Protests in Pakistan Against Enforced Disappearances

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PAKISTAN – Post September 11, 2001, Pakistan joined U.S. efforts in the War on Terror by using the practice of enforced disappearances.  The Pakistani government has repeatedly denied reports of abducting hundreds of its own citizens who are suspected of terrorist activity.  Suspects are detained and held in secret facilities, secluded from the law and the outside world, and most are subjected to torture.   Pakistani organizations report that at least 563 cases of disappeared persons.

Saturday, August 30, 2008 marked the 25th International Day of the Disappeared when protesters demonstrated outside of the Pakistani High Commission in London.  Among them is Amina Janjua, founder of Pakistani Defence of Human Rights, an organization campaigning for the release of the disappeared.  Janjua’s husband, Masood Janjua, had disappeared nearly three years ago.  He was apprehended in Pakistan while traveling by bus.  Janjua was joined by Amnesty International activists; they were all chanting, “Justice now for the disappeared.”

The memorialized day also marks the start of Janjua’s international tour.  Janjua will head to Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States in order to raise global awareness and for other governments to investigate the disappearances and put pressure on the Pakistani government.

In Amensty International’s report, Denying the Undeniable, affidavits and testimonies confirm the arbitrary detention of terrorist suspects, despite Pakistan’s denials.  Evidence also shows how government officials obstruct attempts to trace them.  The report also calls upon other governments to ensure that they do not participate in, nor tolerate, this practice; there have been testimony by victims stating that they have been interrogated by foreign intelligence agents.  Moreover, Amnesty International insists that Pakistan’s new government reinstate those judges, who were removed for their meddling in the disappearances since December 2007 by President Musharraf, so that cases can be investigated more thoroughly.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – Protest Launches Tour Against Enforced Disappearance in Pakistan – 2 September 2008

Amnesty International – Denying the Undeniable:  Enforced Disappearances in Pakistan – 23 July 2008

Reuters – Pakistan’s New Government Must Reveal Truth About Enforced Disappearances, Urges Amnesty International In a New Report – 22 July 2008

Kiribati Seasonal Workers Mistreated in New Zealand

By Sarah E. Treptow

Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A group of seventy Pacific Islands workers arrived in New Zealand in May as part of the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme to work in vineyards.  The workers were sent home early when the work was done, leaving most struggling.  “They do not have any employment here in Kiribati. One of the issues that we are looking at is how they are going to repay the money they borrowed from government to fund their trip to New Zealand, the airfare and other expenses,” says Taakei Taoaba, secretary of Kiribati’s labour department.

The returned Kiribati workers say they lived in overcrowded housing while receiving little work and little pay.  The New Zealand Department of Labour says twenty-two Kiribati workers living in a three-bedroom house was the worst overcrowding it has encountered.  According to a Department spokesman, the house was inspected before workers arrived and was deemed suitable for six or eight people.

It is the New Zealand Department of Labour’s job to ensure the workers are paid for the work they have done and accommodations are appropriate.  A notice has been served to the employer, Fore-Vintage Contracting, about the unacceptable accommodations and the investigation for the Kiribati group is continuing.

Some employers have complained about the seasonal workers being unskilled in the work and the department has said in the future they will work closely with the Kiribati government to make sure the workers are trained correctly.  There will also be an end of year review of the program and some employers will be routinely audited.

Ten Kiribati workers have absconded, disappearing into New Zealand.  The government is urging them to turn themselves in before they are found and deported.

The Australian government is considering a similar program for workers but has reported they will not make the same mistakes as the New Zealand government.

For more information, please see:

Radio New Zealand International — Kiribati Government to try and ensure better treatment of seasonal workers in New Zealand — 05 September 2008

The New Zealand Herald — More than 20 workers in 3-bedroom house — 28 August 2008

Islands Business — NZ Government may compensate mistreated vineyard workers — 28 August 2008

Armed Groups Use Children in Chhattisgarh Conflict

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

CHHATTISGARH, India – For the past two decades, Maoist guerrillas have run a parallel government in the region of Bijapur and Dantewada.  The Maoists strive to liberate the red zone, the area of southern India to the border of Nepal.  In 2005, Salwa Judum, a civilian resistance emerged which later gained the support of the Indian government.  As a result of this conflict, 436 people including 200 policemen died in 2007.

Currently, all parties to the Chhattisgarh conflict are recruiting child soldiers to their ranks.  The Naxalites, a Maoist rebel group, admit that they have recruited children as young as 12 years old to “gather intelligence, for sentry duty, to make and plant landmines and bombs, and to engage in hostilities against government forces.”  Salwa Judum have used children in village attacks.  Chhattisgarh state police also concede to employing children under the age of 18 to serve as special police officers who participate in government security forces.  Eyewitnesses have seen children dressed in police uniforms armed with rifles.

Human Rights Watch children’s rights advocate Jo Becker states, “A particular horror of the Chhattisgarh conflict is that children are participating in the violence.  It’s shameful that both India’s government and the Naxalites are exploiting children in such a dangerous fashion.”

The conflict has not only placed children at the forefront of violence, but has also affected the children’s education.  Children are removed from school or are abducted for recruitment.  Children have dropped out of school in fear of being abducted.  School buildings have been destroyed due to acts of terror or hostilities with the Naxalites.  Many have fled to outside the region or the country itself but the language barrier of a foreign nation has prevented children from attending.

India is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child’s optional protocal on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Pursuant to the protocol, 18 years old is the minimum age for participation in hostilities, for government forces and non-state armed groups. In cases such as this, the protocol advises the Indian government to assist in the rehabilitation of children who have been recruited and used in armed forces in violation of international law.   However, the state government have yet to take action.

For Human Rights Watch’s report on the use of children by all parties in the conflict, click here.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – India:  All Sides Using Children in Chhattisgarh Conflict – 5 September 2008

India eNews – Maoists Forcibly Recruiting Child Soldiers in Chhattisgarh – 2 September 2008

The Times of India – Maoists Training Children as Guerillas – 17 August 2008

Employment Discrimination Against Disabled and Migrant Workers in China

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Human Rights Watch said that despite recent positive steps taken by the Chinese government, discrimination against persons with disabilities continues in China.  Human Rights Watch applauded the Chinese government’s enactment of a variety of new laws including the Law on the Protection of Disabled Persons, Regulations on the Education of Persons with Disabilities, and the Regulations on Employment of Persons with Disabilities, which on paper provide impressive protections of the rights of China’s estimated 82.7 million persons with disabilities.  However, these protections have meant little to persons with disabilities and their advocates in China who struggle to promote their rights and, in particular, to fairly compete for employment, said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.

According to a 20087 survey conducted by the China University of Political Science and Law, 22 percent of the 3,454 respondents in10 major cities said their physical disabilities had prompted employers in both the public and private sectors to reject them for jobs.  Official statistics show that the number of employable people with disabilities did not have jobs rises by 300,000 per year since 2007. Although the government has imposed a mandatory quota requiring that people with disabilities comprise a minimum of 1.5 percent of all employees of government departments, enterprises, and institutions, there is little evidence of official efforts to enforce that quota.

Furthermore, 200 million migrant workers in China are still facing employment discrimination and services for them are not in place.  “Migrant workers have lower pay and worse welfare than urban workers,” said Li Zhuobin, a member of the Standing Committee of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at a meeting on balanced development between urban and rural areas.  He purposed the Chinese government to implement the salary deposit rule in a variety of industries.  The salary deposit rule requires employers to deposit a certain amount of money in a special labor department bank account. The money is used to pay migrant workers whose employers don’t pay them. The rule has been implemented in the construction industry.  Li also suggested that preferential policies to promote employment should cover both urban and rural residents and local governments should continue lifting discrimination rules against migrant workers.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Beijing makes big efforts to help disabled, but hurdles remain – 04 September 2008

Human Rights Watch – China: As Paralympics Launch, Disabled Face Discrimination – 05 September 2008

XinHua – Chinese advisor urges ending discrimination against migrant workers – 02 September 2008

High Rate of Unnatural Deaths Among Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon – On August 26, Human Rights Watch called on the Lebanese government to address the high rate of unnatural deaths of migrant domestic workers.  Since January 2007, at least 95 migrant workers have died in Lebanon.

Of these 95 deaths, 40 are classified as suicide, while 24 others were caused by workers falling from high buildings, often while trying to escape their employers. By contrast, only 14 domestic workers died because of diseases or health issues.  Key factors pushing these women to kill themselves or risk their lives are forced confinement, excessive work demands, employer abuse, and financial pressures.

A 2006 survey quoted by HRW showed 31% of 600 domestic workers interviewed were not allowed to leave the home they worked in.  “Many domestic workers are literally being driven to jump from balconies to escape their forced confinement,” said Nadim Houry, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“Domestic workers are dying in Lebanon at a rate of more than one per week…All those involved – from the Lebanese authorities, to the workers’ embassies, to the employment agencies, to the employers – need to ask themselves what is driving these women to kill themselves or risk their lives trying to escape from high buildings,” said Houry.

In early 2006, an official steering committee was established to ease the problems of domestic workers. The committee has three main goals.  First, to create standardized employment contracts in Arabic, English, French and the native language of the worker. Second, to publish a booklet detailing the rights and obligations of employers and employees, to be distributed at airports, ministries and recruitment agencies.  Lastly, to formulate a new law for migrant workers.

But according to Houry, “to date” the committee “has failed to deliver any concrete reforms … it’s time for the Lebanese government to show real leadership and actually deliver” these promises, he said.

For more information, please see:

The Daily Star – Domestic Workers Risking Death to Flee Employers – 27 August 2008

BBC – Lebanon Maid Deaths Cause Alarm – 26 August 2008

HRW – Annex: Deaths of Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon – 26 August 2008

HRW – Lebanon: Migrant Domestic Workers Dying Every Week – 26 August 2008