Annual Report 2006
Regional Overview - Asia and the Pacific
With 56 per cent of the world's population, two emergent economic superpowers, a host of armed conflicts, a series of natural disasters and civil society organization ranging from minimal to vibrant, the Asia-Pacific region continued to provide a challenging and dynamic context for the promotion of human rights in 2005. Ongoing conflicts and security concerns persisted, heightening the vulnerability of populations and providing the context for many grave abuses.
Welcome moves in 2005 towards a greater acceptance of international human rights standards included the ratification by Afghanistan of the UN Refugee Convention, the ratification by India of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and the ratification by the Indonesian parliament of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
National human rights institutions continued to operate in several countries, including Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, although not in Bangladesh, China and Viet Nam. In Pakistan, a draft bill to establish a national human rights commission was presented to parliament. There were also positive moves towards cooperation between national human rights bodies, including those in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
2005 saw moves towards a thawing of relations between states historically hostile to each other. There were talks and cross-border transport between India and Pakistan, and six-party discussions on North Korea progressed with an accord in which North Korea pledged to abandon its nuclear programme in return for assurances on aid and security.
Politicized religious movements impacted on the everyday reality of human rights, especially in south Asia. There were constraints on women's movement and dress as well as impediments to the ability of minority groups to practise their beliefs and live peacefully.
Asia moved centre stage in international trade and business affairs with the Global Compact and the World Trade Organization's meetings held in China and Hong Kong. India and China continued to show fast rates of economic growth. However, national indicators suggested that millions of people were living in poverty – from more than a quarter of the population in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines, to around half the population in Bangladesh and Viet Nam.
Although the Internet was widely taken up, in parts of Asia it was not the tool of freedom of expression it had promised to be. In China, access continued to be heavily monitored by the state, with many websites blocked and users prosecuted for posting political opinions or information embarrassing to the government. In Viet Nam, the sharing of opinions and information on the web resulted in prosecutions for "espionage".
Security concerns
Attacks against civilians by armed groups affected many parts of the region, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Bombings caused carnage and robbed hundreds of people of their lives.
Some state responses to such attacks were disproportionate and at times discriminated against marginal or minority groups, reinforcing pre-existing grievances or persecution. Arbitrary arrests in the name of combating terrorism were reportedly made in Afghanistan, including by US and Coalition forces, and in Pakistan by the security forces. In China, people charged with terrorism and "state secrets" offences were tried in secret. In India, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act continued to provide the state with many of the powers that had been heavily criticized in annulled counter-terrorism legislation. In Australia, detention without trial and renewable control orders were introduced through counter-terrorism legislation. New national security legislation in South Korea continued to be used against those engaged in peaceful political activities. In Malaysia, alleged Islamists had two-year detention orders renewed despite the National Human Rights Commission urging the trial or release of all Internal Security Act detainees.
The role of the USA in its "war on terror" continued in the region during 2005. Air attacks by US forces killed at least 15 civilians in Pakistan and dozens in Afghanistan. Abuses reportedly continued in US bases in Afghanistan and prompted popular unrest, during which people were killed. Men returning to Afghanistan from US custody in GuantE1namo Bay, Cuba, brought home gruelling accounts of torture and ill-treatment which further fuelled local anger, anxiety and unrest.
Troubled states
In a number of states in the region, the national framework through which protection against and redress for human rights abuses could be sought was weak and ineffective.
The Afghan state continued to fail to deliver safety, security and the rule of law to its people. Warlords believed to have been responsible for human rights abuses wielded power and instilled a climate of fear in parts of the country. Fundamental flaws in the criminal justice system, the legacy of decades of conflict, and deeply embedded discrimination against women profoundly militated against the promotion of human rights and justice for past and continuing violations, particularly for women and girls.
In Nepal, the King cited the need to counter violence by Maoist groups to declare a state of emergency in February, dismiss the government and suspend civil liberties. Mass detentions followed and there was a further breakdown in security for much of the population.
In Timor-Leste, the very newness of the institutional structures meant there was a shortage of judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers. This seriously impacted on the right to a fair trial and other aspects of the criminal justice system.
Elsewhere in the region, governments in countries including Myanmar, North Korea and Viet Nam appeared to be largely impervious to pressure to uphold human rights. The authorities in Myanmar, for example, continued to violate human rights through widespread and long-term political imprisonments, forced labour, land confiscations and displacement of minorities, thereby showing utter disregard for the population and the international community.
Armed conflicts
Armed conflicts persisted in several places, including Afghanistan, parts of India, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and southern Thailand.
Two areas of armed conflict that were affected by the December 2004 tsunami saw very different developments in the following 12 months. Indonesia underwent a process of negotiation leading to a peace agreement in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam in August. By contrast, Sri Lanka witnessed increased violence, including the assassination of the Foreign Minister in August, growing insecurity in the east, and a marked deterioration of the situation in the north in December, shortly after the election of a new President. At the end of 2005 there was deep concern about the escalation of violence in Sri Lanka and the viability of the ceasefire agreement.
The conflict in southern Thailand continued to deteriorate in 2005 with a considerable heightening of the climate of fear and constraint. Both sides to the conflict were implicated in human rights abuses and violence. In the Philippines a ceasefire between the government and secessionist forces in Mindanao, although fragile, largely held throughout 2005.
Discrimination
States continued to fail in their duty to protect the human rights of all, both by maintaining discriminatory laws and by failing to ensure that those who suffer discrimination have adequate redress.
Ethnicity, gender, socio-economic factors and sexual identities continued to provide the backdrop for discrimination across the region. Among those targeted were dalits ("low caste" people) and adivasis (indigenous people) in India; Ahmadis in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia; Montagnards and Buddhists in Viet Nam; indigenous peoples in Australia; Karen, Mon, Rohingyas and Shan in Myanmar; Uighurs in China; and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people across the region. Among the abuses such targeted groups suffered were forced labour, displacement, persecution, and restrictions on freedom of expression and the right to practise their religion.
On a positive note, a landmark ruling by a Fiji court recognized that provisions in the Penal Code used against consensual homosexual activity violated constitutional guarantees on privacy and equality.
Violence against women
Women and girls continued to suffer a vast array of forms of violence, including domestic violence, forced abortions and sterilizations, forced marriages, killings and crimes of "honour". Such abuses were systematic and carried out on a massive scale.
Violence against women continued to be closely interrelated with cultural attitudes and practices of gender discrimination, such as wanting babies to be boys, the belief that women should not leave the home and the view that women should not take decisions relating to marriage.
Gender discrimination constrained life and employment choices, thus making women and girls particularly vulnerable to trafficking – a third of all global human trafficking was estimated to originate from or be located in Asia. Many countries in the region continued to view trafficked women as illegal immigrants and failed to prosecute the traffickers.
Justice and safety often escaped women facing violence because of inadequate or non-existent state mechanisms, or because penalties for perpetrators were inconsistent or did not reflect the seriousness of the violence. As a result, many of those who perpetrated violence against women enjoyed impunity.
The need for changes in attitudes as well as legal reform meant that progress in challenging the violence was patchy and slow. Some notable efforts included the establishment of an inter-ministerial council aimed at combating violence against women in Afghanistan; the adoption or proposal of laws to protect women from domestic violence in Cambodia, Fiji and India; the introduction of legislation against sexual harassment in China; the draft before parliament of anti-trafficking legislation in Indonesia; and the establishment of the first purpose-built shelter for victims of family violence in the Solomon Islands.
The plight of the so-called "comfort women" demonstrated the low priority of delivering redress to women victims of violence. Having been victims of military systems of sexual slavery more than 50 years ago, these women continued to campaign for reparations through the courts in Japan and elsewhere, but at the end of 2005 were still waiting for justice.
Migrants and refugees
Asia continued to see significant migration flows within and beyond the region. Migrant workers and their families faced uncertainty, vulnerability and poor treatment in many countries, including Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan. Few states in the region, particularly receiving states, had ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
Refugees and asylum-seekers faced marginalization, harassment and arbitrary arrest. Laws and practice in several states allowed ill-treatment of refugees, including caning of migrants and asylum-seekers in Malaysia and arbitrary detention of asylum-seekers and refugees in detention centres in Australia.
The conflicts in Sri Lanka and Nepal generated significant numbers of internally displaced people. In Nepal, an estimated 200,000 displaced people suffered a severe lack of services, including housing, health and education. In Sri Lanka, hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict and the tsunami were particularly vulnerable to conflict-related violence.
Natural disasters
The region suffered devastating natural disasters in 2005, and the extent of the impact of the 2004 tsunami became clear during the year. In Indonesia, it emerged that over 700,000 people had died, were still missing or had been displaced as a result of the tsunami. In Thailand, at least 100,000 people had been affected. In Sri Lanka, 35,322 people died and 516,150 were displaced. In India, an estimated 15,000 people died and more than 112,000 were displaced.
A powerful earthquake that struck the Pakistan/India border region in October 2005 left an estimated 73,000 dead in Pakistan and at least 1,200 dead in India's Jammu and Kashmir state. Between 2 and 3 million people were made homeless. Further deaths and widespread suffering were witnessed in the severe weather conditions in the following Himalayan winter. Concerns about relief efforts after the tsunami and the earthquake centred on ongoing conflict, access to remote areas and allegations of discrimination.
Economic, social and cultural rights
India and China enjoyed considerable international attention and support for their economic growth and status as emerging players in the global economic scene. While claims of a decrease in the number of those in "absolute poverty" were contested, any parallel improvement in human rights was not manifest. Economic development did not prioritize realization of economic, social and cultural rights. In China, rural migrant labour continued to suffer dire conditions, and hundreds of thousands of peasant farmers were increasingly marginalized through land expropriation, lack of health care and the failure of the state to provide education for millions of children in rural areas. Rural-urban disparities and the growing gap between rich and poor fuelled social unrest in the countryside. In India, legislation was introduced in 2005 to guarantee minimum annual employment for the poor in selected areas.
Across the region, conflict and environmental degradation still adversely affected many communities. In Afghanistan, up to a third of the population could not rely on safe or reliable sources of food, drinkable water or shelter. In India, thousands of people were still awaiting remedies for the 1984 Bhopal disaster.
Death penalty
The Asia-Pacific region continued to have a poor profile with regard to the death penalty, although a notable minority of countries were abolitionist. The death penalty was retained in 26 countries, including Afghanistan, China, India, Japan, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. Capital offences included tax fraud, murder, drugs smuggling, robbery and kidnapping.
In South Korea an unofficial moratorium remained in place. A death penalty abolition bill introduced in 2004 by a member of parliament and former death row inmate passed its first parliamentary hurdle, with bipartisan support, in February 2005.
China and Mongolia still refused to make death penalty statistics public and official statistics from some other countries were considered unreliable. Even so, official statistics remained high. They included at least 1,770 executions and 3,900 death sentences in China, at least 31 executions and 241 death sentences in Pakistan, at least 21 executions and 65 death sentences in Viet Nam, and at least 24 death sentences in Afghanistan.
Practices that aggravated the suffering of those awaiting execution included the sudden announcement of executions in Japan, so that those about to be killed did not have the chance to meet their families and other loved ones. In Pakistan, the unreliability of documentation relating to registration of births led to a lack of confidence that all those facing execution were adults and that a 2001 commutation order for juveniles on death row was applied to all child offenders sentenced to death.
Key abolitionist voices in the region included the President and Chief Justice to the Supreme Court in India, the Foreign Minister in Sri Lanka and the Home Minister in Japan. However, no country in the Asia-Pacific region abolished the death penalty in 2005.
Human rights defenders
Human rights activists, particularly those defending the rights of women, came under increasing attack by private individuals and groups as well as by agents of the state. Human rights defenders across the region faced threats, harassment, and arrest and assault for their work. China detained many human rights defenders, including journalists and lawyers, and some were sentenced to prison terms. Activists were also arrested during political crackdowns in Cambodia and Nepal, and human rights defenders suffered death threats in Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Impunity for crimes against human rights defenders remained a problem, even in the most high-profile cases. In Thailand, for instance, despite pressure from the Prime Minister to resolve the "disappearance" of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit in March 2004, none of the suspects had been brought to justice by the end of 2005.
Despite the tremendous pressures facing human rights defenders, the scale of human rights activism across the region was remarkable. Human rights defenders were at the forefront of struggles to advance economic, social and cultural rights, particularly in China, India and the Philippines. Women human rights defenders began forging partnerships, including at the first-ever global gathering of women human rights defenders in Sri Lanka in December 2005. At this meeting, which brought together some 200 activists from around the world, women activists developed a range of strategies to combat the violence, discrimination and other abuses they experience specifically because of their gender and because of their work in defence of human rights.
In some cases, victims of abuse became committed human rights defenders. In Pakistan, for example, Mukhtaran Mai, a survivor of gang-rape, became an activist for the right of all women to live their lives in safety and dignity.
