HUMAN RIGHTS & GEOPOLITICS

AN OVERVIEW OF AN OVERVIEW OF HUMAN RIGHTS HUMAN RIGHTS

AND ARMED AND ARMED CONFLICT CONFLICT

SITUATION SITUATION IN ASIAIN ASIA

FRAMEWORKFRAMEWORKRey Ty

Linking Society, Economy, Politics, and

Culture

PEOPLE OF THE WORLDRey Ty

GLOBAL VILLAGE?2002

IF THE WORLD HAS 100 PERSONS:61 ASIANS

12 EUROPEANS9 S. AMERICANS5 N. AMERICANS1 AUSTRALIAN

52 WOMEN 48 MEN

-70 PEOPLE OF COLOR-30 WHITES

ASIARey Ty

• PACIFIC• NORTHEAST ASIA• SOUTHEAST ASIA• SOUTH ASIA• CENTRAL ASIA• WEST ASIA

SOUTHEAST ASIARey Ty

WHAT ARE HUMAN WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS?RIGHTS?Rey Ty

HUMAN RIGHTS

CIVIL AND POLITICAL

RIGHTS

ECONOMIC,SOCIAL, & CULTURAL

RIGHTS

VIOLENCE, RIGHTS VIOLENCE, RIGHTS AND LAWAND LAW

Rey Ty

VIOLENCE(J. GALTUNG)

RIGHTS AND LAW(U.N.)

1 STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE ECON, SOC, & CULT RTS.2 CRIMINAL VIOLENCE CRIMINAL LAW3 STATE VIOLENCE CIVIL & POL RTS.4 REVOLUTIONARY VIOLENCE LAW OF ARMED CONFLICT

HUMAN RIGHTS HUMAN RIGHTS AND ARMED AND ARMED CONFLICTCONFLICT

Rey Ty

TYPES OF ARMED CONFLICT

ILHR

ILAC

LAW OF HR AND WAR

Rey Ty

Peace Riots Conspiracy Internal Internal Internal Civil Anti-Racist War of International Disturbances Tensions Strife War Struggles Liberation War

ECONOMIC RIGHTSECONOMIC RIGHTSIN THE WORLDIN THE WORLD

Rey Ty

200 RECEIVE 75% OF INCOME 200 RECEIVE ONLY 2% OF INCOME

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

INDEXRey Ty

Top (highest) tier: Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, and Malaysia

Second tier: Philippines, Indonesia

Third tier: Vietnam, Burma, Laos

Fourth tier: Cambodia

ECONOMIC RIGHTSECONOMIC RIGHTSRey Ty

GDP/CAPITA Singapore Brunei Malaysia Thailand Philippines Indonesia Vietnam Burma Cambodia Laos

GDP/CAPITAPurchasing Power Parity

Rey Ty

Singapore

Brunei

Malaysia

Thailand

Philippines

Indonesia

Vietnam

Laos

Burma

Cambodia

East Timor

ECONOMIC RIGHTSECONOMIC RIGHTSRey Ty

PHILIPPINE GDP 1999

Richest 30% earned 63.4% of national income Poorest 30% received 9% of national income

• 2 infants

• 30 under 15 years old

• 7 aged 65 and above

• 1 near death, 1 near birth

• 70 unable to read, 14 illiterate adults

• 7 educated at secondary level, 2 college educated

SOCIAL RIGHTSSOCIAL RIGHTSRey Ty

• 89 heterosexual, 11 homosexual

• 59% of the entire world's wealth in the hands of only 6 people & all 6 citizens of the United States

• 80 live in substandard housing, 17 w/o adequate shelter

• 46 urbanites, 54 rural dwellers

• 13 hungry or malnourished

• 41 w/o basic sanitation, 16 w/o improved water source

• 1 adult w/ HIV/AIDS• 4 Internet users, 8 would own a

computer

http://newfunpages.com/world.php3

SOCIAL RIGHTSSOCIAL RIGHTSRey Ty

IN THE GLOBAL

VILLAGE: THERE ARE --

-5 SOLDIERS -7 TEACHERS -1 MEDICAL DOCTOR

SOCIAL RIGHTSSOCIAL RIGHTSRey Ty

930 DO NOT HAVE A CAR70 OWN AT LEAST 1 CAR

70% WITHOUT CLEAN WATER30% WITH CLEAN WATER

CULTURAL RIGHTSRey Ty

• 33 CHRISTIANS, OF WHOM– 20 CATHOLIC– 9 PROTESTANTS– 4 ORTHODOX

• 67 NON-CHRISTIANS– 18 MOSLEMS– 16 HINDUS– 16 NON-RELIGIOUS– 6 BUDDHISTS– 4 INDIGENOUS

RELIGIONS– X<1 JEWS– 0THERS

CULTURAL RIGHTSCULTURAL RIGHTSRey Ty

GLOBAL VILLAGE? 1996

IF THE WORLD HAS

1,000 PERSONS: 165 SPEAK MANDARIN 86 HINDI & URDU 64 SPANISH 58 RUSSIAN 37 ARABIC

CULTURAL RIGHTSCULTURAL RIGHTSRey Ty

THE OTHER HALFSPEAK

(IN DESCENDING ORDER):

BENGALIPORTUGUESEBAHASA INDONESIAJAPANESEGERMANFRENCH& 200 OTHERLANGUAGES

MEN WHO

CHANGED ASIA

MAO ZEDONGCHINA

DENG XIAO PINGCHINA

POLITICAL RIGHTS

I. DEMOCRACIESA. Thailand (Constitutional Monarchy)B. Philippines

II. SEMI-DEMOCRACIESA. Malaysia (Constitutional Monarchy)B. Singapore

III. DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION A. Indonesia B. Cambodia (Constitutional

Monarchy)

IV. COMMUNIST PARTY RULE

A. Vietnam

B. Laos

V. MILITARY RULE

Burma

IV. MONARCHY

Brunei

HO CHI MINHVIETNAM

SUKARNOINDONESIA

SUHARTOINDONESIA

KING BUMIPHOLTHAILAND

LEE KUAN YEWSINGAPORE

MAHATHIRMALAYSIA

SULTAN BOLKIAHBRUNEI

WOMEN IN ELITE POLITICS

IN ASIA

•INDIRA GANDHI

•INDIA

•CORY AQUINO

•PHILIPPINES

•GLORIA MACAPAGAL

ARROYO

•PHILIPPINES

•BENAZIR BHUTTO

•PAKISTAN

•SONIA GANDHI

• INDIA

• Pres. Chandrike Bandaranaike

KUMARATUNGA

• Sri Lanka

• PM Begum Khaleda Zia (widowed)

• 1991 & 2001 BANGLADESH

• PM Sheikh Hasina

• (Daughter of 1st PM) • 1996 BANGLADESH

ARMED CONFLICTS IN ASIA 1940s-2000

Rey TyWORLD WAR II ASIA-PACIFIC

ETHNIC TENSIONSINDONESIA, MALAYSIA, S. LANKA

TERRITORIAL DISPUTES & BORDER CLASHES

INDIA-PAKISTAN-BANGLADESH, PRC-ROC, CHINA-INDIA, PRC-USSR, N-S KOREA, SPRATLYS

NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENTS

ACEH, E. TIMOR, MORO MINDANAO, TIBET, XINJIANG

COMMUNIST ARMED STRUGGLE

MALAYSIA, PHILIPPINES, THAILAND

REVOLUTIONSCHINA, KAMPUCHEA, VIETNAM

CIVIL UNRESTBURMA, INDONESIA, PHILIPPINES, THAILAND

REFUGEES & “INTERNAL REFUGEES”

BURMA, CAMBODIA, PHILIPPINES, S. LANKA, VIETNAM

HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS

Rey Ty

VIOLATIONS

EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS

DISAPPEARANCES

TORTURE

TORTURE LEADING TO DEATH IN PRISON

PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

UNFAIR TRIALS

DETENTION W/O CHARGE OR TRIAL

JUDICIAL EXECUTION

DEATH SENTENCE

ARMED OPPOSITION GRPS’ ABUSES

EAST TIMORRey Ty

-Indonesian annexation of ET started the whole series of HRVs

& HLVs. -transition to independence, pro-

integration or pro-Indonesia forces continue to commit HR &

HL abuses. -post-independence stage, the

econ. rehabilitation & the dev’t of pol. institutions of ET would be difficult & requires massive international human, material,

& financial support.

•XANANA GUSMAO

•EAST TIMOR

• BISHOP BELO

&

• JOSE RAMOS JORTA

• EAST TIMOR

BURMARey Ty

-1990: current pol. crisis in Burma started when the mil. junta refused

to recognize the results of the legislative elections & to hand over

pol. power to the victorious oppositionists.

-The Burmese mil. junta’s refusal to enter into dialogue w/ the opposition

& its unwillingness to cede pol. power to the popularly elected civilians is a major cause of the

worsening HR situation in Burma today.

-The stronger the repression, the stronger the opposition, thus, the

stalemate.

STATE PEACE & DEMOCRACY

COUNCIL (SPDC)

Formerly STATE LAW & ORDER COUNCIL

(SLORC)

AUNG SAN SUU KYI

• NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY

• (NLD)

CAMBODIARey Ty

1. During the Cold War period, C. was a victim of US-SU rivalry and the S.U.-PRC. The “hot war” the U.S., S.U.,

PRC, & Vietnam waged in Kampuchea resulted in a very brutal armed conflict

& massive HRVs.  2. The post-Cold War Cambodian

society inherits and still has to process its Cold-War-period problems. Among

these are: armed conflict & civil war, the destruction of the economy, poverty,

genocide, land mines, & the personality cult.  

3. New issues that emerged during the Post-Cold War period include following

issues: the rule of law, HR, the trafficking in women girl-children &

HIV/AIDS.

KING SIHANOUKCAMBODIA

1997ASIA

• EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC CRISIS ON HR

• ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED GROUPS, MIGRANT LABOR, MI1997NORITY GROUPS

1999ASIA

• NEW ZEALAND: NEW LAW DETAINS ASYLUM-SEEKERS ARRIVING W/O PAPERS

• AUSTRALIA: 4,000 REFUGEE APPLICANTS & BOAT PEOPLE WERE W/O JUDICIAL CONTROL

2001 ASIA

VIOLATIONS COUNTRIES

POL. KILLINGS 9

MISSING 6

TORTURE 19

POCs 15

DETENTION W/O CHARGE OR TRIAL

15

EXECUTION 9

ARMED OPPOSITION GRPS’ ABUSES

9

HUMAN RIGHTSASIA JAN-DEC 2001

• 2001 September 11

• call for those responsible to be brought to justice in accordance with international law.

• a racist backlash against people identified as Muslim or Middle Eastern.

• draconian security and immigration legislation: VS. to ensure respect for HRs.

• Need for strict adherence to the rules of war during the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan.

• "Justice not revenge"

• 2001: HRs abuses increased in many Asia Pacific countries, particularly in the context of armed conflicts.

• In Singapore, Pakistan, India & Malaysia: attacks of 9/11 & the need for increased security--used to justify the enact-ment &/or introduction of harsh security legislation

2001• Afghanistan, ordinary people

suffered greatly throughout the year bec. of conflicts & years of drought.

• While the Taleban were in power: religious and ethnic minorities were targeted in mass killings, &executions, & amputations were carried out.

• Women’s movement, employment and education of women was severely restricted.

• The United Front (Northern Alliance): were also responsible for HR abuses

• 2001: • Afghanistan: unknown # of

civilians were killed or had their homes or property destroyed during the US-led bombing campaign which started in October.

• -US and its allies may have breached the rules of war.

• 29 December, a UN spokesperson reported that relatives identified 52 bodies, including 25 children, after the US bombed a village near the eastern town of Gardez.

• Daily reports of civilian deaths

• 2001: • Afghanistan: treatment of captured

or surrendered prisoners in raised serious concerns.

• -reports that the United Front summarily executed captured al-Qaida fighters who were wounded or had surrendered.

• AI called for an inquiry into the uprising at Qala-i-Jhangi fort where some prisoners were found dead w/ their hands tied behind their backs.

• The head of Shibargan prison revealed in December that 43 prisoners had died from injuries or asphyxiation while being transported in shipping containers.

• 2001:• Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, Philippines &

Myanmar: Civilians were caught up in internal conflicts

NEPAL 2001: • in 1996: CPN (Maoists) declared a

"People's War“; entered a new, more bloody phase, after peace talks broke down & a state of emergency was declared in November. Both sides of the conflict abducted, tortured & deliberately killed civilians

• The gov’t suspended the right to freedom of expression, arresting dozens of journalists, HR activists & lawyers. Maoists maintained control over a sizable proportion of the country, running parallel "people's governments" with their own tax system and "people's courts".

KASHMIR

2001

• Indian & Pakistani governments engaged in a tense build up of mil. forces

• scant attention was paid to the 100 civilians who were killed there each month

SRI LANKA 2001

• protracted conflict in Sri Lanka bet. the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) & the gov’t got worse from May

• marked increase in cases of rape by police, army and naval personnel & torture generally continued to be reported on a daily basis

• LTTE engaged in hostage-taking and widespread recruitment of child soldiers.

INDONESIA 2001

-Separatist conflicts in the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and Papua worsened in 2001

-100s of civilians were "disappeared", unlawfully killed & tortured.

-Houses & means of livelihood were destroyed in both provinces as a form of collective punishment for attacks by armed separatists against the policy & army

INDONESIA 2001

-Political upheaval effectively paralyzed the gov’t for much of the year, obstructing the process of HR reform & efforts to resolve the conflicts

• Laws which were used in previous years to silence dissent were invoked to bring charges vs. indepen-dence & other activists who were jailed for the peaceful expression of their views

•MEGAWATI SUKARNO-

PUTRI,

•INDONESIA

NORTH KOREA

2001

-Hundreds, possibly thousands of asylum seekers fleeing the famine were forcibly repatriated to meet an uncertain fate

AUSTRALIA 2001

• August: Australian govt began to send warships to intercept more than 1,800 "boat people" who were detained & denied the right to claim asylum on the Australian mainland

• About 600 possible asylum seekers were turned back by the navy, & several 100S were diverted to remote islands in the Indian & Pacific oceans in what has become known as the "Pacific solution"

AUSTRALIA 2001

• At least 356 others, including 70 children, drowned after their leaking boat sank on the journey from Indonesia to Australia.

• Ahmed al-Zalime, a refugee living in Australia whose three daughters had drowned in the incident, was unable to visit his rescued wife in Indonesia, because Australian temporary refugee visas prohibit return to the country after any overseas travel

ASIA (JAN-APRIL 2002)

• With the reconstruction of Afghanistan high on the int’l community's agenda, AI campaigned for an effective criminal justice system capable of protecting the HRs of all Afghans

• Int’l financial & technical aid should contribute to an independent judiciary & a professional civilian police force which will adequately protect the HRs of all Afghans

AFGHANISTAN JAN-APRIL 2002

• treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan: dangerous overcrowding, lack of food & medicine, & lack of shelter from severe winter conditions.

• While the Afghan Interim Authority is formally responsible for detention facilities, under international law, the USA has continuing responsibilities for the welfare of prisoners who were in US custody before being handed over to another party

CAMBODIA

JAN-APRIL 2002

• Justice for crimes against humanity took a step backwards in Cambodia where the UN pulled out of an agreement with the government to try former Khmer Rouge leaders because of fair trial concerns

INDONESIAJAN-APRIL 2002

• unprecedented HRs trials of suspects accused of committing serious crimes, including crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999 began in March

• But in the absence of basic guarantees it was feared that they would not meet int’l standards of fairness & that justice would not be delivered.

INDIA

JAN-APRIL 2002

• The Indian authorities failed to protect people from communal violence which led to the deaths of 100s of people and displacement of 1,000s

• AI sent a memorandum to the government of Gujarat urging immediate protection for those at risk and an impartial investigation to bring those responsible to justice

PAKISTAN

JAN-APRIL 2002

• increasing violence against women

• GOV’T was failing in its obligation to protect women from domestic violence, which includes physical abuse, rape, acid throwing, burning & killing, as well as violence in custody

SRI LANKA

• JAN-APRIL 2002

• On a positive note, a ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE ended 19 years of hostilities

• reports of recruitment by the LTTE of children as young as 12 as combatants by continued

BURMA (MYANMAR)JAN-MAY 2002

• May 6 release of Aung San Suu Kyi after 19 months under de facto house arrest represented a very positive development in the HR sit

• 280 pol. prisoners have been released since high-level talks bet. the mil. gov’t & the National League for Democracy began in December 2000

• but around 1500 remain behind bars

AUNG SAN SUU KYI• NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR

DEMOCRACY(NLD)

CONSTRAINTS OR CONSTRAINTS OR CHOICE?CHOICE?

Rey TyRey Ty

RECOMMENDATIONS1.                PREVENTIVE-PRO-ACTIVE-PROMOTION-EDUCATION-INFORMATION SSOLIDARITY 2.                CURATIVE-DEFENSE-RELIEF-REHABILITATION