West Australian Government Will Not Terminate Contract of Prisoner Transportation Services

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SYDNEY, Australia – The West Australian government has decided not to terminate the contract of a private company which transports prisoners. Despite the suggestions of the coroner, who found that the transportation services of the private company posed serious human rights violations, the government will continue to contract with the company.

Mr. Ward, an Aboriginal elder, died of heatstroke during a transportation in a vehicle owned by the private company G4S. The coroner conducted investigations of the vehicle, and concluded that transporting Mr. Ward in the searing desert heat “was a disgrace,” and the van was “not fit for humans.”

The Government states that it supports the coroner’s recommendations, and agrees that there should be more training and monitoring of staff. The Government also agrees that prisoners should not be transported over long distances. However, Attorney-General Christian Porter says that the government will continue to contract with G4S.

Porter stated that the service could be brought back into the public sector. However, if it does stay in the private sector, Porter stated that, “the contract that governs the process will be a completely different type of contract to the one that presently exists.”

The Deaths in Custody Watch Committee says that G4S has caused the death of six people in Australia. Marc Newhouse, a representative from the Committee, says that the contract should have been terminated. He expressed outrage at the West Australian government’s inaction to terminate the contract.

Newhouse emphasized that G4S has been “subject to critical reports by the Australian Human Rights Commission” and is “not fit to operate in this country.”

Noongar elder Ben Taylor, an Aboriginal, contends that the racism in the system is causing Aboriginal people to suffer. Taylor is a member of the Watch Committee, and is determined to end the discrimination against the Aboriginal people.

Opposition Leader Eric Ripper argues that the government cannot simply terminate the contract so easily. By terminating the contract, Ripper argues that there could be financial consequences to the taxpayers. He further contends that this matter “needs careful examination rather than a kneejerk reaction.”

For more information, please see:

Deaths in Custody Watch Committee WA – Ward Campaign for Justice

ABC News – Van death: WA to keep prisoner transport contract – 30 September, 2009

Perth Independent Media Centre – Deaths in custody: WA to keep prisoner transport contract – 30 September, 2009

Kenyan Officials to be Handed Over to ICC

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – The Kenyan government has said that it will cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its probe of abuses during the post-election violence.  While the names have not yet been published, it is believed that it includes ministers and prominent businessmen.

The ICC announced on Wednesday that it would pursue trials against the suspects because Kenya failed to meet its September 30 deadline to set up its own tribunals.

The violence following the December 2007 elections was among the worst in decades.  Fighting was triggered by accusations that the presidential election was rigged.  Ethnic clashes ended when a unity accord was agreed to.  About 1,500 people were killed and 300,000 were displaced during the two months.

Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo welcomed the ICC decision.

“It was a statement by the top organ of the country that the government will cooperate with the ICC,” he said.  “The ICC can sit in Kenya and we do not have to surrender anyone we just need to arrest them, put them in cells and take them before the court when that time comes.   Unless Parliament repeals the International Crimes Act or Kenya withdraws from the Rome treaty, there is really no choice but to help Mr. Ocampo in his work.”

“But the government has no intention of repealing the law or quitting the treaty since it is in the process of reforming the country into an icon of governance,” he added.

Earlier this year the Kenya government declined to accept a bill that would have set up tribunals.  Parliament believed that it would amount to political interference.

Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General, handed over the names of the top suspects to the ICC in July.  He was responsible for mediating the talks that led to the unity government between President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said he will prosecute those “most responsible” for the violence and leave Kenya to investigate any others.

For more information, please see:

Daily Nation – Ocampo’s Secret Evidence on Kenya – 03 October 2009

AFP – Kenya to Cooperate With ICC on Unrest Trials – 02 October 2009

BBC – Kenya Backs Poll Violence Trials – 02 October 2009

AllAfrica – Kenya: Govt to Hand Over Ministers to Hague – 01 October 2009

Bloomberg – Annan Will Visit Kenya Next Week to Review Political Changes – 01 October 2009

MEND Leaders Lay Down Arms in Exchange for Amnesty

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

DUTCH ISLAND, Nigeria – On Saturday, three top Nigerian militant leaders gave up their weapons along with thousands of fighters under the promise of government amnesty.

Together the senior commanders of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), one of the main militant groups in the area, along with the field commanders in the Rivers state, accepted the presidential offer of amnesty to militants who lay down their weapons.

The militant leaders took the offer of amnesty on the eve of the offer’s expiration, as today is the deadline.  Until now, groups such as MEND have refused to take advantage of this offer.  In June Yar’Adua announced the amnesty offer to over 10,000 militant leaders.  Just before the offer was due to expire, the group agreed to take advantage of the unconditional pardon in a bid to end the unrest in the oil producing region.

“We are surrendering all weapons under direct control,” said I Farah Dagogo, MEND’s overall field commander.

Another well known militant leader, Ateke Tom, “the godfather”, along with 5,000 fighters, laid out heavy machine guns, automatic rifles, pump-action shotguns, mortars, grenades and ammunition at “Tourist Beach” on Saturday.   A third top militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, also know as “Tompolo”, accepted the amnesty offer during a meeting with the president, Umaru Yar’Adua late on Saturday.

The overwhelming need to end the military violence has stemmed from the sliding of Africa’s main oil exporter’s daily productions sliding to 1.7 million barrels per day from 2.6 million in January 2006.

MEND leader, Henry Okah, made a point to say that the violence and unrest in the region is likely to continue even after the amnesty deadline has expired because the root cause of the violence has not yet been addressed.  Other leaders have backed up this statement saying that the fighters will resume if authorities fail to make good on their pledge to develop the region.

Some militant fighters who have laid down their arms are wearing white T-shirts saying, “Thank you for the amnesty, but remember your pledge.  You can take the arms but the struggle continues.”
For more information, please see:

BBC – More Nigeria Oil Militants Disarm – 4 October 2009

Vanguard – Amnesty Deadline: Militants in Last Minute Rush to Surrender – 4 October 2009

AFP – Top Nigerian Militant Leaders Disarm Under Amnesty – 3 October 2009

Reuters – Nigeria Rebel Leader Emerges to Surrender Arms – 3 October 2009

Update: China’s Xinjiang Ethnic Riots


By Megan E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

XINJIANG, China– In July, Chinese police detained more than 1,500 people after violence between ethnic Uighurs and Han Chinese left 200 dead.

The riots broke out on 5 July after an initially peaceful protest by Uighur youths, apparently prompted by an earlier riot in a factory in southern China. In the outbreak of violence, shops were smashed and vehicles set alight and passers-by set upon  rioters.

The Chinese government says 197 people died and more than 1,700 were injured. It maintains that most of the dead were Han Chinese, but the exile activist group, the World Uighur Congress, claims many Uighurs were also killed. The government has insisted the violence which followed was engineered by Uighurs in exile, chiefly World Uighur Congress leader Rebiya Kadeer. The far west autonomous region borders Russia, Mongolia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Many Uighurs in this area want more autonomy and respect for their culture and religion, Islam, than China’s strict centrist rule permits.

This incident is described as one of the most serious incidents of ethnic unrest in the country’s recent  history. To much of the world’s surprise, China remained open about the events and was willing to allow reporters media access. Zhou Bing, a political commentator in Hong Kong, said this represents a loosening of the controls the foreign media might have expected in such circumstances. According to Bing, “They wanted the rest of the world to understand that this was a clash between two ethnic groups, rather than a separatist movement, to frame it as people fighting over local issues, not independence.” However, as tension mounted, China wanted to ensure that, within its own borders, its coverage did not further inflame ethnic tensions, and as such, media restrictions were thereby imposed.

The China Daily said that most of the arrests were made in Urumqi and Kashgar, a southern Xinjiang city with a heavy concentration of Uighur people. Charges include vandalizing public property and transport, organizing crowds to cause bodily harm to others, robbery, murder and arson. The state newspaper did not give a breakdown on how many Uighurs and how many Han would go on trial, but it said more than 170 Uighurs and 20 Han lawyers had been assigned to the suspects.  

Four months later, China and the rest of the world await to hear the final outcome. The city’s procuratorate said it has instituted public prosecutions in the Intermediate People’s Court of Urumqi against 21 suspects. A woman from the political department of the Urumqi Intermediate Court confirmed that charges had been issued, but would not her name or any details. The report did not say what the penalty those charged would face if convicted, but just after the riots, Urumqi’s Community Party, Secrtary Li Zhi, said that the death penalty would be sought in some of the serious cases.

For more information, please see:

China View: Xinhua News Agency – 21 suspects involved in Urumqi riot prosecuted  – September 25, 2009

China Daily – Top Xinjiang official stresses development to ensure stability – September 29, 2009 

BBC – China ‘to charge 83 over riots’ – August 4, 2009 

The Associated Press – China charges 21 with murder in July riots – September 25, 2009

Conflicting Reports Arise After Yemeni Fighter Plane Crash

By Ahmad Shihadah

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’DA, YEMEN – Conflicting reports come out of the Sa’da region of Yemen after a government MIG 21 aircraft crashed into a mountain peak. Al-Huthi rebels issued a statement claiming they had shot down the aircraft “while it was bombing civilians in villages and markets.” Yemeni government officials dispute this claim, stating that “the MIG 21 fell because of a technical problem an in an area where there is no combat.” The pilot was identified as Mohammad Abdo Mufleh.  Reports did not verify whether he survived the crash.

The Sunni dominated Yemeni government launched Operation Scorched Earth on August 11 to finally put down Shi’ite rebels in the North. The conflict has seen thousands killed and many more displaced. The United Nations has issued a conservative estimate that fifty-five thousand people have fled their homes because of the conflict. Journalists are not allowed to enter the region and aid workers have trouble reaching those in need as a result of the heavy fighting.  As such, there have been no reliable counts of casualties.

Government forces continue the intense offensive against the Shi’ite al-Huthi rebels. A military source claimed that another fifty-two rebels had been killed in clashes with government forces between September 31 and October 1.  The government accuses the rebels of seeking to restore the Zaidi imamate that was overthrown in a 1962 coup. They further claim that the rebels are backed by Shi’ite Iran. The rebels deny both claims and accuse the government of aggression, marginalization and bringing in Saudi warplanes to support the ground operation.

For more information please see:

AFP – Yemeni Rebels Claim Government Warplane Shot Down – October 3 2009

Forexhound – Shiite Rebels: Military Jet Shot Down in Northern Yemen – October 2 2009

Reuters – Fighter Plane Crashes in Yemen Fighting – Govt – October 2 2009