Jul 25, 2022 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – The recent executions of four political prisoners at the hands of the illegal military junta in Myanmar is an act of judicial barbarism, Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia have denounced today, after the state media announced that the death sentences have been carried out on an unspecified date at Insein Prison, in Yangon.
The four executed men, all charged under anti-terrorism laws, are 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. These death sentences are the first known judicial executions in Myanmar since 1988, according to Amnesty International, which hitherto has considered the country as “Abolitionist in Practice”.
“These executions are nothing but appalling acts of evil committed by a brutal junta that has shown no qualms about waging a war against the Myanmar population in order to cement its power. The global community, and all ASEAN members in particular, should take these cold-blooded assassinations as yet another wake up call on the true nature of the regime of terror that the Myanmar military is attempting to impose in the country,” said Eva Sundari, former member of the House of Representatives in Indonesia and Board Member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).
According to the Myanmar group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), as of 22 July there were 76 prisoners in Myanmar sentenced to death, including two children, while 41 people have been given the death penalty in absentia. Since the coup on 1 February 2021, at least 2114 people have been killed by the self-styled State Administration Council (SAC), led by General Min Aung Hlaing, in its campaign to suppress the widespread opposition to military rule.
These death sentences should be viewed as an attempt by the Myanmar military to provide a veneer of legality to political assassination. Yet it is evident that these sentences were handed without fairness, by military tribunals conducting trials lacking in any respect for due process, APHR denounced.
“It is clear that these executions are made to strike fear among representatives of the democratic forces and political activists who oppose the junta . We believe that all those accused by the military junta are tried in secret, unfair and biased trials with no legal safeguards. Many political prisoners are subjected to torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and now there are dozens of prisoners in Myanmar jails who could be executed at any moment,” said Tom Villarin, former Philippine MP and APHR Board Member.
“Not even the previous military regime, which ruled the country between 1988 and 2011, dared to carry out the death penalty against political prisoners. This means yet another increase in the junta’s brutality, which comes from a sense of impunity largely fostered by the failure of the global community to do anything effective to prevent it from committing further atrocities,” said Charles Santiago, Member of Parliament from Malaysia, and APHR Chairperson.
The executions also serve as proof that the SAC led by Min Aung Hlaing has no intention to engage in any meaningful political dialogue with the pro-democracy forces led by the National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG). Such a dialogue, one of the key points of the Five-Point Consensus agreed by ASEAN member states and Min Aung Hlaing’s junta in April 2021, has never materialized.
The Consensus also called for an immediate cessation of violence, something that the Myanmar military, which continues shelling villages and killing protesters, has also failed to implement. Yet the Myanmar military, in its all-out war over its people is committing “systematic and widespread human rights violations and abuses” that may amount to “war crimes and crimes against humanity,” according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“The junta’s contempt for the agreement it signed is clear, especially considering that the announcement of these executions comes two weeks after the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair to Myanmar, Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, visited the country. The Special Envoy, and ASEAN members, should condemn these executions, and seriously rethink their approach to the crisis in Myanmar. For starters, they should begin exerting pressure on the SAC with targeted sanctions and travel bans in the region in order to show Min Aung Hlaing and his men that they cannot commit their crimes with impunity,” said Kasit Piromya, former MP and Foreign Minister in Thailand, and APHR Board Member.
Jul 20, 2022 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – The Myanmar people are not receiving the humanitarian assistance they need as the crisis triggered by the coup d’état of February last year worsens, parliamentarians from seven different countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe have denounced, ahead of the fourth public oral hearing of their International Parliamentary Inquiry (IPI) on the global response to the crisis in Myanmar, to be held today, 20 July.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) puts at over 750,000 the number of people displaced by the violence perpetrated by the Myanmar military in order to cement their power since the takeover, bringing the total for the country the record number of over 1 million.
Experts audited by the IPI in previous oral hearings have described a rapidly deteriorating situation, marked by a worsening economic crisis, an almost complete collapse of the health system and the systematic targeting of the civilian population by the military.
“Time is rapidly running out to prevent the worst-case scenario for millions of people in Myanmar. But instead of increased attention to the situation, we are seeing the opposite: less engagement by regional and international actors, less efforts to lead the junta to the negotiation table, and a unconscionable shortfall of almost 90 percent of funding for the humanitarian needs of the country in 2022. Inaction must end now,” said Heidi Hautala, IPI Committee Chair and Vice-President of the European Parliament.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of June 2022, only 11 percent of the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Myanmar has been funded, “negatively affecting the breadth and quality of assistance delivered by humanitarians.”
“The utter failure of ASEAN’s 5-Point Consensus should be clear to all, yet there has been no effort made to change course. Meanwhile, the international community continues to ignore evidence indicating that a primary reliance on ASEAN has not and will not result in an alleviation of the plight of the Myanmar people. Reliance on ASEAN is not a strategy, but rather a disingenuous deflection of responsibility by international actors which must stop in order for solutions to the humanitarian crisis to be found,” said Charles Santiago, IPI Committee Member, Malaysian MP, and Chair of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).
To address these and other issues, the IPI will hold its fourth hearing on the global response to the crisis in Myanmar on July 20, at 6 pm (Bangkok time), via Zoom.
Experts who have confirmed their participation at the hearing include:
– Matthew Wells – Deputy Director, Crisis Response, Amnesty International.
– Dr Ashley South – Research Fellow, Chiang Mai University.
– Salai Za Uk Ling – Deputy Executive Director, Chin Human Rights Organisation (CHRO).
– Adelina Kamal -Former Executive Director for the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre), currently Associate Senior Fellow at the Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS).
Join the IPI Fourth Oral Hearing by Zoom by following the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rcOyvqjorHNeUbaXpzbMBClSV1ekKN_ci
Livestream: https://facebook.com/aseanmp
All previous hearings can be found at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbpyEyu66jrCv5HORbeIV4w/videos
Jul 18, 2022 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia are urging the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair to Myanmar, the Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn, to meet representatives of the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar, after his recent trip to the country, in which he met Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and other members of the military junta that continues to try to rule the country after its illegal coup d’état of February last year.
Formed by MPs elected before the military takeover and widely respected leaders from civil society and the ethnic minorities, the NUG was established in April 2022 to oppose the self-styled State Administration Council (SAC) led by Min Aung Hlaing. The NUG is supported by the vast majority of the Myanmar people.
“Most Myanmar citizens see the NUG as their legitimate government, and that is how the international community at large, and ASEAN in particular, should regard it. If Mr. Sokhonn is serious about implementing ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus, he should publicly engage the NUG, rather than limit himself to meet the leaders of an illegal junta that is committing all kinds of international crimes and throwing the country into chaos while attempting to cement its power,” said Tom Villarin, former MP from the Philippines and Board Member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).
The Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar was signed on 24 April 2021 by all ASEAN leaders and Min Aung Hlaing. The Consensus prescribes the delivery of humanitarian aid, and calls for an immediate cessation of violence, as well as the commencement of a dialogue process between all the parties involved in the conflict, to be facilitated by the ASEAN Special Envoy appointed by the group’s rotatory Chair.
Since Cambodia assumed the chairmanship of ASEAN this year, its leaders have met Min Aung Hlaing and other representatives of the SAC on several occasions, including a visit by the Prime Minister, Hun Sen, to Myanmar in January; but has never met with any member of the NUG, most of whom are in hiding or exiled. As Chair of ASEAN this year, Cambodia should hold conversations with the democratic leaders of Myanmar, by inviting them to meet outside Myanmar or online if necessary, given the challenges involved in meeting them in their own country, APHR said.
The SAC has utterly failed to implement any of the five points included in the consensus and the situation has steadily deteriorated in Myanmar. With at least 2,088 people killed by the junta; over 11,000 political prisoners, a record number in Myanmar’s history; and over one million internally displaced people in the country, Min Aung Hlaing and his men are responsible for “systematic and widespread human rights violations and abuses” that may amount to “war crimes and crimes against humanity,” according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“We at APHR have repeatedly called on ASEAN to hold Min Aung Hlaing and his criminal junta accountable for their crimes and for not abiding to the Consensus they signed to. The military is the main source of Myanmar’s woes and instability, and ASEAN member states should not accept its illegal rule as a fait accompli. Instead, they should engage and support the NUG and Myanmar’s civil society if they truly want to put the country back on the path towards democracy and prevent it from becoming a failed state at their doorstep,” said Villarin.
Jun 30, 2022 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – As President-elect Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. is due to be sworn into office today in the Philippines, lawmakers from Southeast Asia urge him to respect human rights and restore rule of law and democracy after their erosion during the term of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte.
After the polls, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) stated that the election of Marcos as President and Sara Duterte, daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, as Vice-President did not bode well for the restoration of rule of law and respect for human rights in the country. The Marcos family has never acknowledged the atrocities committed during the dictatorship of their patriarch, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who was ousted from power by a massive popular uprising in 1986.
President Rodrigo Duterte has been accused of human rights violations since his tenure as Mayor in Davao City, and after being elected President, thousands of Filipinos were killed in his infamous ‘war on drugs’. The International Criminal Court has started a preliminary investigation against Duterte for possible crimes against humanity brought about by his drug war.
Meanwhile, in the latest blow to media freedom, the news site Rappler has been ordered to be shut down by the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 28 June 2022. Rappler’s founder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Maria Ressa, is one of the staunchest critics of President Duterte’s war on drugs. The recent order is yet another assault on press freedom with the closure of the country’s largest broadcast television network ABS-CBN in 2020, and the Philippines being one of the deadliest countries in the world for journalists.
“We hope to be proven wrong and that President Marcos Jr. will put an end to this climate of impunity and chart a different course of action that upholds human rights, press freedom,and the rule of law in the Philippines. In a region beset with challenges and undergoing an authoritarian turn it is high time that the Philippines re-emerges as the leader on democracy and human rights that it once was,” said Charles Santiago, Member of Parliament from Malaysia and APHR Chairperson.
As first steps to show his commitment to human rights, the new President should appoint qualified, credible, and independent members of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) through a transparent and consultative process, and order the immediate release of the unjustly jailed Senator Leila de Lima, said APHR.
The CHR is an independent body mandated under the 1987 Philippine Constitution to investigate human rights violations in the country. The President appoints its members for a fixed term of seven years. The current appointees ended their term last May 2022.
Senator Leila de Lima was arrested in February 2017, shortly after she had launched a Senate investigation on the extrajudicial killings committed as part of President Duterte’s war on drugs, and has been unjustly detained for more than five years on politically motivated charges.
One of the three charges against De Lima has been dismissed for lack of evidence, while several key witnesses of the prosecution have retracted their testimonies stating that they were coerced to testify and threatened by the Police and high-level government officials to falsely implicate her. It is clear that the charges were fabricated, and there is no basis for her detention, so she should be immediately and unconditionally released, said APHR.
“We believe that democratic institutions in the Philippines need to be strengthened and respect for human rights restored, and that should be the priority of the new administration. We will be closely monitoring the policies of President Marcos, and we are ready to work with civil society and human rights organizations in the Philippines to hold him and his government accountable,” said Santiago.
Jun 27, 2022 | CCHR, DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – As food and fuel prices are rising at alarming rates throughout the world, Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia are urging the economic ministers of their countries to gather in an emergency summit and agree on measures to tackle impending food shortages and widespread hunger currently threatening millions of their fellow citizens.
The global economy, already weakened by the pandemic, is taking another blow with the war in Ukraine, one of the main producers of grain in the world. Shortages of food, increases in oil prices, and fears of a global recession are already increasing prices of essential commodities. The average inflation rate in ASEAN went from 3.1 percent in December 2021 to 4.7 percent in April 2022, compared to 0.9 percent in January 2021. And, as always, this affects the poor most dramatically.
“ASEAN needs to act collectively, and needs to do it now. Climate change, the ravages of Covid-19, inequality in access to resources, and now Russia’s war on Ukraine, are having devastating impacts that no country can solve alone. It is necessary to urgently put in place a coordinated effort to protect the most vulnerable from a potentially devastating economic downturn,” said Mercy Barends, Member of Parliament in Indonesia and Board member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).
Inflation in food prices could even further increase the number of undernourished people in ASEAN. According to data from the World Bank, the share of undernourished people ranged in 2019 from 5.3 percent in Laos to 6.5 percent in Indonesia, 6.7 percent in Vietnam, 7.6 percent in Myanmar, 8.2 percent in Thailand or 9.4 percent in the Philippines.
People displaced from their homes are particularly vulnerable to increased food prices, which take an even higher toll on women and children. In Myanmar, there are over a million internally displaced persons (IDPs), most of whom were pushed to flee their homes as a consequence of the conflict triggered by the illegal coup d’état on 1 February 2021.
ASEAN member states adopted in 2020 the Integrated Food Security Framework, outlining food security measures that included food emergency and shortage relief measures, but it needs to be updated and enhanced in order to address a problem which is worsening. ASEAN must prepare for the future and act decisively to facilitate easy access to food for all, support its producers, and scale-up targeted, and nutrition-sensitive, social protection programs.
“Our economic ministers must come up with a clear roadmap on how to tackle the severe consequences of the current rise in food prices on those who are already experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity and hunger. We need trust and cooperation, and only through a collective effort will we be able to overcome the many challenges that have combined to create this crisis,” said Barends.
Jun 20, 2022 | DFF, Statements
Ahead of World Refugee Day 2022, a group of 22 refugee and human rights groups and 50 Uyghur organizations are calling on governments and international organizations to take urgent steps to protect Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples at imminent risk of refoulement. As atrocity crimes unfold in the Uyghur region of China—including mass detention, forced labour, and torture—Uyghurs outside China, including human rights defenders, are subject to persistent barriers to international protection and risks of deportation.
Uyghurs have increasingly been recognized as experiencing persecution as a particular group in their region of origin, yet little is known about transnational repression they face in the diaspora. Uyghurs who are not firmly settled in third countries are facing an exceptional risk of detention and refoulement. Many have faced harassment and intimidation by local authorities, often at the request of Chinese authorities, and in some cases have been subjected to prolonged detention.
While access to international protection mechanisms like the UNHCR remains limited, transnational repression acts as deterrence to human rights activism and a practical threat to the exercise of individual rights, including the right to be protected from torture, and inhumane and degrading treatment.
In order to provide adequate protection to Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples at risk, immediate steps should be taken. Importantly, access to protection should not be impeded by a lack of documentation. Our organizations call on:
- Governments to implement proactive resettlement programs where there is a risk of refoulement, and be alert to cases of imminent deportation on an emergency basis;
- Governments to reject criminal justice cooperation requests against Uyghurs that put them at risk of refoulement, and ensure that Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples are effectively protected against the misuse of international databases and alerts by the Chinese authorities;
- Parliamentary committees who have passed resolutions denouncing human rights violations perpetrated against the Uyghur people and other Turkic peoples to launch enquiries on transnational repression, and engage civil society organisations in this process; and
- UNHCR to continue registering Uyghurs in need of international protection, including in detention, and to issue a non-return advisory for China regarding groups systematically persecuted, such as Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples.
For over two decades, Uyghurs living outside China have faced efforts by Chinese authorities to pressure foreign governments to detain and forcibly transfer them back to China. Research shows that more than 1,500 Uyghurs, including many who are human rights defenders, have been detained or forcibly returned to China where many have faced imprisonment and torture in custody.
Since 2016, the Chinese government has intensified repression and carried out a policy of mass, arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples, subjecting them to severe policies including the prohibition of most religious, linguistic, and cultural practices; state-sponsored forced labour; imprisonment; and forced sterilization and birth prevention policies.
Uyghurs are targeted on the basis of ethnic origin and religious affiliation, but detention and imprisonment have also been based, in many cases, on connections outside China. Uyghurs who have worked or studied abroad—and even those who have communicated with family or friends abroad—have been targeted for detention and imprisonment. It is well-established that all Uyghurs and Turkic peoples forcibly returned to China would be at serious risk of persecution.
The principle of non-refoulement, binding to all states regardless of ratification of the Refugee Convention, firmly establishes that no one should be returned to a country where there is a real risk of persecution, torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or any other human rights violation.
On World Refugee Day, we recall that the 1951 Refugee Convention, signed by 149 States to date, was drafted in response to the forced displacement and deportations that took place during the Second World War. The international community must live up to these principles and make good on its duty to protect Uyghurs at risk of facing mass atrocities in their homeland. No return is safe for Uyghurs. Immediate steps are urgently needed to ensure their protection.
Signatories:
- Alberta Uyghur Association
- AMERA International
- ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)
- Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN)
- Australian East Turkestan Association
- Australian Uyghur Association
- Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association
- Austria Uyghur Association
- Belgium Uyghur Association
- Boat People SOS
- Campaign for Uyghurs
- The Center for Uyghur Studies
- The Center for Victims of Torture
- Church World Service (CWS)
- Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam
- Dutch Uyghur Human Rights Foundation
- East Turkistan Education and Solidarity Association
- East Turkestan Union of Muslim Scholars
- East Turkistan Nuzugum Culture and Family Association
- European East Turkistan Education Association
- European Uyghur Institute
- East Turkistan Association of Canada
- East Turkistan Union in Europe
- Eastern Turkistan Foundation
- Fair Trials
- Finnish Uyghur Culture Center
- Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect
- Global Legal Action Network (GLAN)
- HIAS
- ILPA (Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association)
- International Pen Uyghur Center
- International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)
- International Union of East Turkistan Organizations
- Isa Yusup Alptekin Foundation
- Japan Uyghur Association
- Jubilee Campaign USA
- Lawyers for Uyghur Rights
- MENA Rights Group
- Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS)
- Norwegian Uyghur Committee
- Refugee Congress
- Refugees International
- RefugePoint
- René Cassin
- Safeguard Defenders
- Satuq Bugrakhan Foundation of Science and Civilization
- Society Union of Uyghur National Association
- Stop Uyghur Genocide
- Sweden Uyghur Union
- Swiss Uyghur Association
- Uighur Society of the Kyrgyz Republic
- Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation
- Uyghur American Association
- Uyghur Academy Australia
- Uyghur Academy Canada
- Uyghur Academy Europe
- Uyghur Academy Foundation
- Uyghur Academy Japan
- Uyghur Academy USA
- Uyghur Center for Human Rights and Democracy
- Uyghur Cultural and Education Union in Germany
- Uyghur Human Rights Project
- Uyghur Projects Foundation
- Uyghur Refugee Relief Fund
- Uyghur Research Institute
- Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project
- Uyghur Transitional Justice Database
- Uyghur U.K. Association
- Uyghur Youth Union in Kazakhstan
- Victoria Uyghur Association
- World Uyghur Congress
- World Uyghur Congress Foundation
