Freedom For “Merauke Five” Delayed

By Angela Marie Watkins
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Prosecutors are continuing to hinder the release of five Australians detained in Papua for the past nine months, even though Indonesia’s Supreme Court has cleared them of wrongdoing, the group’s lawyer says.

The so-called “Merauke Five” were arrested last September for flying their small aircraft into Papua without visas or flight clearance.

On Wednesday, Merauke District Court officials received from Jakarta the paperwork that will enable them to return the five Australians’ passports and let the pilot, William Scott-Bloxam, fire up his twin-engined aircraft. However, the group’s lawyer, Mohammad Rifan, says he fears prosecutors may yet raise further hurdles.

“They still have not lifted the ban that prevents them leaving. They say they have to ask the attorney-general’s office for guidance to do this,” said Rifan. “But it seems like there is an effort from prosecutors to hinder the process.”

Earlier, Scott-Bloxham had been given a three year jail term and each of his passengers two-year terms, but their convictions were overturned in March. However, before they could get out of Indonesia, they were banned from leaving while prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court.

Lawyer Efrem Fangohoy said he expected the bureaucratic process could still have them on the ground in Papua until the end of this week.

For more information, please see:
The Sydney Morning Herald – Australians delayed from leaving Papua – 17 June 2009

The Australian –  Australians detained in Indonesia closer to freedom – 17 June 2009

New Zealand International Radio – “Merauke Five” could still be hindered from returning to Australia – 17 June 2009

Vietnamese Human Rights Lawyer Arrested

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HANOI, Vietnam– Le Cong Dinh, a prominent lawyer, was arrested by Vietnamese authorities under conspiracy charges and for expressing his views on the Internet.  The international community is voicing concerns over Dinh’s arrest in fear that this detention will have a “chilling effect” on Vietnam’s legal profession.

Vietnamese lawyer
Le Cong Dinh (Source: BBC)

Dinh is a former Fulbright scholar who is well-respected in the Vietnamese and international legal communities.  He has been calling for a wider reform of the Vietnamese political system, and has defended Vietnam’s leading human rights and pro-democracy activists.

However, he was arrested over the weekend for “colluding with domestic and foreign reactionaries to sabotage the Vietnamese state” and was criminally charged for distributing anti-government materials.  Dinh, a well-published writer and columnist, was alleged to have been found with a copy of a constitution he wrote with the hopes of replacing the current one.  Other allegations against Dinh include libeling Vietnam’s top leaders in published documents.

One official from Amnesty International expressed concern saying that the Vietnamese criminal code Dinh is charged with is “so vaguely worded that it criminalises peaceful political dissent,” and a Paris-based group said, “We fear that this arrest is aimed at punishing a respected man who promotes the cause of the rule of law in Vietnam.”

U.S. State Department released a statement Monday calling for Dinh’s immediate and unconditional release, and said “No individual should be arrested for expressing the right to free speech, and no lawyer should be punished because of the individuals they choose to counsel.”
For more information, please see:

AFP – Concern mounts over Vietnam lawyer’s arrest – 16 June 2009

BBC – Vietnam holds high-profile lawyer – 14 June 2009

U.S. Department of State – Vietnam: Arrest of Lawyer Le Cong Dinh – 15 June 2009

North Korean Labor Camps: Hell on Earth

By Alishba I. Kassim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NORTH KOREA – North Korea’s highest court recently sentenced two journalists to 12 years of hard labor for reporting on the plight of North Korean refugees in China.

The current North Korean regime has allowed more than one million people to die of starvation and has killed almost 400,000 people in its prison camps. The ones that escape live uncertain lives in China, under the threat of forced repatriation. Bang Mi Sun, a North Korean refugee, recently said. “Women are being sold like livestock in China and… North Korean labor camps are hell on earth.”

China is the most significant asylum country for North Korean refugees. Although a small number of refugees do escape to other countries, most escape to China but the leading country for resettlement remains South Korea. The international community has been slow to take on an active role in the resettlement of North Korean refugees, and have not been providing adequate effort to address this humanitarian need. The governments of China and South Korea have been reluctant to rescue North Korean refugees. So far, the U.S. has not adequately addressed the status of the refugees either.

Today U.S. President Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak intend to meet to discuss a host of security and economic issues, including North Korea’s recent nuclear weapon test. Let’s hope they also find the time to address the plight of the North Korean refugees.

They should not be forced to choose between starvation or slavery.

For more information, please see:

The Wall Street Journal – How to Help North Korea’s Refugees – June 15, 2009

The Wall Street Journal – Inside North Korea’s Gulag – June 15, 2009

Radio Australia – China Ambiguous on North Korea – June 15, 2009

Despite Protests, Some Western Saharans Excited over Moroccan Poll Results

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

LAAYOUNE, Western Sahara – Some citizens of Western Sahara excitedly shared the news of Moroccan Poll results with their friends and relatives in refugee camps in Algeria, while many remained skeptical. Western Sahara’s sovereignty has been under dispute since Spain left the area in 1975 and Morocco annexed it.

Neighboring Algeria backed the Polisario Front, the independence movement in Western Sahara, in their fight for independence. A ceasefire has been in effect since 1991, but thousands of people remain in refugee camps and the resolution process is at a standstill.   No progress towards self-determination for Western Sahara has been made.

Before the elections the leaders of the Polisario had written to the United Nations asking them to put a stop to the illegitimate elections that were held in Western Sahara on June 11. Polisario envoy to Algeria, Brahim Ghali, said on June 12 that the “silence of the UN [would show] implicit complicity unacceptable to international logic.”

The elections were held, and now many Western Saharans, who are known as Saharwis, are hopeful about the results. The recently formed Authenticity and Modernity Party, or “PAM” won the majority of seats in Morocco’s local elections. PAM was formed in June 2008 by Fouad Ali el-Himma, who is a close friend of the Moroccan Monarch King Mohammed VI.

King Mohammed wants to change Morocco’s policies of repression and injustice, and to come to a peaceful compromise between Morocco and the Polisario. He hopes that his moderate message will convince the Saharwis that they do not need to be independent, because Morocco’s policies have changed.

Human rights groups agree that rights have improved since King Mohammed succeeded his father. However, these groups still accuse Moroccan police of beating citizens that speak out for Western Sahara’s independence, and occasionally torturing people in their custody. Pro-Polisario groups boycotted the elections and are skeptical of the PAM message of peace and compromise.

PAM won 6,015 seats, 21.7 per cent of the national vote, giving it a majority over the governing Istiqlal (Independence) party by 2.6 per cent, with 52.4 per cent of the registered voters voting. The elections were held across Morocco and the Western Sahara, as Morocco considers Western Sahara as part of their territory.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera- New Party Wins Morocco Local Polls– 14 June 2009

Magharebia- New Political Party Sweeps Local Elections in Morocco– 14 June 2009

Easy Bourse- Polisario Accuses Morocco of Provocation Over W Sahara Poll– 12 June 2009

Reuters –Morocco party woos Western Saharan Hearts and Minds– 11 June 2009

UN Expert Condemns Child Slavery in Haiti

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery issued a report condemning the Haitian “restavek” system as “a modern form of slavery”.  The “restavek”, meaning “to stay with us” in Creole, is a social system where Haitian children whose parents are unable to provide for them live with relatives or other persons who provide housing and food in exchange for housework.
The recent development of professional recruiters who recruit children from rural areas to work for urban families as child slaves in domestic work and outside the home in markets was of special concern.  The Rapporteur also mentioned the “alarming” shift in demand for child slaves from just rich families to poor families as well.
The Rapporteur recommended that the government establish a National Commission on children, with particular attention to those most vulnerable.  Other recommendations include: a sensitization campaign on the impact of labor and slavery on children, child registration, free and compulsory education for those most needy, and alternative means of income for rural families.
The Rapporteur stated that child labor “deprives children of their family environment and violates their most basic rights such as the rights to education, health and food as well as subjecting them to multiple forms of abuse, including economic exploitation, sexual violence and corporeal punishment, violating their fundamental right to protection from all forms of violence.”