China continues to prosecute activists

November 4, 2010

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – A month after Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Chinese jailed dissident, Lui Xiaobo, the Chinese government has increased its crackdown on human rights activists advocating for release of Mr. Xiaobo and improvement in human rights.

A series of report reveals that various methods are used by the government to subdue conscience voices of these activists. Some are confined to their homes, others were followed and harassed while some went completely missing.
After all, there is no sign of abating.

One prominent human rights lawyer, Chen Guangcheng, released in September after years in prison became subjected to house arrest since early October in his hometown in Shandong Province. He is not allowed to receive any visitors or get out of his home. Mr. Guangcheng has been a vocal critic of government policies, especially of forced abortions by local officials in an attempt to enforce the one-child policy.

Pu Zhiqiang, a civil rights lawyer, claims that he was detained for three days in a hotel after the Nobel announcement October 8 and remains under heavy surveillance. “Everywhere I go, a policeman will follow me for sure,” he said by phone. “Sometimes I ask them to drive my car for me.”

Li Heping, another human rights lawyer, said that after Liu was announced as Nobel Peace Prize winner, police officers brought comforters and slept at the door of his apartment and now follow him everywhere, including to meetings with clients. “Once my friend sent me a text message to invite me to dinner,” he said. “They knew, and came and asked me for the details.”

Similar things happened to another lawyer, Li Fangping, who claims that three policemen have been following him ever since there was announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Some are facing a more dire situation. Ding Zilin, who heads a group of relatives of victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown disappeared along with her husband, Jiang Peikun, on Oct. 14. Activist Feng Zhenghu in Shanghai was also missing after being taken away by police Monday.

Many fear that such surveillance, harassment and detainment will continue at least through the Nobel awards ceremony scheduled in Oslo on December 10.

Hong Kong-based Human Rights Watch researcher Nicholas Bequelin called the date of awards ceremony “the big looming deadline.”

“The government doesn’t want to make the situation worse by arresting anyone,” Bequelin said. “But they want to keep an eye on all the known activists and dissidents.”

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – China: House Arrest For Rights Lawyer – 4 November 2010

The Washington Post – China continues crackdown on activists – 28 October 2010

AP – China pressures European governments over Nobel – 3 November 2010

Execution by Stoning Imminent in Ashtiani Case

November 4, 2010

By Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Despite the best efforts of the international community to stop the execution of Sakineh Mohammedi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death for committing adultery, it now appears that her execution is imminent. If the government moves forward with its plan to execute Ashtiani, she will be stoned to death. To make matters worse, both Ashtiani’s son and lawyer have been detained by the government since October 10. Now Amnesty International is renewing its call to stay the execution but fears that these additional detentions may make it impossible to defend Ashtiani.

Ashtiani May be Executed as Early as Today (Photo Courtesy of CBC News)

Nations throughout the world have joined together to condemn Ashtiani’s sentence, calling death by stoning “barbaric” and “inhumane.” Facing intense international pressure, the government of Iran temporarily suspended the stoning punishment in favor of execution by hanging but has since reaffirmed the original verdict. Government officials however, contend that the leadership has not yet made a final decision on the matter. Despite its rhetoric, Tehran’s position is quite clear. Responding to criticism, Mr. Ramin Mehmanparast, a Foreign Ministry representative stated “[t]they (the West) have been so shameless that they have turned the case of Ms. Ashtiani, who as committed crime and treason, into a human rights case against our nation.”

Although reports have confirmed that she has not yet been executed, the International Committee against Stoning (ICAS) warned that Ms. Ashtiani’s execution might take place as early as today. Ms. Ashtiani has already faced punishment by suffering 99 lashes in front of her son. Despite this abuse, officials indicate that she is currently in good health.

Even if she escapes her stoning punishment, Ashtiani still faces further criminal penalties for her alleged involvement in the murder of her husband. Under Sharia law, if found guilty, Ashtiani would face death by hanging. Although her lawyer Houton Kian calls the charges ”bogus,” he will be unable to challenge these accusations if the government continues his detention. Despite these difficulties, the ICAS expressed its commitment to freeing Ashtiani, her son and her lawyer and has been able to raise significant contributions for their defense. Although the Iranian leadership may step back from its staunch support of stoning punishments it will likely seek to execute Ashtiani by other means.

For more information, please see:

The Australian – Iran Lashes Out at West Over Ashtiani Stoning Outrage – 4. Nov. 2010

The Washington Post – Amnesty Urges Iran to Free Stoning Case Detainees – 4 Nov. 2010

Sify News – Iran Says ‘no final Decision Taken on Stoning to Death’ Woman’s Execution – 4 Nov. 2010

New York Daily News – Iranian Woman Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani charged with Adultery, Murder, and Will Likely Die by Hanging – 3. Nov. 2010

JAMAICAN COURT DENIES BAIL TO U.S. CITIZEN ACCUSED OF SEX TRAFFICKING

November 4, 2010

By Erica Laster Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Last week, the Jamaican Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court denied bail to United States citizen Lynn Scantlebury, accused of trafficking various foreigners into the country and forcing them into prostitution. On September 16, 2010, Scantlebury, 23, and her 41-year-old stepfather, Anthony Parker, were arrested at the Latin Movement Night Club in Jamaica.

Trafficking In Persons Act Fails to Stop The Illegal Trade In Jamaica: Photo Courtesy of www.baiganchoka.com

A total of thirteen people, several of them minors from Panama and the Dominican Republic, were detained by officials. Scantlebury’s attorney argued for her release on bail, but was denied on the grounds that the defendant presented a flight risk.

Both Parker and Scantlebury face seven counts of facilitating human trafficking, seven counts of conspiracy, eight counts of human trafficking and one count each of money laundering and withholding travel documents. It is further alleged that Parker and his wife, who has not been charged, played a major role in an international human trafficking ring.

In 2007, Jamaica passed the Trafficking in Persons Act, meant to prevent, suppress and punish all forms of trafficking related offenses, including those which involve the receipt of financial benefits and profits related to the trade.

Several wealthy businessmen from Jamaica have been under investigation in 2010 for criminal activities which include human trafficking. Many are under scrutiny for their relationship with the reputed head of the Shower Posse, Christopher “Dudus” Coke, recently extradited to the United States.

This news should not be surprising given the country’s history of human trafficking. One need only remember the caravan of Haitian children found aboard a bus en route to the border driven by a group of United States citizens claiming to be saving the parentless children in the wake of the earthquake. It was later discovered that the children’s parents were in fact, alive and well.

For More Information Please Visit:

Jamaican Observer – American Woman Accused of Human Trafficking Denied Bail – 29 October 2010

Jamaican Observer – Family Accused of Trafficking Prostitutes – 4 October 2010

End Human Trafficking – Persons Accused of Human Trafficking Remanded – 7 October 2010

The Daily Herald – Two Accused of Human Trafficking Remanded – 5 October 2010

UK Military Interrogation Training Aids: Sleep Deprivation, Enforced Nudity

November 3, 2010

By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

LONDON, England — UK military interrogation training manuals told interrogators to use techniques such as enforced nakedness and sleep deprivation in what is an apparent violation of international law, according to a recent newspaper report. In the exclusive report, the Guardian made public the information contained in secret military interrogation training aids and manuals from 2005 and 2008, as well as more recent materials.

The manuals advocate methods to promote humiliation, insecurity, exhaustion, and fear in the prisoners before and during questioning. A PowerPoint training aid from September 2005 obtained by the Guardian says “Get them naked. Keep them naked if they do not follow commands.” A manual from 2008 also advocated enforced nakedness. The training materials tell interrogators to remove the prisoner’s clothes and then search behind his foreskin and spread his buttocks. According to the Guardian, “[t]his is part of the conditioning process, rather than as a security measure.”

More recent training materials tell interrogators that blindfolds, earmuffs, and plastic handcuffs are necessary tools to be used in interrogation. Also, although the prisoner must be allowed to rest for eight hours in every 24 hours, only four hours of that is required to be unbroken sleep. Additionally, there is a section in the training materials entitled, “positional asphyxiation – signs and symptoms”.

The Guardian makes the claim that these abusive techniques violate the 1949 Geneva conventions which prohibit any “physical or moral coercion,” as well as coercion used to get information.

This report comes at an especially sensitive time. WikiLeaks recently published secret U.S. files from the war in Iraq showing coalition forces ignored torture conducted by Iraq security forces. In addition, the high court in London will hear arguments next month from the lawyers representing more than 100 Iraqis who claim they were held and tortured during interrogation by British forces between March 2003 and April 2007.

Reuters quoted a defense ministry spokesman as saying, “There are ongoing enquiries precisely to establish the previous and current basis for how we conduct our detention operations.” The spokesman added, “The military … is committed to constantly trying to improve these parts of its operations.”

According to the Guardian, [a]ddressing the legal status of detainees who may later face prosecution, the [training] material states: “Let the judicial process deal with them after you have finished.”
For more information, please see:

REUTERS — UK military interrogations ‘may break Geneva rules’ — 26 October 2010

TELEGRAPH — British interrogation techniques advice ‘included sensory deprivation’ — 26 October 2010

GUARDIAN — Humiliate, strip, threaten: UK military interrogation manuals discovered — 25 October 2010

Afghan Police Join Taliban Insurgents

November 3, 2010

David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch, Asia

KABUL, Afghanistan – Imagine local American police forces joined local and state gangs, and then attacked the very police station which they were previously employed. This is precisely what took place in Afghanistan according to the provincial governor of the Ghazni region.

American military trained and now Taliban recruited

In Khogeyani, volatile area southwest of the capital, the entire police force on duty Monday morning appears to have defected to the Taliban side. The New York Times is reporting that the “entire police force on duty Monday morning” in the district of Khogeyani “appears to have defected to the Taliban side.”

Musa Khan Haidar Zada, governor whom reported these events to CNN, indicated that defections were due to the poisonous influence of the Taliban.

Spokesman for the governor, Sayeed Esmaial Jahanger, told CNN that the Taliban took over the district without any violence and that 20 police were not seen again.

“This was not an attack, but a plot,” said Mohammed Yasin, the chief of the Khogeyani police force. “The Taliban and the police made a deal.”

Even a spokesman for the Taliban, said deal were cut and “the movement’s fighters made contact with the Khogeyani’s police force then sacked and burned the station. As officers vanished, so did their guns, trucks, uniforms and food.”

For months, through the tactic of “reintegration” American and Afghan officials have been promoting a plan to persuade multitudes of rank-and-file Taliban fighters to switch and fight on the side of the government. This tactic is one of the big hopes for turning the tide in the war, according to military officials.

The Taliban have developed a reintegration plan of their own.

The local police chief, who missed the attack, said he suspected a defection.

Zabiullah Mujahid, member of the Taliban said the Afghan officers decided to defect after “learning the facts about the Taliban.”

The Taliban reports that, “We never force people to join us,” said Mr. Mujahid, whose name is fictitious. “The police joined us voluntarily and are happy to work with us, and to start the holy war shoulder to shoulder with their Taliban brothers.”

The takeover of the station did not last long. Akbarzada said his office lost contact with the police station at about 5 a.m. Government forces arrived in Khogeyani about three hours later and found the station smoking and abandoned.

Mr. Akbarzada said his Afghan forces would be relentless in their recruitment.

“The Taliban exist in and around the district centers, and we have our own judges, courts, district governors and other officials,” he said. “We do our guerrilla attacks and then leave the district center. This is just a building.”

Provincial Governor Musa Khan Akbarzada insisted that security forces will continue to search for the police and the Taliban they joined with. Taliban spokesman Mujahid insisted that they were long gone, having melted into the countryside.

For more information, please see:

New York Times – Afghan Police Unit Defects to Taliban – 1 November 2010

CNN World – Police in Afghan might have defected – 2 November 2010

AntiWar.com – Afghan Police Defect to Taliban in Secret Deal – 1 November 2010