2008

CNN – American film crew kept from China protests – 17 March 2008

Guardian – China blocks media due to Tibet unrest – 17 March 2008

Times Online – China blocks YouTube, Yahoo! Over Tibet – 17 March 2008

BEIJING, China – In a news conference on Sunday the Dalai Lama, who is exiled in India and the Tibetan spiritual leader, accused China of waging “cultural genocide” against Tibetan monks and called for an investigation into the suppression of protests. “Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place,” the Dalai Lama said, referring to China’s policy of encouraging members of the ethnic Han majority to migrate to the region. “It’s really desperate,” he told the BBC. “Things become tense as the Tibetan side is determined, the Chinese side also equally determined. So that means the result is killing.”  China’s provincial government in Tibet rejected the Dalai Lama’s assertion regarding cultural genocide and said the population enjoys religious freedom.

During the news conference, the Dalai Lama expressed his fear of another crackdown like in the late 1980s, when the Chinese government declared martial law and violently suppressed demonstrations in Tibet.  Under martial law, hundreds Tibetans died.  However, he told reporters he was powerless to stop the protests.  “I do feel helpless,” he said. “I feel very sad, very serious, very anxious. Cannot do anything.”  The Dalai Lama also endorsed the right of his people to press grievances against the Chinese authorities and reminded reporters that he was not calling for secession. “As far as material development concerned, we get much benefit” from being part of China, he said.  He also remained supportive of the Olympic Games being held in China.

The protests began a week ago in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, and have quickly evolved into the largest outpouring of Tibetan rage against Chinese rule in 20 years.  The Chinese have deployed thousands of troops and rolled out tanks to suppress Tibet protests.  According to Tibet’s government-in-exile, at least 80 people died since protests began last week, which disputes the official death toll of 10.

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune – Dalai Lama assails curbs on protest in Tibet – 17 March 2008.

The Independent – Dalai Lama attacks ‘cultural genocide’ – 17 March 2008.

The Seattle Times – Tibet protests spread to other provinces as Dalai Lama warns of “cultural genocide” – 17 March 2008.