Crackdown On Opposition In Belarus Continues

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MINSK, Belarus – Following the crackdown after the December 2010 elections in Belarus, reported here, an EU human rights watchdog was recently expelled from Belarus.  Additionally, a local human rights organization’s office was raided by police and the director detained, in addition to police raids of several activists’ homes.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has maintained an office in Minsk since 1998 in order to provide assistance to the government in Belarus in developing civil society and the economy.  A positive report by the OSCE on the conduct of the election was to be an essential factor in determining whether Belarus will receive EU financial aid.  However, the OSCE called the recent elections “flawed” and accused the government of fraud, in addition to criticizing the police crackdown on opposition supporters following the election.

Last week, many believe as a result of the election criticism, the OSCE was asked to leave Belarus.  Andrei Savinykh, Belarusian foreign ministry spokesman, said in a statement that “an evaluation of the results achieved by the OSCE mission in Minsk shows that the mission has fulfilled its mandate.”

This contention, however, has been strongly denied.  The chairman of the OSCE, Audronius Azubalis, responded by saying, “[i]ts mandate has not been completed,” and  “[t]here is an important job for the O.S.C.E. to continue in Belarus.”

On Wednesday, police raided the office of the Belarus Helsinki Committee, which is according to the Associated Press “an independent group whose name refers to the principles of the 1975 Helsinki Accords that were the precursor of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.”  The police seized computers from the Helsinki Committee office and detained the director, Oleg Gulak.

The Belarussian police on Thursday conducted raids on the homes of several political activists.  They seized computers, phones, cameras, memory cards, and printed material such as organization member lists.

These events are all part of a continuing crackdown that followed election day, when almost 700 opposition supporters were arrested following mass demonstrations which were broken up by a violent police shutdown.  Most of the people arrested faced 5 to 15 days in jail, followed by firing from their work or expulsion from school.  The opposition presidential candidates that have been charged face up to 15 years in jail.

This comes after many within European circles had hoped the election in Belarus would be conducted in concert with EU ideas of freedom and democracy, and had been prepared to reward such actions.  As Reuters phrased it, “Brussels had dangled the prospect of financial aid if the election demonstrated at least a veneer of democracy.”

A closer Belarussian relationship with the EU seems unlikely now.  As Guido Westerwelle, German Foreign Minister,  said in a statement, “[t]he decision to shut down the OSCE office is a further setback for the rule of law and human rights in Belarus.  With its authoritarian course, the government in Minsk is leading the country further away from European freedom values.”

For more information, please see:

RADIO FREE EUROPE – Activists In Belarus Fear School Expulsions, Firings – 7 Jan. 2011

NAVINY – New KGB raids over post-election protest – 6 Jan. 2011

NEW YORK TIMES – Belarus: Police Raid Rights Group Office – 5 Jan. 2011

AP – Belarusian human rights group reports police raid – 5 Jan. 2011

NEW YORK TIMES – Belarus Ejects European Watchdog Agency – 1 Jan. 2011

REUTERS – Belarus throws out EU watchdog after election – 1 Jan. 2011

BBC – Belarus closes down OSCE office after poll criticism – 31 Dec. 2010

Political Unrest in Northern Tanzania

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

Mr. Willibrod Slaa, Secretary General of the Chadema Party. (Photo courtesy of BBC).
Mr. Willibrod Slaa, Secretary General of the Chadema Party. (Photo courtesy of Reuters).

ARUSHA, Tanzania – On Thursday, January 6, Tanzanian security forces shot and killed two anti-government protesters at a political rally in the northern city of Arusha. Along with killing two protesters, security forces also arrested nearly fifty people including ten prominent anti-government leaders who belonged to the Chadema party, one of the nation’s main opposition groups.  The leaders were taken to a police station, charged with unlawful assembly and then released after making bail. 

The arrests came after members of the Chadema party began an unauthorized march protesting the most recent mayoral election in Arusha. Security forces had permitted the Chadema party to hold a meeting in the city; however, when the meeting turned into a protest march, the police stepped in and prevented the march from continuing. During the police intervention several leaders of the Chadema party were arrested and detained. Reacting to the arrest of their party leaders, several marchers attempted to storm the police station where their leaders were held. In the process, security forces shot into the gathering crowd, killing two people. Eventually security forces regained control of the police station and sealed off the area. The rest of the city was unaffected by this incident and continues to operate normally.

The clashes that took place in Arusha stem from political strife between the ruling CCM party and the Chadema party.  The Chadema party, which has a strong presence in Arusha, believes the mayoral election was rigged to favor Tanzania’s ruling CCM party.

Among the opposition leaders arrested were Chadema Chairman Freeman Mbowe and Secretary General of the Chadema party Willibrod Slaa. Mr.Slaa,  the leader of the Chadema party, had made an unsuccessful run for president of Tanzania in 2010. He ran against the sitting president Mr. Jakaya Kikwete, a member of the CCM party. The election, which was held on October 31, was plagued by low voter turnout, corruption, and numerous allegations of voter fraud.  After his victory, Mr. Kikwete promised to curb the power of opposition groups like the Chadema party.  Coincidentally the arrest of Mr. Slaa occurred several days after he made comments calling for Mr. Kikwete to step down because of a scandal involving energy contracts.

For more information, please see:

 AFP — Police kill least two at Tanzania protest – 7 January 2011

The Citizen – 2 Killed, Dozens hurt in Chadema protests – 6 January 2011

BBC Africa — Tanzania police kill two in Arusha at Chadema protest – 6 January 2011

Reuters – Tanzanian police kill two rioters, seize leaders -6 January 2011

Renowned Chinese Dissident Dies


Dissident Li Hong, healthy prior to incarceration in 2007, suddenly fell ill and died last week at the age of 52. (Photo Courtesy of The Epoch Times)

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Chinese dissident writer Li Hong passed away on December 31, 2010 at the age of 52. Mr. Li Hong was the founding editor of the popular Zhejiang News and also former chief-editor of the Chinese literary and news website Aegean Sea. At the time of his death, he was in his hospital bed, surrounded by a number of domestic security police.

Following Li’s death, Chinese authorities prevented other dissidents and human rights activists from attending his funeral, and also censored news of his death. This is due to Li’s long history of activism, which the communist government regarded to be “dangerous.”

Another dissident writer Chen Shuqing reported to The Epoch Times that police contacted Chen on the evening of Li’s death and told him not to leave Hangzhou for Ningbo. Chen, fearing if something had happened to Li in Ningbo, asked the police if anything was wrong with Li, but did not hear anything back.

“Quite a few others in Hangzhou have also received such warnings not to go to Ningbo,” Chen said.

Li Hong, born in Zhang Jianhong, was renowned for his writing career, which included poetry and plays. Li was charged in January 2007 with “inciting subversion against the state” and tried off the record in the Ningbo Municipal Intermediate Court. Li refused to plead guilty on any of his charge throughout the trial.

According Li Jiangiang, Li Hong’s lawyer, the charges were based on 62 articles he had written, most of which were regarding reports about live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners, and his support for human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng’s hunger strike.

“Li Hong, a freelance scholar who does not practice Falun Gong, stood up at the first moment to condemn these crimes committed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is believed that as a scholar in China Li Hong touched the CCP’s sensitive spot: the CCP fears the public’s awareness and condemnation of its live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners,” the New Epoch Weekly editorialized in January 2007.

Although healthy and hale prior to incarceration, Li’s health rapidly deteriorated and was soon diagnosed in August 2007 with muscular dystrophy. The Chinese authorities denied Li’s family’s repeated requests for medical parole, until June 2010, when his body was completely paralyzed and was not able to speak.

Li was then released for medical treatment on June 5 and was taken directly to the Ningbo Number Two People’s Hospital for intensive care, where he stayed until he died last week.

Zhu Yufu, Li’s colleague and one of the founders of Chinese Democratic Party formed in 1998, said with anger, “The authorities have killed Li Hong! It is yet another crime of theirs. Now they are frightened and are trying very hard to cover up the truth. They are keeping us from attending his funeral and expressing our condolences.

“Because Li Hong persisted and refused to compromise, they hated him and wanted him to die.”

For more information, please see:

The Epoch Times – Renowned Dissident Writer Li Hong Dies, Authorities Prevent Funeral – 4 Jan 2011

Human Rights in China – Human Rights in China Mourns the Passing of Dissident-Writer Li Hong – 7 
January 2011

Chinese Human Rights Defenders – Dissident Writer Li Hong Passes Away – 3 Jan 2011

Mass Rape Attack in DR Congo Over New Years

By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch, Africa

HIV Positive Congolese Rape Survivors in Luvungi (Photo Courtesy Unjin Lee and AFROl News)
HIV Positive Congolese Rape Survivors in Luvungi (Photo Courtesy Unjin Lee and AFROl News)

FIZI, South Kivu, DR Congo– On New Year’s Day, approximately thirty-three women were raped during an attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the small town of Fizi, located in the eastern region of South Kivu.  The organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that at their hospital in Fizi, fourteen women were treated on January 3rd, and another nineteen the following day.  Two more individuals were transferred to Baraka Hospital, 32 km to the south.  One had been beaten in the head with a rock and the other was suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest.  Annemarie Loof, an official with MSF, said of the attack, “Women had been restrained with ropes or beaten unconscious with the butt of a gun before being attacked, some in front of their children.”

Violence between the residents of Fizi and the Congolese army (FARDC) had been escalating in the days before the attack after a boy in Fizi was fatally shot during an argument with two soldiers.  Later, residents of the town beat one of the soldiers to death.  Despite these clashes with the FARDC, none of the reporting agencies have confirmed who carried out the New Year’s Day attack.  In a statement made to Reuters AlertNet, Katrien Coppens, the  operations manager for MSF DRC stated, “Unfortunately it is a feature of the war in DRC but … this massive scale (of rape) in one day in a relatively small town is very shocking.”

Rape is a common weapon of war in the DR Congo and according to the U.N., 15,000 women were raped in Eastern Congo in 2009.  During that same year, MSF provided medical and psychological care for 5,600 rape victims in the North and South Kivu region.  As high as these numbers are, MSF and other humanitarian groups believe many more cases are unreported.  Last September the U.N. harshly criticized the Congolese government for failing to prevent a mass rape that took place between July 30 and August 2 and left 303 civilian victims in the Walikale region of Congo’s North Kivu province.  This attack, carried out by Rwandan and Congolese soldiers, occurred within a mile of a U.N. peacekeeper base.  The International Medical Corps. reported that during an attack on the town of Luvungi and five neighbouring villages, husbands were forced to watch their family members being raped while some victims were dragged into the forest.  After this most recent attack in Fizi, many fear the Congolese government is not doing enough to end war rape.  In the MSF report on Fizi, Loof said, “MSF is extremely concerned about the current situation in and around Fizi.  People are fleeing the area fearing further violent attacks.”

For more information, please see;

MSF- Press Release: MSF Treats Victims of Mass Rape on New Year’s Day in DRC– 6 Jan., 2011

CNN- Women Raped in Mass Attack in Congo, Humanitarian Group Says– 7 Jan., 2011

Reuters AlertNet- Gunmen Carry Out New Year Gang-Rape in Congo-MSF– 7 Jan., 2011

Guardian.co.uk- More Than 30 Women Raped and Beaten in DR Congo Attack– 7 Jan., 2011

Hungary Faces Criticism Over Restrictive New Media Law

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Hungary has recently come under fire for a new media law, effective January 1, 2011, which greatly expands the state’s power to monitor and penalize media outlets by imposing heavy fines for media coverage that violates “public interest, public morals or order.” Critics of the new law worry that too much in it remains undefined and can be used to silence public debate or media coverage that is critical of the government.  Criticism of the new law by media watchdogs and European governments has been particularly sharp given that Hungary assumed the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union on January 1.

If television channels violate the new law, they could receive a fine up to 200 million forints ($950,000), daily publications could receive fines up to 25 million forints ($119,000), and weekly publications could receive fines up to 10 million forints ($48,000).  The new law is administered by the newly created National Media and Communications Authority (NMHH).

One of the first acts of the NMHH was to begin proceedings against a radio station for playing two songs by the rapper Ice-T, which contain obscenities, before 9 PM, saying that the songs “could influence the development of minors in a negative way”.  The radio station responded in a letter saying that few of those under 16, in a country where most people do not possess advanced foreign languages skills, understand lyrics “written in slang, full of words and expressions missing from their curriculum, after one hearing, in a musical environment.”

It has been reported that all five members of the media authority, the NMHH, are members of or are linked to the Fidesz party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. However, the Public Administration and Justice Ministry said in a statement on their website on Monday that Members of the NMHH “have no ties, either formal or informal, with the ruling political parties.”

In late December Hungarian Prime Minister Orban took a strong stance against any criticism of the new law.  “We are not even thinking in our wildest dreams about making amendments to the law,” he said in an interview with the Hungarian private television channel Hir TV.  “I am not inclined to react with wobbly knees to debates in parliament or Western reactions.  There is not a single passage in the law that does not correspond to the media law in E.U. countries.”

This Thursday, Orban acknowledged that Hungary’s six month presidency of the European Union got off to a “bad start,” as well as further acknowledging that Hungary might be open to the possibility of amending the new media law if the European Union requires it.  However, Orban claims other countries have comparable laws to Hungary’s new media law, though experts say Hungary’s law goes further than others and represents the worst practices in Europe.  As a result, Orban says, Hungary will only institute changes to the media law if other EU countries make similar changes.

For more information, please see:

ASSOCIATED PRESS – Hungary willing to consider changes to media law – 6 January 2011

BBC – Hungary PM ‘ready to change’ media law if EU demands – 6 January 2011

BBC – Hungary plunges into EU hot water in steering role – 6 January 2011

NEW YORK TIMES – Hungarian Leader Takes On Foreign Critics – 6 January 2011

BBC – Hungary rejects Western media law attacks – 3 January 2011

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Ice-T Lyrics Draw Media Council’s Ire – 3 January 2011

BBC – Under fire Hungary media watchdog raises concerns – 2 January 2011

NEW YORK TIMES – Hungary Waves Off Criticism Over Media Law – 25 Decuary 2010