Atrocities continue in Sri Lanka

By Oscar J. Barbosa
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

COLOMBO – Sri Lanka, Ban Ki Moon, United Nations Secretary-General, called for an immediate ceasefire between the Sri Lankan Government and the revel Tamil forces.  The calling is due to an indiscriminate shelling of the Tamil coastal strip, where the Tamil Tigers have taken as the last stronghold. The region is inhabited by thousands of civilians cut in the crossfire, dying by the hundreds.

A temporal medical facility was attacked with a mortar bomb destroying the only functioning medical facility in the war zone. Due to the attack, 49 patients and bystanders were killed and 50 others were wounded.  The facility had also been attacked on May 2nd, when 64 civilians died.

The figures compiled by the United Nations showed that nearly 6,500 civilians had been killed over the last three months. The casualties’ calculations cannot be verified due to the government position of restricting doctors, aid workers, or foreigners into the war zone.  It is clear that at least 50,000 remain trapped in hell-like conditions.

As the fighting continues, there is an unclear global position in regards to the civil unrest.  Foreign ministers from Britain and France have flown to Sri Lanka to urge restraint and a halt to the bombings. Additionally, the Temils living in London, Toronto and in Tamil Nadu (India), have outspoken and lead demonstrations to demand an international intervention. The UN Security Council failed to take on the issue due to Russia, China, Japan and Vietnam’s block arguing that the fighting was an internal matter.

Priyanth Nallaratnam, a Tamil living in Toronto and participant of the protests said that:  “If the Prime Minister keeps on ignoring this, his ignorance of the community’s plight is just going to fuel the people even more, […] the Prime Minister [should] call for a ceasefire, expel the Sri Lankan ambassador, impose sanctions, send food aid and maybe deploy peacekeepers, among a long list of desired actions.”

Japan has also been pressured by Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group, Amnesty International, and Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. The four human rights groups urged Japan to support a formal action on the situation as a member of the UN.

The communication of the Human Rights groups, sent to the Japanese prime minister said that ” Japan, a powerful player on the humanitarian stage and the largest international donor to Sri Lanka, has an important role to play in saving countless civilian lives.” The letter also said that Japan had an important role to play to implement aid policies that ensure sustainable peace, human rights and development in Sri Lanka.

It is uncertain whether or not the international community will take action amidst intensive fighting with high collateral civilian casualties.

For more information, please see:

Zeenews – Human Rights groups ask Japan to flex muscle on Lanka – 12 May 2009
Posted Toronto – Tamils warn of more traffic chaos in new protest tomorrow – 12 May 2009
Times Online – Slaughter in Sri Lanka – 12 May 2009
The Independent – Forty-nine killed after hospital attacked in Sri Lanka – 12 May 2009

Junta Allows Doctor Visit to the Detained Opposition Leader

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar – After an American man allegedly sneaked into the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s home last week, Junta took her physician for questioning, according to the National League for Democracy spokesman Nyan Win.  Last week, an American man named John Willian Yeattaw swam 1 1/4 miles across Inya Lake to detained Suu Kyi’s home and “secretly entered the house”, according state-run press.  Myanmar authorities arrested the man.

Nyan Win says that the physician arrived at Sun Kyi’s house for her routine monthly checkup but was barred from entering.  Later, the authorities took doctor Tin Myo Win from his home for questioning, and have not returned since. “We don’t know where he was kept or why he was questioned,” Nyan Win said.

Human Rights groups have accused Junta of denying Suu Kyi adequate medical care.  Finally, Junta allowed a doctor to make a visit to Suu Kyi on Monday. Tin Myo Win’s assistant doctor, Dr. Pyone Moe Ei was granted a medical visit on Monday afternoon to Suu Kyi’s home, where she is under house arrest.  Suu Kyi was found to be suffering from dehydration and low blood pressure. A medical assistant has placed Ms Suu Kyi on an intravenous drip, and her health has improved since.  The doctor issued an appeal for Suu Kyi to be allowed further treatment for her condition.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the 63-year-old Nobel laureate, one of the world’s most famous political prisoners.  She has been living under house arrest without trial for 13 of the past 19 years.  Suu Kyi’s party won a victory in Myanmar’s 1990′ elections.  But military authorities ignored the results, and many party members are now in prison, in exile or in hiding.

For more information, please see:

AP – Myanmar arrests US man for entering Suu Kyi home – 07 May 2009

AP – Doctor of Myanmar’s Suu Kyi questioned by police – 09 May 2009

BBC – Burma’s Suu Kyi ‘in poor health’ – 09 May 2009

Times – Burma’s Most Famous Political Prisoner Gets a Surprise Visitor – 08 May 2009

United Press International – Doctor allowed access to Aung San Suu Kyi – 11 May 2009

USA – American arrested for allegedly sneaking into Burmese activist’s home – 07 May 2009

Washington Post – Myanmar junta allows doctor to see ailing Suu Kyi – 11 May 2009

Dr. Henry T. King, Jr. – Nuremberg Prosecutor – Leaves Legal Legacy and Vision for Future

By Sarah Benczik
Impunity Watch Editor-in-Chief

New York, USA – Friends and colleagues today mourn the death of Dr. Henry T. King, Jr., who passed away on Saturday at the age of 89.

Dr. King perhaps is most famous for prosecuting Nazis alongside John H. Jackson during the Nuremberg Trials.  He was a recent graduate of Yale Law and only 25 years old when he was hired as the youngest Nuremberg Prosecutor.  He led the prosecution of Luftwaffe Field Marshall Erhard Milch, deputy head of the Luftwaffe under Hermann Goering, and interrogated many other significant Nuremberg defendants, including Albert Speer.

Dr. Henry King’s legal career reached far beyond his time spent prosecuting Nazis.  He went on to
work as corporate counsel for TRW Inc., eventually becoming chief corporate international counsel, and later served as counsel to the law firm Squire, Sanders and Dempsey.  He served as director of the Agency for International Development (USAID) during the Eisenhower Administration and as General Counsel of the U.S. Foreign Economic Aid Program.  During the 1980s, as Chairman of the Canada-United States Law Institute, Dr. King played an integral role in facilitating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  He was also actively engaged in the American Bar Association (ABA): he was chairman of the ABA Section on International Law and Practice, U.S. chairman of a joint working group, organized by the American, Canadian, and Mexican bar associations, on the settlement of international disputes, and joined the ABA’s special task force on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.

Dr. King became a professor at Case Western Reserve University, where he taught International Business and International Arbitration.  As a scholar, he published more than 70 articles on international business transactions, international arbitration, and Nuremberg related topics.  He also authored a book – The Two Worlds of Albert Speer – based on his Nuremberg experiences.

In 1998, Dr. King, along with Whitney Harris and Ben Ferencz (also former Nuremberg Prosecutors), participated in the Rome diplomatic conference to create a permanent international criminal court (now known as the ICC).  The three prosecutors are credited with convincing fellow delegates to include the crime of aggression – along with crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes – within the jurisdiction of the ICC under the Rome Statute.  He was honored by the government of The Netherlands as an official guest of the government for the inauguration of the ICC in March 2003 at The Hague.

Dr. King’s work was fueled by a passion for international cooperation and law, and a vision of a better future.  In his own words through his Case Western University faculty web page, Professor King shared this vision:

“I’m involved in “action” programs in international law and in the teaching of international law because I believe that we live in an increasingly connected international world, which we can make much better and more secure.”

A colleague of Dr. King’s shared a similar anecdote: “At a luncheon session that I attended a few months ago in which Henry reflected on insights gained over the years, he told the standing-room crowd of students that ‘the most important thing is to find some way to leave your mark for the betterment of society and the world.’  Henry left his mark in a big way.”

Dr. King was named a Fellow honoris causa of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law Center for International Legal Education in 2002.  The University of Western Ontario awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Laws.  In 2004, he was appointed Canada’s Honorary Consul General for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.  He was also a Senior Advisor to the Robert Jackson Center at Jamestown, New York.

Dr. King’s legacy will no doubt continue on through future generations of international legal scholarship.  Impunity Watch shares Professor King’s vision of an interconnected world without legal impunity from the greatest crimes committed in history.   Dr. King served as the master of ceremonies for Impunity Watch’s official web-launch ceremony in October 2007, and we are grateful for and honored by his support for our organization over the years.  The Impunity Watch Executive Board and Staff offer our condolences to his family, and we will continue to honor his legacy by daily working to keep his vision for a better world alive.

NATO Denies Involvement in Civilians’ White Phosphorus Burns

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KABUL, Afghanistan – Human rights organizations condemn the use of the chemical white phosphorus by NATO in the battles against the Afghan Taliban.  An 8 year old civilian suffered severe burns to her face and neck on March 14, 2009 in Alahsay district in eastern Kapisa Province.  The girl is currently stationed at a U.S. military base in Bagram where medics found white phosphorus on her face and neck.

“White phosphorus causes horrendous burns and should not be used in civilian areas,” said Marc Garlasco, senior military analyst at Human Rights Watch. “NATO should immediately make public the results of its investigation into this incident.”

Chemicals such as white phosphorus is typically used to provide light during the night, to create smokescreens to hide military operations or burn buildings. Uses such as these are not prohibited by international treaties.  Yet to prevent future civilian casualties and injuries, human rights groups declare that utilizing such a chemical in densely populated areas violates international humanitarian law, and should be prohibited.

Colonel Gregory Julian, a spokesman for the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, confirmed that Western forces indeed use the chemical. He stated, “it is used on the battlefield in certain applications. . .  It is used as an incendiary to destroy bunkers and enemy equipment; it’s used for illumination.”

However, the victim’s father, Aziz Rahman stated that a shell fired by NATO forces landed on his home.  “(Western) troops were on the road, the Taliban were on the mountain and we were at the house, sandwiched between them. When the Taliban began retreating, they fired artillery at them, 12 rounds. One hit my house,” he said.

A NATO spokesperson denies allegations that it was NATO forces that caused these injuries.  Officials state that no shots were fired that could have landed on the victim’s home, but never deny that white phosphorus was used.  Instead, they suggest that insurgents may have been responsible.  The international Security Assistance Force released a report indicating that insurgents used white phosphorus on four occasions since December 2007.

Yet, Defense Ministry spokesman Azher Murad said, “I am not aware that the Taliban have used this is any of their attacks.”

NATO is currently conducting investigations into the matter.  Human rights groups call for the immediate release of the results.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Afghan Rights Group Probes Civilians’ Burns, US Militay Denies Using White Phosphorus – 10 May 2009

Human Rights Watch – Afghanistan: NATO Should ‘Come Clean’ on White Phosphorus – 8 May 2009

Reuters – Exclusive: Afghan Girl’s Burns Show Horror of Chemical Strike – 8 May 2009

U.S. Airstrike Kills Afghan Civilians

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KABUL, Afghanistan – On Wednesday, President Barrack Obama met with Afghan and Pakistan presidents and reaffirmed the U.S.’s commitment to defeating the al Qaeda while minimizing civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

“[L]et me be clear — the United States has made a lasting commitment to defeat al Qaeda but also to support the democratically elected sovereign governments of both Pakistan and Afghanistan. That commitment will not waiver and that support will be sustained.” Obama said in a statement.

However, U.S.-led airstrikes in the Farah province in southern Afghanistan on Monday and Tuesday resurrected Karzai and Zardari’s fears of violence among his citizens.  The Red Cross stated that dozens of civilians were killed.  Meanwhile, local officials say that at least 100 have perished.

The airstrike occurred in two villages over several hours.  In a joint investigation by the U.S. and Afghanistan into the number of casualties revealed that “villagers had taken refuge in a number of houses in each village. Reports also indicate that Taliban fighters deliberately forced villagers into houses from which they then attacked ANSF (Afghan security forces) and Coalition forces.”

The team confirmed that “a number of civilians were killed” but could not determine the number of casualties between militants and civilians since the bodies were buried.  The investigations are continuing.

The U.S. dismissed accusations that more than 100 civilians were killed, placing the blame on militants who used villagers as “human shields.”

“We deeply, deeply regret that loss,” U.S. Secretary of State Clinton said of the civilian deaths.  She expressed that despite the deaths, much progress resulted from the meeting with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

On Friday, Karzai urged the U.S. to put a stop to the airstrikes.  He said “we cannot justify in any manner, for whatever number of Taliban, for whatever number of significantly important terrorists, the accidental or otherwise loss of civilians.”

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – U.S.-Afghan Probe Confirms Civilian Deaths in Battle – 9 May 2009

BBC News – Afghan Death Toll Not Confirmed – 9 May 2009

Reuters – U.S. Committed to Defeating al Qaeda – 7 May 2009