French Polynesian President Seeks France’s Help to Attend Leader’s Retreat

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

PAPEETE, French Polynesia – French Polynesian president, Oscar Temaru, is appealing to French leaders to support his bid to join the leader’s retreat for the Pacific Islands Forum this week in Cairns.
Mr. Temaru says that it is important he attend the leader’s retreat and not be excluded from participation.

Radio New Zealand International reported, “The leaders’ retreat offers an opportunity for private discussions once the formal summit is concluded. Mr Temaru says although French Polynesia has only become an associate Forum member, it’s not normal that he is excluded from the retreat. He says the French President’s Office has now written to the Forum secretariat in Suva. This comes after his earlier letter, soliciting Forum support for Tahiti’s decolonisation, went unanswered.”

Mr. Temaru said he was interesting in gaining French support after he spent a month in Paris for medical care.

The Pacific Forum is a union of Pacific Leaders from 16 countries. Members meet to discuss regional economic and political issues affecting the region.

For more information, please see:Radio New Zealand International – French Polynesian President Wants Help from Paris to be Allowed into Forum Leader’s Retreat – 02 August 2009

Protest in Malaysia Against Detention Without Trial

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia– Thousands of Malaysians protested in the country’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, against a controversial and archaic law enacted during the British colonial era called the Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial.

Malaysia protest security law Police using water cannon against protesters (Source: Reuters)

5,000 police, using tear gas and water cannons, clashed with 15,000 protesters.  This protest, which was unauthorized by the government, led to more than 200 arrests, and many protesters ran to local shops and alleys in order to avoid being arrested.  In Malaysia, meetings of more than four people require permits, and the police have previously used tear gas and chemical-laced water against demonstrators.  The Malaysian government and the police had warned that they would not allow this protest as allowing such a rally would undermine public peace.

The protest was backed by Malaysia’s biggest opposition party, and the protesters had originally planned to march peacefully to the national palace and submit a petition to the king denouncing the Internal Security Law.  Opposition activists have long claimed that this law is sometimes used to imprison government critics or to dampen dissent.  Malaysia’s prime minster had promised to consider amending the Internal Security Act, but other government officials have repeatedly stated that the Act is necessary for national security.  Nazri Aziz, Cabinet Minister responsible for legal affairs, said, “The [Internal Security Act] will not be abolished.”

Malaysia protest security law2 Police and protesters in Kuala Lumpur (Source: AP)

Regarding the police blockade and the government’s refusal to allow the protest, the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, said, “The police are really brutal.  This clearly shows [the government’s] intolerance to any dissent…We gather here today to fight a cruel law.”

Human rights groups have estimated that at least 17 people are being held under the Internal Security Act, mainly for links to militants or document forgery. 

For more information, please see:

AP – Malaysian police tear gas, scuffle with protesters – 1 August 2009

BBC – Protest at Malaysia security law – 1 August 2009

Philstar – Malaysia activists protest detention without trial – 31 July 2009

.S. Reviews the Need for Continued Sudan Sanctions

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States is reviewing its stance on Sudan sanctions after U.S. envoy, General Scott Gration told law makers that there is no evidence to support keeping Sudan on a list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

The U.S. is reviewing how best to deal with the Sudanese government and the crisis in the nations Darfur region, where roughly 300,000 people were killed and over 2 million were forced into refuge.  As of now, no formal decision has been made on whether to remove Sudan from a list of terrorism-sponsoring countries.

“We have made no decision to lift the listing on the terrorist list of Sudan. As you know, there is a very intensive review going on within the administration concerning our policy toward Sudan, but no decisions have been made,” said Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State.

At a Senate hearing Gration called the terrorism designation “a political decision” and said it is hindering his work.  He believes that lifting the sanctions, which include restrictions on aid, would allow for heavy equipment and for other assistance to flow more easily to the people of Sudan who are still desperately in need.

Committee Chair, Senator John Kerry, appeared to support Gration’s thoughts on Sudan saying that after a visit to Khartoum last April he “came away convinced that we need to build a strategic framework that moves beyond simple oppositions…”

P.J. Crowley, a State Department spokesperson, said there is no split on whether the U.S. is shifting gears towards Sudan, and that although Sudan has improved its counter-terrorism cooperation, the country is on the “list” and will “remain on the list.”

“There’s a set process in law – and where we have been with Sudan, where we are with Sudan, where we want to go with Sudan is all incorporated into this review. And it is ongoing, and we expect this review to be completed.  At that point, I think the President and the Secretary will lay out where we’re going to go with Sudan going forward,” Crowley said.

Although the envoy’s remarks are a persuasive signal that the U.S. is considering a change of heart, the decision would not go without protest.  Advocacy groups and American Christian groups blame the North Sudanese government for the devastating violence and genocide in Darfur.

For more information, please see:

NPR – Does Envoy’s Approach Hint at U.S. Shift on Sudan? – 1 August 2009

Sudan Tribune – Clinton Says Sudan Policy Still Under Review – 1 August 2009

AP – Sudan Pleased With US Envoy’s Remarks on Terrorism – 31 July 2009

CNN Politics – Administration Denies Split on Sudan Policy – 31 July 2009

Reuters – Clinton Says No Decision to Ease Sudan Sanctions – 31 July 2009

Mass Trial for Reformers, Moderates Begins in Iran

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
 
TEHRAN, Iran – On August 1, over one hundred Iranians were put on trial in what the leading reform party called a “laughable show trial.”

Those on trial were arrested during protests following the disputed June 12 presidential election, in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed victory over the reformist candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi. Thousands of Mr. Mousavi’s supporters took to the streets, saying the election had been rigged.

The charges levied against the arrested protestors include vandalism and acting against the national security. State Iranian television showed images of the prisoners, all in blue jumpsuits and surrounded by armed guards, some were shackled. The number of prisoners shocked Iranians, as only a few days prior, the government had said that only twenty people would go on trial. Aside from the state television camera, the courtroom was closed to the press, and lawyers were not allowed in.

The men in the blue jumpsuits included almost every major figure in the Iranian reform movement, and many of them had served in the administration of former President Mohammad Khatami. Muhammad Ali Abtahi, a cleric who served as vice president under Khatami, was among those arrested soon after the June 12 election and had reportedly appeared in a videotape, tearfully confessing to the government charges. Human rights groups and the defendants appearing in court today have said that such videotaped confessions are common practice, and are almost always made under duress.

Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel peace laureate, denounced the trial, and called for European nations to pull their representatives from Tehran. Ms. Ebadi said that she believes reform will come to Iran, but not through foreign influence.

“Reforms only come from within,” Ebadi said. “One day we will realize reform in a real sense.”

For more information, please see:

The Times – Iran’s Arrested Activists Find Champion in Lilac Tweed – 2 August 2009

Al-Jazeera – Iran Puts Protestors on Trial– 1 August 2009

BBC News – Iran Reformers Slate Trial “Sham”– 1 August 2009

Los Angeles Times – Iran: Trials Start for 100 Reformists, Moderate Politicians in Iran– 1 August 2009

New York Times – Mass Trial for Protestors Begins in Iran– 1 August 2009

Nigerian Islamist Radical Group Leader Killed

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – The leader of the Islamic fundamentalist group Boko Haram,  Mohammed Yusuf, was killed yesterday in a shoot-out with security forces.

“He has been killed.  You can come and see his body at the state police command headquarters,” said Isa Azare, spokesman for the Maiduguri police command.  It was reported that Yusuf’s bullet-riddled body was shown to journalists by police and displayed on state television shortly after his death.

Human rights activists have begun to allege that Yusuf had been executed and warned of revenge attacks, although police say that he died in a shoot-out.

The Nigerian information minister, Dora Akunyili, said that the Nigerian government does not “condone extrajudicial killings,” but then added, “what’s important is that he has been taken out of the way, to stop him [from] using people to cause mayhem.”

Last week during security driven raids, in search of the radical leader, it was rumored that Yusuf had fled town and was heading either to Chad or Cameroon.  However, he was finally taken into custody yesterday afternoon.  The attack resulted in heavy casualties, mostly on the side of the fundamentalists.  Police officials report that he was hiding in a goat pen at his parents-in-law’s house.

Governor Ali Modu Sheriff declared the capture of Yusuf and other remaining members of the sect to be a victory.  He also promised to come up with a bill to regulate religious sermons within the state.  Until such governmental action is implimented, the military will begin what they call “show-of-force” in Borno, Bauchi, Kano, Katsina, and Yobe to assure the civilian population of their preparedness to curtail any activities of the Boko Haram.

The Boko Haram have been in existence as far back as 1995, but have existed under many different names. This radical Islamist sect is commonly referred to as the “Nigerian Taliban.”

Nigeria map (source: Al Jazeera)

Al Jazeera – Nigeria’s Boko Haram Cheif ‘Killed‘ – 31 July 2009

BBC – Nigeria Row Over Militant Killing – 31 July 2009

Reuters – Hundreds of Bodies in Streets After Nigeria Unrest – 31 July 2009

This Day – Boko Haram Leader Killed – 31 July 2009

Times Online – Radical Islamic Leader Mohammed Yusuf Shot Dead By Nigerian Security Forces – 31 July 2009

Impunity Watch – Over 100 Civilians Freed From Captivity in Nigeria – 29 July 2009