Dictators and the dangers of working for (or against) them

Those nutty North Korean's are at it again.

From http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/21/2959828.htm

North Korea has reportedly executed a former cabinet minister who was in charge of talks with South Korea.

The latest death sentence is just the latest to fall on a regime official over perceived policy failures.

Kwon Ho-ung was Pyongyang's chief delegate to ministerial talks with South Korea for four years, but since the election of a hardline conservative government in Seoul in 2008 those talks have broken down.

[...]

A few months ago North Korea executed two senior economic officials over a botched currency revaluation which sparked riots in the closed communist state.

And then from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/us-spy-chief-warns-of-north-korea-attack-as-washington-imposes-new-sanctions/story-e6frg6so-1225895449476

In Washington, the man nominated to head US intelligence-gathering operations warned that North Korea could launch further attacks.

In a submission to a hearing to confirm his nomination, former general James Clapper wrote: “We may be entering a dangerous new period when North Korea will once again attempt to advance its internal and external political goals through direct attacks on our allies in the Republic of Korea.”

It saddens me so much that in this 'modern' age, the world still allows tin pot hereditary dictators who stave, abuse and murder their own citizens. Speaking of which, I like this image...

Souce: PunditKitchet  

Then again, and closer to home in PNG

A session of Papua New Guinea's parliament has ended with an extraordinary outburst by prime minister Sir Michael Somare, who threatened to kill an opponent.

After a ceremony in parliament to swear in the governor-general, the leader of government business moved to suspend parliament until November 16.

When the speaker called for 'ayes' and 'no's', the no's were noticeably louder.

But the speaker said "the ayes have it" and adjourned parliament without calling for a division to count the numbers.

As members were leaving the house, Sir Michael walked towards the opposition benches, pointed at MP Sam Basil and yelled in pidgin: "I'm going to kill you outside".

The 74-year-old had to be calmed by his son, Arthur Somare, who is also an MP.

[...]

Only hours earlier the opposition gave the speaker notice for a motion of no confidence in Sir Michael.

Anyone else notice a certain number of similarities?

The, of course, there is the Fijiancoup leader and military dictator - Frank Bainimarama - who, since taking power from the democratically elected PM, has:

• Scraped the countries constitution in an "attempt by the country's unelected executive to prolong rule by setting a new five-year time frame for parliamentary elections in 2014" - http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30450&Cr=Pacific&Cr1
• Claimed the coup was staged to stop terrorists taking control of his country - http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/27/2697827.htm
• Expelled the top Australian diplomat James Batley and her replacement, Acting High Commisioner Sarah Roberts - hhttp://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/14/2952856.htm?section=justin
• Withdrawn an invitation for the Australian and New Zealand foreign ministers to visit his country - http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/02/2916393.htm
• Blocked entry of bar association officials and bans delegation of international jurists - http://australianetwork.com/news/stories_to/2429918.htm
• Banned the country's two biggest media organisations from consultations on new laws governing the media. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/17/2774019.htm
• expelled the NZ High Commissioner (and refused to issue a diplomatic visa for Australia's defence advisor to the South Pacific) - http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/23/2454139.htm
• Expelled Australia academic Brij Lal for expressing concern about the then-recent expulsion of the Australian high commissioner James Batley - http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/perfect-one-day-brutal-the-next/story-e6frg6z6-1225887754995
• Arrested a NZ businessman - Ballu Khan and paramount chief Ratu Inoke Takiveikata - both strongly linked to ousted prime minister Laisenia Qarase - over an alleged assassination plot against Frank Bainimarama - http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/04/2081203.htm
• Effectively shut down the independent foreign media by demanding that media organisations must be 90 per cent locally owned (the same model used to manage the media in Singapore) - http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/29/2939589.htm
• Arrest and expelled Russell Hunter, the publisher of the Fiji Sun daily newspaper for stories in Fiji Sun alleging that finance minister Mahendra Chaudhry (a former prime minister) was involved in tax evasion - http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,RSF,,FJI,,47c533dd1e,0.html
• Expelled two publishers of The Fiji Times have been expelled from Fiji, Evan Hannah in 2008 and Rex Gardner last year - http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/death-by-a-thousand-decrees/story-e6frg6z6-1225852925119
  
• Targeted newspaper editors and publishers using contempt of court charges - http://australianetwork.com/news/stories_to/2430898.htm
• Removed all broadcasting licences and given Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum the absolute power to renew or redistribute them without any compensation to those whose licences are stripped - http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/fiji-strips-licences-from-broadcasters/story-e6frg6nf-1225800999233

My favourite quote about Fiji, from this article in the Australian newspaper:

Since overthrowing the democratically elected government of Laisenia Qarase in 2006, scores of Bainimarama's opponents have been hauled to the barracks where they have been held for days, sometimes weeks, beaten and, in the case of some women, had their heads shaved before being marched to exhaustion.

[...]

It is a far cry from the early days after Bainimarama's coup - the fourth in 20 years - in which he espoused the pursuit of noble causes: ridding the country of its enshrined racism against the dwindling Indo-Fijian population, and holding elections in 2009.

The election timeframe has now blown out to at least 2014, with the constitution and judiciary dumped last year after a court ruling against the legitimacy of the Bainimarama government.

Over the past four years, Bainimarama has also seized control of state assets, taken control of the police and the public service by appointing coup sympathisers, re-established an internal spy service and deported foreign journalists.

The rule of law has been replaced by a cascade of decrees drafted by his confidant, Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, that serves his regime and outlaws any dissent.

In the past year there have been more than 50 legally binding decrees that cover anything from children's school homework to February's crime decree, which permits a coup if "it is done with good intention". Most have gone unnoticed outside Fiji.

Remind me not to book a holiday in any of these places.