A Voice for the Voiceless

Update: Troops Surround Monasteries in Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar- In attempts to prevent further pro-democracy protesting against its reign, the Myanmar junta government has sent truckloads of troops to guard a number of monasteries.  Security personnel have been placed in a park near the Sule Pagoda, the site of some of the biggest recent protests.  The government is now waiting to see if the monks and other protesters will continue their demonstrations in defiance of government directives.

During the night two well-known dissidents, U Win Naing, a veteran independent politician and Zanagar, a popular Myanmar film comedian, were arrested by the junta for supporting the marches.  Over the weekend they had prepared a meal for the monks in a show of support.

The first dusk-to-dawn curfew ended this morning, and the ban on five or more people assembling remains.  Officials state that these measures will remain in place for at least 60 days.

BBC correspondent Jonathan Head says the current scene in Yangon is similar to 1988, when the junta repressed pro-democracy protests and opened fire on unarmed demonstrators.

The young monks heading the protests have vowed to keep up the demonstrations; according to BBC News, that vow is certain to put them on a collision course with the army.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Burma troops surround monasteries – 26 September 2007

Reuters – Myanmar troops guard activist Yangon monasteries – 26 September 2007

Grenade Kills Children in Ivory Coast

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

BONDOUKOU, Ivory Coast – Seven children aged four to fifteen, have died after playing with a hand grenade that they found on the ground near their Koranic school. Seven more children were injured in the blast. Two of the children are in critical condition at a hospital in Bondoukou.

The boys picked up the grenades. The first grenade went off when the child removed the pin and resulted in the numerous deaths. After the accident, parents of another child turned the second grenade over to the police as part of Ivory Coast’s disarmament process.

The scene had been described as “just devastating,” by an investigator on Wednesay. He also stated that “One of the children had a severed head.”

Bondoukou is 460 kilometers from the economic capital Abidjan in the south. Moreover, it is the site of a former front line of the five year conflict that ended in March 2007. In March, Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Ivory Coat reached a peace agreement with rebel leader, Guillaume Soro. The rebels released control of northern Ivory Coast.

Today, Mr. Soro is a prime minister in the power-sharing government. Since December, the government has been employing a disarmament process.

Richard Secre, chairman of Bondoukou’s local council, stated “We’re in a zone which isn’t far from the front line. With the war, weapons were moved around but we don’t know how these grenades got here.”

For more information, please see:

BBC- Grenade kills W African children – 2 January 2007

Reuters- Grenade blast kills 7 children in Ivory Coast – 2 January 2007

IC Publications- Seven children die in Ivorian grenade accident: police  – 2 January 2007

Chad Forces Attack Darfur

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

KHARTOUM, Darfur –  According to a Sudanese diplomatic source, there is presently a joint offensive under way between Chadian forces and rebels in Sudan’s Darfus region. The joint offensive between the Chadian armed forces and Darfur rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement have attacked numerous towns and villages in the area of el-Geneina, located in Western Darfur.

Chad claims to only have attacked targets alongside the border, claiming not to have crossed into Sudan. Nevertheless, reports show that on Friday, a Chadian aircraft attacked targets inside Sudan. In response, the Sudanese government has filed complaint to the UN Security Council, describing Chad’s attack as “unprecedented.”

A Sudanese foreign ministry statement seen by Reuters on Sunday stated “In an unprecedented escalation, Chadian forces have violated the joint border as three Chadian war planes bombed two areas … in West Darfur … on Dec. 28.”

On Wednesday, Chad accused Sudan of sheltering and re-arming Chadian rebels after last month’s armed conflict. 

Presently, statistics estimate that the war in Darfur has cost the lives of over 200,000 people and forced 2.5 million from their homes.

AU troops in Sudan are presently undertaking a UN mission. The planned mission will eventually consist of 20,000 troops and 6000 police and civilian personnel. Currently, only about 9000 troops and police are in place.

For more information, please see:

The Australian – UN-African force takes over in Darfur – 2 January 2008

Reuters – Sudan accuses Chad of bombing Darfur, Chad denies – 30 December 2007

BBC – Chad ‘launches attack in Darfur’ – 30 December 2007

Obama Detainee Policy in Afghanistan Same as Bush Administration

By Maria E. Molina
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – The Obama administration has told a federal court that detainees currently being held in Afghanistan are unlawful combatants not subject to the Geneva Conventions and can be held without charge for as long as the conflict in Afghanistan continues.  In a two-sentence filing late Friday, the Justice Department said that the new administration had reviewed its position in a case brought by prisoners at the United States Air Force base at Bagram, just north of the Afghan capital. The Obama team determined that the Bush policy was correct: such prisoners cannot sue for their release.  The closely watched case is a habeas corpus lawsuit on behalf of several prisoners who have been indefinitely detained for years without trial.

The Bush administration had argued that federal courts have no jurisdiction to hear such a case because the prisoners are noncitizens being held in the course of military operations outside the United States. The power of civilian federal judges to review individual decisions by the executive branch to hold a terrorism suspect as an enemy combatant was one of the most contentious legal issues surrounding the Bush administration. For years, President Bush’s legal team argued that federal judges had no authority under the Constitution to hear challenges by detainees being held at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere.

Rights lawyers have been hoping that courts would extend those rulings to allow long-term detainees being held at United States military bases elsewhere in the world to sue for release, too. There are about 600 detainees at Bagram and several thousand in Iraq.

Some observers believed that the Obama team would end up making a major change in policy but simply needed more time to come up with it, while others believed that the administration had decided.

For more information, please see:

IPS News – RIGHTS-US: What About Bagram? – 25 February 2009

Periodico – U.S. President Backs Bush Policy on Bagram Detainees – 23 February 2009

AFP – Obama draws fire for ‘terror’ detainee moves – 21 February 2009

NY Times – Obama Upholds Detainee Policy in Afghanistan – 21 February 2009

Voice of America – Obama Backs Bush on Afghanistan Detainees – 21 February 2009

Myanmar Pro-Democracy Protests

By Elizabeth O’Loughlin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar- Small protests continued today in Yangon.  The demonstrations were quickly addressed as security forces took protesters away in trucks, and there are some reports of protesters being beaten.  The number of protesters has decreased dramatically since the government began its crackdown earlier this week.

The United Nations’ Special Envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, arrived in Myanmar today.  He will be meeting with junta officials in Naypidaw, however it is not clear if he will be meeting with leader General Than Shwe or pro-democracy leaders.

There is local and world pessimism over whether Gambari’s visit will cause change.  Western nations have insisted that the UN act more forcefully to quell the junta’s actions.  The United States has been trying to persuade nations to cut off investment and trade into Myanmar.  China however has been blocking these efforts to destabilize Myanmar.

The authorities have continued to shut down communications, including cell phones and internet access.  Since its rise to power in 1962 the junta has attempted to keep information from leaving the country, but Myanmar news has reached the world community via internet and blogs.  The internet has been especially important in sharing the news of the protests and government crackdown over the past month.
Captbk10709290846myanmar_protests_2

This AP photo, released by the Free Burma Rangers, shows protests on Tuesday in a remote village on the border of Thailand.

For more information, please see:

Yahoo! News (AP) – Myanmar protests falter after crackdown – 29 September 2007

AHN – Pro-Democracy Protests Resume in Myanmar Despite Crackdown – 29 September 2007

The New York Times – U.S. Steps Up Confrontation With Myanmar’s Rulers – 29 September 2007

ABC News – Blogging for Political Change: Myanmar’s Dissidents – 29 September 2007

Impunity Watch – Authorities in Myanmar Cut Communications Amongst More Protests – 28 September 2007

Impunity Watch – UN Holding Emergency Talks on Myanmar – 26 September 2007