MANILA — In many countries in Southeast Asia – most notably in Myanmar but also elsewhere – parliamentarians and ex-parliamentarians continue to be subject to multiple forms of human rights violations, according to the latest annual Parliamentarians At Risk report from ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), launched today in Manila, the Philippines.
“Parliamentarians’ ability to safely conduct their mandate and to speak and act on behalf of their constituents, are important ways for power to be checked and democracy to be strengthened. Today, our collective voice will send a clear message that an attack against one parliamentarian is an attack against the democratic institution of parliament itself,” said APHR Chair and member of the Indonesian House of Representatives Mercy Barends. “We stand in solidarity with them, ensuring that the voices of those who are silenced are not forgotten, and calling for an end to the violations of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
In 2023, parliamentarians in Southeast Asia continued to face threats and harassment. Myanmar remains the worst country when it comes to jailing members of parliament (MPs), with all 74 of those detained in the region being held there.
A total of 73 of the lawmakers from the National League for Democracy (NLD), and only one was from another party, the Mon Unity Party, a fact that demonstrates the political nature of the arrests, since it is MPs from the NLD – which resoundingly won the 2020 election – that are overwhelmingly targeted. Many of the ousted parliamentarians are continuing their work in hiding, either inside Myanmar or abroad, because if found by the military they are at risk of detention, torture, and even death. Some have seen their family members harassed and their properties seized by the military.
But Myanmar is not the only place where harassment against lawmakers takes place, and governments in many Southeast Asian countries have continued to use judicial harassment in particular against opposition lawmakers. In the Philippines, for example, while APHR Member and former senator Leila de Lima was finally released on bail after almost seven years of unjust detention in November 2023, she is still awaiting trial for the last remaining drug case against her.
“My case is just one among the many cases our region continues to see. It is a reflection of how Southeast Asia, a region of so much potential, is witnessing a worrying trend of authoritarianism where opposition figures are silenced, dissenting voices are stifled, and ultimately fundamental freedoms are quashed,” said de Lima. “This is done through a spectrum of tactics, such as the continuing use of draconian laws to curb free speech, to time and jail, intimidation, and violence.”
Opposition MPs also continue to face harassment in the Philippines, in particular through the dangerous use of “red-tagging”, in which political activists, journalists, and others are accused of being communists. Those who are “red-tagged” are often physically attacked.
Two countries – Thailand and Cambodia – held elections in 2023, but in neither of those countries were citizens freely allowed to vote for the political leadership they wanted, either due to physical and judicial intimidation against MPs, or through non-democratic state apparatus preventing the will of the people from being fulfilled.
Consistent with recent elections in Cambodia, the 2023 vote was another farce that only served to bolster the grip on power held by Hun Sen – the autocratic strongman who has ruled since 1985 – and his allies. Only three parties participated in the election, and the country’s largest opposition party, the Candlelight Party, was barred from participating on dubious administrative grounds weeks before the election took place. In the weeks leading up to the election, the Hun Sen regime also launched relentless attacks against human rights defenders and opposition parties.
Meanwhile in Thailand, the Move Forward Party was prevented from forming a government by unelected senators, despite winning the highest number of votes in the May 2023 elections. As well as being prevented from becoming prime minister, a campaign of judicial harassment has also been pursued against then-party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, and the Move Forward Party, part of a pattern that has been used against progressive politicians in recent years – most notably members of Future Forward, Move Forward’s predecessor.
In Malaysia, while the new government campaigned on a platform of reform, judicial harassment continues, including through draconian laws such as the Sedition Act, which APHR has repeatedly called to be repealed. The act – which has previously been used against opposition parliamentarians – can carry a punishment of three to seven years in prison for vaguely worded offenses, including acting with “seditious tendency” against the government.
“Parliaments – and by extension parliamentarians – play a crucial role in providing oversight of the government in a functioning democracy. It is therefore of the utmost importance that lawmakers can conduct their mandate without fear of reprisals from the government,” said APHR Board Member and Malaysian member of parliament Wong Chen. “In view of the continued risks faced by parliamentarians in the region, APHR continues to call on all stakeholders and international partners to step up collective efforts in protecting parliamentarians at risk in the region.”
JAKARTA — Parliamentarians in Southeast Asia continue to face risk of reprisal simply for exercising their mandate or expressing their political opinions, according to the latest annual Parliamentarians At Risk report from ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), launched today in Jakarta.
“The increasing risks, both physical and otherwise, faced by parliamentarians in the region are totally unacceptable and a matter of the utmost concern. Parliamentarians are the representatives of the people and their safety and freedom reflect the health of the democracies in which they work. We call on ASEAN, as well as ASEAN member states, to implement sufficient protections for them and put pressure on those governments that are arbitrarily and unjustly persecuting their lawmakers,” said Mercy Barends,member of the Indonesian House of Representatives and APHR Chair.
The year 2022 saw a worsening trend for parliamentarians at risk in the region, particularly in Myanmar, where MPs face increasing dangers in the aftermath of the 1 February 2021 coup d’état. One lawmaker, Kyaw Myo Min, was tortured to death in detention and a former lawmaker, Phyo Zeya Thaw, was executed together with three political prisoners in Myanmar. The number of parliamentarians detained across Southeast Asia remains high at 85, with 84 in Myanmar and former senator Leila de Lima in the Philippines.
“Even Myanmar MPs who have managed to take refuge in neighboring countries such as Thailand remain in a very precarious situation. Dozens of them are living in towns along the Thai-Myanmar border and find themselves constantly harassed by the police as undocumented migrants, in constant fear of being detained or, even worse, be repatriated to their country, where they would face arrest, likely torture or even worse, at the hands of the junta,” said Charles Santiago, former member of the Malaysian Parliament, and APHR Co-Chair.
Outside of Myanmar, particularly in Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, cases of physical attacks remain rare, but governments often resort to politically motivated charges against opposition parliamentarians. Reprisals and threats are not only of a judicial nature. Parliamentarians also face online harassment, and being the victims of both disinformation campaigns as well as hate speech.
In Cambodia, the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen has conducted a series of mass trials and convicted more than 100 members and supporters of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), including a number of former lawmakers in absentia. Political persecution and intimidation by the government against members and supporters of the opposition parties, human rights defenders, land rights and environment protection activists, and journalists are expected to continue escalating in the lead up to the next general election, expected to be held in July 2023.
“Hun Sen and his party have been slowly building a one-party dictatorship over the years. The process has been so slow that few have noticed, but the signs are unmistakably clear and have resulted in an almost totalitarian state. The international community must hold Hun Sen’s government to account for its widespread human rights violations and ensure the opposition parties and their candidates are able to contest in the 2023 general election in a free and fair environment with a level playing field before it is too late,” said Kasit Piromya, former Thai Foreign Minister and APHR Board Member.
Meanwhile, in Malaysia and the Philippines, online disinformation and hate speech against MPs continue to be widespread. Opposition parliamentarians in both the Philippines and Thailand also often face judicial harassment through the use of overly broad legislation, while the continued existence of draconian laws such as the Sedition Act and the Communication and Multimedia Act in Malaysia remain a threat that hangs over the heads of potential government critics.
“The use of laws as weapons against politicians is nothing but a perversion of the rule of law, one of the cornerstones of a democracy. In several countries across Southeast Asia, laws and courts are used as instruments of those in power, rather than what they should be: instruments to prevent or stop abuses. It is necessary to hold those governments that abuse their power to account and make them understand that they are not above the law,” said Mu Sochua, former member of parliament from Cambodia and APHR Board Member.
JAKARTA – Southeast Asian lawmakers today expressed alarm over the recent surge in harassment against opposition lawmakers and critical voices for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in Malaysia, and called on authorities to immediately end such tactics of intimidation. The calls came after at least six MPs and four state-level lawmakers were called in for questioning by authorities on a range of potential charges in recent weeks.
“Peacefully demonstrating and voicing opinions should never be a crime, and the rate at which authorities are targeting those merely discussing issues of public interest is a matter of considerable concern,” said Carlos Zarate, a Philippine Member of Parliament (MP) and member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR). “Basic freedoms have come increasingly under attack since Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government came to power last year through back-door maneuvering, and this latest wave of investigations and harassment clearly aims to silence political opponents and all forms of dissent.”
On 22 May, MP Syed Saddiq was questioned by police in relation to a video he posted on social media related to police brutality and to demand justice for A. Ganapathy, who died on 18 April after being held in police custody. According to sources, Saddiq is being investigated under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code for allegedly making statements that cause fear or alarm to the public, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA), for alleged improper use of network facilities. The authorities have seized his phone, and have access to his Instagram and TikTok accounts for further investigation.
On 20 May, MP Mukhriz Mahathir, two state assembly representatives, as well as five other political party members and rights activists, were interrogated for allegedly gathering without notice under Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (PAA), in relation to a peaceful sit-in protest on 30 April. The rally was held to call for, among other things, the reopening of parliament, which was suspended in January after a state of emergency was declared amid a rise of COVID-19 cases. The emergency has since been used to introduce regulations that further threaten fundamental freedoms, including a ”fake news” ordinance that police have used to investigate at least 12 people accused of spreading false information related to COVID-19.
In early May, eight individuals, including APHR member MP Fahmi Fadzil, as well as seven civil society and political party members, were questioned under Section 9(5) of the PAA over a 24 April solidarity gathering regarding the arrest of political artist Fahmi Reza. Meanwhile, later in the same month, at least 11 people were summoned for questioning under Section 9(5) of the PAA and Regulation 11 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures Within Infected Local Areas) (Conditional MCO) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 in relation to a peaceful gathering on 27 March that protested the Election Commission’s delay in implementing the 18-year voting age. Those hauled up included APHR member and MP Maria Chin Abdullah, MP Maszlee Malik, MP Hannah Yeoh, two state assembly representatives, and APHR member and former MP Tian Chua.
In its September 2020 report, Parliamentarians at Risk, APHR found an increase in cases being opened against parliamentarians since the unelected “back-door” Perikatan Nasional government took power in March 2020. At least five opposition MPs in Malaysia were either probed or charged for raising matters of public interest or for being critical of the government.
“In recent weeks, the number of MPs in Malaysia questioned for expressing their opinion already exceeds those APHR documented in the first half of Perikatan Nasional’s rule last year. In addition, parliament has not sat once this year, and the recent judicial harassment is making it even harder for MPs to fulfil their role as a check on the executive, and safeguard against abuse by authorities,” Zarate said.
These investigation tactics however are only part of a broader trend to restrict civic space in Malaysia, including press freedom, APHR said.
Last month, Reporters Without Borders downgraded Malaysia to 119, from 101 a year earlier, in its annual world press freedom index, recording the worst deterioration among 180 countries. The sharp decline is linked to last year’s change in government, and has seen authorities use repressive laws to harass journalists and restrict space for critical reporting. This year, police have opened several investigations to question journalists for their work. The case of A. Ganapathy, in particular, has seen a police chief threaten to sue a media outlet, Free Malaysia Today, for its coverage, and issued a warning to the public not to comment on Ganapathy’s death.
“Authorities must immediately drop all investigations, and cease going after political opponents, human rights defenders, journalists, and other critical voices who are merely exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Rather than stifle legitimate criticism, the Malaysian government would find that listening to the voices of its people, including by reopening parliament, could instead bring greater benefit to the country – such as enhancing transparency and accountability – which are key elements of a democratic country, and could help to improve trust in this government,” said Zarate.
As organizations of current and former lawmakers from across the world, we stand in solidarity with the elected representatives of Myanmar’s Parliament, and call on the military to respect democracy, allow parliament to resume, and for MPs to be allowed to fulfil their mandate without impediment.
On 1 February, the day Myanmar’s new parliament was scheduled to open, the Myanmar military detained senior National League for Democracy (NLD) party officials, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. Following the arrests, Vice President and former lieutenant-general Myint Swe was installed as acting President. He immediately declared a year-long state of emergency before handing power to Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who now assumes all legislative, executive, and judicial powers under the newly-established State Administrative Council.
On 4 February, despite the coup, dozens of MPs-elect took the parliamentary oath of office. The following day, they established the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Myanmar’s Parliament) pledging to continue to conduct the function of parliament and to carry out their mandate as representatives of the people.
Parliaments are the cornerstone of democracy and essential to attaining peace, development and safeguarding human rights. Parliamentarians, to effectively conduct their mandate, must also be able to do so freely and without fear of reprisal.
We, therefore, applaud and support efforts by our colleagues to protect the institution of the Parliament and to continue to conduct the mandate they were entrusted with by the people of Myanmar. For democratic institutions and processes to be fully upheld it is crucial to ensure that parliament represents all the people of Myanmar, regardless of their ethnicity or religion.
We urge the international community as a whole, and the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) in particular, to establish a comprehensive response to ensure that the Myanmar military:
Abides by the democratic will of the people of Myanmar and the rule of law;
Immediately and unconditionally releases all those currently arbitrarily detained;
Allows Parliament to resume and elected MPs to fulfil their mandate without impediment;
Immediately restores unrestricted access to the Internet and all forms of communications; and
Refrains from using any forms of violence against peaceful critics and respects the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
In a new report, APHR has documented threats and harassment against opposition MPs in Southeast Asia, notably the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia.
The reprisals come in the form of judicial harassment, arbitrary stripping them of their MP status, surveillance and harassment, and campaigns of disinformation.
