BRIEF: Human Rights Watch Reports on Sri Lankan Disappearances

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka- Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report today detailing the Sri Lankan government’s responsibility for widespread abductions and disappearances.  The report follows government actions taken since the civil war between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) resumed in 2006.

The government has been accused of taking people into custody and then not disclosing their whereabouts or denying that they are holding them all together, a violation under both the Sri Lankan constitution and international law.  Most of these people are ethnic Tamils, although some are Muslims and Sinhalese.  They are abducted because of their possible involvement with the LTTE.

The government denies that their security forces are involved in abductions, and does not believe there is a national crisis.  They have created bodies to investigate possible disappearances, but HRW has found that these bodies are shams and have not reached any real results.

The HRW report documents 99 of several hundred reported cases.  Four of those cases are outlined on HRW’s website here.

According to HRW, “President Mahinda Rajapaksa, once a rights advocate, has now led his government to become one of the world’s worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances.  The end of the ceasefire means this crisis will continue until the government starts taking serious measures.”

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch News – Sri Lanka: ‘Disappearances’ by Security Forces a National Crisis – 6 March 2008

Human Rights Watch Publications – Recurring Nightmare: State Responsibility for “Disappearances” and Abductions in Sri Lanka – March 2008

BRIEF: Human Rights Watch Reports on Sri Lankan Disappearances

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka- Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report today detailing the Sri Lankan government’s responsibility for widespread abductions and disappearances.  The report follows government actions taken since the civil war between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) resumed in 2006.

The government has been accused of taking people into custody and then not disclosing their whereabouts or denying that they are holding them all together, a violation under both the Sri Lankan constitution and international law.  Most of these people are ethnic Tamils, although some are Muslims and Sinhalese.  They are abducted because of their possible involvement with the LTTE.

The government denies that their security forces are involved in abductions, and does not believe there is a national crisis.  They have created bodies to investigate possible disappearances, but HRW has found that these bodies are shams and have not reached any real results.

The HRW report documents 99 of several hundred reported cases.  Four of those cases are outlined on HRW’s website here.

According to HRW, “President Mahinda Rajapaksa, once a rights advocate, has now led his government to become one of the world’s worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances.  The end of the ceasefire means this crisis will continue until the government starts taking serious measures.”

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch News – Sri Lanka: ‘Disappearances’ by Security Forces a National Crisis – 6 March 2008

Human Rights Watch Publications – Recurring Nightmare: State Responsibility for “Disappearances” and Abductions in Sri Lanka – March 2008

Security tightened in Beijing ahead of China’s 11th National People’s Congress (NPC)

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Hundreds of thousands of police, security guards and volunteers patrolled Beijing to usher in China’s annual session of parliament.  Under China’s Constitution, the NPC is China’s highest law-making body. More than 2,000 delegates from across the country are in Beijing to attend the NPC.  The country’s 55 minority groups are all represented, as are the armed forces.  Delegates also come from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.  It provides delegates with a chance to pass on their views.  But because all power rests with the Chinese Communist Party, NPC delegates will merely approve party decisions.

Petitioners often come to Beijing during NPC, looking for a chance to let officials know about their particular grievances. But they are usually harassed and detained by security officials.  Petitioners told Radio Free Asia’s Mandarin service that authorities in the Chinese capital have detained around 1,000 people with grievances against the government ahead of the country’s annual parliament.

Huang Caipiao, a shrimp farmer seeking compensation for business losses following his forced eviction, has made 15 petitioning trips to the capital, yielding nothing but a year in jail. He tried to petition the Supreme Court, but was intercepted by Beijing police as he headed towards the national prosecution service.

Shanghai resident Cai Zhengrong, who has been trying to get compensation after his house was demolished to make way for luxury apartments, was detained shortly after arriving in Beijing to petition the central government, he told Reuters.  These stories are becoming increasingly familiar across China as local officials and big business cash in on soaring land values, pushing rural families from the land with little or no compensation.

Around 1,200 petitioners wrote an open letter to the NPC calling for greater recognition of the rights violations they had suffered at the hands of officials.  While government Web sites have invited Internet users to air their grievances, authorities have taken great measures to ensure their complaints are not delivered to NPC delegates in person.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Main issues at China’s parliament – 04 March 2008.

Radio Free Asia – China Detains 1,000 Petitioners Ahead of Parliament – 04 March 2008.

Washington Post – China muzzles capital ahead of annual parliament – 02 March 2008.

Kenya reaches peace deal; its government defends against allegations of planned violence

By Julie K. Narimatsu
Impunity Watch Managing Editor – Journal

NAIROBI, Kenya – After several weeks of negotiation, primarily mediated by former Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Annan, a deal was reached by the parties of President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga. The deal creates the office of the prime minister, only the second in the nation’s history, as well as two deputies. The creation of the office of the prime minister represented the most significant controversy in the negotiation process. According to the agreement, the prime minister will have executive authority while the President will retain the role of head of state, and the deputies will each represent one of the parties. The cabinet positions will consist of members of both parties that will coincide with party roles in the Parliament.

The next obstacle entails obtaining the approval of the Parliament. Parliament will convene this Thursday to consider legislation and an amendment to the constitution that will give this agreement the force of law. The legislation is being drafted jointly by each party’s legal teams. Both leaders and the Kenyan people expressed relief and hopefulness regarding the future of Kenya

At the same time, the Kenyan government has been deflecting reports that it condoned violence directly after the disputed elections last December. BBC is reporting that meetings were held at the President’s residence with regard to hiring the banned Mungiki militia to act as a defense force to protect the Kikuyu, the group to which the President belongs. The government has denied these allegations as “preposterous.”

As the Parliament works to enact the new power-sharing agreement, these allegations could possibly counter this progress. The allegations also raise suspicions that both sides planned for violence in the post-election conflict. Reports from International Crisis Group and Human Rights Watch are expected, and the Kenyan government is planning a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that will likely investigate these allegations.

For more information, please visit:

Africanews.com – Kofi Annan: ‘We have a deal’ – 29 February 2008

BBC News – First Kenya meeting since deal – 4 March 2008 

BBC News – State ‘sanctioned’ Kenyan clashes – 5 March 2008

allAfrica.com – Kenya: State Denies BBC Report On Link to Post-Election Violence – 6 March 2008

Iraqi Court Drops Death Squad Charges

By Ben Turner
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD-Iraq—Two former high ranking Shiite government officials charged with the kidnapping and killing of scores of Sunnis were released on March 3 for lack of evidence.

Former Deputy Health Minister, Hakim al-Zamili, and the ministry’s former Head of Security, Brig-Gen Hamid al-Shammari, were accused of orchestrating the death squads that killed Sunni Arabs.  They were charged on five counts of murder and five counts of kidnapping.

The two men denied that they allowed the death squads to use ambulances and hospitals to carry out the attacks.

The fact that the case had been brought against these officials was originally viewed as a step forward for Iraq’s judicial system, but problems arose soon after it began.  The trial court sent the case back to the investigative court three times, asked for more information, and delayed the case when witnesses failed to appear.

American officials then produced evidence that one of the judges on the panel had promised to find the defendants not guilty.  He was replaced by a senior judge.  Witnesses that did appear later contradicted their testimony.  One witness testified against al-Zamili in October before recanting his testimony on March 3.  The witness said he had “misspoken” in his earlier testimony because he was weak from fasting for Ramadan.

On March 3, two days into the trial, the prosecutor asked the court to dismiss the charges against al-Zamili and al-Shammari for lack of evidence.  The court dismissed the charges, leaving U.S. officials stunned and raised concerns about Iraqi officials’ willingness to act against sectarian violence.  The independence of the Iraqi judiciary was also questioned.

Families of the victims were outraged by the decision.

“It’s a travesty, an absolute travesty of justice,” said Ali al-Safaar.   Al-Safaar’s father, a deputy health minister, was kidnapped from his home after preparing a report on corruption that identified Zamili. “How can 13 murder cases and kidnappings and corruption be dealt with in two days?”

Zamili and al-Shammari are followers of the anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has recently won praise from U.S. officials for ordering his militia to abstain from violence.

Saleem Abdullah, a member of Parliament and a spokesman for Tawafiq, the main Sunni bloc, questioned whether the U.S. did not push the Iraqi government for a fair trial for fear of angering al-Sadr.

“Maybe because Sadr recently froze the Mahdi Army, they are trying not to criticize or provoke him,” Abdullah said, referring to Sadr’s recent decision to extend a cease-fire for six more months.

For more information, please see:
BBC – Iraq Drops ‘Death Squad’ Charges – 4 March 2008

New York Times – Charges Are Dropped Against 2 Shiite Ex-Officials Accused in Sectarian Killings – 4 March 2008

Times – Iraqi ‘Death Squad Chiefs’ freed – 4 March 2008

UPI – Iraq Drops Sunni Death Case For Shiites – 4 March 2008

Washington Post – Case Is Dropped Against Shiites In Sunni Deaths – 4 March 2008

Reuters – Terrorism Charges Dropped Against Ex-Iraqi Officials – 3 March 2008