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Ulaanbaatar in a State of Emergency |
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Wednesday, 02 July 2008 |
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URGENT ALERT
Mongolian president Enkhbayar has
declared a state of emergency in Ulaanbaatar after protesters clashed with
police and besieged the headquarters of the ruling Mongolian People's
Revolutionary Party (MPRP). The clash has shocked a city which has never before
seen a protest turn so violent.
The protests erupted following the June 29th parliamentary
elections. While official results haven't been announced, preliminary results
show that the MPRP has won 50 seats out of 76 seats. However, Mongolian
Democratic Party, Civic Movement Party, Civic Courage Party, Republican Party,
and independent candidates—nearly all opposition to the ruling MPRP—have claimed
that the MPRP has illegally rigged the elections. The Democratic Party claimed
that it would've won majority of seats had the election been free and fair. Liberty
Center HAS received evidence of fraud and election malpractices by the MPRP, including
the registering of new voters under false identity.
The protest that started on the evening of June 30th
continued in the afternoon of July 1st on front of the MPRP
headquarters. At around 2 pm, the leaders of the Civic Movement Party (CMP) and
the Republican Party (RP) demanded the resignation of the Central Election
Committee and new elections to be held. The protesters were mostly young
people, aged probably around 17-27. The CMP and RP leaders left the protests
around 4 pm. However, the protesters didn't disband, but grew in number. There
were an estimated twenty thousand protesters, and the protests turned increasingly
violent. The policemen lined up on front of the MPRP building were helpless as
protesters started throwing rocks. The protests eventually turned into a
full-scale battle between the protesters and the policemen, who started firing
rubber bullets and tear gas into the protesters. Far from deterring them,
the firing of rubber bullets seemed to anger the protesters even more. They
were mainly using rocks, and wooden and metal fences that they uprooted from
the surrounding area as weapons. More policemen and special task forces arrived;
they managed to evacuate the MPRP building, but were unable to take control of
the violence. The police started firing real bullets into the sky. At one point, the protesters overwhelmed the police, and set fire
to the now-empty MPRP building, using alcohol and gasoline as fuel. The protesters also burned and looted property in nearby buildings. The clash
continued until around midnight, and left 5 people dead. About a hundred policemen
and many (no estimation has been given) protesters were injured.
At around midnight, president Enhbayar declared a four-day state
of emergency, which gave the police special rights to quell the protests, and arrest
those who were involved in organizing the protests. Alarmingly, the state of
emergency also shut down all TV and radio stations except the Mongolian public television
and radio. Liberty Center views the last measure as especially unnecessary and undemocratic.
Moreover, Liberty Center is concerned that the ruling MPRP leaders might be
tempted use the protests as an excuse to arrest their political opponents, who,
according to the MPRP, have started and fueled the protests. Liberty Center
urges all parties to use peaceful and democratic means to resolve their
disputes. Furthermore, Liberty Center urges the president and the parliament to
immediately lift the state of emergency, restore freedom of press, and resolve
the election disputes. |
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Human Trafficking in Mongolia |
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Saturday, 23 February 2008 |
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At a round-table discussion held yesterday, 21 February 2008, civil society organizations including Women's NGOs network, Human rights and development center, Mongolian Women's Foundation and The Asia Foundation revealed that human trafficking in young women and girls has increased dramatically since 2000 when reliable data first became available. |
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Mongolians Support Burmese Fights |
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Wednesday, 03 October 2007 |
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Ulaanbaatar City, Mongolia.
Today worshippers of Gandantegchilen monastery
and Mongolia's
Liberty Center NGO which conducts human rights activities co-organized prayer service
for Burmese people those are suffering under cruel military regime and those
are fighting for their freedom. The activity was initiated by Elbegdorj Tsakhia
(Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj), former Prime Minister of Mongolia, one of the leaders
of Mongolia's democratic
revolution and chairman of Mongolia's
Democratic Party and the prayer service was led by D.Choijamts, Chief Monk of Gandantegchilen
monastery. |
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Protestors were “Unseen” by President and PM of Mongolia |
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Thursday, 12 April 2007 |
Liberty Center April 12, 2007 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Protestors were "Unseen" by President and PM of Mongolia Yesterday, 11 April 2007, was a long day for three dozen victims of the Savings and Credit Union Crisis. They protested three times between from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. just to be seen by Enkhbayar Nambar, President of Mongolia, and Enkhbold Miyegombo, Prime Minister. The protestors began their rally on a public road two kilometers from the President's residence south of Ulaanbaatar . They lined up with numerous banners on both sides of the road where President and Prime Minister's convoys must pass on their way to Government House. Then they did the same thing in Sukbaatar Square near Government Palace during the day. Finally, they rallied from 7p.m. to 10p.m. near Zaisan Bridge by the Tuul River where the convoys would pass in the evening. When Liberty Center observers arrived at Zaisan Bridge following a phone call from one of protestors, it was 9.47 p.m. The two sides of the road at Zaisan Bridge were filled with policemen standing in approximately two meters apart. South of the bridge people were yelling in the darkness, "I am hurt!" "I am cold!" "Let me free!" Our observers approached the west side of the road and witnessed thirteen policemen locking arms and pressing sixteen protestors, including fifteen women and one man, against an iron fence. It was the same picture on the left side of the road - fourteen policemen blocking twelve people including eleven women and one man. On both sides, the protestors were still holding their banners that said "Return your citizens' money," "Government must return the money it stole," "Corruption of state officials is the root of our poverty," etc. The two fences were one and five meters away from the road. It was hard to see the protestors behind the walls of policemen dressed in black, especially in the darkness. At 9.54 p.m. a police car followed by several government cars drove past the protestors. The protestors shouted the names of the President and Prime Minister. A few minutes after the cars drove by the protestors were freed. |
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Five Journalists Arrested While Reporting On A Civil Movement Demonstration |
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Monday, 30 October 2006 |
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URGENT ALERT
On midnight between October 26 and 27, five journalists from an influential Mongolian daily newspaper Udriin Sonin were attacked, beaten and detained by police in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
According to Mr. Tsenddoo B, the deputy editor of Udriin Sonin, all five journalists including Mr. Erdenebat, Ms. Hajidmaa and Mr. Aranjinbaatar were reporting an ongoing demonstration of the civil movements and senior’s movements that demanded to free Ms. Baasan G, the leader of the Mongolian Free Seniors’ Movement, who was detained by police on October 25, 2006.
The Police, while using force to stop the demonstration that lasted more than twelve hours on October 26 on the traffic intersections surrounding the main square of Ulaanbaatar, has confiscated cameras and IDs of all five journalists of Udriin Sonin. They were also beaten, thrown onto cement roads and were detained. |
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MONGOLIA: A LEADER OF A CIVIL MOVEMENT ARRESTED FOR UNKNOWN REASON |
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Thursday, 26 October 2006 |
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URGENT ALERT
Tonight, around 5-6p.m., Ms.Baasan, the leader of the Mongolian Free Seniours' Movement has been arrested for unknown reason. According to a Mongolian TV breaking news, Ms. Baasan was walking alone in the street at the time of her arrest.
Mr. Ganbaatar, the leader of the Radical Reform Movement, announced on TVs that the Radical Reform Movement will demonstrate tomorrow on the Sukhbaatar square in support of Ms.Baasan. |
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Freedom Quotes |
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"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence |
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