By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

SRINAGAR, India – On the 61st anniversary of Indian rule in the Kashmir region, separatists took part in a general strike that shut down the area’s shops, businesses, and government offices.  The Indian government deployed thousands of troops in riot gear to patrol the region, and prohibited any gatherings of any more than 5 people.

On Sunday, shots were fired at protesters, killing one and wounding twenty.  A student was killed when shots were fired at a crowd who were throwing stones.  People had taken to the streets, chanting pro-freedom slogans.

The recent ban on protests was aimed to stop Kashmiri lawyers’ plan to form a human chain to protest the presence of Indian rule in the city.  Mirwaiz Omer Farooq, a key separatist leader, said, “It’s an irony that even forming a human chain is a threat to the Indian state.  This was supposed to be a symbolic protest reminding the world that India has militarily occupied this place.”

The area’s strike was called by the Jammu-Kashmir Coordination Committee, a coalition of Muslim separatist leaders and representatives of businesses, lawyers and government employees. The group demands Muslim-majority Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan.  There were reports that police detained several separatists and lawyers who were expected to lead rallies on the anniversary.

Also on Sunday, Indian troops shot and killed five militants during a gun battle in the forests of Kishtiwar district.  “The five were members of Hizbul Mujahideen,” said an army statement, referring to the region’s most powerful group fighting for Indian Kashmir to join with Pakistan.

Anti-Indian sentiment is strong in Kashmir, which remains divided between India and Pakistan. The countries both claim the region and have fought two wars over its control.  Militant separatist groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989 to end Indian rule. More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the uprising and subsequent Indian crackdown.

For more information, please see:

AP – Protests Against Indian Rule Shuts Down Kashmir – 27 October 2008

Reuters – India Deploys Extra Troops to Halt Kashmir Protests – 27 October 2008

Voice of America – Indian Troops in Kashmir to Block Anniversary Protests – 27 October 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – China’s prominent human rights activist, Hu Jia, was awarded the Sakharov prize, the European Union’s highest human rights honor.  Hu is known for his campaign for civil rights, the environment and AIDS victims.  He was convicted last April of inciting subversion, and is currently serving a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence in China.

Hu’s wife, Zeng Jinyan, also an activist, can visit him only when prison officials allow it.  She lives under house arrest with their infant daughter, and reporters are prevented from visiting their home by guards who block the entrance to the apartment building.

European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering called Hu Jia “one of the real defenders of human rights in the People’s Republic of China.”  Poettering told the EU assembly that “by awarding the Sakharov Prize to Hu Jia, the European Parliament is sending out a signal of clear support to all those who defend human rights in China.”

The U.S. State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid also said that the U.S. hopes Beijing will move to free Hu Jia from prison, after the European Parliament awarded him a human rights prize.  “We hope that the recognition the European Parliament has given Hu Jia by awarding him the prestigious Sakharov Prize will demonstrate to China’s leaders the enormous esteem the international community holds for his important work as a human rights defender and that China will release him immediately,” said Gordon Duguid.

However, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, Liu Jianchao, expressed strong dissatisfaction that such an award had gone to a “jailed criminal” in disregard of China’s repeated representations on the issue.  He says it was “a gross interference in China’s domestic affairs.”  In a letter sent to the President of EU assembly earlier this week, China’s ambassador to the EU, Song Zhe, said giving the award to Hu would “inevitably hurt the Chinese people once again and bring serious damage to China-EU relations.”

Hu was also named as a possible winner of the Nobel Peace Prize this year, prompting Beijing to issue a warning that the prize should go to the “right person.”

For more information, please see:

ABC – Europe Awards Jailed Chinese Dissident – 23 October 2008

AFP – US presses China to free EU prize-winning dissident – 23 October 2008

AP – EU honours jailed Chinese dissident Hu despite Beijing pressure – 23 October 2008

BBC –  Hu Jia wins European rights prize – 23 October 2008

Reuters – China bridles as dissident wins top EU rights prize – 23 October 200

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KABUL, Afghanistan – Twenty-three year old journalist Perwiz Kambakhsh was sentenced by Afghanistan’s appellate court to 20 years for circulating an Internet article about women’s rights under Islam.  This new sentence overturned a death sentence he received in January by a court in the northern city of Mazar-i-sharif.

Under Islamic law, blasphemy is a capital crime, punishable by death.  This 20 year sentence demonstrates Afghanistan’s drift toward a more radically conservative Islam and how fragile the judiciary really is.  Moreover, according to Human Rights Watch, it illustrates Afghanistan’s lack of respect for individual liberties.  As Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, stated, “Kambakhsh’s case demonstrates how fragile freedom of expression is in many parts of Afghanistan, and the lack of progress that has been made in establishing a professional judiciary.” He further stated, “It is an embarrassment to the Karzai government, which has failed to take judicial reform seriously and allows a brutal and conservative security service to do whatever it wants.”

Kambakhsh was studying in Mazar-i-sharif and working as a journalist for the Jahan-e Now Daily, a local newspaper, when he was arrested on October 27, 2007.  He was held for 8 days without being charged before he was handed over to the prosecution.  Since his arest, Kambakhsh was detained in three difference prisons and denied basic legal rights, such as right to legal counsel.  His family reported that he was beaten and tortured into signing a confession.  When he was tried on January 22, 2008, he went in front of the judge and prosecutor without counsel or a hearing and was sentenced to death.  The following day, the prosecutor, Hafaizullah Khaliqvar, condemned all journalists who supported Kambakhsh.

Kambakhsh’s brother, Yaqub Ibrahimi, believed that the arrest of Kambakhsh was a warning against him for his articles on human rights abuses committed by local warlords and militias in northen Afghanistan.  Ibrahimi is a journalist for the Institute for Way and Peace Reporting.  A few days prior to Kambakhsh’s arrest, Ibrahimi was threatened by local armed groups and the National Directoate of Security and his home was searched several times.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Afghanistan:  Overturn Death Sentence of Jailed Journalist – 1 February 2008

Los Angeles Times – Afghan Student Gets 20 Years Instead of Death for Blasphemy – 22 October 2008

Reuters – Afghan Journalist Gets 20 Years Jail for Blasphemy – 21 October 2008