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Maldives Tries to Resume Execution in 60 Years
By: Brian Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
MALE, Maldives – The Maldives is planning to carry out its first execution since the mid-1950s. The last execution in the country was carried out during the British colonial rule which ended five decades ago.
As the Maldives government plans to carry out its first execution in 60 years, many human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, and Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development have expressed concerns about the recent decision. These organizations have sent a letter to President Abdulla Yameen about human rights violations. According to these organizations, three prisoners who are on death row did not receive fair trials.
Currently, Hussain Humaan Ahmed, Ahmed Murrath, and Mohammed Nabeel are believed to be at risk of execution. All three were convicted of murder since 2009.
In 2014, Mr. Yameen’s administration reintroduced the death penalty. After the military coup removed then president Mohamed Nasheed, Mr. Yameen’s government worked towards restoring the death penalty in the Maldives.
The South Asia director for Amnesty International, Biraj Patnaik, stated that the talks of executions were a “feeble attempt to look tough and distract attention” from the current political climate against the president.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has been working to stop the Maldivian government from conducting planned executions. In their recent letters, the committee stated that “should your government go ahead with the executions, it would violate Maldives’ obligations under international law, including to protect the three men’s right to life.”
For more information, please see:
Financial Times – Maldives set to restore death penalty as political crisis deepens – 7 August, 2017
ABC – Rights groups alarmed over planned executions in Maldives – 10 August, 2017
NGOs suspend refugee rescue operations off Libyan coast
By: Sara Adams
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Europe
ROME, Italy – Nongovernmental aid group Doctors Without Borders has suspended work in Libya due to threats by the Libyan Coast Guard.
The Italian Coast Guard’s rescue coordination center told Doctors Without Borders on August 11th about the alleged threats by Libya, saying that the threat poses a “security risk”.
After the notice, Doctors Without Borders decided to temporarily discontinue use of its largest rescue boat in Libyan waters because of an “increasingly hostile environment for lifesaving rescue operations.”
Many migrants are smuggled from Libya by human traffickers in small, dangerous dinghies. The Italian Coast Guard has worked with its Libyan counterpart over the problem. In July, Italy sent naval ships to Libya to help curb human smuggling across the Mediterranean.
The Italian government has been searching for solutions to the crisis for some time. One of these solutions has been by imposing strict rules on nongovernmental aid groups. The government has urged groups like Doctors Without Borders to agree to allow Italian judicial authorities to board their ships.
Another rule involves forbidding nongovernmental aid groups from entering Libyan waters without explicit authorization by the government.
Any group that does not abide by the rules may not be permitted to dock in Italian ports.
To an extent, it appears that the rules may have curbed a small part of the crisis. In July, the amount of Libyan migrants arriving in Italy was reduced to half of what it was prior. About 11,459 migrants from Libya arrived on Italy’s shores in July 2017. In July 2016, that number was at 23,522.
Doctors Without Borders has refused to sign on to Italy’s rules on rescuing off the Libyan coast.
But it is not the only group that has heeded governmental warning over Libyan threats.
After the announcement by Doctors Without Borders, a German nongovernmental aid group, Sea Eye, also decided to suspend rescue operations in Libyan waters.
“A continuation of our rescue work is not currently possible,” founder of Sea Eye, Michael Buschheuer, said in a statement. “It would be irresponsible towards our crews.”
Doctors Without Borders will continue to have medical personnel present on other ships. But their largest rescue vessel, the Prudence, will be out of commission.
For more information, please see:
The Guardian – Rescue ship suspends work after ‘threats by Libyan coastguard’ – 13 August 2017
Al-Jazeera – German NGO halts refugee rescue operations off Libya – 13 August 2017
Reuters – MSF suspends Mediterranean rescues as migrant dispute mounts – 12 August 2017
U.N. Security Council Votes in Favor of New North Korean Sanctions
By: Brian Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
PYONGYANG, North Korea – On August 6th, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to pass Resolution 2371 to impose new sanctions on North Korea. The resolution received 15 votes in the affirmative by the member states as North Korea continues to test its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capabilities. North Korea’s actions are in clear violation of United Nations resolutions.
After difficult negotiations with China, Nikki Haley, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, stated that the newly imposed sanctions will cut North Korea’s annual export revenue by $1 billion. Ambassador Haley went further to state that the sanctions are “the strongest sanctions ever imposed in response to a ballistic missile test.”
Although China has protected North Korea in the past by using its veto power on the United Nations Security Council, Beijing voted in favor of the resolution. Liu Jieyi, the Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations, was also cautious of the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea by the United States. Both Russia and China have expressed their discomfort in THAAD and warned against disturbing the regional security.
The United States Secretary of State stated that the United States does not hope for a regime change in North Korea. As Secretary Tillerson attends the Association of Southeastern Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum in the Philippines, the conversation is expected to heavily focus on North Korea.
The ASEAN foreign ministers were divided on a proposal presented by the United States on suspending North Korea from the ASEAN Regional Forum.
Secretary Tillerson will be meeting with his Japanese counterpart and South Korean counterpart on Monday to discuss the issue further. The South Korea’s foreign ministry stated that “the three foreign ministers will share their assessments of situations caused by the series of provocations by North Korea and discuss necessary future countermeasures.”
For more information, please see:
NBC – Tillerson Says North Korea Can Show Interest in Talks by Ending Missile Tests – 7 August, 2017
BBC – North Korea: China urges neighbour to stop missile tests – 6 August, 2017
CNN – UN Security Council imposes new sanctions on North Korea – 6 August, 2017
Tourists arrested in Berlin for Nazi salute
By: Sara Adams
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Europe
BERLIN, Germany – Two tourists from China were arrested in Berlin on August 5th for giving a Nazi salute.
The two men were outside of the Reichstag, the German parliament building.
In Germany, using symbols affiliated with the Nazis is illegal. Modern applications of these laws are often used to curb the rise of “alternative right” (alt-right) movements in the country.
The tourists were released when their bond was paid. They still will face criminal proceedings.
Though years have passed, Nazism has become popular among the alt-right crowd all across the European continent.
In April 2017, a Dutch drugstore chain stocked “color by number” coloring books, one page of which produced a caricature of Adolf Hitler. The drugstore immediately made a public apology and withdrew the coloring books from the store.
And in Austria in February 2017, a man was arrested while he was dressed as Hitler. The man was visiting Hitler’s birthplace of Braunau am Inn. Glorifying Nazism is a crime in Austria as well.
Yet despite the sparse reminders of Germany’s horrible past, many continue to fight the current Nazi, or Neo-Nazi, movement.
A 70 year-old woman in late July spoke with news outlet Al-Jazeera about her anti-Fascist fight. She detailed her work on painting over and defacing any pro-Nazi street art she sees. The woman, Irmela Mensah-Schramm, has been doing this for three decades now.
Mensah-Schramm has been caught vandalizing before, and told by a judge to admit her charges and to promise to stop defacing property. But she held her ground, refusing to promise anything, and instead promising to not pay her fines for vandalizing.
Support of Nazism and Nazi ideals remains a crime in much of Europe. Yet the continent continues to see a rise in alt-right political candidates, some of whose values appear to coincide with the ideology of Nazism.
Violent crime against refugees and non-Western Europeans has also risen with the alt-right movement. Nearly 3,533 attacks on refugees or pro-refugee accommodations have been documented in Germany alone, as of 2016.
Of those, about 560 people were injured, 43 of those children.
For more information, please see:
BBC News – Chinese tourists arrested for Hitler salute in Germany – 6 August 2017
The Guardian – Chinese tourists arrested for making Hitler salutes outside Reichstag – 5 August 2017
ABC News – Berlin: 2 Chinese tourists detained for making Nazi salutes – 5 August 2017
Al-Jazeera – Germany: 70-year-old anti-fascist defaces neo-Nazi art – 28 July 2017
BBC News – Hitler coloring book removed by Dutch shop after outrage – 6 April 2017
BBC News – Hitler lookalike arrested in Austria – 13 February 2017