Myanmar Accuses Pro-Democracy over Bombing in July

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

First Sexual Abuse Claim in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal

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

Somali Refugees Die Off the Coast of Yemen

By Nykoel Dinardo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

AHWAR, Yemen – At least 26 Somali refugees died when smugglers forced them overboard near the coast of Yemen, reported the UN Refugee Agency on Wednesday, September 9. Seventy-four survivors made it to the Yemeni coast and were then taken to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Center in Ahwar, Yemen. Twenty people are still missing.

Survivors told the UN Refugee Center that around 120 people were being smuggled on a boat to Yemen when smugglers forced the passengers off the boat at gunpoint on Monday, September 7; those who refused were pushed, beaten and some killed. Survivors explained that they had been told by the smugglers before boarding that a smaller boat would meet them to take them ashore, but no small boat arrived.

A similar incident occurred in late August when 12 refugees died after jumping overboard during a gun battle between a smuggling boat and a Yemeni military vessel.

Fighting between factions in Somalia has caused a surge in refugees pouring into Yemen across the Gulf of Aden. Despite a ceasefire that was signed in June, violence in Somalia has not lessened causing many to flee. According to a UNCHR press release, at least 25,859 people have been smuggled to Yemen, more than two times the number from this time last year.

Smuggling in the Gulf of Aden normally declines during the summer months due to bad weather conditions. It is believed that a decline in coastal security, due to the arrival of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, has let to a rise in smuggling.

Many refugees face additional problems once they reach Yemen. Despite official statements by the Yemeni government that Somali refugees would be allowed prima facie, many migrants face the possibility of imprisonment or deportation once they arrive.

Despite the belief that Ramadan will lead to a decrease in coastal security, Yemen has recently increased its military presence in the Gulf of Aden. The increased military presence has caused smugglers to panic resulting in incidents like this to avoid contact with the Yemeni military. While the official reason for the increased security is for protection of sea vessels from piracy, increased danger for Somalis seeking refuge in Yemen may also result.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Dozens of Migrants Die Crossing Gulf of Aden: UNHCR – 10 September 2008

Al Jazeera – Dozens Drown Off Yemeni Coast – 10 September 2008

CNN International – Gunmen Force Refugees Overboard off Yemen – 10 September 2008

Reuters Africa – At Least 25 Somali Migrants Drown Off Yemen Coast – 10 September 2008

UNHCR – At Least 26 Dead in Gulf of Aden Smuggling Incident – 10 September 2008

Yemen News Agency – Yemen Wages War on Pirates in Regional Waters – 9 September 2008

Yemen Times – Dire Circumstances Will Force Refugees To Become Involved In Acts of Terrorism – Issue: (1188), Volume 16, From 8 September 2008 to 10 September 2008

BBC – Somalis Flood to Yemen for Refuge – 4 July 2008

Concerns Raised Over Tongan Expansion of Emergency Police Powers

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga – Tonga’s announcement to reassert and expand its emergency police powers has drawn criticism and concern from Parliament members.

Nearly two years ago, the pro-democracy movement in Tonga turned violent, causing the death of eight and destroying Tonga’s capital city, Nuku’alofa. The riots erupted after the Legislative Assembly of Tonga adjourned for the year without employing promised reforms.

Following the 2006 violence, the government issued a 30 day state of emergency, and has since renewed those regulations on a monthly basis. The last state of emergency declaration was allowed to expire last month without renewal.

The new regulations grant significantly greater power to the Tongan government under the guise of emergency police powers. For example, Tongan police are now allowed to stop individuals, search them without a warrant, and even enter into and seize evidence from any vehicle, ship, or aircraft.

Prime Minister Feleti Sevele has justified these measures as necessary to combating the state of danger still existing in Nuku’alofa.

But pro-democracy MP, Clive Edwards, believes the new regulations constitute an abuse of the political process:

“It’s a selfish stupid motive that is behind it. And they are not to be questioned, not to be disputed in what they are doing and not to revert back to civil law and constitutional rule. We are being denied that because they want absolute power and we don’t have access to the TV and radio and things like that,” Edwards said.

The Tongan government, meanwhile, has issued a statement defending the new police powers as necessary “to preserve public order and secure the public’s safety for another month.”

For more information, please see:
ABC Radio New Zealand – Tonga reimposes emergency regulations – 10 September 2008

Radio New Zealand International –  Anger in Tonga after emergency police powers put back in place – 10 September 2008

AFP News Service – Tonga extends area under emergency powers – 10 September 2008

Fiji’s Ousted Prime Minister Files Treason Complaint Against Interim Government

By Sarah E. Treptow

Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji — Police Commissioner Esala Teleni has said police would not investigate the treason complaint filed against interim Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama and his government by the ousted prime minister, Laisenia Qarase and his Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) party.  Mr. Qarase claims “the regime took an unlawful oath, aided and abetted and became benefactors of treason.”

Mr. Teleni made his decision not to investigate despite the police force’s no-drop policy on complaints.  Police Spokeswoman Ema Mua has said, “In this case, the no-drop policy is subjected to elements that are before the court and police will respect the judicial process.”

Two political parties have called on Mr. Teleni to step down from his post in order to allow investigations to proceed.  Peceli Kinivuwai, national director of the SDL party and opposition leader Mick Beddoes claims stepping down would be the honourable thing to do in the interest of police credibility, transparency and good governance.

Fiji’s Interim Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, says the move is a stunt.  Mr. Sayed-Khaiyum believes, “The complaint is a gimmick, it’s a stunt because Qarase and his lawyers are fully aware that the matters are before the courts; the matters before the courts involve the legality or otherwise of the interim government, which also involves the promulgations made by his excellency our President and go directly to the events prior to, on and after 5 December [2006].”

SDL laywer Niko Nawaikula reports that the police were being very cooperative and took down his clients’ complaint in great detail when it was filed with them.

The Fiji police is run by Fiji’s interim government and the police itself has come under scrutiny since the December 2006 coup.  Specifically, many international observers suspect that the police force is being used to seek the political ends of the interim government.

For more information, please see:

Fiji Times Online — Rejected — 09 September 2008

Fiji Times Online — Police hold back on treason claim probe — 08 September 2008

Radio New Zealand International — Fiji interim regime says a complaint of treason from the country’s ousted leader is a stunt — 08 September 2008