Nov 9, 2020 | DFF, FoRB, RM, Statements
JAKARTA – Southeast Asian leaders must put human rights – including the crises in Cambodia and Myanmar – at the top of the agenda as they gather for the ASEAN Summit in Singapore next week (scheduled for 13-15 November), ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights said today.
Regional heads of state are meeting at a time when human rights are backsliding alarmingly across Southeast Asia as authoritarian governments are strengthening their grips on power. This will also be the first ASEAN Summit held since the general election in Cambodia on 29 July which effectively turned the country into a one-party state.
“Human rights are under threat throughout Southeast Asia. ASEAN’s destructive non-interference principle means that the bloc has been both unwilling and unable to take a stand against violations. This lack of action must end – human rights should take centre stage in Singapore next week,” said Charles Santiago, APHR Board Chair and a member of the Malaysian parliament.
“ASEAN leaders cannot let the Cambodian government simply get away with dismantling democracy. They must push Prime Minister Hun Sen to end his crackdown on dissent and hold new, genuinely free and fair elections.”
Hun Sen’s – who will be attending the Summit – ruling Cambodian People’s Party won all 125 seats in the National Assembly in July after a vote that was largely dismissed as fraudulent. In the year leading up to the polls, the CPP increased repressive tactics against opponents, including by dismantling what little remained of independent media, and harassing and jailing rights activists.
In November 2017, Cambodia’s highly politicizedSupreme Court disbanded the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) – the country’s only viable opposition force – and stripped CNRP MPs, including APHR Members, of their seats. In September, CNRP leader Kem Sokha was also detained on politically-motivated “treason charges.” Although he has since been released into house arrest, the charges against him remain.
Since the election, Hun Sen has offered piecemeal concession in the form of limited releases of political prisoners, but the repressive laws they were jailed under remain in place.
Regional MPs also stressed that the ASEAN Summit must include the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar on its agenda. In September, the UN-appointed Independent Fact-Finding Mission accused the Myanmar military of wide-ranging abuses in Rakhine, Kachin,and Shan States, and called for Myanmar top military officials to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.
APHR has previously urged the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court.
The ASEAN gathering will take place as Myanmar prepares to receive the first group of returning Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh. The two governments have announced that 2,260 Rohingya who fled the security forces’ campaign of violence in 2017 will be repatriated to Myanmar in mid-November.
This is despite the fact that the refugees themselves have not been formally consulted on whether or not they wish to return and despite clear UN warnings that their safety cannot be guaranteed in Rakhine State.
“ASEAN leaders must do all they can to pressure Myanmar to end the abhorrent treatment of Rohingya – they cannot stand idly by while a possible genocide is unfolding in one of their member states,” said Charles Santiago.
“The rushed plan to push refugees back to Rakhine State against their will must also end immediately. Myanmar continues to impose debilitating restriction on Rohingya and the risk of renewed violence by the security forces remains. Rohingya women, men, and children have experienced horrific violations, and should not be forced back to a country where there is a very real chance they will face further atrocities.”
Nov 9, 2020 | BHR, DFF, FoRB, RM, Statements
JAKARTA – Southeast Asian leaders meeting in Singapore this week must address pressing regional human rights concerns, including by taking steps to reform and strengthen ASEAN’s human rights mechanisms. That was the call from ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) today in a letter to heads of state in advance of the 32ndASEAN Summit.
“As regional integration proceeds, it is imperative for ASEAN to ensure that a focus on human rights is included in all pillars and sectors of the organization. ASEAN must also strengthen the protection mandates of its human rights bodies, if it seeks to be seen as a credible and outward-looking regional bloc,” the letter reads.
The letter comes on the heels of a series of setbacks for democracy and human rights in Southeast Asia in the past 12 months. APHR has previously highlighted concerning situations in a number of countries, including a brutal military campaign in Myanmar against the minority Rohingya, an unprecedented assault on independent civil society and the opposition in Cambodia, and attacks on press freedom from governments across the region.
“In the last year, we have seen an especially alarming regression of democracy and human rights protections region-wide. It is deeply worrying that ASEAN has largely stood by silently as the problems have mounted, and that mechanisms such as the AICHR and ACWC still lack the mandate or capacity to properly address them,” said APHR Chairperson Charles Santiago.
Singapore, as Chair of the bloc for 2018, has prioritized efforts to address emerging security challenges and promote economic integration through innovation, which are expected to be key themes for discussion at the upcoming Summit on 26-28 April. While supportive of these priorities, APHR emphasized in its letter the importance of addressing these challenges holistically.
Parliamentarians stressed the need to tackle a broad set of emerging security concerns, including those that emanate from a lack of accountability and adherence to the rule of law within states, highlighting, in particular, the plight of the Rohingya.
“In recent weeks, Malaysia and Indonesia have seen the arrival of boats carrying Rohingya fleeing longstanding persecution in Myanmar; this is clearly a regional concern. ASEAN can help put an end to this crisis, but it must address rights abuses in tandem with the multitude of other security challenges concerning member states,” said Indonesian MP Eva Kusuma Sundari, an APHR Board member.
In the context of economic integration, MPs highlighted concerns about the rights of local communities, including indigenous communities, as well as the need for better safeguards for migrant workers, calling on ASEAN leaders to ensure that the ASEAN Community is able to become a truly people-centered one.
“As ASEAN’s integration effort accelerates, we must push harder for economic development that is inclusive and sustainable. It’s time for ASEAN to send a strong message that economic growth at the expense of the welfare of the people, is unacceptable and cannot be considered progress at all,” Charles Santiago argued.
MPs also urged their leaders to return to and strengthen core elements of the ASEAN Charter, adopted during Singapore’s previous Chairmanship in 2007.
“This is an opportune time for Singapore to continue what it started and take the lead towards achieving the human rights aspirations laid out in the Charter,” Eva Sundari concluded.
“The ASEAN Charter mandates that member states respect and promote democracy, good governance, sustainable development, and human rights, honorable promises that ring hollow unless proper mechanisms are put in place, including the identification and implementation of strategic indicators.”
Click here to read the letter
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Nov 9, 2020 | DFF, Open Letters
APRIL 25, 2018
H.E. DR VIVIAN BALAKRISHNAN
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Tanglin, Singapore
Republic of Singapore
Re: Cambodia’s Political Instability
Dear Foreign Minister;
We, the undersigned international and regional organizations, write to you on the occasion of the 32ndASEAN Summit to urge your immediate attention to the severe deterioration in the state of human rights and democracy in Cambodia in recent months. Recent actions by Cambodia’s government to dissolve the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), effectively transformed the country into a one-party state. The arrest of Kem Sokha, the leader of the CNRP on spurious charges, the banning of over 100 opposition leaders from political activities, the arrests of political and human rights activists, restraints on freedom of expression and assembly, and the crackdown on independent news media and civil society have isolated the country and put its further democratic development in serious doubt. In addition, the ruling Cambodia People’s Party (CPP) has systematically replaced local and national lawmakers affiliated with the opposition with those loyal to the ruling CPP.
These and previous actions by the Cambodian government are in disharmony with ASEAN’s core principal to“promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law,”and should be seen as nothing less than a clear violation of the spirit and letter of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, which ended the nation’s 12 year civil war. That agreement – signed by 19 governments, including nine current ASEAN member states, required Cambodia to respect human rights as enshrined in principal international human rights instruments, and called for Cambodia to follow “a system of liberal democracy on the basis of pluralism.” The accords also mandated “periodic and genuine elections…with a requirement that electoral procedures provide a full and fair opportunity to organize and participate in the electoral process.”
We appeal therefore, in particular to the Indonesian Government, to request for the reconvening of such a conference or one similar in nature that will outline concrete collective actions to reverse course in Cambodia, ahead of the elections in July.
The national election scheduled for July 29, 2018 has no chance of legitimacy if present circumstances persist, and far-reaching remedial steps would be required for this election to be deemed genuine, participatory and inclusive. The rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, and political participation, among others, are being systematically violated through amendments to the Law on Political Parties and the Criminal Code,in contravention of the Cambodian constitution and Cambodia’s international human rights obligations, including under the ASEAN Charter and Human Rights Declaration, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Paris Agreements.
In light of the alarming and rapidly deteriorating situation for human rights, the rule of law and democracy in Cambodia, we urge you to fulfill your obligations as laid out in the 1967 Bangkok Declaration to “promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries of the region,” by working through all diplomatic channels, both formal and informal, to call on Cambodia to reverse its course. It is not too late for the Cambodian government to restore a fair environment for the July 29, 2018 national election, which will allow the Cambodian people to choose their leaders in a credible electoral process. No Cambodian government elected under the current circumstances would have any claim to legitimacy.
In order to establish the conditions in which credible elections could be held, measures the Cambodian Government must implement include: reinstating the CNRP as a legal entity; immediately releasing Kem Sokha and permitting Sam Rainsy and other CNRP leaders to return from exile; freeing all political prisoners, including civil society leaders and political activists; allowing journalists and media outlets to operate free of violence and intimidation, including VOA, RFA and The Cambodia Daily; restoring fundamental liberties including the right to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. Once these conditions are met, domestic and international election observer groups should be granted free access to monitor all aspects of the electoral process, and a new election commission should be formed that includes members of the opposition.
Cambodia’s backsliding also threatens to overturn the efforts of the international community, which has spent billions of dollars on Cambodia’s democratic development, advancing ASEAN goals of regional stability, prosperity, and cohesiveness – as well as the tireless work of countless Cambodian citizens – over the past 26 years.
ASEAN can play an important role in mediation with the Cambodian government until conditions in the country show marked improvement, and there is precedent for its engagement. ASEAN issued a strong statement following the 1997 coup, and postponed Cambodia’s membership application which was pending when that coup occurred. The international community and the Cambodian people have invested a great deal in efforts to build a stable, democratic and prosperous Cambodia since 1991, and we urge the ASEAN community to stand by the Cambodian people to exercise their legitimate civil and political rights as important elections approach.
Very few countries suffered more violence in the 20th century than Cambodia, and its people deserve a fair and just future, and live in “peace, stability, and prosperity” as envisioned by the ASEAN Charter.
Yours sincerely,
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)
Asia Democracy Network (ADN)
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia)
Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL)
Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD)
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI)
CC:
Erywan Yusof, Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Brunei Darussalam
Prak Sokhonn, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cambodia
Retno Marsudi, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Indonesia
Saleumxay Kommasith, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Laos
Dato’ Sri Anifah Aman, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Malaysia
Alan Peter Cayetano, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Philippines
Don Pramudwinai, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Thailand
Phạm Bình Minh, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vietnam
Click here for a pdf version of this letter.
Nov 9, 2020 | FoRB, RM, Statements
MANILA — The failure of ASEAN leaders to confront the root causes of the ongoing crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine State constitutes a blow to the regional bloc’s credibility, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today, following the conclusion of the 31st ASEAN Summit in Manila.
Regional lawmakers said that the lack of a strong commitment by member states to tackle the situation in Rakhine State represented a disappointing conclusion to discussions at the Summit, after some promising initial indications that the issue had been debated. They warned that the grouping’s continued inaction threatens the security and prosperity of all member states.
“Expectations have become quite low for ASEAN, an organization infamous for its inability to tackle difficult issues. But there was hope that the sheer scale and severity of the current crisis in Myanmar would be enough for ASEAN leaders to find a way to work coherently to address a situation that is not only a grave humanitarian crisis, but also a threat to the stability of the region and the organization itself. Instead, ASEAN has continued its failure to act decisively in the face of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity being perpetrated in our own backyard,” said APHR Chairperson Charles Santiago, a member of the Malaysian Parliament.
Over 600,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since 25 August, when the Myanmar military launched so-called “clearance operations” in northern Rakhine State following a series of attacks on police outposts by militants from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). Human rights organizations, as well as the United Nations, have documented serious rights violations against Rohingya in the context of operations by Myanmar security forces, including widespread killings, sexual violence, and burning of homes and villages.
On 6 November, the UN Security Council issued a statement expressing “grave concern” over human rights violations perpetrated against Rohingya, including by Myanmar security forces, and calling on Myanmar authorities “to ensure no further excessive use of military force.”
A draft of the final statement expected after week’s ASEAN Summit, however, reportedly made only fleeting reference to humanitarian relief for “affected communities” in northern Rakhine State. Like the ASEAN Chairman’s Statement issued in late-September – a statement criticized by Malaysia’s foreign minister, as well as by APHR, at the time – the draft document reportedly also made no mention of rights violations by security forces and did not name as a group the Rohingya, who have borne the brunt of the abuses and displacement.
Parliamentarians said that the outcome constituted an insufficient response to developments in Rakhine State, and that the avoidance of key details indicated ASEAN’s failure to address the drivers of the crisis.
“This is not simply a humanitarian catastrophe; it is a human rights crisis with deep roots in longstanding state-sponsored persecution against the Rohingya community. ASEAN’s approach seems to ignore this fact and act as though the mass displacement and associated humanitarian challenges arose out of nowhere,” said APHR Board Member Eva Kusuma Sundari, a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives.
ASEAN leaders reportedly discussed issues in Rakhine State at the Summit in Manila, including mention of the recommendations issued by a Myanmar government-appointed Advisory Commission, headed by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. However, key recommendations from that body’s final report, including those focused on drivers of conflict, appear to have been sidestepped by ASEAN leaders, APHR said.
“The Annan Commission’s recommendations are a key entry point that ASEAN should be using more effectively to raise fundamental issues like discrimination, citizenship, and accountability for rights violations. This was a Myanmar government-sponsored body that pushed to deal with these drivers of the current crisis. If they can do it, ASEAN should certainly be able to,” Sundari said.
Parliamentarians said the need for regional and international action was reinforced by Monday’s release by the Myanmar military of the outcome of its own internal investigation into conduct by its forces in Rakhine State, which exonerated them from any wrongdoing.
“The Myanmar military clearly has no interest in accountability. This report further underscores the need to allow for a genuine investigation into alleged atrocities,” Charles Santiago said.
MPs also criticized ASEAN’s principle of non-interference, arguing that the policy hampered an effective response and was being invoked by leaders in a disingenuous manner.
“The non-interference policy is – in the words of Aung San Suu Kyi herself – just an excuse for not helping. It shouldn’t even apply in this case, where the issue clearly has immense regional implications,” Santiago said.
“If ASEAN leaders want to quit making excuses and actually help, they should do more to pressure the Myanmar government and military to halt the attacks, end policies that promote and institutionalize discrimination, and enable conditions for the safe return of Rohingya refugees to their homes in Myanmar.”
Nov 9, 2020 | RM, Statements
JAKARTA – The adoption at last week’s ASEAN Summit of a new regional Consensus covering the rights of migrant workers fails to provide adequate protections for them region-wide, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today.
While commending ASEAN leaders for coming to an agreement on the importance of safeguarding migrant workers’ rights, the collective of regional lawmakers said that the final document – the ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers – was not enough. MPs argued that more robust protections are needed, including through a legally binding regional treaty.
“This Consensus fails to meet the basic criteria that we, along with many civil society organizations, have been calling for: a legally-binding document that would provide genuine protections in accordance with international human rights law,” said APHR Board Member Teddy Baguilat, a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines.
The Consensus adopted last week came a decade after the approval of the 2007 Cebu Declaration, which called for the development of an instrument to protect migrant workers’ rights. Although ASEAN leaders claimed that the Consensus marked the culmination of this effort, regional MPs said that language in the document – particularly repeated clauses qualifying commitments as being “subject to national laws, regulations, and policies” – undermined its potential impact and reflected the problematic approach of previous ASEAN documents, including the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration.
“The Consensus affords wide latitude to states to limit protections in accordance with domestic laws and policies, essentially allowing them to selectively opt out of adherence to critical provisions. We have seen this sort of qualifying language in ASEAN documents before, and those have been implemented in ways that have allowed for the continued violation of the rights of millions of ASEAN citizens,” Baguilat said.
“It is extremely disappointing that ASEAN leaders decided to limit the scope of migrant workers’ rights in this way. Human rights are universal and should supersede domestic law, not be curtailed by it.”
The comments from regional legislators come several months after the conclusion of an APHR-led fact-finding mission to Malaysia in August, during which a delegation of current and former parliamentarians from four ASEAN member states looked into conditions for migrant workers and ways in which their situation could be improved. The findings from the mission, as well as policy recommendations based on them, were published in a summary report released in September.
“What we found in Malaysia is applicable to all countries in the region. There is a widespread lack of political will to truly address and bring to an end rights violations against migrant workers,” said Baguilat, who took part in the August mission.
“ASEAN has time and again shown that it can say the right things. But when it comes time for action, critical commitments are conveniently ignored by member governments. We are concerned, based on our findings, that enforcement of the Consensus at the domestic level will be insufficient,” Baguilat added.
Parliamentarians said that more needed to be done on the part of ASEAN member states to prove that they had the political will to implement the Consensus and to address the lack of protections for migrant workers at the domestic level.
“Migrant workers are essential to the development of the ASEAN Community. In order to demonstrate a genuine commitment to safeguarding their rights, ASEAN should pursue the development and implementation of a region-wide action plan, including a handbook on common standards,” said APHR Board Member Kasit Piromya, a former Thai MP who also joined the mission to Malaysia in August.
Lawmakers also reiterated their call for a legally binding treaty, echoing calls from civil society.
“The Consensus demonstrates that ASEAN can be progressive in its pronouncements. It recognizes that workers can become undocumented through no fault of their own and extends protections to them, at least rhetorically. But this and other positives are rendered almost meaningless since the document is not legally binding,” said Eva Kusuma Sundari, an APHR Board Member and parliamentarian from Indonesia.
“ASEAN was able to agree on a legally binding treaty on human trafficking, so they should be able to do the same for migrant workers. Renewing discussions on a legally binding instrument, along with fast-tracking the development of action plans to implement this Consensus, would be a good way to prove that the political will to address the situation does exist,” Sundari concluded.
