JURIST - Paper Chase: Sunday, February 10, 2013

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[JURIST] The Bangladesh Law Minister Shafique Ahmed on Sunday said that a proposal to amend its war crimes laws to allow the government to appeal for higher sentences will be placed before the cabinet on Monday. This amendment would allow either side to appeal against a conviction for reasons including inadequate sentencing and will allow prosecutors to appeal an order of acquittal. As of now, prosecutors can only appeal against an order of acquittal. The proposal is a response to six days of protests that ensued after Abdul Quader Mollah, the leader of the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) [official website] party, was sentenced to life in prison [JURIST report] for convictions including murder, rape and torture. Many protesters believed that this penalty was too lenient, and that Mollah's sentence was too light and that he should have been sentenced to death for his crimes. Ahmed proclaimed [Reuters report] that the amendment "will be passed in the current parliament session."

Mollah's sentence was the latest to be handed down for war crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War (BLW) [GlobalSecurity backgrounder]. Last week, UN officials expressed concern over a death sentence [JURIST reports] that was handed down last month against Abul Kalam Azad, another former leader of JI, for similar war crimes. Both Azad and Mollah's sentences were handed down by Bangladesh's second International Crimes Tribunal (ICTB) [Facebook page; JURIST news archive], which was established in March 2010 specifically to hear cases involving war crimes during the BLW.

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] said [press release] on Sunday that Afghanistan needs to take steps to ensure that its laws protect victims of sexual abuse and do not result in their prosecution. HRW is calling for this reform following a recent court decision which convicted a 13-year-old boy and sentenced him to one year in juvenile detention on moral crimes charges for having sex with two adult men in a park. Afghan law, which outlaws sexual relations between a man and a boy, punishes both parties to the sexual relations. HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said,

When a man has sex with a 13-year-old child, the child is a victim of rape. The Afghan government should never have victimized this boy a second time, but instead should have released him with urgent protection and assistance.

The adult men were also arrested and charged with moral crimes, but their cases are still pending. An Afghan prosecutor said the boy was charged and convicted because he told authorities he had consented to sexual relations with the men. Afghanistan does not have an age of consent, so the men's actions did not constitute sexual abuse under its law. The boy's sentence is currently under appeal.

Rights groups have showed increasing interest in the treatment of victims of sexual abuse in several countries. Last week, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] called on South Africa to increase its efforts [JURIST report] to prevent sexual violence following the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl. Also last week, the UN called on Somalia to re-open a recent case [JURIST report] in which an alleged rape victim and a journalist were both convicted of insulting a government body and making false claims for reporting on the woman's claims that she was raped by Somali soldiers. The UN also praised a recent report [JURIST report] released by the Indian government recommending improvement in police and judicial response to rape accusations and harsher penalties for those convicted of sexual assault.

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Sunday urged [press release] Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) [official website, in Persian] to stop detaining journalists and political opponents who criticize government officials. HRW stated that the Kurdistan Security Agency and Kurdistan police had arrested journalists and publishers of articles without warrants and had detained them for up to a year without filing charges or holding trials. HRW also criticized a proposed criminal insult law that, if passed, would limit free speech and prevent investigative journalism by banning "insult" against religious and political leaders. The rights group stated the government should respect Article 2 of the Kurdistan Press Law [text, PDF], which protects journalists' right to obtain and publish information without fear of arrest, and provides that a journalist may not be charged with defamation if the journalist publishes or writes about the work of a public official so long as what was published does not go beyond the affairs of the profession. HRW called on the KRG to end impunity for government officials who abuse their power in ordering the arrests of journalists and political activists.

The KRG has previously been criticized for its violation of free speech and free press. A report released [JURIST report] by Amnesty International (AI) in April 2011 stated that Iraqi authorities must end attacks on peaceful protesters and released a report [text, PDF] asserting that Iraqi and Kurdistan authorities had shot and killed demonstrators and detained and tortured political activists, targeting journalists covering the protests. In 2010, the HRW reported [JURIST report] that journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan who criticize the government faced increased intimidation, violence and lawsuits, and said that journalists in Iraq faced increasing defamation claims for articles criticizing politicians, political parties and government officials.

[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] expressed shock and sadness [press release] on Friday concerning the brutal rape and murder [Reuters report] of 17-year-old Anene Booysen in South Africa. Pillay urged South Africa to take a stronger approach to prevent the ongoing sexual violence incidents against tens of thousands of South African women every year. On February 2, Booysen was raped and mutilated in Bredasdorp, and although she survived the attack, she died the following day from her injuries. Pillay acknowledged the strong reactions from President Jacob Zuma [official profile], other political actors, NGOs and trade unions, but expressed dismay at low rates of arrest and conviction for the crime of rape in the country. Pillay noted that South Africa has the highest rates of rape reported to the police anywhere in the world, and encouraged the government to take steps to both to strengthen legal responses to crimes of rape and to address the "root causes" of sexual violence in the country. She stressed that sexual violence is a concern [UN News Centre report] not only for women, but also for men, and urged men to actively participate in stopping gender-based violence and discrimination in South Africa.

Pillay has recently been addressing issues of sexual violence throughout the world. Earlier this month, Pillay urged the government of Somalia to reopen the case [press release] of a reporter and an alleged rape-victim who were both sentenced [JURIST report] to a year in prison, and called the sentences a "serious blow to the fight against sexual violence." Pillay stressed that "sexual abuse in the camps for displaced people in Somalia is a real issue, and any effort to expose, denounce and deter these crimes should be supported" and expressed concern for the chilling effect the sentences could have on journalism in the nation. In January, Pillay praised JURIST report] a report [text, PDF], issued in response to the rape and subsequent death of a 23-year-old New Delhi medical student in December, "a groundbreaking basis for action against violence against women in India." The report advocated for reform of Indian life, including political, judicial and cultural changes and changing the manner in which police and the judiciary respond to rape accusations and punishments.