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.”

Human Rights Watch and Citizens Criticize Mexican Military Abuses

By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its 4 year report on Mexico’s human rights record on Thursday.  The Mexican Military was found to be ineffectively investigating reports of rapes, killings, and torture.  In particular, HRW criticized the military’s use of only “dysfunctional” military tribunals to investigate allegations against soldiers, rather than civilian courts.

HRW researchers said that Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission, an autonomous government agency, received 1,230 abuse complaints against the military in 2008, as compared with 182 in 2006.  HRW pointed out that until two months ago the government could not provide a single example of a soldier being convicted of human rights violations for the past 10 years.

Since 2006, President Felipe Calderon has deployed more than 45,000 soldiers in his fight against drug cartels which supply the U.S. drug market.  The U.S. Government has supplied Mexico with $700 million dollars in training and equipment. Some of the aid is conditioned on State Department confirmation that Mexico meet human rights and police corruption goals.

Local sentiment in areas with high military presence appears increasingly hostile to the military.  Three months after the military surge in the border town of Juarez, the military have been blamed for at least four deaths, eight disappearances, and the torture of many more.

Individuals who claim to have been abused by soldiers have similar stories.  Among the dead is 21 year old Javier Rosales who was picked up by the military with his friend while walking to buy beer. The men were blindfolded, taken to a building, stripped, beaten with boards and dumped on a dirt road.  Rosales was found dead from the beating the next day.

There have been more than 500 abuse complaints against federal forces since March, and all from individuals who are not on any arrest list.  A lawyer who represents abused citizens says that the more impoverished areas are those most affected by abuse, as the military presence is greatest there.  In these areas homes have been ransacked and possessions stolen by military.

As far south as Michoacan state authorities are furious that the federal government has arrested a slew of state officials and community members, including the mayor of Apatzingan without consulting the governor.  Protesters have occupied the town hall and are demanding that the mayor be released.  Protest signs read ” We demand the authorities respect individual rights”.

A military spokesman claims that 85 percent of the complaints have been resolved, though no details or time frame has been provided.