By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

DAMAK, Nepal – Nepal has issued the first set of exit permits to Bhutan refugees who have voluntarily chosen resettlement. About 107,000 refugees have been living in Nepal for the last 17 years in refugee camps. The refugees fled Bhutan in 1990’s because of persecution from the royal family.

The first set of exit permits allows refugees to resettle in third countries. TheUnited States has agreed to accept up to 60,000 refugees. Canada has indicated it will accept up to 5,000 refugees. Australia, Denmark, theNetherlands, New Zealand, and Norway have also shown interest in taking refugees.

Voluntary resettlement is a decisive issue among the refugees. Although some have agreed to be moved to third countries, others vow to regain their citizenship in Bhutan. There have been reports of clashes between the two groups. Some refugees have faced intimidations since the plans of resettlement were announced last November. Soon after, US Assistant Secretary of State Population, Refugees and Migration, Ellen Sauerbrey requested more security from Nepalese officials. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also said, “While resettlement offers a welcome solution for those who voluntarily choose this option after 17 years in the camps, the UN refugee agency will continue to advocate for the option of voluntary return to Bhutan for those refugees who wish to do so.”

However, the UNHCR has welcomed the issuance of exit permits. A UNHCR statement read, “It was an important step towards finding a solution to the 17-year-old refugees’ problem. Thousands of Bhutanese refugees have applied for third country resettlement and the UNHCR has submitted the details of 10,000 refugees for resettlement to different countries.”

Presently, the refugees are in the midst of the resettlement process. Some are undergoing interviews and extensive medical exams while others are taking part in culture orientation programs.

According to estimates, the first refugees will arrive in the United States in March. A larger group will then exit Nepal in July.

For more information, please see:

The Himalayan Times – First Batch of Bhutanese Refugees to Leave for the United States by March – 4 February 2008

The Hindu – Nepal Issues Exit Permits to Bhutanese Refugees – 4 February 2008

Nepal News – Nepal Issues Exit Permits to Bhutanese Refugees for Third Country Resettlement – 4 February 2008

By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

DAMAK, Nepal – Nepal has issued the first set of exit permits to Bhutan refugees who have voluntarily chosen resettlement. About 107,000 refugees have been living in Nepal for the last 17 years in refugee camps. The refugees fled Bhutan in 1990’s because of persecution from the royal family.

The first set of exit permits allows refugees to resettle in third countries. TheUnited States has agreed to accept up to 60,000 refugees. Canada has indicated it will accept up to 5,000 refugees. Australia, Denmark, theNetherlands, New Zealand, and Norway have also shown interest in taking refugees.

Voluntary resettlement is a decisive issue among the refugees. Although some have agreed to be moved to third countries, others vow to regain their citizenship in Bhutan. There have been reports of clashes between the two groups. Some refugees have faced intimidations since the plans of resettlement were announced last November. Soon after, US Assistant Secretary of State Population, Refugees and Migration, Ellen Sauerbrey requested more security from Nepalese officials. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also said, “While resettlement offers a welcome solution for those who voluntarily choose this option after 17 years in the camps, the UN refugee agency will continue to advocate for the option of voluntary return to Bhutan for those refugees who wish to do so.”

However, the UNHCR has welcomed the issuance of exit permits. A UNHCR statement read, “It was an important step towards finding a solution to the 17-year-old refugees’ problem. Thousands of Bhutanese refugees have applied for third country resettlement and the UNHCR has submitted the details of 10,000 refugees for resettlement to different countries.”

Presently, the refugees are in the midst of the resettlement process. Some are undergoing interviews and extensive medical exams while others are taking part in culture orientation programs.

According to estimates, the first refugees will arrive in the United States in March. A larger group will then exit Nepal in July.

For more information, please see:

The Himalayan Times – First Batch of Bhutanese Refugees to Leave for the United States by March – 4 February 2008

The Hindu – Nepal Issues Exit Permits to Bhutanese Refugees – 4 February 2008

Nepal News – Nepal Issues Exit Permits to Bhutanese Refugees for Third Country Resettlement – 4 February 2008

By Juliana Chan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – After spending nearly three years in jail in China on charges of spying for Taiwan, Hong Kong reporter Ching Cheong was released on parole Tuesday from a prison in Guangdong Province.

Mr. Ching, 58, a correspondent for Singapore’s The Straits Times newspaper, was arrested in April 2005 during a visit to the city of Guangzhou. He was held in custody for 16 months before a one-day, closed-door trial in August 2006, in which he was convicted for selling state secrets to a Taiwan foundation that was a front for an espionage agency. Mr. Ching was sentenced to five years in prison.

China’s official Xinhua reported at the time that Mr. Ching’s sentence was mitigated because he confessed to more espionage activities than those the state had known about. Mr. Ching’s wife, Mary Lau, said her husband traveled to China to obtain recordings of secret interviews with the late Communist Party chief, Zhao Ziyang.

Mr. Ching’s conviction was widely criticized as yet another attempt by China to use legal sanctions to censor free speech and control information. Fellow Hong Kong journalists, press freedom groups, and other human rights organizations condemned his detainment.

Since his release, Mr. Ching thanked the Chinese government, and expressed how “very happy that I was able to return to Hong Kong and reunite with my family before the Chinese New Year.”

Hong Kong’s chief executive, Donald Tsang, welcomed Mr. Ching’s release, but human rights campaigners in Hong Kong said other journalists or academics are still at risk of arrest and imprisonment. Mr. Ching’s early release did not offset what they say to be a flawed conviction.

Law Yuk-kai, director of the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor said, “It fell far short of the standards of criminal proof required under international human rights treaties and there was no presumption of innocence.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – Hong Kong reporter freed early from China jail – 05 February 2008

The New York Times – China Frees Hong Kong Journalist – 06 February 2008

AP – China Releases Jailed Hong Kong Reporter – 05 February 2008

BBC News – China frees Hong Kong journalist – 05 February 2008

By Elizabeth Breslin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka- As Sri Lanka prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary of independence, its human rights record is in the spotlight.  Attention is also focused on the country due to a bombing of a bus on Saturday and then the bombing of a train station on Sunday by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (also known as the Tamil Tigers or LTTE), killing a total of 29 people and wounding over 100.

In its recently-released World Report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) found that in the conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lanka government, little consideration is shown for civilians.  HRW reported that the two sides “violate international humanitarian law… by indiscriminately firing on civilian areas and unnecessarily preventing the delivery humanitarian aid.”

In 2007, Sri Lanka enacted further Emergency Regulations giving the government broad powers to arrest and detain citizens without charge.  The government has used this power to arbitrarily arrest ethnic Tamils, journalists, and political activists.

Furthermore, HRW reported that “[g]overnment security forces are implicated in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, forcibly returning internally displaced persons… to unsafe areas, restricting media freedoms, apparent complicity with the abusive Karuna group, and widespread impunity for serious human rights violations.”

HRW found that the world community was concerned over the situation in Sri Lanka during 2007, but that action was “slow and lacked cohesion.”

Many countries have recently suspended aid due to concerns over Sri Lanka’s human rights record.  The US government has suspended over 110 million USD, the UK has suspended over 3 million USD, and Sri Lanka’s top donor, Japan, threatened to cut off aid as well if the violence continues.

Ethnic turmoil has affected the country for more than 30 years, and the separatist struggle has taken over 60,000 lives.  The civil war has emerged as Asia’s longest ethnic conflict.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – S Lanka anniversary amid tensions – 4 February 2008

AFP – Sri Lanka marks freedom day amid bombs and bloodshed – 3 February 2008

Nidahasa – Global Concern Over Worsening Human Rights Record of Sri Lanka – 1 February 2008

AFP – International action slow to stem Sri Lanka bloodshed: HRW – 1 February 2008

Human Rights Watch – World Report 2008: Sri Lanka Events of 2007 – 31 January 2008

By Elizabeth Breslin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka- As Sri Lanka prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary of independence, its human rights record is in the spotlight.  Attention is also focused on the country due to a bombing of a bus on Saturday and then the bombing of a train station on Sunday by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (also known as the Tamil Tigers or LTTE), killing a total of 29 people and wounding over 100.

In its recently-released World Report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) found that in the conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lanka government, little consideration is shown for civilians.  HRW reported that the two sides “violate international humanitarian law… by indiscriminately firing on civilian areas and unnecessarily preventing the delivery humanitarian aid.”

In 2007, Sri Lanka enacted further Emergency Regulations giving the government broad powers to arrest and detain citizens without charge.  The government has used this power to arbitrarily arrest ethnic Tamils, journalists, and political activists.

Furthermore, HRW reported that “[g]overnment security forces are implicated in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, forcibly returning internally displaced persons… to unsafe areas, restricting media freedoms, apparent complicity with the abusive Karuna group, and widespread impunity for serious human rights violations.”

HRW found that the world community was concerned over the situation in Sri Lanka during 2007, but that action was “slow and lacked cohesion.”

Many countries have recently suspended aid due to concerns over Sri Lanka’s human rights record.  The US government has suspended over 110 million USD, the UK has suspended over 3 million USD, and Sri Lanka’s top donor, Japan, threatened to cut off aid as well if the violence continues.

Ethnic turmoil has affected the country for more than 30 years, and the separatist struggle has taken over 60,000 lives.  The civil war has emerged as Asia’s longest ethnic conflict.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – S Lanka anniversary amid tensions – 4 February 2008

AFP – Sri Lanka marks freedom day amid bombs and bloodshed – 3 February 2008

Nidahasa – Global Concern Over Worsening Human Rights Record of Sri Lanka – 1 February 2008

AFP – International action slow to stem Sri Lanka bloodshed: HRW – 1 February 2008

Human Rights Watch – World Report 2008: Sri Lanka Events of 2007 – 31 January 2008