By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – China said it would resume a human rights dialogue with the United States after a five-year halt, taking a step to prevent rights advocates from boycotting Beijing’s Olympic Games in August.

After a close talk with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi made the announcement that Chinese government is willing to resume the human rights dialogue.  He said that the Chinese people enjoy the full extent of human rights and religious freedom, and are willing to exchange and interact with the United States and other countries on human rights on a basis of mutual respect, equality and noninterference in internal affairs.

China suspended the regular U.S.-China human rights dialogue in 2004, after the U.S. State Department cited the execution of a Tibetan and the arrests of pro-democracy activists as ‘troubling incidents’ that showed China was ‘backsliding’ on human rights issues in a resolution at the 60th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.  Even without the formal dialogue, U.S. officials have made human rights a routine topic in discussions with Chinese government.

During the talk, Rice reminds Yang that human rights are ‘near and dear’ to the United States and raised three specific cases of particular interest to the Bush administration.  She also called on China to use its influence to persuade North Korea to speed the dismantling of its nuclear weapons program.

Recently, many western human rights groups are increasingly accusing China of being unfit to host the Olympics because the rights abuses.  In addition, some human rights activities and American celebrities have mounted a campaign against China as host of the Game because of Darfur.  Yang’s declaration appeared designed as a response to these criticisms.

For more information, please see:

Bloomberg – China Willing to Resume Human Rights Talks With U.S. – 26 February 2008

New York Times – China Says It Will Resume Human Rights Talks – 27 February 2008

Washington Post – China Set to Resume Human Rights Dialogue – 27 February 2008

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan- As a representative of the new opposition coalition government (see Impunity Watch article here), former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif publicly urged President Pervez Musharraf to convene a session of the newly elected Parliament.

The Parliament cannot hold a session until the government’s Election Commission officially announces the results of the February 18 election.

The coalition government maintains that they have won at least two-thirds of the seats, meaning that once they convene they could repeal constitutional amendments imposed by Musharraf or even impeach him.

After a coalition meeting, Sharif addressed a news conference stating: “I would like to say on behalf of all of my colleagues that we inform Mr. Musharraf that we are not prepared to wait for a single day more for the assembly to be convened… It should be amply clear to him that the nation has given a verdict against dictatorship.”

For more information, please see:

New York Times – Parties Press Pakistan Leader to Convene Assembly – 28 February 2008

By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer,Asia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – During an investigative reenactment, Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, was brought to tears as he lead tribunal judges and co-investigators through the Tuol Sleng Torture Center he once oversaw during the Khmer Rouge regime.

During the 3 ½ hour tour, Kaing Guek Eav explained what took place at the torture center and nearby killing fields. Reach Sambath, a tribunal spokesmen, told reporters, “We noticed that he was feeling pity, tears were rolling down his face two or three times.” Kaing Guek Eav was also especially moved when he stood before a tree that described how executioners killed child victims by bashing their heads against the tree’s trunk.

At the end of the reenactment, Kaing Guek Eav began to pray and cried in front of a glass-fronted stupa that displayed 8,985 skulls bearing signs of death by hammers, bamboo sticks, and bullets.

The reenactment took place last Tuesday and was closed to the public and media. About 80 tribunal participants took part. The group included judges, prosecutors, lawyers, representatives of victims, and witnesses.  During the tour, Kaing Guek Eav appeared frail and walked through the fields with the assistance of a guard.

Kaing Guek Eav was commander of the Khmer Rouge’s torture center, Tuol Sleng. Nearly 16,000 men, women, and children were tortured at the Tuol Sleng and then executed at the nearby killing fields. Only 16 persons are believed to have survived their time there.

For more information, please see:

AP – Khmer Rouge Defendant Visits Grave Site – 26 February 2008

Earthtimes – Former Khmer Rouge Jailer Returns to Cambodian “Killing Fields” –26 February 2008

The Press Association – Khmer Rouge Accused at Death Sites – 26 February 2008

KABUL, Afghanistan- Seven years after the Taleban regime ended, women in Afghanistan are still plagued by extremely high rates of violence.  High levels of poverty are causing families to sell their daughters into forced marriage.  Some of these girls are as young as six and they are being forced into a life of slavery and rape, often by multiple members of their new families.

In 2007, the Afghan government passed a law banning marriage to girls under 16 years old.  Despite this, in 57 per cent of marriages the bride is under 16 according to a recent report by Womankind Worldwide.  There are laws in place to protect women, but the Afghan government does not enforce them.

Because of their violent home situations, many of these women turn to self-harm and suicide.

For more information, please see:

The Independent – Women’s lives worse than ever – 25 February 2008

BBC News – Afghan women ‘remain in danger’ – 25 February 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

“Burma’s military regime has once again shown its intolerance toward different political viewpoints by arresting journalists who were doing nothing more than reporting news and opinions,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The Burmese government arrested two journalists Thet Zin and Sein Win Aung of Myanmar Nation magazine.  Both journalists were taken after police and intelligence officers carried out a four-hour search of the publication office, and confiscated many documents which included a copy of Human Rights Report on Burma by Paulo Sergio Pinherio, videos of last September’s anti-government protests and hand-written poems.  It was unclear under what specific charges the two journalists were being held.

Thet Zin’s wife Khin Swe Myint said that the journal is “published officially after clearance from the Censorship Board.”  According to Aung Din, Director of the Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma, Thet Zin told his wife Khin Swe Myint in a visit that he will be transferred to Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison soon.  Thet Zin did not tell his wife the nature of the charges he is facing, but he told her the prison term could amount to 10 years.

The editor, Thet Zin, has been an anti-government activist and critic.  He was arrested and tortured in 1988 for his participation in pro-democracy student protests during which the government killed as many as 3,000 protestors.  Throughout the 1990s, Thet Zin was occasionally detained and interrogated by officials.

Four days after the arrest, and interrogating the two reporters, the authorities raided the publication office again, and confiscated more documents.  Later, the censorship board, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, instructed the publisher to stop publishing the weekly journal.  According to Human Rights Watch reports, Burma’s government continues to sharply restrict media freedoms by requiring all domestic copy to be approved by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division of the Ministry of Information.  Journalists are routinely banned from publishing any material that contains criticism of the current government or positive towards the political opposition.

According to The Associated Press, the country’s ruling junta surprisingly announced last week that a new draft constitution to replace the one scrapped in 1988 is ready for submission to a national referendum. The new charter is supposed to lead to a general election in 2010. It was the first time the military government had set dates to carry out what it calls its road map to democracy.  However, “The arrests of journalists and repression of access to information deny the Burmese people any real opportunity to debate the proposed new constitution,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

For more information, please see:

Asian Tribune – Burma’s Media completely under military dictatorship – 20 February 2008

The Committee to Protect Journalists – BURMA:Two journalists arrested by military junta – 19 February 2008

Human Rights Watch – Burma: Arrest of Journalists Highlights Junta’s Intolerance – 19 February 2008