Iran Sets Up Council To Monitor Internet

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – On Wednesday, 7 March, Ayatollah Ali Kahamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, created the Supreme Council of Virtual Space to oversee the domestic and international internet usage.  Iran’s state television reported Ayatollah Khamenei declared he was “establishing a center of national virtual space to define policy and co-ordinate and make decisions regarding virtual space.”

An example of a site that the Iranian Cyber Army Hacked. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

Reporters Without Borders, a free-speech lobby group, noted that Iran has blocked websites and filtered keywords to censor the internet.  However, the formation of this council is Iran’s strongest initiative to regulate the internet.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will head the council composed the president of the parliament, the head of Iran’s judiciary, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, the director of Iran’s broadcasting organization, the minister of information, and the commander of the Revolutionary Guard.

Ayatollah Khamenei’s degree stated the council will protect the country from “harm” resulting from “the increasing spread of information and communication technologies, particularly that of the global internet network and its important role in personal and social life.”  The council is also “responsible for safeguarding national and cultural values,” ensuring “safety of the internet,” and taking “measures to deal with challenges facing the national security and cultural values.”

Iran has previously tackled two particular cyber threats: computer viruses and “cultural invasion”.

Ayatollah Khamenei stated Iran will develop internet tools like Google to protect national security interests and so Iranians would not need to visit websites managed outside Iran.  In January, Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam, Iran’s police chief, described Google as an “instrument of espionage.”  In June, Iran plans to release its own search engine called “Yahaq” (meaning “Oh Lord”).

In 2010, the Revolutionary Guards created a “cyber army” to fight “destructive” networks.  The “cyber army” arrested hundreds of internet users.  The courts sentenced some of these users to death.  Iran also relies on special teams to execute “soft-war” counter-measures against the West.

Iranian authorities have blocked telephone lines and inducted internet slowdowns or disconnections during their recent increase of their surveillance and restrictions on the internet.  The authorities intensify their internet control specifically during times of political unrest.

Now, people must give their full names and show their identification to use an internet café monitored by the Iranian authorities.

This week, 30 million Iranians could not log into their Facebook, Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail accounts.  An Iranian news agency credited Iran’s actions to prevent opposition against the upcoming celebration of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

For further information, please see:

Sydney Morning Herald – Iran’s Leader Sets Up Internet Control Group – 8 Mar 2012

BBC – Iran’s Supreme Leader Sets Up Body To Oversee Internet – 7 Mar 2012

Haartetz – Ahmadinejad Heads New Council To ‘ Safeguard’ Iranian Internet Values – 7 Mar 2012

Iran Focus – Iran Considers Cyberspace Council – 7 Mar 2012

 

China Increases Military Spending by 11.5 Percent

By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – On March 5, 2012 the National People’s Congress approved a measure to boost spending on domestic security by 11.5 percent bringing the total budget to 111.4 billion U.S. dollars.

China has announced plans to boost domestic security spending by 11.5 percent (Photo Courtesy of The New York Times).

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao pledged that the increase in spending would be used to pursue modernization and expansion of the Chinese law enforcement agencies including the People’s Armed Police which is responsible for controlling domestic riots.

The approval of increased spending has caused some to fear that the “stability maintenance” measures undertaken this year ahead of leadership transition could become a permanent program.

In his annual address, Wen stated that the most important task for the Chinese military “…is to win local wars under information-age conditions.”

The statement was likely prompted by the Chinese government’s recent experiences with domestic unrest, including a string of twenty-five self-immolations that have occurred in the past year.

In addition, approximately one-hundred petitioners were detained earlier this week after traveling to Beijing to express their grievances with Chinese authorities.

Those detained were taken to unofficial detention centers known as “black jails” where detainees are often held until they can be taken back to their home town by local officials.

Other activists complained that after attempting to deliver petitioning letters to the National People’s Congress building, they were taken by police and told that such activity was illegal.

In addition to concerns about the affect of increased domestic security spending on dissidents, some have expressed frustration that the money is not being used to provide other services.

The new budget for domestic security, for the second consecutive year, exceeds the 106.4 billion dollar budget implemented for national defense.

This statistic prompted Liu Kaiming, head of the Local Social observation Research Institute, to state that the “…cost of maintaining public security is greater than the defense of the country…this shows that our society is actually very unstable, if so much has to be spent on maintaining stability.”

Liu continued to also express his belief that the Chinese government is not expending a sufficient amount of its resources on social security, health insurance or education.

In 2010 the number of unrest recorded by the Chinese government was approximately 90,000 illustrating a growth from the 8,700 incidents recorded in 1993.

Although data about the number of protests in China has not been released since 2010, an economist and senior adviser to the State Council, Niu Wenyuan, stated that there is an average of 500 protests each day equating to 180,000 per year.

Some have expressed that the exceedingly high number of protests facing China should be seen as an illustration of structural flaws present in the Chinese government.

 

For more information, please see:

Vancouver Sun – China Fears Unrest at Home More Than Foreign War – 7 March 2012

Merco Press – China Boosts Domestic Security Budget to Face Growing Unrest – 6 March 2012

Radio Free Asia – China Boosts Domestic Security Forces – 6 March 2012

Reuters – China Domestic Security Spending Rises to $111 Billion – 5 March 2012

Censorship fades in Myanmar

By Greg Donaldson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia 

YANGON, Myanmar – During President Thein Sein’s inauguration speech, the new president promised “sweeping democratic reform, and vowed to respect the role of the media.” One year later all signs indicate that President Sein is keeping his promise. Last month an article was published in the Yangon weekly Health Journal which described the poor living conditions prisoners faced in local jails.

Weekly newspapers are available for purchase from roadside shops in Yangon. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

The article explained that prison authorities attempted to cure an outbreak of scabies by having prisoners take their clothes off as prison employees wiped the naked inmates with medicine-laden brooms. Not only did the article raise alarming ethical questions about the treatment of prisoners but also displayed the poverty of both the nation’s prisons and healthcare system.

Zaw Thet, who wrote the article, was a political prisoner until last January. He explained “in the past it would’ve been a very dangerous thing to publish… it wasn’t allowed.” In the past journalists had been threatened, jailed, blacklisted, and beaten for writing articles the government did not want published.

While the government continues to censor reporting about “sensitive subjects” such as politics, censorship has ended on many subjects. Journalists are free to write on topics such as health, entertainment, fashion, and sports. Many reporters are interested in testing the recently gained limited freedom to find out what other topics the government will allow them to write about.

Thiha Saw, chief editor of a news weekly called Open News, said he’s now able to write freely about fires, murders, and natural disaster. He explained at various times in the past each had been prohibited.

Media groups who have been exiled in the past are interested at the prospect of returning to Myanmar. However, these groups hesitant to ensure that the current regime will not change its views on censorship in the future.

Aung Zaw, founder of the Irrawaddy news website based in Thailand, escaped Myanmar in 1988 after a popular uprising was “brutally crushed” by the previous government. After making his first trip back to Myanmar Zaw explained “it is our dream to publish a publication or online magazine inside Burma.”

The government has further promised to end censorship altogether once the parliament passes a new media law later this year. The legislation, which is currently being drafted, would allow Myanmar’s independent press to publish daily for the first time in decades.

For more information, please see:

Taipei Times – Myanmar’s Exiled Media Lured Back Home by Reform – 28 February 2012

Washington Post – Myanmar Eases Restrictions on media, Vows Full End to Censorship as Reporters Test New Limits – 28 February 2012

Libyans Mourn Deceased Discovered In Largest Mass Grave

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BENGHAZI, Libya – On Monday, 5 March, thousands of Libyans gathered in the former rebel capital of Benghazi to bury the bodies of 157 civilians and rebel fighters government officials discovered in a mass grave on Friday.  The officials unearthed the largest grave yet in the desert town of Bin Jawwad, a major battleground for the country’s 2011 civil war.

Libyan men carry coffins of victims discovered in the mass grave. (Photo Courtesy The Houston Chronicle)

Omar al-Obeidi, head of the new government-run missing person’s office, reported that officials began excavating bodies on Friday and completed the excavation on Sunday.  So far, officials have identified 80 bodies.  He added that all the bodies are from eastern Libya, and the youngest victim was a 17-year-old boy.

Most of the victims died between February and March 2011 from gunshot wounds and rocket strikes.  Some people died via execution, and rocket attacks severely disfigured others.

Al-Obeidi noted that before his office opened the graves to identify the bodies, it obtained a fatwa from the Mufti, Sheikh al-Sadiq al-Gharyani, and permission from Attorney General Abdelaziz al-Hassadi.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Martyrs, Wounded and Missing Persons Osama Swail stated the government would return the identified bodies to their families for proper funerals.  Mr. Swali commented that two of his brothers were identified in the mass grave.

Presently, a forensic team is collecting DNA samples and photographs from the unidentified bodies in an attempt to match this information with DNA samples the ministry holds for missing persons throughout the country.

Libyans mourned for the deceased by holding a “Martyrs’ Parade” on Monday.  The procession began in Bin Jawwad, passed through the city of Ajdabiya, and ended in Benghazi.  Government officials escorted a caravan of 23 trucks carrying wooden coffins, each draped in a tri-colored Libyan flag, through the country’s eastern cities.  Libyans held a traditional Islamic prayer service in honor of their fallen “martyrs” in Benghazi’s Tahrir Square after the delivery of coffins ended.

Mohammed al-Darnaway came to Tahrir Square to bury his two brothers.  He asserted, “The revolutionaries of Zintan must hand over Seif al-Islam [Gaddafi’s son] immediately for trial.”  Al-Islam remains in custody of a militia composed of former rebel fighters.

Benghazi resident Mahar al-Maghrabi also expressed anger at his new government for taking almost three months to recover the bodies, including the body of his brother, a 23-year-old rebel fighter.  He said, “They knew about this grave, and they should have worked quicker to excavate the bodies…This is unacceptable.”

For further information, please see:

IOL News – Libyans Mourn Dozens Found In Mass Grave – 6 Mar 2012

Newsday – World Briefs – 6 Mar 2012

The Miami Herald – Libya Buries 170 Bodies Found In Mass Grave – 5 Mar 2012

Boston Globe – Mass Grave of 157 Bodies Unearthed in Libyan Town – 4 Mar 2012