Asia

Pakistan Releases Taliban Prisoners to Aid Afghan Peace Talks

By Kevin M. Mathewson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan announced on Saturday that they are releasing seven Taliban prisoners in an attempt to improve the Afghan peace talks which have stalled.

Mr Karzai (left) visited Islamabad in August after an attempt to kick start peace talks in the Qatari capital of Doha foundered in June. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

The release of the prisoners was a long standing demand coming from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

“In order to further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process, Pakistan is releasing seven Taliban detainees namely Mansoor Dadullah, Said Wali, Abdul Manan, Karim Agha, Sher Afzal, Gul Muhammad and Muhammad Zai.” the foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday.

Among those released, Dadullah is a senior militant commander, captured by Pakistani security force in February of 2008.

Kabul urged for the release of Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was deputy leader of the Taliban when he was arrested in the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2010. Analysts have confidence that his release is crucial to restoring goodwill between Kabul and Islamabad, the capital city Pakistan.

The announcement came after Afghan President Hamid Karzai pressed Pakistan to support peace talks between his government and the Taliban during a visit to Islamabad last week. Karzai was in Islamabad to meet new Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The Afghan President had identified Taliban havens in Pakistan as the main cause of increased violence in his country. Parts of Pakistan’s intelligence service have long been accused of aiding and providing the Taliban refuge on Pakistani soil; an accusation that Pakistan denies.

Yet, analysts are uncertain whether Pakistan has the influence to force the Taliban to negotiate with Afghanistan. The insurgents have publicly refused all contact with the Afghan government, branding it a U.S. puppet.

On Thursday Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul said that fears of a resurgent Taliban once the bulk of Western forces withdraw from Afghanistan next year are exaggerated. Roughly 87,000 U.S.-led NATO troops are to leave Afghanistan next year, leaving the country’s police and military troops in charge of security nationwide.

For further information, please see:

The Peninsula – Pakistan frees seven Taliban prisoners – 8 September 2013

BBC News – Pakistan ‘frees seven Taliban prisoners’ – 7 September 2013

The Telegraph – Pakistan frees Taliban prisoners to help Afghan peace process – 7 September 2013

Yahoo! News – Pakistan releases seven Taliban prisoners – 7 September 2013

Indonesian Soldiers Jailed for Revenge Killing

By Kevin M. Mathewson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia — An Indonesian military tribunal Thursday jailed eight Special Forces soldiers after they were found guilty of premeditated murder and assisting pre-mediated murder.  In March the soldiers stormed a prison near Yogyakarta and murdered four inmates accused of murdering their superior officer in a nightclub brawl.

The three ringleaders have said they will appeal against the verdict. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

Second Sergeant Sugeng Sumariyanto and First Corporal Kodik were sentenced to eight and six years, respectively. Second Sergeant Ucok Tampubolon, the soldier who pulled the trigger, was sentenced to eleven years.

Lawyers for the three solider said they will appeal against their convictions and argued there is no evidence that the crime was planned.

President Judge Joko Sasmito said the men have tarnished the army’s honor with their actions. The case has been followed closely in Indonesia where human rights groups say the army is notorious for acting with impunity.

“The defendants actions cost the lives of four people, caused grief to the victims’ families and traumatised  [sic] many people, including the prisoners.” Chief judge Lieutenant Colonel Joko Samito said.

Five other soldiers were found guilty of assisting pre-mediated murder after they destroyed CCTV footage inside the prison where the murders took place.  They were subsequently sentenced to one year and nine months in jail each.

The revenge killings have sparked a public outcry after they have evoked memories of the three decade dictatorship of Suharto, when the army often acted without consequence.

Indonesian Human Rights Monitor executive director Poengky Indart, criticized the sentences as not harsh enough. Indart said the case should have been tried by a civilian’s court, where the soldiers would have likely received longer punishments.

“The military tribunal is a nest of impunity. We must revise current laws so military personnel can be tried in civilian courts.” Indart stated.

The case, however, has exposed deep divisions in the young democracy, with some supporting the soldiers for acting decisively against criminals, saying it was a stark contrast to the weak civilian courts and police.

As the soldiers waited to hear their fate, scores of supporters in paramilitary uniforms rallied outside the court in Yogyakarta.

For further information, please see:

Australia Network News – Indonesian Kopassus special forces soldiers to appeal against convictions for deadly raid on Cebongan prison – 6 September 2013

BBC News – Indonesia jails eight soldiers over Yogyakarta prison killings – 5 September 2013

MSN News – Indonesian elite soldiers jailed over prison murders – 5 September 2013

Voice of America – Indonesian Soldiers Sentenced for Prison Murders – 5 September 2013

Straits Times – Indonesia jails 4 more elite soldiers over prison revenge killings – 5 September 2013

Indian Author Dragged out of her Home and Shot 15 Times by Taliban Militants

By Brian Lanciault

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India — Taliban militants in Afghanistan shot and killed an Indian author, Sushmita Banerjee, whose memoir about marrying an Afghan and living under the Islamist militia was made into a Bollywood movie. The killing  was the latest in a string of attacks on prominent women in Afghanistan, adding to growing fears that women’s rights in the country will recede even more after foreign military  forces  withdraw in 2014.

Sushmita Banerjee, who was brutally killed by Taliban militants, is pictured holding a copy of her novel. (Photo courtesy of AP)

The militants arrived before dawn at Banjerjee’s residence in eastern Paktika province, which lies in Afghanistan’s east region, where the Taliban are particularly influential. According to provincial police chief Gen. Dawlat Khan Zadran, her husband, Jaanbaz Khan, answered the door and was immediately bound and blindfolded.  The militants then dragged Banerjee outside, and took her to a nearby road where they shot her at least 15 times, Zadran said.

Banerjee, who was in her 40s, was buried Thursday morning. She lived in Daygan Sorqala village, and was well-known as a medical worker in the area, with special training in gynecology. Originally from Kolkata, India, Banerjee wrote “A Kabuliwala’s Bengali Wife,” which later became the basis for the 2003 film “Escape from Taliban.” The book described how she met Jaanbaz in India and agreed to marry him despite her parents’ disapproval of the fact that he was Muslim while she was Hindu. According to an online synopsis of the book, Banerjee moved to Afghanistan as Jaanbaz’s second wife, only to find that life under the Taliban’s increasing hold over the country would be unbearable. The Taliban militia, which rose to prominence in 1994 and officially ruled from 1996-2001, placed severe restrictions on women, forcing them to wear all-encompassing burqas and banning employment and education opportunities.

In an interview with India’s Rediff news, Banerjee described trying to flee Afghanistan multiple times to get away from the Taliban, and how she was ordered executed as a result of her attempts. She made it safely back to Kolkata in  1995.

“I still remember the day I stepped on Indian soil for the first time after I had left,” she said. “It was raining outside. People were scurrying for shelter. But I didn’t run. I just stood there and let the rain wash off my pain. I felt if I could bear so much in Afghanistan, I can surely bear my motherland’s rain. I don’t know how long I stood there, but I won’t forget that day.”

Her book was published in 1997, nine years after her marriage.

Zafar Khan, the father of Jaanbaz’s first wife, said Banerjee was beloved in the area, and was known locally by the name Sahib Kamal. He told Indian reporters that many residents were upset that an unarmed woman had been targeted.

“She was a very kind woman. She was very educated — she knew the Internet,” he told them. “Myself, I am very sad. Believe me, I haven’t been able to eat.”

Militants have targeted prominent women several times in recent months in Afghanistan. Last month, officials confirmed that Fariba Ahmadi Kakar, a lawmaker who represents Kandahar province in parliament, was kidnapped and was being held hostage, to be exchanged for four insurgents detained by the government.

In August, insurgents ambushed the convoy of a female Afghan senator, seriously wounding her in the attack and killing her 8-year-old daughter. Senator Rouh Gul Khirzad’s husband, son and another daughter were also wounded in the attack.

For more information, please see:

India Times– Indian author Sushmita Banerjee executed in Afghanistan by Taliban — 6 September 2013

ABC News– Afghan militants shoot dead Indian woman Shushmita Banerjee, who wrote about escape from Taliban — 5 September 2013

Indian Express– Indian author who wrote on her escape from Taliban killed in Afghanistan — 5 September 2013

CBS News– Police: Afghan militants drag female author out of her home, shoot her dead –5 September 2013

China Sacks Another Top State Official in Corruption Crackdown

By Brian Lanciault

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China — Chinese authorities have fired high-ranking economic official, Jiang Jiemin, in part of a growing crackdown on corruption. Analysts said the firing of Jiemin, who previously led an official body overseeing China’s state-owned enterprises, is also part of an effort by authorities to gain more control of state backed companies.

Jiang Jiemin, a top member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, was fired earlier today as China continues to crackdown on corruption. (Photo courtesy of AP)

China’s central news agency, Xinhua said Jiang Jiemin was removed from his post as head of the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission for suspected “serious disciplinary violations,” a common phrase used to describe corruption.

 The decision comes only two days after authorities announced Jiang was under investigation. It also comes amid a growing probe into four other top executives at the state owned oil company, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Jiemin previously served as the chairman of CNPC and its subsidiary PetroChina. Jiemin has gradually risen up within the ranks of China’s state-run oil industry over the past two decades.

City University of Hong Kong political scientist, Joseph Cheng, said the decision to target Jiemin and other top oil executives is a signal that the government is trying to reign in state-owned companies as the government continues to promote substantial economic reform.

“The top officials of these very powerful state owned enterprises are more or less independent kingdoms, they are the targets, so these cases will create a sort of threatening affect, a deterrent effect, which hopefully will help the leadership to push through reform. The reform probably is to reduce the privileges of the state sector,” said Cheng. He believes the investigation provides a rare opportunity to promote economic reform of China’s state-owned enterprises, which have “too much influence on China’s economy and are too big a source of corruption.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping has promised to crack down on high- and low-ranking corrupt officials. Some believe the investigation into Jiang is a sign that the anti-corruption drive is deepening and that other high-ranking officials could be next. Only a few short months ago top political leader, Bo Xilai, was tried on charges of corruption, stemming from his wife’s murder of a British businessman, Neil Heywood.

Jiang Jiemin sits on the Communist Party’s Central Committee, a top group of more than 200 officials. Jiemin is the first on the committee to be investigated and removed.

There has been speculation that former public security chief Zhou Yongkang could be the next official targeted. Yongkang previously served as a CNPC official and was an influential member of the petroleum clique. Nothing further has surfaced yet.

For more information, please see:

Xinhua — Jiang Jiemin removed from office — 3 September 2013

Reuters — China probes top official in latest anti-graft push — 3 September 2013

Chosun Ilbo — China Sacks State Enterprise Official — 4 September 2013

The Scotsman — China: Major scalp for corruption inquiry — 4 September 2013

Militants Attempt to Disrupt Supply Line in Afghanistan

By Kevin M. Mathewson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NANGARHAR, Afghanistan — Militants have attacked a U.S. base in the Nangarhar province near the Pakistani border, setting dozens of parked NATO supply vehicles on fire, officials said. Dressed as Afghan police officers, three insurgents were killed after a lengthy gun battle with helicopter gunships. The incident was described as an “attempted but unsuccessful coordinated attack by enemy forces”.

NATO supply vehicles were set ablaze in the attack, blocking the supply route from Pakistan.

Ahmad Zia Abdulzia, a Nangarhar provincial spokesman, said militants wearing suicide vests and carrying weapons initiated the attack and that Afghan and U.S. forces exchanged gunfire with the insurgents until NATO helicopters joined the fight. The encounter began at approximately 6:30 A.M. and lasted three and a half hours.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in an upwelling of violence in Afghanistan. The violence is being interpreted by some as an effort by the Taliban to test the strength of Afghan forces ahead of the planned withdrawal of U.S.-led forces anticipated to occur by the end of next year.

The U.S. provides the bulk of military presence in Afghanistan with 68,000 troops, followed by the U.K. with 9,000 troops.

Officials have stated that no Afghan or U.S. soldiers were killed in the raid, and the attacks never gained entry to the base.

The financial cost of the attack to the United States is likely to be enormous.  “Our investigation shows some 41 vehicles – supply trucks and vehicles belonging to U.S. forces – were destroyed in the attack.” Abdulzai said.

The U.S. base is home to roughly 66,000 American troops along with forces from other countries. The base is an essential stopping point for NATO vehicles. The highway between Jalalabad city and Torkham, leading to the base, has been closed due to the attack.

Militants have frequently targeted the supply line through Afghanistan, leading NATO to a shift in transporting a majority of its supplies along routes in Central Asian states instead of through Pakistan.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Taliban bombers attack US base in Afghanistan – 2 September 2013

UPI – Militants launch unsuccessful attack near U.S. base in Afghanistan – 2 September 2013

The Independent – Taliban attacks Nato base in Afghanistan – 2 September 2013

Yahoo! News – Afghan Taliban attack US base, NATO supply vehicles – 2 September 2013