Another No Confidence Motion Filed in French Polynesia

By Sarah E. Treptow
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

PAPEETE, Tahiti – A no confidence motion was filed this week and signed by fifteen French Polynesia Assembly representatives from three political groups.  The groups are trying to put an end to five years of chronic instability, citing the chronic political instability that has had a severe impact on the local economy, political behaviors from the past, and the wish to form a majority exempt from political division.

The motion names pro-Tahiti independence leader Oscar Temaru as candidate to replace Gaston Tong Sang as Tahiti’s president.  The assembly will vote next week on the motion, which would topple the nine-month-old Tong Sang government.  It would also mark the fourth government under Temaru’s power since 2004 and become the eighth government Tahiti has had over the past five years.

The motion is the work of Temaru’s Union for Democracy coalition, Gaston Flosse’s pro-France, pro-Tahiti autonomy Tahoera’a Huiraatira party, and Jean-Christophe Bouissou’s pro-France, pro-Tahiti autonomy Rautahi party.  The three leaders claim to represent 31 of the assembly’s 57 seats, or a three-vote majority.  The 31 seats would give Temaru the biggest majority of any of the eight governments since 2004.

The no confidence motion ended more than two months of speculation, political maneuvering, and political summits involving Tahiti’s four key political leaders.

For more information, please see:
Tahiti Presse – Tong Sang claims Temaru’s only interest is “to block Flosse” – 05 February 2009

Pacific Islands Report – Another No Confidence Motion Filed in Tahiti – 06 February 2009

Fiji Times – Polynesia Vote – 07 February 2009

UN Envoy Ibrahim Gambari ‘s Visit to Myanmar

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar – UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari visited Myanmar last week. During the trip, he met with detained National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and with government ministers and diplomats.  However, he was not granted an audience with Senior General Than Shwe, the top military ruler of Myanmar.

Junta has detained Suu Kyi for 13 years.  She told Mr. Gambari that she would only hold talks with the junta if all political prisoners are released and the results of 1990 elections won by her National League for Democracy are recognized.  Last August, Suu Kyi declined Mr. Gambari’s visit despite being held under house arrest since May 2003.  Analysts believe her snub was to show displeasure at the acceptance by the United Nations of planned 2010 elections in Myanmar.

NLD members also said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should not visit until all Burma’s political prisoners are free.  According to the U.S. State Department, currently more than 2,000 political prisoners are held in Myanmar’s jails.

Junta accused her of setting unrealistic conditions for talks.  “A dialogue will be practical and successful only if the discussions are based on the reality of prevailing conditions,” Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan said in a statement carried by state media yesterday. “There will be no success if it is based on unrealistic conditions.”

Mr. Gambari asked Myanmar’s Prime Minister Thein Sein to release political prisoners, to have a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and to make the military-guided political process inclusive for all.  However, Thein Sein told Gambari that the UN should press for the lifting of international sanctions to promote political improvements in the country.  “If the U.N. wants to see economic development and political stability, the U.N. should first try to remove economic sanctions and visa bans,” was the prime minister’s response, according to state television.

For more information, please see:

BBC – UN envoy’s Burma trip criticized – 04 February 2009

Bloomberg – Myanmar Junta Calls Suu Kyi’s Conditions for Talks Unrealistic – 05 February 2009

New York Times – Opposition Leader in Myanmar Expresses Frustration With U.N. – 04 February 2009

Reuters – Myanmar’s Suu Kyi meets UN envoy, sticks to terms – 02 February 2009

Afghan Girls Fear for their Lives in Attending School

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KABUL, Afghanistan – Violence has been occurring against Afghan female students to prevent them from going to school.  Men and even young boys intimidate girls through the use of harassment, sexual assault, murder and acid attacks.  They have even gone so far as burning school buildings and killing teachers.  Not surprisingly, this violence has had a severe effect on school attendance.

“A lot of my classmates and other female students don’t care for school anymore because they fear the boys’ harassment and kidnappings,” said Maryam Mansoor, an 18 year old female student who quit school.

Maryam’s father urged her to quit school in concern for her safety.  “The security situation is worsening every day.”  He continues, “I am not against my girls completing their education, but their safety is more important.  I don’t want them to study outside anymore.”

According to Reuters, the degree of violence varies according to geography.  In rural areas, “the Taliban have burned down schools, killed female students and teachers and attacked schoolgirls by throwing acid in their faces.”  On the other hand, in Kabul, schoolgirls suffer from abuse, sexual harassment and kidnappings.

Under Taliban rule, females were prohibited from going to school and work and were not able to leave their house unless accompanied by a male relative.

Since the Taliban was removed from power in 2001, the Afghan government has tried to improve access to education for all.  As a result, about 6.2 million Afghans are currently in school, two million of which are girls, compared with less than one million males while the Taliban was in power.

According to the Ministry of Education, spokesman Asif Nang reported that “in the past eight months, around 138 students and teachers have lost their lives and another 172 have been wounded in criminal and terror attacks.”  Moreover, “about 651 schools have become inactive mostly due to insecurity and another 122 school buildings have been blown up or burned down.”

The Ministry of Education requests that “Afghan and foreign forces including elders to get involved and take extra measures in providing security for all students and teachers.”

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Afghan Girls Return to School After Acid Attacks – 24 January 2009

CNN – Afghan Girls Maimed Vow to go to School – 23 January 2009

Reuters – Harassment Forces Afghan Girls Out of School – 28 January 2009

Bangladesh to Prosecute War Criminals

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

DHAKA, Bangladesh – The United States government welcomed the Bangladesh government’s proposal to hold a war crimes tribunal.  The tribunal will prosecute war crimes committed during the 1971 war for independence from Pakistan.

United States Ambassador in Dhaka, James F. Moriarty said, “The trials of war criminals are being held in different countries and Bangladesh has to decide on the matter after taking experiences from those countries.”

On January 29, the Bangladesh parliament unanimously adopted a resolution seeking trial of war criminals involved in the liberation war. The resolution was in-line with an election pledge by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who took power this January.

Just one day later, the interior minister Sahara Khatun announced that Bangladesh has imposed travel restrictions on people suspected of war crimes, as the new government prepared to put them on trial. “My ministry has already ordered concerned authorities to guard all points so that no war criminal can flee the country,” Khatun told reporters.

During the 1971 war for independence, around 3 million people were killed, 200,000 women were violated and millions were displaced at the hands of the Pakistani army and local collaborators. Hence, the war criminals include people who opposed the war of independence against Pakistan and helped the Pakistani army in acts of genocide.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father, was the Bangladesh’s first president.  Rahman launched a move for trying the war criminals, but it stalled after he was killed in a 1975 army coup.

Many accuse the Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s biggest religion-based political party, of collaborating with the Pakistani army during the liberation war. However, the Jamaat denies these charges.

For more information, please see:

Daily Star – 4-Party Stance on War Crime Tribunal – 31 January 2009

Reuters – Bangladesh Bans Travel by Suspected War Criminals – 30 January 2009

Sindh Today – US Welcomes Bangladesh Proposal to Prosecute War Criminals –31 January 2009

Philippines Considers General Jovito Palparan for Dangerous Drug Board

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MANILA, Philippines – International human rights group, Human Rights Watch, said the Philippine government should investigate retried General Jovito Palparan for widespread human rights abuses under his command rather than appoint him to a post on the Dangerous Drug Board.

Philippine Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told the media that Palparan was being considered for the position on the Dangerous Drug Board.  The Dangerous Drug Board is a governmental agency composed of top officials from justice, health, foreign affairs, the National Bureau of Investigation and the National Police. The Dangerous Drug Board meets to formulate policies and strategies on drug prevention and control.

During a news conference Ermita told the press, “If [Palparan] was able to generate good information and intelligence from among the New People Army, I think he can also do the same thing among drug traffickers and drug pushers.” The New People Army of the Communist Part of the Philippines has been involved in a rebellion against the Filipino government since 1969.

In a 2006 the Filipino government established the Melo Commission, a government effort to investigate extrajudicial killings of journalists. Leftist activists and clergy members identified Palparan as the “prime suspect behind the extrajudicial killings” in the report. The Melo Commission concluded that “There is certainly evidence pointing the finger of suspicion at some elements and personalities in the armed forces, in particular General Palparan, as responsible for an undetermined number of killings, by allowing, tolerating, and even encouraging the killings.”

Palparan was the military commander for the Central Luzon under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Since 2001, hundreds of left-wing political parties, human rights activists, journalists, and clergy persons in the Philippines have been killed or have gone missing. After Arroyo announced the “all-out war” against the New People Army, the extrajudicial killings and abductions increased.

Due to recent international pressure, the killings and violence have decreased; however, no soldiers have been convicted for involvement in extrajudicial killing since Arroyo took office in 2001. Palparan denies any allegations from human rights groups but has made several comments that alluded to the unjustified killings.  He said that they were “being attributed to me, but I did not kill them. I just inspired [the triggermen]. We are not admitting responsibility here, what I’m saying is that these are necessary incidents.”

Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch said, “Considering the serious abuses committed under his command, Palparan and his legacy would be a liability, not an asset, to any government institution that cares about its reputation for upholding human rights.” Person added, “Appointing Palparan to a senior state post would send a strong message that the government rewards, not punishes, those who encourage the killing of perceived adversaries …Unless the Philippines wants a dirty ‘war on drugs’ riddled with killings, it should not take such a dangerous move.”

For more information, please see:

GMA News – US Envoy Calls for Prosecution of Rights Violators – 27 January 2009

Human Rights Watch –Philippines: Investigate Ex-General for Rights Abuses – 3 February 2009

Inquirer – Rights Group: Probe Palparan for Abuses – 4 February 2009