A Voice for the Voiceless

BRIEF: UN Urged to Probe US Treatment of Iraqi Inmates

NEW YORK, United States – Human Rights Watch sent a letter to the UN Security Council asking them to address serious concerns about the detention policies of US-led forces in Iraq.  The group said the US invokes Security Council resolutions to justify holding thousands of Iraqis for “indefinite periods, without judicial review, and under military processes that do not meet international standards.”

“The Bush administration pushed the [UN] Security Council to declare that the US-led occupation of Iraq had ended in June 2004,” said Joe Stork, HRW’s Middle East deputy director.  “And the end of occupation means that international human rights standards apply – judicial review, access to legal counsel and family members, and a fair trial,” he added.

Human Rights Watch also called on the US to allow observers from the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq as well as independent Iraqi experts – to visit US detention facilities.  The US-led troops were holding more than 24,000 people in Iraq at the end of last year, according to Unami.

“Four years since abuses at Abu Ghraib became known, Washington should finally allow independent monitors who can report publicly to visit its facilities and speak with detainees,” Stork said.

For more information, please see:
BBC – UN Probe Urged Over Iraqi Inmates – 28 April 2008

Human Rights News – UN: Tell US to End Illegal Detention Practices in Iraq – 28 April 2008

Human Rights News – Letter to the Security Council on MNF Detention Practices in Iraq – 28 April 2008

Overseas Activists Say No to Myanmar Constitution

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar – In Myanmar’s largest city, security was tightened as rumors spread that pro-democracy activists would launch protests against an upcoming referendum on a draft constitution.  Riot police and junta supporters carrying batons were deployed at major road junctions and Buddhist monuments.  Dissidents in Myanmar and exile groups have urged voters to vote against the constitution, saying it is merely a ploy to perpetuate more than four decades of military rule.

Hundreds of Myanmar nationals living overseas said “No” to the country’s proposed new constitution. In Singapore, about 500 Myanmar nationals wearing red or t-shirts with the word “No”, gathered outside the Myanmar embassy to protest against the country’s proposed new constitution.  They were prevented from voting on their country’s draft constitution when they refused demands from embassy personnel to remove T-shirts.  “It’s a sham referendum,” said Myo Mying Maung, spokesman for the Overseas Burmese Patriots.  He urged everyone to vote ‘no’ “because the draft constitution is for a sham democracy”.  A  student said. “It’s not for a true and real democracy as all the terms in the constitution are biased toward the military regime.”

In Tokyo, at least 150 Myanmar citizens were protesting at the Burmese embassy, demanding that all Burmese expatriates be allowed to vote in the referendum.  Several demonstrators were injured and one man arrested during scuffles with Japanese police.  In Thailand, the demonstrators, organized by the Joint Action Committee for Democracy in Burma, chanted slogans against the May 10 referendum. Protest organizers called the vote a ploy to help Burma’s ruling generals keep their grip on power.

Meanwhile, the European Parliament is scheduled to hold a debate on Burma this week in Strasbourg and will vote on a new resolution which would exert more pressure on the Burmese military junta, according to the parliament’s official website.  These measures included a ban on the import of gemstones, timber and precious metal.

For more information, please see:

AP – Security tightened in Myanmar amid possible demonstration – 27 April 2008

AFP – Myanmar nationals in Singapore signal ‘no’ as they wait to vote – 27 April 2008

Bangkok Post – Burma bars anti-constitution group from voting – 27 April 2008

Bloomberg – Myanmar Nationals in Singapore, Indonesia Vote on Constitution – 27 April 2008

Reuters – Myanmar nationals protest constitution in Singapore – 27 April 2008

BRIEF: Mass Graves Found in Iraq

The Iraqi forces uncovered two different mass graves in the last two days where they found over 100 bodies.  The bodies were uncovered in southern Baghdad and the city of al-Guba, which is 50 miles north of Baghdad.  The bodies were discovered in an area that used to be a former stronghold of al-Qaeda.  The bodies were badly damaged as the corpses had their hands bound and many were killed through gun shot wounds to the head.  Some of the bodies had already begun decomposing.

Last month, another mass grave was found with over 100 bodies.

For more information, please see:

News.Scotsman.com- Mass graves containing over 100 decomposed corpses uncovered by Iraqi forces- 28 April 2008

The Press Association- 50 bodies unearthed in mass grave- 27 April 2008

BRIEF: Bangladesh Tribal Villages Destroyed

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Bengali settlers destroyed seven tribal villages belonging to the Jumma tribal people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region in Bangladesh.

According to the rights group Survival International, “Jumma villagers, including women and children, were beaten in the attack and their belongings looted. One hundred houses were destroyed and the Jumma villagers have fled into the surrounding forests. Bengali setters were also injured.”

Violence in the area increased after the army-backed Bangladesh government took power in January 2007. Several tribal groups have demanded implementation of a December 1997 treaty that had ended a 20-year uprising for autonomy. The government had promised regional councils that it would withdrawal of troops. Although about seventy military camps have moved, hundred remain. Over 2,500 people have been killed in clashes between supporters and opponents of the treaty during the last two decades. Opponents believe that the treaty does not give sufficient autonomy.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Tribal Villages Torched in Bangladesh: Officials – 26 April 2008

BRIEF: Ho Chi Minh Police Arrest Pro-Democracy Activists

HANOI, Vietnam – In 2006 three men were arrested by the Ho Chi Minh police in Vietnam for demonstrating against the Communist government and calling for civil liberties and democracy in Vietnam.  The three men are members of what has been named the Bloc 8406 group.  This group is named after the day April 18, 2006, when its founding members were arrested for posting pro-democracy writings on-line.  The group has been outlawed by the Vietnam government.

The three men, Pham Ba Hai, Nguyen Ngoc Quang and Vu Hoang Hai, have received terms of 2-5 years of jail time by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court.  The Vietnam News Agency and other state-controlled media outlets have reported that the three men were charged with posting documents online that, “distorted history, attacked administrations and tarnished the party and state officials, and incited people to protest.”

More recently, Vietnamese blogger, Nguyen Van Hai, was arrested under charges of “tax evasion.”  Hai is a pro-democracy activist who has reported on the protests against the Olympic torch relay.  Hai is part of a larger network of bloggers called the Union of Independent Journalists.  Other members of this group have been calling protests during the upcoming torch relay and have helped to organize demonstrations against China’s claim of sovereignty over the Paracel Islands.

For more information, please see:

Macau Daily Times – Vietnam Jails Three Pro-Democracy Activists – 27 April 2008

Bangkok Post – Vietnam Arrest Blogger for Reporting Torch Protests – 27 April 2008