Human Rights Organization Urges International Community to Highlight Plight of Ethnic Nationalities in Engagement with Burmese Regime

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

SURREY, ENGLAND (ANS) -- A human rights organization is concerned that the plight of Burma's ethnic nationalities is being neglected in the process of engagement with Burma's regime.

In a news release, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) particularly highlights continuing severe violations of human rights, including the use of rape, forced labor, religious persecution, torture and killings in Kachin State. There the Burma Army has been waging an offensive against ethnic civilians since breaking a 17-year ceasefire with the Kachin Independence Organization/Army (KIO/A) in June.

CSW said recent political developments in Burma suggest some potential welcome indicators of change. They include the decision by the National League for Democracy (NLD) to re-register as a political party, and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's announcement that she will run for a parliamentary seat in forthcoming by-elections.

However, CSW reported, reports from the ethnic states, particularly Kachin State, indicate that grave human rights violations continue to be perpetrated by the Burma Army.

According to information received by CSW, nine villagers from Nawng Zang Kung village for internally displaced people, in Nam Jang, northern Shan State, were taken by Burma Army soldiers to a military camp at Nat Tsin Kung, at midnight on Nov. 17.

Four villagers were released the next day, but five were detained and have reportedly been subjected to severe torture.

CSW said Dawshi Roi Ji, 60, the mother of two of the detainees, Zahkung Yaw Zung and Yaw Sau, was taken to the camp and badly tortured. She was released the next day, but taken back to the camp that evening by the local ward official, Sai Aik Nyen. Her situation and that of the remaining detainees remains critical. Other civilians from the local area have fled to China to escape forced labor, harassment and torture.

CSW said the pastor of Banggaw Kachin Baptist Church, Gam Aung, was arrested by Burma Army soldiers in Manwin village at 3pm on Nov. 17, while in a store speaking on the phone. Local sources say no reasons were given for his arrest and his whereabouts are unknown.

CSW is also deeply concerned about the well-being of Sumlat Roi Ja, 28, mother of a 14-month old baby, from Hkai Bang village. She was captured by the Burma Army on Oct. 28, and forced to work as a porter. It is believed she has been held in the Burma Army camp and repeatedly gang-raped. The local Burma Army commander promised her family that she would be released by Nov. 2, but when the family waited for her at a designated location, she did not appear.

According to CSW's sources, Shayu Lum Hkawng, assistant to the pastor of an Assemblies of God church in Muk Chyuk village, Waimaw Township, died on Nov. 7 after severe torture. He had been detained along with the pastor, Lajaw Lum Hkawng, and tied up, after Burma Army soldiers attacked and looted the church the previous day.

The whereabouts of Hpalawng Lum Hkawng, deacon and youth music team leader, who was injured in the attack, is unknown.

CSW's East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers said in a news release, “Undoubtedly, as President Barack Obama said last week, there are ‘flickers of progress’ in Burma, and these should be welcomed and encouraged. However, it is vital that in our enthusiasm to welcome some political changes, we do not overlook the very grave human rights violations that continue to be perpetrated, particularly in the ethnic states.”

Rogers continued, “We therefore urge all international actors, particularly US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she visits next month, to urge the regime to end its attacks on civilians in Kachin State and all parts of the country, to cease its campaign of rape, forced labor, torture, religious persecution and killing, to declare a nationwide ceasefire, release all political prisoners, and to enter into a meaningful dialogue process with representatives of the ethnic nationalities and the democracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi.”

Rogers emphasized, “The key test for the regime is to match its rhetoric with action, stop attacking its people, and begin a process that will secure peace and protect human rights for all the people of Burma.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide works for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

For further information, visit www.csw.org.uk.

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Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Homeless in the City." Additional details on "Homeless in the City" are available athttp://www.homelessinthecity.com. Reynalds lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net.

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Ethiopia using anti-terror law to stifle peaceful dissent

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

© 2010 UN Photo

The Ethiopian government should cease using its overly broad anti-terrorism law against journalists and peaceful political activists, two major human rights groups say.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issued a comment on the worsening situation on Monday 21 November 2011 - two days before the trial of 24 people charged on 10 November with terrorism offences continues.

Those charged include six journalists and two members of the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party.

Sixteen of the 24 are being tried in absentia. Several other terrorism trials of journalists and opposition activists are ongoing.

“The Ethiopian government is exploiting its vaguely worded anti-terror law to crush peaceful dissent,” said Rona Peligal, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

The Anti-Terrorism Proclamation of 2009 includes an overbroad and vague definition of terrorist acts and a definition of “encouragement of terrorism” that makes the publication of statements “likely to be understood as encouraging terrorist acts” punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison.

These provisions mean that critics of government such as journalists and political opponents could be charged for encouraging terrorism, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said.

The organisations urged the Ethiopian government to facilitate systematic monitoring of the trials by the diplomatic community. The times and locations of hearings have been altered at the last minute at least twice during the ongoing trials. The government should ensure that key information, including location and time of hearings, is available to the public.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also urged diplomats stationed in Ethiopia to carry out systematic monitoring of the ongoing terrorism trials and the trials of members of the Oromo political opposition arrested during 2011.

This is particularly important in the absence of independent human rights organisations, which the Ethiopian government has effectively banned. While diplomatic representatives have attended several remand hearings and trial sessions of terrorism cases, none were apparently present at the November 10 confirmation of charges hearing, following a last-minute change of location, nor at the subsequent hearing on 15 November.

Ethiopia’s foreign partners closely followed a series of trials from 2005 to 2007, in which treason charges were brought following contested elections. The Council of the European Union appointed a full-time trial observer, although the findings of its report were never made public. EU embassy staff monitored these trials on a rotating basis, and a US embassy staff member was also present.

“Diplomats’ systematic monitoring of these trials is essential,” said Michelle Kagari, deputy director for Africa at Amnesty International. “Without the presence of local civil society, diplomats can play a vital role in witnessing whether or not the suspects’ right to a fair trial is respected.”

None of the defendants detained and charged under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation during 2011 had access to a lawyer during the pre-trial period. Three of those charged have complained in court of mistreatment in detention.

Public comments by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the government spokesman, Shimeles Kemal, have undermined the defendants’ presumption of innocence, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said. Their comments might also exert political pressure on the courts in a country where the judiciary lacks independence.

Since June 2011, the Ethiopian government has charged at least 33 people under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation of 2009.

In addition, in 2011, at least 98 members of the two main Oromo political opposition parties, the Oromo Federal Democratic Movement (OFDM) and the Oromo People’s Congress (OPC), have been arrested and charged under the Criminal Code on the basis of alleged involvement with the Oromo Liberation Front, a banned rebel group.

Seven of the people charged on November 10 had previously been charged during the trials that followed the 2005 elections. All had been given a presidential pardon. Three of the seven are among the defendants who are now in custody, two others fled the country after their earlier release, and two were already living in exile when they were charged in the earlier cases.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have long called for the anti-terrorism law to be amended to bring it into line with Ethiopia’s domestic and international legal obligations.

“The anti-terror law itself is a huge problem,” Peligal said. “The international community, especially the European Union, United States, and United Kingdom, should ask the Ethiopian government hard questions about why it is using this law to crack down on peaceful independent voices.”

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