Asia

Fighting Continues in Zamboanga City

By Kevin M. Mathewson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — An estimated 158 people have been killed, including 15 members of the military, five police and 13 civilians, since fighting broke out between Philippine soldiers and separatist rebels.

Filipino special forces troops carry the flag-draped coffins of fellow service members killed in clashes with Muslim rebels around the southern port city of Zamboanga, where fighting has been flaring for 17 days. (Photo courtesy of CNN)

A majority of those killed, roughly 125, were members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The fighting began more than two weeks ago in Zamboanga City when a large number of MNLF rebels came ashore.  The rebels took nearly 180 people hostage causing Philippine security forces to move in.

The majority of the captives have now been freed, but authorities believe the rebels could still be holding up to five people hostage, Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, a military spokesman, said Wednesday.

As a result of the fighting over 1000 buildings have been destroyed, driving at least 80,000 local residents from their homes. Continued sporadic fighting has closed schools and halted transit.

“The Zamboanga crisis has laid bare the inherent vulnerabilities of Philippine government in providing security to its citizens as well as instituting durable peace in Mindana,” Asia Times Online reported.

President Benigno Aquino III has issued an ultimatum for the rebel front’s founder, Nur Misuari, to surrender, warning that the government is prepared to use additional force. The Philippine government has already deployed more than 3,000 police and soldiers.

The Philippine government has been struggling with Muslim rebels since the MNLF was founded in 1971, with at least 120,000 estimated to have died in fighting. The MNLF was created with the aim of establishing an autonomous region for Muslims in the mainly Catholic Philippines.

The MNLF signed a peace deal with the central government in Manila in 1996, but some of its members have broken away to continue a violent campaign.

For further information, please see:

CNN – Death toll climbs as army, militants fight on in the Philippines – 26 September 2013

Los Angeles Times – Battle drags on between Philippine troops and Muslim rebels – 25 September 2013

Aljazeera – Deaths as battle drags on in Philippine city – 25 September 2013

The Big Story – 6 MORE DIE AS FIGHTING DRAGS ON IN PHILIPPINE CITY – 21 September 2013

 

Terrorist Attack in Kashmir Region Presents Hurdle for India-Pakistan Talks

By Brian Lanciault

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India– An early-morning attack on the Indian side of the disputed Kashmir region reportedly killed 12 people, including three teenage militants. This occurred just days before the Indian and Pakistani leaders were scheduled to meet in New York.

Soldiers take cover during a violent militant attack on a camp in the Jammu and Kashmir state. (Photo Courtesy of EPA)

The attack seemed to follow a long-established pattern of extremist attempts to derail any steps toward reconciliation between the wary neighboring countries, reports said.

A relatively minor group, identified as the Shohada Brigade, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group first surfaced in September when a threat was issued under its name against a classical-music concert, featuring conductor Zubin Mehta, in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Thursday’s attack started around 6:45 a.m. local time when three militants dressed in military garb arrived in a motorized rickshaw at the Hira Nagar police station, located in India’s northern Jammu and Kashmir state a few miles from the de facto border with Pakistan. Police said the gunmen were between 16 and 19 years old. Taking officers by surprise during a shift change, the three stormed the station with grenades and automatic weapons, reportedly killing four policemen and a civilian.

Reports said the militants commandeered a truck, killing an assistant and forcing the driver to accompany them along a main highway to Samba, in the adjoining district. There they engaged in a firefight with Indian troops outside an army camp before infiltrating the camp’s perimeter.

In a battle lasting much of the day, the insurgents killed an officer and two more soldiers before they were killed.

Omar Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir’s chief minister, said it would be a disgrace if planned talks between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif were cancelled because of this attack.

“It would be grave injustice to those who have been killed,” he told reporters, adding that he believed the attackers had crossed over from Pakistan-controlled territory.

Both leaders seem to want better relations, analysts said, but face significant political constraints. Sharif has longstanding links to hard-line clerics, including those close to the Jamaat-ud-Dawa Islamist group opposing closer ties, while Singh’s ruling Congress Party is vulnerable to opposition accusations that it’s weak and ineffective.

“Personally, Sharif is in favor of peace, but I don’t know that he will make that his political agenda,” said Radha Kumar, director-general of the Delhi Policy Group think tank. “And India wants peace, but I am appalled by the levels of immaturity the opposition shows when it comes to peace talks with Pakistan.”

India is already in election mode with next years upcoming elections, and within hours of the attack the opposition party attacked the government for even considering a meeting with Pakistan’s prime minister.

Talks and terrorism aren’t compatible, it said, blaming elements close to Pakistan’s powerful military for the attack. “What is the point of taking to a [Pakistani prime minister] who has no control over his army?” said opposition lawmaker Yashwant Sinha.

Though no significant breakthrough was expected upcoming meeting, that it was even taking place sent a positive signal to both countries. Cancelling it reverses hope of any progress in the near future. Two of three wars fought between the two countries since their independence in 1947 have been over Muslim-majority Kashmir.

India, which has battled a separatist insurgency in its part of Kashmir since 1989, has repeatedly accused Pakistan’s military of supporting militants fighting Indian rule.

“The army, [intelligence agencies] and political leadership are on the same page,” supporting better India-Pakistani relations, said Mehmood Shah, a Peshawar-based analyst and former army officer. “Whoever did this attack is no friend of India’s and no friend of Pakistan’s.”

Other recent militant attacks in the region include the killing of eight soldiers at Hyderpora in June and a March suicide strike at a paramilitary camp in Srinigar which resulted in the deaths of five paramilitary personnel and three insurgents.

“We have equally emotional publics on both sides,” Shah said. “But the political leaders must try and keep things in check. We’ve seen many incidents like this before.”

For more information, please see:

CNN– Militant attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir kills 9 — 26 September 2013

LA Times– Ahead of India-Pakistan talks, 12 die in militant attack in Kashmir — 26 September 2013

The Hindu– 12 killed in fidayeen strikes in Jammu — 26 September 2013

Hindustan Times– Twin terror strike in Jammu kills 10, PM says talks still on — 26 September 2013

The Taliban Ramp up Violence with Afghan Border Attack

By Kevin M. Mathewson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Militants have killed at least 11 Afghan policemen at a checkpoint on the Pakistani border. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack took place on the border of Pakistan. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

The Taliban, a hard line Islamic group, has proved to be a major threat to the Afghan government.

The attack took place against a series of border check posts in the Shorabak District of Kandahar Province.

Insurgents attacked the border post in the early hours of Sunday morning, said a spokesman for the Kandahar police. In the overnight attack the Taliban insurgents used heavy weapons, including mortars. The insurgents then escaped back across the border to Pakistan, where they are believed to be based.

Also on Sunday, in an unrelated attack, two coalition soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device in eastern Afghanistan.

Then early Monday morning, a district intelligent chief was assassinated on his way to work. Abdul Hussein was sprayed with bullets as he was riding a motorcycle Monday morning near the city of Kunduz.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for these attacks.

The attack on the border police on Sunday comes less than a week after insurgents ambushed a police convoy in the Badakhshan Province in northern Afghanistan, killing 10 and taking 16 prisoners.

The Taliban have ramped up their violence on security officials as foreign forces prepare to withdraw before the end of next year. Afghan police are in the forefront of the fight against Taliban militants. In 2012, more than 2,000 Afghan policemen were killed.

For further information, please see:

NY Times – 11 Officers Killed as Taliban Strike Afghan Border Post – 23 September 2013

BBC News – Afghanistan Taliban kill 11 police in Kandahar province – 23 September 2013

The Daily Star – Afghanistan: Taliban kill 11 border police guards – 23 September 2013

The Hindu – Taliban kill 11 border police guards in Afghanistan – 23 September 2013

News Times – Afghanistan: Taliban kill 11 border police guards – 23 September 2013

India’s Cabinet Passes Executive Order Protecting Convicted Politicians

By Brian Lanciault

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India– India’s cabinet moved to shield politicians found guilty of crimes by passing an executive order on Tuesday that could allow convicted lawmakers to continue to hold office and stand in elections, ahead of national polls due by next May.

People gather outside the Indian Parliament building during its session. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

About thirty percent of Indian lawmakers across federal and state assemblies have pending criminal charges against them, and following a Supreme Court order in July, many faced being expelled from their seats. In response, the ruling congressional party had already moved a parliamentary bill to partially reverse the decision of the court, which held that any lawmaker found guilty of a crime could no longer hold or run for elected office.

The current ordinance is believed to resemble the content of the parliamentary bill, which would allow lawmakers facing criminal charges to continue taking part in parliamentary proceedings such as debates, but would not permit them to vote or receive a government salary.

The bill has not yet passed through India’s historically slow-moving parliament. Some commentators believe the government sprung to action in light of the possible corruption conviction of a key electoral ally of the majority,  in a case set to conclude next week.

“When it comes to saving their convicted brethren, they act with lightning speed,” said Amulya Ganguli, a political analyst.

Following India’s 2009 general election, some thirty percent of the lawmakers sworn into the federal and state assemblies had criminal charges against them, according to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms, an advocacy group.

In the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the national assembly, 162 of the 543 MPs indicated that there were pending criminal cases against them in sworn affidavits filed prior to elections. In the state assemblies, 1,258 of the 4,032 lawmakers declared criminal charges. The amount of subsequent convictions remains unknown.

Before July’s Supreme Court order, Indian lawmakers had been able to capitalize on a loophole whereby those who filed appeals within three months of a guilty verdict could stay in office.

The ordinance must be signed by Indian president Pranab Mukherjee in order to become law. The law must be ratified by parliament within six weeks of the next parliament session. Analysts suspect it will pass with ease.

“There is widespread support for this among the political class,” said Neerja Chowdhury, a political commentator and former political editor of The Indian Express newspaper.

The case due to conclude next week involves Lalu Prasad, a former chief minister for the eastern state of Bihar, and a frequent ally of the ruling congressional party. Prasad is accused of participating in a scam where money was allegedly taken from state treasuries to provide fodder for herds of livestock that later turned out to be non-existent.

“Lalu Prasad’s possible conviction could have prompted the cabinet to pass this ordinance,” Chowdhury said. “There are some who feel that…if they get Lalu Prasad on board they can win Bihar.”

Bihar is one of India’s most important electoral states.

Another influential figure, Rasheed Masood, a majority party member of India’s upper house and a former health minister, was found guilty last week in a corruption case. He was to be the first lawmaker to be affected by the Supreme Court order, according to local reports.

Numerous politicians have been charged with serious crimes such as rape and/or murder. Elected office is lucrative in a country where black markets often thrive under political protection. Political parties are often open to criminal syndicates who bring with them campaign financing.

For more information, please see:

Reuters — India’s cabinet moves to protect politicians convicted of crimes — 24 September 2013

Times of India — Cabinet clears ordinance to shield convicted lawmakers — 24 September 2013

Hindustan Times — Gov’t may bring ordinance to save tainted lawmakers — 23 September 2013

Zee News — Cabinet paves way for convicted MLAs, MPs to contest elections — 24 September 2013

Bloomberg — India Cabinet Counters Step to Ban Convicted Lawmakers, PTI Says — 24 September 2013