Ali Abdulemam Resurfaces in UK

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrian – Bahraini human rights blogger and free speech activist, Ali Abdulemam, who had gone missing for two years has finally resurfaced in the UK. He will reunite with his wife and daughters who he has not seen or spoke to since his escape from Bahrain, and is set to speak next week at the Oslo Freedom Forum.

Ali Abdulemam, founder of Bahrain Online, has made it to the UK after spending the past two years in hiding. (Photo Courtesy of the Guardian)

Since the inception of pro-democratic demonstrations in Bahrain in 2011, the Bahraini government has sought to control the media. The media paints a picture of human rights activists as criminals attempting to subvert the state. The 2002 Press Law allows the state to incarcerate journalists who are found to have criticize the religion of Islam, the king, or who have been deemed to have threatened national security.

Back in March 2011, Abdulemam’s home was raided by security forces, however, Abdulemam was not home and has not been home since. He was able to escape Bahrain while being hidden in a secret compartment of a car and was brought to Saudi Arabia , Kuwait, and Iraq before finding his way to the UK.

While Abdulemam was missing he was tried in absentia and found guilty by a a military court for “plotting a coup.” He was then given a fifteen year sentence.

Abdulemam’s activist activity dates back to at least 1998 when he created the web blog, Bahrain Online, for individuals to have a place to discuss the government. Back then, Abdulemam was using a psyuedonym. He eventually began using his real name because he wanted people to know that a real person was behind the posts.

Once his name was known, it was not long until him and other Bahrain Online bloggers were arrested on charges of inciting hatred against the regime and publishing false information. He was only held for seventeen days back in 2005 when he was released. The detention did not deter Abdulemam, but inspired him with purpose.

Abdulemam was not arrested again until 2010 when he and twenty-two other rights activists were detained and accused with having ties to a London-basd terror network whose aim was to bring down the state. Before he was tried for those allegations, he was given no notice of the charges against him and was not permitted to have a lawyer.

As a result, he was detained for another five and a half months before being released. During those months, Abdulemam claimed that he was beaten, insulted, and made to sign false confessions.

As soon as Abdulemam was released, he joined the protest movement that was going on at Manama’s Pearl Roundabout. Martial law was invoked to deal with the demonstrations, and Abdulemam fled the country before he could be detained again.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Missing Bahraini Blogger Surfaces in London – 10 May 2013

Atlantic – Escape From Bahrain: Ali Abdulemam is Free – 10 May 2013

Guardian – Bahrain Online Founder Ali Abdulemam Breaks Silence After Escape to UK – 10 May 2013

Voice of Bahrain – The 10 Worst Countries for Journalists – 6 May 2013

Thousands of Malaysians Protest Over Allegedly Fraudulent Elections

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The Rakyat, Malaysia’s three party opposition alliance to the allegedly corrupt central government, held a protest rally to shun a possible election fraud that may have been present in Malaysia’s May 5th national elections.

Thousands of demonstrators attend the rally put on by Anwar Ibrahim. (Photo Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal)

Anwar Ibrahim, leader of the opposition alliance, vowed to expose the central government’s actions that fraudulently allowed the Barisan Nasional coalition to stay in power.  The opposition alliance bases their allegations on the fact that the Barisan party only won 46% of the popular vote during the national election, however, they still own a majority of the parliamentary seats.

Anwar Ibrahim’s opposition alliance only managed to secure 89 parliamentary seats despite securing a majority of the popular vote (at 51%).  The Barisan managed to hold onto 133 seats.  Investigators have alluded to possible voting irregularities and are now focusing their efforts around 30 seats where the margin of victory was extremely small and perhaps the integrity of the votes was questionable.

Growing concerns over voting integrity and the possibility that the central ruling party has implemented some type of illegal tactic in the recent election triggered a massive number of mass protests in the streets in addition to Anwar Ibrahim’s large stadium demonstration.

Malaysia’s electoral system has been under scrutiny by the public in recent years and the civil society group, Bersih, has pushed for electoral improvements.  The proposed improvements, however, were struck down after being put to a vote and the central government’s elections commission only adopted a small portion of the broad number of proposed changes.

Third party think tanks including Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) and the Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) had dispatched observers to the Malaysian election scene in order to gather information and verify the legitimacy of their voting practices.

The report compiled by the third party observers noted that mainstream media is dominated by the Barisan ruling party and the content is heavily biased in favor of the current central government.  Furthermore, central government and military facilities are commonly used in campaign efforts by the Barisan.

The third party observers further reported that the lack of transparency in political and electoral financing further exacerbates the problems with allegations of voting fraud.  The irregularities in the May 5th election will have a significant impact on the legitimacy of the ruling party going forward.

The current prime minister’s office has rejected the allegations and accusations of voting fraud because they believe that the evidence brought forward by the third party observations are unsubstantiated.  However, concerns over voting fraud were already in the winds with reports that thousands of constituents were flown in from Borneo to Kuala Lumpur to rig the vote.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Opposition protests Malaysia vote ‘fraud’ – 9 May 2013

The Wall Street Journal – Malaysian Premier Tested by Protests Over Vote – 9 May 2013

Reuters – Malaysian rally to protest election “fraud” draws big crowd – 8 May 2013

BBC – Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim urges protest over poll defeat – 6 May 2013

Chilean Student Protests Ends With Petrol Bombs Thrown At Police

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – Thousands of students took to the streets today as protestors marched on the Chilean capital of Santiago demanded free education. The second national march of the year, protestors clashed with police despite the peaceful undertone as petrol bombs were met with tear gas and water cannons.

Riot police were forced to end the Chilean student protest after it turned deadly as elements threw petrol bombs. (Photo courtesy of BBC)

While Chile’s education system is regard highly among Latin American countries, protestors state that they are discriminatory and unfair. While the middle and upper class have access to top schooling, the poor are limited to under-funded state schools with no free universities available.

The movement began with numerous demonstrations in 2011, and shows no signs of letting up. Few have seen any new benefit in the past few years, but education reform is slated to be a large issue during this year’s November Presidential election. Nationwide students marched for the opportunity to the same access to the education systems that the rich of the nation have had for generations. While the movement is mainly peaceful, with students waving signs and chanting, nefarious elements turned parts of the march violent.

Whether or not the protesters themselves have become violent or small groups of ill-tempered individuals who have infiltrated the movement has become the main question for police officers. Throughout Latin America during seemingly peaceful protests, hooded vandals can be seen inciting police officers to take the bait by throwing stones, vandalize shops and throwing homemade incendiary devices. Their intentions however must be questioned, as once peaceful scuffles become increasingly dangerous and disruptive as riot police shut down the protests. Here in Santiago after petrol bombs were thrown, the once peaceful protest was forcibly shut down by police who were attempting to quell the riot favoring elements.

Last month, 100,000 students marched for free education. The protest left casualties as eight officers were injured, one in serious condition after being attacked with acid, with 109 protestors were detained for different offenses.

For more information please see:

BBC – Chile Students Resume Protests For Free Education – 8 May 2013

Edmonton Journal – Chile Students Stage Big Protest Demand Education Reform – 8 May 2013

BBC – Chile Student Protests Resume As 100,000 March – 11 April 2013

Bolivian President Uses New Constitution To Seek Unprecedented Third Term

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SUCRE, Bolivia – A packed judiciary made their decision this week, despite constitutional restrictions, President Evo Morales would be able to seek a third term as President of Boliva.

Morales manipulation of Bolivian politics will allow him to seek an unprecedented third term. (Photo courtesy of CNN)

Following other Latin American leaders on the right and left, the Bolivian supreme court announced that despite term limits set forth by the Bolivian constitution, President Morales would be eligible to seek a third 5 year term after his current term expires. The language of the constitution allows that a Presidential candidate may only seek re-election once. However Supreme Court ruled that despite this being Morales second attempt at re-election, his first would not count as this was a new ratified constitution, that differed from the ones that were in place when Morales sought his initial term, and its subsequent re-election. Indicating that next year’s vote will be legally counted as Morales’ first re-election.

Opponents are claiming foul play are in order. The new constituoon was ratified via referendum in 2009, which lead many at the time to question whether Morales would attempt to circumvent the resitrictions. Insiders say that the constitution was only ratified because of a promise that Morales would not attempt to run for a third term. As for the court decision, opposition leader Samuel Doria Medina of the National Unity party accused the Morales government of stacking the judiciary in a way that favored Morales’ policies.

After the Constitutional Courts statement, the Senate of Bolivia immediately passed the Law Enforcement Legislation which would allow Evo Morales on the bill for the December 2014 Presidential election. The bill was passed quite quickly and is likely to be ratified by the parliamentary majority supporting Morales.

Should Morales win, he will be the longest sitting President in Andean politics, and be the longest sitting ruler in Bolivian history

For more information, please see:

La Republica – Evo Morales: Senate Approves Bill Allowing third Candidacy – 7 May 2013

Financial Times – Boliva court Clears Evo Morales’ bid To Run For Third Term – 30 April 2013

CNN – Court Clears Path For Bolivia’s Morales to Run For 3rd Term – 30 April 2013

Reuters – Court Allows Bolivia’s Morales To Seek Second Re-Election – 29 April 2013