Burma Urged to Free Suu Kyi

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

MYANMAR, Burma- On Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama urged the prime minister of Burma to release Aung San Suu Kyi, a pro-democracy leader.  Obama delivered the message when he met leaders of the south-east Asian nations in Singapore.  The President raised the issue “directly” with Prime Minister Thein Sein, according to the White House press secretary. Obama’s comments came on the heels of Suu Kyi’s fresh appeal with the military-ruled country’s highest court against her extended house arrest.

Despite the influence and violence of insurgency organizations prevalent in Afghanistan, the Oxfam survey demonstrates that the civilian population considers their regime one of the lesser issues contributing to the overall despondency in the nation.  Among the 704 Afghan men and women who participated in the Oxfam study, approximately 19% blame the al-Qaeda terrorist network for the state of seemingly constant conflict in the nation.  This statistic, though perhaps shocking upon first glance, reinforces the popular belief among the Afghan population that corrupt officials in the government are responsible for their poor mode of living.  

Further exemplifying this notion is the result showing that only about 35% of the Afghan population believes that the Taliban regime is the most critical factor for war in Afghanistan.  Juxtaposed with the finding that about 70% of the 704 surveyed subjects believe the Afghan government is the cause of the crises in the nation, it seems clear where the discontent of the people lies.   

An even smaller percentage of the Afghan population believes that external and less powerful factors are the cause of turmoil in Afghanistan.  About 15% of the interviewed subjects believed crime organizations and warlords are Afghanistan’s largest problem.  The disproportionate amount of Afghan nationals believing that corruption in the government is the most detrimental factor to the nation’s chance for peace further suggests that the main aim of the re-elected president should be to investigate his own officials.  

The Oxfam study also highlights numerous human rights violations perpetrated against Afghan citizens.  Of the 704 survey subjects, 75% have been forced to vacate their homes at least once since 1979.  10% have been imprisoned at least once, and one in six are considering leaving the country due to the untrustworthy government and the inability to live peacefully in Afghanistan.

Outside of the Oxfam study, drug traffic has also been cited as a reason for the broken state of Afghanistan.  The prevalent drug-trade in Afghanistan creates a higher-crime environment in the nation, perpetuating the killings and government corruption already plaguing Afghan nationals.  

It remains to be seen what measures President Karzai, whose own brother was once implicated in drug-related investigations, will take to regain the trust of the Afghanistan government.   

 

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Poverty and graft ‘fuel Afghan war’ – 18 November 2009

BBC – Afghans Blame Poverty for War – 18 November 2009

Radio Netherlands Worldwide – Afghans say unemployment and poverty is fueling war -18 November 2009

Drought and Fighting Create Cause For Panic in Southern Sudan

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

POCHALLA, Sudan — The Southern Sudanese people are now facing famine following low rainfall and a surge in tribal conflicts.

An increasing number of people in Southern Sudan cannot find enough to eat or adequate pasture and water for their livestock raising fears of conflict between communities over grazing lands. Adding to the problem, an increase in tribal fighting has driven many families away from their homes and sparse crops, leaving them even more vulnerable.

U.N. officials earlier this year said at least 1.2 million people in the underdeveloped region could be left without enough food after a poor start to the rainy season.

“Here the crisis is going to hit very hard, we’re just seeing the beginning of it at the moment,” UNICEF’s deputy executive director Hilde Johnson told journalists on a visit to the south’s oil-producing Jonglei state. “If we are not able to handle the situation well … we can expect very, very significant levels (of hunger) which can border on the red flag emergency which becomes a famine,” said Johnson.

“Where there was peace, there was no rain and then where there were good rains, there was insecurity,” Kuol Manyang, governor of Jonglei State, said. His counterpart from Upper Nile State, Gutlauk Deng Garang, warned that hunger would force pastoralist cattle herders to move their animals, sharply increasing the likelihood of clashes with rival ethnic groups.

More than 2,000 people have died and about 350,000 have been displaced by violence across Southern Sudan since January, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The World Food Programme (WFP), which began airdropping food in the area on 4 November, estimates that 1.2 million people are already facing serious food insecurity in Southern Sudan.

For more information, please see:

IRIN – Increasing Hunger Could Fuel Conflict in South – 16 November 2009

New York Times- South Sudan Faces Famine Danger After Poor Rains – U.N. – 8 November 2009

Reuters – South Sudan Faces Famine Danger After Poor Rains – 8 November 2009

Rwanda Genocide Conviction Overturned, “Monsieur Z” is Free

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ARUSHA, Tanzania – A United Nations court has overturned a conviction and 20-year sentence faced by the former Rwandan president’s brother-in-law for the organization of a massacre during the country’s 1994 genocide.

After a hearing at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in Tanzania, Judge Theodor Meron ordered the immediate release of Protais Zigiranyirazo (“Mr. Z”).

In a 30-page ruling, the court said that it had reversed Mr. Z’s convictions for genocide and crimes against humanity because those convictions had “violated the most basic and fundamental principles of justice.”  Also stating that, “In these circumstances, the Appeals Chamber had no choice, but to reverse Zigiranyirazo’s conviction.”  The court declared that trial judge had, “seriously erred in its handling of the evidence.”

Reporters who attended the hearing said Mr. Z looked stunned and relieved by the ruling.

“God is great and justice has been done.  I am very happy,” he told BBC reporters.

Zigiranyirazo’s lead defense attorney, John Philopt, is pushing for him to be sent back to Belgium where he was arrested, or to France where his wife lives.  He says that they are very happy with the judgment, but that Zigiranyirazo must be reimbursed for the damage that was done.  Philpot says the 8 1/2 years spent in detention need to be reimbursed in some way.

The excitement over the judgment is not shared by all. Rwanda’s prosecutor general, Martin Ggoga, stated that regardless of the procedural mistakes that were made, the verdict is “deeply disappointing.”

“If ‘Monsieur Z’ could be found innocent how is anyone going to be found guilty.  This decision attacks the very roots of trying to find justice for the genocide,” said continued.

In 2008, Zigiranyirazo was convicted of organizing a massacre that left about 1,000 Tutsis dead.  During the genocide at least 500,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.  The genocide began in April 1994 when President Habyarimana’s plan was brought down.  During this time, his brother-in-law, Zigiranyirazo, was a very influential member of the Rwandan government.

Once the violence started, the killings spread across the country and lasted 100 days.  It finally came to an end when Tutsi, Paul Kagame, led his rebel army to overthrow the Hutu government.  Kagame is currently Rwanda’s president.


For more information, please see:

AP – Judge Frees Rwandan, Overturns Genocide Conviction – 16 November 2009

BBC – Rwanda Genocide Ruling Overturned – 16 November 2009

Guardian – Rwanda Genocide Conviction Quashed Leaving Monsieur Z Free – 16 November 2009

PNG Politicians Join International Campaign to Support West Papuans

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea – Three politicians from Papua New Guinea (PNG) have joined an international campaign to support West Papuans that were allegedly persecuted by Indonesian authorities.

It is estimated that 10,000 to 20,000 West Papuans now live in PNG after they fled their homes on the Indonesian side of the border. These West Papuans were forced to flee because of the human rights abuses they suffered in Indonesia.

Hundreds of West Papuans settled in a refugee camp near the border in PNG’s Southern Highlands region.

The Indonesian government now plans to repatriate up to 700 West Papuans who live in PNG’s capital, Port Moresby, and towns along the shared border.

The Governor of Port Moresby, Powers Parkop, stated that PNG “has turned a blind eye and deaf ear to the issue.”

Jamie Maxton-Graham and Boka Kondra also criticize PNG’s inaction over the “plight of their fellow Melanesians” (the Melanesians are an ethnic minority in Indonesia’s Papua province).

Maxton-Graham stated that he will help launch and sign the PNG Charter of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua.

These three politicians joined 50 others from other countries in signing the charter. The charter calls for the United Nations to “restore the right of the indigenous people of West Papua to self-determination.”

The other signatories of the charter include Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens MP Greg Barber, and MPs from the UK, Sweden, Czech Republic, Vanuatu, and New Zealand.

In response to seeing horrific photos of atrocities on West Papuans allegedly committed by the Indonesian police and military, Maxton-Graham stated: “The international community and our charter says Indonesia must stop this.”

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand – Three PNG MPs support self determination cause for West Papuans – 15 November 2009

Asian Pacific Solidarity Network – Papua New Guinea politicians join campaign to support persecuted West Papuans – 13 November 2009

Free West Papua – Global lobby for West Papua takes off in PNG – 13 November 2009

InfoPapua.org – Global lobby for West Papua takes off in PNG – 13 November 2009

Palestinians Plan U.N. Statehood Bid

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – Palestinian officials announced on November 15 that they would seek a United Nations resolution to establish an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The proposed state would follow borders in place before the 1967 war between Israel and the Palestinians, and would include East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.

 

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, held a press conference to accompany the announcement, and said that the Palestinian Authority had decided to take its case to the U.N. after negotiations surrounding talks between Israel and the Palestinians had stalled, primarily due to disagreements about Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

 

“Now is our defining moment,” Erekat said. “We went into this peace process in order to achieve a two-state solution…The endgame is to tell the Israelis that now the international community has recognized the two–state solution on the ’67 borders.”

 

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Israeli cabinet on the day after the Palestinian announcement that there was a strong possibility of a U.N. vote in favor of a Palestinian state, as many countries had previously expressed support for the Palestinians. Israel was created by a U.N. mandate after World War II.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference after the Palestinian announcement, rejecting the Palestinian action and saying that a unilateral action by the Palestinians would negate any terms of the 1998 Oslo Peace Accords and would destroy any goodwill between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

 

“There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and any unilateral path will only unravel the framework of agreements between us and will bring unilateral steps from Israel’s side,” said Netanyahu.

 

Middle East observers believe that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s options for moving forward are limited. Abbas announced a week before this most recent development that he would not seek reelection in a Palestinian national vote scheduled for 2010. Many experts have commented that Abbas was considerably weakened by Israel’s unwillingness to freeze all settlement construction in the West Bank.

 

For more information, please see:

 

Al Jazeera – Palestinians Warned Over U.N. Move – 16 November 2009

 

Ha’aretz – U.S.: Best Way to Achieve a Viable Palestine is Talks – 16 November 2009

 

Ma’an News Agency – Erekat: World Should Stand Against Occupation – 16 November 2009

 

Christian Science Monitor – Israel Rejects Palestinian Statehood Bid Via the U.N. – 15 November 2009

 

New York Times – Palestinians Aim to Secure U.N. Support for State – 15 November 2009