China Responding With Rules to Combat Forced Eviction

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Chinese authorities are reacting and trying to calm angered people threatened to be evicted from their homes. For decades now, China has engaged in heavy urban development, causing millions of citizens to relocate. Many are left homeless, sometimes with inadequate or no compensation as crews move in to decimate certain areas. In turn, some regions have implemented rules that are designed to curb abuses by developers and demolition crews which have been the cause of poverty, unrest and deaths.

The draft rules were issued by the state council, China’s cabinet, on January 29. The regulations aim to ban developers and demolition crews from forcing people out through violence or by shutting off their access to essentials such as water or electricity. They would also demand that compensation be set at market price and that where homes are judged “old and dangerous,” 90% of residents would have to agree to the specified project or development. The rules also require that demolitions would be halted if occupants brought lawsuits. These rules are far more interactive and cognizant to the needs of citizens, who at present, have no say thereby allowing developers to go ahead even when challenged.

Despite the named and codified grievances, critics warn of potential loopholes in the rules, and express concern hat enforcement will be difficult because it is at least as important as the changes on paper. Before these rules even entered draft form, academics declared practices by developers as a breach of the constitution. Professors from Peking University said that such unfair practices took place in both cities and the countryside, and that land could be seized in some circumstances.

One professors, Shen Kui, said,: “I’m basically satisfied; this is progress and there are some big changes.” He went on to state that he believed the rules, still in draft form, would take effect within months, and that “the regulations will decrease the new cases where you get violence, but of course it also depends on a change in attitude from local governments … Courts [also] need to be more independent when dealing with these cases.”

What is clear, is that after several highly publicized incidents of individuals setting themselves on fire, China is striving to respond to displacement and forced eviction by developers.

For more information please see:

BBC News – China outlines plans to outlaw forced evictions – January 30, 2010

Telegraph – China moves to calm unrest over property seizures – January 29, 2010

Financial Times – China shakes up rules on land seizures – January 29, 2010

American Defects to North Korea to Join the Military

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – An American crossed into North Korea from China on Monday and is being detained by North Korea for illegally entering the communist country.

The unidentified American is apparently seeking asylum in North Korea and wants to join the North Korean military.

An anonymous source from North Korea said the 28-year old American said he came to North Korea because he “did not want to become a cannon fodder in the capitalist military” and instead “wants to serve in the North Korean military.”

North Korea’s Central News Agency broke the news of this case on Monday.  The news agency reported that the American was arrested for trespassing and that he is currently under investigation.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service unable to confirm the report, and the U.S. Embassy in Seoul had no comment regarding this case.

This is the second case in the past month of Americans being detained by North Korea.  In late December, the North detained an American missionary, Robert Park, for illegally crossing the North Korea-China border.

The U.S. State Department has requested the Swedish government to act an intermediary as the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents U.S. interests in North Korea, because the North and the U.S. have no formal diplomatic relationship.

The State Department spokesman said that the report is being investigated; however, at the present time, there is no information regarding the man’s name or occupation.

The detention of Americans comes at a time when North Korea ignored warnings from both Washington and Seoul and fired live artillery into the sea by the disputed border area between the North and South Korea.

Experts have said that North Korea may use detainees as bargaining chip with the U.S. in negotiations concerning North’s nuclear programs.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – North Korea holding second U.S. citizen, U.S. says – 29 January 2010

Telegraph –American ‘defected’ say North Koreans – 30 January 2010

The Washington Post – Report: Detained American seeks asylum in NKorea – 30 January 2010

American Defects to North Korea to Join the Military

2.4 Million Colombians Displaced

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia-A new report by a non-governmental organization released on Wednesday found that in the last twenty-five years, 2.4 million people were displaced under the presidency of Alvaro Uribe. The report was prepared by the Consultancy on Human Rights and Displacement (Codhes).

According to the report, 2009 saw a twenty four percent drop in displacement relative to 2008. In 2008 there was a record high of 380,863 people forcibly displaced. The head of Codhes stated that “clearly there is progress in some sectors of society, but not for the entire population, which calls into question the entire police of “Democratic Security.”

The report found that people are most affected in the regions of Chaco, Nariño Antioquia, Cordoba, Cauca, Arauca, Valle del cauca, Risadalda, Bolívar, Cesar, Meta, and Guajira. Narña, reportedly has experienced the worst displacement, with fifty-six percent of the total amount of displacement events.

Nariño is located on the border with Ecuador and is home to the majority of Colombian indigenous communities. It has been the sight of constant conflict between the Colombian military and the FARC rebels.

The “Democratic Security” policy went into effect in 2003, and has operated with the objective of widening the territory under the direct control of the central government and denying access of land to illegal armed groups; protecting population centers with the presence of security forces; and fighting the flow of drugs.

The head of Codhes told media that “at the core of the reasons for this forced displacement is the violent appropriation of land, and threats to leave that are issued by paramilitaries and the Revolutionary Armed Forces in Colombia.” He also pointed out that, although the number of Colombians leaving the country has declined, “Colombia is still the country with the highest number of refugees in the world after Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan.”

The “democratic security” policy has been criticized as ignoring the social costs of its implementation and for the fact that Colombian civilians are exposed to danger and human rights abuses.

For more information, please see:

IPS-COLOMBIA:Who Cares About the Victims of Forced Displacement?-29 January 2010

Morning Star-Violence Forces Out 286,000 Colombians-28 January 2010

Colombia Reports-2.4 Million Colombians Displaced Under Uribe Presidency-27 January 2010

Child Labor in Ecuador

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

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QUITO, Ecuador-The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Guinara Shahinian, expressed grave concern about the continued use of child labor in Ecuador. Ms. Shahinian just finished a tour of Ecuador. She concluded that child labor is a continued impediment to development in Ecuador.

Ms. Shahinian spoke with key stakeholders in the field of child rights and child labor. She also spoke with children and workers. An official report will be submitted to the Human Rights Council. Child labor is most likely to be found in banana plantations, flower farms, and garbage dumps. Child laborers lose out on education and limit their potential to earn a higher income and move their families out of the poverty cycle.

Other instances of labor exploitation observed during the visit included inhuman and degrading treatment, as well as discrimination. These situations reportedly exacerbate labor exploitation which are disproportionately encountered by refugee and asylum-seeking communities of Colombian nationals.

Special Rapporteur Shahinian praised Ecuador for a “genuine commitment to the elimination of child labor, including its worst forms, domestic servitude, forced labor, and debt bondage.”  Ecuador has worked comprehensively with the U.N. in developing initiatives, including a monitoring system.

One potential source of the difficulty in ending child labor is the income inequalities between families of indigenous or Afro-Ecuadorean decent and those of European or Mestizo descent. Children of indigenous or Afro-Ecuadorean descent have the most difficulty accessing education and are more likely to live in poverty.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits children under fifteen years of age from being employed or working dangerous conditions. The Ecuadorean constitution reaffirms these ideas.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Education Associates-Ecuador: Child Labor an Obstacle to Development-2 February 2010

SOS Children’s Village-Child Labor Impedes Development in Ecuador-2 February 2010

U.N. Radio-UN Expert Says Child Labor Still a Problem in Ecuador-2 February 2010

East Timorese Police Beat Up Man, UN Peacekeepers Watch

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

DILI, East Timor – UN peacekeepers turned the other cheek as East Timorese police they were supposed to be mentoring allegedly beat up on a young man late last year.

The East Timorese police allegedly hit, kicked and repeatedly stomped on the young man near an official ceremony.

There is growing concern about the supervision and training that the UN Integrated Mission in East Timor is providing to local police.  The UN mission is also supported by Australian Federal Police and Australian soldiers.

Officers of the Policia Nacional de Timor-Leste (PNTL) allegedly kicked the man in the head and hit him with a rifle butt.

A film of this incident was posted on the internet and handed over East Timorese authorities this month.

The sequence of events depicted in the film shows a young man, who was standing on a beach on Atauro Island and holding a sign relating to a local fishing group, being dragged away by PNTL officers, while UN police watch in the background.

No one has suggested that East Timor President, Jose Ramos Horta, who was holding a fishing competition on the Island, observed the incident.

After being dragged away, PNTL officers attempted to handcuff the youngman while two plainclothes officers stood on him, stomping on his back.

The video then shows the officers kicking the man in the head.  Another plainclothes officer slammed the rifle-butt into his stomach.

While the beating was taken place, the video also shows uniformed UN officers looking on, just beyond the circle of PNTL officers.

According to Gyorgy Kakuk, a UN East Timor spokesperson, a joint investigation, and a separate criminal investigation, has been commenced by both the UN and the PNTL.

The spokesman also indicated that once it is established what happened and why, that there may be a separate investigation into the responsibility of police officers, other than PNTL.

“The investigation has to determine what has happened, why did it happen there and, as a result of that investigation, perhaps there will be an investigation established into responsibility of other police officers other than PNTL.”

Australian peacekeepers were not involved in the incident.

However, in a separate controversial incident, Australian soldiers allegedly ran over an East Timorese woman in early December.  The soldiers, who were apparently unaware that the woman died as a result of head injuries from the incident, made no attempts to contact the victim’s family to express their regret or to offer compensation.

Since arriving in 2006, Australian troops, contrary to the UN’s system of accountability, are not under the command of the UN.  The Timorese also believe that Australian soldiers should be placed under UN control.

The UN peacekeeping mission in East Timor became involved in rebuilding the police forces in East Timor, so that they would be capable of policing the country by 2010.

Meanwhile, the Special Representative for the Secretary-General of the UN, Ameerah Haq, has visited several East Timorese districts that are in the transition process.

She noted, “I am impressed by the level of organization and professionalism displayed by PNTL officers . . . as well as the continuing working relationship with UN police officers who now focus on monitoring and mentoring their PNTL colleagues.”

For more information please see:
The Australian – UN peacekeepers stood by East Timorese bash a young man – 29 January 2010

UN News Centre – New UN envoy assesses progress made by Timorese police force – 29 January 2010

Sydney Morning Herald – Left in lurch, says Timor family – 28 January 2010