Cambodians mark International Human Rights Day by protesting forced evictions

Many in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, are protesting against forced evictions, which have already resulted in the displacement of thousands of urban families, BBC News reported today.

The protests occurred on the final day of a visit by Yash Ghai, the United Nations Special Representative for Human Rights in Cambodia,. He said that poor people are losing land to the elite throughout Cambodia, and that a weak judicial system allows land-grabbers to act with impunity.

“There’s an enormous amount of suffering,” Ghai said. “People are extremely anxious and fearful of the police and the courts, who are very much part of this system for the appropriation of land. So the whole legal system has become enormously corrupt.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen has stepped in on several occasions to order well-connected people to hand back land. He has also promised to sack any government officials involved.

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Iranian students hold rare protest against government crackdown

Iranian students protested at Tehran University on Sunday against a government crackdown on activists, The Associated Press reported the same day. It was the second demonstration in less than a week.

One witness, Mehdi Arabshahi, said the protest lasted more than two hours as students rallied against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hardline administration.

“Students chanted against policies by Ahmadinejad’s administration, which is imposing pressures on the universities and detaining activists,” Arabshahi said.

A protest at Tehran University last week resulted in the arrest of 33 students and activists, including four women, a left-wing student group reported.

Iran’s students were previously the power base for Iran’s reform movement, but have faced pressure from Ahmadinejad’s government, resulting in fewer anti-government protests.

State media also reported that the Intelligence Ministry had detained a group of activists who had planned to hold an illegal gathering at Tehran University, although it did not say how many were arrested, or when.

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Human Rights Watch report says at least 20 killed in Burma crackdown

At least 20 people were killed during a crackdown on protestors by the military junta in Burma, twice as many as the government reported, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today, according to Agence France-Presse.

“The crackdown in Burma is far from over,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Harsh repression continues, and the government is still lying about the extent of the deaths and detentions.”

The group claimed that the actual death toll is probably much higher and said that hundreds of activists remain imprisoned. HRW said its assessment was based on interviews with more than 100 witnesses, but added that it could not establish a definitive death toll because it could not gather any information from outside Yangon.

HRW has accused the government of lying about the number of deaths and people in jail.

“It’s time for the world to impose a UN arms embargo and financial sanctions, to hurt Burma’s leaders until they make real changes,” said Adams. “Countries like China, India and Thailand have the responsibility to take action to help hold the generals accountable and to end this long nightmare of military repression.”

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Human rights group condemns Iran for crackdown on activists

The rights group of Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi has reported a noticeable increase in pressure from the Iranian government on student activists, unionists and teachers in the past few months, Agence France-Presse reported Monday.

“We are pained to say that the ninth government has further tightened the space for political, unionist, press and student activists despite its populist slogans,” The Centre for Defenders of Human Rights, a small group of rights lawyers led by Ebadi, stated in its latest report.

Protests have been held by students at universities in Tehran regarding the detention of three of their peers for the publication of images deemed offensive to Islam in student publications.

Teachers also staged protests earlier this year over their working conditions, under which they receive a basic wage of between 200 and 300 dollars a month.

Along with arrests, many professors have been fired for “alternative thinking” and hundreds of students have been banned from studying for “political or ideological reasons.”

The Centre also expressed concern over the treatment of the Baha’i minority, who are considered to be apostates by the government and do not receive any of the rights awarded to minority Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians.

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Burma reject U.N. offer to mediate talks

According to Burma’s state media, the country’s ruling generals will not participate in the United Nations’ plan for three-way talks that include pro-democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi, BBC News reported today.

In an article addressed to U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari, Burmese Information Minister Kyaw Hsan said: “We will welcome positive co-ordination and co-operation for Myanmar [Burma] affairs, but will never accept any interference that may harm our sovereignty.” The article goes on to say that if Burma’s issues are brought to the U.N. Security Council, the country “will have no other way but to face and endure.”

The military junta said Wednesday that they had released all but 91 people who were detained after the protests in September; however, human rights groups believe at least 600 are still in jail.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has expressed concern over the lack of progress being made in Burma.

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Hundreds of Afghans protest poppy cultivation

Farmers and tribal elders congregated on Wednesday to rally against poppy cultivation in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported today, citing Pajhwak Afghan News.

The protest transformed into a public meeting, where residents and tribal leaders spoke out. One resident emphasized citizen demands for alternative livelihoods, while the residents of Chaparhar district unanimously pledged to stop cultivating poppies.

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University students in Tehran protest against Ahmadinejad

Approximately 100 students protested at Iran’s top university on Monday as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave a speech there to open the new academic year, Agence-France Presse reported the same day.

The protest occurred two weeks after Ahmadinejad spoke at New York’s Columbia University, where he was called a “petty and cruel dictator” by the university president. At the protest, students held banners reading: “Why only Columbia? We have questions too.”

The protestors also likened Ahmadinejad to the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, shouting: “Ahmadinejad is Pinochet! Iran will not become Chile.”

Supporters of the president clashed with the protestors, calling them hypocrites, and telling them to leave the university. The conflict between the two groups disrupted the planned live broadcast of Ahmadinejad’s speech.

Demonstrators were calling for the release of three students imprisoned since May for publishing writings considered to be insulting to Islam.

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People around the world protest human rights violations in Iran

Protestors recently gathered in various cities around the world to rally against the recent wave of executions in Iran, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Banners held by the protestors featured such phrases such as “Youths face execution in Iran,” and “Support democratic change in Iran.”

One of the protests was led by the supporters of the Iranian Resistance in Montreal, Canada on September 29. This was the third protest by the group in recent weeks, and the demonstrators campaigned for democratic change in Iran.

On September 30, protestors in Vancouver, Canada signed a petition declaring their solidarity with the Iranian Resistance.

In Germany, protestors gathered on September 28 and 29 to bring public attention to the repression of youth in Iran, and the execution of minors occurring under the pretext of public morals.

Demonstrations also took place in Denmark and Italy.

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U.N. rights council holds emergency session to examine Burma

Louise Arbour, United Nations high commissioner for human rights, speaking at an emergency U.N. session today, said that Burma (officially Myanmar) must be held responsible for its “shocking response” to peaceful protests, The Associated Press reported.

“The peaceful protests that we have witnessed in recent weeks and the shocking response by the authorities are only the most recent manifestations of the repression of fundamental rights and freedoms that have taken place for almost 20 years in Myanmar,” Arbour told the U.N. Human Rights council.

According to the Burmese government, only 10 people were killed during the demonstrations, however, dissident groups say that as many as 200 people have died, and 6,000 more have been detained.

A diplomat from Burma, Nyunt Swe, believes that Western countries are behind the protests. “The government has firm evidence that these protests were being helped both financially and materially by internal and external anti-government elements,” Swe said. “The protests are the long-awaited chance for some Western countries to initiate an action to intervene in the country.”

The emergency session was convened at the request of 18 European and other member states, with 37 observers, including the United States. The EU has crafted a resolution, which, if passed, would urge the government of Burma “to ensure full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,” as well as “bring to justice perpetrators of human rights violations, including for the recent violations of the rights of peaceful protestors.”

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Protests continue in Burma despite government threats

Buddhist monks in Burma (officially Myanmar) re-launched their protests today despite government orders to stay out of politics, The Canadian Press reported.

About 4,000 monks gathered at Yangon’s Shwedagon Pagoda for the eighth day of peaceful protests.

“The protest is not merely for the well being of people but also for monks struggling for democracy and for people to have an opportunity to determine their own future,” one monk told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals from officials. “People do not tolerate the military government any longer.”
On Monday, the protests in Yangon reached 100,000, making it the largest protest since the pro-democracy march in 1988. Protests in Myanmar began on August 19 against current economic conditions. The monks, however, took charge last week, and with the public joining the protests, there is a demand for national reconciliation and freedom for political prisoners, as well as adequate food, shelter and clothing.

The government of Myanmar has been cautious when dealing with the monks, not wanting to provoke the public. The White House has also threatened Myanmar with more sanctions, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon stated that he hoped the government would “seize this opportunity” to include all opposition groups in the political process.

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