By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Yesterday, Cambodia’s UN-backed tribunal, responsible for prosecuting the members of the Khmer Rouge for crimes against humanity, released a statement that 80-year-old leng Thirith, the regime’s “first lady,” was unfit to stand trial.

“There is not prospect that the accused can be tried in the foreseeable future,” the tribunal stated.

Furthermore, Neth Pheaktra, a spokesman for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC), said that leng Thirith would be released today if prosecutors did not appeal the court’s decision.

According to Reuters, under the Khmer Rouge’s rule from 1975 to 1979, approximately 1.7 to 2.2 million people, nearly a quarter of the population, died from execution, torture, disease, and/or starvation as a part of the regime’s attempt to create a peasant utopia.

leng Thirith, Khmer Rouge’s highest-ranking woman, acted as its minister of social affairs, and the tribunal accused her of participation in the “planning, direction, co-coordination and order of widespread purges.”  Leng Thirith was formerly charged with crimes against humanity, genocide, homicide, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, torture, and religious persecution.

However, according to Al jazeera, leng Thirith responded that the charges against her were “100 per cent false” and that she always worked for the benefit of the people.

According to CNN, in November of last year, proceedings against leng Thirith stopped after the ECCC decided that she suffered from dementia.

After pursuing additional medical assessments, the tribunal issued yesterday’s statement confirming that leng Thirith is suffering from a “progressive, degenerative illness (likely Alzheimer’s disease) and remains unfit to stand trial.”

The tribunal further confirmed that “all treatment options have [] been exhausted and that the accused’s cognitive impairment is likely irreversible.”  The court’s conclusion disappointed many of the regime’s surviving victims.

“I cannot oppose the court, but I am not happy with its decision,” shared Bou Meng, one of few Cambodians to survive incarceration in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Slen jail (S-21), with Agence France-Presse.  “The decision is mocking the souls of the dead, including my wife and children,” continued Mr. Meng whose wife and children never escapted S-21 alive.

The court has convicted S-21’s prison chief, Kaing Guek Eav, who oversaw the deaths of approximately 14,000 people.  The tribunal sentenced Kaing Guek Eav to 35 years in prison but he may serve only 19 years.

However, Ieng Sary, the Khmer Rouge’s former foreign minister, Nuon Chea, also known as Bother No. 2, and the regime’s former head of state, Khieu Samphan, are still on trial.  Moreover, prosecutors claimed that there is adequate evidence to charge a number other former members.

For further information, please see:

Al jazeera – Cambodia to free Khmer Rouge ‘first law’ – 13 Sept. 2012

CNN – ‘First lady’ of Khmer Rouge rules unfit for genocide trial – 13 Sept. 2012

Independent – ‘First lady’ of Khmer Rouge is judged ‘unfit to stand trial’ – 13 Sept. 2012

Reuters – ‘First lady’ of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge mentally unfit, to be freed – 13 Sept. 2012

 

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

ASTANA, Kazakhstan – Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report on Monday, September 10, accusing oil companies in Kazakhstan and the Kazakh government of abusing workers and violating their labor rights.  The report was published in response to a violent clash between oil workers and state police in the western Kazakh town of Zhanaozen.

The oil workers were protesting unfair labor practices by the oil companies that employed them when police were ordered to come in and break up the peace demonstrations.  Twelve of the oil workers were killed when police opened fire on the protestors.  Three other workers died due to injuries sustained from the violent clash with police, and an additional 100 civilians were injured during the ordeal.

The HRW report featured interviews from the oil workers who highlighted a myriad of labor violations and abuses by the oil companies and the Kazakh government.  The workers complained about poor working conditions, inadequate pay and a general irresponsiveness exhibited by management when confronted with complaints.  The complaints were also allegedly met with threats and harassment by management.  Workers attempted to unionize but were their efforts were met with mass dismissals after carrying out peaceful demonstrations against the oil companies.  Oil companies dismissed approximately 2000 workers because of their peaceful demonstrations.

Workers interviewed also alleged that the police forces sent to break up the peaceful demonstrations were the same police forces used to stop political dissent in the region.  The tactics that the police forces used include intimidation, harassment and imprisoning workers who attempt to stand up for their labor rights.  Some workers who were sent to jail were also fined by the courts in the region after judges declared the strikes illegal.

Since last year’s violent clash with police, Kazakhstan has amended their labor codes to reflect modern international labor standards for workers’ rights.  Criminal action has also been brought against several of the police involved in the shootings of the peaceful demonstrators.  Five police officers have received prison terms and other criminal cases are still pending.

Western energy companies have invested heavily in this region’s oil fields.  Countries like the United States have strong interests in Kazakh oil since this alternative oil source can help alleviate their dependence on oil from the Middle East.  The three companies being accused of abusing the rights of the workers are OzenMunayGaz, Karazhanbasmunay and ERSAI Caspian Contractor.  Italian oil giant is a part owner in ERSAI Caspian Contractor.  Western companies have dismissed the unrest in the region, blaming the poor handling of the labor dispute as characteristic of the inadequate management of older Soviet-style businesses.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Are workers protected in Kazakhstan? – 12 September 2012

Eurasianet – Kazakhstan: Watchdog Report Challenges Astana’s Version of Zhanaozen Violence – 10 September 2012

Human Rights Watch – Striking Oil, Striking Workers – 10 September 2012

New York Times – Kazakhstan Is Accused of Abusing Oil Workers – 10 September 2012

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India – Today, authorities in India released anti-corruption cartoonist Aseem Trivedi from Mumbai’s main jail.

Authorities arrested Mr. Trivedi on Sunday for his seditious cartoons series, one of which depicted the Parliament building as a lavatory buzzing with flies.  One of Mr. Trivedi’s cartoons further illustrated three lions, India’s national symbol, replaced with three wolves whose teeth dripped blood with “Long live corruption” written underneath.  Another cartoon portrayed the Parliament as an enlarged toilet bowl.

According to CNN, Mr. Trivedi initially refused bail because he wanted the charges dropped.  However, after authorities reassured him that his case would be reviewed, Mr. Trivedi changed his mind and accepted a bail grant of 5,000 Indian rupees ($90) from Mumbai’s High Court.

“Can we speak freely in this country or not? Or are we still living under the British rule?” inquired Mr. Trivedi after his release and amongst hundreds of free speech activists.  “This fight will continue until 124A is repealed,” continued Mr. Trivedi.

In 1860, the British colonial government introduced section 124A of the Indian Penal Code.  Section 124A prohibits “words either spoken or written, or by signs or visible representation” to incite “hatred or contempt, or excited or attempts to excite disaffection,” against the government.

In 1962, the Indian Supreme Court reviewed section 124A’s constitutionality and ruled in favor of its validity.  However, its application is limited to acts “involving intention or tendency to create disorder, or disturbance of law and order, or incitement to violence.”

Mr. Trivedi’s arrest was one of many against free speech activists.  Tuesday, India Against Corruption (IAC) member Arvind Kejiwal threatened to sit outside the jail holding Mr. Trivedi if the charges against him were not dropped.

Last month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh temporarily blocked access to a number of Twitter accounts, including those of which impersonated the Prime Minister.  Furthermore, the government chastised articles by foreign media censuring Mr. Singh’s record against corruption.

Moreover, in April, authorities arrested Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra in Kolkata for purportedly sharing via email cartoons disparaging the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee.  Authorities later released Mr. Mahapatra.

According the BBC, the government rebutted that they are in favor in speech but “there is a thin line between that and insulting national symbol.”

For further information, please see:

BBC – India cartoonist Aseem Trivedi freed from jail on bail – 12 Sept. 2012

CNN – Indian cartoonists facing sedition charges freed on bail – 12 Sept. 2012

Hindustan Times – Aseem Trivedi freed; Advani says current time worse than emergency – 12 Sept. 2012

Reuters – Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi freed on bail – 12 Sept. 2012

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MALE, Rep. of Maldives – Amnesty International, the London based human rights watchdog, released a report on Wednesday, September 5, exposing potential human rights violations in the Maldives.

The report included interviews from survivors of the alleged human rights violations and their families.  Those interviewed include lawyers, activists, medical professionals, security officials and senior politicians.  The interviewees stated that military troops and police arbitrarily detained innocent citizens with unnecessary force and tortured them.

One incidence of a human rights violation involves a premarital sex affair between a 16 year old girl and a 29 year old man.  The Maldives has a history of handing down corporal punishment to women for having extramarital or premarital affairs.  The 16 year old was found engaging in sexual activity with the 29 year old man when the girl’s family went out searching for her when she was missing.  Soon after the 16 year old girl’s family filed a complaint with the local police department regarding her indiscretions.

Under Islamic religious law, girls between the ages of 13 to 18 are forbidden from having premarital sex.  The 16 year old girl was sentenced to a public flogging with a cane when she turned 18.  The public floggings were reportedly handed down by local village chiefs who act as judges.  Courts in the Maldives may not be independent of the Islamic government so the influence of the religious government could be unavoidable.  The 29 year old man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his crime.

The rising violence by military troops and police may be in response to peaceful public protests regarding past human rights violations.  Protestors were reportedly beaten, pepper sprayed, and some women were perhaps sexually harassed during the military and police crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations.  The public protests lead to the country’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, to step down from office.  Nasheed has alleged that a police mutiny and a military coup backed by Islamic extremists forced him to step down.

Nasheed’s replacement, Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik, is in support of the military and police actions.  Specifically, it was alleged by Asian Centre for Human Rights that Manik’s support of the military and police actions was part of a broader plan to unite Islamic fundamentalists in the upcoming 2013 election.  Despite widespread criticism by international human rights advocates, the case of the 16 year old girl’s sentence to a public flogging with a cane may not be suspended due to the new direction of the Maldives government under Manik.

 

For further information, please see:

New Age Bangladesh – Abuses rise in Maldives under new regime: Amnesty – 6 September 2012

BBC – Amnesty accuses Maldives government of beatings and torture – 5 September 2012

International Business Times – Maldives: 16-Year-Old Sentenced to 100 lashes for Pre-Marital Sex – 4 September 2012

Japan Today – 16-year-old Maldives girl faces public flogging for pre-marital sex – 4 September 2012

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – New York based China Labour Watch (CLW) uncovered evidence of potential labor abuses in Chinese factories owned by South Korean electronics giant Samsung.

The factories under investigation are located in Huizhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Shandong, and Suzhou.  Some of the abuses cited were long working hours in poor conditions and the hiring of children under the age of 18.  The CLW’s report cited that workers worked over 100 hours of overtime per month, stood for 12 or more hours per day, were subjected to potentially unsafe working environments, and were verbally and physically abused.

Workers were allegedly not allowed to use holidays or sick days.  Some workers reported that they went to work sick because management would dock three days of pay if they attempted to use a sick day.  Others reported that they had gone 21 days without a single day off.  During the peak seasons, workers reported that they would work at least four or five hours of overtime per day on top of their regular work schedules.  One plant under investigation reportedly has a base salary of $250 per month for factory workers.

Management has also been accused of manufacturing fake identification cards for underage workers for them to appear older so they could work at the factories.  The underage workers with forged IDs perform the same tasks as adults on assembly lines with no safeguards or special workplace considerations for children.  It is legal in China to employ workers between the ages of 16-18, however, workers as young as 14 and 15 were allegedly seen on the assembly lines of Samsung’s factories.  These young workers are subjected to the same overtime schedules as adults.  Adults can work two to three shifts amounting to 12 or more hours per day.

Labor abuses perpetrated by technology firms have recently come to light since the slew of suicides at a factory owned by Foxconn, a major electronics supplier for Apple.  Foxconn has recently responded to the tragic suicides by cutting working hours and improving factory safety for workers.  China Labour Watch has also been investigating factories that make products for tech firms including HP, Dell, and Microsoft.

Samsung has denied all allegations of labor abuses at their Chinese factories.  Since the allegations of labor abuse, Samsung has broadened inspections on suppliers such as the Chinese factories that are currently under fire for potential labor abuses.  Spokespersons for Samsung have communicated that they perform frequent checks of their factories.  The company also has a zero tolerance policy in regards to child labor, and they were allegedly unaware of the underage hiring practices in their factories.  They have yet to agree to investigations by independent third parties.

For further information, please see:

BBC – Samsung faces fresh claims on Chinese factory workers – 6 September 2012

Bloomberg – Samsung Abuses Workers at Its China Plants, Labor Group Says – 5 September 2012

The Hankyoreh – Samsung found abusing underage workers in China – 5 September 2012

ShanghaiDaily – Samsung responds to under-age claims – 4 September 2012