Several regions in Asia have witnessed some frightening events in the past few days. In Pakistan, the military regime unleashed violence against the campaign led by the suspended chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, for independence of the judiciary. The violence resulted in the death of more than 30 innocent protestors. At the same time, a witness, vital to the case against the suspended chief justice was assassinated at his home to prevent important evidence appearing in court that could have proved the allegations against the chief justice, baseless. The lawyer’s for the chief justice blamed the killing on the military regime.
In the Philippines, though the legislative and local elections concluded on May 14, the violence and corruption prior to the elections was appalling. The day after the elections, the Philippine National Police (PNP) announced the death of 126 people, a large number of whom were both incumbent candidates standing for re-election and those contesting for the first time. A further 132 people were wounded in what the PNP referred to as election-related violent incidents, or ERVIs. Inspite of these facts, it was amazing when Avelino Razon Jr., the deputy director general and deputy national police chief for administration, announced, “overall, the situation was generally peaceful except for some untoward incidents.” All the reported incidents, however, demonstrate the lack of respect for the rule of law and the extreme violence used for denying ordinary citizens in the Philippines the right to vote.
Around the same time, Sri Lanka witnessed the escalation in violence between the military and the armed insurgents, which has caused untold suffering to the civilian population, including about 500,000 people internally displaced. A Buddhist monk, reputed to have good relations with both the Sinhala and Tamil populations in the east of the country and who, for a long time had taken a strong position against the war, was gunned down in broad daylight. This was a fluent Tamil speaking Sinhala monk who had admitted a Tamil boy as a novice for monk hood—a rare event in Sri Lanka. While the people in the area mourned his death, Buddhist monks associated with ethnic political positions remained silent. The debate, for and against a military solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka, has reached such deep levels.
Behind the violence lie authoritarian tendencies, which have gained dominance in the region and these try to use the environment of violence to maintain their power. Such violent environments arise due to the frequent rise in political powers through illegitimate means, which deny the basic electoral rights of the people. In the Philippines, since a long time, the legitimacy of political authority has been challenged for the failure to hold free and fair elections. Several attempts at redressing this problem through legal processes have failed and such circumstances have resulted in the strong increase in extrajudicial killings, most of which have been attributed by independent inquirers to the military. Worse, the government has not taken any action against such findings reported by the Melo Commission and the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston.
In Pakistan, the present regime came to power through a military coup. The recent actions against the chief justice are seen as attempts by the President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to extend his term in office for a further five years, so that the judiciary does not challenge his unconstitutional placement.
In Sri Lanka, the system of an executive presidency that places power in the hands of a single individual and undermines the position of the legislature and judiciary has created a situation in which stable governance has become almost impossible. About 105 people have been offered various ministries and portfolios to ensure that they remain loyal to the government and avoid it from collapsing. The government continues to use emergency and anti-terrorism laws to deal with mass discontent at a time when high, price inflation in essential commodities and unemployment is thriving.
These three countries, as well as several others in the region, have displayed a shift towards authoritarian rule, away from democracy. This tendency, long persistent, has not received sufficient attention from the global human rights communities, including the U.N. human rights agencies.
These current situations have not just violated the rights of individuals but have made it impossible to realize many of those rights within the system. The right for equal treatment before the law, the right for protection against illegal arrest and detention, the right to a fair trial, the right for information and association as well as basic economic, social and cultural rights are undermined in a manner that impinge the legal, social and political processes making it difficult for people to enjoy such systems.
The current political developments pose a major threat to the protection and promotion of rights. This comes at a time, when former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan promised a new era in the implementation of rights. Instead, the Asian regions are witnessing a new era of comprehensive denials in the implementation of rights. Those who care for human rights and democracy should pay great heed to understand and resist this devastating process before it is too late.
Source: Authoritarian Threats to Human Rights and Democracy in Asia
Filed under: corruption, extrajudicial killings, Pakistan, Philippines, politics
