Deadly Blast Rocks Myanmar Festival

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar- On Thursday three bomb blasts rocked a holiday festival killing nine people in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.  The attack was the deadliest of its kind in five years in the country.  In addition, the attack injured more than 60 people.

An official said the blasts occurred as festival goers gathered for a New Year water festival in the former capital.  The blast occurred around 3 p.m. near 20 pavilions erected for celebrations at the Kandawgyi Lake.  During this annual four-day festival, the people drench each other with water to usher in the Myanmar New Year on Saturday.  A British Embassy representative in Myanmar told the news agency Al Jazeera that it was not yet known what exactly caused the explosions.

The television station run by the state reported that the explosions were caused by bombs, but did not say who was responsible.  Television images showed pools of blood and scattered sandals left behind by frightened revelers.  The television station described the blasts as the work of “terrorists”.  No group or organization has claimed responsibility for the attacks yet.

While State television stated that the death toll is at eight, a hospital official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity maintained that nine people were killed.

Witnesses say that Yangon General Hospital, where most of the injured were taken, was a scene of chaos.  According to a hospital official none of the casualties included foreigners.

Although rare, bombings are not unknown in cities such as Myanmar, whose military ruler are fighting several insurgencies in remote regions.  This was the worst attack since May 2005 when a series of bombs exploded at two upscale supermarkets and at a convention center in Yangon, killing 19 people and injuring more than 160 others.

The government has previously blamed bomb blasts on exiled anti-government groups and insurgents including ethnic Karen rebels fighting for greater autonomy in eastern Myanmar.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962.  The country is slated to hold election later this year, but no date has been announced and the generals have been criticised for regulations that prevent Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader, from taking part.

For more information, please see:

Aljazeera.net- Deadly Blasts Hit Myanmar Festival-15 April 2010

CBSnews- Bombs Kill 9 At Myanmar New Year Water Festival– 15 April 2010

Wall Street Journal- Myanmar Festivities Marred By Blasts– 15 April 2010

Former Army Translator Claims Canadian Troops Shot Innocent Man

By William Miller

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

OTTAWA, Canada – A former translator for the Canadian Army claimed that Canadian Forces shot and killed an unarmed seventeen year old boy in Afghanistan. Malgarai Ahmadshah Further claimed that the troops then attempted to cover it up by rounding up ten innocent civilians and arresting them.

Ahmadshah’s claims were made on Wednesday before a parliamentary committee investigating whether the Canadian Army transferred Afghani prisoners into the custody of Afghani officials despite knowing that those prisoners would be subjected to torture. Transferring prisoners knowing that they will be subjected to torture as a result of the transfer is a war crime.

Ahmadshah was in Afghanistan with the Canadian military for thirteen months in 2007 and 2008 and served under General Guy Laroche. During that time he served as a translator who interpreted for Afghani prisoners.

Ahmadshah testified that in the summer of 2007 Canadian troops shot and killed a seventeen year old unarmed boy in Kandahar Afghanistan. The troops shot the boy in the head because they thought he had a gun.

After realizing the boy did not have a gun the soldiers panicked and began rounding up civilians in the area and arresting them. The prisoners ranged in age between ten and ninety.

“None of the detainees were Taliban. None did anything wrong except to be at home when the Canadian Forces murdered their neighbor. Yet Canada transferred all these innocent men to the NDS. I don’t know what happened to them” said Ahmadshah.

Ahmadshah admitted that he did not see the incident first hand. He only heard about it from the prisoners. He also admitted that he could not prove any of his allegations.

It is not clear whether Ahmadshah plans to take any action against the federal government himself. His lawyer advised him not to comment. Ahmadshah refused to repeat his comments after the hearing. He also made allegations that top ranking military officials knew that transferred prisoners were being tortured and did nothing about it.

For more information, please see:

AFP – General Vows Probe into Alleged Handover of Afghan Detainees – 15 April 2010

Canadian Press – Explosive Claim from Translator: Canada Troops Tried to Cover up Killing – 15 April 2010

Toronto Sun – Former Interpreter says Military Knew About Torture – 14 April 2010

UN Holds a Human Rights Workshop in Fiji Following Draft of Media Decree

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – The United Nations is holding a workshop in Fiji to train human rights workers in the region in monitoring and documenting human rights.

The workshop follows as a result from human rights advocates raising concerns that the Fiji interim government’s new immunity and media decrees could allow further abuses to occur with impunity.

The draft Media Industry Development Decree provides for the establishment of a Media Development Authority and a tribunal with the power to fine news organizations and imprison journalists for up to 5 years.

It also restricts foreign ownership of news media to 10% with all company directors required to be citizens of Fiji.

Under the decree, media outlets may be fined up to $500,000 and individual editors, publishers, and journalists may be fined up to $100,000, and/or jailed if they do not comply with the “decree’s dictates.”

Reports from Fiji say the interim regime will consider further consultations about the proposed Media Decree.

Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says that the government is still working on the draft and no specific time frame has been set in terms of the implementation of the decree.

The interim regime said that once the media decree is in place, it will lift the emergency provisions, including the media censorship, which has been in place since April of 2009 when the regime abrogated the consultation after the appeals court ruled that the post-coup administration was illegal.

Amnesty International has described the proposed decree as the “deathnail for free media in Fiji which could enable further abuses to go unreported.”

The draft of the media law has sparked immediate protest by news groups, academics, and civil society movements. The draft decree has been described as “draconian.”

During the first consultation, about 50 media organizations and civil society groups were present and opposed the proposal.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the world’s largest body of newspeople, strongly condemned the regime for the “reinforcement of sweeping censorship.”

The general secretary of IFJ, Aidan White, stated: “The decree is clearly focused on the regime retaining control and entrenching its highly oppressive restrictions, not only on the media but on members of the public who might wish to express dissenting views.”

The director of the Pacific Media Centre, David Roble, stated that the decree was “ruthlessly chilling.” He wrote in his blog: “The regime is systematically destroying what has been traditionally one of the strongest media industries in the Pacific.”

Because of all the controversy over the media decree, the United Nations is holding a workshop in Fiji to train human rights workers to monitor and document human rights.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Regional Office for the Pacific says it cannot comment publicly on the issue because its strategy is to work to improve the situation in other ways.

The office’s regional representative, Matilda Bogner, says during the workshop they will talk with human rights workers about other approaches they can take to use the information they document in countries where media freedoms are restricted.

Bogner stated: “There are many strategies that can get information out. Not all advocacy has to be done publicly through the media. A lot of advocacy can be done behind closed doors with key people who are decision makers.”

Bogner further stated that there are forums other than traditional media to make the general community aware of human rights violations.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – UN holds workshop in Fiji on documenting human rights – 15 April 2010

Radio New Zealand International – Fiji regime considers further media decree consultations – 15 April 2010

Pacific Scoop – Draconian Fiji draft media law triggers news group protests – 08 April 2010

Iran Unveils Advanced Centrifuges

By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – On Friday April 9 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled new advanced centrifuge that will help accelerate the Islamic Republic’s uranium enrichment program. The unveiling of new machines has alarmed world powers including the United States who were were already fearful of the aims of Iran’s nuclear program. The centrifuges were unveiled by the Iranian President during a ceremony marking Iran’s National Day of Nuclear Technology as Ahmadinejad pulled back a white curtain to reveal the new machines.

The new, advanced centrifuge machines are capable of much faster uranium enrichment that the centrifuges currently being used in Iran’s nuclear facility. Iranian nuclear officials have praised the advancement as a step toward greater self-sufficiency. The officials are concerned that the nuclear program will suffer from the new nuclear sanctions targeted at ending all uranium enrichment activity in the Islamic republic. President Ahmadinejad has repeatedly insisted that the program only has peaceful aims such as power generation.

The details of the centrifuges were explained by Iranian official Ali Akbar Salehi in his National Day of Nuclear Technology speech. Salehi explained that the centrifuges have the separation power six times that of the first generation centrifuges Iran currently uses. He explained that experts from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran managed to design the new centrifuges and that they had passed several mechanical tests.

President Ahmadinejad’s announcement came as members of the United Nations Security Council was discussing a new round of sanctions against Iran. The rationale for the sanction is Iran’s continued refusal to halt uranium enrichment. Ambassadors from the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany all announced that the talks were productive. The ambassadors did also confirm that the meetings would continue in the coming weeks. China has been under increased pressure from the other Security Council to support the new sanctions despite their public objections.

The UN’s nuclear arm, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), announced in a February 2010 report that Iran had achieved enrichment levels of up to 19.8%. The report also spoke that the number raised concerns of the “possible military dimensions” of the Iranian nuclear program.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Iran Unveils More Advanced Centrifuge Machines – 9 April 2010

BBC – Iran Unveils ‘Faster’ Uranium Centrifuges – 9 April 2010

Washington Post – Iran Displays New Centrifuge For Nuclear Work – 9 April 2010

Thailand Demonstration: The Bloodiest Since 1992

By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – Red-shirt protesters in Thailand, supporters of ousted populist leader Thaskin Shinawatra, clashed with the Thai military force on April 10.  Thaskin was overthrown in 2006 by protesters against the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD).  These anti-Thaskin political groups identify themselves with yellow attire and have successfully brought down two governments that supported Thaskin.  The group now identifies itself as The People’s Alliance for Democracy and functions as a political party without visible political activism.

The red-shirt UDD, on the other hand, has established multiple educational sessions over the past year and marched in numerous areas in promotion of their cause.  However,  on April 10th, a military effort to clear UDD red-shirts from a camp lead to the deaths of seventeen protesters and four military men.  The red-shirts were protesting the Prime Minister position held by Vejjajiva, who they assert was actually elected undemocratically.

Along with red-shirt street demonstrators, Thaskin has backing from intellectuals and proponents of democratic rule who seek to educate others on their policies.  The multiple constituencies from which Thaskin derives support comprise Thailand’s UDD, many of whom may be identified by their distinctive red attire.  Thaskin’s red-shirt supporters desire to reinstate Thailand’s populist policies framed under his half-decade of leadership.  Red-shirts also demand a state with significantly less military rule and an increase in democracy.

The ouster of Abhisit Vejjajiva from office, however, may not be sufficient to quell the political unrest consuming Thailand.  The Thai people witnessed the violence of red-shirt political protests reach tragically excessive levels, resulting in the bloodiest demonstrations since 1992.  Aside from nearly 25 deaths, well over 800 persons were injured by tear-gas and other anti-riot weapons. Despite the chaos, the red-shirts have refused Vejjajiva’s offers to hold elections within six months.  However, the red-shirts have also claimed that reinstating Thaskin would not be enough to meet their demands; they desire equal treatment of all peoples in Thailand.

Abhisit seems to have used to confusion caused by the rallying to launch propaganda against the red-shirt campaign, claiming that full investigations must go under way to place liability where it is due.  The red-shirts, however, have decided to remain resilient until the Thai government as it exists today ceases to act against their demands.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Q&A: Thailand protests – 13 April 2010

BusinessWeek – Ousting Abhisit May Not End Deadly Thailand Protests – 14 April 2010

Christian Science Monitor – Thailand’s red-shirt protests darken… – 12 April 2010