Jun 1, 2015 | News
The Cambodian government should withdraw a proposed law that would severely limit the rights of non governmental organizations (NGOs) in Cambodia, the ICJ and 10 other international human rights groups said in a letter to 44 foreign governments and the European Union.
The groups urged donors and others to press the government not to revive a 2011 draft law that was shelved under domestic and international pressure because it threatened freedom of association and expression.
Cambodia’s Council of Ministers discussed the draft NGO law on May 29 and is scheduled to discuss it again on June 5 before sending the measure to the National Assembly, dominated by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party.
A new law is unnecessary because existing legislation already addresses legitimate government concerns about the operations of NGOs, the international organizations said.
The letter was signed by the ICJ, Article 19, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum Asia), Civil Rights Defenders, Front Line Defenders, Global Witness, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Lawyers Rights Watch Canada, Protection International, and Southeast Asian Press Alliance.
Cambodia-Australia & Cambodia lango letter-Advocacy-Open letters-2015-ENG (full text in PDF)
May 27, 2015 | News
Representatives of 17 countries gathering in Bangkok on 29 May to discuss the humanitarian crisis involving thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshis adrift in the Andaman Sea must adopt a regional response that complies with international human rights law and standards, said the ICJ today.
“The countries in ASEAN should work with each other and the international community to immediately save the lives of thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi people now trapped on ‘floating coffins’, and to address the human rights disaster in Rakhine state that helped create and foster this crisis,” said Sam Zarifi, ICJ’s Asia director.
“It’s essential that the participants of this meeting use this opportunity to establish a response that complies with international law and standards on human rights, the treatment of refugees and migrants, and people in distress on the sea,” he added.
The government of Thailand called the “Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean” to provide a forum for countries affected by this crisis.
The main countries involved in this crisis, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia, have not signed on to the Refugee Convention or to the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.
“Now they have to scramble to come up with a sensible and humane response,” Zarifi said.
“ASEAN countries have hidden behind the notion of ‘noninterference’ to turn a blind eye to the persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar, to the growth of criminal smuggling and human trafficking networks, and the increasing demand for undocumented laborers,” he added.
“But this crisis shows that problems in one country can and will quickly spread to the others unless ASEAN can provide a rights-compliant regional response.”
The ICJ calls on all ASEAN Member States and Bangladesh to become parties to key international treaties, such as the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and the 1979 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR).
The SAR encourages parties to enter into search and rescue agreements with neighboring states to ensure that assistance be provided to any person in distress at sea regardless of the nationality or status of such a person or the circumstances in which that person is found, and provide for their initial medical or other needs, and deliver them to a place of safety.
A draft ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children (ACTIP) and a corresponding Regional Plan of Action (RPA) for the Convention’s operationalization have yet to be endorsed by ASEAN leaders, and no copies of the drafts have been released to the public.
The ICJ calls on ASEAN to make this draft Convention and RPA public and hold consultations with civil society organizations, especially those that work with trafficked persons on which governments so frequently rely as service providers.
The ICJ also points out that certain ASEAN Member States have critical roles to play as integral components to the regional efforts addressing the current crisis.
It is clear that discriminatory policies and actions in Myanmar have significantly contributed to this regional humanitarian crisis, the ICJ says.
The ICJ adds that the Rohingya are forced to flee their homes because of ethnic conflict and the policies of the Myanmar government.
“The government has persecuted the Rohingya, refused to extend basic citizenship rights to them and in fact has recently passed legislation to entrench discrimination against the Rohingya such as the Protection of Race and Religion laws,” said Zarifi.
“These are some of the so-called ‘root causes’ that have displaced thousands within Rakhine State and driven the Rohingya to the sea and to the territory of neighboring countries. It is no longer possible to cite ‘sovereignty’ as an excuse for silencing regional discussions about these serious human rights concerns,” he added.
The ICJ has called on Myanmar to scrap laws that discriminate against minorities and to actively prosecute acts of violence fuelled by discrimination as well as crimes of hate speech.
The ICJ has also urged Myanmar to undertake every effort to improve basic living conditions for the Rohingya and Arrakhanese population in Rakhine State by enhancing respect for and protection of their economic, social, and cultural rights.
The ICJ also called on Thailand to assume its natural role as a key stakeholder in resolving this crisis.
“Thailand’s full commitment to a coordinated regional human rights based response is crucial,” Zarifi further said. “Thailand’s convening of a regional meeting is a welcome step, but as the meeting’s name suggests, Thailand still views this problem as primarily one of migration and trafficking, instead of as a serious human rights crisis that demands a human rights-based regional response.”
Thailand has recently committed to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants and refugees on board the boats.
However, the ICJ emphasized that Thailand and other countries must go further and rescue individuals in distress at sea and allow those who arrive on their shores to expeditiously and safely disembark.
Rather than pushing them back, involuntarily returning them, detaining them or applying other punitive measures, they should be provided with adequate and humane reception conditions and necessary medical care in the country.
Thereafter, with the aid of experts, their further protection and assistance needs must be individually and accurately determined and then addressed, consistent with international standards.
“The Thai government’s response that a naval vessel will be used as a floating administrative center for people already adrift in the waves, and that not even those in need of medical assistance will be allowed onshore, is simply callous and in violation of Thailand’s international obligations,” concluded Zarifi.
Additional information:
Eight ASEAN Member States will be attending the “Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean”: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand. Singapore and Brunei Darussalam are not taking part in the meeting.
Also present will be representatives of Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, India, Iran, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, and Sri Lanka; the United States of America and Switzerland will participate as observers.
Three international organizations, namely the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Office of Drugs and Crimes, and the International Organization of Migration will also join the meeting.
Contact:
Sam Zarifi, ICJ Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, t: +66807819002 ; e: sam.zarifi(a)icj.org
May 24, 2015 | News
The ICJ signed a joint statement together with 35 other national and international NGOs calling for the immediate release of Vietnamese blogger Tran Huynh Duy Thuc.
Tran Huynh Duy Thuc was arrested on 24 May 2009 for “promoting anti-government propaganda” after posting a blog calling for political reform and respect for human rights.
On 20 January 2010, following a one day trial with three co-defendants, he was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment followed by five years house arrest.
On 29 August 2012, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and his three co-defendants’ detention violated the right to freedom of opinion and expression guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Vietnam is a State Party, as well as the right to liberty and security of person (Article 9) and the right to freedom of association (Article 21).
The Working Group concluded by requesting Vietnam to release Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and provide him with compensation in accordance with Article 9(5) of the ICCPR.
Vietnam-Statement on blogger Duy Thuc-News-webstory-2015-ENG (full text of statement in PDF)
May 22, 2015
An opinion piece by Vani Sathisan, ICJ International Legal Adviser, and Hayman Oo, ICJ Legal researcher, in Yangon.
“They can imprison my body, but never my mind,” U Nay Myo Zin told us when we asked him whether he expected to be released, right before police led him into the Dagon Township courtroom for the verdict last week. The Court was teeming with police guards and supporters of the accused chanted slogans at the police, “not to kowtow to the military government” and that “the legal system lacks principle.” U Nay Myo Zin then added, “I will never surrender.”
He was one of the six human rights activists, besides Daw Naw Ohn Hla, Daw Sein Htwe, Ko Tin Htut Paing, Daw San San Win and U Than Swe, who were sentenced to four years and four months in prison with hard labour.
Their conviction, after a trial that didn’t meet basic standards of fairness and due process, highlights the tremendous pressure on the country’s judiciary at a time when Myanmar desperately needs to show improvements in the rule of law.
The protesters were convicted of violating Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law and sections 147, 505(b) and 353 of the Penal Code, specifically rioting, publishing or circulating information which may cause public fear or alarm and may incite persons to commit offences against the State or against the public tranquility, and assaulting or preventing a public servant from the discharge of his duty.
The charges related to their peaceful demonstration outside the Chinese embassy in Yangon on 30 December 2014, calling on Myanmar authorities to carry out an urgent and impartial investigation into the death of Daw Khin Win.
She was shot dead on 22 December 2014 when demonstrating against illegal land confiscations and forced evictions over the Letpadaung copper mine in Monywa.
The Letpadaung project, a joint venture between Chinese-owned Myanmar Wanbao and the Military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited, has been associated with human rights and environmental abuses and a lack of accountability.
Hundreds of families have been moved to resettlement sites while many others continue to resist evictions from their ancestral homelands.
Villagers complain about the opaque land acquisition process and the lack of genuine consultations and effective environmental impact assessments.
Despite widespread calls, including by the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, for an official investigation into the Letpadaung shooting, there has been no proper inquiry into the death of Khin Win.
Sources tell us that a case has been recently filed in a township court against a police officer in relation to the shooting, half a year after the incident.
Nobody has been prosecuted three years since police used white phosphorus to disperse monks and villagers peacefully protesting against the Letpadaung mine’s operation and the piling of mining waste on village farmlands.
The lack of accountability for the killing of Khin Win and the incident three years ago stands in contrast against the rapid conviction and harsh sentences meted out to the peaceful demonstrators.
The ICJ has observed and documented the case’s pre-trial and trial phases and considers that they grossly violate international standards of fair trial.
In the hearings we attended, we observed denials of due process.
For instance, bail was denied without a reason after hearings lasting less than five minutes. The hearing in which the defendants were convicted and sentenced also lasted only a few minutes.
The defendants believe more broadly that they were not tried by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal.
The defence further believes that the judges failed to decide the matter on the basis of facts and in accordance with the law, and that “plain-clothed persons” inside the courtroom instilled fear in the judges.
Regrettably, the lack of trust in the judicial system expressed to us by the defendants resonates with what we hear on a regular basis from legal professionals, other non-governmental organisations, and ordinary individuals from around the country, as documented in ICJ’s report Right to Counsel: The Independence of Lawyers in Myanmar.
The accused have complained about poor prison conditions, non-nutritious food and dirty water.
Such prison conditions would not comply with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
Instead of prosecuting—or rather, persecuting—these protesters, the Myanmar government must drop the charges against the protesters and release them.
The government should diligently pursue those who killed Khin Win, and in particular, whether they were linked to the company operating Letpadaung.
Unfairly jailing those who demand justice will not end the resistance to the Letpadaung mine operation, or to the other mega projects now cropping up around Myanmar.
If anything, it will increase tensions and problems.
This is the time for the Myanmar government to show it will strengthen the rule of law for all people in Myanmar.
Photo credit: www.amnesty.org
