Mongolia Human Rights

Mongolia Human Rights

A coalition of over twenty NGOs has reported that the Mongolian government violated human rights during its State Emergency after the July 1 riots. The coalition also reports that the Government has broken several international and domestic human rights laws, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which the country joined and ratified as manifestation of its membership in the world community.

The monitoring report, titled “Coalition of Monitoring Protection of Human Rights under State Emergency,” suggests that the President’s Decree of the Declaration of the State Emergency failed to sufficiently outline action limitations for state police, thus resulting in gross abuses of power during the emergency. The report states: “While the Decree set some limitations, it is regrettable that it failed to stipulate the need to respect human rights and freedoms, and to prevent the excessive use of force.”

The report seeks to draw public attention to the democratic principles and human rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Mongolia, and developed and ratified with the goal of developing a humane society as well as international treaties and conventions. The coalition also concentrated on collecting evidence of the specific details regarding human rights violation cases, rather than a general number of direct and indirect victims affected by these violations.

At 11p.m on July 1, 2008, President N. Enkhbayar declared a state of emergency, transmitted over radio and television, in reaction to public protests over contested parliamentary elections and the public violence that followed. According to the report, “These events, the first of their kind since Mongolia’s separation from the USSR, came as a shock to the whole society, hindering its ability to realistically evaluate the causes and consequences of the situation, and the measures taken by the state, and thus failing to find a resolution in line with the democratic principles of humane society and in accord with the interests of the society.”

The Constitution of Mongolia stipulates: “In the case of declaration of a state of emergency or war, human rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution and other laws may be limited solely by law. Such law limiting human rights and freedoms shall not affect legal guarantees of the right to life, freedom of conscience and religion, not to be subjected to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment”. The NGOs claim that the administrative police officers did not follow this Constitutional article and the President didn’t elaborate on human rights protection in his address during that dark night. In the early morning hours of July 2, 2008, five men were killed, and several people seriously injured, by state police, according to witness testimony.

The families of the victims testified that the victims did not participate in the demonstrations, and thus were innocent bystanders. State policy forbids police officers to open fire on unarmed civilians, and some officers under investigation insist that they did not give the order to begin firing into the crowd. The case is pending in high courts across the nation, and daily newspapers are still reporting on the progress of the investigation. But several high-ranking police officers are heavily implicated in the illegal order to start firing on the protestors, such as O.Zorigt, Chief of the Metropolitan Police, and Lieutenant G.Ganbaatar, Chief of the Department of the Regulation of Public Order and Chief of the Mobile Police Board. At press time, the families of the five victims have filed separate damages suits of US$2 million from the state in the last five months.

The report also stated the violation of human rights under the state emergency resulted in a considerable amount of fear and confusion among the population. In an immediate reaction to police brutality, the coalition was fully formed and began its activities on July 2, 2008. Its first action was a protest statement reacting to closure and censorship set on mass media outlets. This statement was followed by a joint statement of civil society organizations protesting against the arrest of over 700 citizens, as well as numerous killed or missing persons.

The report concluded that mass arrests of citizens violated Mongolia’s obligations under international treaties and conventions and denounced these acts as profound violations of human rights. According to the report, in accordance with the Presidential Decree, the following state of emergency measures were implemented: Dispersing demonstrators with excessive force: attempts were made to disperse rioters and demonstrators with the assistance of armed internal military forces. Due to this there were many citizens who suffered injuries from physical contact and rubber bullets.

Arrest: mass arrests of demonstrators, rioters and any citizens who happened to be in the area started immediately. These arrests expanded its boundaries beyond the area specified in the Decree and affected people not engaged in the demonstrations. Closure of all broadcast media other than the National Public Radio and TV: NPRTV was forced to broadcast censored information, and transmitted incriminating, accusatory and convicting materials through TV broadcasts. Curfew in specified areas: use of police force to exercise psychological pressure on populations in areas under curfew. According to the report, 91 percent of the arrested citizens didn’t know of or hear that a state of emergency was declared, and 94 percent heard no details about the state of emergency measures and requirements. Most of the arrested people claimed they were arrested while “taking a walk” or “observing the events.”

The report also details evidence of torture in the detainment-prison. Police officers were quoted as saying, “We can kill all of you. We have the authority. Do you understand this?” Many detainees told the coalition that they were very afraid, and their ‘only thought was to get out of this place alive.’ One detainee recounted, “While we were being interrogated, one man came up to the inspector and said that all these people will receive 5-10 years of imprisonment.”

“The police beat us a lot,” another detainee reported. “Police beat us in the street while arresting us, then upon our arrival at the detention center, every single one of them beat us with whatever they had in their hands. We were not allowed to look up. If anyone attempted to look up, they yelled, ‘Who are you to look policemen straight in the eye? There is a Presidential decree. The President authorized us to shoot you.’ Some people were put in cars and taken away in groups of 10-20. They did not come back. We feared that they were shot as the police had threatened. I spent three days under great fear.” “Some of us were kept in big numbers in one facility. Because there were over 100 of us, there was no air,” another detainee remembers. “Although they opened three very small windows at the ceiling, it was not easy to breathe. I was close to suffocating.”

Others recounted being kept outside all day in the hot summer sun, with no water or food. Several detainees were reported as fainting or having seizures. After hearing several similar stories from detainees, the report determined that “detention of too many arrested persons in one facility, poor lighting and access to air, and an intemperate environment violate the safety and security of detainees, especially those whose guilt has not been established by court justice.” The report also found that many arrested children and youths were given equal treatment as the adult men, from beating to starvation.

According to the coalition’s report, the following 15 international and domestic laws and conventions were broken during the state emergency:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN Convention against Enforced Disappearance, Constitution of Mongolia, Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Law on Procedure for Execution of Arrest and Detention of Suspends and Accused, Internal Order and Procedure for Detention Centers, Internal Order and Procedure for Administrative Detention Facility, Procedure on Use of Fire Arms, Unit Gear, Unarmed Combat techniques and Dogs by Security and Guard Personnel and Activities of Ensuring of Human Rights in the process of Inquiry and Investigation.

by B.Bulgamaa
THE UB POST