Prison Sentence for People-Smuggling Is Criticized as Being Excessive

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

DARWIN, Australia – Judge Dean Mildren for the Northern Territory criticizes the laws that forced him to sentence two Indonesians to five years in jail for smuggling asylum-seekers. Judge Mildren stated that he would have preferred to give the two Indonesians a lesser penalty.

Australia has struggled over the increasing number of boat arrivals with people from war-ravaged countries seeking asylum. Boat crews usually comprise of poor fishermen who are approached by trafficking organizers and given lucrative fees for smuggling people. The organizers are rarely caught themselves, and the fishermen suffer the consequences.

On October 23, 2009, Mohamad Tahir and Beny pled guilty to smuggling asylum-seekers on a boat. The two Indonesians are only 19 years of age. They were both charged with illegally bringing five or more people into Australia.

Tahir and Beny were crew members aboard the boat SIEV 36. The boat was apprehended by the Australian Navy on April 15. The boat was heading towards Christmas Island, but exploded and caught fire near Ashmore Island, killing the five asylum seekers and injuring more than 40 people.

At the Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin, Tahir and Benny both admitted their guilt. Tahir appeared on the dock, and stated: “Yes I am guilty of bringing people who have no lawful right to come to Australia.”

The Court also heard testimony that the two Indonesians were from “poor fishing families and had acted out of financial hardship when they were approached to carry asylum-seekers to Australia. Both had been approached by older men and offered $560 to smuggle the five asylum-seekers. Both are also illiterate.

Judge Mildren sentenced Tahir and Beny to five years in prison. However, he stated that he was “forced to sentence the pair to five years in prison with a non-parole period of three years, because of the mandatory minimum sentencing policy introduced by the Howard government” and that the time the two Indonesians would spend behind bars was “greater than the justice of the case.”

Judge Mildren emphasized that he would have imposed a lower sentence if there was not a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, specifically because the two men were poor and had little education. He further commented that “[i]n cases such as this, the ordinary sentencing principles play no function.”

According to the law, the men must serve at least three years of their term before they are eligible for parole.

Judge Mildren recommended to the federal Attorney-General to consider releasing the men after 12 months because of their young age, poor financial status, and if they assisted the authorities to track down the traffickers they were approached by.

For more information, please see:
The Australian – Jail term “excessive” for people-smugglers – 29 October 2009

ABC News – People smuggling: judge irked by sentencing laws – 28 October 2009

The Jakarta Post – 2 Indonesians sentenced to 5 years for people smuggling – 28 October 2009

PerthNow – SIEV 36 crew jailed after fatal people smuggling trip – 28 October 2009

Townsville Bulletin – Two from fatal people smuggling trip jailed – 28 October 2009

Words News Australia – Two Indonesians plead guilty to people smuggling – 23 October 2009

Hamas Seeks to Ban Elections in Gaza

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – The Hamas Interior Ministry released a statement on October 28, saying that it would not open polling stations for the national elections announced by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The statement said that Abbas did not have the authority to call such elections without a national agreement, and characterized the move as “illegal and unconstitutional.”

 

President Abbas had announced that Palestinian elections would be held on January 24, 2010, after Hamas party leadership refused to sign an Egyptian-mediated reconciliation agreement between Hamas and its rival party, Fatah, which governs the West Bank. Ehab Al-Ghsain, the Hamas interior ministry spokesperson, said that Gazan officials have been instructed not to cooperate with any Fatah efforts to stage the election.

 

“Any preparations, any committees, any collecting of names will be regarded as an illegal action that we will pursue,” said Al-Ghsain.

 

Ghsain also said that the Palestinian Central Election Commission, which currently has five offices in Gaza, is no longer authorized to operate in the Gaza Strip, since Hamas and Fatah had agreed during the Egyptian negotiations that a new election oversight body should be formed.

 

The relationship between Hamas and Fatah erupted into a feud after Hamas took a large share of the Gaza parliamentary seats after the January 2006 elections. The two parties formed a tense power-sharing government for approximately a year, but after fighting between the two parties in June 2007, Hamas took over Fatah-run buildings and military posts in Gaza to prevent what it perceived as “a coup by some elements inside Fatah security forces.” Hamas subsequently banned Fatah from Gaza.

 

Despite the tumultuous history, Salih Rafat, a senior official with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) expressed hope that Hamas would eventually decide to participate in the elections.

 

“The leadership [of the PLO] is now making calls to all the Arab countries to assume their role with Hamas to facilitate the holding of these elections,” Rafat told the AFP news agency.

 

For more information, please see:

 

International Middle East Media Center – This Week in Palestine – 30 October 2009

 

Al Jazeera – Hamas “Bans” January Polls in Gaza – 28 October 2009

 

BBC News – Hamas in Gaza Elections Warning – 28 October 2009

 

Press TV – Hamas Rejects Elections in Gaza – 28 October 2009

 

Radio France Internationale – Hamas to Ban Elections in Gaza – 28 October 2009

South Korea Grapples with ‘Race’

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea –   A report issued on October 21 by Amnesty International reveals the country’s social concern over racism and discrimination.

The report showed that there is a widespread racist sentiment against migrant workers, who mostly are from poor Asian countries. In compiling its research, the human rights organization cited sexual abuse, racial slurs, inadequate safety training and the mandatory disclosure of H.I.V. status, a requirement not imposed on South Koreans in the same jobs. The report also found in citing local news media and rights advocates, that following last year’s financial downturn, “incidents of xenophobia are on the rise.”

South Korea is noted as a country that has been repeatedly invaded by neighboring countries, and as a result, the people of South Korea have grown to adopt racial outlooks that have been colored by “pure-blood” nationalism as well as traditional patriarchal mores, according to Seol Dong-hoon, a sociologist at Chonbuk National University. There are even reports that North Korean authorities force women to have abortions who return home pregnant after going to China to find food, as stated by defectors and human rights groups.

The report goes on to assess how globalization for many South Koreans, has largely meant increasing exports or going abroad to study, and that now that it is also bringing an influx of foreigners into a society where 42 percent of respondents (in a 2008 survey) said they had never once spoken with a foreigner.

There is evidence though, that action is being taken to remedy this perverse level of racism. On July 10, Bonogit Hussain, a 29-year-old Indian man, and Hahn Ji-seon, a female Korean friend, were riding a bus near Seoul when another passenger made racial and sexist comments toward them. Customarily, this interaction was not unfamiliar, however, this time the media in the South Korean media broadcasted the incident, and subsequently, prosecutors sprang into action. The passenger was found, identified, arrested, and charged with contempt. This is noteworthy, because for the first time, such charges had been applied to an alleged racist offense.

As a result of this case, which is pending in court, rival South Korean political parties have begun drafting legislation that for the first time would provide a detailed definition of discrimination by race and ethnicity and impose criminal penalties.

 

For more information, please see:

EIN World News Report – South Korea Racism & Xenophobia News – November 2, 2009

New York Times – South Koreans Struggle With Race  – November 2, 2009  

The Hankyoreh – Foreigners cite nationalism, discrimination as barriers to life in Korea – April 23, 2009

Congolese Army Killed 62 Civilians in DR Congo

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo – Due to accusations that the Congolese army killed 62 civilians, the United Nations (UN) has withdrawn its support to the soldiers operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

“[C]ivilians have been clearly targeted in attacks by certain elements of the FARDC (the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo),” said UN peacekeeping chief Alain Leroy.

Human Rights activists have persistently said that ethnic Hutus were being killed by the Congolese army.  They have also accused the UN of doing little to stop the killings.

Leroy stated that the peacekeeping mission (Monuc) will “immediately suspend” its logistical and operational support to the army units who are implicated in the killings.

Source say that at least 62 civilians, including women and children, were killed between May and September 2009 in the Nord-Kivu province.

There is currently a UN joint inquiry in the killings being carried out with the Congolese army.  The UN is awaiting the results of the inquiry before any further action.

Human Rights groups have estimated that hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands of women have been raped by rebels and soldiers since DR Congo and Rwanda launched the joint offensive in January.

The Hutu rebel group has been at the heart of the years of unrest in the region.  They have participated in the massacres of more than 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.  The UN has been providing logistical assistance to the FARDC since March in their efforts to tackle Rwandan Hutu rebels.

For more information, please see:

AFP – UN Suspends Support for DR Congo Army Over Killings – 2 November 2009

AP – UN: Congolese Army Killed 62 Civilians in E. Congo – 2 November 2009

BBC – UN Drops Congo Army Over Killings – 2 November 2009

Xinhua – DR Congo in Better Situation But Still in Aftermath of Insecurity – 2 November 2009

Reuters –  Lack of U.N. Air Power Endangers Congo Civilians – 1 November 2009

Mugabe Takes a “Sharp Dig” at Tsvangirai

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe continue to verbally combat one another amidst their efforts to work together.

This past Saturday, Mugabe took a “sharp dig” at Tsvangirai and criticized his decision to boycott the country’s Unity Cabinet.  On October 16, Tsvangirai temporarily withdrew from the Cabinet citing a lack of co-operation and human rights abuses by Mugabe and his party as the reason why.

“Even if some person is not mentally stable he is still your partner . . . . We bound ourselves to work together even though we had disparate positions.  We will continue talking, no matter what,” continued Mugabe.

Mugabe, 85 years-old, has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence from Britain in 1980.  Mugabe said that although he disagrees with his former coalition partner, he remains committed to working with his party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), to reform the power-sharing agreement.

While speaking at the funeral of one of his party’s senate members, Mugabe said the MDC party has “one leg in, and one leg out” of the government.

“The requirement is that we indeed continue step-by-step to move together and whatever are the difficulties, become our difficulties together,” he continued.

Mugabe criticizes any external involvement regarding the disengagement of the MDC party from the cabinet.  He says that it is not for outsiders to resolve.  Mugabe also slammed Western countries for misusing their economic power to impose sanctions on his country.  And he announced that Zimbabwe would consider taking the fight against the sanctions tot he international fora.

Political unrest and violence both hover in the horizon as these two leaders try to re-forge a unity government.  In February of this year, the leaders combined to form a unity government.  This occurred after two violence-plagued elections left the country at a political standstill and in economic ruin.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Mugabe Criticises MDC Boycott – 31 October 2009

AP – Zimbabwe Pres.: Opposition “Not Mentally Stable” – 31 October 2009

AP – Zimbabwe: Mugabe Takes Sharp Dig at Tsvangirai – 31 October 2009

Xinhua – Zimbabwe’s Political Problems for Zimbabweans to Solve: Mugabe – 31 October 2009