By Jenna Furman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

DHAKA, Bangladesh—Despite pleas from the United Nations and countries such as the United States, the Bangladesh Government has refused to grant assylum to recent Rohingya Muslim refugees escaping sectarian violence in Myanmar.

“It is not in our interest that new refugees come from Myanmar,” Dipu Moni, the Bangladeshi Foreign Minister, stated at the capital, Dhaka, on Tuesday.

Border guards turned back an estimated 1,500 Rohingya refugees over the weekend after further violence broke out between the minority Rohingya Muslims and the majority Rakhine Buddhists.

Dipu Moni also cited a strain on resources as a reason for turning back boats traveling across the Naf river to the Bangladeshi border. Bangladesh already houses around 30,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees in two camps in Cox’s Bazaar.

Human Rights Watch refugee program director Bill Frelick stated,“Bangladesh has an obligation under international law to keep its border open to people fleeing threats to their lives.”

The UN refugee agency reported that boats transporting women, children and some wounded have been turned back even within reach  of locals trying  to give assistance to the refugees. The agency indicated that the refugees are in need of food and medical care.

However, Bangladesh emphasized that the Myanmar and Bangladeshi governments are trying to “to ensure that developments in the Rakhine state do not have any trans-boundary spillover.”

Still, thousands of people have been displaced as a result of the fighting thought to have been sparked last month by the rape and murder of a Rakhine Buddhist woman followed by an attack on a bus carrying Rohingya Muslims, which left 10 people dead. Twenty-nine people are estimated to have died and many homes have been burnt to the ground in the western Rakhine region.

Myanmar President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency after rioting began a little over week ago in the town of Maung Daw which spread to the capital, Sittwe, and other nearby villages. The violence highlights the delicate nature of the relations between ethnic groups in Myanmar.

The Rohingya have been deemed a “stateless” group by both Myanmar and Bangladesh. Myanmar views the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and denies them citizenship while Bangladesh argues that the Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for centuries and should be recognized as citizens.

According to The United Nations, Myanmar’s 800,000 Rohingya Muslims are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.

For further information, please see:

NY Daily News – Violence Highlights Myanmar’s Sectarian Tension –  16 June 2012

Aljazeera – Bangladesh ‘Turns Back’ Myanmar Refugees – 15 June 2012

BBC News – UN Urges Bangladesh to Take in People Fleeing Burma Violence – 15 June 2012

Los Angeles Times – Bangladesh Rebuffs Pleas to Admit People Fleeing Myanmar Violence – 13 June 2012

By Jenna Furman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India —The trial of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar for the murders of their fourteen-year-old daughter, Aarushi Talwar, and their domestic helper, Hemraj, began Friday in the Ghaziabad Court after the Supreme Court dismissed the Talwar’s review plea to escape the standing trial.

The Talwars are charged with the May 16, 2008 murders of Aarushi and Hemraj. The couple is also charged with destruction of evidence. Rajesh Talwar is charged with misleading investigators in the double-homicide case.

The Court began hearing testimony of the prosecution’s witnesses on Friday. The couple continues to claim their innocence as to all charges against them.

The Talwars live in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, outside New Delhi, where Rajesh Talwar works as a dentist. Their daughter’s body was found in her bedroom at their home on May 16, 2008, and the battered body of Hemraj was found the next day on the terrace of the home. Both were found with their throats slit and other similar injuries.

However, there is no hard evidence linking the Talwars to the murders. The Central Bureau of Investigation, India’s federal police service, states that the circumstantial evidence suggests that Aarushi’s parents were involved in the murders. The murder weapon has yet to be recovered but the CBI believes the fatal injuries to the neck were made with surgical precision and thus, implicate the Talwars in the crimes. A golf stick recovered at the crime scene also inflicted identical injuries on the two victims.

The Talwars have called for re-investigation of the case because there were lapses present in the initial investigation of the case. They have stated that they believe they are being blamed for the murders because the CBI could not find evidence to link the real perpetrators to the murders.

The police and government investigators are accused of making successive failed inquiries into the double-murder four years ago and then pursuing the Talwars as the culprits to cover their failed investigative attempts.

Much of the forensic evidence in the home was either destroyed by the police themselves or by the media who were allowed full access to the crime scene. Postmortem evaluations were also deemed inconclusive. Additionally, police inquiries have contradicted each other in regards to key elements of the murders. The case has brought to the fore Indian concerns over the efficiency of their police and the criminal justice system.

While Rajesh is on bail for the crimes, on Thursday, June 7, the Supreme Court rejected Nupur Talwar’s petition for bail. She is held in Dasna jail, Ghaziabad. The Court stated that they were not “inclined to interfere in the trial court’s order.”

The couple stated that despite the Supreme Court’s denial of their review petition they continue to believe that “justice will one day prevail.”

For further information, please see:

Hindu – Talwars’ Plea Rejected, but Couple Unbowed – 8 June 2012

International Business Times – Aarushi-Hemraj Double Murder Case: Talwars’ Trial Begins  – 8 June 2012

BBC News – India Aarushi Talwar Murder Trial Begins – 4 June 2012

The Guardian – India’s Middle-Class Murder Trial Stokes Concerns About Changing Values – 11 May 2012

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar – The United Nations today declared its intent to initiate a reallocation of its staff in western Myanmar.  After yesterday’s clashes between Muslims and Buddhists left at least 8 people dead and 17 wounded, the Myanmar Government declared a state of emergency in its western Rhakin State, which borders Bangladesh.  After taking office and implementing democratic reforms last year, President Thein Sein pled for this “endless anarchic vengeance” to cease.

On June 3 a group of Buddhists, in an alleged vigilante effort, attacked a bus near Taunggoke killing nine Muslims.  Tuganggoke is in the western state of Rakhine, home to Myanmar’s largest concentration of Muslims.  The Myanmar police reassured the public that “[a]n investigation [was] underway[,]” but were not able to provide “any further details.”

A Taunggoke resident, Kyaw Min, believes the rape and death of a Buddhist woman by several men sparked the Buddhists’ anger.  However, there has been no confirmation on whether a connection existed between the men on the bus and the Buddhist woman’s death several weeks prior.

Reports from U.N. workers suggest that the continuing unrest has made it difficult for United Nations personnel to operate in the region. Ashok Nigam, a Yangon-based U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator, stated that the U.N. was temporarily relocating 44 of its 150 personnel in the Rakhine state on a voluntary basis for safety reasons.

The conflict among the villages in Rakhine has left many wounded and 500 homes burned.  “We have not had any sleep for the last five days,” said Ma Ohn May, a shop owner in the nearby town of Sittwe.

In a televised address, President Sein urged, “If we put racial and religious issues at the forefront, if we put the never-ending hatred, desire for revenge and anarchic actions at the forefront, and if we continue to retaliate and terrorise and kill each other, there’s a danger that [the troubles] could multiply and move beyond Arakan (former Rakhine).”

 

For further information, please see:

CNN News – U.N. withdrawing staff from scene of unrest in western Myanmar – 11 June 2012

NPR News – Sectarian Strife Rips Through Myanmar Town – 11 June 2012

New York Times – Crisis in Myanmar Over Buddhist-Muslim Clash – 10 June 2012

The Guardian – Burma clashes could put transition to democracy at risk, president says – 10 June 2012

By Jenna Furman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China — After fourteen months, Tibetan self-immolations continue in protest of Chinese policies and restrictions aimed to repress a Tibetan movement for political and cultural autonomy.

Last week, two Tibetan men set themselves on fire in front of the main temple in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. One of the men reportedly died from his injuries. The fact that the self-immolations were the first to occur in the heavily guarded Tibetan capital demonstrates the growing strength and force of Tibetan protests against Chinese rule.

In response to these latest self-immolations, the Chinese Government aired a documentary stating that those who self-immolated were terrorists, criminals, or mentally ill.

Tibetan activists not only protest Chinese rule, but also call for the return of their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. The Chinese Government has deemed the Dalai Lama a separatist and accuse him of inciting the Tibetan self-immolations. The Dalai Lama, in turn, blames the Chinese Government for the self-immolations and states that China’s “cultural genocide” against Tibetans and their lifestyle has led to desperation among Tibetans to have their voices heard.

In a separate incident, a 33-year-old Tibetan mother, Rechok, set herself on fire last Thursday outside of a Buddhist monastery in a small town in Aba county, located in the adjacent province of Sichuan. She died shortly thereafter. Sichuan has been the scene of repeated self-immolations throughout the past year.

Rechok’s self-immolation was the 35^th Tibetan self-immolation to occur since March of 2011 and the fourth to occur in the town of Zhongrangtang, also known as Barma in Tibetan. At least 27 self-immolators have died to advocate Tibetan political and cultural freedom.

Following last week’s self-immolations, Chinese authorities detained an estimated 600 Tibetan residents and pilgrims. Reports indicate that even witnesses suspected of recording the self-immolations were detained by authorities. Those protestors who were not residents of Tibet were expelled.

Additionally, the Chinese Government has passed new legislation which allows police to act without reporting to higher authorities in emergency situations and allows for severe sentences for people who allegedly spread rumors. This new legislation reflects on the Chinese Government’s fear of unrest during a month-long Buddhist festival that began last week.

The Chinese Government claims the legislation is intended to promote stability in the Tibetan region amidst a wave unrest marked by increasing numbers of self-immolations.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Detentions Reported in Tibet Capital After Immolations – 31 May 2012

The Guardian – Tibetan Woman Dies After Setting Herself on Fire – 31 May 2012

Reuters – “Hundreds Detained” in Tibet After Self-Immolations – 31 May 2012

The Washington Post – Groups say Tibetan Woman Latest in Recent Wave of Self-Immolations to Protest Chinese Rule – 30 May 2012

The Times of India – Lhasa Burning: 2 Tibetans set Themselves Ablaze – 29 May 2012

 

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – On Friday, May 25, 2012, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei, responded to the U.S. State Department’s human rights report on China as being “baseless, biased and completely wrong.”

China’s response came a day after the U.S. State department released its 36^th report on the state of rights in foreign countries.  The 142-page report on China accused it of being “an authoritarian state” with its human rights situation in perpetual “deterioration.”  Moreover, the report alleged that “[r]epression and coercion, particularly against organisations and individuals involved in rights advocacy and public interest issues, were routine.”

Its release came days after activist, Chen Guangcheng, migrated to the U.S. on a student visa. Prior to his arrival, Mr. Guangcheng suffered a 19 month house arrest in eastern China before escaping and finding refuge in Beijing’s U.S. Embassy.  The report described Mr. Guangcheng’s condition, which included “severe” beatings and denial of dental care, during his house arrest.  Furthermore, activists visiting Chen were reportedly “assaulted, detained, forcibly removed or otherwise abused.”

In response, China, through its Information Office of the State Council, released a report entitled, “Human Rights Record of the United States in 2011.”  Identifying the report as the “true human rights situation in the U.S.,” it purported to examine six categories of human rights in the United States: “life, property and personal security; civil and political rights; economic, social and cultural rights; racial discrimination; the rights of women and children; and U.S. violations of human rights in other countries.”

China’s report, now in its thirteenth year of publication, cited arrests and accusations of police brutality from participants in the Occupy Wall Street protests.  It also addressed the U.S. Patriot Act and Homeland Security Act’s “fairly strict restrictions” on internet activity.  According to the report, such legislation grants government interference-monitoring and blocking power-in regards to any internet content “harmful to national security.”

China accused Washington of being hypocritical to lecture other countries while also battling similar problems of its own.  The report called on the U.S. to “stop using double standards for human rights” to “tarnish other countries’ image” and “promote hegemony.”

Mr. Hong urged the U.S. to “take a good look at itself and put an end to its wrong doing and wrong thinking on human right.”

Other foreign countries criticized in the State Department’s report include Iran, Vietnam, Bahrain, North Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Myanmar.

For more information, please see: 

China Daily — China Reports on U.S. Human rights Record — 29 May 2012

CNN – China hits back on U.S. human right – 26 May 2012

Hindustantimes – US and China Spar Over Human Rights – 29 May 2012

Huffington Post – China Slams U.S. Human Rights Report – 25 May 2012

Voice of America – China Rejects US Report on Human Rights – 25 May 2012