North Korea Resumes Reunions for Families Separated During Korean Civil War

By Brian Lanciault

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PYONGYANG, North Korea– North Korea has agreed to South Korea’s proposal to resume reuniting families that were separated during the Korean Civil War (1950-53). Observers take this as a sign of encouragement that the otherwise bitter and flaring relationship between North and South is beginning to cool down.

A hugely emotional affair, family reunions are set to resume after North Korea finally accepted the South’s proposal. (Photo courtesy of BBC)

The reunions are expected to take place on September 19, during the elaborate Chuseok harvest festival, according to reports released on Sunday by KCNA, a major North Korean news agency.

North Korea set off months of unsettling tensions with a long-range rocket launch in December followed by an underground nuclear test in February. The North’s menacing rhetoric against the United States and South Korea hit its apex between March and April amid U.S.-South Korean military drills in the region, and a vote by the U.N. Security Council  to impose even tougher sanctions on the Pyongyang regime, in hopes to quell the swelling tide of nuclear threats.

The KCNA reported that both North and the South, following an agreement to reopen the Kaesong Industrial Zone, will soon discuss the possibility of resuming cross-border tours at Mount Kumgang.

The Kaesong Industrial Zone, a massive complex, located in the North but shared by the two nations, has been closed since April. Kim Jong Un’s regime began blocking South Koreans from entering the manufacturing complex, which sits on the North’s side of the heavily fortified border and houses the operations of more than 120 South Korean companies. Pyongyang then removed the more than 50,000 North Koreans working in the zone’s factories, saying it was temporarily suspending activity in the area. The decision to halt operations surprised some observers, since Kaesong has long been considered an important source of hard currency for Pyongyang.

Mount Kumgang is a North Korean resort where a South Korean tourist was shot by a North Korean soldier in 2008 after allegedly walking into an off-limits area. The reunion will take place at the resort.

“The Kaesong Industrial Zone and the tours to Mt. Kumgang resort are valuable works common to the nation which should not be delayed as they are symbols of reconciliation, unity, reunification and prosperity,” the KCNA reported.

The tragedy of divided families dates to the 1950-1953 Korean War, when the Cold War’s division of the peninsula into two nations became a permanent state of affairs. Amid fighting, millions became refugees — either fleeing violence or fearing political repercussions from either side. In the winter of 1950, some 650,000 refugees left North Korea as U.N. forces retreated after a surprise Chinese offensive.

There is no direct contact between the two Koreas, but a few families in the South have managed to establish voice and written contact, albeit in secrecy, with their relatives in the North in recent years. Most such communications are a result of North Korea’s border with China, which has become easier to overcome, not to mention the prominence of illegal cell phones that have penetrated the otherwise insulated state.

The first family reunions took place following a landmark summit between the two Koreas in 2000. Since that time, 17,100 people representing 3,500 families have been reunited on more than 18 separate occasions.

The meetings are bittersweet, as the chances of any of the divided family members meeting again are slim. The last such reunion took place in 2010.

According to a report at the time, approximately 80,000 South Koreans registered  to join one of the few reunions, but 40,000 people are believed to have since passed away or given up hope, according to the South’s Ministry of Unification. Figures from north of the demilitarized zone remain unknown.

For more information, please see:

BBC — North Korea Agrees to Family Reunions with South — 18 August 2013

Reuters — North Korea accepts South’s proposal to resume war-torn family reunions — 18 August 2013

Bloomberg — North Korea Agrees to Reunion Talks After Gaeseong Accord — 18 August 2013

Deutsche Welle — North Korea agrees to resumption of family reunions — 18 August 2013

CNN — North Korea agrees to family reunions with the South, report says — 18 August 2013

Peruvian Security Forces Kill Two Shining Path Leaders

LIMA, Peru – Two top commanders of Peru’s Shining Path group were killed during a clash with government troops in southeast Peru according to President Ollanta Humala.

Alejandro Borda Casafranca, and Martin Quispe Palomino were killed by a covert force formed to track down top rebel leaders. “The intelligence sources that have participated in this action have confirmed that the dead terrorist criminals are the number one and number two of the Shining Path’s military structure,” Mr. Humala said, referring to Mr. Borda Casafranca and Mr. Quispe Palomino, respectively.

Shining Path leaders killed
The bodies of two leaders of the guerrilla group Shining Path are brought into an air force base in El Callao, Peru. (Photo Courtesy of Rau Garcia/EPA)

After a firefight, their bullet-riddled and burned corpses were found in a house in an isolated township of Ayacucho, south of Lima. President Humala said a third rebel believed to be Casafranca’s close colleague was also killed in the military operation.

The announcement is a victory for Humala’s administration, which has struggled to combat remnants of the Shining Path in the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro river valley, or VRAEM. President Humala has made bringing peace to the VRAEM one of his top priorities since coming to office in July 2011. He has pledged to root out the Shining Path and increase the state’s presence in the region.

The VRAEM, the most densely planted coca-growing region in the world, is the last remaining stronghold of the Shining Path. The group is believed to still have 300 to 500 members in the area located in southern Peru.

Peru’s terrorism and security analyst Jaime Antezana said that the killing of the two rebel leaders was the government’s first successful blow in recent years at the top military ranks of the group. Antezana said the two men were deeply involved in the rebels’ management of coca leaf cultivation, as well as the processing and transport of cocaine.

Last year, security personnel captured one of the group’s original leaders in the Upper Huallaga Valley, Peru’s other major cocaine producing region located north of the VRAEM. He was sentenced to life in prison in June.

Shining Path’s insurgency began in 1980. Inspired by Maoism, the rebels tried to lead a “People’s War” to overthrow what they called “bourgeois democracy” and establish a communist state. They took control of Peru’s rural regions and some urban areas by the early 1990s, raising fears in the U.S. government that it might someday take power. However, its founder, Abimael Guzman, was captured in 1992 and subsequently sentenced to life in prison. The conflict resulted in some 70,000 deaths.

The group has largely been crushed by the army, but remnants of the group remain, and they often attack military patrols in jungle areas. Security forces say the group has allied itself with drug traffickers and now finances itself by growing and smuggling coca, the raw ingredient for cocaine.

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera– Peru says Shining Path leaders killed – 14 August 2013

Los Angeles Times – Peru commandos kill two Shining Path leaders – 13 August 2013

The Wall Street Journal – Peru President Says High-Ranking Shining Path Members Killed – 12 August 2013

Reuters – Peru says top two Shining Path rebels killed in jungle shootout – 12 August 2013

BBC – Peru’s security forces kill three Shining Path rebels – 12 August 2013

 

 

Cross-Dressing Jamaican Teen Murdered

By Brandon Cottrell 
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America 

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Dwayne Jones, age 16, was murdered on July 22, when he attended a street party dressed as a woman.

Dwayne Jones. (Photo Courtesy CBS News)

Prior to attending the party, Jones confided in a girl from his church that he would be attending dressed as a woman.  Upon his arrival, the girl’s friends asked Jones if he was a man or a woman; once the group determined that Jones was a man, they began verbally assaulting him.  Jones attempted to run from the group, but was unable to escape.  He was then beaten for several hours, stabbed, shot and run over by a car.  The group also beat two of Jones’ friends who attended the party with him.

Annie Paul, a blogger at the Jamaican University of the West Indies said that, “Judging by comments made on social media, most Jamaicans think Dwayne Jones brought his death on himself for wearing a dress . . . in a society that has made it abundantly clear that homosexuals are neither to be seen nor heard.”

Jamaica is often portrayed as one of the most hostile countries for gay and transgendered people.  Just last year alone, two homosexual men were murdered and thirty-six others were victims of mob violence.  Homosexuals are also often victim to arbitrary detention and harassment by police.  Due to such hostility, much of the gay community keeps their sexual orientation secret.  In addition, many of their parties and church services must be held in secret locations.

Some believe that much of the homophobia in Jamaica stems from centuries-old laws that ban sodomy.  Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, however, vowed during her election campaign that the anti-sodomy law would be evaluated and potentially repealed by Parliament.  Additionally, Simpson-Miller said she was open to appointing homosexuals to her cabinet, a stark contrast to former Prime Minister Bruce Golding’s stance.

Meanwhile, Senator Mark Golding condemned Jones’s murder and called on police to “spare no effort in bringing the perpetrators to justice.”  Additionally, leading human rights groups in Jamaica have called on the government to condemn the killing and investigate the crime.  Prime Minister Simpson-Miller and many other prominent leaders, however, have been silent.

To date, the investigation of Jones’ murder has not revealed any suspects and no arrests have been made.

 

For further information, please see:

Jamaica Gleaner – Gov’t Shouldn’t Let Dwayne Jones’ Death Go In Vain – 13 Aug 2013

International Business Times – Jamaica: Transgender Teenager Dwayne Jones Murdered by Homophobic Mob – 12 Aug 2013

CBS News – Transgender teen stabbed, shot and run over by Jamaican mob – 11 Aug 2013

Human Rights Watch – Jamaica Cross-Dressing Teenager Murdered – 01 Aug 2013

 

CESR: UN Secretary General Backs Calls for Human Rights-Based Post-2015 Agenda

CESR STATEMENT

Key report to General Assembly outlines Secretary General’s vision of ‘a world we have a right to expect’

The UN has just released the Secretary General’s report to the forthcoming General Assembly on progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals and recommendations for what should replace them in 2015. The report, “A life of dignity for all,” is a powerful and timely endorsement of the need to follow up the MDGs with a holistic and transformative framework of development commitments anchored in the universal fulfillment of human rights.

Echoing the central premise that has motivated CESR’s advocacy and analysis over the last two years, the report asserts that ending poverty is “a matter of basic justice and human rights”. It includes a welcome recognition that freedom from fear and want are inseparable, and that human rights encompass the economic and social dimensions of human well-being. “No person should go hungry, lack shelter or clean water and sanitation, face social and economic exclusion or live without access to basic health services and education”, says the Secretary General. “These are human rights, and form the foundations for a decent life.”

Many of its specific recommendations capture those made by CESR and the organizationswith whom we have been working to secure human rights at the core of the renewed development agenda. It calls for the sustainable development agenda to be universal, rights-based and supported by rigorous accountability mechanisms. It states that promoting decent employment, ensuring decent wages, strengthening social protection and putting in place redistributive policies are a prerequisite for achieving the existing Goals and must be the basis of inclusive growth in the future. The report is also strong on the need for more effective global governance and for a stronger commitment by wealthier states to follow through on aid, trade and debt relief commitments, as well as cracking down on illicit capital flows, and stemming tax avoidance and evasion, which is a significant drain on countries’ resources in both the North and South.

It calls for particular attention to the rights of the most vulnerable and excluded, such as women, children, the elderly, indigenous people, refugees and displaced families, as well as people with disabilities, recognizing that discrimination and denial of human rights are often an underlying cause of disparities and inequalities. It calls for action to tackle exclusion and inequality in all its forms, with particular emphasis on ensuring the equal rights of women and girls, including in the economic and social spheres, as well as action to tackle discrimination against migrants and income inequality.

The report recognizes that “human rights and effective governance based on the rule of law and transparent institutions are outcomes and enablers of development”, and that lasting peace and sustainable development cannot be fully realized without respect for human rights, transparency and accountability, including ensuring citizens’ involvement in policymaking and oversight in the use of public resources. It calls for a renewed focus on more equitable forms of mobilizing domestic resources, including by broadening the tax base and improving tax administration, and improving corporate and public governance of extractive industries in resource-rich countries. It also calls for a robust framework for international development financing, which should include commitments to eliminate illicit financial flows and to enhance the regulation of secrecy jurisdictions. Echoing CESR’s particular concerns about accountability, the report states that the success of such commitments “depends on assigning roles, responsibilities and clear accountability” for all actors involved, including international financial institutions and the private sector.

Perhaps the most welcome aspect of the Secretary General’s report is its responsiveness to the calls which human rights and social justice groups in all corners of the globe have been voicing. “People across the world are demanding more responsive governments and better governance and rights at all levels. We have heard their calls for peace and justice, eradicating poverty, realizing rights, eliminating inequality, enhancing accountability and preserving our planet.” Human rights are not just referenced rhetorically in his proposals – they are recognized as the purpose of the post-2015 framework, as well as the principles that sustain it. “Ultimately, the aspiration of the development agenda beyond 2015 is to create a just and prosperous world where all people realize their rights and live with dignity and hope.” For such a sustainable development agenda to take root, the Secretary General argues that the international community must agree “a far-reaching vision of the future firmly anchored in human rights and universally accepted values and principles, including those encapsulated in the Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Millennium Declaration”, as well as “a participatory monitoring framework for tracking progress and mutual accountability mechanisms for all stakeholders.”

Strong monitoring and accountability, the Secretary General recognizes, will be crucial for the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda, and can be strengthened through the direct engagement of citizens and improving data collection, dissemination and analysis, including efforts to capture gaps within and between population groups and to assess the quality of outcomes. Goals, targets and metrics to measure their achievement should take into account human rights and inequality in a cross-cutting manner.

With this report, the Secretary General has raised the level of debate and expectation around the role of human rights in the post-2015 development agenda. When they come together at this September’s General Assembly, member states will need to roll up their sleeves, team up with civil society worldwide, and get to the hard work of implementing the resounding call for a universal agenda with human rights-centered sustainable development at its core, and undertake the profound transformations required to build “the just, prosperous and sustainable world that people want and have a right to expect”.

For further information, please see:

The Center for Economic and Social Rights