Violence Erupts in Kashmir

By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

SRINAGAR, India – Indian authorities opened fire on a crowd during a one-day strike held in protest against New Delhi controlled elections. At least 55 persons were wounded.

On Monday, the Indian Election Commission held a meeting with political parties to coordinate poll dates for Kashmir. Separatists in Kashmir have long fought for the Himalayan region’s succession, and traditionally have boycotted the polls. The shutdown was to protest the upcoming elections.

In protest over the planned elections, separatists organized a general shutdown. Shops and businesses across the region were closed. However, soon violence broke out. According to witnesses, police fired bullets and teargas shells at the crowd, who were throwing stones. Protesters also were chanting, “No election, no selection, we want freedom.”

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the main separatist alliance All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, commented, “New Delhi is pushing Kashmiris to the wall and wants to convert the ongoing peaceful agitation into a violent resistance movement so as to dub it as a terrorist movement.”

Farooq also warned that the heavy-handed response by the Indian government could incite even more violence. He said, “If India pushes us too hard to the wall, tomorrow you can’t really ignore the fact the youth might be angered and forced to resort again to arms.”

New Delhi has directly ruled the Kashmir region since early July when the local government collapsed over a Hindu land dispute, which triggered large pro-independence demonstrations.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Election Strike Cripples Indian Kashmir – 8 September 2008

Daily Times – Mirwaiz Warns India Crackdown Could Fuel Revolt – 10 September 2008

Reuters – Fifty-five Wounded in Indian Kashmir Violence – 8 September 2008

Egyptian Prisoners Riot Following Inmate’s Death

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

ASSIUT, Egypt – On September 8, prisoners in prison in the city of Assiut rioted following reports about an inmate’s death.  Egyptian officials released a statement reporting that prisoners rioted, holding some guards hostage, and seized guns.  The statement reported that the guards used tear gas and rubber-coated bullets to regain control of two wings of the prison.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement the incident began with a brawl between four prisoners armed with table cutlery. Police intervened to separate them and decided to punish them with 48 hours in solitary confinement.

“The first prisoner (Abdel Salam) died while undergoing this punishment. A rumor then spread among the prisoners that he died because an officer assaulted him,” it said.  However, a conflicting report names the inmate as Hani Ghandour, who was serving a seven-year sentence for assault.

There are also conflicting reports of how the inmate died.  One report states that the inmate died while in solitary confinement; possibly from abuse, torture, or ill-treatment by the guards.  A second report states that inmate was killed during armed clashes after a group of 15 gunmen had stormed the building in an attempt to free prisoners.

There is no explanation for the discrepancies in the dead man’s name or the reason which lay behind the violence.

Four guards and at least 20 prisoners were said to have been injured in the clashes.

Conditions as Egyptian prisons are often dire and overcrowded. A lawyer said in June that prison guards near the Mediterranean city of Alexandria had beaten up 17 inmates to force them to end a hunger strike.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Upper Egypt Prison Shaken by Riot – 8 September 2008

Middle East Times – Egyptian Prisoners Riot After Inmate’s Death – 8 September 2008

Reuters – Twenty Five Injured in Egyptian Prison Riot – 8 September 2008

Iraq’s Palestinians Still Living In Fear, Seek Refuge Abroad

By Lauren Mellinger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – On September 5, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced that 25 Iraqi-Palestinian refugees, mostly vulnerable women and children currently residing in the al-Walid refugee camp, will be permitted to resettle in Iceland. 

Prior to the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 there were around 34,000 Palestinians living in Iraq. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi-Palestinians have been especially vulnerable to attacks, harassment and persecution by Shiite gunmen.  Iraqi-Palestinians are especially targeted because many Iraqis resented the special status given to Palestinians under the former Sunni-led government.  Although sectarian violence has dropped across Iraq, the Iraqi-Palestinians remain one of the most vulnerable groups in Iraq, according to the United Nations.

Following the fall of Saddam Hussein, many of the Iraqi-Palestinians fled their communities in Baghdad and resettled in the al-Walid and al-Tanf refugee camps along the Iraqi-Syrian border, awaiting resettlement.  However, resettlement has been an arduous process as many countries including Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories have closed their borders.  Only a few countries including Iceland, Sweden, Brazil and Chile have agreed to accept a few hundred of the Iraqi-Palestinian refugees fleeing from persecution. 

There are around 2,300 Iraqi-Palestinians living in the UN run al-Walid and al-Tanf refugee camps and lack access to basic services and adequate medical treatment.  To date, only 300 of the 2,300 refugees have been resettled in other countries.

Earlier this year, Chile accepted 117 of the refugees and Sweden has agreed to accept 155.  However, according to the UNHCR, it is unlikely that all of the Iraqi-Palestinian refugees will be resettled before next year.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Palestinians Head to Iceland – 8 September 2008

Jerusalem Post – 25 Iraqi Palestinians Head to Iceland– 8 September 2008

UN – Palestinians Stranded on Iraq-Syria Border to Depart for Iceland– 5 September 2008

AP – Iraq’s Palestinians Still Live in Fear – 29 August 2008

Local Governments in Northwestern China Imposed Strict Limits on Religious Practices

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia Desk

BEIJING, China — Local governments in northwestern China have imposed strict limits on religious practices during the traditional Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. “Faced with recent violent and disruptive activities by religious extremists, separatists and terrorists, we must… step up ideological education of religious leaders and followers,” a notice posted on Xinjiang’s Zhaosu county website said.  The rules include prohibiting mass prayers, the distribution of religious material, women from wearing veils and men from growing beards, as well as barring government officials from observing Ramadan.

Police are checking the identities of those who have beards or mustaches, and women who cover their faces, according to an officer who answered the phone at the Charbagh village police station, in Lop county, Hotan prefecture.  “We uncover the faces of veiled women by force if necessary,” he said. “We also arrest anyone teaching religion to children illegally,” he said, adding that police were also helping to enforce a ban on Muslim restaurant closures during Ramadan.  County rules also required companies and families that have workers or visitors from outside the county to register the outsiders with the nearest police station, and to sign an agreement “on maintaining social stability.”

Xinjiang is a vast desert region bordering Central Asia that is home to 8.3 million Uighurs, many of whom say they have suffered decades of political and religious repression under Chinese rule. Last month, a series of attacks on police in Xinjiang resulted 20 officers and security guards dead, and at least as many attackers killed or arrested.  The limits on religious practices put in place by local governments appear to be a part of the broader security crackdown.  It was unclear whether the rules would be relaxed after Ramadan.

For more information, please see:

AFP – China imposes Ramadan security crackdown in Muslim northwest – 05 September 2008

Economist – A crackdown in China’s wild West, its Muslim-majority chunk of Central Asia – 04 September 2008

Radio Free Asia – Ramadan Curbs on China’s Muslims – 06 September 2008

New York Times – Ramadan Curbs Imposed in China – 08 September 2008

BRIEF: Students Strike to Hold Papua New Guinea More Accountable for Corruption

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — On Friday, more than 2,000 students in Papua New Guinea’s University of Technology in Lae staged a protest, accusing the government of corruption.

The protest was reportedly part of a movement to inspire other college campuses to hold the government responsible for what students believe is an inability to keep inflation low. Rising prices have created a situation where people can barely afford necessities with the money they make.

The protests come on the heals of PNG Treasurer, Patrick Pruaitch’s statement that inflation had risen to a startling ten point 7 per cent.

Jackson Kiakari, the Student Representative Council president, who also leads the National Union of Students, has called for other colleges to push more accountability within the PNG government.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International — Students strike in Papua New Guinea over inflation and corruption — 05 September 2008