Impunity Watch: Asia

China Foils “Terrorist” Threats Against the Olympics; India Responds to Attacks with Anti-Terror Raids; Vietnamese and Cambodian Writers Honored

By: Angela Lohman and Dan Forrest
Impunity Watch, Administrative Editor
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Europe

BEJING, China – Authorities in China claim they have cracked an international terrorist group that was planning to attack Olympic venues in Shanghai. This announcement comes at the heels of other similar reports that Chinese authorities were able to disrupt five “terrorist” groups in the Muslim Xinjiang region. These same groups were also suspected of plotting attacks against Olympic game sites.

Since the announcement that China was to be the host of the 2008 Summer Olympics, ranks of Chinese paramilitary police swore to prevent terrorist attacks or other “political incidents” from disrupting the Beijing Olympics. As a result of this oath, the People’s Armed Police (PAP) conducted a six month crackdown which netted 82 suspected terrorists.

Chen Zhuangwie, the police chief of Urumqi – a provincial capital of the far western region of China, was quoted as saying his forces had detained “66 gang members of the ‘three evil forces’ of terrorism, separatism and extremism, and destroyed 41 training bases of ‘holy war’ from January to June.” However, when further pressed for information, Zhuangwei and other PAP leaders refused to provide any more detail into why the individuals were arrested.

Human Rights Watch and other human rights groups express skepticism about the arrests. These groups believe that Chinese authorities are using the Olympic threat to crack-down on innocent victims and peaceful critics of Chinese communist rule.

“The Chinese government has not provided any independent evidence to back these claims. All it has presented are statements by police that are contradictory and vague,” said Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher for Human Rights Watch who is based in Hong Kong. “What the government appears to be doing is to conflate terrorism with criminal acts and other cases of dissent.”

For more information, please see:

CNN – China: Olympic terror plot foiled – 24 July 2008

Guardian – China takes action against Olympic ‘terrorists’ – 10 July 2008

Reuters – China foiled “terrorist” groups targeting Olympics – 10 July 2008

Reuters – China Security Forces Vow to Thwart Games Threats – 24 July 2008

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AHMADABAD, India - Anti-terror squads in India responded today to a series of attacks over the weekend that killed at least 45 people and wounded 161 in western India.

Approximately 16 bombs were detonated throughout the day on Saturday in two groups. The first set of bombings occurred early near a busy market in Ahmadabad. The second set occurred later in the day near a crowded hospital, leaving residents throughout the region terrified and fearing for their lives.

The attacks put India's government on alert and security was stepped up in airports and government buildings across the country.

Shortly before the explosions, an India television station received an email warning of the attacks. The subject line warned, "Await 5 minutes for the Revenge of Gujarat" (referencing a 2002 riot that left approximately 1,000 Muslims dead near Ahmadabad).

The email is from a group called the Mujahideen, an Islamic militant group claiming responsibility for the attacks. The body of the email challenged its readers to "In the name of Allah the Indian Mujahideen strike again! Do whatever you can, within 5 minutes from now, feel the terror of Death!"

To its credit, India's government wasted no time beginning its investigation. Their effort has so far culminated in raids against an American citizen living in Mumbai who may be connected to the computer from which the email was sent. Additionally, an underworld figure believed to have ties to a banned Muslim group was arrested and is now being interrogated.

Unfortunately, India is no stranger to these kinds of attacks. They are believed to be part of a continuing effort to instigate violence between India's Hindu majority and its Muslim minority.

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune – Anti-terror squads in India carry out raids – 28 July 2008

The New Zealand Herald – India bombings kill 45 – 28 July 2008

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NEW YORK, United States – Eight Vietnamese writers were among a diverse group of 34 writers from 19 countries to receive the Hellman/Hammett awards this year in recognition of the courage they show[ed] when facing political persecution.

The Hellman/Hammett awards are presented annually by Human Rights Watch to writers who have been targets of political persecution or human rights abuses. The grant program began in 1989 when Lillian Hellman, an American playwright, willed that her estate be used to assist writers in financial need as a result of expressing their views.

One recipient of this year’s Hellman/Hammett award is Father Nguyen Van Ly, one of the leaders of the democracy movement in Vietnam. Ly has been repeatedly imprisoned over the last 30 years for his written appeals calling for human rights, religious freedom, and freedom of expression. 

Vietnamese authorities have used both official and unofficial sanctions in an effort to silence the Vietnamese 2008 Hellman/Hammett award winners. The winners have been harassed, assaulted, indicted, jailed on false charges, dismissed from their jobs, and socially isolated.

“Many people around the world do not know that Vietnamese writers are being locked up for simply expressing their views,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “That makes it more important than ever to recognize the brave writers who have suffered persecution or sacrificed their freedom in order to push for a free press, human rights, and multi-party system in Vietnam.”

Other 2008 Hellman/Hammett award winners include two Cambodian journalists, Chheang Bopha and Duong Sokha. Bopha and Sokha worked as reporters at Cambodge Soir, Cambodia’s leading French language daily newspaper. They quit in 2007 to protest the dismissal of a colleague who was fired for writing about a report by Global Witness – an international environmental organization – that documented the complicity of top government officials in illegal logging.

Due to the bravery shown by Bopha and Sokha, other Cambodge Soir staff began to strike against the newspaper, demanding that the fired journalist be reinstated and guaranteed editorial independence. The newspaper owners responded by closing the paper and reopening it several months later under new editorial management. Most of the former employees eventually returned to work without reassurances of editorial independence, but Sokha and Bopha refused despite intense pressure to rejoin the newspaper.

As stated, Human Rights Watch has administered the Hellman/Hammett awards since 1989, awarding nearly 700 writers over the 19 years of the program. The Hellman/Hammett program also makes small emergency grants to writers who have an urgent need to leave their country or who need immediate medical treatment after serving prison terms or enduring torture.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Vietnam: Eight Vietnamese Writers Receive Prestigious Human Rights Prize: Writers Banned, Censored, Harassed, and Jailed – 22 July 2008

Human Rights Watch – Two Cambodian Journalists Win Hellman/Hammett Writer’s Award: Rights Group Honors Defenders of Independent Media in Cambodia – 22 July 2008

Reuters – Two Cambodian Journalists Win Hellman/Hammett Writer’s Award – 22 July 2008

Thailand in the Middle of Viktor Bout Extradition

By:  Lindsey Brady
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor News

BANGKOK, Thailand - Viktor Bout, a Russian businessman and former Soviet officer, was arrested on March 6, 2008 in the Sofitel Hotel in Bangkok after allegedly attempting to make an arms deal with what he thought were members of Columbia's rebel movement known as FARC.  Today, Bout is being held in Bangkok's Klong Prem Special Prison.  Bout's arrest came after a coordinated effort by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration who alerted Thai authorities that Bout was traveling to Thailand.

Viktor Bout has been called the "Merchant of Death" by British Foreign Office minister Peter Hain.  Hain, according to BBC News, stated in 2003 that "Bout is the leading merchant of death who is the principal conduit for planes and supply routes that take arms...from east Europe, principally Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine to Liberia and Angola."  Other suspected client's of Bouts include groups in Afghanistan during the mid-1990s when the Taleban took power and to the African countries of Angola, the Central African Republic, the Democratic of Congo, the Congo Republic and Sudan.  The United Nations and the United States also suspect Bout supplied  weapons to Liberia's former President Charles Taylor in order to "destablise Sierra Leone and gain illicit access to diamonds."

Immediately after Bout's arrest U.S. federal prosecutors in New York charged Bout with conspiracy to smuggle missiles and rocket launchers to a known terrorist organization and announced they would seek to have Bout extradited to the United States.  In March, The New York Times quoted American officials as saying "Thailand appeared to be eager to be rid of Mr. Bout, [however] it was not known when he would be brought to the United States." 

On March 11, Thai lawyer Lak Nitiwatvichan, hired by the Russian government, posted a cash bail equivalent to $15,835.00.  The bail, however, was denied because Bout is "accused of being involved in international terrorism.  This is a serious case and may leave the country, so the court is not allowing the bail for the suspect" according to the Bangkok Post.

Mr. Bout's attorney, Dasgupta Yan stated in a press conference on March 17th that America's attempt to extradite Bout, a Russian, was based on "blah blah blah."  Yan argued that Bout had never been to the United States and never committed a single act in the United States for him to be extradited there.  Yan maintains his client operates an aircraft maintenance service company in Russia and is not guilty of the charges against him in the United States or any other country.

Extradition hearings were set to begin in early June 2008 but have been postponed until July 28, 2008.  Thailand has been one of the United State's oldest allies in Asia but in recent years it is said that Bangkok has increasingly relied on Russia for energy and military supplies.  The Brisbane Times stated "the Cold War has broken out again, and Thailand suddenly finds itself caught uncomfortably in the middle of competing U.S. and Russian interests."  One of the greatest concerns by American officials is that Russian officials will negatively influence the extradition proceedings and further delay bringing Bout to justice in the United States.

For more information, please see:

BBC News - Profile:  Viktor Bout - 6 March 2008

The New York Times - Russian Charged with Trying to Sell Arms - 7 March 2008

Asia Times Online - Guns? Not me says Viktor Bout - 19 March 2008

Brisbane Times - Chill Sets in Over Arms Sting - 16 June 2008

Russia Today - Russian "Gunrunner" Denied Bail in Thailand - 9 March 2008

Nepalese riot police revolt over ill-treatment; 20 Indian police die in Maoist rebels' attack; Human Rights Watch criticized India for backing violent vigilante group

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KATMANDU, Nepal — Hundreds of riot policemen took seven senior officers hostage in a revolt southwest Nepal on Saturday. The rebelling policemen told reporters they were protesting ill treatment of lower-ranking officers by their supervisors, low-quality food they are given and other police force issues.

Home Minister Krishna Sitaula ordered the police chief to take "all necessary action" to deal with the situation.  The policemen seized the riot police camp at Nepalgunj, about 310 miles west of Katmandu.  Armed rebel policemen were guarding the camp's entrances and there had been some shooting but no one was injured, said Krishna Acharya, a government administrator in the area.

The protesters gave up after the government refused to talk to them on Sunday.  "The rebel policemen have surrendered to me and laid down their arms," Reuter's news agency quoted Bharat Bahadur Gharti Chhetri, the most senior police official in Nepalganj, as saying.  Officials said the rebel policemen would be charged with indiscipline.

The seven hostages were in good condition, senior police officer Govinda Pariyar told CNN in a phone interview from Nepalganj, where the camp is located. 

For more information, please see:

AP - Nepal riot police revolt over bad food - 13 July 2008

AP - Nepal riot police release their hostages - 14 July 2008

BBC - Nepalese police release officers - 14 July 2008

CNN - Nepalese police release superiors - 14 July 2008

Reuters - Nepali police officers taken hostage by juniors - 13 July 2008

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BHUBANESHWAR, India - At least 20 police officers were killed Wednesday when their vehicle struck a landmine planted by Maoist rebels in eastern India, police said.  The rebels blocked the road, forcing the vehicle to take a detour and hit the landmine. The rebels then opened fire and a gunbattle was still raging at the site, some 370 miles south of the state capital Bhubaneshwar, Nanda said. 
Earlier this month, the rebels opened fire on a boat carrying Greyhound Force commandos who were on a patrol in Orissa, sinking the vessel and killed 38 officers in the same area.

The rebels, inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have frequently targeted police, government officials and government factories across large swathes of eastern and central India, particularly in the countryside.  They accuse authorities with plundering the region's rich natural resources with little benefit to the locals.  Maoist rebels say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and landless. 

However, an insurgency Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described Maoist rebels as the biggest threat to India's internal security.  It has killed thousands of people in the past four decades. New Delhi has consistently refused to hold peace talks with the rebel groups unless they renounce violence.  Top Indian officials met in New Delhi today to address an increasing security threat from Maoist rebels operating in the mineral-rich but impoverished east of the country.  "The threat is a serious challenge facing the internal security of our country today, so an appropriate strategy has to be found," a government spokesman said.

Some have called for a massive security operation of the kind used to battle insurgents in Indian Kashmir, while others have said the focus needs to be placed on improving living conditions in India's impoverished hinterland.

For more information, please see:

AFP - India meets on Maoist threat - 16 July 2008

AP - Indian police say at least 20 die in rebel attack - 16 July 2008

Reuters - Indian Maoists blast police van, 24 killed - 16 July 2008

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NEW DELHI, India - The Indian central and Chhattisgarh state governments should hold accountable government security forces and state-backed vigilantes responsible for attacking, killing, raped and forcibly displacing thousands of villagers in armed operations against Maoist rebels since mid-2005 in southern Chhattisgarh, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

The report titled "Being neutral is our biggest crime" is based on four weeks of ground research in Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh in late 2007 and early 2008.  "The conflict has given rise to one of the largest internal displacement crises in India - at least 100,000 people have resettled in camps in southern Chhattisgarh or fled to neighbouring states, principally Andhra Pradesh," according to the report.  The report says both the Maoists and the police have also recruited and used children in the conflict.  "While the Chhattisgarh police have acknowledged this as an error, the government is yet to devise a scheme for... rehabilitating them," the report says.

Chhattisgarh officials deny supporting Salwa Judum and describe it as a "spontaneous citizen's anti-Maoist movement".  However, a report issued by Human Rights Watch in Raipur has collected more than 50 eyewitness accounts of attacks involving government security forces in 18 different villages in Dantewada and Bijapur districts in Chhattisgarh.  "Judum and police came to our village... They beat the village official and the priest. They beat others also," the report quotes a villager who fled his village in Dantewada district as saying.  "The people who came to our village had bows and arrows, sticks, and the police had rifles. From our village they also raped a 20-year-old woman. They raped her and left her in the village itself," he said.

Human Rights Watch called for an end to all government support for unlawful activities by the Salwa Judum vigilantes, and urged affected state governments to take immediate measures to protect the tens of thousands of persons displaced.  Human Rights Watch also called on the Maoist rebels known as Naxalites "to immediately end all attacks against civilians and allow camp residents to return to their home villages".

For more information, please see:

BBC - Indian state 'backing vigilantes' - 15 July 2008

Canadian Press - Human Rights Watch says India backing violent vigilante group - 15 July 2008

Human Rights Watch - India: End State Support for Vigilantes - 15 July 2008

Reuters - Chhattisgarh criticised for displacing villagers - 15 July 2008

Times of India - 'Salwa Judum, forces too violating rights' - 16 July 2008

BRIEF: Film Examines the Connection Between China's One Child Policy and Human Trafficking

By:  Lindsey Brady
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor - News

YUNNAN PROVINCE, China - A film entitled "China's Stolen Children" examines the link between China's one child policy and the kidnapping and human trafficking of Chinese children.  China's One Child Policy Act, enacted in 1979, aims at controlling the large population now totalling around 1.3 billion.  Millions of children, mostly girls, are now missing.  Parents who are only authorized to have one child prefer to have a male baby rather than a girl.  A review of the film in the Huffington Post describes the policy as favoring Chinese boys because it is customary for male children to support their parents.  Gendercide Watch has been outspoken about what it calls infantcide where couples abandon the baby girls in public places.  The population is now drastically lopsided in its male to female ratio.

Penalties for having an unauthorized extra child can be a fine equivalent to five years' salary or a forced abortion.  "Under the Policy, before becoming pregnant, prospective parents file for a birth permit.  Without a birth permit, parents are unable to receive a birth certificate for their child, and the Child is designated with "non-person" status.  Some parents of these "non-person" status children choose to use traffickers to sell the child.  Many of the traffickers featured in the film had sold their own children as well.

The film, which aired tonight on HBO, explores the profits that some seek to gain from the selling of Chinese children.  Some parents are willingly selling their children while other families grieve for their children who have been kidnapped by traffickers.  "China's Stolen Children", which was shot secretly so as to not alert authorities, is mainly based in the Yunnan Province.  The government has prohibited the posting of "Missing" fliers for the children who have been kidnapped.  The film suggests this is due to the public relations problem they would create for China.

The Chinese government's response to the suggestion that the One Child policy and human trafficking are connected is "ignorant and simplistic."  Under the policy there are some exceptions given, for example, to families in rural areas and parents who were only children.

For more information, please see:

New York Times - Sold by the Thousands, Thanks to a One-Child Policy - 14 July 2008

Huffington Post - Birth Controlled:  China's Stolen Children Reviewed - 14 July 2008 (contains clip from film)

Popmatters - China's Stolen Children - 14 July 2008

TheNews.org - United States Disagrees with China, One Child Policy Act Sparks Issues - 2 May 2008

HBO - China's Stolen Children Synopsis - 14 July 2008