Solomon’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Plans to Have Its First Hearing

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

HONIARA, Solomon Islands – The first public hearing by the Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission is to be held this week.

The first national public hearing of the Commission comes almost a year after the Commission was established in April last year. The Commission was formed to end the chaos and violence in the Solomon Islands from 1997-2003, mainly because of conflict between gangs from the islands of Malaita and Guadalcanal.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s primary function is to promote national unity and reconciliation.

In a public announcement, the Commission says the national public hearing is “one of the most significant activities of the Commission’s work plan to accomplish their mission.”

The public hearing allows victims and witnesses of crimes committed during tensions in Solomon Islands the opportunity to give testimony regarding their experiences.

The Commission stated that “the public hearings will give voice to victims of the ethnic tensions who have had to silently endure abuses and crimes impossible to describe.”

The ethnic tensions have claimed 100 lives so far, and displaced about 20,000 persons in the Solomon Islands.

The Commission hopes to end the “silence” and make the country “recognize their sufferings and feel their tragedy that has long been denied.”

The hearing is expected to last for two days. During these days, victims and witnesses from Guadalcanal, Malaita, Western Province, and Choiseul are expected to appear before the Commission to offer their testimony.

The victims will not be allowed to name individuals, but they are allowed to name the groups that have abused them.

The hearings will take place at the Forum Fisheries Agency offices in Honiara on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 9-10, 2010.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – First hearing of Solomons Truth and Reconciliation Commission this week – 07 March 2010

Solomon Times Online – First TRC Public Hearing Next Week – 05 March 2010

Three Rivers Episcopal – Archbishop Tutu launches Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the Solomon Islands – 20 May 2009

Australia Intercepts Asylum Seekers, Expands Christmas Island Facilities

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia – As the number of boats carrying asylum seekers to Australia continues to rise, questions have been raised over the Government’s immigration and border protection policies.

Over the last two days alone, two boats were intercepted by authorities, who subsequently brought the individuals to the detention center at Christmas Island.

Christmas Island has itself been the subject of much scrutiny recently.  Australian newspapers have recently been reporting that the number of detainees on Christmas Island will double, reaching approximately 5,000 by 2014.  Many believe that if this were to happen, Christmas Island would become similar to a penal colony.  However, the Government has stated that these figures are inaccurate.

These reports have placed pressure on the Government to clarify just how many asylum seekers it plans to house at the facility.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd denies reports that the Government plans to increase the capacity of the immigration detention center at Christmas Island. He has indicated that the detention center at Christmas Island can currently hold approximately 2,040 detainees. Currently, the Government has plans to expand the facility’s capacity to 2,300 individuals.  It began construction on an addition to the main detention center’s facility, which would house an additional 400 beds.

Despite the Government’s insistence that there are no plans to double the size of the detention center, opposition immigration officials believe that the government still needs clarify its plans.  The detention center is having problems accommodating the number of asylum seekers that are currently housed there.

The opposition claims that Christmas Island originally was built to house approximately 1,200 detainees at the most.

Approximately 400 asylum seekers arrive each month while only 100 leave.  On average, an asylum seeker could spend between 100 and 110 days at the facility.

Many of the asylum seekers have arrived illegally by boat.  This year alone, the navy has intercepted eighteen boats carrying asylum seekers.

In order to save on the costs of running Christmas Island, some individuals recommend that immigrants be processed on Australia’s mainland.  This year’s budget for operations is expected to cost between $280 and $300 million.

For more information please see:
ABC News – Rudd shoots down detention centre report – 07 March 2010

Brisbane Times – Two asylum seeker boats intercepted – 07 March 2010

ABC News – Christmas Island detainee population to double: report – 06 March 2010

The West Australian – Govt quiet on Christmas Island detention – 06 March 2010

Women and Children Slayed in Nigeria

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

JOS, Nigeria – Renewed violence between Christians and Muslims leaves hundreds of women and children dead in the streets.

The attack occurred around  3 a.m. in the Village of Dogo Nahawa, just south of Jos.  Villagers reported that men from the surrounding hills raided their village and started shooting into the air, then slashed those who came out of their homes with machetes.

“A senior police chief said the perpetrators of this attack came in from Bauchi state.  [He said] the fighting exploded between herdsmen from Bauchi and villagers,” said Yvonne Nedge, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Abuja.

There is conflicting information about how many have been killed.  Some are reporting only eight casualties, and others report hundreds.

At this time, it is not absolutely clear exactly what triggered the violence.  Some reports describe the incident as an act of religious violence.  Jos lies at the crossroads of Nigeria’s Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.

In the years prior to this attack, Jos has had four major violent incidents between Muslims and Christians.  January marks the most recent incident that lead to the death of over 325 people.

This unrest comes at a bad time for Nigeria.  The acting president Goodluck Jonathan has been struggling to rule while Umaru Yar’Adua, the countries leader, recovers from a heart condition.   On going conflicts surrounding the oil rich region have also sparked repeated violence over the past decade.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Scores Killed in Nigeria Clashes – 7 March 2010

AP – Reporter:  More than 200 Dead in Nigeria Violence – 7 March 2010

AP – Scores Killed in Nigeria Violence – 7 March 2010

Reuters – Clashes Kill More than 100 in Central Nigeria – 7 March 2010

VOA – At Least 109 Dead in Central Nigeria Violence – 7 March 2010

EU Demands Human Rights Progess from Morocco

By Nykoel Dinardo
Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

GRENADA, Spain – On March 6, Morocco became the first Arab country to join the Summit of the European Union (EU).  Twenty-seven states attended the summit, and concerns about the state of human rights in Morocco joined the agenda. 

EU President Herman Van Rompuy called on Morocco to make progress in their human rights department – addressing specifically the challenge of Western Sahara, an area that has been demanding independence from Morocco since the region was annexed in 1975.   Van Rompuy stated that a “just and lasting” solution for the region needed to be created. 

Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas al-Fassi acknowledged that there had been rights violations.  However, he said that they had been handled in much the same manner as a violation would be handled by an EU state.  Al-Fassi stated that Morocco would like to see Western Sahara as an autonomous region, but an area that is still part of the Moroccan territory.  He also accused Algeria of interfering in the process of creating a viable solution, claiming that the neighbor state was preventing any solution from coming forth.

The Summit meeting also addressed the problems of lack of development and illiteracy in the Maghreb state.  Morocco signed an association agreement with the EU in 1996, and the two regions are working together to improve development opportunities. 

On Saturday, before the Summit, the Moroccan Ministers of Agriculture, Economy, Education, Trade and Foreign Affairs met in Spain with Spanish Employer and Industry Association representations.  The meeting was set to address future opportunities in the transport, logistics, infrastructure, energy, and renewable energy sectors.   This meeting, together with the Summit, is hoped to bring about new plans for development and common economic programs between Morocco and the EU.

For more information, please see:

AFP – EU Demands More Rights Progress From Morocco – 7 March 2010

Earth News – EU Presses Morocco on Human Rights – 7 March 2010

AFP – Morocco to be First Arab Nation in EU Summit – 6 March 2010

iStockAnalyst – EU Enhances Cooperation with Morocco – 6 March 2010

Donor Fatigue Hits North Korea

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – The World Food Programme (WFP) announced Thursday that efforts to deliver aid to starving North Korea will stop by July if donations do not increase.

According to a senior UN official, WFP’s Pyongyang office is on the brink of closure as aid to North Korea has decreased due to growing donor fatigue.

He said, “WFP can continue to support around 1.4m children and pregnant women with fortified foods until the end of June.  However, new contributions are required now or the operation will come to a standstill in July.”

In 2008, WFP saw a similar aid crunch where the programme had difficulty attracting donors, and UN officials opine that donors have once again become exasperated with North Korea.

For example, the U.S. was once a leading food donor, but the U.S. has announced that it will no longer supply cereals to the North until North Korea “resumes proper monitoring.” 

Relationship between North Korea and the U.S. deteriorated last year when the North refused to issue visas to monitors who wanted to ensure that the food aid was going to the hungry citizens and not being funneled to the military and the government elite.

Although the exact condition of malnutrition in North Korea is hard to gauge, the country’s leader Kim Jong-il has made a very rare apology this year for “failing to deliver rice and meat stew to the people.”

A non-governmental relief agency also called on South Korea to resume food aid to North Korea so as to ease the North’s worst food shortage since the 1990’s.

Current conservative South Korea administration has stopped shipments of food to North Korea with resuming aid conditional on the North making progress in the Six-Party Talks.

Aid organizations have said that North Korea will need at least 1 million tons of food from donors to feed its 24 million citizens.  Reports have also indicated that thousands have already starved to death this winter due to soaring food prices resulting from the recent currency reevaluation.

A graveyard in North Korea’s northeastern port city of Chongjin sees an average of two to three funerals a day now, compared to one funeral every three days before the country was hit with inflation caused by the currency reevaluation.

For more information, please see:

Bangkok Post – Lack of honors hits N.Korea food relief efforts – 4 March 2010

The Financial Times – Donor fatigue threatens to choke aid for North Korea – 4 March 2010

Yonhap News – NGO warns of extreme famine in N. Korea, urges aid – 5 March 2010