Protect Rights Defenders in
Southeast Asia

July 26, 2006

We have recently asked you to take action on two important cases from Southeast Asia: the murder of the Indonesian human rights lawyer Munir and the disappearance of Thai lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit. In both cases:

• a leading lawyer was targeted for challenging human rights abusers;
  
  
• after an inadequate investigation and inappropriate charges, trials resulted in low sentences for a single perpetrator, while others implicated in the crime were acquitted or never charged; and
  
  
• the failure to get justice for such prominent figures sends a signal that no human rights defenders are safe from harm.

Both men have something else in common: wives who are fighting for justice, not just for their husbands but for other victims as well. For their efforts, Suciwati from Indonesia and Angkhana Neelaphaijit from Thailand have themselves been subject to threats and intimidation.

This week the two women came together in Jakarta to bring attention to the plight of human rights defenders in Southeast Asia, joined in spirit by Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader who remains under house arrest in Burma. The two met with members of parliament, foreign government representatives, and the press.

Also this week, the regional body for Southeast Asia, ASEAN, is meeting in Malaysia to discuss economics, politics, and security. Please urge the ten member countries to end impunity and unjust imprisonment and to protect human rights defenders throughout the region, starting with the cases of Munir, Somchai, and Aung San Suu Kyi.

Tell Me More

Munir: Find a White Paper on the investigation and early phase of the trial here:
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/defenders/hrd_indonesia/letters/munir-white-paper-090605.pdf

Somchai Neelaphaijit: Find a complete report on the trial of the five policemen here: http://www.humanrightsfirst.info/pdf/06221-hrd-somchai-trial-report.pdf

Burma (Myanmar)

Recently, the Burmese government had the opportunity to end the unjust detention of pro-democracy campaigner and leader of the oppositional National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi, whose period of house arrest was due to expire on May 27. Despite the hopes of the international community, and of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan who asked Burmese General Than Shwe to “do the right thing,” Burma announced on May 26 that Suu Kyi’s detention would be extended yet again.

The government did not specify the length of the extension but warned that “restrictions will never be lifted until she abandons her practice of the liberal policy.” The 61 year-old 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate has spent 10 of the past 16 years in detention for her activism on democracy and human rights. She was first put under house arrest upon returning to Rangoon after studying in England in 1988, and led the NLD to an election victory while under house arrest. Burma’s military junta refused to accept the election results, and has continued to suppress the pro-democracy movement. Released in 1995, Suu Kyi was again arrested in 2000 until an “unconditional” release in 2002, before being once again put under effective house arrest in 2003. During the early years of her detention, she was often in solitary confinement, and prevented from seeing her husband and two children. Her freedom of movement has continuously been restricted, as she has been prevented from meeting with other Burmese activists and UN officials.

Suu Kyi and other political activists are held under the terms of the 1975 State Protection Law, which provides for house arrest. The amendment of the Law Safeguarding the State from the Danger of Destructionist Elements in 1991 allowed the Burmese military government to increase the detention of anyone arbitrarily deemed to be “endangering the state sovereignty or security” without charge or trial for three to five years, to be renewed on a yearly basis, instead of every 180 days.

Suu Kyi’s continued house arrest is a direct violation of her basic right to freedom of expression, and an obstacle to the national process of reconciliation that is necessary for Burma to move forward toward democracy.

Burma was an important topic of discussion at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on July 24-25. Despite some strong statements by individual members, the final joint statement issued on July 25 was somewhat weakened by the need for consensus. The statement said that the ASEAN did “hope to see tangible progress” and urged the junta to release detainees, but did not call for action by the UN Security Council or warn Burma that its continued membership in ASEAN was dependent on progress. Even these careful statements were undermined by the statement that ASEAN “recognized that Myanmar needs both time and political space to deal with its many and complex challenges.”

Sample Letter:

To the ASEAN National Secretariats:

This week your government is meeting with the other states in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, first in the just-concluded ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, followed by the Post Ministerial Conference and finally the Asian Regional Forum. In your discussions with other governments and in all follow–up activities I urge you to promote the protection of human rights defenders throughout the region. The cases of Somchai Neelaphaijit in Thailand, Munir in Indonesia, and Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma deserve special attention.

In its discussion and July 25 joint statement, ASEAN took note of the failure of Burma to make any headway in its “roadmap” to democratization. However, the joint statement was not as strong as some of the earlier comments by individual ASEAN members, who recognized the impact of Burma’s failure to respect human rights on the reputation of the regional body. I hope you will continue to press Burma for reform, starting with the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and any other detainees held without due process for their non-violent beliefs and opinions.

I also urge you to address two other major cases in the region. In September 2004 one of Indonesia’s leading human rights defenders, Munir, was fatally poisoned with arsenic while flying to Holland to continue his studies. A 2005 trial led to the conviction of one man, but former state intelligence officials implicated in the investigation have yet to be effectively questioned, let alone prosecuted.

In March 2004, one of Thailand’s leading human rights lawyers, Somchai Neelaphaijit, was abducted by a group of men in Bangkok and never seen again. He had just filed a complaint alleging that police had tortured several of his clients. Five policemen were soon arrested, but the police force was allowed to investigate its own members. They were charged only with robbery and coercion, and four were acquitted due to lack of evidence. One defendant received a three year sentence for coercion. Government officials have pledged that a new inquiry will lead to murder charges, but there is no sign of progress.

Because Asia is the only part of the world without a regional human rights mechanism, it falls upon ASEAN’s member governments to maintain their credibility and reputation as a group of nations supportive of human rights and international standards. I urge you to make the protection of human rights defenders, including ending impunity for their murder and “disappearance,” an essential element of your domestic and foreign policies. Important first steps would be accountability in the Munir case, solving Neelaphaijit’s disappearance, and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and detainees of conscience and opinion.

I hope ASEAN will also take steps to address underlying human rights concerns in a systematic way, by enshrining a commitment to human rights, transparency, and good governance in its planned charter and supporting the creation of an effective regional human rights mechanism.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.