By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

KATHMANDU, Nepal –

Nepal began rationing fuel on Monday due to concerns about an impending fuel shortage. A fuel shortage appears likely due to disruption at checkpoints on the Nepal-India border caused by ongoing protests over Nepal’s new constitution. India, from which Nepal imports all of its fuel, has decreased its export of petroleum into Nepal.

State-owned oil company Nepal Oil Corporation, which handles all imports and sales of petroleum in Nepal, has requested that consumers curtail their petroleum usage and only use petroleum when absolutely necessary. The company has also started to ration all fuel and has set guidelines for fixed fuel quotas for different types of vehicles. A spokesman for Nepal Oil Corporation, Deepak Baral, has stated that Nepal will run out of fuel within the next 10 days.

Border checkpoint officials in Nepal state that Indian custom officials have prevented trucks carrying petroleum from entering Nepal for several days. Protestors have been staging sit-ins at border checkpoints. A spokesman for the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, Abhay Kumar, has stated that truck drivers are afraid to enter Nepal due to security concerns.

Nepalese officials accuse India of imposing an economic blockade because of India’s disagreement with Nepal’s ratification of its new constitution. Vikas Swarup, the spokesman for India’s Foreign Ministry, denies that there is any type of blockade. A statement on the Foreign Ministry’s website on September 25 said that “the reported obstructions are due to unrest, protests, and demonstrations on the Nepalese side, by sections of their population.”

On September 20, Nepal instituted a new constitution which has been the source of mass protests. The protests have resulted in over 40 deaths so far. India criticized Nepal’s leadership for enacting the new constitution despite the ongoing protests. Nepal did not address India’s concerns regarding the new constitution.

The new constitution was meant to promote unity and stability in Nepal, but the redistricting of Nepal into seven separate provinces has angered many. Nepal’s ethnic minority groups, the Tharus and Madhesi, believe that they will receive unequal rights and unequal government representation under the new constitution.

Nepal was ravaged by earthquakes earlier this year, and land supply routes to China, another of Nepal’s trade partners, were destroyed. Consequently, Nepal has been increasingly dependent on India for imported goods since the earthquakes.

 

For more information, please see:

Time – Nepal Rations Fuel Amid Worsening Political Crisis and Alleged Indian Blockade – 29 September 29, 2015

Wall Street Journal – Nepal Rations Fuel Amid Concerns of Shortage – 29 September 2015

The Himalayan Times – Nepal Oil Corporation Enforces Rationing of Fuel – 27 September 2015

New York Times – Nepal Rations Fuel as Political Crisis With India Worsens – 28 September 2015

Reuters – Update 1: Nepal Considers Fuel Rationing as Protestors Block Trucks – 26 September 2015

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka –

There have been varied responses to the U.N.’s recent report calling for an internationally formed hybrid court to look into war atrocities committed during the 26 year long war between Sri Lankan military forces and the Tamil Tiger Rebels.

The United States issued a draft resolution regarding the alleged war crimes which called for a hybrid court made up of international judges, prosecutors, and investigators. The draft praised President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe for their efforts to restore a democratic government in Sri Lanka.

The resolution holds Sri Lanka accountable for addressing the war crimes. For instance, the resolution calls for Sri Lanka to deliver an oral report to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in September 2016 and a comprehensive report in March 2017 on the progress of implementing the resolution.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, rejected the U.N.’s call for international involvement in the proposed war crimes court. Mr. Wickremesinghe stated that the Sri Lankan government is developing a domestic mechanism which will investigate the alleged war crimes. The Sri Lankan government plans on setting up a truth commission, a war reparations office, and a commission on missing people.

President Maithripala Sirisena, Sri Lanka’s new president, has pledged that war criminals will be brought to justice through the implementation of the domestic investigation.

Sri Lanka’s former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, criticized the U.N. report’s findings and has called for the Sri Lankan government to reject the report. Under Rajapaksa’s government, Sri Lankan military forces defeated the Tamil Tigers in 2009, while killing tens of thousands of civilians during the final stage of the war. Mr. Rajaoaksa also stated that the alleged war crimes should be investigated through Sri Lanka’s existing legal system without the involvement of special courts.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Colombo last week and supported the Sri Lankan government’s plan to address the war crimes with domestic commissions. After his trip, Mr. Steinmeier stated that the U.N. report’s recommendations should be a mostly “national task”. He also stated that Germany is ready to assist Sri Lanka in its war crimes investigation.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, met with Mr. Steinmeier and has stated that Sri Lanka will accept some outside technical assistance in setting up the planned commissions.

For more information, please see:

Channel News Asia – Sri Lanka Rejects International War Crimes Probe – 22 September 2015

Jurist – Sri Lanka PM Rejects UN Call for International War Crimes Investigation – 22 September 2015

New York Times – Germany Offers Help for Sri Lankan Probe of War Atrocities – 22 September 2015

Reuters – Rajapaksa Criticizes U.N. Findings on Sri Lanka War Crimes – 22 September 2015

The New Indian Express – US Draft Resolution Calls for International Involvement in SL Judicial Mechanism – 19 September 2015

 

 

 

 

 

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan –

Pakistan’s Lahore High Court postponed the execution of paraplegic inmate Abdul Basit on Tuesday, about an hour before his hanging was scheduled to occur. The postponement came just a day after Pakistan’s Supreme Court rejected a plea to grant Mr. Basit an execution stay order. It is unclear how long the postponement will last.

Mr. Basit has been on death row since he was convicted of murder in 2009 and has maintained his innocence throughout his time in prison. Mr. Basit became paralyzed after he contracted tubercular meningitis in prison, according to Sara Belal, an attorney at legal aid group Justice Project Pakistan.

According to the postponement order, Mr. Basit cannot be hanged in compliance with Pakistani prison guidelines, which state that the prisoner must stand on the gallows. In order to follow prison guidelines, the rope used as a noose must be a length proportional to the height of the prisoner in order to ensure that the prisoner has an instant, more humane death. Because Mr. Basit is in a wheelchair, figuring out the proper length of the rope is difficult.

There is concern among human rights groups that the hanging could go badly—if the rope is not the correct length, there is a risk that Mr. Basit will be either decapitated or subjected to prolonged strangulation. Both decapitation and prolonged strangulation would breach Mr. Basit’s dignity. Because the breach of a prisoner’s dignity is protected by Pakistan’s constitution, a botched hanging would violate Mr. Basit’s fundamental rights.

Before the postponement, Amnesty International issued a statement on Monday calling for Pakistan to cancel the execution and to impose a moratorium on all other executions. In the statement, Sultana Noon, Amnesty’s Pakistan Researcher, stated that Pakistani authorities should grant reprieve to Mr. Basit instead of deliberating on the logistics of hanging a man in a wheelchair.

Both the Pakistani Supreme Court and Lahore High Court previously authorized Mr. Basit’s execution. Mr. Basit’s hanging was initially scheduled for last month, but was postponed. The hanging was then re-authorized despite the fact that Mr. Basit filed a mercy petition with the courts, which is still pending.

After imposing a seven yearlong moratorium on all executions, Pakistan reintroduced the death penalty in December 2014. According to the Pakistani government, it reintroduced the death penalty measure to combat terrorism after a Taliban attack on a Peshawar school in which 150 people, mostly children, were killed. However, most of the prisoners that have been executed since the moratorium ended did not have terrorism-related convictions.

There have been 239 hangings in 2015 since Pakistan lifted the moratorium on executions. Additionally, Pakistan has the largest number of death row prisoners worldwide, with more than 8,000 prisoners awaiting execution.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC – Abdul Basit: Pakistan Delays Hanging of Paraplegic Man – 22 September 2015

CNN – Pakistan Court Delays Paraplegic’s execution – 22 September 2015

Amnesty International – Pakistan: Halt Execution of Paralysed Man Due to Take Place Tomorrow – 21 September 2015

New York Times – Pakistan: Supreme Court Declines to Block Execution of Paraplegic Inmate – 21 September 2015

 

 

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China –

Guo Yushan, a Chinese scholar who aided blind activist Chen Guangcheng in his 2012 house arrest escape, has been conditionally released by Chinese authorities. Mr. Guo was released along with a former colleague, He Zhengjun.

Mr. Guo was the head of the Transition Institute, a Chinese research institution, before Beijing authorities shut it down in 2013. The organization was pro-democracy and researched social and economic issues in China. Mr. He was the Transition Institute’s administrator.

Li Jin, Mr. Guo’s lawyer, has confirmed that Mr. Guo was released on bail on Tuesday. Li Jinxing, Mr. He’s lawyer, also confirmed his release. The reason for their release is still unclear. Because the release of Mr. Guo and Mr. He is conditional, the charges against them are still in effect and both men could be taken back into police custody.

Mr. Guo and Mr. He were detained at the same time that the Occupy Central protests were occurring in Beijing. Both men were arrested on suspicion of illegal business activity, which included the unlawful printing of books and other publications.

In 2012, Mr. Guo assisted Chen Guangcheng in his escape from China by helping him travel to the United States Embassy in Beijing. Mr. Chen then traveled to the United States, where then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton advocated on his behalf so that he could stay in the United States as a visiting student.

Mr. Guo could have been detained for his role in Mr. Chen’s escape from China. Initially, Mr. Guo was put on house arrest for 81 days, after which he stated in an interview that Chinese police had warned him of more severe consequences for his involvement in the escape. About a year later, Mr. Guo was taken into custody after police raided his apartment in Beijing.

Critics have accused the Chinese government of carefully timing the release of the activists with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s upcoming United States’s visit, which is scheduled for later this month. It will be President Xi’s first state visit to the United States since he became president in 2012. Throughout his presidency, President Xi has cracked down on lawyers, human rights activists, and others.

Many critics believe that the release of the activists was a symbolic measure taken to prevent the United States’ criticism of China’s human rights record. Sophie Richardson, the China Director at Human Rights Watch, told The Guardian that the Chinese government has made a series of small concessions in an effort to “keep human rights issues out of the summit”.

 

For more information, please see:

 Associated Press – China releases scholar ahead of its leader’s visit to US – 15 September 2015

The Guardian – Beijing releases activist on eve of Chinese president’s visit to US – 15 September 2015

The New York Times – China Releases Scholar Who Helped Activist Gain Asylum in U.S. – 15 September 2015

Radio Free Asia – China Releases Two NGO Activists ‘On Bail’ Ahead of President’s US Trip – 15 September 2015

 

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—

The United Nations has released a report calling for a special court to try war crimes that occurred during the 26 year long conflict between the Sri Lankan army and the Tamil Tiger rebels. The U.N.’s report calls for a court that is comprised of international judges, local Sri Lankan judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and investigators.

The U.N. report charges both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels with committing atrocities against civilians during the war, which ended in 2009. Around 100,000 people were killed during the war, and estimates indicate that an additional 40,000 people were killed during the final stage of the war. Additionally, tens of thousands of civilians went missing during the war and were never seen or heard from again.

The crimes listed in the U.N. report, committed by both the Sri Lankan army and the Tamil Tigers, include indiscriminate shelling in “no shell zones”, extrajudicial murders, enforced disappearances of tens of thousands of people, forced recruitment of adults and children, and acts of torture and sexual violence.

The U.N.’s report states that if forced recruitment by the Tamil Tigers is proven in court, it will be classified as a war crime. The Sri Lankan government’s denial of humanitarian assistance during the war will also be classified as a war crime if that denial is proven in court.

Sri Lanka’s previous government, led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, resisted international calls to investigate the war crimes. Sri Lanka’s new government, which came into power under President Maithripala Sirisena early this year, promised that it would cooperate with U.N. directives.

However, now that the U.N.’s report has come out, Senior Sri Lankan minister Rajitha Senaratne has stated that the country will implement its own process for addressing the atrocities committed during the war. Mr. Senaratne also said that Sri Lanka is not ready to agree with international inquiries.

Earlier this week, Sri Lanka’s government released plans for a truth and reconciliation commission that will consider war crime allegations. While the court will accept advice from international entities such as the U.N., it will employ a Sri Lankan process to try the war crimes.

The U.N.’s report states that Sri Lanka’s courts lack the necessary credibility to try the war crimes. The U.N. report also highlights the need for Sri Lanka to reform its criminal justice system. Currently, Sri Lanka does not criminalize war crimes, crimes against humanity, or enforced disappearances.

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights, has stated that only a court made up of international judges and investigators will be able to handle the many alleged war atrocities that occurred during the war.

 

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – UN Urges Sri Lanka War Crimes Court – 17 September 2015

BBC – UN Human Rights Council Urges Sri Lanka War Crimes Court – 16 September 2015

New York Times – U.N. Urges Sri Lanka to Establish Court to Investigate War Abuses – 16 September 2015

The Wall Street Journal – U.N. Report Urges Sri Lanka to Set Up War Crimes Tribunal – 16 September 2015