By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – Sulak Sivaraksa, a prominent intellectual, was arrested on a charge of insulting the Thai monarchy.  The offense may lead to a 15 year sentence for the 75 year old intellectual.

Sivaraksa was arrested for remarks he made in December last year to mark International Human Rights Day. Sivaraksa’s lawyer would not quote the passages from the speech on philosophy, society, and human rights.  However, reports indicate that the speech was broadly critical of government spending on the lavish 2006 celebrations for King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Golden Jubilee. Sivaraksa’s lawyer stated that Sivaraksa considered his critical remarks to be an effort to protect the monarchy.

Although almost all Thais revere the monarchy and admire the king, the specific charge of lese majeste is often used for political purposes.  The timing of Sivaraksa’s arrest comes amid a struggle between the royalist, military “old guard,” represented loosely by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) street campaign, and forces loyal to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.  Although the monarchy is considered to “be in the middle and working in every field,” Queen Sirikit’s recent attendance at the funeral of a PAD protester killed in clashes has led many to believe the monarchy supports the campaign to oust the elected government.

“The more clear it becomes that the monarchy is caught up in politics, the more they are attempting to clamp down on local and international discussion of this role.  It seems that the authorities are trying to keep a lid on discussion of this political role,” said Thailand researcher Andrew Walker of Australian National University in Canberra.

The Thai police are presently investigating 30 other similar cases.  One includes an Australian writer, who is presently in jail, awaiting formal charges for allegedly inappropriate passages in a novel.

Sivaraksa was educated in Britain and has been associated with reformist movements since the 1960’s.  During the 1960’s he was a mentor to students who took part in an uprising against military dictatorship in 1973.  He fled abroad after a right-wing counterrevolution in 1976, the first of several periods he spent in exile.

For more information, please see:

AP – Thai Intellectual Arrested on Anti-Monarchy Charge – 7 November 2008

Bangkok Post – Sulak Arrested – 8 November 2008

Reuters – Arrest of Thai Academic Raises Free Speech Fears – 7 November 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Report, Asia Desk

YANGON, Myanmar – Two men and a woman were injured in a bus explosion at a busy intersection in Myanmar’s main city Yangon, state media reported. “The rear roof of the bus was blown off,” the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said, adding that there was a foot-wide hole near the seat where the explosion occurred.  However, the paper did not mention whether a bomb caused the blast but said officials were investigating.

Myanmar’s military rulers on Sunday accused two members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) of bombing a pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association office in July.  Khin Yee, the national police chief said officers had seized bomb-making equipment from two members of the National League of Democracy party.  NLD youth members Yan Shwe and Zaw Zaw Aung were arrested along with human rights activists and former NLD member Myint Aye, who is accused of funding them.  Khin Yee also told reporters at a press conference, according to the information the national police have received, some NLD members were involved in attending training sessions for bombing… and possessing destructive tools such as gun-powder and detonators.  This is the first time the junta has accused members of the pro-democracy party of being involved in a bombing.

The junta also denied that detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is on a hunger strike. “At the request of Daw Suu Kyi, arrangements were made for her lawyer to visit her three times and her doctor once. The information we heard from them did not indicate that Daw Suu Kyi was going on hunger strike,” Khin Yee told a news conference.  Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League of Democracy (NLD) party reported on Friday that she had been refusing those food supplies for the past three weeks in protest against her detention and restrictions on visitors.

For more information, pleas see:

AFP – Three injured in a bus explosion in Myanmar – 10 September 2008

AFP – Myanmar police chief denies Suu Kyi hunger strike – 07 September 2008

Daily Times – Myanmar accuses Suu Kyi’s party over bombing – 08 September 2008

International Herald Tribune – Report: Myanmar explosion injures 3 – 10 September 2008

International Herald Tribune – Myanmar police: ringleaders of bomb plot arrested – 07 September 2008

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Som Southevy, a 68 year old trans-gender woman, has come forth to tell her story of sexual abuse she suffered under the Khmer Rouge regime.

The Khmer Rouge was a communist regime that came to power in Cambodia from 1975-1979. Led by Pol Pot, the regime conducted mass killings and tortures where about two million lives were lost. Even though there are well documented accounts of brutality in the forms of torture, murder, and execution during the regime, victims are generally silent about sexual abuse because it has not been culturally accepted for women to report rape.

Southevy is the first to file a sexual abuse complaint in the ongoing Khmer Rouge tribunal. Under the Khmer Rouge regime, Southevy told the press that she was incarcerated for acting like a woman. Southevy was forced to wear men’s clothing and cut her hair. During detention, she was sexually assaulted and repeatedly raped by Khmer Rouge officials.

Later, Southevy was forced to marry a woman. Forced marriages were common during the regime.

Southevy recalls that she was not the only trans-gender woman accused of “moral crimes”. Many trans-gender victims did not survive the regime.

Southevy has applied to be a civil party during the tribunals. Civil parties can access information and actively participate during the trials. Tribunal officers hope that Southevy’s complaint will inspire others to come forward with their stories.

In August, former prison chief of the Khmer Rouge regime, Kaing Guek Eav a.k.a Duch, is on trial for charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Duch was charged in July 2007. He is the prison chief to the infamous facility known as S-21 or Tuol Sleng, where about 15,000 prisoners were kept and subject to torture. Those who survived the systematic torture were sent for execution in the “killing fields”.

Duch is the first of five high ranking officials to stand trial. The other key officials of the Khmer Rouge are: Khmer Rouge’s second-in-command Nuon Chea, charged in September 2007 with war crimes and crimes against humanity; Khmer Rouge’s Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, charged in November 2007 with war crimes and crimes against humanity; Khmer Rouge’s Social Affairs Minister Ieng Thirith, charged in November 2007 with crimes against humanity; and Khmer Rouge’s Head of State Khieu Samphan, arrested in November 2007, yet to be charged.

The tribunal has been criticized for being slow, and there have been corruption allegations within the tribunal that has stalled the process of justice.

However, the formal indictment of Duch is a significant demonstration of progress in the Khmer Rouge tribunal. Moreover, the highly publicized judicial proceedings of the Khmer Rouge officials are not only significant to people like Southevy but also to human rights tribunals around the world.

For more information, please see:

IPS – Khmer Rouge Trials Bare Sexual Abuse – 8 September 2008

BBC – Khmer Rouge’s Duch set for trial – 12 August 2008

ECCC – The Court Report August 2008 – 20 August 2008