Environmentalist Mysteriously Dies While in Police Custody

 

By Christine Khamis

 

BEIJING, China –

29-year-old environmentalist Lei Yang died while in police custody last week. Police say that he was detained outside of a foot parlor near Beijing. The official cause of his death is unclear at this time.

Mr. Lei’s wife speaking with the media after reports of his death began to spread. (Photo courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald)

Mr. Lei worked for the China Association of Circular Economy, an environmental organization with ties to the government. His family says that he was on the way to pick up friends from the airport when he was detained. Mr. Lei apparently left his home around 9 p.m., about an hour before he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Many among the public believe that Mr. Lei was tortured or beaten to death. There has been great speculation about what Mr. Lei was doing at the foot parlor, which is a common cover for a brothel in the region.

The prosecutor’s office in Changping, the county where the foot parlor was located, says that it is investigating Mr. Lei’s death. There have been no other official government comments on Mr. Lei’s death, nor are there any surveillance videos available from Mr. Lei’s arrest and detainment.

However, People’s Daily, a newspaper closely allied with the Communist government, published an interview with an officer in charge of an anti-prostitution raid, during which Mr. Lei was reportedly picked up outside the massage parlor. The officer told People’s Daily that they had not used excessive force with Mr. Lei and that he was detained for paying for paying for sexual services. The officer also stated that Mr. Lei had bitten officers and tried to escape police custody twice.

The police also say that Mr. Lei had a heart attack while in police custody and then was declared dead at the hospital. Xinhua, a state run news source, reported that family members said they had seen bruises on Mr. Lei’s head and arms. Police responded that Mr. Lei had hit his head while trying to escape.

Mr. Lei’s family has requested an independent autopsy. Results of the autopsy are set to be released next month.

Former alumni of Renmin University, where Mr. Lei obtained his master’s degree in environmental science, circulated four petitions online following the news of his death. One of the petitions stated that Mr. Lei should not have been executed without a trial and said that his death was not an accident. It called for authorities to conduct an independent inquiry into Mr. Lei’s death.

Prostitution is illegal in China, but such an offense for solicitors is usually punishable by some form of administrative discipline.

  

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – Chinese Man’s Death in Custody Prompts Suspicion of Police Brutality – 12 May 2016

South China Morning Post – Former Students Call for Full Inquiry Into ‘Suspicious’ Death of Beijing University Alumnus in Police Custody – 12 May 2016

Hindustan Times – Mysterious Death in China Raises Suspicions of Police Brutality – 12 May 2016

Radio Free Asia – Death of Man in Police Custody Sparks Anger, Raises Doubts in Beijing – 11 May 2016

 

 

Pakistan Rights Activist Killed

By Christine Khamis

 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan –

Unidentified assailants gunned down a Pakistani rights activist in a drive-by shooting on Saturday in Karachi. The activist, Khurram Zaki, was known for his fight against the Taliban as well as Sunni extremist groups.

Mr. Zaki was gunned down at a restaurant while meeting with a friend by attackers on motorbikes. Two other people were wounded during the attack.

Mr. Zaki. (Photo courtesy of the New York Times)

A splinter faction of the Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the shooting. Police say, however, that they are unable to verify whether the faction, known as the Hakeemullah Group, is behind the attack. The group has falsely taken responsibility for other attacks in the past.

A former journalist, Mr. Zaki was a blogger and editor for Let Us Build Pakistan, a pro-Shiite blog that supports democratic values.

He was especially well known for his campaign against Abdul Aziz, the head cleric of the Lal Masjid, a prominent Sunni extremist mosque. Mr. Zaki and other activists protested outside of the mosque after Mr. Aziz refused to denounce an attack on a school in Peshawar in 2014. 152 people, most of them schoolchildren, were killed in the attack. Mr. Zaki and the other activists then filed a lawsuit against Mr. Aziz for incitement to hatred and violence against the Shiites.

Mr. Zaki is the third human rights activist to be killed in Karachi since 2013. Another influential activist as well as a human rights lawyer were also attacked and killed by extremist groups. Asad Iqbal Butt, from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, says that such groups have begun to target activists who campaign against social and religious injustice and intolerance.

Colleagues of Mr. Zaki released a statement in which they pledged to continue to stand up to militant groups.

 

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Activist Khurram Zaki killed in Pakistan’s Karachi – 8 May 2016

BBC – Pakistani Activist Khurram Zaki Murdered in Karachi – 8 May 2016

The New York Times – Pakistani Rights Activist Is Shot and Killed in Karachi – 8 May 2016

Voice of America – Pakistan Rights Activist Killed in Karachi – 8 May 2016

 

Syria Justice and Accountability Centre: Aleppo’s Cessation of Hostilities Meltdown

Devastation from airstrikes in a neighborhood of Aleppo Source: Aleppo Media Centre Facebook page
Devastation from airstrikes in a neighborhood of Aleppo
Source: Aleppo Media Centre Facebook page

 

As violence and civilian deaths surge in the embattled city of Aleppo, it has become increasingly clear that the Cessation of Hostilities (CoH) agreement established on February of this year has completely broken down. Fighting has intensified in Aleppo with over 250 dead in the past two weeks, approximately 50 of whom were killed in an airstrikeon Aleppo’s al-Quds hospital. The fighting has left many of the city’s inhabitants in dire need of humanitarian supplies. On Thursday morning, the US and Russia announced a 48-hour ceasefire agreement for the city of Aleppo. However, there have already been reports of violations, including strikes by the Syrian government. As the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC) wrote in March, any ceasefire agreement that does not include independent monitoring based on conflict maps to which all parties agree, as well as a system of accountability for those who breach the agreement, will not be effective.

The primary problem with the February CoH centers on Jabhat al-Nusra. In Aleppo in particular, the Assad government has used al-Nusra as a scapegoat to justify airstrikes. Since Jabhat al-Nusra is not party to the CoH, attacks on the group would not be considered violations. Statements by US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Army Col. Steve Warren have supported the Syrian government’s position by implying that al-Nusra’s presence in Aleppo makes it difficult to determine whether violations have occurred. Civilian reports, however, show that the airstrikes have extended beyond the areas under Jabhat al-Nusra’s control and have disproportionately affected civilians.

The disconnect between statements by international leaders and the reality on the ground is causing extreme frustration among Syrians who had a glimmer of hope that the CoH would help return a modicum of normality to their day-to-day lives. Although Jabhat al-Nusra has a presence in Aleppo, the city is subject to a complex configuration of fighting forces, the majority of which are opposition fighters party to the CoH. Airstrikes have been targeting these groups, as well as the civilians within their control, with numerous casualties reported since April 22. These attacks on civilians have gone far beyond what could be justified as collateral damage under international humanitarian law. Moreover, the Syrian government isnever justified in targeting hospitals, especially given the lack of evidence that Jabhat al-Nusra has militarily used medical facilities, such as the Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) supported hospital that was targeted last week. As for the latest cessation of hostilities agreement for Aleppo,recent breaches reveal the same inherent weaknesses. Moreover, President Bashar al-Assad made statements today that call for “attaining a final victory” against all armed opposition, demonstrating that he is unwilling to make distinctions between al-Nusra and fighting forces party to the CoH and putting into serious question his commitment to the peace process.

SJAC’s March blog post emphasized the importance of conflict mapping and independent monitoring agreed to by all parties in order for any ceasefire agreement to be both effective and durable. The United States has already proposed the idea of creating a detailed map with Russia that would lay out “safe zones” where civilians and members of moderate opposition groups could find shelter from the persistent attacks by the Syrian military and its allies. A clear map of the conflict would clearly show which groups control what areas and would prevent the Assad government from making excuses for its attacks. Independent monitoring is also crucial, as acknowledged by Secretary Kerry in a recent press release which proposed the idea of US and Russian staff working 24/7 in Geneva in order to monitor the CoH. Accountability is also necessary and can be as simple as unified announcements by the UN Security Council to condemn perpetrators. As of now, violations are shrouded in mystery and are easily dismissed by each side as politicized fabrications. An independent monitoring mechanism would shine a light on breaches, and create some form of accountability.

Without the implementation of proper ceasefire monitoring and mapping agreed to by all sides, the CoH will continue to be doomed to failure. A political solution cannot be achieved while the targeting and killing of civilians continue unabated. For this reason, SJAC urges the international community to establish these measures under the umbrella of the CoH as soon as possible. A failure to do so will provide cover for flagrant violations of the agreement, resulting in a further escalation of hostilities and more devastation for the Syrian people.

For more information and to provide feedback, please contact SJAC at info@syriaaccountability.org.

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky: Russian Human Rights Defenders Slam Nekrasov and US Network NBC for Their Roles in Anti-Magnitsky Propaganda Campaign

5 May 2016 – Promi­nent Russ­ian human rights defend­ers have spo­ken out against Russ­ian film­maker Andrei Nekrasov and NBC reporter Ken Dilan­ian for their anti-Magnitsky pro­pa­ganda cam­paign in Europe and the US.

Alekseeva

Lud­mila Alex­eeva, Head of Moscow Helsinki Group

In a pub­lic let­ter pub­lished by ‘Novaya Gazeta’ news­pa­per, Lud­mila Alex­eeva rebuked their mis­rep­re­sen­ta­tions of Mag­nit­sky case, saying:

 

“I have no idea who specif­i­cally is behind this [Andrei Nekrasov’s] film and who hired the author, I have no idea. But one thing is clear – these are the peo­ple who are very inter­ested to dis­avow the evi­dence of cor­rup­tion, which started to emerge first with the case of Mag­nit­sky (and thanks to Mag­nit­sky), and con­tin­ues to emerge, but on a global scale (such as the Panama leaks ).”

 

“The high-profile expo­sure of cor­rup­tion was started specif­i­cally by Sergei Mag­nit­sky, — said Lud­mila Alex­eeva. — That is why it is so impor­tant for the peo­ple com­plicit in the con­spir­acy to defame Mag­nit­sky and the evi­dence which he made pub­lic. As a result, this film appeared…  To try to show that every­thing — what Mag­nit­sky first said, then the Panama leaks – are non­sense. What they want is to revoke sanc­tions. They decided to start with the dis­avow­ing of the Mag­nit­sky list.”

 

A vet­eran Russ­ian human rights defender, Lud­mila Alex­eeva, is one of the lead­ing voices in Russ­ian civil soci­ety advo­cat­ing for West­ern Mag­nit­sky sanc­tions as a tool to address the impunity in Rus­sia of those respon­si­ble for Magnitsky’s tor­ture and mur­der in detention.

Borschev

Valery Borschev

Valery Borschev, another lead­ing Russ­ian human rights advo­cate and head of the Moscow Pub­lic Over­sight Commission,an inde­pen­dent panel that inves­ti­gated Magnitsky’s death since 2009, spoke out to quash the phony claims in Andrei Nekrasov’s film.

 

“The film [by film­maker Nerkasov] tries to con­tra­dict every­thing that has been con­cluded by our Com­mis­sion. …We  looked at con­di­tions of deten­tion, tor­ture, non-provision of med­ical care, vio­lence which led to murder.…I state firmly: the film does not reflect the true state of affairs in part con­cern­ing the deten­tion of Mag­nit­sky,” said Valery Borschev.

 

Russ­ian human rights activists cas­ti­gated the false claims in Nekrasov’s film that Mag­nit­sky was not beaten in cus­tody, did not tes­tify against cor­rupt police offi­cers, and that Mag­nit­sky him­self com­mit­ted the crime he had uncov­ered. These claims are con­tra­dicted by evi­dence of Magnitsky’s beat­ing from both the Russ­ian gov­ern­ment and the Mag­nit­sky fam­ily, his inves­ti­ga­tion into the fraud and com­plaints filed three weeks before the US$230 mil­lion were stolen, offi­cial writ­ten records of his tes­ti­mony, and con­clu­sions reached by Russ­ian and inter­na­tional bod­ies who con­ducted inde­pen­dent inves­ti­ga­tions. These false claims have pre­vi­ously been refuted on numer­ous occa­sions, but are now being rekin­dled by Russ­ian film­maker Andrei Nekrasov in his anti-Magnitsky film in Europe, and echoed by Ken Dilan­ian, NBC News off-air cor­re­spon­dent in the United States.

 

In his writ­ten ques­tions to the ‘Jus­tice for Sergei Mag­nit­sky’ cam­paign last week, reporter Ken Dilan­ian claimed that he and his team at NBC found “no evi­dence” of Sergei’s Magnitsky’s beat­ing before he died, despite pub­licly avail­able records, inde­pen­dent reports and pho­tographs from Magnitsky’s autopsy. Dilan­ian also claimed he found “no evi­dence” of Magnitsky’s tes­ti­mony against police before his arrest. This is despite Mag­nit­sky nam­ing in tes­ti­mony before his arrest offi­cers Kuznetsov and Kar­pov 14 times and 13 times respectively.

N

Andrei Nekrasov, Russ­ian filmmaker

Ken D

 

 

 

Ken Dilan­ian, NBC News off-air reporter

 

 

 

Accord­ing to the NBC News web­site, prior to sud­denly tak­ing on the Mag­nit­sky story, Ken Dilan­ian had never reported on Russ­ian affairs or human rights.

 

Mr. Dilan­ian joined NBC News as off-air cor­re­spon­dent at the end of 2015. In his pre­vi­ous job with the Los Ange­les Times, he was com­pro­mised for per­mit­ting his close rela­tion­ships with sources to influ­ence his reporting.

 

In an open let­ter to Steve Burke, CEO of NBC Uni­ver­sal, pub­lished in the Russ­ian news­pa­per ‘Novaya Gazeta’, Valery Borschev con­demned the false claims, cit­ing the inves­ti­ga­tion con­ducted by the Moscow Pub­lic Over­sight Com­mis­sion which he chaired imme­di­ately after the death of Sergei Mag­nit­sky and as part of the work­ing group of the Russ­ian President’s Human Rights Council.

 

“The inves­ti­ga­tion of doc­u­ments, sub­mit­ted by law enforce­ment bod­ies to the work­ing group, led mem­bers of the Pub­lic Over­sight Com­mis­sion to the con­vic­tion that Sergei Mag­nit­sky was sub­jected to vio­lence before his death… There is a doc­u­ment, dated 16.11.2009, signed by deputy head of deten­tion cen­ter Markin, and eye wit­nesses Borovkov and Larin, which said: “rub­ber baton was applied,” “hand­cuffs were applied,” – ie he was beaten while hand­cuffed by rub­ber baton,” said Valery­Borschev­in­hislet­ter­to­CEOofN­BCU­ni­ver­sal Steve Burke.

 

The Russ­ian state-sponsored anti-Magnitsky pro­pa­ganda began after Russ­ian Pres­i­dent Vladimir Putin adopted a for­eign pol­icy decree in May 2011, instruct­ing Russ­ian gov­ern­ment bod­ies to fight US sanc­tions. It then esca­lated after a Decem­ber 2012 press con­fer­ence by Vladimir Putin, in which he was asked about Sergei Mag­nit­sky numer­ous times, and where he denied that Mag­nit­sky had died from tor­ture and promised to “delve deeper” into the case. The new esca­la­tion of pro­pa­ganda fol­lows a press con­fer­ence ear­lier this year, in which Russ­ian For­eign Affairs Min­is­ter Sergei Lavrov implied new rev­e­la­tions on the Mag­nit­sky case to fight the US Mag­nit­sky Act.

 

On 27 April 2016, Andrei Nekrasov planned an anti-Magnitsky event at the Euro­pean par­lia­ment in Brus­sels to show his new defam­a­tory film with help from his girl­friend, Finnish MEP Heidi Hautala.

 

It is under­stood that Ken Dilan­ian planned his story with NBC News for the same day, 27 April 2016.

 

On 27 April 2016, the widow and mother of Sergei Mag­nit­sky wrote to mem­bers of the Euro­pean par­lia­ment, stat­ing their cat­e­gor­i­cal protest against any demon­stra­tion of the defam­a­tory and false film about Sergei Mag­nit­sky any­where, and espe­cially in the Euro­pean Parliament.

 

“Through this let­ter, Sergei’s fam­ily expresses its highly neg­a­tive reac­tion to the movie, its protest against uncon­scionable attempts to blacken the name of Sergei Mag­nit­sky. We are cat­e­gor­i­cally against the pub­lic demon­stra­tion of the film by Andrei Nekrasov, against the dis­tri­b­u­tion of the film in any way,” said the Mag­nit­sky family.

 

The film “pre­miere” at the Euro­pean par­lia­ment was cancelled.

 

ARTE, Euro­pean cul­ture net­work, who planned to air the anti-Magnitsky film on 3 May 2016, can­celled it as well.

 

For more infor­ma­tion, please contact:

 

Jus­tice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

www.facebook.com/russianuntouchables

 

 

Promi­nent Russ­ian human rights defend­ers who con­ducted an inde­pen­dent inves­ti­ga­tion of Mag­nit­sky case, have spo­ken out against the new wave of anti-Magnitsky pro­pa­ganda and its enablers.

 

State­ment by Lud­mila Alex­eeva, Head of the Moscow Helsinki Group and Chair of the Russ­ian President’s Human Rights Council’s Work­ing Group on the inves­ti­ga­tion of death of Sergei Mag­nit­sky, 3 May 2016:http://www.novayagazeta.ru/politics/72940.html

 

State­ment by Valery Borschev, head of the Moscow Pub­lic Over­sight Com­mis­sion which inves­ti­gated the cir­cum­stances of death in deten­tion of Sergei Mag­nit­sky, 2 May 2016:http://www.novayagazeta.ru/politics/72931.html

 

 

Results of search for Dilan­ian and “human rights” on NBC News web­site for 2016:

 

“Dilan­ian” and “human rights” pro­duces two sto­ries in 2016

Trump Needs His ‘Own Damn Bucket’ to Water­board: Ex-CIA Chief …

Feb 22, 2016 … by Ken Dilan­ian .… Laura Pit­ter, senior national secu­rity coun­sel for Human Rights Watch, says it’s wor­ri­some that major GOP can­di­dates are …

www.nbcnews.com/…/trump-needs-his-own-damn-bucket-waterboard-ex-cia –chief-n523576

 

Spy Kid: A Young CIA Offi­cer Breaks Cover and Spills Secrets — NBC …

Apr 1, 2016 … by Ken Dilan­ian … the bat­tle­field,” in the CIA’s euphemistic phrase for killing human tar­gets with .… “And this is me going, ‘You’re right, I wasn’t.

www.nbcnews.com/…/spy-kid-young-cia-officer-breaks-cover-spills-secrets– n548846

 

 

Pre­vi­ous post by Andrei Nekrasov with pro-Putin and anti-American sen­ti­ments pub­lished on Echo of Moscow blog, 21 March 2014: http://echo.msk.ru/blog/andnekrasov/1283896-echo/

 

Andrei Nekrasov, Russ­ian film­maker turned anti-Magnitsky cam­paigner, pre­vi­ously claimed:

  • “Amer­i­cans and Com­pany” vio­late inter­na­tional law and that “this is not Kremlin-Kiselyov’s pro­pa­ganda, it is a fact rec­og­nized by the inter­na­tional com­mu­nity.”
  •  “Putin con­trols the imag­i­na­tion of the peo­ple, and this is not the result of him “usurp­ing power.”
  • “In the opin­ion of aggrieved Rus­sians, Crimea is not sub­ject to Budapest mem­o­ran­dum.”

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert, Issue 3

Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting and updating situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

Just days after Syrian government airstrikes on a hospital in Aleppo killed at least 50 people, on 3 May the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2286 on “healthcare in armed conflict.” Drafted by Egypt, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and Uruguay and co-sponsored by 84 UN Member States, the resolution called for greater protection for healthcare in armed conflict, noting that intentional attacks against hospitals and medical personnel are war crimes.

In his remarks during the briefing, the UN Secretary-General condemned deliberate attacks against healthcare in Syria, Iraq and South Sudan. According to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), there have been 94 attacks in Syria against hospitals and clinics MSF supports, while the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that at least 70 medical facilities in Yemen have been destroyed by parties to the conflict in the past year.

The resolution reaffirmed that States bear the primary responsibility to protect their populations and also stressed the importance of ensuring accountability for violations of international humanitarian law. This is the first UN Security Council resolution on healthcare in armed conflict and the forty-sixth to invoke the responsibility of States to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

UN Photo/Loey Felipe