Beijing Restaurant Owner Bans Patrons From Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Dogs

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – A Beijing restaurant owner, recently displayed a sign in the window of his establishment which read, “This shop does not receive, the Japanese, the Philippines, the Vietnamese and dog(s).”

The Beijing restaurant owner’s sign banning Japanese, Filipinos, Vietnamese and dogs. (Photo Courtesy of the BBC)

The restaurant owner, identified only by his surname “Wang,” refused to serve patrons of the three ethnicities delineated in his sign.  His refusal to serve Japanese, Filipino, and Vietnamese customers is perhaps a nod to the extreme nationalism prevalent in China due to the history of maritime and national boundary disputes in the eastern part of the country and in the South China Seas.

The most recent dispute is an ongoing feud between China and Japan over the Senkaku Islands (which the Chinese call the Diaoyu Islands).  The Japanese control the islands, however, Beijing lays claim to the island territory.  Vietnam and the Philippines are also feuding with Beijing over additional sets of islands in the South China Sea.

Frustrations and tension over these disputes has led to widespread Anti-Chinese demonstrations in Vietnam’s largest metropolitan hub, Ho Chi Minh City.  Additionally, thousands of Vietnamese resorted to posting on social networking sites and sending in comments to local newspapers to offer their angry reactions regarding the restaurant owner’s sign.

The restaurant owner removed the sign due to intense pressure from public outcries which he described to be “bothersome” and, perhaps, intrusive to his normal flow of business.  The central Chinese government has not condemned the restaurant owner’s actions nor issued any official statements regarding the matter.

Zhai Lei Ming, Chinese Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City, issued a statement to a local Vietnamese newspaper deploring Wang’s actions, saying it was “wrong” and “definitely unsatisfactory.”  Zhai commented that horrible people exist all over the world, and the opinions of the singular restaurant owner did not represent the opinion of the Chinese people or the central government.

Zhai lacked knowledge on why the central government had not released a statement or reprimanded the individual for his actions and could not comment on this issue.  When the restaurant owner was asked to comment, he told the press that he had no regrets regarding his actions and would not apologize for the sign.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines, released a statement, possibly vindicating China, calling the restaurant owner’s actions an isolated incident.  Raul Hernandez, Assistant Secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs, told a local newspaper that he hopes the sentiments of the restaurant owner are not state policy, and Filipinos are welcomed into Beijing restaurants.

For further information, please see:

The Age – Outrage over Beijing restaurant’s racist sign – 28 February 2013

BBC – China restaurant takes down maritime dispute sign – 28 February 2013

Breitbart – BEIJING RESTAURANT REMOVES ‘RACIST’ SIGN AFTER FURY – 28 February 2013

Tuoi Tre News – Beijing eatery wrong to post racist sign: Chinese diplomat – 28 February 2013

Sudan Judicially Orders Amputation of Convict’s Limbs

KHARTOUM, Sudan – For the first time since 2001, government doctors were judicially ordered to amputate a man’s right hand and left foot as punishment for the crime he was convicted of.

Corporal punishment has been part of Sudanese law since 1983. (Photo courtesy of AFP/File, Ashraf Shazly)

30-year-old Adam Al-Muthna was convicted of armed robbery under article 167 of the 1991 Sudanese Penal Code. Under the same law, the penalty for such an offense is cross amputation. So, on February 14 Muthna was brought to the Sudanese Ministry of Interior’s Al Rebat Hospital and had his limbs cut off.

The Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), along with the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS), Human Rights Watch, and REDRESS, cried that the amputation was against the credo of the medical profession. “Cross amputation is a form of state-sponsored torture,” said Dr. Vincent Iacopino, senior medical advisor at Physicians for Human Rights. “The complicity of medical personnel in such practices represents a gross contravention of the UN Principles of Medical Ethics for health personnel, particularly medical doctors who engage, actively or passively, in acts of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

According to the executive director of ACJPS, Osman Hummaida, “amputations violate the absolute prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under international law and have no place in any criminal justice system.”

Thus, hoping to convince the Sudanese government to reform its penal laws, the PHR, ACJPS, Human Rights Watch and Redress came together to demand not only Sudan, but international actors as well, to condemn the practice immediately.

“Authorities should immediately stop imposing such cruel and inhuman punishments, and bring laws in line with Sudan’s human rights obligations,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “They should stop ordering amputations, stoning, flogging and all other forms of corporal punishment that violate basic human rights.”

Dr. Lutz Oette, Counsel at REDRESS added that corporal punishments are “frequently used as an instrument of repression against those who do not conform to the State’s conception of moral order.” She said that this was contrary to the ruling in Doebbler v Sudan, concerning the use of flogging as a punishment in Sudan. In that case, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights ruled that: “there is no right for the government of a country to apply physical violence to individuals for offences. Such a right would be tantamount to sanctioning State sponsored torture contrary to article 5 of the African Charter.”

In 1996, Sudan signed, but has yet to ratify, the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

 

For further information, please see:

AFP – Sudan man’s foot, hand ‘amputated’ by court order – 28 February 2013

France Diplomatie – Sudan – Court ordered amputation – 28 February 2013

Radio Dabanga – Sudanese Doctors Union condemn reintroduction of cutting hand and foot – 28 February 2013

UPI – Rights groups blast Sudan amputation – 28 February 2013

All Africa – Sudan Doctors Carry Out Court Ordered Amputation Sentence – 27 February 2013

Human Rights Watch – Sudan: Doctors Perform Amputations for Courts – 27 February 2013

Reuters – Sudan cuts off hand, foot of man convicted of robbery: activists – 27 February 2013

Brazilian Police Storm Rio Slums In Preparation For Soccer

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil – The allure of the world cup draws near, and Brazil has taken drastic actions to prepare Rio de Janeiro before crowds and crowds of people descend upon the city. After the relative success of past military incursions into the favelas, or to put it more aptly, slums of Rio, police, tanks and military units stormed multiple favelas over the past months in order to reestablish control over the population.

Brazilian police and military storm Rio’s slums in order to pacify the areas before the World Cup arrives next year. (Photo Courtesy of AFP)

Previously drug backed gangs took control of the slums and the people languished in poverty without access to many basic necessities. Since the military occupation, spokesmen claim that the pacification has benefited over 400,000 impoverished people, with another 1.1 million people left that could still benefit. The overall plan is to provide social services and improve the quality of care of those at risk while quashing any illegal activity that could harm their reputation when FIFA and the Olympic Committee arrive to assess the suitability of Brazils shinning gem that is Rio de Janeiro.

The operation which began in earnest back in January, represents a massive shift to clean up the slums. Early last week, a Brazilian Police force supported by military tanks and helicopters stormed gang occupied slums near Rio’s international airport. Fortunately most of the pacification incursions have gone without a hitch. The police have taken to celebrate their victories by raising the Rio’s and Brazil’s flags on the roofs of buildings, symbolizing the end of the drug traffickers dominion over the impoverished parts of the city.

Critics of the operation state that while the pacification program is effective, the favelas targeted are not the poorest areas, and are simply focused on areas that would be popular during the World Cup and the Olympic Games. Civilians living within the favelas have had different reactions to the pacification. Some note that while there is less major crime, petty crime has increases as they no longer fear retaliation from local crime bosses.

After the pacification of the controlling gangs, staff from Rio’s municipal authority could start entering the areas safely without fear, and begun implementation of new social services, such as schools, healthcare centers and trash collection. Eduara La Rocque, president of the Instituto Pereira Passos has noted that there are over 150 new schools within the favelas as well as formalizing the area into the confines of Rio’s boundaries and maps. Ms. Law Rocque has hoped to implement many new training courses so the previously disenfranchised can acquire legitimate work experience in the future.

However because of the lack of resistance from drug traffickers many believe that the gangs have simply been relocating to other favelas, or to towns outside Rio, effectively just spreading out the problem.

For further information, please see:

Publico – Brazilian Police Occupy Slums 13 – 3 March 2013

Voice of Russia – Brazil: Police Occupied The Favelas In Rio De Janeiro – 3 March 2013

Terra – Police Ranks Near The Slums Of Rio De Janeiro Airport – 3 March 2013

BBC – Rio’s Shanty Towns Spread Their Wings – 8 February 2013

Bolivian Soldiers Detained in Chile Released After a Month

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SUCRE, Bolivia – An agreement reached between the district attorney of Tarapacá, Chile and the defense for the Bolivian soldiers arrested in Chile earlier this month, allows for the soldiers to return to Bolivia after more than a month of being detained in Chile. The soldiers were accused of illegal entry into Chile armed with weapons, which has strained the already tense relations between the countries.

The recently released soldiers united with their families after detainment. (Photo Courtesy of AP)

The soldiers are José Luis Fernández Choque (18), Augusto Cárdenas (19), and Alex Choque Quispe (20). The soldiers were arrested on January 25, as they chased suspected car smugglers. The Chilean Court changed their ruling of holding the soldiers in custody until their trial dates to allowing Cárdenas and Choque’s release on bail and Fernández’s release to house arrest. Fernández was the only one charged with possession of weapons.

The deal between the two sides allows for the soldiers to return to Bolivia on the condition that they do no return to Chile for a year, in exchange, prosecutors will drop the charges against the soldiers.

“What progress has been made is exactly what the soldiers requested publically in the sense that there is equal treatment for all,” said Celedón, a lawyer for the soldiers.

After the new agreement was made public, the district attorney for the Tarapacá Region, Manuel Guerra, explained why it had not been reached earlier.

The reasoning behind the long negotiations is explained by district attorney Manuel Guerra,“It was important to verify that the soldiers consent to the terms…They are the ones who have to say if they accept or don’t accept the deal offered by the [prosecution.] We don’t want to generate situations which can hinder the possibility of agreement.”

Bolivian President, Evo Morales, demands that the Chilean military should issue an apology for the detainment. While Chilean Foreign Minister, Alfredo Moreno, urged for the Bolivian military to instruct the soldiers to refrain from illegally crossing the border.

The agreement was made public a day after the Chilean Senate announced that a commission of senators were to travel to Bolivia in an attempt to improve relations.

Relations between Chile and Bolivia have historically been strained due to Bolivia trying to reclaim the Pacific coastline territory that it lost to Chile during the 1879-1884 war. President Morales wrote to Chilean President Pinera and accused him of wanting to keep Bolivia “geographically amputated, economically weak and socially dependent” by “blocking our legitimate right to access to the sea.”

 

For more information, please see:

BBC News — Bolivian Soldiers Held in Chile Return Home – 01 March 13

Prensa Latina — Bolivian President Praises Liberation of Soldiers – 01 March 13

Santiago Times — Bolivian Soldiers Held in Chile to Return Home After Tense Stay – 28 Feb 13

Global Post — Bolivia-Chile Tensions Rise Over Border Incident – 25 Feb 13

Syrian Conflict Reaches Iraqi Border

By Dylan Takores
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – The ongoing conflict between the Syrian army and rebel forces approached the Iraqi border, prompting warning shots to be fired.

Syrian rebel troops training. (Photo Courtesy of AFP)

Syrian rebels captured the northeastern town of Yaarabiya, which shares a border crossing with neighboring Iraq.  On Friday, a scud missile fired from Yaarabiya landed in Iraqi territory, terrifying locals.  Since that time, shots have been fired at the rebels from the direction of the border.

The Syrian rebel forces contend that the shots were warnings fired by Iraqi troops.  Iraqi military officials denied this contention.

According to Ali Shibaib, an Iraqi native who lives less than 300 meters from the border, “Syrian regular army troops are stationed between the Iraqi army and the Free Syrian army.”

The Syrian conflict spilled over the Iraqi border once before.  Last September, a five-year-old girl died when three rockets were fired into a border town near the al Qaim area of northwestern Iraq.

The Syrian army fighting in support of the President Bashar al-Assad is backed by Shi’ite Islamic Iran.  The Sunni Muslim rebels have received support from the United States.  Though a Shi’ite Muslim himself, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, publicly stated that his government has a non-interference policy regarding the conflict in Syria.

The ethnic and sectarian balance in Iraq has been shaken by the neighboring war.  However, Iraq is not the only nation feeling the effect of the struggle in Syria.  The influx of refugees from Syria has escalated the tension in many neighboring countries, including Iraq, Turkey, and Jordan.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that the war may spread into other countries if the situation is not soon resolved.  He stated that the window of opportunity to resolve the civil conflict is quickly closing.

An estimated 70,000 people have been killed in less than two years since the war began in Syria.  The UN anticipates that the total number of Syrian refugees may surpass one million in the next week.

 

For further information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Syria fighting sparks tension on Iraq border – 2 March 2013

Yahoo! News – Syrian army, rebel clashes bring conflict to Iraq doorstep – 2 March 2013

The Daily Star, Lebanon – Scud missile fired in Syria lands near Iraqi village: mayor – 1 March 2013

Voice of America – UN Chief Warns of Syrian War Spreading Regionally – 1 March 2013