By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar – Human Rights Watch has expressed concern that despite Burmese attention to reform and cease-fires with ethnic insurgents, abuse by the military continue.

David Mathieson, Human Rights Watch senior researcher on Burma, recently visited Burma and learned that fighting in Kachin State has displaced approximately 70,000 people since last June.

In addition, there have also been reports of sexual violence, the use of weapons against unarmed civilians, destruction of property and forced labor.

Mathieson has also encountered rights abuses by ethnic armed groups who use child soldiers and execute Burmese prisoners of war.

Recently, the use of child soldiers has prompted the U.S. ambassador for human trafficking to demand that Burmese military officers be accountable for involvement in human trafficking.

A 2011 Human Rights Watch report alleged that the Burmese military was colluding with corrections Department officials to gain access to approximately 700 prisoners who the army used as porters who are often forced to risk their life by checking for landmines.

Mathieson further stated that “…with all the changes happening in central Burma, it’s quite alarming that the army is showing absolutely no compunction to change its behavior.”

The Burmese government has continuously denied journalists access to Kachin and other conflict zones which has made it impossible for independent reports to be made regarding the allegations of abuse said to be occurring at the hands of the military.

Under the dominance of the previously ruling military junta, individual freedom was severely restricted. Owning a computer or fax machine without being given prior permission was prohibited and internet access was severely controlled.

Since the civilian government assumed power from the military junta last year, restriction on freedom have been largely lifted and several prominent political prisoners have been released although some remain imprisoned.

Despite these initial reforms, some experts fear that they could be easily reversed considering that many of the laws that were formerly used to repress Burmese citizens have not been repealed.

Failure to repeal the repressive laws means that despite improvements made in individual freedoms, many of the ways in which these freedoms are exercised are still technically illegal and the government could decide to revert to the human rights policies that existed under the military junta.

Another positive sign of reform, however, is that President Thein sein and his administration are expected to allow the National League of Democracy leader Aung San Suu kyi to give a political broadcast. Prior to the broadcast, however, the National League of Democracy is required to produce the text of the broadcase to the censors at the Ministry of Information for their review.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Burma Awakes to Glasnost: A (Partly) Free Press and (Some) Freedom of Expression – 25 February 2012

Irrawaddy – HRW: Army Abuse Unabated Despite Burma Reforms – 24 February 2012

Radio Free Asia – Burma’s Military ‘As Abusive as Ever’ – 23 February 2012

Voice of America – U.S. Calls for Burma Military to Account for Human Trafficking – 12 January 2012

by Hibberd Kline
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – According to the South Korean media, nine North Korean refugees were handed over to the North Korean authorities by China last week.

The nine are part of a group of more than thirty North Korean refugees who have been rounded up by the Chinese authorities this month in separate locations in the city of Shenyang. The refugees are reportedly being held in the northern Chinese city of Changchun, where they await processing and deportation to North Korea.

According to human rights group Amnesty International, some of the refugees are believed to have successfully contacted a South Korean organization devoted to helping North Korean refugees escape to South Korea.

Amnesty called upon the Chinese government not to forcibly repatriate the refugees earlier this month. The group’s Asia-Pacific Director, Sam Zarifi declared that China must allow “…North Koreans to seek asylum in China and other countries and provide them with access to the United Nations refugee agency or other relevant refugee channels.”

Additional activist groups and members of the South Korean government have since echoed the group’s pleas.

Seoul’s traditional stance regarding North Korean refugees in China has been less confrontational. However, following the failure of low-level talks on the fate of the refugees to achieve favorable results, the South Korean Foreign Ministry announced that it would seek international help on the issue at a meeting of the the United Nations Council on Human Rights in Geneva later this week.

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, China believes that the issue of North Korean refugees is not suitable for discussion at the United Nations and should be handled pursuant to domestic Chinese laws.

South Korean politicians have also weighed-in on the issue. According to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, “When it comes to the North Korean defectors, it is right for the Chinese Government to handle them in line with international rules as long as they are not criminals.”

The South Korean Parliament also recently adopted a resolution demanding that China discontinue the repatriation of refugees. One lawmaker, Park-Sun young, even went so far as to begin a hunger strike in front of the Chinese embassy on Tuesday in order to draw attention to the refugees’ cause.

Human rights activists, relatives of the detained refugees and South Korean celebrities also staged protests outside the Chinese embassy to demand that China forgoe repatriating the refugees.

For its part, China has often expressed an apparent desire to play a positive role in the Korean Peninsula. China has sent aid to North Korea and has repeatedly encouraged all parties to return to the stalled six-party talks over the future of North Korea’s nuclear program. However, China appears to remain unflinching on the issue of refugees.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded last Tuesday to pressure from South Korea by repeating its long-standing policy of treating the refugees as “illegal economic immigrants.” China has close ties with the North Korean regime and systematically captures and forcibly repatriates refugees who cross over into Chinese territory.

The typical journey for refugees fleeing North Korea is long and perilous. Refugees generally cross the border into China on foot, then hide themselves inside China before securing transportation to a third country. The lucky refugees eventually make their way to South Korea. However, human rights activists and North Korean refugees say that repatriated North Koreans are often tortured, sent to remote prison camps, or publicly executed.

Following the death of North Korea’s “dear leader” Kim Jong-il and the rapid assent of his son Kim Jong-un to power, activists in the South have relayed reports of harsher punishments for those who get caught trying to flee the country. Some refugees have suggested that punishment may extend to three generations of an escapee’s family.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans are thought to be currently hiding in China. Estimates put the total number of North Korean refugees who have escaped to South Korea since 1950 at more than 20,000.

China is a party to the United Nations Refugee Convention (UNHCR), but has been accused by human rights groups of failing to live up to its obligations under the convention.

For more information, please see:

BBC News– China ‘Sent Back Nine North Korean Refugees’ — 24 February 2012

Bangkok Post — China Returns Nine Refugees to North Korea — 24 February 2012

Korea Herald — Nine North Korean Defectors Repatriated to Their Homeland — 23 February 2012

BBC News — Seoul Urges China on North Korea Refugees — 22 February 2012

New York Times — China Should Not Repatriate North Korean Refugees, Seoul Says — 22 February 2012

Voice of America — China Rejects Pleas Not to Repatriate North Koreans — 21 February 2012

Amnesty International — Amnesty International Urges China to Avoid Forced Repatriation of North Korean Defectors — 14 February 2012

by Hibberd Kline
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China– According to Human Rights Watch, hundreds of Tibetans returning from India have been arbitrarily detained and now face “political re-education.”

The detainees were part of a group of 7,000 Tibetans who were granted permission by the Chinese government to attend teaching sessions held by the Dali Lama in Bihar, India. The travelers reportedly possessed all the necessary documentation for the journey including Chinese-issued passports.

At first, human rights groups hailed the initial travel grant as a relaxation of Chinese government policy in Tibet. However, applause for the perceived policy shift has been abruptly cut short in recent weeks as China continues to expand its crackdown on ethnic minorities.

According to Human Rights Watch, some 700 ethnic Chinese accompanied the Tibetans on their journey to attend the Dali Lama’s teaching sessions. However, the group stressed that there have been no reports of ethnic Chinese travelers being detained upon re-entry into China. Accordingly, Human Rights Watch believes that the travelers are being detained solely based upon their ethnicity.

In addition to extensive indoctrination sessions, the “reeducation” faced by many of the detainees reportedly will include forced denunciation of the Dali Lama as a spiritual leader. Though there has been no official word regarding the duration of the detainees’ reeducation, previous programs have typically lasted for several months. Sources cited by Human Rights Watch suggest that detainees’ families have not been notified of the detentions.

The detainment follows recent escalating unrest in the regions of Sichuan and Gansu, which both possess sizable ethnic Tibetan populations. In recent weeks, at least 15 monks are thought to have died in the two regions from self-immolation in protest against Chinese rule. An additional seven Tibetans were shot dead and dozens wounded in clashes with police in Sichuan in January.

However, the recent detainees reportedly hail from areas as of yet untouched by the recent unrest. This has led some analysts to view the detainment as a preemptive move by the Chinese authorities to tighten control over the Tibetan plateau in order to prevent violent unrest from spreading to the regional capital, Lhasa.

A February 10 article in the Beijing-based newspaper, Global Times, reported that Chinese officials in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) had been ordered to “prepare for a war against secessionist sabotage.” The government-owned tabloid quoted Xiong Kunxin, a professor at the Minsu University of China, who explained the recent string of self-immolations as having to do with “geographic and historical factors, which made the Tibetan people [in Sichuan] more aggressive.” The professor was further quoted as he decried “less strict management” for having contributed to the “problem” as well.

Conversely, the exiled Dali Lama has blamed the self-immolations on a “cultural genocide” committed by the Chinese authorities against his people. However, he rejects government claims that he is behind the violence.

Growing unrest in the region has led China to significantly bolster its police, military and secret service presence in an effort to clamp down on dissent and tighten communist party control. For instance, the Gami Temple, which lies at the edge of the TAR, houses not only Buddhist monks, but also a local police headquarters. Such close proximity between police and local religious leaders allows for easy surveillance and control and is increasingly commonplace.

Additionally, in many parts of the region police roadblocks make travel difficult. In some towns, the authorities have even gone so far as to block all internet and telecommunications access by the local population.

In a statement released on its website, Human Rights Watch alleged that the recent crackdown has seen the largest number of Tibetan laypeople detained by the Chinese Government since the 1970s.

As a result of the authorities’ heavy-handed tactics, traditional Tibetan New Year celebrations, which the Tibetan Government in exile had called upon Tibetans to boycott, appear to have largely gone off without incident. However, some activists suggest that China’s approach may be serving to unite ethnic Tibetans against Chinese rule. Some analysts suggest that the March 10 anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule may pose more of a challenge to security forces than the innocuous new year celebrations.

China has ruled Tibet since its troops occupied the region in 1950. Many Tibetans fear that Chinese migrants and government policies are eroding Tibetan culture.

For more information, please see:

AP News — As China Clamps Down, Tibet Struggle Grows Radical — 22 February 2012

Reuters — Tibetans Mark New Year under Shadow of Immolations — 22 February 2012

Reuters — China Detaining Tibetans Returning from India – Human Rights Watch — 18 February 2012

Jurist — China Must Release Tibetan Prisoners: HRW — 17 February 2012

The Guardian — China Detains Hundreds of Tibetans for ‘Re-education’, Says Human Rights Group — 17 February 2012

The Telegraph — Hundreds of Tibetans ‘Detained and Forced to Undergo Political Re-education’ — 17 February 2012

Human Rights Watch — China: End Crackdown on Tibetans Who Visited India — 16 February 2012

The Global Times — Tibet Officials ‘Prepare for War’ — 10 February 2012

By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China –China’s state security police have warned pro-democracy dissident, Qin Yongmin, that he is not to continue his work on plans for a website aimed at promoting peaceful change in the nation.

 

Qin was release from prison in November 2010 after serving a twelve year prison term following a conviction for subversion which resulted from his role as co-founder of the China Democracy Party and attempt to have the new party registered.

Since his release, he has been on twenty-four hour surveillance by officials and has been subjected to routine searches of his home and confiscation of his belongings.

In April, Qin was subjected to two home searches in a two week period during which he was threatened and verbally abused by authorities who also confiscated articles written by Qin and notebooks.

This week, Qin reported that he was surrounded by police while leaving a computer store and taken to a police station.

While at the police station, a police officer informed Qin that they had information that he had “…been posting articles overseas and giving interviews to journalists, and that this was against Article 82 of the national security law, and that they were going to punish me for that.”

Qin had intentions to launch a website called “Peaceful Transition Advice” which would be hosted overseas but was told by authorities but he was absolutely forbidden to create the website.

According to Qin, “[t]hey said that if I launched it in the morning, they would arrest me in the afternoon, and that they would pursue the harshest kind of punishment for me.”

The police officer also informed Qin that they were alarmed by a meeting he had held at a restaurant with several political activists.

According to Qin, the meeting was held on the second floor of the restaurant and the police “…took over the entire third floor.” He also reports that he was warned by police that no matter where he went or who he was with, they would know about it.

China’s dissidents have been under increased pressure from authorities since the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned democracy activist Liu Xiaobo.

Prior to the twelve year sentenced leading to his November release, Qin had been jailed twice before for his political activism. He served an eight year sentence for “anti-revolutionary propaganda and subversion” in 1981 for his involvement in the pro-democracy movement.

Four years later he was sentenced to two years of hard labor in a re-education through labor camp for a writing a document entitled “Peace Charter”.

 

For more information, please see:

Radio Free Asia –  Activist Warned Over Website – 20 February 2012

Asia News – Qin Yongmin, Cofounder of the China Democracy Party Freed Today – 29 November 2010

Human Rights in China – Police Search  Qin Yongmin’s Home – 28 April 2011

By Greg Donaldson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – After a week of negotiations, the United States and China came to an agreement Friday that will open the Chinese market to more American movies. In a statement United States Vice President Joe Biden said “this agreement with China will make it easier than ever before for U.S. studios and independent filmmakers to reach the fast-growing Chinese audience, supporting thousands of American jobs in and around the film industry.”

This is just one of the many agreements the United States and China have come to during the visit of future Chinese President Xi Jinping to the United States this week. The agreement does not require China to change its annual quota of twenty foreign films per year but exempts several types of movies from the quota.

For example China will now allow fourteen “premium format films” each year that do not count against the quota. “Premium format films” has been defined as IMAX or 3-D films. Many expect 3D movies that are about to be released such as “Dr. Seuss’ the Lorax,” and “The Amazing Spider-Man,” or 3-D remakes such as “Titanic” will seek to take advantage of the new agreement.

The United States has frequently complained about China’s oppressive restrictions on foreign films. In 2009 the United States won a case against China in the World Organization Trade Court. The case challenged China’s restrictions on importation and distribution of copyrighted materials. The United States claimed that China’s restrictions on foreign films created a massive market for pirated U.S. movies that are widely available throughout China. It is expected that Friday’s agreement will help lower the demand for pirated movies throughout China.

Chris Dodd, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, called the agreement “a major step forward in spurring the growth of U.S. exports to China and tremendous news for the millions of American workers and businesses whose jobs depend on the entertainment industry.”

The agreement will also increase a foreign studio’s permitted share of box office revenue from films released in China to twenty-five percent. Previously, a foreign studio’s percentage of box office revenue ranged from thirteen to seventeen percent.

Chinese director Gao Qunshu said “the agreement would bring more challenges for China’s filmmakers, but in the long term he believed in the power of competition in an open market. With fourteen more foreign films, the market space for local productions will further shrink… More “lame” works will be drive out of the market.”

For more information, please see:

China.org – Chinese Theaters to Screen More US Films – 20 February 2012

China Daily – More U.S. Films Set For China – 20 February 2012

New York Times – In China Movie Pact, More 3-D, Less Reality – 19 February 2012

Chicago Tribune – China Opens Box Office to More U.S. Movies – 18 February 2012