By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – On Thursday March 15, Cambodian chief prosecutor Hing Bunchea stated that Chhouk Bandit, a former city governor and the lone suspect in a factory shooting, had not been charged despite admitting to a shooting that resulted in injuries for three women.

The incident involving Chhouk occurred on February 20 when Chhouk allegedly opened fire on a group of approximately 1,000 protestors outside of Kaoway Sports Ltd factory.

The protestors were demanding an increase in their pay and better working conditions when the suspect stepped out of his car, pulled out a hand gun and began to fire on the protestors.

As a result of the shooting, three women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three suffered gunshot wounds and were taken to the hospital.

Despite the fact that Chhouk Bandit was subsequently fired by Prime Minister Hun Sen, many fear that he is using his money and influence to avoid being charged for the shooting.

Minister of the Interior Sar Kheng has identified Chhouk as the shooter leading NGO’s and rights groups  to “…strongly urge the Royal Government of Cambodia to make the suspect’s arrest an utmost priority.”

Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, stated that the shooting is a criminal matter and Chhouk “…can’t use his money to shut people up.” He continued to state that there should be “…an investigation into who is trying to convince the court to drop the case. This kind of impunity sets a bad example for the country.”

Also fueling accusations of legal impropriety are the statements of the Svay Rieng provincial prosecutor.

Last week the prosecutor issued a summons for Chhouk rather than an arrest warrant citing his belief that the police report was unconvincing despite the fact that the former governor had been identified by the Interior Minister.

Initially, and following a meeting with Chhouk, the prosecutor had stated, “I already questioned him this morning. He was accompanied by his lawyer. He confessed to the shooting, but he gave me many reasons for that…It is my right not to arrest [him]. I don’t see it as important.”

Despite the admission, however, Chhouk left court without being arrested. Following this statement the prosecutor then changed his account of the deposition and stated that Chhouk had fired his gun in the air only to change his story again a few days later by stating that Chhouk had a gun but was unaware that it had discharged.

Kaoway Sports Ltd factory sources products for major clothing companies leading a consortium of clothing retailers including Puma, Gap and H&M to demand that the Cambodian government “…conduct a full and transparent investigation into the shooting and [to] hold those responsible for injuring workers accountable.”

For more information, please see:

Khmerization – Prosecutor’s Account of Questioning Varies – 20 March 2012

Khmerization – Factory Shooter Confesses – 17 March 2012

Radio Free Asia – Prosecutors Slammed for No Arrest – 15 March 2012

Voice of America – Bavet Mayor Identified as Suspect in Bloody Shooting – 1 March 2012

By Greg Donaldson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia 

COLUMBO, Sri Lanka – The United Nations Human Rights Council will vote this week on a resolution strongly sponsored by Britain and the United States. The resolution will explore potential war crimes that occurred during a Sri Lankan civil war that ended three years ago.

Citizens of Sri Lanka are upset over the resolution. Many Sri Lankans see the resolution as disruptive of the current peace. Hundreds of Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Christian clergy gathered in Colombo to demonstrate against the UN resolution. The ceremony demonstration included members of each clergy carrying national flags and traditional drummers parading throughout the city.

The clergies also read a statement following the day’s events. The statements said “evil forces both local and international, have joined hands to deprive Sri Lanka of the present environment of peace… and take this blessed island back to an era of darkness.” The statement continued “we therefore pledge with national determination that the Sri Lankan government and people will be able to defeat the resolution and the evil forces behind it.”

It is alleged that both the Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were responsible for major war crimes during the country’s civil war. Last year a United Nations appointed panel found that there were “credible allegations” that both sides had committed serious human rights violations.

The Sri Lankan government has rejected the report and instead commissioned its own internal investigation. The Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission found the armed forces had not acted inappropriately. The report was rejected by the U.N. and condemned by several human rights groups.

One of the examples the UN panel found in its investigation was a so-called humanitarian rescue operation carried out by the Sri Lankan army. The operation took place during the final stages of the civil war against the Tamil Tigers. The panel estimated that the operation was responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people.

Eileen Donahoe, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council, has pushed hard for the proposed Sri Lankan war crimes resolution. In a statement she explained, “many thousands of Sri Lankans civilians died or suffered other violations in the final weeks of the long-running civil war in 2009. There has been no complete accounting of those deaths or other violations and no pursuit of accountability for them.

The resolution is currently being debated at the United Nation’s convention in Geneva. Both proponents of the resolution and the Sri Lanka government have received strong support from outside parties and countries.

For More Information Please See:

New York Times –U.N. Panel Seeks Vote on Carnage in Sri Lanka – 19 March 2012

Washington Post – Sri Lankan Clergy Pray for Defeat of UN Resolution Urging Investigation of Possible War Abuses – 19 March 2012

The Independent – Sri Lanka Resists UN Resolution Against Alleged War Crimes – 26 February 2012

by Hibberd Kline
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka– On Tuesday, human rights group Amnesty International released a report alleging ongoing, routine, human rights abuses against ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka by the Sri Lankan Government.

According to Amnesty, hundreds of people remain in arbitrary detention despite the end of the 26-year long civil war between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers. A recent statement by Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris, put the number of Tamil Tiger ex-combatants still in detention at 750. However, Amnesty believes that ex-combatants are not the only ones being detained in post-war Sri Lanka.

Amnesty’s report alleges that constitutional and legal protections of individuals against wrongful incarceration and unfair prosecution have been replaced by anti-terrorism laws and emergency measures, which undermine human rights and the rule of law. Amnesty has stated that these laws were enacted during the war for the purpose of combating the Tamil Tigers, but that their post-war legacy undermines human rights.

The report further alleges that Tamils are routinely detained and abducted, denied due process, intimidated, solicited for bribes, tortured and subjected to other abuses by police and paramilitary groups. The report concedes that some of those who face unlawful detention are likely Tamil perpetrators of human rights abuses and war crimes. However, it further elaborates that many of those detained are innocent.

The report linked secret detentions and abductions in Sri Lanka to “a climate of impunity where human rights violations of all types go uninvestigated and unpunished.”

In recent months, reports of abductions have skyrocketed. Human rights advocates put the number of unexplained, reported abductions between October and February at 32. Of the 32 abductions, 5 have successfully escaped, 7 have been found dead and 20 have simply vanished.

Reports indicate that the abductions have targeted not only Tamils, but also Sinhalese and the island’s muslim minority. Those targeted include human rights activists, journalists and businessmen.

Those who have witnessed abductions often report that unidentified, armed gangs forced their victims into unmarked, white vans. Rumors have been circulating that the vans belong to the Sri Lankan Government or armed groups working on its behalf.

One unnamed senior police officer in the capital allegedly told reporters of government preparations to deal with possible protests. He said; “we have arranged to bring tear gas, and we have plenty of white vans in Sri Lanka.”

According to cabinet member Vasudeva Nanayakkara, the government “…can’t say we don’t know about it.” Nanayakkara told reporters that the military is undermining Sri Lanka’s democracy by becoming too involved in civil affairs.

Opposition member of parliament Jayalath Jayawardana also recently weighed in on the issue, saying that “Jungle law is prevailing… Without the protection or blessings of the government in power or the security forces these type of things cannot take place.”

However, as a whole, the government and security forces deny responsibility for the abductions.

According to police spokesman Superintendant Ajith Rohana; “There are abductions. It happens. But generally we are conducting investigations into the matter.” Superintendant Rohana told reporters that special teams have been assigned to investigate the abductions.

In spite of the superintendant’s assurances, abductions appear to be increasing in both number and audacity. One abduction successfully targeted a prisoner who was being escorted by guards right outside the law courts in Colombo.

According to Amnesty USA’s executive director Susan Nossel, “if Sri Lanka is serious about moving from war to peace, it needs to ensure that the rule of law is not a matter of lip-service, but is the lifeblood of the nation’s justice system.”

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which is currently meeting in Geneva, will vote next week on a resolution proposed by the United States urging Sri Lanka’s government to investigate allegations of war crimes and other human rights abuses. The resolution is further expected to call upon the Sri Lankan Government to seek reconciliation with ethnic Tamils.

A similar resolution passed in the United States Senate on March 1.

A recent statement from the Sri Lankan Defense Ministry laid out the government’s stance regarding the alleged abuses; “The Ministry of Defense rejects all allegations of human rights violations… it is able to prove with valid evidence that it was the LTTE that committed gross violations of human rights over the past three decades.”

The ethnic Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government views outside pressure over human rights issues as a violation of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and has responded to news of the proposed resolution by orchestrating protests across the country against the resolution. In Colombo, more than 10,000 people marched in protest of the resolution, while smaller groups petitioned U.N. and European officials at various embassies throughout the capital.

According to an article written by Human Rights Watch deputy director for Asia Elaine Pearson, several human rights groups and victims of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka have cancelled their plans to travel to Geneva for the UNHRC’s meeting due to fear of reprisal by the Sri Lankan Government.

In spite of the political saber-rattling inspired by the proposed resolution, next week’s vote is expected to be largely symbolic as the UNHRC has no power to implement an independent investigation.

Both the Tamil Tigers and Sri Lankan government forces have been accused of committing war crimes during the final stages of the counrty’s 26-year long civil war, which ended when a Sri Lankan military campaign crushed the Tigers in 2009.

For more information, please see:

CBS News — Tamil Lawmakers Want UN Pressure on Sri Lanka — 15 March 2012

Human Rights Watch — With Sri Lanka Resolution, Indonesia Has Chance to Show International Leadership –14 March 2012

Al Jazeera — Amnesty Alleges Illegal Detentions in Sri Lanka —  13 March 2012

Amnesty International — Sri Lanka’s Shameful Record on Detention without Trial — 13 March 2012

Amnesty International — Locked Away: Sri Lanka’s Security Detainees — 13 March 2012

BBC News — Amnesty Accuses Sri Lanka of ‘Post-War Abuses’ — 13 March 2012

BBC News — Sri Lanka’s Sinister White Van Abductions — 13 March 2012

Jurist — Rights Group Details Claim of Sri Lanka Detention Abuses — 13 March 2012

NPR — US Sri Lanka Should Reconcile with Tamils — 13 March 2012

Voice of America — Lawmakers Pressure Indian Government on Alleged Sri Lanka War Crimes — 13 March 2012

Human Rights Watch — Sri Lanka: US Senate Calls for Justice — 07 March 2012

by Hibberd Kline
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China– Three Tibetan activists marked the twenty-first day of what they have announced to be an “indefinite hunger strike” in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York City today.

The three say that they are fasting in protest of the continuing crackdown by Chinese authorities in Tibet.

No action by the United Nations or the Chinese Government to ease the situation in Tibet yet appears to be forthcoming.

However, the three human rights activists, who are confined to wheelchairs due to famine-induced weakness, cannot help but attract headlines and have succeeded in garnering a significant amount of attention.

The three activists claim to have been visited on Monday by top United Nations human rights official Ivan Simonovich, whom they purport to have told that they wish to see “concrete action” by the Chinese Government to ease the crackdown on dissent in their distant homeland. The strikers say that they shall continue their fast “indfinitely” until the Chinese Government takes such action.

Mr. Simonovich’s visit was apparently followed up today by an expression of concern for the health of the strikers from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Nonetheless, the Secretary General stated that he “affirms the right of all people to peaceful protest.”

The strikers hope to bring pressure to bear upon the United Nations to take action and have delivered a petition with five demands to that effect. The core demands included a request for a fact-finding mission into the situation in Tibet. The strikers also called upon China to open up the region to journalists, to end martial law in areas with large Tibetan populations and to release all political prisoners.

One of the activists, 69-year old Dorjee Gyalpo, informed journalists that he is prepared to give his life to achieve the goals of the group’s petition. The other two strikers explained that their goal is not merely to bring awareness to the Tibetan cause, but to resolve the situation.

The United Nations has informed the media that it has received the petition and is investigating the matter.

Elsewhere in New York City, on Saturday an estimated 2,000-4,000 local Tibetans marched in solidarity with protestors in Tibet and to mark the 53rd anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Similar marches by hundreds of Tibetan exiles also occured in cities and towns in India, which houses the Tibetan Government in exile.

The protests have taken place against the backdrop of ongoing, muffled protests in Tibet itself. Human rights organizations estimate that some two dozen Tibetans, mostly Budhist monks, have set themselves on fire in China in recent months in protest of Chinese rule. Tibetan protestors also seek the safe return of their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Chinese authorities have responded to the protests by branding the self-immolators as terrorists and vastly increasing the number of police and security personnel in the region. Additionally, the authorities have clamped down tightly on the internet and mobile phones in the region, in some areas reportedly blocking these forms of communication entirely.

Tibetan activists and human rights groups say that the Chinese authorities in parts of China with a sizeable Tibetan population suppress Tibet’s culture and religion and crush all public displays of dissent.

Tibet has been under varying degrees of Chinese rule ever since Chinese troops occupied the region in 1950.

For more information, please see:

Huffington Post — Self Immolations in Tibet, Hunger Strikers in New York — 14 March 2012

Voice of America — UN Chief Voices Concern for Tibetan Hunger Strikers — 14 March 2012

Al Jazeera — Fasting for Tibet outside the UN — 13 March 2012

The Telegraph India — Tibetans Decry Chinese Outrage — 11 March 2012

NBC New York — Tibetans, Activists March and Rally in NYC — 10 March 2012

Voice of America — Tibetans on Hunger Strike Demand UN Action — 09 March 2012

by Hibberd Kline
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Human rights lawyers and activists hailed proposed revisions to China’s Criminal Procedure Law, which were unveiled on the fourth day of the National People’s Congress in Beijing last Thursday, with cautious optimism.

The revisions passed today with overwhelming support from what many analysts believe to be a “rubber stamp” congress, which has never rejected a proposed draft law.

However, the revisions are seen as controversial and have been the subject of unusually fierce public debate inside China since they were first publicly announced last August. The crux of the controversy surrounded the issue of secret detentions by China’s police forces.

Proponents of China’s increasingly powerful, hard-line, state security apparatus took a position favoring an amendment that critics claimed would simply legalize existing police practices of “disappearances” and secret detention without implementing oversight or guidelines. Supporters of the amendment are believed to be concerned with the growing number of strikes, protests and public dissent across China. Many in China’s government fear the emergence of a widespread Chinese version of the “Arab Spring.” They believe that increased police powers are necessary in order for the Communist Party to maintain order and control.

On the other side of the controversy,  human rights activists, political reformers and a sizeable portion of China’s legal community decried the proposed amendment, known as Article 73. Reformists have been able to harness an unusually large and vocal showing of public support, including tens of thousands of online complaints about the proposed amendment.

Support for the reformist stance is thought to partially be a backlash against what a report by Hong Kong-based human rights organization Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) recently labeled in its annual report as “…a year of harsh crackdowns for human rights defenders, characterized by lengthy prison sentences, extensive use of extralegal detention, and enforced disappearance and torture.”

According to CHRD’s report, almost 4,000 political campaigners were detained in China last year. The report indicated that at least 150 of the detainees had been tortured and at least 20 had been “dissapeared” for weeks or months without their families being informed by the authorities.

Additionally, the Chinese Government has increased it’s security and police presence in its restive province of Xinjiang and areas with large Tibetan populations. Human rights groups say that the Chinese Government suppresses traditional religion and culture in these regions and that it regularly carries out secret detentions and disappearances in order to maintain control there.

However, China maintains a virtual stranglehold on the flow of information out of Xinjiang and Tibet, making it difficult to determine whether repression in those regions had a significant impact on the debate over revisions to China’s detention laws.

An earlier draft of Article 73 would have allowed for China’s police forces to affect secret detentions without informing detainees’ families. Though the legality of secret detentions and “disappearances” under Chinese law was questionable prior to today’s passage of the revisions, it is widely believed that these practices were already commonplace in China.

However, haggling over the proposed amendments has yielded a compromise, which many view as a small victory for reformers. Last week the proposed amendment was modified in a highly unusual attempt to ease concerns over human rights.  The amendment provides police with the power to detain dissidents for up to 6 months in “residential surveillance” at their homes or at other locations such as hotels. It also gives police the power to hold people in “secret detention centers,” often referred to as “black jails.” However, the amendment now comes with a caveat requiring the authorities to inform detainees’ families within 24 hours after the start of detention.

Human rights groups have been quick to point out that the law provides exceptions to the “24 hour rule” in situations when informing the family would be impossible or in situations involving “state security” or “terrorism.” State security is widely viewed as a catch-all phrase that covers vaguely defined crimes such as “subversion” in order to provide a mechanism for detaining dissidents critical of the Chinese Communist Party.

Rights groups have further asserted that the amendment gives a legal justification for existing police practices that violate human rights, which they argue will likely increase now that the amendment has passed. Activists have often brought allegations of torture and other abuses committed by police during “residential surveillance” or secret detention.

Aside from the secret detention issue, the revisions have been praised for taking a surprisingly humanitarian tone.

According to China’s official Xinhua news agency, the amendment explicitly states for the first time that trials are to exclude “confessions extorted through illegal means such as torture.” Furthermore, Chinese defense attorneys have praised provisions of the amendment that they say will likely allow them more access to suspects and defendants. Additionally, in a statement on its website, human rights group Amnesty International praised the amendment’s “…improved legal protections for minors and the mentally ill…”

However, Amnesty and other rights groups have indicated that they do not believe that the reforms go far enough and fear that legal protections may not be effective in practice. Amnesty has urged the adoption of a “right to silence,” a presumption of innocence and protection from arbitrary “technical surveillance” such as wiretaps.

China is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which it has yet to ratify. The ICCPR provides that “anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that that court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his detention and order his release if the detention is not lawful.”

According to Human Rights Watch, even though China has not yet ratified the ICCPR, China is obligated under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties “to refrain from acts which would undermine the object and purpose” of a treaty to which it is a signatory.

Overall, activists have applauded the reforms as a positive first step in human rights reform and have noted the importance of increasing public input in the Chinese political process.

As the National People’s Congress’s annual session drew to a close today, out-going President Wen Jiabao called for further political reform and increased openness inside China. Without reform, Wen said that “such historic tragedies like the Cultural Revolution [which was characterized by human rights abuses on a massive scale] may happen again.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera — China Premier Calls for Political Reforms — 14 March 2012

The Washington Post — China’s Wen Jiabao Calls for Reforms Even as Legislature Strengthens Detention Law — 14 March 2012

Financial Times — China to Enact New Secret Detention Law —  13 March 2012

BBC —  China Rights Situation Deteriorating, Say Activists — 09 March 2012

Chinese Human rights Defenders — “We Can Dig a Pit and Bury You Alive” Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China, 2011 — 09 March 2012

BBC —  China Unveils New Legislation on Police Detention Power — 08 March 2012

NPR — China to Restrict Secret Detentions on Paper — 08 March 2012

Reuters — China Parliament Unveils Dissident Detention Powers — 08 March 2012

Time Magazine — Changes to Detention Rules Are Small Victory for Activists in China — 08 March 2012

Voice of America — China Drops Plan to Legalize Secret Detentions — 08 March 2012

Amnesty International —  China Must Not Legalize “Disappearances” and “Two-Track Justice,” Says Amnesty International — 06 March 2012

Human Rights Watch —  China: Don’t Legalize Secret Detention — 01 September 2011