By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India – The country’s second national Gay Pride march was held in New Delhi as Indian officials prepare to repeal an anti-gay law despite opposition from religious and some political leaders.  India is one of the few democracies in the world that still criminalizes homosexuality.

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was drafted in 1860 by the British and criminalizes consensual sex between adults of the same gender.  Those found guilty are punishable by a 10-year jail sentence.

Spokesman for the opposition party, Sidharth Nath Singh, said, “This is a sensitive issue and warrants a debate within the Indian society at large before arriving at any decision,” and the party’s leader remarked that the government should not make changes to the law in haste, adding that India is neither Europe nor America.  India’s Law Minister also stated, “[W]e are not going to rush to any conclusion.  We will certainly take into account concerns of all sections….”

Conversely, India’s religious leaders oppose repealing the law.  Babu Joseph of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India said, “[W]e are certainly in principle against legalizing [homosexuality], because that would mean the state endorsing same-sex relationships,” and homosexuality “violates fundamental norms of a family.”  India’s Muslim leaders also oppose repealing the anti-gay law saying, “Islam does not allow any unnatural act.  No Muslim in the world, let alone India, can ever support it.”

Source: Times Online

However, activists are claiming that the homosexuality law violates India’s Constitution, which guarantees all citizens right to equality and personal liberty, and the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  Supporters of repealing the law also say that the anti-gay law makes it hard for HIV infected gay men to seek medical treatment.  A local NGO has challenged the law’s constitutionality with the Delhi High Court, and the ruling is expected next month.

For more information, please see:

Asian Tribune – India will repeal anti-gay law but in a hurry, says Law Minister Moily – 29 June 2009

CNN – India faith leaders: Anti-gay law must stay – 29 June 2009

Times Online – India to repeal anti-gay law as second Gay Pride is held – 29 June 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – The Supreme People’s Court of China, which has the power of final approval for death penalty cases, announced that the Court would cut down on the number of annual executions and impose more suspended death sentences.

(Source: AsiaNews)

China is considered to be the world’s top executioner.  According to Amnesty International, at least 7,000 Chinese have been sentenced to death and 1,718 people were executed in 2008, which is 72% of the world’s total number of people executed.  The exact number of executions is a state secret in China.

The death penalty applies to 60 offenses in China, including non-violent crimes like tax fraud and embezzlement.  However, after China gave the Supreme People’s Court the power to review death penalty cases from the lower courts two years ago, there have been fewer executions.  One Chinese newspaper reported that the Supreme People’s Court overturned 10% of the death penalty cases in 2008.

Murder convict being taken away to be executed in Guangzhou (Source: Reuters)

Zhang Zun, the vice-president of the Supreme People’s Court said, “As it is impossible for the country to abolish capital punishment under current realities and social security conditions, it is an important effort to strictly control the application of the penalty by judicial organs.”  Zhang added, “Judicial departments should use the least number of death sentences possible,” and use capital punishment only against “those who have committed extremely…heinous crimes that lead to grave social consequences.”

However, rights groups have been concerned because Chinese officials are alleged to have remarked that violent protesters of the riots that took place in Xinjiang region earlier this month would be executed. 

One human rights group researcher, Si-si Liu, expressed her concern saying, “We question how this kind of sentencing decision, which only courts should be eligible to make can be made by people outside the judicial system.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – China to cut down on executions – 29 July 2009

BBC – China to cut down number of executions – 29 July 2009

Guardian – China to restrict death penalty and cut executions – 29 July 2009

By Alishba I. Kassim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – One of the last remaining survivors, Vann Nath, of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison gave his testimony today at Cambodia’s war crimes tribunal. Also in attendance facing charges was Comrade Duch (a.k.a. Kaing Guek Eav), a senior Khmer Rouge official in charge of the infamous prison. Up to 16,000 men, women, and children were tortured under his command and later taken away to be executed in the late 1970’s. Vann Nath is one of only seven to have survived the prison, and only one of three currently living.

“The conditions were so inhumane and the food was so little…I even thought eating human flesh would be a good meal,” Vann Nath told the UN-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh. During his testimony, Nath, now 67, told the tribunal that he was fed twice a day, and each meal consisted of three teaspoons of rice porridge. “We were so hungry, we would eat insects that dropped from the ceiling… We would quickly grab and eat them so we could avoid being seen by the guards.”

Nath testified that he only survived his imprisonment at the jail and was spared torture because Comrade Duch liked his paintings of the Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot. Comrade Duch is the first senior Khymer Rouge leader to face trial and the only one to take responsibility for his actions. Duch is charged with crimes against humanity and is the first of five defendants scheduled for trials by the UN-assisted tribunal. The four other Khmer officials will face trial in the coming year.

Duch himself has previously testified that being sent to Tuol Sleng prison was “tantamount to a death sentence,” and that he was only following orders to ensure his own safety. Earlier in his trial, the 66-year-old admitted responsibility for his role as governor of the jail, and begged forgiveness from his victims. The Khmer regime’s policies caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people nationwide through execution, torture, disease, and malnutrition.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Khmer Rouge Survivor Testifies – June 29, 2009

CBC News – Ex-Khmer Rouge Prisoner Testifies at Trial in Cambodia – June 29, 2009

Reuters – Pol Pot Paintings Saved my Life – June 29, 2009

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – In one of the biggest demonstrations to take place in the recent months, more than 30,000 Thai “red shirts” gathered in Bangkok for an anti-government rally.  The “red shirts” were silenced when the government threatened a crackdown back in April after the protest led to the worst street violence in 15 years.

“Red shirt” protesters in Bangkok (Source: AP)

“Red shirts” are members of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD).  Thai society is divided into either “red” or “yellow” shirts, the “reds” representing Thais in rural areas who support the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the “yellows” comprising Thai’s urban elite who consider the red shirts as a threat to the Thai monarchy.

Thaksin, who is currently in exile, addressed the crowd via telephone saying, “We come here because we want to see true democracy.  We loathe injustice.  We loathe double standards.  We’re here to say if you want us to stop, then return justice and true democracy.”

Supporters of Thaksin said they are calling for the current prime minister’s resignation, the dissolution of the government and for general elections.  The protesters also accuse the “yellows,” which include the military, judiciary and other unelected officials, of undermining Thailand’s democracy and orchestrating a coup back in 2006.

Nuttawut Saikua, one of the organizers of this rally, said, “We rally today because we want to get rid of the government, the aristocracy and bring back true democracy to people.”

UDD has planned three more protests in addition to this rally in Bangkok although the timing for the next rallies has not been set.  UDD’s leader Jatuporn Promphan explained that his group will evaluate several factors such as the political situation before determining the date for each rally.
For more information, please see:

BBC – Thai protesters return to streets – 27 June 2009

China View – Renewed Thai anti-gov’t rally peaceful, to disperse on Sunday morning – 27 June 2009

MSNBC – Thousands of anti-govt protesters mass in Bangkok – 27 June 2009

By Alishba I. Kassim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

ALMATY, Kazakhstan – Kazakhstan’s parliament has approved a law tightening government control of the internet. The new bill will subject chat rooms, blogs, and other social networking sites to potential criminal prosecution.

Media activists in Kazakhstan have been opposing the law and say it will vastly limit freedom of speech, and is designed to allow arbitrary crackdowns on anyone opposing Nursultan Kazarbayev, Kazakhstan’s president.

Kazakh authorities have denied the media’s allegations, and instead maintain that the new law is aimed to curb the distribution of child pornography, extremist literature, and other “unsuitable” material. “The law is not a regulation of the internet. The amendments introduced to the law are aimed at stopping the dissemination of illegal information on the internet,” the government’s state information agency said.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Europe’s main human rights and security agency, has criticized the bill. Miklos Harszti, a representative on media freedom, said the law “limits the freedom of the internet and media freedom in general. Its adoption would be a step backwards in the democratization of Kazakhstan’s media governance.”

He further said that Kazakhstan is due to take over chairmanship of the OSCE in six months and “refusing to enact this law will send a strong signal that the forthcoming OSCE chairmanship of Kazakhstan in 2010 intends to fully honor the country’s OSCE media freedom commitments.”

Several leaders from Kazakhstan’s political opposition as well as the media community have started to stage small protests in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Kazakhstan to Tighten Internet Law – June 26, 2009

Daily Times – Kazakhstan Adopts Tough Internet Law – June 25, 2009

Radio Liberty – Kazakhstan Adopts Controversial Internet Law – June 25, 2009