BRIEF: Solomon Islands Media Argue Freedom of Press

HONIARA, Solomon Islands – The press is lashing back after the Solomon Islands Government reportedly told journalists the manner and extent to which they would be allowed to cover this month’s Constitutional Congress meetings.

Acting through the Constitutional Reform Unit, the Government issued a letter to the press outlining new restrictions and guidelines the media was to follow. Upon receipt of the letter, the Media Association of Solomon Islands met to discuss the possible ramifications of signing the document.

MASI believes that the Government has issued these new restrictions in order to gain control over how actions of the Congress are reported to the public. The media body also condemns these restrictions as a violation of the public’s right to freedom of the press.

John Lamani, MASI’s president, says that the Government’s demands are “unprecedented, outrageous, unacceptable, and naive,” reports Radio New Zealand International.

Mr. Lamani is confident that the press will ignore the Government’s demands. According to Mr. Lamani, signing such a document would give the Government “sweeping powers” over what can and cannot be reported.

MASI has demanded that the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet investigate the situation and call on the Constitutional Reform Unit to take back their demands.

For more information, please see:
Solomon Times Online –  MASI Rejects Constitutional Congress Reporting Restrictions – 18 September 2008

Radio New Zealand International – Solomon Islands media angry at Government attempt to control reporting of Constitutional Congress – 17 September 2008

A Tibetan Monk Tells of Interrogations and Abuse in Chinese Prison

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – A Tibetan Buddhist monk, who identified himself as Jigme, went into hiding after Chinese security agents visited his home last week.  According to Jigme, he was detained on March 21 and accused of participating in this spring’s uprising against Chinese rule across Tibet.  He said that he was questioned and abused for two days at the People’s Armed Police guesthouse in the Gansu province town of Xiahe.  “They hung me up by my hands and beat me hard all over with their fists,” Jigme told the AP by phone Friday.  Similar treatment was meted out to other Tibetan prisoners, while family members were refused permission to bring them additional food and warm clothing, he says.  After several weeks of interrogation and abuse, he was released for medical reasons.  Jigme states that he took no part in the violent protests that followed deadly rioting in Tibet’s capital of Lhasa on March 14.

According to Jigme, political indoctrination campaigns had intensified in Tibet.  Monks are forced to attend twice-weekly “patriotic education” classes where they are told to shun all contact with the Dalai Lama and his followers.  The Dalai Lama is accused by China of fomenting the spring protests.
A police officer contacted by phone in Xiahe, who gave only his surname, Liu, said he had no information about Jigme’s case. Officials at the Communist Party management committee also said they had no knowledge of such a case and refused to give their names, making Jigme’s claims impossible to verify.  However, the basic facts of his story correspond with testimony given by monks and nuns detained in previous campaigns and widely reported by credible overseas human rights groups.

Furthermore, Reporters Without Borders calls on the Chinese authorities to release Dhondup Wangchen, and Jigme Gyatso. They have been detained since March 2008 for filming interviews with Tibetans.  Neither of their families has had any news of them for the past five and a half months.  The film produced by Wangchen and Gyatso is a 25-minute documentary entitled Leaving Fear Behind (www.leavingfearbehind.com).  It shows Tibetans in the Amdo region expressing their views on the Dalai Lama, the Olympic Games, and Chinese legislation.

For more information, please see:

AP – Tibet monk in hiding tells of interrogation, abuse – 14 September 2008

Reporters without Borders – Two Tibetan documentary filmmakers held for past six months in Tibet – 16 September 2008

Voice of America – Report: Tibetan Monk in Hiding from Chinese – 15 September 2008

Malaysian Government Silences Critics with Arrests

By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysian authorities arrested three persons under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows the government to hold them indefinitely without a trial.

All three were accused of inflaming racial and religious tensions. The three persons included Teresa Kok, a member of Parliament; Tan Hoon Cheng, a journalist; and Raja Petra Kamaruddin, a prominent blogger.

There have been several accusations that the arrests are an attempt to keep the present government in power. The opposition has threatened to bring down the present government by persuading parliamentarians to defect. Last March, the opposition received historic levels of support in a general election. With the election, the government’s ability to change the constitution was removed. .

In response to the arrests, a senior opposition politician Lim Guan Eng said, “The government must be deluded if they think that they can break us because we will not be broken, we will not be bent.”

There have been several protests since the ISA arrests, but police have broken up several demonstrations. However, 400 persons were able to hold a vigil near the capital for Teresa Kok. Protestors lit candles and prayed for the jailed Parliament member. Many shouted, “Free Teresa” and “Abolish the ISA.” A protestor at the vigil said, “I think they are panicking for whatever they are doing now, they are running out of options, and they are trying whatever way that they can to maintain their power.”

Opposition members fear a repeat of the arrests of 1987, where almost 120 activists, politicians, and journalists were charged under the ISA after the then Prime Minster Mahathir Mohamad blamed the media for playing up racial issues.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Malaysian Arrests Draw Protests – 13 September 2008

Reuters – Malaysia’s Anwar Hits Out at Political Arrests – 13 September 2008

Reporters Without Borders – Use of Internal Security Law is Serious Press Violation, Interior Minister Told – 16 September 2008

HRW Calls for Global Ban on Juvenile Executions

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

NEW YORK CITY, United States – On September 10, Human Rights Watch released a report, “The Last Holdouts: Ending the Juvenile Death Penalty.”  In the report, HRW renewed its call for a global ban against the practice of executing individuals for crimes committed as minors.  The report noted that only five states account for all of the juvenile executions since 2005: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Yemen.

The report states that Iran has executed 26 juvenile offenders since 2005.  So far, in 2008, Iran has executed six child offenders; including Behnam Zare on August 26 and Seyyed Reza Hejazi on August 19.  In addition to the six individuals executed, there are at least 130 others who are awaiting execution. 

The report also states that two juvenile offenders were executed in Saudi Arabia since 2005: Dhahiyan bin Rakan bin Sa`d al-Thawri al-Sibai`i on July 21, 2007, and Mu`id bin Husayn bin Abu al-Qasim bin `Ali Hakami on July 10, 2007. 

Both Iran and Saudi Arabia are members to the Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights.  Both international treaties expressly prohibit the execution of individuals for crimes committed before the age of 18.  In addition, in 1994, the UN Human Rights Committee stated that it considered the prohibition against juvenile execution to be a part of international customary law. 

However, Article 7(1) of the 2004 Arab Human Rights Charter states “Sentence of death shall not be imposed on persons under 18 years of age, unless otherwise stipulated in the laws in force at the time of the commission of the crime.”  Both Iran and Saudi Arabia have laws which permit judges to impose the death penalty on child offenders.

In Iran, judges are permitted to impose the death penalty on individuals who have reached the age of majority (9 years old for girls and 15 years old for boys).  In Saudi Arabia judges have discretion to impose the death penalty on offenders who have reached puberty or who are 15 years old or older, whichever is first. 

The juvenile death penalty is outlawed in Yemen, but because birth registration levels were low young offenders can have trouble proving their age and are often treated as adults. Yemen last executed a juvenile offender in February 2007.  Adil Muhammad Saif al-Ma’amari was executed despite claiming that he was only 16 years old when the crime occurred and that he had been tortured to confess.   

For more information, please see:

News Yemen – UN holds Yemen, KSA, Iran, Pakistan Responsible for Juvenile Executions – 15 September 2008 

Human Rights Watch – The Last Holdouts, Ending the Juvenile Death Penalty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan and Yemen – 10 September 2008 

Human Rights Watch – UN: Five Countries Responsible for ALL Executions of Juvenile Offenders – 10 September 2008 

Reuters – Iran Accounts for Most Juvenile Executions-Report – 10 September 2008

Convicted Moroccan Blogger Released, Pending Appeal

By Lauren Mellinger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

AGADIR, Morocco – On September 8, Mohamed Elrraji was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 5,000 dirhams (US $625).  He was found guilty of disrespecting the King of Morocco under Article 41 of the Moroccan Press Law.

Elrraji was arrested and convicted in connection with a blog he published on Hespress, an independent Moroccan website.  The blog, entitled:  “The King encourages the nation (to rely) on handouts,” expressed criticism of King Mohammed VI.  In his blog, Elrraji argues that the King’s charitable habits stifle development in Morocco and force people to be dependent on his government.

On September 4, Elrraji was summoned to the police station in Agadir and questioned for over 8 hours and told to return to the station the following day.  Upon arrival at the police station on September 5, Elrraji was kept in pre-arraignment detention and then transferred to Inzegaine prison on September 7th.

No one in Elrraji’s family was informed of his detention, in violation of Moroccan law that requires the police to notify the relatives of detainees at the beginning of their detention.

Human Rights groups, such as Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders and the Moroccan Association of Human Rights, criticized the trial.  They claim that the Moroccan court where Elrraji was tried did not respect the basic elements of a fair trial.  A family member present at the trial claimed that Elrraji did not have time to seek legal counsel due to the secret detention and hurried investigation.  In addition, he stated that the judges barely deliberated before convicting Elrraji.

Elrraji’s lawyer on appeal told Reporters Without Borders that the “trial was conducted badly.  The police, the prosecutors and the local authorities imprisoned Mohamed Elrraji in order to dispose of the case.”

In the past few years many journalists and human rights activists have been convicted under certain provisions of the Moroccan Penal Code and Press Code for peacefully expressing their views.  These provisions carry sentences of up to 5 years imprisonment and/or heavy fines for any “offenses” against the King, the royal family, or for “undermining the monarchy.”  Such provisions are in contravention with the right of free expression, enshrined in the Moroccan Constitution and in international law.

On September 11, at the request of Elrraji’s defense attorneys, Elrraji was temporarily released from custody.  His appeal is scheduled to take place at the Court of Appeals in Agadir on September 16.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Silenced Voices Speak Up – 15 September 2008

Amnesty International USA – Moroccan Blogger Jailed for Peacefully Expressing His Views– 11 September 2008

BBC – Morocco Jails King Insult Blogger – 9 September 2008

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information – In One Session, Without Defense or Lawyers, the Sentence of the Moroccan Blogger, Mohamed Elrajji, to Two Years Imprisonment and a Fine– 9 September 2008