Nov 9, 2020 | DFF, FoRB, RM, Statements
In late September and early October, a delegation of Southeast Asian parliamentarians travelled to Belgium for a series of meetings in Brussels, and to attend the Asia-Europe People’s Forum in Ghent. The delegation spent almost a full week in the country to strengthen relationships with the European Union institutions and fellow NGOs, as well as to raise awareness of the troubling human rights situation in Southeast Asia.
The delegation consisted of Charles Santiago (MP, Malaysia), Tom Villarin (MP, Philippines), Mercy Barends (MP, Indonesia), Mu Sochua (MP, Cambodia) and Wipaphan ‘Nana’ Wongsawang (a representative of the Future Forward party, Thailand).
The participants met with a range of stakeholders within the EU institutions during the Brussels leg of the mission (26-28 September). The delegation stressed a range of critical human rights issues in Southeast Asia, including the need to ensure accountability for atrocity crimes against Rohingya and other ethnic groups by security forces in Myanmar, and to restore democracy in Cambodia, where the government has dismantled the opposition and independent media. The Philippines was also discussed in detail, where thousands of people have been extrajudicially executed in the “war on drugs”, and the administration is intensifying a crackdown on dissent. As a major trading partner of the ASEAN bloc, the EU holds considerable political and economic leverage in the region – not least since many countries (including Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines) are recipients of various preferential trading schemes.
During a breakfast roundtable with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) – including Ana Gomes and Barbara Lochbihler – the delegation heard how Southeast Asian and EU countries face many common challenges, including rising religious intolerance and authoritarianism. The lawmakers expressed their support for strong, recent resolutions on the human rights situations in Cambodia and Myanmar by the European Parliament, and stressed the need for continued joint engagement in both countries. Not long after the mission’s end, on 5 October, the European Commission announced that it was withdrawing the Everything but Arms trade preference from Cambodia due to “severe violations” and was considering similar action in Myanmar.
During a meeting with Heidi Hautala, MEP from Finland and a Vice President of the European Parliament, there was discussion around challenges facing democracies in both Europe and Asia ahead of the 10th Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting (ASEP 10) which coincided with the delegation’s visit to Brussels. At a roundtable with Brussels-based human rights CSOs, including Human Rights Watch, the delegation heard about ongoing advocacy efforts around the European Union, and discussed opportunities for future collaboration.
The APHR members also had the opportunity to meet ambassadors from several countries to the Political and Security Committee – a body dealing with the EU’s foreign policy and security issues – including from Austria, Ireland, Sweden and the UK, as well as staff from the cabinet of Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council.
After three productive days in Brussels, the Southeast Asian lawmakers travelled to the northwestern Belgian town of Ghent to attend the Asia-Europe People’s Forum (AEPF). AEPF is a parallel event to the biannual Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) – a high-level summit of governments – set up to bring together NGOs and activists from the two regions. In Ghent, Sarah Jane Elago (MP, Philippines) and Kyi Pyar (MP, Myanmar) joined the APHR MPs as they met more than 400 people from 40 countries during the three-day conference.
The Southeast Asian delegation had the chance to take an active part in cluster meetings on topics ranging from climate change, to peace and security, to trade justice. APHR Chair Charles Santiago additionally moderated a panel discussion of parliamentarians from across Asia and Europe during the AEPF’s final day to assess common findings and set out a way forward.
Nov 9, 2020 | DFF, Statements
BRUSSELS, 13 October 2016 — Nearly 100 members of the European Parliament and legislatures across Southeast Asia sent an open letter to EU and ASEAN foreign ministers today, calling on them to take immediate action to secure the release of prisoners of conscience in Southeast Asia.
“The release of all prisoners of conscience would send a strong message about the joint commitment of governments in Europe and Southeast Asia to the promotion and protection of human rights and to ensuring that our cooperation achieves broad-based and sustainable benefits for our peoples,” the parliamentarians wrote.
The letter, which is signed by 93 representatives from 22 countries, comes during the 21st ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting (AEMM) in Bangkok, Thailand, where foreign ministers from EU and ASEAN member states are discussing issues as part of an ongoing effort to strengthen collaboration between the two regions. The biennial gathering represents an opportunity for leaders from both regions to demonstrate their commitment to stated support for universal human rights, parliamentarians said.
“As elected representatives, it is our role to ensure that the voices of our peoples are heeded by the leaders of our respective nations. It is in this role that we urge you to make good on previous promises and take immediate steps to ensure the release of those imprisoned for expressing their political or religious beliefs and peacefully taking action in support of those beliefs,” the letter reads.
In the letter, parliamentarians mention a number of high-profile cases of prisoners of conscience throughout Southeast Asia, including former Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, Vietnamese human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, and staff from the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), a prominent NGO. The cases included in the letter do not represent an exhaustive list of all prisoners of conscience in Southeast Asia, parliamentarians noted, but rather examples of the wide variety of cases across the ten-member regional bloc.
Parliamentarians argued that there is an urgent need for European and Southeast Asian governments to back up their rhetorical commitments with concrete action, including the immediate and unconditional release of prisoners of conscience.
“Time and again, we have listened to diplomats and officials from ASEAN and international governments pledge to further human rights in the region while speaking in bilateral and multilateral forums. Yet on the ground, there are few practical improvements which result from these discussions,” said Malaysian MP Charles Santiago, Chairperson of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) and a signatory of the letter.
“But the upcoming AEMM doesn’t have to be business as usual. By securing the release of prisoners of conscience, leaders have an opportunity to leave Bangkok having demonstrated that they mean what they say when they talk about rights.”
When ASEAN leaders met with President Barack Obama in the United States earlier this year, their joint declaration identified shared commitments to “strengthening democracy, enhancing good governance and adherence to the rule of law, [and] promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The ASEAN Charter also outlines member states’ shared principles of respect for fundamental freedoms and adherence to the principles of democratic governance.
Despite these commitments, however, the ASEAN region has witnessed a dramatic shrinking of space for civil society and erosion of democratic norms and human rights protections. In the past three years, the region has seen a military takeover in Thailand, a spike in government-sponsored attacks on opposition politicians and civil society in Cambodia and Malaysia, and a so-called “war on drugs” that has resulted in extra-judicial killings and a deterioration of the rule of law in the Philippines. Meanwhile, countries like Laos and Vietnam have entrenched their authoritarian political systems and further restricted civic space.
“The regional backsliding is alarming. Independent voices of all kinds are being targeted, from land rights activists to bloggers to factory workers. Not even members of parliament are safe from persecution and arrest,” said Cambodian National Assembly Member Mu Sochua, who also signed the letter. “The EU can be an important partner in working against this negative trend, and we are glad to have the support of so many members of the European Parliament in our call for the release of prisoners of conscience.”
Europe represents ASEAN’s second-largest trading partner, and the EU has initiated negotiations on bilateral trade agreements with six ASEAN member states. The EU also is by far the largest external investor in ASEAN countries, accounting for more than a fifth of total foreign direct investment from outside the region.
“The ultimate responsibility rests with our own governments to respect the rights of their own people. But European governments must also step up and use their significant political and economic leverage to push for change,” said Santiago.
“We hope to see the ASEAN-EU relationship strengthened in a way that benefits all peoples on both continents. Political agreements must include human rights conditionality clauses, and trade deals must be negotiated in a way that protects the rights of vulnerable communities and promotes broad-based benefits.”
Read the full letter in English, Bahasa Indonesia, Burmese, and Khmer.
Click here to read this press release in Burmese and Khmer.
Nov 9, 2020 | BHR, DFF, Statements
APHR members travelled to Brussels, Belgium, from 10-13 October to meet with members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and other EU officials, as well as to address the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and Sub-Committee on Human Rights on issues related to trade, democracy, and human rights in Southeast Asia.
ASEAN MPs meet with EU Special Representative for Human Rights Stavros Lambrinidis
The trip included more than 18 meetings over three days, with the APHR delegation being received by top-level EU diplomats, including Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Political Director for the European External Action Service Mr. Jean-Christophe Belliard and EU Special Representative for Human Rights Mr. Stavros Lambrinidis.
The delegation included APHR Chairperson Charles Santiago (MP, Malaysia), Vice-Chair Mu Sochua (MP, Cambodia), and members Kasit Piromya (Former MP, Thailand) and Mercy Barends (MP, Indonesia).
Side meetings were also held with political groups and MEPs identified as potential partners and supportive of APHR’s mission to uphold and improve human rights and democracy in Southeast Asia. These included MEP Ana Gomes, former Portuguese Ambassador to Indonesia, and MEP Barbara Lochbieler, a human rights champion and member of the European Parliament’s ASEAN Delegation.
APHR members also spoke at a public seminar hosted by the European Institute of Asian Studies on the subject of “Engaging Civil Society in Free Trade Negotiations.”
Meeting with MEP Reinhard Butikofer
The visit took place the week of the ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting (AEMM), which was held in Bangkok on 12-14 October. In advance of that meeting’s conclusion, nearly 100 members of the European Parliament and legislatures across Southeast Asia sent an open letter to EU and ASEAN foreign ministers, calling on them to take immediate action to secure the release of prisoners of conscience in Southeast Asia.
During the address to the Foreign Affairs Committee, APHR delegates called for human rights impact assessments to be an essential prerequisite in all trade discussions and negotiations. They also shared their view that democracy was under threat in Southeast Asia and that the EU’s voice on the need to uphold standards was lacking in some areas.
APHR addresses the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee
APHR delegates urged the EU to work more directly with genuine forces supporting democracy in the region and open more Track 2 and Track 3 relations as part of a wider policy to work to counter threats to democracy and the growth of authoritarian leadership.
The visit was just the beginning of what APHR hopes to be the continued development of ties and collaboration to engage key EU policymakers and the European Parliament on regional important issues and developments. Follow-up work will include finding ways to ensure sustained and effective collaboration between MPs in Southeast Asia and their counterparts in Europe to work towards upholding and improving human rights and the rule of law.
Nov 9, 2020 | BHR, DFF, Statements
BANGKOK — Southeast Asian lawmakers today called on the European Union (EU) to impress upon Laos the need for radical improvements to the human rights situation there and specifically raise concerns regarding the ineffectual investigation into the disappearance of civil society leader Sombath Somphone.
The call comes as a delegation from Laos is visiting Brussels on May 19–20 as part of the 5th Lao-EU Working Group on Human Rights and Governance. The delegation will also visit the Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities and the EU Parliament on Tuesday 20 May. The delegation is also expected to visit the UK Parliament in London later this week.
APHR has called upon representatives of the EU, including Members of the European Parliament and the EU Special Representative for Human Rights Stavros Lambrinidis to raise these and other concerns where possible during the Lao delegation’s visit to the European Union. It must be made clear to the Lao authorities that there is widespread dissatisfaction and anger with their handling of the investigation into Sombath’s disappearance as well as the overall human rights situation in the country, APHR said.
It must be made crystal clear to Vientiane that it risks its international reputation, which among other potential repercussions, could affect its access to development loans and aspirations to sit on the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2016, APHR said.
Within our own region APHR has been raising these concerns on a bi-lateral basis regularly, and across all levels of government. Recently, the Singapore government again reiterated its deeps concern and urged the Lao government to do all it can to expedite the investigation into Sombath’s disappearance.
The Lao authorities have been responding with the same frustrating answers since day 1 of Sombath’s disappearance on 15 December 2012, saying that they are taking the case seriously and the investigation is continuing but there is no new information to report. APHR questions the veracity of these statements and has deep reservations about the sincerity of the investigation to uncover the details surrounding Sombath’s disappearance and his current status and whereabouts.
“We remain extremely dissatisfied with the statements offered from the Lao authorities to date concerning the investigation into Sombath’s disappearance,” said Eva Sundari, Indonesian Member of Parliament and President of Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)
“How is it possible for an investigation to be going on almost a year and a half but no new information having been discovered? The response of the Lao government to date is frankly illogical and opens it up to suspicion regarding Sombath’s disappearance, particularly given the fact he was last seen being stopped by police at a police post, and taken away right in front of the police.”
APHR is also aware that a caller of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a call to the Singapore Embassy five days after Sombath’s disappearance indicating that Sombath would be released the following day. Subsequently, the caller denied he had ever made a call that Sombath would be released. The EU Charge d’Affairs and some other Vientiane-based Ambassadors were also aware of such a phone call.
APHR urges the EU to publicly offer the Lao authorities assistance in their investigation into Sombath’s disappearance, as nearly 18 months on, they clearly do not have the capacity or the will to competently handle the inquiry. APHR also calls on the EU to press Laos to establish a new, independent commission, with commissioners appointed from other ASEAN states, to undertake an impartial and thorough investigation into Sombath’s disappearance, in accordance with Laos’ obligations under international law.
“The government in Vientiane must be consistently reminded that this issue will not go away, and that they will be continually pressed on this wherever their representatives may go,” said Walden Bello, Philippines Congressman and Vice President of APHR.
The Lao government has a duty and a responsibility to pursue this case of enforced disappearance as it has signed the Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and must be pressed to live up to that commitment.
APHR calls on the EU to press Laos to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court, incorporate their provisions in to domestic law and implement them in policy and practice.
Currently in Laos, freedom of expression is restricted and civil society is subjugated. APHR urges the EU to back APHR’s calls for the Lao authorities to respect and protect the right of human rights defenders and other civil society actors so that they can carry out their work unimpeded. All restrictions in law and practice that are infringing upon the work of civil society organizations in Laos must be repealed and legal provisions on the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association must be brought in line with international human rights standards.
Several APHR members were part of a delegation that visited the Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic to follow up on the investigation into the disappearance of Sombath in January 2013. These included Philippines Congressman Walden Bello and Malaysian MP Charles Santiago. The officials they met acknowledged that the disappearance of Sombath was a blow to the reputation of the Lao PDR, but the answers to their questions were far from satisfactory, and they let this be known.
APHR remains heartened by continued efforts and support from foreign missions in Vientiane, as well as governments and parliamentarians in Europe and elsewhere who have continued to raise these and other concerns with the Lao authorities. We ask you again to raise these issues with the visiting delegation to the European Parliament from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic this month.
Nov 9, 2020 | FoRB, Statements
BANGKOK – (October 18) Legislators from across Southeast Asia today called on Aung San Suu Kyi and European Parliamentarians and leaders to use the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader’s visit to Europe to secure greater commitments to tackle persistent human rights concerns in Myanmar, and draw particular focus on growing sectarian conflict and anti-Muslim violence there.
“The underlying tensions that stem from discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities pose a threat to Myanmar’s democratic transition and stability,” said ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) President and Indonesian Member of Parliament Eva Kusuma Sundari.
“There exists an urgent need to address anti-Muslim violence that has spread throughout Myanmar. Calls for action have so far fallen on deaf ears and as fellow parliamentarians in ASEAN, we have consistently offered to contribute in any way possible to help the people of Myanmar resolve this dangerous situation: many of our peers in Europe also feel the same.”
APHR understands that the European Union is in the process of drafting a resolution on the human rights situation in Myanmar to be put before the United Nations General Assembly next month. ASEAN parliamentarians stand behind the effort to again raise important human rights concerns in Myanmar whilst also recognising the political advances made as the country continues its transition to democracy.
Since being elected to Parliament in 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi has come under criticism for failing to tackle serious human rights concerns in her country. But as the de-facto leader of the opposition in Parliament, who also holds considerable sway and respect overseas, she is in a unique position to help broker offers of assistance to the Burmese government, with whom she has developed an effective working relationship, APHR said.
“It is of vital importance that the UN General Assembly resolution on Myanmar not gloss over the great failures of this transition so far: there have been many political advances but the government has systematically failed to improve on almost all of the concerns raised in the UN General Assembly resolution passed in 2012. It’s sincerity in tackling human rights abuses, unfortunately, remains questionable,” said Kraisak Choonhavan, APHR Vice-President.
“Daw Suu and political leaders in Europe must engage with the Myanmar government and ASEAN, through the UN and other international instruments. Thein Sein must be pushed to produce immediate and tangible improvements. Cowered by the threat of the return of military dictatorship and enticed by economic opportunity, the world is allowing ethnic cleansing to take place under its nose. It must stop here. We are all accountable: Daw Suu, Jose Manuel Barossa, David Cameron… everyone.”
Anti-Muslim violence, fuelled by nationalist-Buddhist extremism, has spread throughout Myanmar. On many occasions, security forces have failed to protect Muslim communities from targeted arson attacks and rioting mobs.
The majority of an estimated one million Rohingya Muslims are effectively denied access to citizenship through the controversial 1982 Citizenship Act. The UN General Assembly should press the government of Myanmar to improve access to humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of internally displaced persons across Myanmar, particularly those in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states, APHR said.
The UN General Assembly must also press the Myanmar government to amend the 1982 Citizenship Act to bring it in line with international standards and to lift all abusive restrictions on ethnic and religious minorities, including Muslims, the organisation of parliamentarians from across ASEAN said.
APHR has received credible reports of continued harassment, arrest and torture of Rohingya populations by state security forces. Some 140, 000 displaced men, women and children are living in makeshift camps with little access to food, healthcare, education and other basic rights and services. Their movement remains restricted and therefore they cannot work to provide for their families, and they are being prevented from returning to the sites of their homes which were destroyed by mobs during communal unrest. Instead, the government is keeping them in camps while developing plans to move them to new areas, segregated from other communities. Also, judicial proceedings in other regions following ant-Muslim riots in Central Burma this year also point to institutionalised racism, with widespread arrests and disproportionately harsh sentences for Muslims.
Aung San Suu Kyi is on her third visit to Europe since being released from house arrest in 2010. She is scheduled to meet officials at the European Parliament in Strasbourg France, before visits to Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy, England and Northern Ireland. The Burmese pro-democracy icon and politician made her first trip overseas in 24 years in June 2012, visiting Thailand and several European countries, including Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, Britain and France.
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The delegation consisted of Charles Santiago (MP, Malaysia), Tom Villarin (MP, Philippines), Mercy Barends (MP, Indonesia), Mu Sochua (MP, Cambodia) and Wipaphan ‘Nana’ Wongsawang (a representative of the Future Forward party, Thailand).
During a breakfast roundtable with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) – including Ana Gomes and Barbara Lochbihler – the delegation heard how Southeast Asian and EU countries face many common challenges, including rising religious intolerance and authoritarianism. The lawmakers expressed their support for strong, recent resolutions on the human rights situations in Cambodia and Myanmar by the European Parliament, and stressed the need for continued joint engagement in both countries. Not long after the mission’s end, on 5 October, the European Commission announced that it was withdrawing the Everything but Arms trade preference from Cambodia due to “severe violations” and was considering similar action in Myanmar.
During a meeting with Heidi Hautala, MEP from Finland and a Vice President of the European Parliament, there was discussion around challenges facing democracies in both Europe and Asia ahead of the 10th Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting (ASEP 10) which coincided with the delegation’s visit to Brussels. At a roundtable with Brussels-based human rights CSOs, including Human Rights Watch, the delegation heard about ongoing advocacy efforts around the European Union, and discussed opportunities for future collaboration.
After three productive days in Brussels, the Southeast Asian lawmakers travelled to the northwestern Belgian town of Ghent to attend the Asia-Europe People’s Forum (AEPF). AEPF is a parallel event to the biannual Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) – a high-level summit of governments – set up to bring together NGOs and activists from the two regions. In Ghent, Sarah Jane Elago (MP, Philippines) and Kyi Pyar (MP, Myanmar) joined the APHR MPs as they met more than 400 people from 40 countries during the three-day conference.
