By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia     

Jakarta, Indonesia- Indonesia has stated the 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers stranded in a boat off the coast of Sumatra must either cooperate with authorities over identity checks or risk expulsion.

The Sri Lankans were caught in Indonesian water on 18 October while attempting to reach Australia.  Both nations agreed to a deal last week which would see the asylum seekers moved to an Indonesian detention center.  The Sri Lankans, ethnic Tamils who are on board the Australian vessel “Oceanic Viking” have refused to be moved to Riau Island, an immigration detention center in Tanjungpinang, said an Indonesian diplomat. “The Sri Lanka immigrants insist on going to Australia instead,” said Sujatmiko, the foreign ministry’s diplomatic security director.

The asylum seekers numbering 68 men, five women and five children, were detained by Australian customs ship Oceanic Viking, 240 miles from Padang in waters near Enggano Island.

Teuku Faizahsyah, Indonesia’s foreign ministry spokesperson told the BBC that Indonesia will only be able to host the asylum seekers until they have been clearly identified.  The asylum seekers have so far resisted any efforts to get off the ship.  Faizahsyah says that if the stand-off continues, Indonesia will have no choice but to expel the Sri Lankans.

Indonesia could not force them to move to the Riau Islands’ immigration detention center because it would violate international law.  The refugees initially rejected health check-up by an Indonesian medical team but finally gave up after being persuaded by members of the Indonesian foreign affairs ministry’s team.

“Today the Oceanic Viking ship is still in water around 12 miles off the Bintan District coast,” said Sujatmiko.  The permission by the Indonesian government allowing the ship to moor near Cempedak Isle expires next Friday.  Sujatmiko denied a report saying that Indonesia had received US$50 million as compensation for accepting Sri Lankan immigrants, stating the government was willing to accept the asylum seekers because of humanitarian reasons.

The deal has been seen as a prelude to a wider-ranging agreement between the two nations expected to be signed in November.  The agreement would see Australia hand over cash to Indonesia, in exchange for Jakarta ensuring that Australia-bound ships with asylum seekers on board are intercepted.  The agreement has been criticized by some in Indonesia who say it is only a way for Australia to outsource its problems to their country.

For more information, please see:

BBC News- Indonesia ‘Might Expel’ Refugees  – 29 October 2009

Antara News- Sri Lanka Refugees to Budge From Australian Ship – 28 October 2009

Sri Lanka Watch- Australia Refuses to Accept SL Asylum Seekers  – 30 October 2009

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KABUL, Afghanistan –   As women lined up to cast their ballots at various national voting stations, the event was tarnished by fraud and corruption. One man cast 35 votes for female relatives. Others lugged in sacks full of voting cards they claimed had been collected from women voters. In a village of only 250 people, 200 women supposedly voted in three hours.

Unfortunately, these stories are not unfamiliar. In Afghanistan‘s recent presidential election in August, one very sensitive area was that of fraud as women exercised their right to vote. The same speculation and concern remains present as the election on November 7 draws near for the runoff between President Hamid Karzai, and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. Analysists are concerns as the stakes are so high.

Accepting the presence of fraud as it relates to allowing women to vote, the situation cannot be resolved in the weeks just before the election. There is a general acceptance of proxy voting by male relatives on behalf of female family members. In such circumstances, many women have expressed their reluctance to vote, primarily because of the threats of violence and polling centers that swarm with men. Further, those women who do brave the polling centers and are able to cast their ballots are often uneducated and therefore more easily manipulated.

Despite the uncertainty of how deeply rooted or how significant the impact of fraudulent women voting will be on the results in November, there is increasing speculation that women’s polling stations were more problematic than men’s since officials have not yet released the list of women’s polling stations.

This Photograph, taken August 20, 2009 shows Afghan women voters lining up to cast their ballots. Image Curtesy of Associated Press.    

According to a U.N. report, back in August, men arrived at voting stations carrying and submitting hand-fulls of female voter cards. Poll workers permitted these ballots to be cast without argument. The report further revealed that in some cases, men dragged in sacks full of cards supposedly for their female relatives. Under this sort of sporadic and unregulated election scheme, Theresa Delangis, part of a team working on election issues with the U.N. women’s fund, commented, “It allowed for women’s votes to be manipulated. Block voting, proxy voting, or there were just no women at the polling stations and those ballots were used for fraudulent votes.”

Concern remains as observers indicate that Afghanistan is no more of a safer voting environment now than it was two months ago. Election officials claim they have plans to recruit more women, but there is no reported progress to-date, as government workers are apparently waiting on a report of gender related proposals to the voting process.

For more information, please see:

New York Times – Intimidation and Fraud Observed in Afghan Election – October 31, 2009 

Yahoo! World News – Fraud surrounds women voters in Afghan election  – October 30, 2009 

Khaleej Times – Fraud surrounds women in Afghan election – October 31, 2009