By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea –

Authorities in both North and South Korea have agreed to allow reunions of families split up during the Korean War. 100 people from each side will be allowed to reunite with their family members and other relatives from October 20-26 in North Korea.

During talks on Tuesday in the border village of Panmunjom, Red Cross Delegates from both Koreas discussed an agreement allowing families to reunite. The agreement states that North and South Korea will work to resolve humanitarian issues, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry. The agreement was part of a deal ending the Koreas’ military standoff, which began when South Korea blamed North Korea for the deaths of two South Koreans in a land mine explosion.

There are many in North and South Korea who do not know whether their family members and other relatives are still alive because they are prohibited by their respective governments from attempting communication.

200 people were allowed to reunite for six days in February 2014 as a result of a previous agreement between North and South Korea. Emotions ran high as family members were reunited with each other. However, the meetings were brief, limited to just a few days. Families also had little privacy due to North Korean workers listening to their conversations.

It is not clear how North Korea chooses the people who will meet their families. There is a great deal of uncertainty for those in South Korea because they are required to participate in a lottery for the chance to meet their families. The South Korea Unification Ministry reports on its website that around 130,000 South Koreans have registered for the chance to meet their families since 1988. Out of that number, only 66,000 people are believed to still be alive. Many of the 66,000 are in their 80s and 90s. In the past, many older Koreans have died before they have the chance to reunite with their families.

During the Korean War, the Korean peninsula was split into North and South Korea. The war is technically still ongoing because instead of a formal peace treaty, the two sides agreed to a truce through the Korean Armistice Agreement of 1953.

Since the Korean Armistice Agreement, there have been other reunions in which around 22,500 Koreans have participated. Out of that number, around 18,822 people met with family members in person, while the remaining people reunited through video conferencing. None of the 22,500 have been allowed a second chance to see their relatives, according to South Korea’s Red Cross Delegation.

For more information, please see:

International Business Times – North and South Korea Agree to Hold Family Reunion for the Second Time After Split – 9 September 2015

CNN – North and South Korea Agree to Family Reunions in October – 8 September 2015

Reuters – North, South Agree to Hold Family Reunions in October: South – 8 September 2015

The New York Times – South Korea: North Agrees to Reunions – 7 September 2015

Reuters – North Korea Agrees to Talks With South on Family Reunions – 29 August 2015

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India- 

A village council in Sankrot, India has ordered that two sisters be gang-raped and paraded naked through their town with their faces blackened. The order against the sisters is an “eye for an eye” punishment that requires them to be dishonored in order to avenge their brother’s alleged crime.

The all-male village council ordered the punishment of 23-year-old Meenakshi Kumari and her 15-year-old sister after their brother eloped with a married woman from India’s highest social caste, the Jat caste. Ms. Kumari’s family is part of the lowest social caste in India—the Dalit caste, historically known as the Untouchables.

Ms. Kumari’s father has filed a complaint with two national bodies, claiming that his family has been harassed by police and the Jat woman’s family. The family’s home was recently ransacked, with police doing nothing to prevent it. The sisters fled their home after it was ransacked and petitioned to the India Supreme Court for police protection of their family. It is not clear at this point whether police protection will be provided, nor whether the men who ordered the punishment will be arrested.

Amnesty International has run a petition calling for the protection of Ms. Kumari and her sister, which over 100,000 people have signed. Since the petition, extra police have been deployed in Sankrot to avoid any tension that may arise.

Additional Superintendent of Police Vidyasagar Misra states that police investigations revealed no evidence that a village council meeting took place or that there was an order against the sisters. Additionally, townspeople in Sankrot told a BBC reporter that the report of the village council’s sentence is false.

The unelected village councils, called Khap Panchyat, frequently operate outside of the Indian legal system. Due to their operating outside of the legal system, the Indian Supreme Court has labeled them “kangaroo courts”. Khap panchyat are widespread throughout India and are largely made up of men from dominant social classes. The councils often order honor killings and sexual punishments of women, which have been declared illegal by the Indian Supreme Court.

India has faced international criticism over its treatment of women. In late 2012, a 23-year-old female student was gang-raped and murdered, which led to mass street protests in New Delhi. There have been other instances of murders, burnings, and rapes in India since her death, despite the central government’s pledge to reform the Indian penal code.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Did India Village Council Really Order Rape of Two Sisters? – 1 September 2015

International Business Times – India: Village Elders Who Sentenced Sisters to Be Raped as Punishment Face Arrest – 30 August 2015

The Telegraph – Indian Sisters to Be Raped as ‘Punishment’ for Brother Eloping – 29 August 2015

The Independent – Indian Sisters Told They Will be Repeatedly Gang-Raped as Punishment for Their Brother’s Crime Launch Appeal at Supreme Court – 28 August 2015

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China –

Joshua Wong, Alex Chow, and Nathan Law have been charged for their roles in last year’s Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong. The three men were among the group of students who gathered last September to protest Beijing’s framework for the election of Hong Kong’s next leader.

The students broke into Civic Square, a fenced government area in Hong Kong, and clashed with police, who arrested them. Tens of thousands then gathered in support of the students and another protest group, Occupy Central. The protests gained strength after police began to fire tear gas into the crowds. 79 days of sit-ins followed, creating one of the largest mass protests in Hong Kong’s history.

Mr. Wong, Mr. Chow, and Mr. Law will have their charges heard on September 2^nd in magistrates’ court. Mr. Wong, one of the leaders of the Umbrella movement and co-founder of the student activist group Scholarism, has been charged with unlawful assembly and for inciting others to unlawfully assemble. He faces up to five years in prison if he is convicted.

Mr. Chow, former leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, has been charged with unlawful assembly. Mr. Law, who is currently the leader of the Federation of Students, has been charged with incitement of others to join in unlawful assembly.

Mr. Wong denies doing anything wrong, claiming that other protests have been held in the Civic Square area without incident. He has stated that he believes the charges are an act of political prosecution, in part because the charges have been made almost a year after the protests. Michael Vidler, Mr. Wong’s attorney, has stated that he may ask the courts to end the action against Mr. Wong.

Mr. Wong and Mr. Law also face separate charges for obstructing police during a different protest last year, which occurred outside the liaison office for the Chinese central government in Hong Kong. They have both pled not guilty to those charges and will appear at a court hearing regarding the charges on Friday.

Mr. Wong says that he will not plan another civil disobedience movement for a few years. Mr. Wong has also stated that there was not a clear route for democracy during last year’s Umbrella Movement and that not enough people were willing to pay the price by protesting. He believes that there will be another Umbrella Movement, but that activists need to better prepare for the next movement.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Hong Kong Student Leaders Charged Over Umbrella Movement – 27 August 2015

The Guardian – Hong Kong Student Leader Joshua Wong Charged Over Protests – 27 August 2015

The Independent – Hong Kong Student Pro-Democracy Leader Joshua Wong Decries ‘Political Prosecution’ – 27 August 2015

The New York Times – Sit-In Leaders Are Charged in Hong Kong – 27 August 2015

Reuters – Key Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Students Charged after Occupy Protests – 19 August 2015

BBC – Joshua Wong: ‘We had no clear goals’ in Hong Kong Protests – 2 August 2015

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KATHMANDU, Nepal —

Protests began in Kailali, Nepal on Monday after a revised national constitution was presented to the Nepalese Parliament on Sunday. At least nine people were killed, including police officers and civilians. There have been reports stating that three protestors and a child were also killed. Dozens of people were arrested during the protests.

The new constitution calls for dividing Nepal into seven separate provinces, but excludes a province for the Tharu ethnic group. Members of the Tharu group, who live in the western region of Nepal, have called for the establishment of a separate Tharu province in order that they may have political representation.

Thousands gathered to protest in Tikapur, a town in Kailali. There were also protests in two other districts. In Tikapur, protestors replaced government signs with signs reading “Tharu State”.

Kailali’s chief Administrative Officer, Raj Kumar Shrestha, has stated that security officials were caught off guard and were attacked by the protesters, who were carrying weapons such as spears, knives, and stones. One of the police officers was set on fire by protestors. The death toll is expected to rise, according to Mr. Shrestha.

According to Bam Dev Guatam, Nepal’s deputy prime minister and home minister, the Nepalese government held an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday, during which it authorized the districts affected by the protests to call in troops.

Nepal has been working to put together a new constitution since 2008, after a decade of Maoist insurgency that caused the collapse of Nepal’s Hindu monarchy along with the deaths of around 16,000 people.

There has been much contention over the administrative division of Nepal, which has been centrally governed for over two centuries. That contention has been a barrier to the adoption of a new Nepalese Constitution. Over 100 ethnic groups and castes live in Nepal, and many disagree on how the many local districts should be combined into provinces and whether those provinces should be formed according to ethnicity.

Himal Dandu Sherpa, vice chairman of Nepal’s federation of indigenous nationalities, told Channel News Asia that the proposed constitution does not ensure the rights of indigenous communities and that it breaks up the districts of indigenous groups in different provinces. Minority groups have stated that the new constitution discriminates against them and gives them inadequate autonomy.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Deadly Clashes Between Nepali Police and Protesters – 24 August 2015

BBC – Nepal Clashes at Protest Over Constitution Leave Eight Dead – 24 August 2015

International Business Times – Nepal Constitution Protest: At least 7 Police Offers Killed, Dozens Arrested Amid Demonstrations – 24 August 2015

The New York Times – Plan for New Nepal Districts Draws Deadly Protests and Attacks on Police– 24 August 2015