By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PAKISTAN – In the northwest Tribal Area of Bajaur, Pakistani journalists receive threats and are subjected to violence amidst fighting between the Taliban and government forces.  A fatwa was issued against two journalists and a grenade was thrown at a press club.

The fatwa was issued by the Taliban to two journalists, Anwarullah Khan and Irfanullah Jan, accused of acting as “agents of the west.”  The fatwa was broadcasted over the radio.

The Khar Press Club building was damaged by a grenade on December 13.

Reporters Without Borders urges both the Taliban and security forces to stop the violence.  “The Tribal Areas are being steadily emptied of their journalists because of the threats and violence against them,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The Taliban groups and security forces are entirely to blame for this exodus as they display a disgraceful disregard for media freedom and safety.”

The Press Feedom Organisation also stated, “The Tribal Areas, especially Bajaur, are at the centre major international conflict but the press is in the process of disappearing there. We appeal to all parties to stop targeting journalists, who are neither the West’s agents nor Taliban supporters but just media professionals and nothing else.”

Many journalists in the Tribal Area of Bajaur have fled or are in hiding.  Only a handful continue to work.

One journalists anonymously said, “I cannot leave my home for fear of being kidnapped or killed. I am cut off from the world.”

In addition, these journalists are forced to censor themselves.

“I report less than half of what happens in my area,” a Pakistani journalist said. “We have to censor ourselves if we want to stay alive.”

Seven journalists have been killed due to the nature of their reporting, making Pakistan second to Iraq for killings related to the media.

For more information, please see:

Committee to Protect Journalists – Two Journalists Wounded in Pakistan Shooting – 14 November 2008

Newsweek – Pakistan Journalists Come Under Attack – 4 November 2008

Reporters Without Borders – Fatwa and Violence Against Journalists in Tribal Areas – 29 December 2008

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PAKISTAN – Twenty year old reporter Javid Lehri, from Balochistan, a southwest province in Pakistan, revealed that he was tortured while imprisoned in Quetta.  Lehri was a reporter for Azadi, a Urdu language local daily newspaper.

Lehri disappeared on November 29, 2007, taken by military intelligence agents from his dormitory in the Kuzdar district.  There was no explanation for his forced disappearance.  Some claim it was for his bold reporting in criticizing the government.  Lehri was imprisoned and released nine months later in August 2008.

In an interview with the Daily Times, he revealed that in the first three days of imprisonment, Lehri was hung up by his feet and beaten.  He was then chained and tortured.  “The torture was so unbearable that I prayed for death,” he said “I hoped I could find some object in my cell that I could use to commit suicide with.”

He was then asked the meaning behind Azadi and what “liberation” they were fighting for.  Lehri said in response, “I told them that I only worked for the newspaper as a correspondent and I could not change either its name or its editorial line.  They wouldn’t believe me and continued to beat me.”

After his release this past August, Lehri suffers from depression, insomnia and digestive problems.  He also states that he receives threats.  He said, “I am still receiving threatening phone calls on my mobile phone warning me against talking about what happened to me in prison.”

Human rights groups such as the Worldwide Press Freedom Organization, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters Without Borders urge the government to investigate these cases involving journalists.  “The conflict between government forces and separatist movements ravaging Baluchistan has been devastating for the region’s journalists,” said the Worldwide Press Freedom Organization.  “This arrest was in fact illegal and constitutes an offense against the rule of law.  The terrifying account given by Javid Lehri, who was kidnapped and tortured for political reasons, should prompt the central government to open an early investigation so that those guilty of these vicious acts can be punished.”

In Baluchistan, there is tension between ethnic Baluch militant groups and government forces.  As a result, journalists are often caught in the middle of the violence.

For more information, please see:

Committee to Protect Journalists – Three Reporters Missing in Pakistan’s restive Baluchistan Province – 6 March 2008

Daily Times – 3rd Journalist From Same Newspaper ‘Disappears’ – 4 March 2008

Reporters Without Borders – Balochi Journalist Reveals He Was Tortured in Prison – 24 December 2008

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – On December 31st, the Cambodian Supreme Court decided to retry two alleged killers of a prominent labor leader due to unclear evidence. The Cambodian Supreme Court reversed the convictions of a 20-year sentence upheld by the Appeals Court.

In January 2004, Chea Vichea, the leader of Cambodia’s largest labor union was shot to death in broad daylight at a Phnom Penh newsstand. Vichea is a vocal critic of the Prime Minister, Hun Sen’s government and the murder was suspected to be politically motivated.

Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were arrested and convicted of murder just days after the killing. They were each sentenced to 20 years in prison.  International and local human rights groups criticized the speedy trial and conviction.

Supreme Court judge, Dith Monty, dismissed the conviction upheld by the Appeals Court in 2007. Dith Monty said, “The case is a criminal one which requires more investigation,” adding in order to ensure Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun’s rights were not violated, the Court had “decided to release the two suspects provisionally, but under watch of the Court.” The judge also ordered the Appeals Court to retry the case.

The two men denied any involvement in the killing. They told the Court, which was filled with diplomats, human rights activists, and journalists, that they have been framed by the police.  Heng Pov, the former chief of police in Phnom Penh and led investigator of the murder of Vichea also believed Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun’s innocence.

The UN human rights officials, the United States and relatives of the two men welcomed the Court’s decision. The Supreme Court’s decision “was greeted with a warm round of applause by the public, including the families of the defendants, as it truly deserves,” the UN rights office said in a statement. Additionally, the UN office “hopes that this decision will set the standards for the future handling of all criminal cases by Cambodian courts.”

In a statement, the United States embassy’s charge d’affaires Piper Campbell urged the Appeal Court to “take up the case expeditiously and finally resolve this matter in a way consistent with Cambodian law and international standards of due process.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – Cambodian Court Releases Alleged Killers of Union Boss – 31 December 2008

HRW – Cambodia: Supreme Court Tested by Labor Leader’s Murder Case – 27 December 2008

Phnom Penh Post – Convicted Killers of Labor Leader Released Pending Retrial – 31 December 2008

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGONG, Myanmar – On December 30th, the Burmese government arrested nine peaceful protestors calling for the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Tun Tun Win, Tun Tun Linn, Pyae Pyae Aung, Win Myint Maung, Min Thein, Kaung Htet Hlaing, Phyo Wai,Yeni Soe and Htet Htet Oo Wai are members of the opposition party’s youth wing, the National League for Democracy (NLD).

According to a witness the protesters were wearing white Jasmine flowers symbolic of their “White Jasmine Campaign” to free Burma’s political prisoners. The arrest worried many locals as they do not know where the protestors had been taken.

Witnesses say that the protesters were marching down the former parliament building in the capital, carrying signs and banners for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi before they were violently beaten and “dragged” into a truck by the police.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest in Rangoon city for the past 13 years. The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990 elections, however, the current military government of Burma, which has ruled the country since 1962 has never allowed any other party to take power.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma issued a statement condemning the arrest of the youth members and calls for their release. According to the Association, the current Burmese government has arrested more than 200 political prisoners in November 2008 alone.

Burma’s ruling military government, the People’s Power Force, has recently drafted a constitution paving the way for what it says will be democratic elections in 2010, but many critics are skeptical of the government.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Burma Activists Arrested at March – 30 December 2008

Global Voice – Myanmar: Nine Activists Arrested During Peaceful March – 30 December 2008

VOA – Burma Arrests 9 Pro-Democracy Protesters – 30 December 2008