Protests against Montreal Ban on Niqab

By William Miller

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MONTREAL, Canada – One hundred and twenty protestors gathered outside of Montreal City Hall on Saturday, April 17 to protest proposed legislation called Bill 94. The proposed legislation would band Niqabs and Burkas, Islamic garments which cover a womans face, from those seeking public service.

A woman demonstrating against bill 94 at Saturdays protest outside Montreal City Hall (PHOTO: CTV)

The proposed legislation would ban anyone from wearing a face covering while receiving public services.  The bill would predominantly affect Muslim woman who wear face coverings as part of their religious practices.

The bill was proposed last month after a woman was expelled for wearing a Niqab during French class. The school said it was disruptive to the classroom process. The incident has sparked debate in Montreal.

Under the new rule anyone wearing a face covering would not be able to receive public services including Government departments and corporations, non-emergency hospital services, universities, and day cares receiving public funds. The rule does not only apply to those receiving the government services, but also to those employed in government service.

Jean Charest , liberal premier said “If you are someone employed by the state and you deliver a service, you will deliver it with your face uncovered. If you are a citizen who receives services, you will receive them with your face uncovered.” He has defended the proposed legislation saying that it draws the line at accommodating religious minorities when it infringes on gender equality.

The protestors however, feel that the bill demonstrates a lack of tolerance and understanding. Meena Samreen, the Montreal woman who organized the protest called the bill hypocritical. “We send our troops to protect those women, to open educational institutes for them, and here we’re stopping women from going into educational institutes because they choose to cover their faces,” she said.

For more information, please see:

CTV – Protestors Denounce Bill 94 – 17 April 2010

Montreal Gazette – Crowed Protests Quebec Niqab Ban – 17 April 2010

National Post – Unveil, Quebec Says – 25 March 2010

Brazilian Dam Moves Forward, 20,000 to be Displaced

By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

PARA, Brazil-On April 16, 2010 a judge in the capital, Brasília overturned a ruling halting construction on a dam project to be built in Para State  because it would cause “irreparable harm” to indigenous people. The project, known as the Belo Monte Dam, will involve the excavation of two channels larger than the Panama Canal to divert water from the main dam to the power plant. The reservoir will flood more than one hundred and sixty square miles of forest while drying up a sixty mile stretch of the Xingu River, which will displace more than 20,000 people, many of which are indigenous communities.

Thirteen affected indigenous groups have formed a new tribe of 2,500, which they have stationed directly on the construction site. They plan to occupy it as long as necessary. The chief told the New York Times that they need the river to travel and eat. The groups affected include the Kayapó, Arara, Juruna, Araweté, Xikrin, Asurini, and Parakanã groups. Over eight hundred and fifty people protested what will be the largest dam in the world. Human rights organizations have warned that the dam construction will also bring migrants to the area and threaten uncontacted indigenous people, who have little resistance to outside disease. According to Survival International, many believe that the dam energy will be used to serve the mining industry. A bill is currently before the Brazilian government that would allow mining on indigenous land.

The new ruling allows the auction of bids to take place on April 20, 2010. The Chief of the Arara tribe, José Carolos Arara called the last case “our last cry for help” in a quest to defend their rights after a meeting of thirteen tribes last month, the New York Times reported. Environmentalists have stated that the dams are in fact inefficient and produce less than capacity annually, thus causing fear that the government would still have to build more dams upstream. This would further displace indigenous communities.

The latest ruling found that there was “no imminent danger for the indigenous community” because the auction of bids did not “imply immediate destruction.” The auction, one of numerous stages in the dam project was therefore allowed to go forward as planned. The Brazilian government is trying to meet the growing energy needs of urban areas, constantly requiring new energy projects. The Brazilian government has warned that halting the auction would cause “grave harm” to the economy and could potentially cause Brazil to seek other forms of energy that are more expensive and polluting than the hydroelectric project.

The plans for the dam were developed over thirty years ago before Brazil had constitutional protections for for indigenous peoples. The judge in the recent ruling stated that the Congress would have to pass a law changing the Constitution’s limits on building dams that negatively affect indigenous communities. An appeal to the recent ruling has been filed by Attorney General’s office. Indigenous activists have promised a “river of blood” if the dam project moves forward.

For more information, please see:

Latin American Herald Tribune-Judge’s Ruling Gives Green Light for Massive Brazil Dam-18 April 2010

BBC-Judge Allows Start of Bids on Controversial Dam Project-17 April 2010

Latin America Press-Amazon State Attorney Seeks to Stop Hydroelectric Project-17 April 2010

New York Times-Amazon Dam Project Pits Economic Development Benefit Against Development of Indigenous Lands-16 April 2010

Survival International-Indians and Activists March Against Amazon Mega-Dam-14 April 2010

Increasing Number of North Koreans Listen to Overseas Radio Programs

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – North Koreans appear to be better informed than ever despite living in the most reclusive country in the world.  Although there is no data on the exact number of North Koreans listening to overseas radio broadcasts, evidence has shown that the number is quite high.

Voice of America (VOA) has been broadcasting to North Korea since 1942 and Radio Free Asia (RFA) began its services in 1997.  More than a dozen radio stations from overseas, including the United States, South Korea and Japan, currently broadcast to North Korea.  In addition, North Korean defectors have founded three radio stations, including the Free North Korea Radio. 

Although smuggling news out of North Korea is risky, these news media employ stringers and underground informants in North Korea who have access to cell phones or those who can send interviews through China.  Almost 1,000 North Koreans use cell phones connected to Chinese networks and send stories about the food shortage and famine to Kim Jong-il’s health via text messages, photos and audio files. 

Consequently, there is information flowing in and out of the hermit kingdom. 

Based on the data South Korean researchers have collected, over 20% of North Koreans regularly listen to banned broadcasts.  North Koreans will either jam their government radios or buy smuggled radios from China.  The research also showed that nearly all of the listeners then shared the news they heard on the radio with family and friends.  Defectors have said that one of the leading motivations to defect came from listening to foreign radio broadcasts.

Furthermore, U.S.’s human rights envoy for North Korea, Robert King, has promised to increase funding for North Korean broadcasting.  Currently, VOA and RFA broadcast only five hours a day, and the stations operated by defectors run on a tight budget.

These may be signs of future demise of North Korea’s monopoly over information and media control.  However, control of information flow may be even more tightly controlled as the current North Korean government prepares for a regime change from Kim Jong-il to his son.
For more information, please see:

Business Week – North Korea Open Radio Prompts Wonder About Riches Over Border – 31 March 2010

NYT – Nimble Agencies Sneak News Out of North Korea – 24 January 2010

Press Reference – North Korea

WSJ – North Korea’s Radio Waves of Resistance – 16 April 2010

Kidnapped Peacekeepers Okay

By Kylie M Tsudama

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Four peacekeepers who were abducted last week are okay.  Negotiations for their release are underway.

“We spoke to our staff today by phone,” said Mohamed Yonis, the joint African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Deputy Joint Special Representative.  “They are reported to be unharmed.  We are calling for the immediate and unconditional release of our peacekeepers.”

Added UNAMID spokesman Nouredine Mezni, “We are doing our utmost to secure their release.  The Sudanese authorities know the identity of the kidnappers but they want to make sure their release takes place in the best possible conditions.”

Four UNAMID police advisors were kidnapped on Sunday, 11 April 2010 while on the way back to their private quarters, a 4.3 mile trek.  The two men and two women were leaving Nyala, South Darfur, the center of several humanitarian operations in Darfur and the second largest city in Sudan.

According to Jibril Bukhari Abbas, head of the People’s Democratic Struggle Movement (PDSM), one of the PDSM members kidnapped the peacekeepers without instruction.  He said PDSM entered into peace talks with the government last week.

“[The abductor] was unaware of an agreement which was concluded between the government and the People’s Democratic Struggle Movement which has joined the peace march,” said Bukhari.

This abduction is reported to be “the largest single abduction of foreigners” in Darfur.  It happened as the first competitive election in more than twenty years was to take place in Sudan.

“We want one billion Sudanese pounds (400,000 US dollars) but that is not the most important.  We want to show the international community that security conditions in Darfur do not allow for elections,” said Ibrahim al-Dukki.

Abductions in the region have ebbed after a year-long wave of abductions.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called this “a new and deeply troubling development in Darfur, with the potential to undermine the efforts of the international community.”

The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government.  According to the UN, at least 300,000 have been killed and more than 2.5 million have been displaced.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Peacekeepers Kidnapped in Darfur ‘In Good Health’ – 16 April 2010

AP – UN Mission in Darfur: Abducted Peacekeepers are OK – 16 April 2010

UN News Centre – Darfur: UN – African Union Mission Makes Contact with Four Abducted Peacekeepers – 16 April 2010

First Witnesses Testify in Karadzic Trial

By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch, Europe

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – On April 13, 2010, ICTY prosecution brought forth its first witness in the trial against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. 

Radovan Karadzic was arrested in July of 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia, after spending years in hiding. He faces charges for crimes committed in Bosnia Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995, including eleven counts of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. Karadzic was the alleged mastermind of the bloody forty-four month siege of Sarajevo, and the massacre of roughly 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the UN “safe haven” of Srebrenica in 1995.

The first witness called on by the prosecution was Ahmet Zulic, who testified about his six month detention in the Manjaca camp in northern Bosnia in 1992. When the prosecution showed a video from the Manjaca camp Zulic recognized himself among the inmates who were stitting on the floor in one big room.

The notorious Manjaca camp was used by Serb forces to detain roughly 4,000 people, primarily Bosniaks and Croats, in 1992.

Zulic told of his capture in the area of Sanksi Most in June 1992. After a period of detention and torture in garages in Betonirka, Zulic was transferred in the back of a tarpaulin covered truck to the Manjaca camp. Zulic explained that some of the prisoners died on the way to the camp.

“It was hot and we could not breathe . . . I [had] to drink my own urine since I was thirsty.”

While in the Manjaca camp, Zulic was severely beaten. He remains disabled today. His injuries included seven damaged vertebrae, fractured ribs, a broken finger, and smashed-in teeth. Zulic also recounted how he was forced to watch the killing of twenty men who had been forced to dig their own graves.

He said: “I am physically invalid. But I also suffer in a different way . . . I am going through it again, and again and again.” He added: “I have nightmares very often . . . I very frequently dream of people who were killed beside me or were dying beside me. I had one last night.”

Before Zulic was questioned, Judge O-Gon Kwon apologized to Zulic for the fact that he had to come to the Hague three times before finally taking the stand. The trial was officially started in October, 2009 when the prosecution made its initial statements, but was postponed numerous times in the following months due to boycotts and appeals made by Karadzic. Karadzic did not deliver the defense’s opening statement until this past March, and his final appeal was just rejected earlier this month.

The Court also warned Karadzic to keep his questioning relevant several times during the cross-examination, and warned him about the way in which he questioned Zulic.

Karadzic sought to discredit the Zulic by referring to him as “well trained by the prosecution,” referring to the fact that Zulic had been called in by prosecution to testify in the three earlier trials, including the trial of Slobodan Milosevic.

Zulic, a Muslim, testified that Serb captors had carved a cross into his chest while they tortured him. During the cross-examination Karadzic accused Zulic of lying about the torture.  At one point Zulic pulled open his shirt on the witness stand, pointed to his chest, and told the bench:

“Right here I have a cross carved in my skin. You can see the cross carved on my chest.”

The second prosecution witness to take the stand, Sulejman Crncalo, recalled his wife’s death in the Markale Massacre in Sarajevo on August 28, 1995.  Crncalo testified that his wife had left their home that morning to find powdered milk for the children. When she did not return by eleven in the morning as planned, Crncalo left to look for her. He described how he came upon the bloody scene at Markale, where Serb forces under Karadzic’s command had shot missiles into the busy market.

He said: “I arrived and saw blood all over the street, pieces of bodies, clothes, shoes . . . The balustrade on the side was covered in blood, like somebody painted it red.”

Crncalo wept as he described how he later discovered that his wife had been killed in the attack, and how he found her body in the hospital mortuary.

Karadzic, who is serving as his own defense lawyer, started his cross examination of Crncalo by expressing his condolences for Crncalo’s loss, and stating that he, Karadzic, would establish who was to blame for the massacre.

Karadzic claims that the killings at the Markale market were not committed by Bosnian Serb forces. However, in its ruling in the case of Dragomir Milosevic, the ICTY confirmed that the Bosnian Serbs were, in fact, responsible for the attack on the market.

Karadzic has denied all charges, and in his opening statement to the ICTY in March he claimed that the Srebrenica massacre was a “myth” and that other atrocities were “staged” by Muslims themselves. He also described Serb efforts against the Bosnians as “just and holy.”

 The prosecution’s witness list includes ten more people slated to take the stand, including victims of the Bosnian war, former UN military and civilian officials, and two protected witnesses whose names are being kept secret.

 For more information, please see:

AP – Serbs carved cross on my chest: witness tells Karadzic trial – 14 April 2010

Balkan Insight – Witness Describes Markale Massacre at Karadzic Trial – 14 April 2010

Radio Netherlands Worldwide – First witness testifies against Karadzic – 14 April 2010

Balkan Insight – FirstProsecution Witness Testifies Against Karadzic – 13 April 2010

Radio Free Europe – Karadzic Trial Resumes; First Witness Called – 13 April 2010