Democracy Activists Arrested in Syria

By Yasmine S. Hakimian
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – Twelve Syrian pro-democracy activists are currently on trial in Syria for demanding democratic reform and respect for human rights. The activists face up to 15 years in prison.

The activists were arrested between December 2007 and January 2008. The arrests occurred after the activists organized and attended a meeting of the opposition coalition, the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change (DDDNC). Formed in October 2005, the DDDNC is an unauthorized coalition of political parties, human rights organizations and pro-democracy activists. The DDDNC joins Arab nationalists, Islamics, Kurds, leftists and liberals.

The activists are charged with “weakening national sentiment”, “broadcasting false or exaggerated news which could affect the morale of the country”, joining “an organization formed with the purpose of changing the financial or social status of the state” and “inciting sectarian strife.” The trial is currently taking place before the Damascus Criminal Court. The verdict is expected on October 29.

Initially, the State Security Branch held the activists incommunicado in Damascus for up to several weeks. According to the activists, they were beaten and coerced into signing false confessions during the confinement. The activists have restricted access to attorneys. Furthermore, attorneys are being denied access to activists’ case files.

To date, the trial proceedings have been marked by serious irregularities. Syrian authorities have failed to conduct an official investigation even though Amnesty International and several other organizations have raised concern over the allegations of ill-treatment.

Amnesty International considers the activists prisoners of conscience confined solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and to freedom of assembly and association. Amnesty requests that the prisoners be released immediately and for all charges against them to be dropped.

The DDDNC has called on the Syrian government to suspend the state of emergency in force since 1963. The coalition has also urged the authorities to release all political prisoners; to allow the safe return of Syrian exiles; to abolish Law 49, which makes membership of the Muslim Brotherhood punishable by death; and to uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For more information, please see:

Democracy Digest – Syrian Democracy Activists Face 15 Years in Prison – 9 October 2008

Amnesty International – Pro-Democracy Activists in Syria Face 15 Years in Prison– 8 October 2008

Human Rights Watch – Unfair Trial of 12 Members of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change (NCDD) – 17 September 2008

Human Rights Watch – Syria: Repression of Activists Continues Unabated – 12 June 2008

IFEX – Another Detained in Crackdown on Democracy Advocates; At Least Eight Allegedly Beaten, Forced to Confess – 5 February 2008

UPDATE: Fiji Human Rights Group Questions Courts Independence After Coup Declared Legal

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – A human rights group in Fiji is evaluating last week’s judicial ruling which validated the 2006 coup of Fiji’s Federal Government.

The ruling came after Fiji’s ousted prime minister, Laisenia Qarase, challenged the legality of the military takeover. A Fiji court, comprised of three judges, dismissed Mr. Qarase’s challenge and granted immunity to military leaders.

Fiji human rights commissioner, Shamima Ali, is now questioning the court’s independence. While Fiji’s interim government claims to be committed to reestablishing democracy, Ms. Ali is concerned that last week’s decision was anything but democratic.

“A lot of people expected this kind of result, because the people who sat on the bench have been appointed after December 2006, its independence can therefore be questioned. The political comments that have been made in the judgment are uncalled for and not the place of the presiding judge to make, particularly about immunity, because that’s going to perpetuate the coup cycle,” Ms. Ali said.

Ms. Ali believes that Fiji’s future rests in the balance if an appeal to the court’s decision is not made.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – Fiji human rights commissioner questions court’s independence after coup verdict – 10 October 2008

The Age, Australia – Fiji High Court upholds 2006 coup – 09 October 2008

Tamil Tiger Leader Sworn into Sri Lankan Parliament

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Former Tamil Tiger leader, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, more widely known as Colonel Karuna, was appointed as Member of Parliament by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday.  President Rajapaksa made the appointment with the advice of Karuna’s brother and Sri Lankan Secretary of Defense, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Karuna stated, “Tamil people can now have the faith of solving their own problems through parliamentary democracy. We should forget the bitter past experiences and work to win the trust of the Tamils.”

Karuna faces opposition from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).  The JVP has filed a Fundamental Rights petition against the appointment calling it “immoral” and suing him in the Supreme Court to have him removed.  The JVP alleges that the vacancy Karuna took belongs to them because it opened up when one of their politicians won a powerful provincial post in August.

Karuna’s new appointment also meets serious protests from human rights activists.  After recently having been arrested in the United Kingdom for carrying a false passport and serving jail time, human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Coalition to Stop Child Soldiers have called for authorities there to investigate and prosecute Karuna for his past international war crimes.  Authorities in the UK replied stating that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.

Karuna served as the eastern commander for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which fought against the government and killed hundreds of police officers.  The Tamileela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP),the paramilitary group of which Karuna led after his leadership of the Tamil Tigers, has been accused of abducting children to serve as soldiers, torture and extortion. The TVMP was a group that split from the LTTE and was loyal to Karuna.

For more information, please see:

BBCSinhala – MP Karuna:  “Travesty of Justice” – 7 October 2008

Reuters – Breakaway Tiger Leader Sworn into Sri Lanka Parliament – 7 October 2008

Tamil Sydney – Sri Lanka Bestow Democratic Decoration to a War Lord – War Criminal Karuna Becomes Nationalist MP – 8 October 2008

Iraqi Prime Minister Vows to Find Culprits Behind Parliament Member Assassination

By Nykoel Dinardo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki vowed, in a statement on October 9, that the perpetrators of the bomb attack that killed Parliament Member Saleh al-Ogaili would be brought to justice.  Al-Ogaili was killed Thursday in a bombing that also killed two of Al-Ogaili’s bodyguards and injured three others.

Iraqi police state that the bomb that killed Al-Ogaili was attached to a motorcycle and went off when the MP’s motorcade drove past.  Al-Ogaili died in the hospital soon after the attack due to severe head wounds.  He was buried on October 10 in the city of Al-Najaf.  The MP is known for being radically anti-American, and a member of the Sadrist party.   Following his assassination, several anti-American protests have been held.

It has also drawn a response from both the Iraqi and the American governments.   The US military has denied any involvement in the attack.  The commander of US forces in Iraq, General Raymond Odierno, , and US ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, have both condemned the attack.

The Iraqi government has taken a very strong stance in response to this attack.  Prime Minister Al-Maliki traveled to Al-Najaf where he made a public statement vowing to find those involved in this attack.   Al-Maliki said in his statement that the government “reaffirm[s their] determination to get at the hotbeds of terrorism and crime, and arrest and prosecute the killers and bring them to justice.”

Iraqi president Jalal Talabani also made a statement on October 10, condemning those responsible and calling on the people of Iraq to come together against such crimes.  He declared,”All Iraqis, including its political powers, are called on to be unified to ward off all the attempts of planting fight and alienation among Iraqis’ components.”  He also called Al-Ogaili a martyr, and said that those who committed the crime are enemies of the Iraqis.  

For more information, please see:

The Australian – Bomb Kills Anti-US politician Saleh Al-Ogayly In Iraq – 11 October 2008

AFP – Anger Against US Mount As Iraq Shiites Bury Slain MP – 10 October 2008

Xinhua – Iraqi President Condemns Assassination of Shiite Lawmaker – 10 October 2008

BBC – Iraqi MP Killed By Roadside Bomb – 9 October 2008

BBC – Iraq PM Vows to Find MP’s Killers – 9 October 2008

The New York Times – Roadside Bomb in Baghdad Kills Shiite Legislator – 9 October 2008

Ethnic Violence in India’s Assam

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

GUWAHATI, India – In the northeast state of Assam, India, violence erupted between Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh and Bodo tribal groups on Friday resulting in almost 50 people dead, 500 homes set on fire, and more than 85,000 displaced and seeking housing in government relief camps.  Twenty-one thousand paramilitary officers were deployed to the three districts that have been affected in addition to the already-imposed curfews and shoot-on-sight orders.  More than 15 of the killings were done in police firings.

The conflict has arisen from a history of the local tribes’ fear of being overrun by Muslim immigrants. Almost half of Assam’s population are Muslim settlers.  Analysts claim that the clashes were sparked by a student movement campaigning ainst the immigrants.

Despite the history of tension between Muslims and Bodo tribes, state officials blame the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) for fueling the violence.  NDFB is a Christian rebel group that wants independence and secession from India.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, a minister supervising security and relief measures, says that the NDFB has implemented a plan of “ethnic cleansing” in order to “drive out all the non-Bodos from the area.”  Moreover, in 2005, the NDFB entered into a ceasefire with the Indian government in New Delhi, though it has never renounced its independence struggle.  It claims that the government has neglected their welfare, ignored development of the region and flooded it with immigrants.

Sarma stated that four cadres of the NDFB were arrested on Sunday for firing at the police with machine guns in one of the districts and that if NDFB members continue to engage in violence, then the government might have to reconsider the ceasefire agreement.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Troops Sent to Quell Tribal Clashes in India’s Assam – 6 October 2008

Assam Tribune – Death Toll 40:  80,000 Displaced:  500 Houses Burnt – 6 October 2008

Reuters – More Die as Clashes Continue in India’s Troubled Assam – 7 October 2008