A 10-point plan to address our information crisis

A 10-point plan to address our information crisis

Presented by 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureates Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov at the Freedom of Expression Conference, Nobel Peace Center, Oslo 2 September 2022

We call for a world in which technology is built in service of humanity and where our global public square protects human rights above profits.

Right now, the huge potential of technology to advance our societies has been undermined by the business model and design of the dominant online platforms. But we remind all those in power that true human progress comes from harnessing technology to advance rights and freedoms for all, not sacrificing them for the wealth and power of a few.

We urge rights-respecting democracies to wake up to the existential threat of information ecosystems being distorted by a Big Tech business model fixated on harvesting people’s data and attention, even as it undermines serious journalism and polarises debate in society and political life.

When facts become optional and trust disappears, we will no longer be able to hold power to account. We need a public sphere where fostering trust with a healthy exchange of ideas is valued more highly than corporate profits and where rigorous journalism can cut through the noise.

Many governments around the world have exploited these platforms’ greed to grab and consolidate power. That is why they also attack and muzzle the free press. Clearly, these governments cannot be trusted to address this crisis. But nor should we put our rights in the hands of technology companies’ intent on sustaining a broken business model that actively promotes disinformation, hate speech and abuse.

The resulting toxic information ecosystem is not inevitable. Those in power must do their part to build a world that puts human rights, dignity, and security first, including by safeguarding scientific and journalistic methods and tested knowledge. To build that world, we must:

Bring an end to the surveillance-for-profit business model

The invisible ‘editors’ of today’s information ecosystem are the opaque algorithms and recommender systems built by tech companies that track and target us. They amplify misogyny, racism, hate, junk science and disinformation – weaponizing every societal fault line with relentless surveillance to maximize “engagement”. This surveillance-for-profit business model is built on the con of our supposed consent. But forcing us to choose between allowing platforms and data brokers to feast on our personal data or being shut out from the benefits of the modern world is simply no choice at all. The vast machinery of corporate surveillance not only abuses our right to privacy, but allows our data to be used against us, undermining our freedoms and enabling discrimination.

This unethical business model must be reined in globally, including by bringing an end to surveillance advertising that people never asked for and of which they are often unaware. Europe has made a start, with the Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts. Now these must be enforced in ways that compel platforms to de-risk their design, detox their algorithms and give users real control. Privacy and data rights, to date largely notional, must also be properly enforced. And advertisers must use their money and influence to protect their customers against a tech industry that is actively harming people.

End tech discrimination and treat people everywhere equally

Global tech companies afford people unequal rights and protection depending on their status, power, nationality, and language. We have seen the painful and destructive consequences of tech companies’ failure to prioritize the safety of all people everywhere equally. Companies must be legally required to rigorously assess human rights risks in every country they seek to expand in, ensuring proportionate language and cultural competency. They must also be forced to bring their closed-door decisions on content moderation and algorithm changes into the light and end all special exemptions for those with the most power and reach. These safety, design, and product choices that affect billions of people cannot be left to corporations to decide. Transparency and accountability rules are an essential first step to reclaiming the internet for the public good.

Rebuild independent journalism as the antidote to tyranny

Big tech platforms have unleashed forces that are devastating independent media by swallowing up online advertising while simultaneously enabling a tech-fueled tsunami of lies and hate that drown out facts. For facts to stand a chance, we must end the amplification of disinformation by tech platforms. But this alone is not enough. Just 13% of the world’s population can currently access a free press. If we are to hold power to account and protect journalists, we need unparalleled investment in a truly independent media persevering in situ or working in exile that ensures its sustainability while incentivizing compliance with ethical norms in journalism.

21st century newsrooms must also forge a new, distinct path, recognizing that to advance justice and rights, they must represent the diversity of the communities they serve. Governments must ensure the safety and independence of journalists who are increasingly being attacked, imprisoned, or killed on the frontlines of this war on facts.

We, as Nobel Laureates, from across the world, send a united message: together we can end this corporate and technological assault on our lives and liberties, but we must act now. It is time to implement the solutions we already have to rebuild journalism and reclaim the technological architecture of global conversation for all humanity.

We call on all rights-respecting democratic governments to:
1. Require tech companies to carry out independent human rights impact assessments that must be made public as well as demand transparency on all aspects of their business – from content moderation to algorithm impacts to data processing to integrity policies.


2. Protect citizens’ right to privacy with robust data protection laws.


3. Publicly condemn abuses against the free press and journalists globally and commit funding and assistance to independent media and journalists under attack.


We call on the EU to:
4. Be ambitious in enforcing the Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts so these laws amount to more than just ‘new paperwork’ for the companies and instead force them to make changes to their business model, such as ending algorithmic amplification that threatens fundamental rights and spreads disinformation and hate, including in cases where the risks originate outside EU borders.


5. Urgently propose legislation to ban surveillance advertising, recognizing this practice is fundamentally incompatible with human rights.


6. Properly enforce the EU General Data Protection Regulation so that people’s data rights are finally made reality.


7. Include strong safeguards for journalists’ safety, media sustainability and democratic guarantees in the digital space in the forthcoming European Media Freedom Act.


8. Protect media freedom by cutting off disinformation upstream. This means there should be no special exemptions or carve-outs for any organisation or individual in any new technology or media legislation. With globalised information flows, this would give a blank check to those governments and non-state actors who produce industrial scale disinformation to harm democracies and polarise societies everywhere.


9. Challenge the extraordinary lobbying machinery, the astroturfing campaigns and recruitment revolving door between big tech companies and European government institutions.


We call on the UN to:
10. Create a special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General focused on the Safety of Journalists (SESJ) who would challenge the current status quo and finally raise the cost of crimes against journalists.


Signed by:
Dmitry Muratov, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Maria Ressa, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Click here to see the full list of signatories.

Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia call for urgent action against the scourge of disinformation

Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia call for urgent action against the scourge of disinformation

MANILA – We, Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia, concerned with the spread of disinformation in our region and its deleterious effect on democracy and human rights, have visited the Philippines, often described as the “patient zero” of the disinformation pandemic, in order to study this phenomenon, meet stakeholders who have been victimized by it and seek effective ways to combat it.

ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) has conducted a Fact-finding Mission to the Philippines with two sitting members of parliament from Malaysia, Maria Chin Abdullah and Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen, and a former representative from Thailand, Pannika Wanich. The mission has served to throw light on the fact that disinformation not only endangers elections, but democracy at large.

Disinformation campaigns in the Philippines are often state-sanctioned, targeting members of the opposition, journalists, human rights defenders, and activists. 

These campaigns pose a direct threat to democracy because they are based in blanket accusations that generate extreme polarization by leveling down social complexities and imposing absolute dichotomies between enemies and friends, thus eliminating pluralism and the conditions for civilized dialogue, the cornerstones of a healthy democratic life. This has been shown clearly in the Philippines during the most recently held elections, when the widespread practice of “red-tagging”, accusations of links with the Communist insurgency, were used as weapons against political enemies, often leading to dire consequences.

“Disinformation often generates hatred, especially against vulnerable groups such as women. These campaigns are often strongly misogynistic, pandering to the worst societal prejudices against women and marginalized communities. The fight against disinformation is also the fight for equality and social justice, and civil society organizations fighting for the rights of women, LGBT communities and other vulnerable groups should play a prominent role in combating this problem,” said Ms. Chin Abdullah, also a member of APHR.

Disinformation thrives in environments where mainstream media, the traditional watchdog of those in power, has been widely discredited, and social media prevails as the main source of information. In the Philippines, 68% of the country’s population have regular access to the Internet, and there are over 92 million recorded social media users making the county a real battleground for disinformation. Filipinos are also more active on social media than their counterparts in any other Southeast Asian country, averaging 255 minutes of social media use per day.

The algorithms used by the social media giants generate “echo chambers” where users only find confirmation of their biases and are rarely exposed to contrasting opinions. In social media there are no journalistic standards, and opinions and facts mingle to the point of being indistinguishable. That makes the work of fact-checkers extremely important, but they can barely tackle the problem. As one of the participants said during a roundtable in our fact-finding mission, “fact-checking is five times slower than fake news.”

“The Philippine Parliament is urged to play an important role to investigate allegations of state-sanctioned disinformation campaigns and troll farms, and review or consider policies to monitor the social media giants and make them accountable while protecting people’s data privacy. But any legislation introduced as a way of tackling the disinformation pandemic should be limited and handled with extreme care, as it could be easily turned into censorship in the hands of authoritarian regimes, and it should never impinge on freedom of expression,” said Ms. Wanich.

Nevertheless, APHR welcomes initiatives to address the issue such as the formation of Task Force Kontra (Against) Fake News by the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC). We urge them to ensure transparency and table the results of such efforts in Parliament and make the reports public. 

Throughout the fact-finding mission, it was often repeated that disinformation in the context of elections began long before the campaign period. It was revealed that organized and coordinated campaigns of political disinformation had been going on for years before the latest polls, amid a backdrop of impunity and censorship. When stakeholders started to take action against this phenomenon, there was a realization that it was already too late and the extent of disinformation had already been well-entrenched.

“The disinformation pandemic, in the Philippines and beyond, is too big to be addressed with piecemeal measures. It is necessary to find both a vaccine and a cure that work on a massive scale. The fight against disinformation must be part of national agendas everywhere with governments, civil society, and media rowing in the same direction. These agendas should include campaigns of voters’ education, media literacy programs, well-calibrated legislation, and fact-checking initiatives,” said Mr. Yii Lee Wuen.

Five years since genocide, the world must act to ensure justice for Rohingya

Five years since genocide, the world must act to ensure justice for Rohingya

In marking the five-year commemoration of the genocide committed against the Rohingya in 2017, 384 civil society organizations reaffirm our commitment to continue to stand in solidarity with and seek justice for the Rohingya, to ensure the full restoration of their rights in Myanmar, and to end the impunity of the Myanmar military. The plight of the Rohingya must not be forgotten.

On this day five years ago, the Myanmar military launched a terror campaign in Rakhine State against the Rohingya and massacred, tortured, raped, and burned villages. They forced three quarters of a million people to flee to Bangladesh where they remain today alongside a quarter of a million Rohingya who fled earlier persecutions in Myanmar. Around one million Rohingya are struggling to survive in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh, waiting to return to their home and their country in dignity with their full rights restored.

The return of Rohingya to Myanmar is substantially predicated on ending the impunity of the Myanmar military and accountability for the grave atrocity crimes the military has committed, including by prosecuting individuals who are most responsible. Yet, progress towards justice and accountability has remained minimal, made even more elusive by the military’s attempted coup on February 1, 2021.

As the military commits war crimes and crimes against humanity throughout the country, perpetrating similar crimes committed against the Rohingya in 2017 during its ‘clearance operations’, on 10 August 2022, the junta’s spokesperson for Rakhine State, U Hla Thein, told Radio Free Asia the junta is making plans to repatriate Rohingya refugees to Rakhine State – at the rate of 150 people per day starting in September 2022. This is a part of its ongoing desperate attempt to gain legitimacy from the international community. As recently expressed by the High Commissioner for Human Rights during her visit to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, “conditions are not right for returns” and “Repatriation must always be conducted in a voluntary and dignified manner, only when safe and sustainable conditions exist in Myanmar.”

Rohingya in Myanmar continue to live under genocidal policies in apartheid-like conditions, systematically denied citizenship, with severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms including freedom of movement, access to health, education and other essential services. They are arbitrarily arrested, detained and treated as criminals for traveling outside of confined areas and further dehumanized for attempting to flee appalling conditions within Rakhine State. The over 130,000 Rohingya that remain in open air prison camps in Rakhine State face new restrictions on movement and aid blockages since the attempted coup. In effect, the genocidal acts of deliberately inflicting conditions of life that are calculated to bring about the Rohingya’s physical destruction, in whole or in part, are continuing to be perpetrated by the military junta, leading to their “slow death”.

Emboldened by the lack of international, concerted action to hold the military accountable, the world is bearing witness to the military’s atrocity crimes, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, that are now being perpetrated against the wider population in Myanmar as people bravely resist the junta’s ongoing violent attempt to seize power which has failed after 18 months. These crimes are all too familiar to the ethnic communities who have endured decades of atrocities by the Myanmar military.

Five years on, words have not turned into robust action as more statements of “grave concern” pile on to the condemnation of military’s atrocity crimes. Actions must speak louder.

We welcome the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the preliminary objections lodged by the military junta in the case of Rohingya genocide brought forward by The Gambia, which has paved the way for the court to adjudicate the merits of The Gambia’s case. With this ruling, governments must send a strong message to the Myanmar military that they will be held accountable for their crimes by supporting The Gambia’s case – including lending legal, financial and technical support. In addition, the UN Security Council, and the UK as the “penholder” on Myanmar, must convene a meeting on the progress of the implementation of the provisional measures.

Efforts to hold the Myanmar military criminally accountable must be expedited. This includes supporting universal jurisdiction cases to prosecute the military, in particular the universal jurisdiction case in Argentina. It is vital that the international community continue to explore other avenues for full justice and accountability, including a UN Security Council referral of the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court or to set up an ad-hoc tribunal.

We welcome the US government’s determination earlier this year that crimes committed against Rohingya amount to genocide. Five months have passed since this decisive step. The US must bolster accountability efforts by joining The Gambia case at the ICJ and impose further sanctions including sanctioning the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) – one of the junta’s main sources of foreign currency revenue.

The Myanmar military continues to enrich themselves through their businesses and are enabled by the web of arms brokers that supply them with weapons and equipment to carry out their atrocity crimes. There must be further efforts to impose targeted sanctions against their businesses, partners and cronies. Governments must impose arms embargo against the military, including on jet fuel to the military, while working towards a coordinated global arms embargo.

The ongoing crimes against the Rohingya underscore the importance of the National Unity Government (NUG), as the legitimate government of Myanmar, to translate the policy of the NUG into a concrete set of actions and implement the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ. These can include by fully and meaningfully engaging with the Rohingya to restore their equal rights, recognizing the Rohingya as an ethnic and indigenous group to Myanmar, and ensuring their representation in the ongoing political processes, including in the highest echelons of the NUG governing structures. The NUG, the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) and the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) must immediately amend the discriminatory 1982 Citizenship Law by removing all discriminatory articles and clauses as pledged in its policy paper, and repeal the racist and xenophobic four “Race and Religion Protection Laws” and the National Verification Process that has long been used as a tool for genocide. The people of Spring Revolution have shown their solidarity and empathy with the Rohingya community since its start. It is time that the NUG translate its policy and people’s solidarity into actions.

For more information, please contact:

Signed by 384 organizations, including 265 groups who have chosen not to disclose their names:

  1. 8888 Generation (New Zealand)
  2. Action Committee for Democracy Development
  3. Ah Nah Podcast – Conversation with Myanmar
  4. All Burma Democratic Face in New Zealand
  5. ALTSEAN-Burma
  6. Ananda Data
  7. ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)
  8. Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC)
  9. Asian Dignity Initiative
  10. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
  11. Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters
  12. Association Suisse-Birmanie (ASB)
  13. Athan – Freedom of Expression Activist Organization
  14. Auckland Kachin Community NZ
  15. Auckland Zomi Community
  16. Ayeyarwaddy Youth Network
  17. Bandugavlar Civil Call – BCC (Sagaing Region)
  18. Blooming Padauk
  19. Burma Action Ireland
  20. Burma Campaign UK
  21. Burma Civil War Museum (BCM)
  22. Burma Human Rights Network
  23. Burma Task Force
  24. Burman suomalaiset Finland
  25. Burmese Community Group (Manawatu, NZ)
  26. Burmese Muslim Association (BMA)
  27. Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
  28. Burmese Rohingya Welfare Organisation New Zealand
  29. Campaign for a New Myanmar
  30. Chin Community of Auckland
  31. Chin Human Rights Organization
  32. Chin Leaders of Tomorrow
  33. Chin MATA Working Group
  34. Chin Resources Center
  35. Christian Solidarity Worldwide
  36. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
  37. CRPH & NUG Supporters Ireland
  38. CRPH Funding Ireland
  39. CRPH Support Group, Norway
  40. Democracy for Ethnic Minorities Organization
  41. Democracy for Myanmar – Working Group (NZ)
  42. Democracy, Peace And Women’s Organization
  43. Digital Right Collective
  44. Equality Myanmar
  45. European Karen Network (EKN)
  46. Federal Myanmar Benevolence Group (NZ)
  47. Freedom for Burma
  48. Future Thanlwin
  49. General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN)
  50. Global Movement for Myanmar Democracy (GM4MD)
  51. Grass-root People
  52. Human Rights Educator Network
  53. Human Rights Foundation of Monland
  54. India For Myanmar
  55. Info Birmanie
  56. Initiatives for International Dialogue
  57. Institute for Asian Democracy
  58. International Campaign for the Rohingya
  59. Justice for All
  60. Justice For Myanmar
  61. Karen Human Rights Group
  62. Karen Swedish Community
  63. Karen Women’s Organization
  64. Karenni National Women’s Organization
  65. Karenni Society Finland
  66. Karenni Society New Zealand
  67. Keng Tung Youth
  68. Kyauktada Strike Committee (KSC)
  69. MATA (Sagaing Region)
  70. Metta Campaign Mandalay
  71. Myanmar Accountability Project
  72. Myanmar Action Group Denmark (MAGD)
  73. Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability – MATA
  74. Myanmar Cultural Research Society (MCRS)
  75. Myanmar Diaspora Group Finland
  76. Myanmar Engineers – New Zealand
  77. Myanmar Gonye (New Zealand)
  78. Myanmar People Alliance (Shan State)
  79. Myanmar Students’ Union in New Zealand
  80. Never Again Coalition
  81. Netherlands – Myanmar Solidarity Platform
  82. ​​Network for Advocacy Action
  83. New Rehmonnya Federated Force (NRFF)
  84. New Zealand Doctors for NUG
  85. New Zealand Karen Association
  86. New Zealand Zo Community Inc.
  87. No Business With Genocide
  88. Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica
  89. Overseas Mon Association, New Zealand
  90. Pa-O Women’s Union
  91. Progressive Voice
  92. Pyithu Gonye (New Zealand)
  93. Rvwang Community Association New Zealand
  94. Rohingya Action Ireland
  95. SaNaR (Save the Natural Resource)
  96. Save and Care Organization for Ethnic Women at Border Areas
  97. Save Myanmar Fundraising Group (New Zealand)
  98. Shan Community (New Zealand)
  99. Shan MATA
  100. Sisters 2 Sisters
  101. SOS MYANMAR (ရုန်းကန်သံအဖွဲ့)
  102. Southern Dragon (Myanmar)
  103. Southern Youth Development Organization
  104. Students for Free Burma (SFB)
  105. Swedish Burma Committee
  106. Synergy-Social Harmony Organization
  107. Ta’ang Women’s Organization
  108. Ta’ang Legal Aid
  109. Tanintharyi MATA
  110. The Free Burma Campaign (South Africa)
  111. The Sentry
  112. Thint Myat Lo Thu Myar Organization
  113. Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)
  114. S. Advocacy Coalition for Myanmar (USACM)
  115. S. Campaign for Burma
  116. Women Advocacy Coalition Myanmar
  117. Women’s League of Burma
  118. Women’s Peace Network
  119. အထက်အညာလွင်ပြင်ရပ်ဝန်

Read this statement in Burmese here.

Parliamentarians and civil society demand political unity to tackle the impact of the climate emergency in Malaysia

Parliamentarians and civil society demand political unity to tackle the impact of the climate emergency in Malaysia

JAKARTA – Malaysia urgently needs political unity across the board to recognize and tackle the deleterious impact of climate change in the country, Members of Parliament (MPs) and representatives of civil society organizations said during an event hosted by ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) at the Malaysian Parliament on 1 August 2022.

The “Interface for Members of Parliament and Civil Society Organizations on strengthening climate action in Malaysia” brought together 11 MPs and seven CSO representatives for an open discussion on the harmful impacts and causes of climate change in their communities, and the measures required to push for more coordinated and effective solutions.

To strengthen climate action in Malaysia, political unity across party lines is more urgent than ever because climate change is not a local or party issue. No single constituency is immune from its effects, as seen in the flood disaster in December 2021 that affected eight states, resulting in the loss of at least 54 lives.

All the participants recognized that the climate emergency affects all Malaysians, but not in equal measure: the rights of marginalized and vulnerable groups are often more adversely affected. Stronger protection measures for these groups are needed in any proposed national legislation and policy on climate. Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr. Shad Saleem Faruqi recommended parliamentarians to push for the recognition of the human right to a healthy environment in the Constitution of Malaysia, urging Members of Parliament to remember that “human rights do not belong to you and me only, they also belong to the next generation.”

“MPs must work together to use our budgetary oversight to ensure that the national budget is providing sufficient funding to address the adverse impact of climate change,” said Charles Santiago, Malaysian MP and Chair of APHR, as budgetary issues were identified as one of the critical gaps on climate action by the attendees.

The issues discussed included assessing to what extent enacted and proposed measures, such as improving the urban draining system to reduce floodings, contribute to climate adaptation or mitigation. MPs advocated for the adoption of a standardized index on “green tagging”, to measure whether the budget helps to attain, or hinder, climate objectives. They also supported a tax on carbon emissions from power producers in Malaysia, in order to raise the capital needed for a just transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy.

For their part, CSO representatives suggested that their work could be improved if they are granted access to official data on the national budget allocation to climate measures. They also urged MPs to institutionalize and expand current budget commitments, including under the ecological fiscal transfer, to enable state governments to protect forest areas. 

The representatives also detailed the need for stronger national legislation on key areas: to urgently cut down carbon emissions by stopping deforestation, a moratorium on building more coal power plants, and supporting ecotourism at the state-level. MPs agreed to develop a legislative roadmap that would help them to identify the climate legislation to push for, an institutional framework to make the fight against climate change a priority across all sectors, and an action plan to ensure the government’s accountability.

Both parliamentarians and CSO representatives at the event noted that, in the absence of an existing institutional mechanism for engagement on climate, it was necessary to widen and strengthen this kind of cooperation between CSOs and more MPs across party lines, and Mr. Santiago announced that a similar meeting between MPs and CSOs will be held in September, before the next Parliament session.

Southeast Asian MPs urge ASEAN to put strong pressure on the Myanmar Junta at Foreign Ministers meeting

Southeast Asian MPs urge ASEAN to put strong pressure on the Myanmar Junta at Foreign Ministers meeting

JAKARTA – As the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet in Phnom Penh this week, they should take the opportunity to reach an agreement on strong and coordinated measures to put pressure on Myanmar’s military junta, parliamentarians from the region have urged.

Over fifteen months after ASEAN members and the chief of the military junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, signed a Five-Point Consensus to address the political and humanitarian crisis triggered by the illegal coup d’état on 1 February 2021, the situation in Myanmar has continued to deteriorate. The self-styled State Administration Council (SAC) is still hijacking humanitarian assistance, has not taken steps towards initiating a political dialogue, and continues waging a brutal campaign of repression against the population at large in order to stamp out widespread opposition to military rule.

“ASEAN member states must recognize that the Myanmar military has become a criminal organization that is holding hostage the whole of the country’s population. Min Aung Hlaing has been given too much time to comply with the Five-Point Consensus, yet he has only shown that he respects neither the agreement nor ASEAN itself. It is time for him and his henchmen to pay the consequences,” said Eva Sundari, former member of the House of Representatives in Indonesia and Board Member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).

ASEAN’s Foreign Ministers are meeting less than two weeks after the Junta executed four political prisoners sentenced to death, Phyo Zeya Thaw, former lawmaker for the National League for Democracy (NLD); the prominent activist Kyaw Min Yu, widely known as ‘Ko Jimmy’; Aung Thura Zaw; and Hla Myo Aung.

Those are the first known judicial executions in Myanmar since 1988, according to Amnesty International, and were carried out secretly, after trials conducted by military tribunals without any respect for due process, as APHR has denounced. There are currently 76 prisoners in Myanmar sentenced to death, including two children, who could be executed at any moment, while 41 people have been given the death penalty in absentia.

The junta went on with the executions despite international pleas not to carry them out. Even Hun Sen, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, current ASEAN Chair, made a plea for the prisoners to be spared, despite the leniency that his government has shown towards the junta this year. As ASEAN Chair, Cambodia has undone a great deal of the work that other member states had been doing to isolate the Myanmar generals, thus granting them a legitimacy they do not deserve.

“After those barbaric executions, Cambodia should stop pandering to the generals, and ASEAN foreign ministers should make their meeting in Phnom Penh a turning point to lift the Myanmar people out of their suffering. ASEAN’s timidity and the absence of leadership has contributed to fostering the impunity for these executions and other atrocities to take place. The junta believes it can get away with its crimes and ignore the international condemnation, because up to now it has not led to any concrete consequences,” said Sundari.

ASEAN should put in place enforcement mechanisms in order for the Five Point Consensus to work. Starting with imposing targeted sanctions and travel bans in the region on Min Aung Hlaing and his men. The regional group should also publicly engage and recognize the National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG), which is leading the pro-democracy forces and represents the Myanmar people’s aspirations for democracy, as well as ethnic organizations. Also, ASEAN should start working with humanitarian organizations and civil society organizations to deliver aid to those who need it the most, as APHR has been advocating.

“A coordinated, collective and clear response is required for the sake of ASEAN’s own credibility. Its half-hearted attitude degrades ASEAN itself. This indecisiveness is unbefitting of the main regional organization in a strategically crucial part of the world that should be an engine of peace and stability, as well as sustainable economic growth, not a haven for murderous dictators like Min Aung Hlaing,” said Sundari.

Proposed changes to Constitution ‘death sentence’ for democracy in Cambodia, Southeast Asian MPs warn

Proposed changes to Constitution ‘death sentence’ for democracy in Cambodia, Southeast Asian MPs warn

JAKARTA – Southeast Asian parliamentarians have expressed alarm at reports in Cambodia on proposed changes to the country’s constitution, describing them as a death sentence for democracy in the country. One of the proposed amendments would eliminate the need for the National Assembly to approve the designated prime minister, a move that would pave the way for Prime Minister Hun Sen to transfer power to his son Hun Manet.

“The government claims that the intention of the changes is to ensure a functioning government, but many of them are designed to cement the power of Hun Sen and his cronies by giving more power to the Executive branch of government in detriment of the Legislative. If confirmed, this move would be just the latest example of Hun Sen trampling over democratic processes and the rights of millions of Cambodians just so he can further enrich his family and others who have benefitted from the corruption that has become rampant under his rule,” said Kasit Piromya, former Thai Foreign Minister and MP, and Board Member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).

The most worrying amendment is that of Article 119, which concerns the appointment of the Prime Minister. In its current form, the article states that the National Assembly must elect a prime minister from the winning party. Changes being proposed, however, would only require the party with the most seats in the National Assembly to propose to the King who he can appoint as Prime Minister to form the government, thus avoiding a debate in Parliament on the qualifications of the candidate.

Other changes include giving the Prime Minister the prerogative to appoint an interim Prime Minister, or increasing, from 30 to 42, the number of members of Parliament that can bring a non-confidence vote on the Prime Minister or members of the Cabinet.

Hun Sen’s Cabinet has reportedly already approved the amendments, leaving only the Parliament to pass them into law. The ruling Cambodian’s People Party (CPP) occupies all 125 seats in Parliament, since the most prominent opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was arbitrarily dissolved in 2017 on bogus charges of treason. The government has decided on these important amendments completely on its own, without conducting any consultation with civil society or other political parties.

“As Cambodia moves towards a general election next year, it is clear that, with these changes, Hun Sen wants to make sure his party will remain in control by putting as many obstacles as possible to the opposition. For instance, increasing the number of representatives who can bring a vote of non-confidence as a measure to disarm in parliament any opposition party that does well at the polls. These amendments should be seen in the light of a long series of assaults against the electoral process in which Hun Sen and his party have been engaging for years,” said Piromya.

The move to change the Constitution comes shortly after the Communal and Sangkat Elections on 5 June. The campaign was conducted in a climate of harassment against the opposition, as APHR denounced at the time. Yet, in spite of those conditions, the main opposition formation, the Candlelight Party, obtained 22 percent of the popular vote.

The move also comes seven months after Hun Manet, Hun Sen’s oldest son, was elected as the “prime minister candidate of the future” by the CPP, thus paving the way for him to succeed his father at an unspecified point in the future.

“Any changes to the constitution must be achieved through a referendum, not at the whims of a dictator. Hun Sen and other autocrats in the region, such as the military junta in Myanmar, continue to twist laws for their personal undemocratic aims. This has consequences beyond Cambodia’s borders, as Southeast Asia is undergoing an autocratic turn with a contagious effect from country to country. The international community should apply pressure on the Hun Sen’s regime to drastically change course, and to allow for democracy and human rights to flourish once more in the country,” said Piromya.