Hungary Faces Mounting Criticism Over New Media Law

By David Sophrin
Senior Desk Officer, Europe

BUDAPEST, Hungary – A recently adopted Hungarian federal law that establishes certain standards among the nation’s journalists has begun to face mounting criticism from a number of political forces both domestically and abroad.

The new law “requires the media to meet vague standards of ‘balance’, ‘human dignity’, and ‘mortality’.”  Additionally, the statute authorizes the Fidesz political party to “force journalists to disclose their sources.”

Opposition to the statute has steadily grown since its passage this past December over fears that the law will severely curb freedoms of the press both in Hungary and abroad.  Hungarian civil rights leaders have accused this law of being a political ploy by the Fidesz party to increase their control over the media.  A number of fellow European Union members have also publicly voiced their opposition to it.

The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, noted that the law constituted the “establishment of a politically unbalanced regulatory machinery with disproportionate powers and lack of full judicial supervision.”  Soon after its passage the European Commission determined that the media law was not in line with wider European legal norms.  These criticisms have largely dominated Hungary’s current reign as the EU President.

In response to the criticism, notably from the EU, Hungary has announced that it will propose changes in the future to the media law.  It has also announced it will be holding meetings with the European Commission this week to formulate those amendments.

COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN – Global Journalist: Hungary faces free-press criticism – February 11, 2011

AP – Hungary offers changes to media law to EU, a major step in dispute overshadowing presidency – February 10, 2011

THE BUDAPEST TIMES – Media law talks in Brussels Monday – February 8, 2011

BBC – EU-Hungary row over media law cools down – February 2, 2011

FINANCIAL TIMES – Hungary media law falls foul of Brussels – January 11, 2011

Update: German Sues Macedonia for Alleged Role In CIA Rendition

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SKOPJE, Macedonia – A German citizen who has alleged he was abducted and tortured as part of the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program began a legal battle against Macedonia last week.  Khaled el-Masri claims he was abducted in 2003 from Macedonia, and then transferred to a secret prison in Afghanistan where he says he was interrogated and tortured.  El-Masri is seeking official recognition of his ordeal from the Macedonian government.

According to el-Masri, he was vacationing in Macedonia in December 2003 when his passport was confiscated at the border.  He says that he was detained for 27 days in Macedonia before being flown to a secret CIA prison in Afghanistan where he was interrogated and abused for five months before being abandoned on a road in Albania.

The current court case in Macedonia is estimated to take up to two years. El-Masri is seeking $69,000 in compensation and an apology from the Macedonian government on the grounds that Macedonia sanctioned his abduction and then blocked investigations into the matter.  One of el-Masri’s lawyers in Macedonia said, “[t]o start with, it would be good if Macedonia at least apologizes to el-Masri.”

In October, the European Court of Human Rights communicated a case to the Macedonia government, asking it to answer questions regarding el-Masri’s abduction. That was the first time the court asked any European countries to answer for its alleged role in the CIA-led rendition program.

Macedonian officials have denied any involvement in el-Masri’s abduction.  However, there is recent evidence that some officials in Macedonia were dedicated to keeping the el-Masri case out of the news and the court.  In a diplomatic cable from the US embassy in Skopje released by Wikileaks, then-Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski is cited as promising the US ambassador that he would continue to stonewall local press requests to discuss the el-Masri case.

The current case in Macedonia is the latest development in a string of failed attempts to hold someone accountable for what was done to el-Masri. El-Masri filed suit in the US in 2007, but the case was never heard in court due to the risk of revealing “state secrets.”  In 2007, Germany issued arrest warrants for 13 CIA operatives suspected of involvement in the el-Masri abduction, but Germany has since dropped pursuing the matter, allegedly because of pressure and thinly-veiled threats from the US.  In 2009, a public prosecutor in Macedonia ruled there was not enough evidence to pursue a criminal trial in the matter.

According to sources of the Washington Post and NBC News at the time, el-Masri’s abduction was a case of mistaken identity, and the CIA agents who allegedly abducted el-Masri thought he was an al-Qaeda affiliated man with a similar last name of al-Masri.  A former CIA official told the Washington Post that the CIA analyst who pushed for el-Masri’s rendition “didn’t really know. She just had a hunch.”  According to sources of the Washington Post and NBC News, the CIA realized its mistake after holding el-Masri for two months, but continued to hold him for three additional months until then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice twice ordered him released.

According to a report released on Wednesday by the Associated Press, the lawyer who signed off on the el-Masri rendition was formally reprimanded by the CIA, and she is currently the advisor to the Near East division.  The CIA analyst who pushed for el-Masri’s rendition never received a formal reprimand from the CIA.  She has since received a promotion, and currently runs the CIA unit that leads U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

For more information, please see:

AP – AP IMPACT: At CIA, grave mistakes, then promotions – 9 Feb. 2011

TPM LIVEWIRE – CIA Officials Involved in Abuse and Wrongful Detention Rarely Reprimanded, Sometimes Promoted – 9 Feb. 2011

AP – German sues over alleged CIA kidnapping, torture – 2 Feb. 2011

AFP – Macedonian hearing over rendition flights opens – 2 Feb. 2011

SPIEGAL ONLINE – Cables Show Germany Caved to Pressure from Washington – 9 Dec. 2010

HARPER’S MAGAZINE – The El-Masri Cable – 29 Nov. 2010

WASHINGTON POST – Wrongful Imprisonment: Anatomy of a CIA Mistake — 4 Dec. 2005

NBC News – CIA accused of detaining innocent man – 21 April 2005

Blind Chinese Lawyer/Activist Jailed and Beaten

David L. Chaplin
Impunity Watch, Asia

BEIJING, China – A high-profile, blind Chinese grassroots lawyer and his wife were severely beaten after secretly filming a video documenting their house arrest.

“For five months the blind activist says he has lived under this 24 hour surveillance”

Chen, his wife and child the day he was released after years in prison
Chen, his wife and child the day he was released after years in prison

The Telegraph cites Human Rights Defenders, an NGO, as saying that an “inside source” had confirmed to them that Chen and his wife had been beaten senseless in punishment after authorities learned of the video’s existence. “They cannot move from bed, and they have not been allowed to go to hospital,” said a statement.

The blind, self-taught lawyer was sent to prison in 2006 after gaining international attention when he publicized claims that Chinese officials in the eastern province of Shandong were enforcing late-term abortions and sterilizations – in an attempt to control population growth.

The video is the first word from Chen Guangcheng since he was released from prison in September.

Bob Fu, president of the China Aid Association, a Christian rights group, said “somebody has to fight for justice. He was very direct. One thing that really surprised me was his spirit of boldness, bravery, defiance to the regime itself.”

“Soft detention” is a common tactic used by the Chinese government to intimidate activists, with some essentially put under house arrest for years.

“I have come out of a small jail and walked into a bigger jail,” Chen says in the video, wearing black sunglasses and a black jacket inside his modest home. He says his house is watched by 22 people.

In the video, Chen says authorities have created a security zone that includes blocks on cell phone calls and intimidation of his family and neighbors.

Bob Fu of China Aid, which has offices in Texas, made an impassioned plea for Chen’s release. “Chen Guangcheng is a hero to many people around the world, a peaceful advocate for human rights and a defender of society’s most vulnerable, its women and children,” he said. The video is the first news of the Chinese advocate’s whereabouts in five months.

Chen says. “I cannot take even half a step out of my house. My wife is not allowed to leave either. Only my mother can go out and buy food to keep us going,” said the activist, who used to offer legal advice to local people.

“I can be jailed again at any time, it is very easy. They can say I am a criminal and just lock me up.”

Mr. Chen said he could be beaten at any time and that any such action would be ignored by the authorities. “They are trying to provoke me, if I dare to fight back they can accuse me of assault and jail me,” he said.

China Aid said it was releasing the video to show the persecution Mr. Chen is facing at the hands of the government.

“Mr. Chen is living in miserable conditions, cut off from all outside contact, and detained illegally in his home,” said Bob Fu, China Aid’s founder and president.

“We cannot believe that China is serious about the rule of law when Chen Guangcheng and other rights advocates are jailed, disappeared, or harassed.”

Mr. Chen has been held ever since he completed a four-year prison term in September.

The government does not allow any challenge to its authority and keeps a tight rein on the media. Beijing censors newspapers and television and has also invested considerable resources in trying to control what Chinese people see and read on the internet.

For more information, please see:

Time –  Chinese Video of Detained Lawyer Released – 10 February 2011

The Huffington Post – Chen Guangcheng, Chinese Civil Rights Activist, Beaten Over Secretly Recording House Arrest (Video) – 10 February 2011

BBC – China activist Chen Guangcheng ‘beaten’ – 10 February 2011

Soldiers Suspected in Mass Rapes On Trial in DRC

Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

DRC soldiers in South Kivu 2009. (Photo Courtesy of AFP).
DRC soldiers in South Kivu 2009. (Photo Courtesy of AFP).

BARAKA, Democratic Republic of Congo – On Thursday, an army officer and ten of his soldiers went on trial for the mass rapes of over sixty women in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The alleged incident occurred on New Year’s Day 2011 in the remote village of Fizi which is located in the restive South Kivu state.  The military trial is the most recent test for the  “mobile courts” which are being used to promote justice and the rule of law in remote parts of DRC where crimes like rape often go unreported.

The eleven individuals charged in this case are all military personnel who were assigned to protect the villagers in Fizi. However, instead of providing protection, the soldiers are accused of preying on the villagers. Prosecutors claim that the group of soldiers led by Lieutenant Colonel Kibibi Mutware began to attack the villagers after one of the unit’s soldiers was lynch by a mob in the village. The lynching occurred because the soldier had shot and killed a villager in Fizi after a dispute broke out between the two men over a woman.  Along with the alleged rapes that occurred, another 26 people were physically injured in attacks. Lt. Col. Mutware claims the allegations are false and that the soldiers who committed these acts were disobeying orders.

Mass rapes are common in the eastern part of DRC, and the use of mobile gender courts as a mechanism to try suspects has been an effective way to maintain law and order in a volatile region. This particular trial is expected to last for 10 days.  The mobile court was set up in Baraka, a town close to Fizi. News outlets report that members of the Fizi community have walked as far as 20 miles to come and witness the first day of court proceedings.

The mobile gender courts have been operating since 2009, conducting about 10 trials per month. The trials have resulted in over 90 rape convictions. Additionally, the court officers have trained over 150 judicial police officers, 80 lawyers, and 30 magistrates. The courts are being sponsored by a number of agencies including the American Bar Association, the United Nations Mission in DRC, and Avocats Sans Frontieres (Lawyers Without Borders).

For more information, please see:

BBC — Soldiers on trial charged with DR Congo mass rapes – 10 February 2011

The Guardian — Congolese soldiers go on trial accused of raping more than 60 women – 10 February 2011

Reuters Africa – Congo Soldiers go on trial for mass rapes – 10 February 2011

Take Part — Mobile Court Tries Congo Soldiers for Mass Rape – 10 February 2011

Cambodia and Thailand Armies Shed Blood Over Hindu Temple

David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch, Asia

PHON PENH, Cambodia – Thai and Cambodian troops continue to fight over a disputed area surrounding a 900-year-old Hindu temple.

The 900-year-old Hindu temple of Preah Vihear on the Thai-Cambodian border
The 900-year-old Hindu temple of Preah Vihear on the Thai-Cambodian border

The International Court of Justice awarded it to Cambodia in 1962 but the ruling did not determine the ownership of the scrub next to the ruins, leaving considerable scope for disagreement

On Friday, there was intense two-hour fighting between the neighboring forces, which left soldiers and a villager killed. On Saturday, troops fought with rocket-propelled grenades and guns, prompting residents to flee the area.

Shelling and machine gunfire echoed around the contested area on Monday around the ancient Preah Vihear temple claimed by both Southeast Asian neighbors, witnesses said.

Although sporadic clashes in the area are not unusual, it is rare for the two sides to fight over consecutive days. A call for “maximum restraint” to cease the hostilities was announced by Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general.

At least eight people were killed in four days of cross-border violence, which forced thousands of families to flee on both sides of the frontier.

This has been considered the most deadly clash since Preah Vihear was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008, a move that sparked sporadic skirmishes between the neighbors.

The temple was damaged on Sunday by Thai artillery fire, according to Cambodia, which said one wing of the building had “collapsed” as a result.

Thai officials, however, dismissed Cambodia’s account as propaganda. The true extent of damage is unknown.

With Prime Minister Hun Sen accusing Thailand of “repeated acts of aggression”, the country urged the UN Security Council to intervene in the fighting.

Thailand played down the reports of fresh fighting, with a military source near the border describing the incident as a “misunderstanding”, involving only small arms fire.

On Sunday, Wayne Hay, an Al Jazeera correspondent at the Thai-Cambodia border, reported seeing artillery fire streaming across the night sky, as well as ambulances heading towards the disputed area.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn says occasional skirmishes were due to the unsecured nature of the border. He says it demonstrates a need to step up efforts under a memorandum of understanding aimed at resolving the territorial conflict peacefully.

“This is why we urge Cambodia to work with us more rapidly under the MOU to negotiate the clear demarcations so we can secure the borders much more effectively,” he said.

Hundreds of Thai nationalists with the People’s Alliance for Democracy, known as the Yellow Shirts, have been protesting near government offices for two weeks demanding they get tough with Cambodia.

Panthep Pourpongphan is a spokesman for the PAD, said “[t]his fighting, is kind of evidence, is quite clear evidence that this kind of MOU has so many problems that we need to stop it and [start] new negotiations with a new MOU,” Pourpongphan stated.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve a border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia gained momentum on Wednesday, with the two neighbors set to address the UN Security Council next week.

Thailand also raised the possibility of the first face-to-face talks between the two countries’ foreign ministers.

“This war will be resolved through the mechanism of the United Nations,” Hun Sen said in a speech in the Cambodian capital.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera –Thai-Cambodia clashes continue – 7 February 2011

Voice of America – Thailand, Cambodia Border Fighting Breaks Out Amid Tensions – 4 February 2011

Channel News Asia – Cambodia, Thailand to face UN over border dispute – 9 February