JURIST - Paper Chase: Sunday, April 29, 2012

[JURIST] Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] issued a resolution Sunday declaring a state of emergency in areas near the border with South Sudan and suspending the constitution. The move follows the arrest Saturday of four people whom the Sudanese claim were arrested for aggression against the north in the contested Heglig oil fields. Those claims have been denied by representatives from Michem Demining which employed two of the men to conduct landmine removal efforts within South Sudan. The emergency declaration [AP report] imposes a trade embargo on South Sudan and grants authorities in the area increased authority to arrest and detain beyond those of the Sudanese constitution.

The Republic of South Sudan was recognized as an independent country [JURIST report] in July, making it the world's 193rd nation. In February 2011 al-Bashir, who campaigned against secession, issued a formal decree [JURIST report] accepting the result of the referendum. However, tensions between the newly independent country and Sudan remain high. The UN has been closely monitoring the violence and providing humanitarian relief [UN News Centre report] to victims of attacks in South Sudan but has called on the government to take control of the situation. In November UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called for an investigation [JURIST report] of an aerial bombing of a refugee camp in South Sudan by an Antonov plane often used by northern Sudan. In June 2011 a UN official denounced continued human rights abuses [JURIST report] against civilians in the region. The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs [official website] and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos [official profile] said that the UN knows of more than 70,000 people who have been displaced by the conflict, many of whom are subject to violence and targeting due to their ethnic heritage.

[JURIST] Bahrain's police officers regularly abuse minor detainees before transporting them to police stations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] reported [text] Sunday after a five-day visit to the country. During the visit to Bahrain, HRW conducted interviews with young males who alleged that police officers had beat them while they were being arrested for participating in protests. Bahrain officials previously promised in November to end police brutality after similar allegations were addressed in a report [text] issued by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) [official website]. HRW concedes in its report that treatment at police detention facilities has improved, but claims that brutality during arrests continues. Bahrain has stated that it remains committed to implementing procedures [BBC report] in order to prevent police beatings and protect detainees both during arrest and time of detainment.

Other rights groups have made similar allegations concerning police brutality in Bahrain. Earlier this month, Amnesty International (AI) issued its own report [JURIST report] alleging human rights violations continue in Bahrain despite reforms. Also in April, four independent UN human rights experts called for the immediate release of Bahraini human rights defender [JURIST report] Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who is serving a life sentence for terrorism-related charges after being tried before the Bahrain military National Safety Court in June 2011. Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders Margaret Sekaggya [official profile] expressed concern that Al-Khawaja's trial and sentence are linked to his legitimate work to promote human rights. Last year, a Bahrain court sentenced four protesters to death [JURIST report] for their roles in the killing of two police officers committed during mass anti-government protests. Three others were sentenced to life in prison.

[JURIST] Vietnamese-American activist Nguyen Quoc Quan was arrested earlier this month in Vietnam for allegedly attempting to stop celebrations in remembrance of the end of the Vietnam War [History backgrounder], reports said on Sunday. Vietnamese newspaper Tuoi Tre [media website, in Vietnamese] reported Quan was arrested on charges of terrorism [Tuoi Tre report, in Vietnamese] for planning to hold protests in support of a banned group of US exiles, the Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform Party) [party website]. The Viet Tan on Sunday released a statement [text] regarding Quan's arrest:

The Vietnamese government's accusation of "terrorism" against Dr. Quan is completely fabricated and has no basis. The detention of Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan is the latest example of the Vietnamese Communist Party's ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders.

The statement also accuses the Vietnamese Hanoi regime of arbitrarily detaining peaceful human rights defenders by using vague terrorism laws and challenges the Hanoi regime to prove its accusations in an international court of law.

Aside from Quan, Vietnam has cracked down recently on other pro-democracy supporters. Earlier this month Vietnamese prosecutors charged three bloggers with spreading pro-democracy propaganda [JURIST report] in violation of the country's criminal law. The three individuals were arrested on charges of spreading propaganda to defame the Vietnamese government, in violation of Article 88 of the Criminal Code. If convicted, the bloggers would face 10 to 20 years in prison. In November an appeals court in Vietnam reduced the sentence of pro-democracy blogger and professor Pham Minh Hoang, alias Phan Kien Quoc, by more than half after he was originally sentenced [JURIST reports] to three years in prison for writing anti-government articles after allegedly joining the Viet Tan.