By Kaitlyn Degnan

Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer

Samut Sakhon, THAILAND —A number of Thai officials and law enforcement officers have reportedly been transferred to other positions, and some are reported to have lost their jobs entirely, following a visit from Myanmar  State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to Talad Talay Thai in Samut Sakhon province. The area is known as “Little Myanmar” due the large number of Myanmar migrants working there, who mostly work in fishing and manufacturing.

Aung San Suu Kyi spoke to a group of migrant workers at the Talay Thai Hall, though their numbers were smaller than expected. Although about 500 migrant workers had been “selected” by business owners to attend the gathering, only about 200 were permitted inside. Thousands reportedly gathered nearby hoping to see the State Counsellor, claiming that those with the “worst” grievances were not permitted to attend.

Migrants living and working in Thailand have long complained of abuse from business owners and Thai officials. International groups have also reported abuses in the area, including allegations of human  trafficking, forced labor, child labor and discrimination. The migrants are especially vulnerable because they lack citizenship status, and there is great confusion among the general population and even migrant aid groups as to what Thai law requires.

During her visit, Aung San Suu Kyi met with Thai Prime Minister Prayutth Chan-o-cha to negotiate two agreements and a memorandum of understanding, which discuss employment, labor cooperation and border crossing. The goal of the negotiations is to simplify the process and provide information to the migrants. One  aspect would create a pre-departure orientation center in Maw Sot, Tak province.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won Myanmar’s first free and fair parliamentary elections in  November 2015. Although the leader of the party, she was not permitted to be “President” due to a constitutional amendment that bars persons with foreign relatives from holding that title. As a result, the position of “State Counsellor” was created specifically for her, allowing her to rule by proxy. Despite Aung San Suu Kyi’s international status as an advocate for democracy (she was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1991), she and her party have faced criticism for not addressing the plight of the Rohingya.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Aung San Suu Kyi Fast Facts – 17 June 2016

Radio Free Asia – Aung San Suu Kyi Visits Myanmar Migrant Workers in Thailand – 23 June 2016

Andalou Agency – 23 Thai officials removed from posts after Suu Kyi trip – 27 June 2016

Burma News International – Thousands of Burmese Migrant Workers Kept Away from Aung San Suu Kyi – 28 June 2016

Fish Info & Services – Officials removed due to alleged link to migrant workers’ abuse – 28 June 2016

Myanmar Times – After state counsellor’s visit, overhaul of Thai migrant workers scheme expected, 1 July 2016

 

By Christine Khamis

 

BEIJING, China –

29-year-old environmentalist Lei Yang died while in police custody last week. Police say that he was detained outside of a foot parlor near Beijing. The official cause of his death is unclear at this time.

Mr. Lei worked for the China Association of Circular Economy, an environmental organization with ties to the government. His family says that he was on the way to pick up friends from the airport when he was detained. Mr. Lei apparently left his home around 9 p.m., about an hour before he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Many among the public believe that Mr. Lei was tortured or beaten to death. There has been great speculation about what Mr. Lei was doing at the foot parlor, which is a common cover for a brothel in the region.

The prosecutor’s office in Changping, the county where the foot parlor was located, says that it is investigating Mr. Lei’s death. There have been no other official government comments on Mr. Lei’s death, nor are there any surveillance videos available from Mr. Lei’s arrest and detainment.

However, People’s Daily, a newspaper closely allied with the Communist government, published an interview with an officer in charge of an anti-prostitution raid, during which Mr. Lei was reportedly picked up outside the massage parlor. The officer told People’s Daily that they had not used excessive force with Mr. Lei and that he was detained for paying for paying for sexual services. The officer also stated that Mr. Lei had bitten officers and tried to escape police custody twice.

The police also say that Mr. Lei had a heart attack while in police custody and then was declared dead at the hospital. Xinhua, a state run news source, reported that family members said they had seen bruises on Mr. Lei’s head and arms. Police responded that Mr. Lei had hit his head while trying to escape.

Mr. Lei’s family has requested an independent autopsy. Results of the autopsy are set to be released next month.

Former alumni of Renmin University, where Mr. Lei obtained his master’s degree in environmental science, circulated four petitions online following the news of his death. One of the petitions stated that Mr. Lei should not have been executed without a trial and said that his death was not an accident. It called for authorities to conduct an independent inquiry into Mr. Lei’s death.

Prostitution is illegal in China, but such an offense for solicitors is usually punishable by some form of administrative discipline.

  

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – Chinese Man’s Death in Custody Prompts Suspicion of Police Brutality – 12 May 2016

South China Morning Post – Former Students Call for Full Inquiry Into ‘Suspicious’ Death of Beijing University Alumnus in Police Custody – 12 May 2016

Hindustan Times – Mysterious Death in China Raises Suspicions of Police Brutality – 12 May 2016

Radio Free Asia – Death of Man in Police Custody Sparks Anger, Raises Doubts in Beijing – 11 May 2016

 

 

By Christine Khamis

 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan –

Unidentified assailants gunned down a Pakistani rights activist in a drive-by shooting on Saturday in Karachi. The activist, Khurram Zaki, was known for his fight against the Taliban as well as Sunni extremist groups.

Mr. Zaki was gunned down at a restaurant while meeting with a friend by attackers on motorbikes. Two other people were wounded during the attack.

A splinter faction of the Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the shooting. Police say, however, that they are unable to verify whether the faction, known as the Hakeemullah Group, is behind the attack. The group has falsely taken responsibility for other attacks in the past.

A former journalist, Mr. Zaki was a blogger and editor for Let Us Build Pakistan, a pro-Shiite blog that supports democratic values.

He was especially well known for his campaign against Abdul Aziz, the head cleric of the Lal Masjid, a prominent Sunni extremist mosque. Mr. Zaki and other activists protested outside of the mosque after Mr. Aziz refused to denounce an attack on a school in Peshawar in 2014. 152 people, most of them schoolchildren, were killed in the attack. Mr. Zaki and the other activists then filed a lawsuit against Mr. Aziz for incitement to hatred and violence against the Shiites.

Mr. Zaki is the third human rights activist to be killed in Karachi since 2013. Another influential activist as well as a human rights lawyer were also attacked and killed by extremist groups. Asad Iqbal Butt, from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, says that such groups have begun to target activists who campaign against social and religious injustice and intolerance.

Colleagues of Mr. Zaki released a statement in which they pledged to continue to stand up to militant groups.

 

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Activist Khurram Zaki killed in Pakistan’s Karachi – 8 May 2016

BBC – Pakistani Activist Khurram Zaki Murdered in Karachi – 8 May 2016

The New York Times – Pakistani Rights Activist Is Shot and Killed in Karachi – 8 May 2016

Voice of America – Pakistan Rights Activist Killed in Karachi – 8 May 2016

 

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

JAKARTA, Indonesia –

Indonesia’s security minister has announced that its government will not launch a criminal investigation into anti-Communist purges that occurred in the country during the mid-1960s. The Indonesian government plans to address atrocities committed during the period in some way, but no definitive cause of action has been decided upon at this point.

A symposium was held on Monday to address the purges, where Luhut B. Pandjaitan, coordinating minister for political, legal, and security affairs, announced that the government would not initiate a criminal investigation. Mr. Luhut said that Indonesia’s government would instead attempt to answer questions about the purge over time. Mr. Luhut also stated at the symposium that the government would be open to official complaints from survivors of the purges. However, the government has no plans to issue a formal apology to victims.

Hundreds of thousands of people were killed during the purges, which occurred from 1965-1966. The purges were set off by a quashed uprising within Indonesia’s armed forces. Authorities claimed the Indonesian Communist Party had orchestrated the uprising. Soldiers, military-backed civilians, paramilitary, and religious groups carried out the purges, killing at least 500,000 people, including many who had no ties to Communism.

Many survivors of the purges were imprisoned without trial for years. Descendants of Communist Party members are stigmatized in Indonesia’s society and are prohibited from holding government jobs, including police and military positions.

Indonesia’s government has yet to formally acknowledge the purges, which many historians consider one of the worst mass atrocities to occur in the 20^th century. Official government policy on the matter at this time is that the killings were justified to prevent a Communist takeover and that the death toll estimates may not be accurate. This week’s symposium is the first time that the government has engaged in a public discussion of the purges.

The National Commission on Human Rights, an independent body separate from Indonesia’s government, urged the government to initiate a criminal investigation in 2012 after declaring that the purges had violated human rights. The government failed to initiate the criminal investigation.

 

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Indonesia Takes Step Toward Reckoning With ’65-66 Atrocities – 18 April 2016

Newsweek – Indonesia Allows Talk of 1965 Anti-Communist Purge That Left Half a Million Dead – 18 April 2016

The New York Times – Indonesia Rules Out Criminal Inquiry of Anti-Communist Purges – 18 April 2016

South China Morning Post – Indonesia Vows to Resolve ‘Dark History’ Around 1965-66 Anti-Communist Massacre but Rules Out Formal Apology – 18 April 2016

 

 

 

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

DHAKA, Bangladesh –

A prominent magazine editor was arrested in Bangladesh on Saturday for his alleged involvement in a plot to kill the son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The editor, Shafik Rehman, is only one of several journalists facing criminal proceedings in Bangladesh at this time.

Mr. Rehman was arrested at his home by police officers and has been placed on a five-day police remand for interrogation. Police state that Mr. Rehman is being held due to the discovery of evidence that links him to the conspiracy to kill Mr. Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed.

Mr. Rehman runs a monthly magazine called Mouchake Dhil. He may have been detained due to his ties with the opposition political party, the Bangladesh Nationalist party. Khaleda Zia, former prime minister and the leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has demanded Mr. Rehman’s release. Mr. Rehman was Mr. Zia’s speech writer during his term as prime minister.

Before Mr. Rehman’s detainment, he had also been working with the Bangladesh National party’s international affairs committee and had recently begun to organize a pro-opposition think tank as well.

Mr. Rehman is the third pro-opposition editor to be detained by police since 2013. The others, editors of Bengali and English newspapers, were detained for crimes similar to Mr. Rehman’s alleged crime. Both face criminal prosecution for a number of alleged crimes, including dozens of counts of defamation and sedition.

Journalists and local civic groups have noted the Bangladeshi government’s increasing crackdown on dissent. That crackdown has occurred amidst a series of killings of bloggers and publishers by Islamist extremist groups.

 

For more information, please see:

Dhaka Tribune – Minister: Shafik Rehman Arrested On Specific Charge – 17 April 2016

BBC – Senior Bangladesh Editor Shafik Rehman Is Arrested – 16 April 2016

The Indian Express – Bangladesh: 81-year-old Magazine Editor Arrested For Sedition – 16 April 2016

The New York Times – Bangladesh Editor, 81, Is Accused in Plot to Kill Leader’s Son – 16 April 2016