By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

BEIJING, China –

Chinese authorities confirmed on Friday that 28 people suspected of involvement in a coal mine attack in September had been killed. News of the killings had surfaced earlier in the week, but the killings have not been officially acknowledged until now.

Because China censors information in Xinjiang, there is still limited information on the killings known at this time. Initially, 17 people were reported to have been killed for their involvement in the coal mine attack at the Sogan Colliery in Aksu. It is believed that three main suspects were killed, along with their families.

Radio Free Asia, a news source funded by the United States, first reported earlier this week that officials had killed 17 suspects, including women and children. The report stated that the suspects were killed in the Xinjiang region, an area near the China-Kazakhstan border. Radio Free Asia quoted a Xinjiang police officer as saying that Chinese military forces blew up a cave where the suspects were hiding.

A statement posted on China’s Ministry of Public Security website last week stated that the “terrorists were killed on the 56^th day of a ‘pursue and attack’ operation in the region”. Radio Free Asia reports that the statement was taken down shortly after.

The Chinese government has not officially addressed September’s attack on the Sogan Colliery. Radio Free Asia has reported that most of the victims were Han Chinese, the ethnic majority in the region. A report by Tianshin, a state-run news website, stated that only 16 people were killed in the coal mine attack. However, according to the victims’ relatives and residents in the area, the attack killed over 50 people.

Chinese officials have heightened their campaign against what they see as a growing radical separatist movement led by the Uighurs, a Muslim minority. The Chinese government has increasingly restricted the Uighurs’ culture and religion, including their right to participate in religious worship.

Hundreds of people have died in Xinjiang and other areas of China over the past three years. China has placed the blame for the unrest on Islamic militants, but the Uighurs say that China’s controls over their religious and cultural practices are inciting violence in the region.

China has denied committing human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region and states that it is fighting against Islamic radicals in the area. Following the attacks on Paris last week, Chinese leaders called for foreign nations to join China’s efforts to eliminate terrorist movements in Xinjiang. Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, stated that there could be no double standards and that terrorism was also occurring in China. Some have criticized China’s statements, saying that nations should be cautious of accepting China’s definition of terrorism.

 

For more information, please see:

New York Times – China Acknowledges Killing 28, Accusing Them of Role in Mine Attack – 20 November 2015

BBC – Chinese Forces ‘Kill 17 in Xinjiang’ After Colliery Attack – 18 November 2015

New York Times – Police in China Kill 17 Linked to Mine Attack, Report Says – 18 November 2015

Reuters – Chinese Security Forces Kill 17 in Xinjiang: Radio Free Asia – 18 November 2015

Radio Free Asia – Chinese Authorities Kill 17 Suspects in Xinjiang Attack, Including Seven Women and Children – 17 November 2015

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

PYONGYANG, North Korea –

A committee of the United Nations General Assembly condemned on Thursday what it described as rampant and planned human rights violations in North Korea. Pyongyang has rebuked the resolution, saying that it was a hostile plot coordinated by the United States and its allies.

The resolution, which urges North Korea to end all human rights abuses, was drafted by the European Union and Japan and is non-binding. It was adopted by the General Assembly’s Third Committee, whose focus is on human rights and includes 193 nations. The General Assembly has condemned human rights abuses every year since 2005. For the second consecutive year, the resolution encourages the U.N. Security Council to consider sending North Korea to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The resolution will be voted on in the full General Assembly next month.

112 of the countries in the Third Committee supported the resolution, while 19 voted against the resolution. 50 countries abstained from voting. Among the countries that voted against the resolution were China, Russia, Nicaragua, and Syria. Many of the countries that voted against the resolution said that they object to resolutions singling out specific countries for human rights abuses.

The resolution stated that there have been “ongoing, systematic, widespread, and gross violations of human rights” in North Korea. The resolution accused North Korea of abuses such as torture, rapes, use of prison camps, enslavement, forced abortions, and forced transfers of populations. The Third Committee also stated that Pyongyang has not cooperated with the U.N.’s special rapporteur for North Korea, Marzuki Darusman.

Before the Third Committee’s vote, North Korea’s Deputy Director for U.N. Affairs, Choe Myong-Nam, called for nations to vote against the resolution and said that Pyongyang will “react in the strongest possible terms” to the resolution. North Korea’s U.N. mission emailed reporters a statement rejecting the resolution, saying that the resolution is a product of political confrontation, plot, and conspiracy by the United States and other countries who are hostile toward North Korea and that the resolution is irrelevant to promoting and protecting human rights. The mission stated that North Korea’s government has always maintained a policy of taking responsibility for and promoting human rights of the “popular masses”.

The United Nations General Assembly Committee also approved resolutions concerning human rights violations in Iran, Syria, and Myanmar. The resolutions will now also go on to the full General Assembly.

 

For more information, please see:

Channel NewsAsia – UN Votes to in Record Number to Condemn North Korea Rights Violations – 20 November 2015

CBS News – U.N. Panel Condemns N. Korea for Gross Human Rights Abuses – 19 November 2015

New York Times – Human Rights Committee Condemns North Korea – 19 November 2015

Reuters UK – U.N. Panel Condemns North Korea Abuses, Pyongyang Cites U.S. ‘Plot’ – 19 November 2015

 

 

 

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar –

Parliamentary election results indicate that military-backed rule in Myanmar will soon come to an end. Myanmar’s election commission made the announcement on Friday that Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League of Democracy Party had won a majority of Myanmar’s parliamentary seats. The elections were the first freely held elections to take place in Myanmar in 25 years, with 80% turnout among 30 million voters.

The results of the election have not been completely counted, but the National League for Democracy (NLD) currently holds over 80% of the parliamentary seats. The ruling military backed party, the Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP), holds around 5% of the seats.

A presidential spokesman has stated that it will take at least another week to count the election results. When the outcome is made official, lawmakers will then begin the process of choosing Myanmar’s next president. Because the NLD has won the majority of the parliamentary seats so far, the party will be able to select the next president, who will then choose a new Cabinet and fill other official posts.

The new parliamentary government will not be official until January of next year. The pre-election parliament will continue to have full legislative power until then. At that point, the new parliament will choose a new speaker, who will go on to select two vice presidents and the president in March.

The current ruling party, led by President Thein Sein, has pledged to honor the results of the election. Ms. Suu Kyi is set to meet with President Sein and army Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing in Nay Pyi Taw next week to discuss the incoming government.

Even as the government will no longer be military-backed, Myanmar’s electoral system is still skewed in favor of the military. The military will have the power to appoint a quarter of the lawmakers in Myanmar’s parliament and will also continue to control the police and key bureaucratic offices.  In addition, the military’s commander in chief is autonomous from the president and the parliament under Myanmar’s current constitution.

Because she has two foreign-born children, Ms. Suu Kyi is unable to become president. There is a military drafted provision in Myanmar’s constitution that prohibits those with foreign family members from becoming the president. Ms. Suu Kyi was reelected to her own parliamentary seat for the Kawhmu constituency in Yangon, but she aspires to fill an office above the position of president and appoint the new president as her proxy. Although Ms. Suu Kyi intends to fill a role above the president, the military will still have the power to veto any proposed alterations to the constitution.

Friday marks the fifth anniversary of Ms. Suu Kyi’s release from house arrest, where she remained for almost two decades. Ms. Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest after her party won Myanmar’s national election in 1990, with the military annulling the results and refusing to hand over power.

President Sein’s government, in place since 2011, has marked a improvement from Myanmar’s international isolation caused by its military rule. Western sanctions have been lessened as President Sein has made efforts to move toward civilian-run government in Myanmar. He has initiated several political reforms by freeing prisoners, making peace deals, and relaxing media censorship.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC – Myanmnar Election: Suu Kyi’s NLD Wins Landslide Victory – 13 November 2015

CNN – Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD Wins Historic Majority – 13 November 2015

New York Times – Myanmar Election Panel Says Aung San Suu Kyi’s Party Won Majority – 13 November 2015

NPR – Aung San Suu Kyi’s Party Wins Majority in Myanmar’s Historic Election – 13 November 2015

 

 

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

BEIJING, China –

Chinese rights activist Zhang Liumao died last week in a police detention center in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province. Police have given no information about Mr. Zhang’s death and his family has been prevented from seeing his body.

Mr. Zhang was detained during a police raid in August for “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble”. His family believes that he was detained in connection with a literary magazine that had been circulating in Guangzhou. Mr. Zhang’s sister, Zhang Weichu, told Radio Free Asia that the police department stated that he had been detained for opposing the Communist Party.

Mr. Zhang was not allowed to meet with his lawyers during his detainment, and his family never received a formal arrest warrant or any information on his detainment. Chinese law mandates that a person must be either officially arrested or freed within 37 days.

When informed of his death, Mr. Zhang’s family and their lawyers traveled to No. 3 Detention Center, where he had been held, for an explanation of his death. They requested to meet with the detention center’s prosecutor, but their request was denied. When Mr. Zhang’s family asked for his personal belongings, detention center staff told them that it was against the rules to return the items and that they would place them in storage instead.

Mr. Zhang’s family has requested a document detailing the causes of his death and has also requested access to surveillance videos of the center and his body. Mr. Zhang’s body was taken to a funeral parlor when he died, and his family has not been allowed to view it. His family has refused permission for the cremation until they have more information about the circumstances of his death.

Mr. Zhang’s family and hundreds of supporters have demanded that authorities give an explanation for his death and allow them to see his body. An online petition in support of those demands had over 200 signatures on Friday.

While China’s Rules on the Handling of Deaths in Detention Centers require authorities to investigate deaths of detainees, Mr. Zhang’s death is not the first to occur under unexplained circumstances. Last year, Beijing activist Cao Shunli died after months in detention. Similarly, the esteemed Tibetan monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche died earlier this year after many years in prison. Both had been known to be ill, but their deaths remain unexplained.

Mr. Zhang’s death comes as the United Nations Committee Against Torture prepares to evaluate China’s implementation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on November 17-18.

 

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – Backers of Detained Chinese Activist Demand Explanation for His Death – 6 November 2015

Asia News – Guangdong activist dies in prison before trial: no explanation given to the family – 5 November 2015

Human Rights Watch – Dispatches: An Activist’s Death in Custody in China – 5 November 2015

Radio Free Asia – Family Demands Information After Chinese Activist Dies in Police Custody – 4 November 2015

 

 

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

SEOUL, South Korea –

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met on Monday for their first formal summit since they both took office. South Korean and Japanese leaders have not held a summit in three years.

President Park and Prime Minister Abe met briefly for a bilateral talk meant to help alleviate tensions between the countries, which have been ongoing since Japan’s 35 year long colonization of Korea from 1910 to 1945.

A major point of contention between President Park and Prime Minister Abe during the summit was the issue of “comfort women”, who were Korean women forced into prostitution at Japanese military brothels throughout Japan’s colonization of Korea and its involvement in World War II. During the summit, President Park and Prime Minister Abe agreed to continue talks to resolve their differences on the issue of the comfort women and strengthen diplomatic ties between their countries.

President Park has referred to the issue of the comfort women as a major stumbling block to friendly relations between the South Korea and Japan and has stated that coming to an agreement on the issue is essential to creating better ties between the countries. She had previously rejected proposals to have summits with Japan because she believed that Japan had failed to make proper restitution for its actions during its colonial rule over South Korea.

Japan says that the issue of comfort women was settled in 1965 during a normalization agreement, under which Japan paid $800 million in grants and loans to Korea to make reparation for its abuses during its colonization, and in 1993 when the country issued a formal apology to Korea. Prime Minister Abe, however, told reporters after the summit that he had agreed with President Park that it was important for South Korea and Japan to resolve the issue of the comfort women as soon as possible and that the two countries “should not leave obstacles for future generations.”

The first meeting between the two leaders since they each took office represents a diplomatic breakthrough between South Korea and Japan. The United States has pushed in recent years for South Korea and Japan to improve their ties in light of China’s growing assertiveness and North Korea’s development of its nuclear arms program. Both South Korea and Japan are military allies of the United States, and the bulk of the United States’ military presence in the Asia-Pacific is concentrated in the two countries.

President Park and Prime Minister Abe’s meeting came a day after leaders from Japan, South Korea, and China met at a summit for the first time since 2012 to discuss progress toward increased economic and regional cooperation among themselves. In a joint statement after the summit, the three countries agreed to work together on improving trade and security ties as North Asia’s three largest economies.

 

For more information, please see:

 Al Jazeera – S Korea and Japan Leaders Meet for First Time in Years – 2 November 2015

South China Morning Post – South Korea and Japan Break Diplomatic Freeze as Park and Abe Meet for Rare Summit in Seoul – 2 November 2015

The New York Times – Leaders of South Korea and Japan Meet in Effort to Mend Ties – 1 November 2015

U.S. News & World Report – Leaders of South Korea, Japan, and China Set for Summit Meant to Repair Terrible Ties – 1 November 2015