DR Congo Army Attacks Civilians at Measles Vaccination Site

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

DR Congo – The Congolese army attacked villages where civilians gathered to receive measles vaccinations.

The aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) denounced the attacks in North Kivu as “an abuse of humanitarian action.”  Thousands of civilians were attacked when they visited sites set up specifically to combat a measles epidemic.  The clinics were set up in order to provide the vaccine to workers otherwise unable to access regions controlled by the Hutu Rebels.

The aid agency said the clinics were targeted despite the security guarantees surrounding the aid camps.  Now MSF fears the ramifications of this attack will affect future attempts to immunize the public.  The targeting of civilians has been a major concern for charities operating in the region.  United Nations (UN) support for the government has been dependent on it respecting the neutrality of civilians.

“We feel we were used as bait . . . . How will MSF be perceived by the population now?  Will our patients still feel safe enough to come for medical care?” Said Luis Encinas, head of MSF programs in Central Africa.

The UN army has been helping the Congolese government in the offensive against Rwandan rebels since January 2009.  Now, the Congolese government says the military operations have been suspended to allow for a UN inquiry into the allegations that Congolese soldiers were responsible for killing civilians.

A military spokesman for the Congo’s UN mission said the government was unaware of the incident.

The leaders of the rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), fled to the area in 1994 after being accused of taking part in Rwanda’s genocide and have since been fighting with the local Tutsi population.  There have also been reports that more than 7,000 women and girls have been raped and more than 900,000 people forced to flee their homes.

For more information, please see:

BBC – DR Congo Army “Used Aid as Bait” – 6 Friday 2009

Reuters – Congo Army Attacked Measle Vaccine Sites-Aid Agency – 6 November 2009

VOA – Thousand Flee Ethnic Violence in Northern DRC – 6 November 2009

Saudi’s Engage Yemeni Rebels

By Ahmad Shihadah

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’NA, Yemen – Saudi Arabian forces have seized a strategic mountain straddling the border with Yemen and cleared it of Shi’ite rebels after five days of fighting that have left three Saudi soldiers dead, a Saudi defense official said Sunday.

In a dramatic escalation of the five-year conflict, Saudi forces began shelling and bombing rebel positions last week. Saudi Arabia entered the conflict after fears that extremism and instability in Yemen could spill into its country. Assistant Saudi Minister Khaled Bin Sultan said Sunday’s advance was a step toward sealing the Saudi border against the rebels. Saudi officials say their military has fought only in its own territory, focusing on rebel infiltrators, but Yemeni rebels, military officials and Arab diplomats say Saudi airstrikes have hit deep inside northern Yemen.

Rebel spokesman Mohammad Abdel-Salam denied that rebels had crossed the Saudi border, saying those detained were Yemeni migrants hoping to work in the much richer country. He continued saying, that “lies” about rebel infiltrators “reveal the failure of Yemeni government in confronting our forces, and that has pushed Yemeni regime to seek help from the Saudis.” Abdel-Salam also said rebel fighters shot down a Yemeni fighter jet on Sunday, and Yemeni and Saudi jets have carried out continuous strikes in the region, “damaging many villages and killing civilians.”

Yemeni officials claim that the jet crashed due to a technical error. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, said that the military would not cease the offensive against the Huthis “until we bring this tyrannical, traitorous and mercenary group to an end.”

For more information please see:

AP – Saudis Take Mountain from Yemen Rebels – 8 November 2009

BBC – Saudis ‘Push Back Yemen Rebels’ – 8 November 2009

Al-Jazeera – Saudis ‘Retake Captured Territory’ – 8 November 2009

Japan Promises Aid to Mekong Region

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

TOKYO, Japan – Japan and five Southeast Asian nations in the Mekong region ended a successful summit meeting on Saturday with Japan promising more than $5.5 billion in loans and grants in the next three years.

Japan’s prime minster said that the Mekong region comprising Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand is a “priority area” for Japan’s official development assistance.  The Mekong region is one of the poorest areas of Southeast Asia, isolated and marred by war and political turmoil.

The prime minister released a statement saying, “We strongly recogni[z]ed the need for further strengthening of Mekong-Japan relationship and cooperation to maximi[z]e the potential of the Mekong region.” 

A Japanese official from the foreign ministry added, “Japan plans to expand our humanitarian aid and assistance for human resources development….”

Accordingly, Japan’s prime minister plans to increase aid to Myanmar, a country criticized by the international community for its human rights abuses, including the detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Japan has given about $31 million worth of aid to Myanmar in the past.  The aid came mostly as disaster relief and humanitarian assistance since Japan has been reluctant to provide loans and grants to countries criticized for human rights violations.

The goal of the leaders at the Summit was to boost development through cooperation, and they agreed on a plan that would promote development, protect the environment and combat climate change.

The participants at the meeting also stated that they “expect” the Myanmar government to take “more positive steps in its democrati[z]ation process” and called for transparent elections next year.

The Japanese prime minister has been advocating for an EU-style Asian community and has been committed to strengthening economic development in Asia.  The Summit also came at a time when tensions between Thailand and Cambodia are increasing because of Cambodia naming Thailand’s fugitive ex-premier as Cambodian government adviser.
For more information, please see:

Asia One – Japan to increase aid to Myanmar: PM – 8 November 2009

Channel News Asia – Japan steps up aid to Mekong nations – 7 November 2009

Straight Times – Japan-Mekong talks wrap up – 7 November 2009

Malaysia Withholds 10,000 Confiscated Bibles

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Government officials in Malaysia seized and continue to refuse the release of 10,000 Bibles sequestered for using the word “Allah” to refer to God. Officials maintain their position after announcing their plan to withhold the Bibles on Wednesday, November 4.

The Bibles were apprehended by the Malaysian customs services, and according to a Home Ministry official, the government told the importer to return the Indonesian-language Bibles last month.

 The tension stems from the use of the word “Allah” in the Bibles, which is banned by the government for use by non-Muslims in an apparent act to appease Muslims. According to the same Home Ministry official, “the publications, the Bibles, are already banned.” He declined to make further comment, indicating that he is not authorized to make public statements.

Christians in Malaysia say the Muslim Malay-dominated government is violating their right to practice their religion freely. About 30 percent of the country’s 28 million people practice Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism or other faiths. The concern is that Malaysia will no longer be regarded as a peaceful nation. The Christian Federation of Malaysia, which had called for the release of all Bibles, described the seizure as “ridiculous and offensive.” The government maintains that the Arabic-origin word “Allah” is an Islamic word and its use by Christians and others will upset Muslims.

Bishop Ng Moon Hing, chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia said, “This constitutional right (to practice freely) is rendered illusory if Christians in Malaysia are denied access to Bibles in a language with which they are familiar.” 

In addition to the 10,000 most recently seized by the Malaysian government, another 5,100 Bibles, also imported from Indonesia, were confiscated in March and have not been released. There is apparently no immediate information on those Bibles or whether the publications will be released or returned in the near future.

For more information, please see:

MSNBC World News – Malaysia rejects call to release 10,000 Bibles – November 8. 2009

BBC World News – Malaysia withholds ‘Allah Bibles’ – Novmeber 4, 2009

The Jakarta Globe – 10,000 Indonesian Bibles Seized in Malaysia for Using the Word ‘Allah’ – November 6, 2009 

Associated Press – Malaysian government has refused to release 10000 Bibles – November 4, 2009

Youth Recruitment in Somalia

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia – The Kenyan government has been accused of secretly recruiting and training youths from the north eastern region to fight for the Somali transition government against al-Shabaab.

The al-Shabaab militant group in Somalia has accused Kenyan leadership of secret recruitment of fighters amongst young Kenyan Somalis to fight the Islamist movement.  al-Shabaab Islamic administration representative Sheikh Hassan Yaqub said Kenya’s north eastern region members of parliament (MPs) are responsible for the recruitment.

“Somali MPs in Kenyan parliament are responsible for recruitment of fighters in Kenyan border towns and we are warning them,” said Yaqub.

In the last three weeks at least 200 Kenyans of Somali origin have been recruited.

Habiba Kosar, one of many parents speaking out, said her 18-year-old son is being trained in a Kenyan government security facility.

“My son was picked in the middle of the night.  He is being trained for Somalia.  We have never seen Somalia and have no connection with the country.  I just want my son back,” she said.

Parents in Kenya have petitioned the government and local leaders for return of their children.

“The parents are claiming that their sons are [being] secretly smuggled out of the town in the name of army recruitment.  It is shocking to hear that [the] Kenyan government has indulged itself in such activities which can cause [this] region great concerns,” said Mayor Mohammed Gabow of Garissa town, headquarters of Kenya’s north eastern province.

Gabow accused the government of luring young men with large sums of money because of the rampant unemployment.

Both the Kenyan and Somali transitional government deny these claims.

“This is cheap propaganda disseminated by some militia groups in Somalia,” said a spokesman.  “What I am aware of is that the Kenya government and, by extension the Kenya police, has been, and will continue to be, training Somali youths to serve as policemen in their country.”

Kenyan authorities are accused of directly supporting the recruitment drive.

Escaped recruit Sharmarke Abdi said he escaped after two weeks of training alongside hundreds of Kenyan and Somali youths.

“We were told that the United Nations was supporting the recruitment.  We were transported in government vehicles.  We began training immediately.  Some of the trainers were from Somalia,” he said.

Conflict in Somalia continues as Islamist fighters and transitional government troops keep fighting.  Most recently, two have been killed and five others injured after heavy fighting with bitter shelling.  Islamists are fighting in favor of converting to an Islamic state while the current President is heading a transitional government.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Youth Lured to Fight in Somalia – 07 November 2009

All Africa – Somalia: Fighting Kills Two, Wounds Five Others in North Mogadishu – 07 November 2009

Garowe Online – Somalia: Al-Shabaab Accuses Kenyan MPs Over Youth Recruitment – 07 November 2009

Impunity Watch – Kenya Recruiting Soldiers in Somalia – 25 October 2009