Asia

6,000 Dead Pigs in the Huangpu River Ignites Concerns Over Water’s Drinkability

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Today, Chinese officials released a statement that revealed the number of pig carcasses found in Shanghai’s Haungpu River, a major source of drinking water for Shanghai, was close to 6,000.  Yesterday, nearly 5,916 dead pigs were removed from the river.

Authorities retrieving carcasses from the river. (Photo Courtesy of New York Times).

Officials stated that the water quality met the government set standard and thus, was drinkable. Specifically, the Shanghai municipal government claimed that the water in Huangpu River was safe.  No contaminated or contaminated pork had been discovered in the local markets.

However, many are still skeptical.

According to the Huffington post, many residents are concerned after seeing the pictures of “swollen and rotting carcasses.”

Laboratory tests have discovered that some of the dead pigs possessed porcine circovirus, a common disease that affects pigs but not humans. Moreover, authorities are disinfecting the pig carcasses before burying them, while incinerating others.

According to BBC News’ John Sudworth in Shanghai, the general mood is of concern opposed to outrage or panic. Chinese citizens are very familiar to food scandals – oil scraped from sewers for cooking and plasticizer in baby formula.

On weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, users are voicing their concern over the dead pigs.

“Cadres and officials, we are willing to provide for you, but please don’t let us die from poisoning. Otherwise who will serve you? Please think twice,” said netizen Shi Liqin.

“This river’s colour [sic] is about the same as excrement, even if there weren’t dead pigs you couldn’t drink it,” wrote someone with the username Yuzhou Duelist.

In the state-run Global Times, the article claimed that the “pig scandal” comes amid growing concerns about China’s environment, including recent record smog levels in Beijing and water and air pollution affecting villages.

“The country’s citizens, including both ordinary people and officials, should bear in mind the necessity of protecting the environment,” read the article.

Although the cause of death is unknown, officials believe that the pigs may have come from Jiaxing, a city in the Zhejiang province.

“We don’t exclude the possibility that the dead pigs found in Shanghai were from Jiaxing. But we are not absolutely sure,” stated Jiaxing local spokesman Wang Dengfeng at a news conference. Furthermore, Jiaxing officials also believe that the pigs may have been killed by the cold weather.

Today, a Zhejiang court sentenced 46 people to jail for yielding unsafe pork from sick pigs that they had acquired and slaughtered between 2010 and 2012.

Last year, Jiaxing authorities segregated a gang that acquired and slaughtered diseased pigs arresting 12 suspects and seizing nearly 12 tons of unsafe pork.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – China Pulls Nearly 6,000 Dead Pigs From Shanghai River – 13 March 2013

Huffington Post – Dead Pigs In China’s Shanghai River Worry Residents – 13 March 2013

New York Times – With 6,000 Dead Pigs in River, Troubling Questions on Food Safety – 13 March 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

India Demands the Return of Two Italian Guards Accused of Gunning Down Unarmed Fishermen

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India – Italy denied the return of two military security personnel to India for the purpose of standing trial after the two security guards killed two fishermen off of India’s southern coast last February.

Pictured above, the two Italian security guards accused of slaying the Indian fishermen. (Photo Courtesy of News Bharati)

The two security guards were placed on the Italian tanker, Enrica Lexie, to protect the vessel at sea from pirates.  The guards encountered an Indian fishing vessel, which they described as hostile and approached the tanker in an aggressive manner.  The fishermen were unarmed.

After administering warnings to the allegedly aggressive fishermen, the two guards opened fire and killed the two fishermen off of India’s southern coast near Kerala.  The security guards allegedly responsible for the murder of the two fishermen had been detained in India except for a brief holiday when the men were allowed to return home to Italy to spend with their families.

More recently, the men were allowed to return to their home country to participate in their nation’s general elections.  The Italian government, however, issued a statement informing the international community that the two security guards would not return to India to stand trial for their crimes.

The Indian Supreme Court handed down a ruling that stated India had jurisdiction over the two security guards’ crimes and demanded the return of the two alleged murderers to stand trial in India courts under India’s rule of law.  Italy has denied India’s Supreme Court ruling, stating that the incident occurred in international waters and believes they should be tried at home in Italian courts.

Italy bases its decision to not return the security guards on its assertion that India’s court decision would violate the guards’ rights (specifically the principle of immunity for foreign state actors).  An Indian protest leader, however, believes that this decision by the Italian government will set negative international precedent that would encourage foreigners to murder innocent Indian people and escape.

A woman, identified as Dora who is the wife of one of the slain fisherman, denounces Italy’s decision and calls the entire fiasco a conspiracy against justice which needs to be exposed on the international stage.  The woman said that although the Italian government compensated the families for their losses, monetary compensation could not possibly rectify the losses suffered.

Dora demands that the Italian government return the two alleged murderers to stand trial so justice can be served.  Reports say that the Italian government paid the families of the fishermen 10 million rupees (equivalent to 124,000 British pounds).

For further information, please see:

BBC – India fishermen killings: Italian ambassador is summoned – 12 March 2013

The Guardian – India furious after Italy blocks return of marines for murder trial – 12 March 2013

News Bharati – Italy blocks Marines’ Indian murder trial – 12 March 2013

Reuters –  India summons Italian envoy over marine killings dispute – 12 March 2013

North Korea Denounces the U.N.’s Probe into Human Rights Abuses at Home

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PYONGYANG, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – The United Nations (UN) met on Monday to vote on and, hopefully, establish an independent commission to probe the allegedly worsening human rights abuses rampant in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or more commonly known as North Korea).

So Se Pyong attending the UN meeting on Darusman’s report. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

The UN’s desire to investigate the human rights situation in North Korea is based on a report compiled by Marzuki Darusman.  Mr. Darusman is an Indonesian lawyer by trade and has been appointed to the UN as a Special Rapporteur on human rights for North Korea.

Darusman, in his report, describes the human rights violations currently being perpetrated in the totalitarian state as “grave, systematic and widespread.”  The report highlights abuses such as rapes, tortures, executions, arbitrary arrests, government sanctioned abductions, and, perhaps what is most troubling, a seemingly large scale expansion of the gulag, or prison camp system.

According to official UN reports, analysts, who have been monitoring North Korea from 2006 to 2013, have found an expansion of a previously constructed 20 km perimeter located in the Ch’oma-Bong valley.  The site is known as Camp No. 14, and reports estimate roughly 200,000 prisoners are held within the borders of the camp.

The living conditions within the camp are described as “dire,” and “extremely harrowing.”  Darusman believes that the camps are designed in a way so that the detainees of the camps endure a slow and painful death.

Robert King, U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, provided additional evidence to support the worsening scenario in North Korea as the newly ascended, young leader, Kim Jong-un, tightens his grip on his squalid subjects.  King’s report suggested that 2,600 North Koreans were able to escape to South Korea in 2011.

This figure of escaped North Koreans has fallen by 43 percent in initial data reports for 2013.  Darusman also supported this scenario of Jong-un tightening his grip by noting that the number of North Koreans escaping to China has dwindled since the death of Kim Jong-il, Jong-un’s father.

The North Korean representative in the UN has slammed the investigation as a hoax and a witch hunt.  So Se Pyong, North Korea’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, denounced Darusman’s report, calling all of the evidence collected a fraud.

So Se Pyong believes that the investigation is the UN’s plot to put North Korea under greater international scrutiny and tarnish the sterling image of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.  Navi Pilay, the UN Human Rights Commissioner, called for a grave need to investigate North Korea’s human rights abuses rather than the media focus on the North’s nuclear arms programs.

For further information, please see:

Bloomberg – North Korean Rights Abuses May Be Crimes Against Humanity – 12 March 2013

International Herald Tribune – A Push to Investigate North Korea’s Human Rights Abuses – 11 March 2013

Reuters – North Korea slams U.N. “plot” to investigate its human rights record – 11 March 2013

The Asahi Shimbun – U.N. urged to probe North Korean leaders’ role in abuses – 5 February 2013

Phosphorous Used Against Protestors in Myanmar

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

Naypyidaw, Myanmar – Yesterday, a parliamentary report ordered by President Thein Sein revealed that the Myanmar Police Force (MPF) used smoke bombs containing phosphorous against protestors on November 29th of last year.

Injured Buddhist monks (Photo Courtesy of BBC News).

According to the Huffington Post, the November incident was the biggest use of force against protesters in Myanmar since President Thein Sein’s reformist government took office in March 2011.

Protestors have been opposing the $1 billion copper mine in Monywa, a city in the northwest of Myanmar.  The mine is owned by a Chinese company and Myanmar Economic Holdings, the latter owned by the Myanmar military.

These protestors, including local villagers, activists, and Buddhist monks, claim that they have been unfairly forced to give up their land and subjected to environmental, social, and health problems.

A panel, led by opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, stated that the protestors suffered “unnecessary burns.”

“We have found that unexpected and unnecessary burns were caused to some monks and civilians because the police used smoke bombs without knowing what their effect would be,” stated the report.

Although the report did not specifically mention white phosphorus, it stated that devices used on the protesters contained phosphorus.

According to BBC News, the Myanmar government subsequently apologized to the injured protestors and created an investigation commission led by Ms. Suu Kyi. She is also expected to travel to the mine on Wednesday and speak with local villagers.

In response, the MPF stated that they only used water cannons, tear gas, and smoke grenades against the protestors.

Despite the opposition, the parliamentary report suggested that the mine operations continue. “This massive project is beneficial to the country even though the benefit is slight,” read the report.  The report also stated that eliminating the mine would create tension with China and may discourage or deter future foreign investments.

“Some people are afraid of China, but the people in general are not, and they don’t feel any obligation toward China,” said Aung Thein.

Others are equally outraged. “I am very dissatisfied and it is unacceptable,” said Thwe Thwe Win, a protest leader. “There is no clause that will punish anyone who had ordered the violent crackdown. Action should be taken against the person who gave the order,” continued Thwe Thwe Win.

A separate report last month by Burmese lawyers and the US-based Justice Trust accused the MPF of using military-issue white phosphorus grenades to diffuse protesters.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Burma Confirms phosphorus used at mine protest – 12 March 2013

Washington Post – Myanmar protestors hit by police crackdown outraged over report that supports mine operations – 12 March 2013

Huffington Post – Myanmar police used phosphorus at mine – 11 March 2013

Muslim Mob Burns Christian Homes in Pakistan After Drunken Allegations of Blasphemy

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

LAHORE, Pakistan – An angry mob of Pakistani Muslims rampaged through the Christian neighborhood of Joseph Colony in eastern Lahore attacking the homes of innocent Christians, burning more than 100 homes.

Christian protestors burn furniture in the streets in condemnation of Muslim actions. (Photo Courtesy of Hurriyet News)

The attack on innocent Christians was prompted by an argument between two friends of different religions.  One friend, a Christian, allegedly made blasphemous comments regarding the prophet Mohammed to his Muslim friend while the two were conversing under the influence.

The police report states that a mob of angry Muslims went to the home of the Christian man, located in Joseph Colony, seeking revenge for the blasphemous comments.  The police arrested the Christian man and held him in custody in hopes to appease and disperse the angry mob.

The crowd, however, was not appeased, and continued to move through Joseph Colony attacking innocent Christian homes and burning them to the ground.  No reports have counted any casualties during the violent burning of the homes.

The Pakistani police have made a large number of arrests and are still investigating the inciters of the mass arsons against innocent Christians.  Reports vary as to how many Muslim arsonists and rioters have been taken into custody.  The numbers range from roughly 60 to 150 arrests.

Blasphemy is a sensitive issue and taken very seriously in Pakistan.  97% of the Pakistani population is observant Muslims and even blasphemy allegations that lack any shred of evidence can trigger violent, public outbreaks of violence.

After the burning of Christian homes in Joseph Colony, Christian protestors took to the streets in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and elsewhere to condemn the actions of the angry mob.

Jani Masih, a Christian man whose home was burned to the ground, questioned why all Christians in Pakistan were being punished for the alleged blasphemy of one man.  Others believed that the incident was extremely cruel, and it was unjust to hold an entire community responsible for one man’s actions.

The Christian demonstrations in the streets of major Pakistani cities were largely peaceful.  Some of the younger protestors, however, allowed their anger to bubble to the surface and attacked public and private citizens and property by throwing stones and other debris.

Preliminary reports suggest that the public consensus was that the innocent people affected by this tragedy should be compensated for having their homes destroyed.  Pervez Rashid, an official spokesperson for the Punjab provincial government in Lahore, told a local news channel that the affected families would have their homes repaired and given 200,000 rupees (US $2,050).

For further information, please see:

Channel News Asia – Protests over Pakistan anti-Christian riot – 11 March 2013

International Herald Tribune – Joseph Colony tragedy: Outcry against arson attacks – 11 March 2013

BBC – Pakistan arrests scores over Lahore anti-Christian riot – 10 March 2013

Hurriyet News – ‘Drunken row’ sparked Pakistan anti-Christian riot – 10 March 2013