By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The Pakistani government has arrested or detained at least 300 opposition activists led by the Pakistan Muslim League since March 10, 2009. Authorities hope to prevent the demonstration set in Islamabad, where they will end their march. Activists demand that the government reinstate judges who they claim were illegally fired under former President Perviz Musharraf.

Nawaz Sharif, former Prime Minister who resigned because of Musharraf’s deposing of judges, has rallied Pakistanis to join the march. Sharif and the Pakistan Muslim League demand the restoration to office of Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudry, the Supreme Court chief justice.

In response, the government has banned protests in the Punjab and Sindh provinces.

Among the activists are many Pakistani lawyers who also demand the reinstatement of judges. “These images have raised the passions of everyone who wants an independent judiciary,” said Aitzaz Ahsan, a spokesman for the lawyers.

Human Rights Watch, among other humanitarian groups, calls for the immediate release of the opposition activists.

“It’s a disgrace for elected public officials to mimic the discredited military government by using old and repressive laws to stifle political expression,” said Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The protesters who were arrested should be freed right away and allowed to demonstrate peacefully without fear of violence or arrest.”

There has been a sharp political division in Pakistan as of February 25, when the Supreme Court upheld a ruling that banned Sharif from elections. The Court also dismissed Sharif’s brother, Shahbaz Sharif, from continuing in his capacity as chief minister of the Punjab province. As a result, Sharif has declared a “rebellion” against the government and urges Pakistanis to join the march which will converge in Islamabad on March 16.

“Pakistan’s transition to democracy is imperiled by the government reacting to a political dispute with unnecessary force,” said Hasan. “Regardless of political differences, rights-respecting leaders don’t lock up people for trying to participate in their country’s political process.”

For more information, please see:

AP – Pakistan: Opposition Should Seek Reconciliation – 13 March 2009

Human Rights Watch – Pakistan: Free Detained Opposition Activists – 11 March 2009

Times Online – U.S. and British Diplomats Scramble to Defuse Pakistan Crisis – 12 March 2009

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka The United Nations (UN) calls upon the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to stop the war in the northeast.  The UN believes that war crimes have been committed.

Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, stated, “Certain actions being undertaken by the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE may constitute violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.”  She continued, “The brutal and inhuman treatment of civilians by the LTTE is utterly reprehensible and should be examined to see if it constitutes war crimes.”

The UN accused the military of shelling safe zones to protect civilians.  The UN also accused the LTTE of using civilians as human shields and shooting those civilians who attempt to escape.

The Sri Lankan minister of human rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, spoke for the government and said that the UN misrepresented the number of civilian casualties.

“We have very clearly stated that we have not at any time fired at the no-fire zone,” Samarasinghe said.  “We are very disappointed and we are very surprised that this kind of unprofessional statement has been issued,” he added.

But B. Nadesan, political leader of the LTTE, claims that the total number of casualties is much higher than the UN’s estimate.  Moreover, they have proof of the government’s crimes of “deliberately targeting civilians, their humanitarian supplies and the hospitals.”  “There are thousands of evidences among the civilians, officials and local aid workers.  The ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] has witnessed the Sri Lankan attacks on the civilians,” said Nadesan.  He added that the witnesses would be able to provide detailed accounts of how civilians are “jailed inside barbed wire internment camps” and “hundreds of civilians have gone missing.”

According to Human Rights Watch, parties to a conflict must take all necessary precautions to minimize civilian casualties, yet “[t]he government shows callous indifference by saying civilians should not expect the government to consider their safety and security” when they fail to enter the safety zones.

For more information, please see:

BBC – UN Fears Sri Lanka ‘War Crimes’ – 13 March 2009

Human Rights Watch – Sri Lanka: Disregard for Civilian Safety Appalling – 3 February 2009

TamilNet – Nadesan Urges UN to Investigate Colomb’s War Crimes – 15 March 2009

By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

TAIPEI, Taiwan – At an abandoned Ministry of Justice building, reporters discovered deceased political prisoners’ files and interrogation records from the White Terror period.  Along with the files, reporters also discovered body part in jars.

Both the government and the reporters contend the body parts were from homicides, not political prisoners. Among the documents found inside were records of the interrogations of late DPP chairman Huang Hsin-chieh; the late writer, human rights activist and one-time political prisoner Bo Yang; and former national policy adviser Hsieh Tsung-min, who was also once a political prisoner.

Most of the files found were from Taiwan’s White Terror period, when the Kuomintang government of President Chiang Kai-shek persecuted dissidents and people it suspected of sympathies for communism or for Taiwan Independence.

The abandoned building where the files were found was once the Ankeng Guesthouse.  It was previously used by the notorious Taiwan Garrison Command as an interrogation center and for detentions.

The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau [MJIB] apologized for the oversight.  It contended that the building had been guarded but recent personnel cuts had affected security.  The MJIB also said the files only contained the most basic information, including fingerprints and photographs.

Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] members have demanded that the files be sent to the National Archives Administration.  DPP Legislator Lin Shu-fen stated that the materials were “important witnesses to history and national documents” and declared that the MJIB had violated the National Archives Law by failing to hand them over to the National Archives Administration.

For more information, please see:

Taipei Times – White Terror Documents Cause Uproar – 19 March 2009

Taiwan News – Taiwan DPP Slams Investigative Bureau over White Terror Files – 19 March 2009

Taiwan News – Taiwan Reporters Find Investigation Bureau Dissident Files in Abandoned Building – 18 March 2008