China Blocks YouTube

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China –  YouTube, a Google-owned popular video sharing site, is blocked by the Chinese government since Monday.  According to Reuters, Chinese traffic to the site saw a sharp decline on Monday and almost all the traffic had stopped by Tuesday.  Google did not explain why Chinese authorities were barring access to YouTube.  “We do not know the reason for the blockage, and we’re working as quickly as possible to restore access to our users in China.”  However, Chinese authorities are known for blocking websites they deem politically unacceptable or offensive.

Many people speculated it is because of footages that a Tibetan exile group posted on YouTube. The videos show protesters being beaten, kicked and choked allegedly by Chinese police officers in March 2008 riots. The Tibetan government-in-exile says the footage shows the Chinese government’s “brutality”.  But a Chinese government official said video footage is “a lie” because many of the images and voices in the video had been pieced together from different sources.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Qin Gang, told reporters: “Many people have a false impression that the Chinese government fears the Internet. In fact it is just the opposite.”
He cites that China has the world’s largest online population and 100m blogs.  “China’s internet is open enough, but also needs to be regulated by law in order to prevent the spread of harmful information and for national security”, he added.  However,  Qing Gang did not did not directly comment on whether YouTube had been blocked in China.

Several civil rights groups criticize the Chinese government for blocking YouTube. The Global Network Initiative said the blocking of YouTube in China is “inconsistent with the rule of law and the right to freedom of expression”. Leslie Harris, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology made a similar statement: ” China’s actions fail to live up to international norms. Anytime a country limits or takes down content online , it must be forthright and specific about its actions and do so only in narrowly defined circumstances consistent with international human rights and the rule of law.”

For more information:

AP – YouTube blocked in China; official says video fake – 24 March 2009

AFP – YouTube confirms website blocked in China – 24 March 2009

BBC – China criticised over YouTube – 25 March 2009

BBC – China says Tibet video is ‘a lie’ – 25 March 2009

CNN – YouTube blocked in China – 25 March 2009

Reuters – “Unafraid” China apparently fears YouTube – 24 March 2009

Wall Street Journal – China’s YouTube Block: A Tibet Connection? – 25 March 2009

Impunity Watch Annual Symposium: ‘American Warlord’ the Prosecution of Chucky Taylor

March 2009

24 March 2009

Impunity Watch Annual Symposium: ‘American Warlord’ the Prosecution of Chucky Taylor


 Impunity Watch is hosting a symposium to discuss the legal and political ramifications of Chucky Taylor’s war crimes prosecution. The discussion will feature Johnny Dwyer of Rolling Stone Magazine, who wrote an article for that magazine about Chucky Taylor, Professor Evan Criddle of the Syracuse University College of Law and Doctor Nancy Snow of the Newhouse School. The symposium will be held on April 3rd from 12:00 pm until 2:00 pm at the Syracuse University College of Law in room 201. This event is free and open to the public. We encourage everyone who is able to come and attend.

Two American Jouranlists Detained by North Korean Authority

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PYONGYANG, North Korea – North Korean government had detained two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, for “illegally intruding” into the North Korea through its border with China.  They are reporters for Current TV, a San Francisco-based media founded by former Vice President Al Gore.

According to a Seoul-based Christian group, the two journalists were working on a story on North Korean refugees, who try to escape the country by crossing the river into China.  The two journalists planned to interview women forced by human traffickers to strip for online customers and meet with children of defectors.  They were arrested while filming North Korea from the middle of the frozen Tumen River, along North Korea’s border with China.  “The two were said to have ignored warnings from North Korean guards to stop filming,” the fourth person escaped arrest said.

Human rights activist and Protestant pastor, Chun Kiwon, who heads a missionary group providing assistance to North Korean defectors, said the two journalists had met him in Seoul to ask for his advice on their mission.  He says that they told him that they were going to do a program on North Koreans who have fled the North.

In recent years, tens of thousands of North Koreans have streamed across the border into China.  North Korea border guards have crossed the border to pursuit North Koreans or to rob Chinese towns, coal mines and businesses in area.  China often ignores foreign journalists trying to report on North Korea from the border, but North Korean guards often react angrily to reporters trying to film or photograph them.

The U.S. State Department already contacted North Korea and China to secure the release of the two journalists.  The spokesperson Robert Wood told reporters Friday, “There is a lot of diplomacy going on. There have been a number of contacts made.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – North Korea confirms two Americans detained – 21 March 2009

AP – Detained reporters drawn to NKorean refugee story – 21 March 2009

BBC – N Korea confirms reporters held – 21 March 2009

New York Times – N. Korea Says It Is Holding Reporters – 22 March 2009

Voice of America – Report: Detained US Reporters Likely in Pyongyang – 22 March 2009

British Court Says US Asked Detainee to Drop Torture Claim

23 March 2009

British Court Says US Asked Detainee to Drop Torture Claim

By Gabrielle Meury
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
LONDON, U.K.- A British court says U.S. authorities asked a Guantanamo Bay detainee to drop allegations of torture in exchange for his freedom. A ruling by two British High Court judges published Monday says the U.S. offered Binyam Mohamed a plea bargain deal in October. Mohamed refused the deal and the U.S. dropped all charges against him later last year. He was released last month.
Mohamed is an Ethiopian who moved to Britain when he was a teenager. He was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and claims he was tortured both there and in Morocco. He was transferred to Guantanamo in 2004. Mohamed alleges that he was tortured and interrogated during more than six years in detention as a terror suspect. He says his ordeal included rendition to Morocco where he was held and cut with a scalpel on his chest and penis.
Reprieve director Clive Stafford Smith, who has represented Mr Mohamed for four years, said after the release: “The facts revealed today reflect the way the US government has consistently tried to cover up the truth of Binyam Mohamed’s torture.He was being told he would never leave Guantanamo Bay unless he promised never to discuss his torture, and never sue either the Americans or the British to force disclosure of his mistreatment. Gradually the truth is leaking out, and the governments on both sides of the Atlantic should pause to consider whether they should continue to fight to keep this torture evidence secret.”
Then-U.S. military prosecutor Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld is quoted in the ruling as saying Mohamed would be given a date for his release if he agreed to the terms. Vandeveld, who has since resigned, had said Mohamed would need to plead guilty to two charges in exchange for a three-year sentence and to testify against other suspects, according to the court documents.
For more information, please see:
Associated Press- Court says US asked detainee to drop torture claim– 23 March 2009
Press Association- “Torture evidence” details released- 23 March 2009

Fiji Times Editor-in-Chief’s House Bombed, Newspaper Will Continue to Speak Out

By Sarah E. Treptow
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – Kerosene bombs aimed at the homes of two high-profile Fiji men were designed to kill, report police.  The bombings are believed to be linked to a series of attacks against individuals who have spoken out against Fiji’s interim government.  Bombs were thrown at the homes of a former senior army officer, Colonel Sakiusa Raivoce, and the Fiji Times editor-in-chief, Netani Rika.  Mr. Rika said three home-made bombs in beer bottles filled with kerosene were thrown at his house windows in Nasese, marking the second attack on his property in less than two weeks.

Fiji’s Rewa Provincial council is asking those involved in the politically motivated vandalism to consider the consequences of their actions.  The Rewa High Chief, Ro Teimumu Kepa, said, “We’ve heard that some are saying they’re just carrying out orders.  But these orders have been given to people who are supposed to have brains and they should think twice about the orders that are given to them and think of the consequences that might happen.”  She says the freedom to speak out is provided for in the Fiji constitution, a document the miliary and interim government say is still intact.

Mr. Rika has said the attacks will not stop the Fiji Times from speaking out against the interim government.  He said, “There is a time to speak out and I think there’s a time to speak out responsibly.  I think we have done that, we will continute to do that.  It’s unfortunate that the people who have different views do not use the newspaper to make these views known and continue to move around under the cover of darkness to attack innocent people.”

The interim government will meet on Tuesday to discuss whether or not security should be provided for these civilian targets.  Interim Defence Minister Ratu Epeli Ganilau has said police will not be provided for security unless it is specifically requested or if it is deemed absolutely necessary.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – Molotov cocktail attacks in Fiji on homes of high profile individuals – 22 March 2009

Radio New Zealand International – Rewa Council in Fiji urges politically motivated vandals to consider consequences – 23 March 2009

Radio New Zealand International – Fiji Times editor vows to continue his work – 23 March 2009

Fiji Times – State in conflict over security concerns – 23 March 2009