By Megan E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
RANGOON, Burma– Though not present, final arguments were made by defense lawyers of Burmese opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The proceeding was closed to Ms. Suu Kyi while her attorneys argued against an extended house arrest at a hearing in Rangoon. The hearing was also closed to reporters. According to lawyer, Nyan Win, the Yangon Divisional Court will deliver its verdict on October 2.
Ms. Suu Kyi has spent 14 out of the past 20 years in detention. She is said to have violated the terms of her last house arrest sentencing, and the length of the penalty was extended for another 18 months. In effect, this extension would bar Ms. Suu Kyi from participating in next year’s elections.
The timing of Ms. Suu Kyi’s appeal is extraordinary. As she awaits a sentencing verdict, one day earlier 7,0000 prisoners were granted amnesty by Burma’s military rulers. Prison amnesties such as the one announced Thursday usually mark important national days or are intended to deflect criticism ahead of high-profile international gatherings. This release is a memorial of the 21st anniversary of the seizure of power by the military junta in Burma. The amnesty also comes just ahead of the opening of this year’s U.N. General Assembly session. The event will be attended by Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein. Sein is the highest-ranking Myanmar government leader in more than a decade to participate.
Aside from the recent group of prisoners granted amnesty, among those still in capture are many political prisoners, not unlike Ms. Suu Kyi who represents the National League for Democracy (NLD). In the past 20 years, the number of political prisoners in Burma is reported to have doubled according to Human Rights Watch. The current number of political inmates is approximately 2,200. Of those released, 20 were held as political prisoners, two of whom are prominent NLD members. Another two are journalists who were jailed last year for reporting the Cyclone Nargis.
The NLD won elections in 1990, however, the military has never allowed the political party to assume power. The military seized power in 1962 and has not relinquished its authority to other political factions. Any information from Burma, including reports about Ms. Suu Kyi’s hearing and about a series of seven recent explosions in the northern part of the city of Rangoon, is tightly regulated. Burma’s military government strictly monitors the flow of information in and out of the country, and there has been no indication as to the cause or source of the blasts.
For more information, please see:
BBC World News- Suu Kyi appeal ruling next month – September 18, 2009
MSNBC World Headlines- Myanmar junta closes Suu Kyi hearing again – May 21, 2009
The Irrawaddy- Rangoon Court Postpones Suu Kyi Appeal Hearing – September 18, 2009
Yahoo! News- Myanmar’s Suu Kyi appeals conviction – September 18, 2009
UN Calls for Renewed Aid in Yemen Conflict
By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter Middle East Desk
SA’DA, Yemen – The United Nations (UN) is renewing its efforts to stabilize the conflict in the Sa’da region of Yemen between government forces and the Al-Huthi rebels. Following an air raid on which killed over eighty civilians, the international community calling for both a ceasefire to allow aid in to the region and for an investigation into the attack. The UN currently estimates that 150,000 people have been displaced in the north by the fighting since 2004.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has called on the Yemeni government and the Al-Huthi fighters to a cease fire to allow humanitarian aid the reach affected northern regions. He also expressed concern about the large number of civilian deaths in the region. The US embassy in the capital city of Sana’a has also called for a 72-hour ceasefire to allow access for aid and has welcomed the Yemeni government’s announcement that it will hold in investigation into the devastating raids.
Further Navi Pillay, the UN High Commission for Human Rights, called for an inquiry into the air raids and described the casualty reports “deeply disturbing.” The High Commissioner’s spokesman, Rupert Colville, says Pillay is urging the government to investigate and refrain from launching similar attacks in the future.
Another main concern of the High Commissioner is the limited access of aid workers in the region. As a result, civilians are being deprived of much needed food, water, and medication. UN refugee spokesman Melissa Fleming calls the humanitarian situation alarming and illustrates this by saying, “five weeks into the conflict, Sa’da City remains virtually isolated and inaccessible for the UN humanitarian community.” The UN efforts to gain assistance to the people of Sa’da through Saudi Arabia are still pending security clearances from both governments. Aid agencies are strapped for cash and their appeals to the international community are still falling on deaf ears
For more information please see:
UN News Centre – As fighting resumes in Yemen, UN agency renews call for aid corridor – 22 September 2009
VOA News – UN rights official calls for investigation into Yemeni Civilian Deaths – 18 September 2009
Al- Jazeera – UN calls for Yemen Ceasefire – 19 September 2009
Indigenous Mapuche Show Dissent in Absence from Chilean Independence Celebration
By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
ARAUCANÍA, Chile – The indigenous Mapuche Nation will not participate in the upcoming annual Chilean independence celebrations because they perceive Chile to be an oppressive state. The Mapuche have been actively seeking land reform and regional autonomy for the last several years, often leading to violent confrontations with the Chilean government in the state of Araucanía. Last month the military police shot Mendoza Collío, a Mapuche activist, to death in an effort to remove activists from a piece of land they had symbolically seized.
Land reform is a part of Prime Minister Bachelet’s indigenous policy, however the pace of reform is slow. This has led to the use of civil disobedience to encourage the government to move more quickly. The use of land invasions began after the Mapuche were not granted an audience with President Bachelet or with the Governor of the state of Araucanía.
The international community has criticized the the Chilean government’s reaction to the land seizures. The executive director of Human Rights Watch, José Miguel Vivanco, called the August killing of Mendoza Collío an “unjustified homicide”. The Chilean government is currently using an anti-terrorism statute from the Pinochet era to punish Mapuche protesters who seize and destroy property. Prosecutors may call unidentified witnesses, withhold evidence for long periods, deny bail, and double the length of sentences under this statute.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights declared the anti-terrorism law to be a violation of international law. Similarly, the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racism has criticized the law because it is applied “principally to members of the Mapuche community, for acts committed in the context of social demands and related to the vindication of their ancestral land rights.”
Regional autonomy is a goal of numerous Mapuche groups who use both protest and the political process to further their goals. Groups call for a reconstituted, decentralized local government and a new constitution that would recognize Chile as a plurinational state and raise Mapudungun to the status of an official language. The national legislature is asked to reserve seats for Mapuche representatives.
While Mapuche leaders have pledged to continue their struggle, the independence celebration will go on, with special requirements that all Chilean children participate in military processions. A Mapuche man remarked, “It pains many of us to see our sons and brothers participating in military parades because this is the same organization that has been raping and killing our families over the centuries.”
For more information, please see:
The Santiago Times – Fiestas Patrias – Whose Party is It? – 16 September 2009
Upside Down World – The Mapuche Nation Ups the Ante – 16 September 2009
World Press Review – Chile’s Mapuches Call for Regional Autonomy – 15 September 2009
Somali Rebels Seek Foreign Reinforcements
by Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
MOGADISHU, Somalia – On Thursday, Islamist rebel group al-Shabaab vowed that the movement will continue terror attacks on foreign targets, and that they are calling on foreign militants to join them in their radical efforts.
The commando operation, allegedly by the U.S., that killed kenyan-born Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in southern Somali on Monday has triggered an angry response from the Al-Shabaab, who are fighting the nation’s U.N.-backed government. Nabhan was believed to be a central operative for the global terrorist group al-Qaeda and responsible for a 2002 bombing and attempted shooting of an Israeli jet.
Even though the raid may have gained valuable counter-terrorism intelligence, it may have risked igniting the already intense “anti-western” opinion in the country. This attitude has been fostered by the al-Shabaab who Washington says is al-Qaeda’s proxy in Somalia.
Now the rebel group is calling out to foreign countries for Muslim religious warriors to come and participate in their war.
“We call for all Muslim fighters in the world to come to Somalia,” said Sheikh Mahad Abdikarim, commander of al-Shabaab forces in the Bay and Bakol regions . . . “If Burundians and Ugandans, who are not Muslims, are allowed to stay in Somalia, who can refuse our Muslim brothers to join us in the struggle?” he asked.
Sources say that Monday’s use of helicopter-troops has marked an apparent change in the U.S. military’s tactical approach.
Al-Shabaab, along side other Islamic opposition fighters, has pushed the pro-government forces back to Mogadishu. Here the two sides are engaged in ongoing street battles as the opposition attempts to take over the current administration of President Sharif.
So far, the fighting has killed more than 18,000 civilians since the start of 2007. In this time, Somalia has become a safe haven for militants, including foreign jihadists, who are plotting attacks within the region and in foreign locations.
For more information, please see:
Daily Nation – Al-Shabaab Vows More Terror Attacks – 18 September 2009
Reuters – Somali Rebels Call fo Foreign Reinforcements – 16 September 2009
VOA – Al-Shabab Asks Foreign Fighters to Come to Somalia – 16 September 2009
Terrible Year for Children in Armed Conflict’ According to UN
By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
NEW YORK, United States – Although the United Nations estimates that the number of child soldiers has fallen to 250,000 from 300,000 worldwide five years ago, Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, said this is a “terrible year for children in armed conflict.”
In a report to the UN Human Rights Council, Coomaraswamy detailed he grave situation that children and child soldiers face in the conflicts around the world. She said that the toll on children and the people in general is especially high in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and the Central African Republic (CAR), as well as many Asian countries.
Children in DR Congo caught in the fighting between government troops and Hutu rebels has led to a large number of children being killed and maimed.
“The nature of conflict is changing and civilians are increasingly on the frontline. The toll on children is more brutal than ever,” she said. Adding, “Children, many of them are used as suicide bombers as well as fighters… But, we also have a situation where large numbers of children are arrested and detained in the counter-terrorism activity. And, this is of concern to us. We also are concerned about collateral damage that often results with child victims.”
Child soldiers have already been released in Chad and Burundi earlier this year, while there are children in CAR that are set to be released this year.
Prior to the release of Burundi children, the number of cases rape and sexual violence, abduction and detention of children and child recruitment by the Forces Nationales pour la Liberation (FNL) rebel group increased. Although the children have been released in Burundi, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says that a climate of impunity still exists for violators of children’s rights there.
The Secretary General called on authorities to investigate and prosecute cases in a “rigorous and timely” manner in order to “redress impunity for crimes against children.” He also called on the relevant governments to come up with a comprehensive strategy “that ensures an end to impunity through the prosecution of perpetrators and that takes measures to provide support for girl and boy victims of sexual violence.”
The Security Council Working Group may consider taking a trip to Burundi in the coming months to survey the situation and monitor the country’s progress.
For more information, please see:
AllAfrica – Burundi: Tackling Impunity for Violators of Child Rights Next Step for Burundi, Says Ban – 18 September 2009
Relief Web – Tackling Impunity for Violators of Child Rights Next Step for Burundi, Says Ban– 18 September 2009
UN News Centre – Tackling Impunity for Violators of Child Rights Next Step for Burundi, Says Ban – 18 September 2009
Manila Bulletin – UN Warns of ‘Terrible Year for Children’ – 17 September 2009
VOA – UN Report Describes ‘Terrible’ Year for Children in Armed Conflict – 16 September 2009