Senator The Honourable Bob Carr

Senator Bob Carr, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia

Re: Australia: Lead the Human Rights Movement in Asia

Dear Senator Bob Carr,

Congratulations on your recent appointment as Foreign Minister of Australia.

I am William Nicholas Gomes, Salem-News Human Rights Ambassador.  I look forward to working with you and the Gillard government to help Australia realize its commitments to protecting and promoting human rights.

Since 2007 the Australian government has expanded its human rights advocacy at the international level, including through its bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council. We welcome Australia’s commitment to engaging constructively in human rights dialogues and exchanges with individual countries, in particular within Australia’s region.

Australia is now well integrated as part of the Asia-Pacific region and, as you have mentioned, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries are important friends and trading partners for Australia.  On your recent trip to Cambodia, Singapore, and Vietnam you highlighted the importance of Southeast Asia to Australia’s foreign policy and identified the ASEAN bloc, taken as a whole, as Australia’s second largest trading partner.

I write to you to outline human rights concerns in several countries where we work and where I believe the right mix of pressure and engagement from Australia may make all the difference to protecting human rights. These countries include Burma, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Trade, as you acknowledged, is an important means by which to improve the living standards of people in the Asia-Pacific region. However, trade alone will not bring the necessary improvements to people in the region who are denied their basic freedoms.

Australia is uniquely a long-standing successful democracy in the Asian region, as well as the 13^th largest economy in the world. Australia’s close ties to countries in Southeast Asia create an opportunity for constructive dialogue on improving not just living standards of people in the region, but also their human rights.  Australia should leverage this position in the region and use every opportunity to raise human rights concerns, sensitively and constructively, as part of its bilateral and multilateral relations, as well as showing by example that it fully respects the human rights of all, including migrants and indigenous people in Australia.

Treaty Ratification and the Bali Process

I understand that through the Bali Process, Australia has tried to lift regional standards and cooperation to counter people-smuggling. However, we are concerned that punitive crackdowns on people-smuggling, without a corresponding regional framework in place to protect refugees and asylum seekers, could exacerbate the harm to people who are fleeing persecution. Currently, only two ASEAN member states, Cambodia and the Philippines, have ratified the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention) and its 1967 Protocol. The absence of ratifications has serious consequences in terms of the protection of asylum seekers through regional cooperation frameworks, such as the Bali Process.

I recommend that Australia:

• Use its position in the region to encourage ASEAN member countries to ratify the Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.
• Exercise Australia’s leadership as co-chair of the Bali Process to ensure that the humane treatment of migrants, the ability of asylum seekers to access asylum processing systems and the principle of non-refoulement (non-return) are core objectives of the Bali Process, including any discussions or agreements on a regional offshore processing center for migrants.
• Make the Bali Process more transparent and accountable by ensuring that civil society groups are provided an opportunity to meaningfully participate in the process.
• Ensure that financial or technical assistance to other states for the purpose of strengthening border control and combating people-smuggling includes assistance and training in refugee law and refugee protection. Urge other states to ensure that any proposed people-smuggling legislation does not criminalize those acting with humanitarian, rather than financial, intentions, in accordance with international standards.

Burma

The Australian government has long taken a calibrated approach of targeted sanctions, principled engagement, and humanitarian aid to press for human rights and genuine democratic reform in Burma.

There have been encouraging signs of change in Burma in the past year, including easing of official censorship, a new law on the right to strike, and amendments to electoral laws that permitted the opposition National League for Democracy to register and contest April by-elections in which it won almost all the seats it contested.

However, the overall human rights situation remains poor. Despite the release of many political prisoners, several hundred political prisoners remain. Laws promulgated in recent months, including on the right to peaceful assembly, fall short of international standards. The newly created National Human Rights Commission also does not fulfill the Paris Principles on national human rights bodies, and the commission has not seriously investigated complaints of human rights abuses.

Now more than ever, countries like Australia should support democratic forces inside the country to push for real reform and the release of all political prisoners. I support your view that the peeling back of sanctions should only be done once further progress is made and recognized as authentic by the opposition. Blindly pursuing engagement for humanitarian assistance and foreign investment in the absence of a functioning legal framework could derail the fragile gains of the past year. Given the small number of seats involved, these by-elections were not a serious test of Burma’s commitment to democratic reform. The real test will be when people exert their basic rights, whether by acting under new laws or expressing views contrary to those of the military, which continues to be the controlling force in the country.

Burma has the world’s longest running civil war, with the Burmese army engaged in armed conflicts with armed groups of various ethnic minorities around the country. The government has embarked on ceasefire negotiations with a number of armed ethnic rebel groups. However, serious abuses by the army against ethnic minority populations continue.

For instance, fighting has been ongoing since June 2011 in Kachin State, with 75,000 people displaced as a result. The Burmese military continues to violate international humanitarian law through the use of extrajudicial killings, torture, sexual violence, abusive forced labor, antipersonnel landmines, and pillaging of property. The Kachin Independence Army has unlawfully used child soldiers and landmines.

I support Australia’s decision in January to remove some names from the list of individuals subject to targeted travel and financial sanctions. On April 6 you said, “We will continue to ease our sanctions in ways that acknowledge the progress made to date, while also encouraging further steps toward reform.” I fully share the view that it is important to ease sanctions, in a way that favors the forces of progress towards human rights and rule of law in the country, while continuing to disadvantage those holding progress back—which include military leaders implicated in human rights abuses in conflict areas and those with ties to with abusive military-owned companies. In light of this, Australia should now consider additional positive steps— for example, further easing of visa bans and asset freezes for select individuals, and the establishment of parliamentary exchanges.

I also support Australia’s significant increase in humanitarian aid to assist the Burmese people, up to Au$47.6 million in 2011-2012. As discussions begin on the return of an approximately 140,000 refugees from camps along the Thailand-Burma border, Australia should maintain support for those in refugee camps, ensure there is no premature push to refugees and that any repatriation will be voluntary, safe and dignified. To date, Australia has not supported efforts at cross-border assistance from Thailand to Burma to aid displaced communities in eastern Burma, but should reconsider that stance in light of Burmese government ceasefire talks with ethnic armed groups, and discussions on repatriating refugees and IDPs over the coming years.

I also appreciate Australia’s commitment to advocating greater assistance to Burma through international financial institutions and others but urge that such engagement take Burma’s challenging context into consideration.

I recommend that Australia:

• Support an independent international mechanism to investigate alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by all parties to the conflicts in Burma, as well as to investigate and publicly report on the whereabouts and conditions of remaining political prisoners.
• Support the establishment of a United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights office in Burma with a standard protection, promotion, and technical assistance mandate.
• Continue to publicly press for the release of all remaining political prisoners in Burma.
• Potentially lift visa bans and asset freezes against named individuals in Burma that are not high-ranking military officials or their close associates, subject to a careful review to determine that they do not bear responsibility for abuses, while sanctions against key uniformed leaders of the armed forces should be maintained.
• Coordinate with other governments—particularly those that have sanctions in place on Burma—to develop new rules setting out core requirements for responsible, rights-respecting trade and investment in the country that will take effect as sanctions are selectively removed. In preparation, begin now to consult with civil society to develop strong accountability and transparency measures for businesses active in Burma.
• Maintain Australia’s arms embargo on Burma, as the government has pledged to do.
• Work with the government of Burma to institute sufficient legal, human rights, anti-corruption, and environmental safeguards to ensure that Burma’s governance reforms are sustainable in the long term.
• Similarly, design and pursue development efforts with due regard for the challenges of engagement in country that has been misruled for decades. Donor governments and institutions should consult with civil society and press Burma’s government to increase transparency and accountability, make urgent social needs a priority, and carry out systemic reforms necessary for meaningful development. Meaningful anti-corruption measures are needed so that Burma’s own considerable resources and outside assistance benefit the people of Burma and are not squandered or stolen.
• Increase assistance to IDPs and refugees and play a role in crucial human rights monitoring to ensure any eventual returns are voluntary, safe and dignified.
• Ensure that post-conflict development initiatives include a strong human rights protection component.

Cambodia

Australia has long been committed to Cambodia’s development. In 2011-2012 Cambodia will receive AU$77.4 million in Australian aid.

While we support Australia’s provision of aid to Cambodia, the donor relationship provides an important opportunity for Australia to assist Cambodia to overcome some of its serious human rights problems. In making your first state visit to Cambodia, you said, “It’s been a great honor for me to make my first visit as Australia’s Foreign Minister to Cambodia… Australia is a close and outstanding friend of Cambodia.”  While Australia clearly values its relationship with Cambodia, as a “friend” it should be prepared to speak more frankly about the serious human rights violations being committed against the Cambodian people in an environment of total impunity.

Freedom of expression, assembly and association remain under threat in Cambodia. The government is using criminal defamation and incitement laws to intimidate and imprison critics. Nongovernmental organizations have identified at least 12 persons imprisoned under these laws for peaceful expression of views since December 2010. The government also continues to systematically use a 2009 law to deny permission for public assemblies in Phnom Penh outside isolated “freedom parks.”

Arbitrary detention and torture are routinely used by the police and the military police to extract confessions, which are then used to obtain convictions. Cambodia’s prisons continue to be overcrowded and lack sufficient food, water, sanitation, and health care. Other facilities, such as the Prey Speu Social Affairs Center, are also used to arbitrarily detain people against their will, including homeless people, drug users, and sex workers rounded up from the streets. International Human Rights organization Human Rights Watch has found detainees there have been subjected to abuses including suspicious deaths, rape, torture, and beatings.

During your recent Phnom Penh visit, you recently announced an additional contribution of Au$1.61 million to fund the work of the Khmer Rouge trials, taking the total to more than Au$18 million donated by Australia since 2006. Australia is the second largest donor to the trials. After five years and more than AU$144 million, the court has prosecuted just one defendant, Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch), while only three others are currently on trial.

In Phnom Penh, you stated that “the independence of the judiciary is paramount and the ECCC [Khmer Rouge tribunal] must be allowed to operate free from any external interference.” However, given recent events in Cambodia, a stronger statement supporting the importance of additional cases to proceed is warranted. Cases 003 and 004 are two cases comprising five suspects that were submitted by the international co-prosecutor to the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges in 2009. Two international co-investigating judges recently resigned, citing political interference from the Cambodian government. Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian Peoples’ Party (CPP) have used their power over Cambodian appointed judges to systematically undermine the independence of the tribunal in pursuit of their demand that the tribunal only consider cases they would like to see prosecuted, flaunting the law and breaching the government agreement with the UN establishing the court.

Now more than ever, principled UN participation, asserting fair procedures and thorough investigations of all cases, is essential to ensuring that the Khmer Rouge tribunal is able to complete its mission to hold those “most responsible” for Khmer Rouge atrocities to account, as provided by law.

I recommend that Australia:

• Play a leadership role in pressing the United Nations to protect the integrity of the Khmer Rouge tribunal by nominating qualified international co-investigating and reserve co-investigating judges, and defending the legal authority and independence of the international co-investigating judge to investigate any cases of persons suspected of being most responsible for serious international crimes in Cambodia coming to their attention.
• Publicly call for the need for genuine, impartial, independent, and effective investigations into Khmer Rouge tribunal cases 003 and 004.
• Condemn the ongoing political interference by the Cambodian government, which undermines the judicial independence of the Khmer Rouge tribunal.
• Support the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly by publicly calling for the release of all persons who are in prison for peacefully expressing their views and conducting peaceful protests.
• Demand the closure of the Prey Speu Social Affairs Center and other centers used to arbitrarily detain persons against their will.
• Urge improvements in conditions of detention in Cambodian prisons, in line with international standards.

Indonesia

Australia has significantly deepened its bilateral relationship with Indonesia in the past two years, elevating it to the status of a “comprehensive strategic partnership” in March 2010. Indonesia is now also the largest recipient of Australian aid funding, totaling A$558 million in 2011-2012. These factors create a unique opportunity for Australia to use its clout to seek better human rights outcomes in Indonesia.

Australia provides extensive support and training to Indonesian security forces. Impunity for members of Indonesia’s security forces remains a serious concern, with no civilian jurisdiction over soldiers who commit serious human rights abuses. Military tribunals are rarely held, lack transparency, and the charges frequently fail to reflect the seriousness of the abuses committed. Many of these abuses take place in Papua—however, access to Papua remains tightly controlled by the Indonesian government, and few foreign journalists or human rights researchers are able to visit without close monitoring of their activity.

For instance, in October 2012 Indonesian security forces used excessive force to break up a pro-independence demonstration in Jayapura, Papua. The security forces then used batons and in some instances firearms against the demonstrators, and as a result at least three people were killed and more than 90 others injured. As best I can determine, police and military officials involved have only received disciplinary infractions—no one has been charged with criminal offenses. To the contrary, the Jayapura police chief, Imam Setiawan, has subsequently been promoted.

Meanwhile, five of the activists who testified how security forces beat them during the crackdown have been tried and sentenced to three years in prison for makar (treason) because of pro-independence statements they made at the Congress. I believe that a clear and firm public statement on Australia’s position on respecting free expression and condemning impunity by security forces is critical, especially since there is a real risk that Australian Ambassador Greg Moriarty’s reference to the actions of Papuan People’s Congress leaders as “illegal, provocative, and counterproductive” may otherwise be interpreted as supporting further government crackdowns on the Congress.

The Lombok Treaty between Indonesia and Australia affirms the “sovereignty, unity, independence, and territorial integrity of both Parties” but it also requires respect for obligations under international law, including international human rights law.

Despite Indonesia’s progress as an emerging democracy, the country now has scores of political prisoners from Papua and the Moluccas, primarily individuals put behind bars for making statements or raising flags or displaying symbols that the Indonesian authorities interpreted as local calls for independence. Indonesian officials continue to enforce a number of laws that criminalize the peaceful expression of political, religious, and other views. These include offenses in Indonesia’s criminal code such as treason or rebellion (makar), “inciting hatred” (haatzai artikelen), and blasphemy.

Violence against religious minorities in Indonesia is on the rise. Islamist militants have mobilized mobs to attack religious minorities with impunity; short prison terms for a handful of offenders have done little to dissuade mob violence. The government has failed to revoke several decrees that discriminate against minority religions, fostering public intolerance.

I recommend that Australia:

• Urge Indonesia to lift all restrictions on access of foreign media and human rights organizations to Papua.
• Unequivocally condemn excessive use of force and the suppression of peaceful protests, and call on the Indonesian government to ensure that Indonesian security forces are properly held accountable for any alleged abuses. In particular, call for an investigation into alleged excessive use of force by the authorities at the Papuan Peace Congress last October.
• Call for Indonesia to amend or repeal laws that criminalize peaceful political expression and to free all prisoners held for peacefully expressing their political views.
• Condemn incidents of violence against religions in Indonesia, and call on the Indonesian government to repeal its decrees that discriminate against minority religions and ensure accountability for harm that is caused.

Malaysia

Malaysia is Australia’s third-largest trading partner in ASEAN. Despite Malaysian government promises of reform and relaxation of controls, the country in 2011 fell far short in meeting Prime Minister Najib Razak’s pledges to “uphold civil liberties” and build a “functional and inclusive democracy.”  Last year, the government arbitrarily detained outspoken critics, used tear gas and water cannon against thousands who peacefully marched in support of clean and fair elections, and replaced long-existing restrictions on free assembly with even more draconian controls.

A particular concern regarding the Australia-Malaysia relationship is the treatment of asylum seekers in Malaysia. Despite the High Court’s ruling that Malaysia does not have appropriate legal frameworks for protection of asylum seekers, there are currently two bills before the Australian Parliament seeking to revive the asylum swap deal.  Despite a reduction of forced repatriation at the Malaysia-Thai border, the Malaysian government still fails to protect asylum seekers and refugees. Malaysia has not ratified the Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol and has no refugee law or procedure. Malaysian authorities still commit refoulement. In February 2012 they deported blogger Hamza Kashgari back to Saudi Arabia where he faces a possible death penalty for expression of his religious views. At no time were his lawyers or United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representatives permitted access to him. Neither the Australian government’s bill (the Migration Legislation Amendment (Offshore Processing and other Measures) Bill 2011) nor the Hon. Rob Oakeshott MP’s bill (Migration Legislation Amendment (The Bali Process) Bill 2012) provide any legally binding Refugee Convention-related protection for persons removed from Australia under the proposed amendments. Each bill would send Australia’s asylum seekers to a precarious and uncertain future in Malaysia, and each raises serious concerns about Australia’s discharge of its obligations under the Refugee Convention.

I recommend that Australia:

• Stop pursuing any asylum swap arrangement with Malaysia given the absence in Malaysia of legal and practical protections required under the Refugee Convention.
• Raise concerns with Malaysia about its unwillingness to provide protection to asylum seekers and its attacks on free expression and assembly.

Vietnam

Australia’s bilateral relationship with Vietnam reached a significant milestone when the two countries signed the “Australia-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership” in September 2009. The provisions of the agreement were supplemented by a bilateral Plan of Action signed in October 2010. Australia’s development assistance for Vietnam in 2011-12 is budgeted at AU$137.9 million, which makes Vietnam the sixth largest recipient of Australian funding. Australia is also Vietnam’s fifth largest export market and among the top 10 trade partners. In addition, Vietnam and Australia are negotiating the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement. Next year, 2013, will mark the 40^th year since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Australia should use its access and influence to urge Vietnam to improve its abysmal human rights record.

In Vietnam, many political detainees and prisoners have been charged under vaguely worded articles in Vietnam’s penal code that criminalize peaceful dissent. These crimes include “subversion of the people’s administration,” “undermining the unity policy,” “conducting propaganda against the state,” and “abusing democratic freedoms” to “infringe upon the interests of the State.”

Throughout 2011 and the first three months of 2012, there has been a steady stream of political trials and arrests in Vietnam. Bloggers, writers, human rights defenders, land rights activists, anti-corruption campaigners, and religious and democracy advocates faced harassment, intimidation, arbitrary arrest, torture, and imprisonment.

Police have prevented public celebration of religious events, intimidated and detained participants, and placed prominent leaders of these groups under house arrest. Even registered religious organizations such as the Redemptorist churches in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were harassed repeatedly, including a mob attack against the Thai Ha Catholic church in Hanoi.

Vietnamese law authorizes arbitrary detention without trial. Peaceful dissidents and others deemed to threaten national security or public order may be involuntarily committed to mental institutions, placed under house arrest, or detained in state-run “rehabilitation” or “education” centers. Drug users can be held up to four years in government-run rehabilitation centers where they receive very little treatment but  are subjected  abuse including beatings, torture, forced labor (in the guise of so-called “labor therapy”), and solitary confinement. An assessment in early 2011 found that 123 drug detention centers across the country held 40,000 people, including children as young as 12.

Those held in drug detention centers reported being forced to work in cashew processing and other forms of agricultural production, and garment manufacturing and other forms of manufacturing, such as making bamboo and rattan products. Under Vietnamese law, companies that handle products from these centers are eligible for tax exemptions. Some products produced as a result of this forced labor made their way into the supply chain of companies that sell goods abroad, including to Australia.

During your March 27-29 visit to Vietnam, you stated that Australia considers Vietnam as one of its key partners in the Asia-Pacific and that the Australian government will continue to give “priority to Vietnam in official development assistance. I urge that Vietnam’s concrete human rights improvement be an integral part of Australia’s official engagement in Vietnam.

I recommend that Australia:

• Call on Vietnam to immediately release all political and religious prisoners and urge Vietnam to amend or repeal provisions that criminalize peaceful dissent and certain religious activities on the basis of imprecisely defined “national security” crimes to bring Vietnam’s laws and regulations into full compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Vietnam has ratified.
• Urge Vietnam to repeal Ordinance 44, which authorizes administrative detention, house arrest, and detention in Social Protection Centers and psychiatric facilities for two-year renewable periods, without trial, for individuals deemed to have violated national security laws.
• Urge Vietnam to recognize independent labor unions and to ratify and implement International Labor Organization Conventions No. 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize), No. 98 (Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining) and No. 105 (Abolition of Forced Labor).
• Ensure that no funding, programming, and activities directed to assisting Vietnam’s drug detention centers are supporting policies or programs that violate international human rights law, including prohibitions on arbitrary detention, forced labor, torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Vetting procedure for security force cooperation

A common issue in many countries where Human Rights Watch works is a lack of accountability for crimes committed by security forces, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture. I believe impunity will be addressed only by raising the stakes for committing such crimes, which requires concerted international pressure for abusive personnel to be brought to justice. Knowing that Australia plays a vital role in training security forces and helping to promote human rights in many of these countries, we also call on your administration to establish and make publicly available a procedure by which appropriate Australian officials will systematically vet the human rights records of security forces that Australia seeks to train.

This procedure should:

• Conduct vetting at the individual, unit, and force levels.
• Require that countries provide complete deployment histories of the individuals and units that Australia seeks to train.
• Consult with civil society groups about the human rights performance of individuals, units, and forces that Australia seeks to train before agreeing to provide such training.
• Require that countries provide information about police investigations and military tribunal proceedings involving members of the security forces affiliated with the units that Australia seeks to train.
• State the consequences that will result if the vetting procedure outlined above reveals that members or units of the security forces that Australia seeks to train have been credibly accused of past human rights violations and have not been effectively investigated and prosecuted by local authorities.
• Make this protocol publicly available, and it in turn should provide that until credible investigations and appropriate prosecutions are conducted and the results made public, the individual or unit implicated will be ineligible for Australian support.

I urge you, as Foreign Minister, to sponsor an initiative to develop such a protocol. Thiscould be developed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, or as a joint initiative with the Ministry of Defense.

I look forward to discussing these matters with you further.`

AUTHOR: William Nicholas Gomes
URL: www.williamgomes.org
E-MAIL: williamgomes.org [at] gmail.com

I am fortunate enough to know people who are attempting to make a difference in Cambodia and it has given my husband and I the opportunity to see things we may not normally see. One of these people is my stepson, James, who works in the emergency department of the Provincial Hospital in Siem Reap as well as teaching and training there. On our arrival last December my daughter in law asked if I would like to visit an Orphanage where a friend was a member of staff. I immediately said yes. The following day we travelled in the tuk tuk for my first visit. I had stupidly visualised the Orphanage as being huge and rather monolithic, like something out of Jane Eyre. I couldn’t have been more wrong. After travelling along a very bumpy track and a bumpy track in a tuk tuk is no fun let me tell you.  I certainly lost a fair amount of my diet coke on the way, we pulled up outside a traditional Cambodian house that was as far removed from Jane Eyre as one could get.

‘Hello,’ welcomed Sochenda in her broken English. ‘Thank you so much for visiting.’

The children

I removed my shoes before entering the house and had just got them off when the children ran to greet me. I followed them inside where they pulled me to their books and toys. Some were quite shy and just watched me, while others were keen to go outside and play ball. I sat for a short time with the youngest baby there and then saw a child who was clearly distressed and very unwell.  If anything brought my life into perspective this child did. Her skin was blue and her eyes sunken. This distressed me so much that I felt an urgent need to run from this situation that I could do nothing about. I forced back my own tears and asked my daughter in law what was wrong with the baby. With Sochanda’s help, she told me that Leangim, normally called Gem, was abandoned by her mother. Her father is unknown.

A midwife who helped Gem’s mum to give birth took pity on her and decided to adopt her. Unfortunately, eight months later Gem became really sick and the midwife and her husband brought her to Kuntha Bopha Hospital to get medical treatment. The doctor’s found she had a serious heart defect and needed an operation which could not be done in Cambodia.  With hope and love for Gem, the midwife sought help from any NGOs that could save her life.  She found the Children’s Sanctuary.  

For the first time in my life I felt so helpless. Here was a child so very sick and there was nothing I could do.

A week later I returned with my husband. No sooner had we stepped into the courtyard, then children began shouting hello to us from their classroom high up on the balcony of the house which is located alongside the Siem Reap River. I have never felt as welcome as I did that day and I only wish I could have been armed with more than just biscuits. The children had just started their lessons. They sat quietly listening to their teacher while occasionally posing for me when they realised the camera was on them. I had the pleasure of playing with the children on my first visit and reading to them from the collection of donated books on the shelves. This time I sat in on their class and again I could not resist photographing their happy faces while wondering how I could contribute to their lives. I asked how Gem was and she was brought out looking a lot better than on my previous visit, but still very sick.

Dawn and Andrew

Cambodia is a poverty stricken country and everywhere you look there is malnutrition. Many of the children here originate from impoverished rural villages and most children coming to the Sanctuary are orphans or have been abandoned by their families. When visiting the sanctuary it is almost impossible not to fall in love with the children. I pointed my camera again and Srey Roat Heng smiled proudly at the lens.

‘We found Srey Roat in her mother’s lap whilst she was begging beneath the scorching summer sun. She was only three months old.’ Sochenda told me.

‘Her mother was hungry and her breast milk was diminishing fast. She could not afford infant formula, had no access to clean drinking water and no facilities to keep bottles clean. Srey Roat and her mother now live with us and for the first time in her life, mother Mao is receiving a regular income for her work as an assistant at The Children’s Sanctuary.

It is thanks to an Australian couple, Dawn Cornish and her husband Doctor Andrew Clift that the vision of a home for abandoned children was realised. I contacted Andrew on my return home and he quickly put me in touch with Dawn.  Andrew Clift visited Cambodia in 2006. The couple had already worked with HIV infected orphans in Africa and Thailand. They decided that Cambodia was one of the neediest countries they had seen. Following their vision, Dawn set off establish The Children’s Sanctuary in Siem Reap the following year. Four years later I would visit and feel an overwhelming need to meet Dawn and Andrew who share their life with the first child who came to the orphanage and whom they adopted. Dawn has worked in nursing and medical recruitment and management and has studied international and community development. She has worked overseas particularly with AIDS orphans in Asia. Andrew Clift, meanwhile, has worked in ten countries for government, non-government and United Nations organisations. His work in remote Australian communities, five years’ work with orphaned and abandoned children, as well as hospital and project management, assists his CSI work in Cambodia.

Within a month of Dawn returning to Cambodia the venue for the orphanage had been found and renovations took place. Their first baby arrived weighing just 2.2kg. Shortly after, others followed. Abandoned babies were taken in, as well as others with cerebral palsy, HIV and epilepsy. Dr Andrew Clift described the following two years as a ‘Big adventure’

‘Many of the children in the orphanage originate from impoverished rural villages where their families live in conditions of extreme deprivation,’ Dawn explained.

 ‘Most of these children are malnourished, many severely, and significant proportions have other illnesses, most commonly infectious diseases.’

Despite significant improvements since the end of recent conflicts, Cambodia still remains one of the world’s most impoverished countries. Most families survive on less than one dollar a day and children are the ones most affected by the poverty. The under-five mortality rates remain very high. Half of all Cambodian children suffer from malnutrition. Less than half will complete primary school.

Helping

When a child is taken into care at the sanctuary, the main objective is to address any health issues. The children are cared for by the Sanctuary nannies and what wonderful people they are. All are trained in first aid and health care with emphasis upon hygiene. A doctor and nurse visit the children on a regular basis to check on the children’s health and progress if they are on treatment. Full dental care is also provided for all children. But, as always, money is a problem. The Orphanage depends solely on donations and sponsorship. I met the staff first hand and was so impressed. It was hard to control my emotions in the face of such caring dedication. Since its establishment Dawn Cornish has welcomed sixteen children into The Children’s Sanctuary in Siem Reap but she has also supported many children in a local village school and assisted people who have needed lifesaving operations. Her husband, Andrew Clift, has supported this venture by working in outback Australian and Pacific hospitals. One person helped by The Sanctuary is Srey Cheak, who has thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder requiring regular blood transfusions. She is being assisted by The Children’s Sanctuary for her medical treatment.

A few days before writing this article I emailed Sochenda for some background on the children. I was thrilled to read that thanks to the efforts of Dawn and Andrew, Gem underwent major  cardio-vascular surgery at the Angkor Hospital for Children on Friday, 23rdMarch 2012 under the care of the visiting Singaporean cardio-thoracic team.  The surgery was a success, which means Gem’s symptoms should dramatically improve and her life expectancy extended. Gem is due another operation in December this year and hopefully this will also be successful.

On my journey back I realised that I could help in more ways than I had at first imagined. I could write about the sanctuary and bring attention to its needs. For a small amount each month I could sponsor a child there.

The Children’s Sanctuary Incorporated (CSI) strongly believes the best place for a child is within his or her own community. It works together with families and single mothers who are wishing to relinquish their child due to their circumstances, and find solutions to avoid separation. The children, who are a part of the CSI family, are those who have nowhere else to go. They are either true orphans, have been abandoned, are seriously ill, or were living in a high-risk environment. The children under CSI’s care receive a secure and loving home, a balanced diet, high-standard health care, private education supplementary classes and weekly outings

I hope I have encouraged you to do something to help. I will be returning to Cambodia in July to work as a volunteer in the hospital where Gem had her operation. From my photos you can see how happy the children are. During our visit we saw the children receive gifts for their outstanding work in the classroom for the past year. Visitors are very welcome at the Sanctuary provided prior arrangement is made and you can help with the lessons if you wish. My time spent with the children was very humbling and visiting the sanctuary certainly puts things into perspective. When it is time to climb back into the tuk tuk, both the staff and children come to wave goodbye. It is a visit I shall not forget.

You can support the sanctuary on Facebook. For information on sponsoring please visit the sanctuary at www.thechildrenssanctuary.com

Please help and make a difference.

AUTHOR: Lynda Renham-Cook
URL: http://www.renham.co.uk
E-MAIL: lynda [at] renham.co.uk

H.E. Ang Vong Vathna, Minister of Justice
H.E. Sar Kheng, Minister of Interior
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia

Re: Cambodia: Right to freedom of assembly has been severely violated

Your Excellencies,

I write to you to express our grave concerns regarding the shooting of three female garment workers in the Bavet town of Svay Rieng province on 20 February 2012.

I have received information that around 6,000 workers gathered in front of the Kaoway Sports Ltd factory in a peaceful demonstration to demand for better working conditions, including a minimum living wage of US$61/month and lunch allowance. While the demonstration was taking place, three unarmed women were shot; two suffered wounds to their arms or legs, one was seriously injured as the bullet ripped through her thoracic cage.

The perpetrator was later identified as being Bavet town’s own governor, Mr. Chhouk Bandit. Although the Minister of Interior, Mr. Sar Kheng, said publicly that Mr. Bandit was the sole suspect, the Court – under the direction of provincial chief prosecutor Hing Bun Chea – declined to issue an arrest warrant and instead settled with a summons on allegations that the report the police submitted was incomplete. He was briefly questioned by the police last week and later released. Mr. Bandit is expected to appear in court on 16 March 2012.

I deeply regret that the exercise of the fundamental right to freedom of assembly has been severely violated by the use of excessive force, which resulted in the serious injuries of three of the demonstration’s participants.

I note that there is much fear concerning the safety and security of the three victims and their families. These concerns are well grounded since the victims were approached on numerous occasions by officials from Bavet, including the police chief and commune chiefs, attempting to silence them through bribes since the shooting incident. [1] The most severely injured victim, Ms. Buot Chinda, was allegedly approached by the town governor himself. [2] I believe that the government of Cambodia must protect these young women and their families. They should be immediately placed under witness protection. Individuals who came forward in helping identify the perpetrator should also be placed under protection. I also stress that these attempts to influence witnesses in the ongoing investigation could constitute an obstruction of justice and are criminal offences punishable under Cambodia’s Criminal Code. [3] Those attempting to influence the witnesses must be held accountable under the existing laws.

Although Mr. Bandit was dismissed from his position as a Bavet town governor on 8 March 2012, there remain concerns that he will enjoy impunity as he is a member of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). The successive chain of events fails to reflect the gravity of the crimes: there was a notable delay in the police investigation as well in making the information about his involvement public. The recent refusal to issue him with an arrest warrant despite the culpatory evidence highlights the flaws present in the Cambodian legal and judicial systems. I strongly believe that the state is obligated to combat impunity for attacks and violations against its own people, by ensuring prompt and impartial investigations into allegations and appropriate redress and reparation to victims. In this regard, an arrest warrant on the alleged perpetrator should be issued without delay to ensure the safety of the victims, and to prevent him from influencing the investigation and legal proceedings of this case.

I would like to draw your attention to the recent report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Mr. Surya Subedi, which highlighted concerns over the politicization of the judiciary and called for a separate entity to be solely in charge of the prosecutors – as opposed to being attached to the courts. [4] The unfolding of unfortunate events in the town of Bavet and the subsequent flawed investigation processes, have highlighted the cause for continued concerns in this regard.

As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) , the Government of Cambodia must ensure that the three victims are provided with an “effective remedy notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons in an official capacity” [5] and that it be determined by a competent judicial authority. We therefore strongly urge that the Government will ensure his appearance in court, protect all witnesses from intimidation, and guarantee that the upcoming legal process be carried out in a free, fair and impartial manner that meets international standards.

I further urge the Cambodian government to take the necessary steps to protect the fundamental right to freedom of assembly in Cambodia, which has been subjected to increasing restrictions. In this particular case, the Cambodian government’s ability to ensure justice for those whose rights have been severely violated and to hold the perpetrator accountable serves as a serious test of the Cambodian government’s will to uphold human rights, consistent with its own Constitution, the human rights principles of the ASEAN Charter, and international human rights law.

AUTHOR: William Nicholas Gomes
URL: www.williamgomes.org
E-MAIL: williamgomes.org [at] gmail.com

Arrival in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Having left England on a cold December day, I arrived at Siem Reap in Cambodia on Christmas day late in the evening. The heat hit me immediately. As I was still wearing my warm clothes I was quite relieved to feel the cool breeze on my face as I took my first Tuk Tuk ride to my accommodation. I had never been to Cambodia before and I was struck by the poverty of the country almost straight away. My stepson greeted us and took us back to his apartment where we were shown to our very comfortable bedroom.  I decided over the next few days I would see the poverty for myself. I had not imagined, however, the extent of it and was very surprised. What affected me most was seeing the children living in such squalid conditions. I found it difficult to visit the markets where children would beg me to buy their goods. On my third day I walked into the local village to visit the people there and to take photographs. Here the poverty of the people was very apparent. Children were running around barefoot avoiding skinny cockerels that hustled for food and shouting hello to us in loud voices. Everyone we passed smiled at us and asked how we were and some even offered us food despite their poverty. Both my husband I were very touched by this. We passed small huts that looked like they would crumble to the ground should there be one large gust of wind. I saw children being washed under taps while they fought to escape the parent attempting to clean them. How do these children stay well, I wondered and what do they eat? Cambodia is a poverty stricken country, where the average wage is seven dollars a week. Everywhere you look there is poverty and malnutrition. There are also many children. Where there is poverty, there are health problems. I glanced at the small stalls selling food and tried not to grimace at the flies that hovered there.

The Khmer Rouge

So what has ravaged this beautiful country and left such poverty in its wake? I knew something of the Khmer Rouge regime from things I had read but I realised I had no clear idea of what happened between 1975-1979. How could I not have been aware of such a terrible genocide? I was of an aware age. I thought back to what I may have been doing during this time and was ashamed of my ignorance. The Khmer Rouge killed nearly two million Cambodians from 1975 to 1979 spreading like a virus from the jungles until they controlled the entire country. They destroyed and dismantled in the name of a Communist agrarian ideal. Today, more than 30 years after Vietnamese soldiers removed the Khmer Rouge from power genocide trials are still going on, a bitter sweet moment for the impoverished nation still struggling to rehabilitate its crippled economic and human resources. It is this legacy that the children of Cambodia have inherited. Under Pol Pot’s leadership, and within days of overthrowing the government, the Khmer Rouge embarked on an organised mission. Children were taken from their parents and placed in separate forced labour camps. Factories, schools and universities were shut down; so were hospitals. Lawyers, doctors, teachers, engineers, scientists and professional people in any field (including the army) were murdered, together with their extended families.

If you are unfamiliar with the Khmer Rouge there are many books to familiarise yourself with this cruel and terrifying regime. ‘First they killed my father’ by Loung Ung is an emotional insight into one child’s experience of the horror of The Khmer Rouge. I was lucky to be given this book by my stepson and his wife while in Cambodia. Both the book and the country have touched me on a deeply emotional level. Seeing this beautiful country after this terrible rape by the Khmer Rouge makes it impossible not to be moved by the people’s positive attitude and their continual smiles. Knowing that thirty years ago the country lost most of its educated people and Doctors I was curious about the health situation in Cambodia.

Meeting Arun Sinketh at The Angkor Hospital for Children

A few days later I myself was very sick with a stomach upset and again I found myself wondering about the health system in Cambodia and along with my husband went to ‘The Angkor Hospital for Children’ (AHC) visitors Centre.  Arun Sinketh the Human Resources Director, sensing my interest and keenness to write an article offered to give us a tour of the Hospital the following day. I left armed with booklets and information and studied them that night. I was saddened to discover that the life expectancy in Cambodia is just 57 years and that the probability of dying before the age of five is 88 per thousand births. It was difficult to comprehend the figures. The children of Cambodia are the most appealing I have ever met and I fell in love with many of them. As I journeyed back to the Hospital the next morning, many of them waved and shouted ‘Hello’ to us. Some were travelling totally unprotected on the front of their father’s motorcycle. I cannot begin to count how many under-five’s I saw travelling helmetless on a motorcycle with either one or both parents. Heedless of the dust and heat they ride happily along seemingly unaware of the dangers. I immediately found my mind wandering back to what I had read the night before and shuddered. One of the most lasting legacies of the Khmer Rouge and which continues to claim new victims daily, are land mines.  They litter the countryside and even the soldiers who placed them there cannot recall where they are. As I travelled through the country the effects are visible in many ways but perhaps most poignantly in the number of children, men and women wearing prostheses or riding wheelchairs. I knew there had to be something I could do to help the smiling people of Cambodia. Where better to help the children than a hospital?

The Hospital Tour

With the statistics in my mind I pushed open the door to the Visitor Centre again where Arun was waiting for me. With a kind smile and a warm welcome she began my tour of the ‘Angkor Hospital for Children.’ The first thing I see is the hospital logo, a green symbol in the shape of a heart.  Arun has worked at the hospital for 11 years. She first began her career there as a nurse in 2001 and continued nursing for two and half years. Her biggest pleasure is the children. She later moved to be a PA and volunteer coordinator. In 2006, she worked full time as a PA. Arun is still studying in her spare time and was very inspirational.

I would now very much like you to take the tour with me. I was desperate to see how the hospital cared for these vulnerable children of Cambodia. We left the coolness of the visitor Centre and headed outside into the stifling heat where Arun pointed out the entrance gate and explained that the gate opens at 6 a.m. but people will have been queuing long before that. I asked her how many children are seen in one day and was stunned when she told me 400 children a day attend the hospital outpatient department. Almost half would have travelled more than 50 kilometres in the back of a pick-up truck or by motorbike. Most likely they will walk. I tried to imagine travelling from my home in Oxfordshire back in England for thirty miles or possibly even fifty to sixty miles to get to an outpatient department and shudder when I imagine trying to get a child there when I have no transport. It is unimaginable. Transporting a sick child all that way in a Tuk Tuk does not bear thinking about. I later visited a rural village in a Tuk Tuk and the roads were so uneven that I felt certain we would never make it. I came home with a mild headache from the heat and the uncomfortable ride. How much worse for a sick child. I followed Arun into the waiting area of the outpatient department, past crying children, anxious mothers and siblings to the triage area.

‘The majority of children who come to the hospital are less than five years old. The three main diseases are respiratory, diarrhoea and malnutrition. After triage, the child will see either a nurse or a doctor depending on the severity of their symptoms. Because waiting time is so long, up to many hours, we provide a play area for the siblings of the sick child. 400 children a day coming to the Hospital means a long wait.’ Arun explains.

And I thought we waited a long time in England. I make a decision not to moan about our healthcare system again.

Inpatients

The inpatient ward I found quite upsetting. Arun who previously nursed at the Hospital looks at the children affectionately and tells me how much she enjoyed nursing the children. I see a young baby suffering from Pneumonia and watch as his mother assists with the Oxygen mask. The baby looks very small and helpless and it is very distressing to see a young baby so sick and I have an overwhelming desire to pick her up and make everything all right. But, of course, I can’t.  Arun tells me the parents are encouraged to nurse their children and to be as active as possible in their recovery. The inpatient ward has 55 beds. I feel helpless when seeing so many sick children and decide to later ask Arun how I can help. We pass the smiling Doctors and nurses and as we do so a mother looks to my husband gratefully, thinking he is a Doctor. On walking back through the waiting area she immediately poured out her gratitude to us, bowing and showing us how deeply grateful she was. I looked to my husband and saw from his face how deeply moved he was by this. The friendship and generosity of the Cambodian people was quite a revelation to us and we instantly warmed to them.

Arun tells me that nursing these children is very satisfying. I am amazed to hear that more than 30,000 patients were seen in the inpatients department in 2010 with 2,356 admissions. Almost 100,000 have passed through the Intensive Care Unit. Frightening statistics.

Nean Pisitomony

Arun introduced me to Nean Pisitmony who comes from Preah Vihear Province, more than 100km from Siem Reap. His parents brought him to AHC to uncover what was making their seven year-old boy so sick. They had taken him to other hospitals, even as far away as Phnom Penh, but no one had been able to help them. At AHC he was quickly diagnosed with congenital heart disease and the Hospital was able to send him to Malaysia for corrective open-heart surgery. After a successful surgery he returned to Cambodia and had no complications. One day, while traveling through Kompong Thom, he saw the AHC logo on a donation box and immediately recognized it as the big green heart that had saved his own heart. Mony started saving money to someday donate to AHC because he thought that this was the best way he could help.

In February 2010, Mony returned to AHC. He had an abscess on his face, with severe swelling and an infection in his left eye. Even though physicians in his hometown treated him, he was not getting better. His parents decided to bring him back to the hospital with the big green heart.

At AHC, he was taken care of by the eye doctor, treated with antibiotics and improved quickly. He thanked all of the staff at AHC for saving his life once again and was finally able to donate the $100 he had been saving. He hopes that his donation will help save lives of other children, and it will.

With the growth of their own surgeons and the help of generous volunteers many children with heart conditions like Mony are now being treated right at AHC. In 2009, 24 open heart surgeries were successfully performed in the hospital’s own Operating Room!

Homecare programme

The most interesting aspect of the Angkor Hospital for Children for me was the Homecare programme and I immediately found myself wondering how I could return to Siem Reap and follow the homecare team who go directly to the patients in rural communities because they are too weak and fragile to travel. The homecare programme provides not only medical assessment and treatment but also provides support and education. The first step in prevention of further health problems is to educate the people. This includes giving seeds to grow vegetable gardens, mosquito nets to prevent malaria and dengue fever and even school uniforms. 70-75% of homecare patients are HIV positive. Often in Cambodia those living with HIV are marginalized and in some cases children have been expelled from school. Other patients suffer from malnutrition, congenital heart disease and neurological pathology. They all require assessment and care. I began to wonder if I could write an article about such devastating health problems and still remain positive. I soon learnt that in the Angkor Hospital for Children there is much to be positive about.

Education

Because the families admitted to AHC have needed to borrow money just to get there, they arrive with little or no food. All eligible families are provided with food and cooking supplies. There is a community kitchen at the hospital where families gather to cook meals. A whole family will stay with a sick child and the hospital arrange cooking classes twice daily to show mothers how to make food like bor-bor, a traditional Khmer porridge and other nutritional foods. There is also a demonstration garden adjacent to the kitchen which displays a variety of nutrient rich vegetables that can be grown locally. Seeds are given to the parents to take home. I found this very positive indeed.  In fact my whole visit was a very uplifting experience and the smile on Arun’s face as she showed us around warmed me immensely. I could see that the poor malnourished children I had seen on the streets could and would be helped. All thanks to a New York based photographer named Kenro Izu who first came to Siem Reap over fifteen years ago to photograph the Angkor temples. However, it was the images of the children that would capture his heart as they have done mine. He was compelled to dedicate himself to improving their lives. With little more than the will to effect positive change he founded ‘Friends without a Border’ and was able to raise the seed money for ‘Angkor Hospital for Children’ Read more about Kenro Izu here.

I finished my tour with a look at the Dental Clinic. Arun told me that few children in Cambodia own a toothbrush! Arun also told me 40 children a day see the dentist. I then, visited the Eye clinic where monty was treated.

The children of Cambodia need your help and there are many ways to offer. Izu founded the Friends Without A Border non-profit organization in 1996. Since that time AHC has treated more than 800,000 children, performed over 12,000 surgeries, educated thousands of Cambodian health workers, and improved the quality of healthcare in the countryside. In 2010, the AHC’s satellite facility opened at Sot Nikum Referral Hospital in Dam Daek in order to bring compassionate, high-quality care into other parts of Siem Reap Province.

You can donate money.

If visiting Cambodia, you can donate blood.

Or like me you can offer to volunteer your services

I was so uplifted by the children of Cambodia that I know I have to see them again. If I can help them in any way, then that is what I want to do. The Angkor Hospital for Children gave me hope and uplifted me. The Angkor Hospital for Children is doing a wonderful job in what is a very difficult country. It is an organisation that I very much want to support. Please read more about Friends Without a Border and help in any way you can.

Seeing the country and learning about their history and how they lost their doctors and educated people thirty years ago in the most horrific of circumstances leaving them in poverty made me feel uncomfortably privileged and humble at what I take for granted. Cambodia and the children of Cambodia changed my life for the better. I am so pleased to be able to help them.

AUTHOR: Lynda Renham-Cook
URL: http://www.lyndarenham.org.uk
E-MAIL: lynda [at] renham.co.uk

Tunisian Protestors

With the war in Libya reaching its conclusion, it now looks as if Colonel Gaddafi will be the next authoritarian leader in North Africa to fall as a result the remarkable events dubbed the Arab Spring or Jasmine Revolutions. As I noted back in March many both within Asia and beyond have asked whether such ‘blossoming’ of dissent and revolt could occur in the authoritarian and semi-authoritarian regimes of Northeast, Southeast and Central Asia. This week the Center for Asian Democracy at the University of Louisville will host a workshop that will explore precisely that question. Entitled “The Jasmine Revolution and the ‘Bamboo’ Firewall: The impact of the Internet and new social media on political change in East Asia.”, the workshop will host 13 scholars from prestigious academic institutions and non-profit organizations around the country to participate and explore the potential impact of technology on democracy in Asia. Next week I hope to share some of the workshop’s findings with you, but for this week I am reposting the original blog entry from March… (with a few very minor amendments).

Over the past few months the international community has witnessed unprecedented political opposition and revolutions in the Middle East. Already this so called ‘Jasmine Revolution’ or ‘Arab Spring’ has overturned two of the countries long-standing political regimes, the Ben-Ali regime in Tunisia and more surprisingly the 30 year rule of strongman Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. In Libya it resulted in the descent to near Civil War between Muammar Qaddafi and pro-democracy rebels while its demonstration effects have incited and continue to incite protest in countries from Bahrain to Oman, and from Jordan to Morocco and Syria. Much of this caught everyone by surprise, be they academics, diplomats, journalists or policy advisors. Nevertheless this outburst of popular discontent reflects a number of long-term trends, most specifically a demographic explosion in the 1970s and 1980s means that an estimated 65 per cent of the region’s population is under 30. While significant sums of money have been poured into education, both secondary and tertiary, youth unemployment is a major socio-economic problem with an estimated one in four unemployed. Such high levels of unemployment combined with pervasive levels of corruption, authoritarian political systems with extensive security surveillance and harassment, and the huge growth in the number of users of social network sites (Egypt has for example over 5 millon Facebook users of whom 58% are under 25) provided a potent combination the repercussions of which are still playing out as we speak.

Malaysian Prime Minister

This begs the question as to whether such a popular uprising could happen in that other bastion of authoritarian and quasi-democratic regimes, Southeast Asia. Could the demonstration effects spread to countries as diverse as Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, among others? Leaders in these countries are clearly worried. Inn February the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib issued a stark warning saying “Don’t think what is happening in Tunisia and Egypt will also happen in Malaysia.. We will not allow it to happen here”. Former deputy Prime Minister and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim however had a different take remarking that the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt should be a warning signal to other autocracies “whether in the Middle East, Pakistan or Southeast Asia”. Anwar continued noting that the demise of regimes where corruption and nepotism flourished, should remind Malaysians that governments built on the suppression of citizens are always temporary.

Cambodian Prime Minister

In Cambodia, strongman Hun Sen, who has dominated national politics since 1989 and been Prime Minister since 1998, was even starker in his warnings stating on January 20th, in response to comments on a Radio Free Asia report that a Tunisian-like protest could occur in Cambodia. Hun Sen lashed out stating “I have to send a message to people who want to inspire a riot (like) in Tunisia … I will close the door and beat the dog,” Again in contrast the embattled long-standing anti-corruption opposition figure Sam Rainsy echoed Anwar’s views stated on February 2nd, the day pro-Mubarak forces attacked anti-Mubarak supporters in Tahir square, that “I see that it is not long … that there would be such a situation in Cambodia that is the same as Egypt and Tunisia, where people have ousted leaders from power.” 


In Vietnam the government have already ratcheted up a crackdown on dissidents but this has not stopped growing online calls for pro-democracy protests in the country. On February 21st one of Vietnam’s leading dissidents Dr Nguyen Dan Que, 69, launched an appeal in Ho Chi Minh City asking people to take to the streets to save the country. His appeal was taken up by a Vietnamese website urging supporters of political change to meet each Sunday in Hanoi and HCMC. Another dissident group, Bloc 8406, which issued a manifesto on democratization on April 8th 2006, issued an online statement in which it urged Vietnamese to follow the example of North Africa and demand greater democracy and human rights.

Thich Quang Duc's

Of greater concern for the Vietnamese are reports (picked up and broadcast online on CNN) that on February 17th an engineer called Pham Thanh Son set himself on fire to protest at the confiscation of his family’s property by local authorities. Although the authorities claim his death was accidental, caused by the gas tank of his motorcycle exploding, such an incident echoes the self-immolation of Mohamed Buoazizi in Tunisia, whose protest and death sparked the beginning of the unrest in Tunisia. More symbolically both acts echo the infamous self-immolation of the Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc in Saigon in 1963 whose sacrifice led to the downfall of President Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam.

Poster from Burmese

Even in the region’s most brutal and repressive regime, Burma, where a military Junta has presided over the country since 1988, a Facebook group entitled ‘Just Do It Against Military Dictatorship’ was set up at the end of February denouncing Burmese military chief Senior-General Than Shwe, and as in Egypt urging the army to join with the people. The group has prompted the distribution of anti-government materials in a number of cities across the country and while it only had 1,374 ‘friends’ when this piece was written, Facebook has become the second most popular website in Burma with over 400,000 members.

Obviously there are clear differences between these regimes and their counterparts in North Africa. In the case of Vietnam political power no longer resides in the figure of a single authoritarian leader but instead the succession problem has largely been resolved, as in China, by the retirement and promotion of successive generations of party apparatchiks. In addition in Cambodia and Vietnam government censorship and the security and intelligence forces are both more pervasive, heavy-handed and to date proven more pro-active in anticipating political unrest and acting quickly and decisively to ‘nip-it-in –the-bud’ before such unrest can appeal to wider constituencies.

High youth unemployment

Nevertheless the median age in Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam is like Tunisia and Egypt under 30 years old.  In Malaysia unemployment levels are very low in comparison to international averages, less than 4 per cent of the total work force were unemployed as of 2008. However youth unemployment was almost three times this figure at 10.7 per cent.  Similar disparities exist in Cambodia where according to International Labor Organization figures for youth unemployment are expected to rise to 14.8 per cent against a total unemployment figure of 3.5 per cent.

Likewise allegations of corruption and cronyism are widespread across the region with Transparency International rating Burma, Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam respectively as 176th, 154th, 56th and 116th in their 2010 Corruption Perceptions ranking (out of 178 countries). While Malaysia’s figure does not appear bad in comparison it should be noted that over the past decade Malaysia has steadily fallen down T.I.’s ranking from a high of 33 in 2002. Indeed the spread of corruption and the retrenchment in civil liberties since 2008 led the Wall Street Journal to remark, in an article today (March 4th), that Malaysia, “once regarded as one of Asia’s most promising emerging economies.. has soured”.

One of the most talked about features of the recent wave of pro-democracy demonstrations and uprisings occurring across the Arab world, has been the role played by information communication technology and social networking software. Of the latter much has been made of the fact that protests were ‘advertised’ as forthcoming events on Facebook while Twitter has become an instant source of information as it happens on the ground. Indeed in response to an anonymous posting on Twitter calling for protests in Chinese towns and cities on February 20th authorities swiftly arrested a number of online activists, deployed a heavy security presence on the date in question and began a crackdown on foreign journalists. While few anticipated or expected the demonstration effects from North Africa to have any significant effect in China clearly the events dubbed the ‘Jasmine Revolution’ reveal the deep insecurity of the regime despite its booming economic growth. And yet all this begs the question how important social networking really is as a tool for social organization and political protest. Will the revolution really be ‘tweeted’ or is the impact of ICTs greatly exaggerated?

Use of cellphones was ubiquitous in

The impact of new information communication technologies on political mobilization is not new. The use of cellphone text messaging by demonstrators to coordinate protests was first witnessed during the revolution that brought down General Suharto in Indonesia in 1999, during the ESDA II protests in The Philippines in 2001 that led to the resignation of Joseph Estrada in The Philippines and during the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan in March 2005. Similarly Facebook was used prominently during the uprising by Buddhist monks in Burma in 2007, while Twitter, a microblogging tool that limits users to 140 characters, gained prominence during the failed Green Revolution in Iran in 2009. Likewise conventional blogging has become a common feature of politics in Southeast Asia particularly in Malaysia where prominent anti-government bloggers have risen to prominence and notoriety.

Nevertheless what is new is the integration of these disparate technologies into the latest generation of cellphones (dubbed smart phones) that allow the user to take photographs, record video, access the Internet and communicate instantly via text messaging and social networking. The result is according to Philip Howard, professor of communication at the University of Washington, that “savvy opposition campaigners [have] turned social media applications like Facebook from minor pop culture fads into a major tool of political communication” (2011, p.4).

In many countries worldwide, including Southeast Asia, governments have traditionally relied on their control of the mainstream media to silence or limit opposition voices while restricting access to alternative media sources, including foreign media. Traditional media was a unidirectional structure in which the state could monopolize the production of content. The new media by contrast is fundamentally challenging this. On the one hand the nature of the new media is such that users are both consumers and producers of content. Individual users can post their own stories and become citizen journalists which in turn can be shared and evade even the harshest censorship controls and repressive regimes. In Burma in 2007 citizen journalists equipped with handheld camcorders, provided by the Norwegian based Democratic Voice of Burma, were able to record and broadcast footage of the Buddhist monk uprising and its repression (as documented in the award-winning documentary Burma VJ). Similarly during the Green revolution in Iran hundreds of videos were uploaded daily on YouTube. On the other hand these technologies now allows ordinary citizen to effectively conduct surveillance and monitor the state, documenting human rights abuses and improving the capacity of civil society.

Critics of the ‘leveling and enabling thesis’ advance a number of arguments of which the most often heard are firstly that all technology is neutral — even the new information communication technologies can be manipulated to expand the reach of the state rather than to minimize it, and that secondly the impact of the new media is exaggerated because significant digital divides continue to exist. Thus the spread and penetration of Internet access remains limited to a small largely urban middle class elite and is not a widespread social phenomenon.

Courtesy of Slate magazine, http://tinyurl.com/63ttddf

While it is certainly true that some regimes have proven to be incredibly sophisticated in controlling the Internet there remains sufficient cause to be optimistic that the decentralized, diffused and non-hierarchical character of the Internet mitigates even the strictest controls. Much is made for example of ‘The Great Firewall of China’ that enables Beijing to deny access to certain Internet IP addresses (thereby blocking access to certain websites, e.g Voice of American and BBC News) as well as the ability to scan the URL and packet transmissions for certain censored keywords (such as Tiananmen or more recently even the word Jasmine). Nevertheless for all its sophistication Beijing’s surveillance system largely relies on self-censorship, in other words the fear that a user will be caught and punished severely for accessing banned websites. Internet users and content providers have become ever more sophisticated at circumventing such controls. The use of proxy servers outside China, virtual private networks, mirror sites, and onion routing (the development of software to allow anonymous encrypted communication) means that there is constant competition between regulators and has become an ongoing cyber war. In addition countries like China limit the number of nodes that connect the ‘national’ information infrastructure to the ‘global’ worldwide web in order to enable them to operate their firewalls effectively. Ironically this can make such regimes information infrastructure vulnerable to Denial of Service attacks against the limited number of servers and ISPs that are required to operate strong filtering technologies effectively.

In terms of the diffusion of ICTs and the question of digital divides, the diffusion of mobile phones has far-outstripped the penetration of personal computers and fixed landlines in the developing world. Cambodia became the first country in the world where cellphone ownership surpassed landlines and that was as early as 1993. Consequently, it is estimated that within 5 years mobile Internet access will exceed PC Internet usage. Already 20 per cent of cellphones worldwide are 3G with sales of the iPhone and Android driving this figure ever higher. In addition as Howard notes it is largely irrelevant whether cellphone and social networking users are largely urban and middle class since these groups invariably form the social elites upon which regime legitimacy effectively rests in authoritarian countries. In addition internet penetration rates are often an inaccurate measure of the number of people who have access to the internet since it is difficult to measure the number of people who access the Net via cybercafés. In addition computers and cellphones are often shared among families.

While social networking and the diffusion of ICTs does not substitute for traditional political activism “in times of crisis banal tools for wasting time.. become the supporting infrastructure of social movements” (Howard, 2001, p. 12). While it may be true, as the detractors argue, that cellphones, Facebook and Twitter of themselves are not a substitute for traditional forms of social organization, protest and collective action; it is safe to say that it is now inconceivable that such technologies will not be a critical feature of all future collective action. As Howard concludes, “it is clear that increasingly the route to democratization is a digital one” (p. 201). The revolution in other words will be tweeted.

Reference: Howard, N. (2011) The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, New York: Oxford University Press.

AUTHOR: Dr. Jason Abbott
URL: http://profjabbott.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: jason.abbott [at] louisville.edu

Former Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee

In a recent interview Aung Sang Suu Kyi remarked that she was disappointed with the Indian government’s policy towards Burma. The recently freed Nobel Peace Prize winner said, ” I am saddened with India. I would like to have thought that India would be standing behind us…That it would have followed in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru”.

India’s policy towards Burma shifted markedly after 1993 under the Premiership of Rao and then from 1998-2004 under Hindu Nationalist leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Abandoning overt sympathy for the Burmese democracy movement India began openly engaging economically and militarily with the military Junta driven increasingly by the cold hard logic of realpolitik. Since then India has emerged as the 2nd largest market for Burmese exports after Thailand (approx. 17% of Burma’s exports) and the 4th largest trading partner after Thailand, China and Singapore. (Figures for 2008-09).

India’s increasing contacts with the Burmese junta are driven by two security priorities. Firstly to win the support of the Junta in combating separatist rebels in India’s northeastern states particularly making it more difficult for rebels to cross over the relatively porous 1,500 km border. To this end India has provided The Burmese military with tanks, helicopters and artillery. Of much greater significance, however, is the need to counter China’s growing influence in the country and in Southeast Asia as a whole.

Since Burma has increasingly become a pariah state in the eyes of much of the international community, and Western sanctions have taken effect, Chinese investment, aid and arms have poured into the country. India is particularly concerned about extensive Chinese military cooperation and investment in the development of naval and intel facilities including the upgrading of the naval base in Sittwe, close to the Indian city of Calcutta, and the construction of a deep-sea port at Kyaukpyu which will be located on a planned 2,000 km highway between the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming and Sittwe. Of even greater concern has been the recent construction of reconnaissance and electronic intelligence systems on the Great Coco Island, located just 18 kilometers from India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

China’s interest in Burma forms part of its so-called ‘string of pearls’ strategy: a plan to develop a series of military bases and military ties with Burma, Cambodia and Thailand in order to counter its strategic vulnerability in the Straits of Malacca. Currently 80 per cent of China’s energy imports pass through the straits, which are one of the busiest seaways in the world and narrow to only 1.5 nautical miles at this narrowest. This makes the Straits assume enormous strategic importance on the one hand but on the other makes China strategically vulnerable to a blockade. Consequently China’s string of pearls strategy has not only sought to develop military ties with its neighbors in Southeast Asia but also to develop alternative transit routes for oil, gas and other imported raw materials.

Central to this strategy is a multi-billion dollar investment in building a 2,300km oil and gas pipeline form Kyaukpyu in the Bay of Bengal to Kunming where a major new oil refinery is being planned. Such pipelines will enable China to divert oil imports from Africa and the Middle East away from the Straits of Malacca. Construction on the first phases of this was begun earlier this year.

India’s rapprochement with Burma then is an important part of its attempt to counter China’s growing influence in the region and enhance its own standing in the region. Economically the most visible sign of this is the involvement of India’s State run Gas Authority (GAIL) and ONGC’s (India Oil and Natural Gas Corp) in the Shwe gas project, a massive offshore gas field in the Bay of Bengal. GAIL owns a 10 per cent share of the A1 and A3 fields while ONGC owns a 20 per cent share. More recently ONGC and GAIL will spend $250 million on a connecting pipeline. The Shwe gas project is expected to become the single largest source of income for the Junta providing an estimated $580 million per year for the regime. In addition India has also proved the regime with a series of loans for a series of IT infrastructure projects, expertise that Than Shwe is keen to attract to help develop the area around the largely vacant administrative capital Naypidaw as an IT hub.

For all the vilification of the military Junta, the plight of its people, its embattled democracy movement and of the charismatic and disciplined defiance of Aung San Suu Kyi, the future of this country is increasingly being shaped by the changing geopolitics of the 21st Century. A century in which Asia’s two giants, China and India, will increasingly find their futures inextricably locked and interwoven.

AUTHOR: Dr. Jason Abbott
URL: http://profjabbott.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: jason.abbott [at] louisville.edu

What is noticeable about the data discussed above is how little has actually changed in Southeast Asia despite over three decades of dynamic economic growth and major geopolitical changes in the international political system — of which the transition to democracy in Eastern Europe represented a major advance of political freedoms globally. Such resistance to widespread reform of political and civil rights seemingly contradicts the prevailing theories of democratic transition that widely accept a strong positive correlation between economic growth and political liberalization. Such views, dubbed transition theory, largely support the notion that as a country’s economy grows it will see the emergence and strengthening of an educated, literate and increasingly articulate middle class that will demand greater political freedom. Combining core business elites, the intelligentsia, non-profit groups and students this consistency is regarded as been crucial for the maintenance of political legitimacy. Widespread disaffection among the middle classes is therefore seen as being a bell-weather for change with prominent defections to the political opposition potential game changers in the process of democratization.

HINDRAF protests Malaysia 2007/2011

 One only has to pay a cursory visit to Southeast Asia to see the trappings of conspicuous consumption one clearly associates with the emergence of a vibrant middle class. Equally the growth of civil society can also be clearly discerned both organically and as a result of the support of Western and international advocacy groups, while more recently online activity has seen a proliferation of critical voices on the Internet. Nor are mass protests and demonstrations unusual. In Malaysia there have been recurrent large-scale protests both in support of political reform (the reformasi movement in 1998-9, the Bersih rally in 2007) and ethnic minority rights (the Hindu Rights rallies of 2007 and 2011) while since 2005 Thai politics has been bedeviled by the politics of mass protest and the seemingly intractable division between red shirts and yellow shirts. One is thus forced to ask why despite such dynamics Southeast Asia seems largely resistant to change?

Naturally there is no single simple answer to this conundrum. However one can identify a number of probable causes. Firstly in many of the countries of Southeast Asia the middle classes have been at best ambivalent towards democracy and at worst hostile towards it. The nature of political authority in many of these countries has made the middle classes dependent on the state for contracts, employment and patronage. In Malaysia this has been compounded by the country’s delicate ethnic balance, and by the corresponding affirmative action program for the dominant Malay ethnic group.

Another explanation for middle-class quiescence comes from the legitimacy accorded to existing regimes from rising living standards. Consistently high levels of economic growth combined with low levels of unemployment have given governments across the region a reservoir of support referred to as development legitimacy. Thus while the middle classes across Southeast Asia might be conscious of limitations on their political freedom they are willing to accept such restraints so long as the government is able to continue to deliver rising prosperity.

A third factor has been weak party political systems and the repression of trade unions and the radical left. This was a result of the Cold War ideological competition between the United States and the communist Soviet Union as well as the existence and persistence of left-wing insurgencies. Across Southeast Asia newly independent regimes were challenged by left wing pro-communist forces; from the Vietnam War on mainland Southeast Asia to the Emergency in Malaysia and the existence in Indonesia, prior to the political violence of 1967, of what was briefly the 3rd largest communist party in the world. Such ideological struggle resulted in the marginalization and repression of socialist and other left-leaning political parties in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore. In contrast in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam the success of socialist parties in their insurgencies and civil wars led to the creation of one-party states or, as in the case of Cambodia, by a political system overwhelmingly dominated by the former communist party.

Finally some academic voices argue that the region is culturally pre-disposed towards authoritarianism because of the dominance of communitarian values as opposed to individualism. Dubbed ‘Asian Values’ such arguments stress the cultural legacy of Confucianism and Eastern philosophy with its emphasis on stability, order, harmony and hierarchical social relations. The result is deference and quiescence to single party political systems and strong personal leadership typified by Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore (Prime Minister from 1965-1990), Mahathir Mohamad in Malaysia (Prime Minister from 1981-2003), General Suharto in Indonesia (1967-1998) and Hun Sen in Cambodia (1985-present). Such cultural arguments are difficult to sustain given both the bewildering ethnic and religious diversity of Southeast Asia, and the fact that more culturally homogenous Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are all fully functioning liberal democracies.

The truth is that no-one factor provides a simple explanation for the persistence of authoritarian and semi-democratic regimes in Southeast Asia. Overall the region as whole presents something of an enigma for the study of political change in Asia and throws a large spanner in the works for those who articulate seemingly inevitable processes of democratic transition and economic development. While one cannot rule out the possibility that events like the Jasmine revolution sweeping the Arab world might occur in Southeast Asia the persistence of limited freedom suggests that like Vladimir and Estragon those eager for democratization might be waiting for ‘Godot’ for a long time to come.

AUTHOR: Dr. Jason Abbott
URL: http://profjabbott.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: jason.abbott [at] louisville.edu

In their letter dated Thursday, the Cambodian authorities said that they wanted the JBC meeting, earlier scheduled to take place in the last week of this month, to be postponed indefinitely, a source at the Thai Foreign Ministry revealed.

President of the Cambodian JBC, Var Kimhong, said yesterday that no meeting of the joint panel to define the land boundary would be held later this month, China’s Xinhua news agency reported from Phnom Penh.

“There will be no meeting of the JBC later this month. Now, the bilateral mechanism cannot resolve the issue,” he was quoted as saying, referring to the border conflict between the two countries.

Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, said in a telephone interview yesterday that the ministry had not received any official notification from Cambodian authorities that they would not attend the meeting.

He said Thailand insisted on settling the border dispute with Cambodia through talks and peaceful means.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said earlier yesterday that Thailand intended to take part in the JBC meeting in a bid to settle the dispute with Cambodia bilaterally. “We [both countries] have a mechanism to settle the problem, but Thailand and Cambodia have to work together to make the bilateral mechanism function,” he said.

Cambodia has succeeded in internationalising the spat over the common border, particularly over the disputed area adjacent to the ancient Preah Vihear Temple. The border conflict led to a new round of armed clashes early this month. Both states accuse the other of firing first.

The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to hold a meeting behind closed doors tomorrow on the border clashes.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong, and Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who has been trying to mediate in the dispute, are expected to speak to the council.

Spokesman for the ruling Democrat Party, Buranaj Smutharaks, said yesterday that Kasit would present facts to the Security Council regarding Cambodia’s firing at civilian targets during the armed clashes.

The foreign minister and Thai JBC chief, Asda Jayanam, met senior officials of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in Paris on Friday, according to the spokesman. Thailand presented photos showing Cambodian troops stationed at Preah Vihear to prove its claim that Cambodia had violated a treaty that bans the use of a World Heritage Site as a shield in a military conflict or for housing soldiers and storing weapons.

Meanwhile, the Cambodian newspaper Kampuchea Thmey Daily ran a caricature of Abhisit on the front page yesterday, depicting him as a war-mad dictator.

The caricature showed Abhisit with Hitler-style hair and moustache in military uniform with an armband featuring a Nazi swastika. The PM was shown holding an assault rifle and balancing on a rope above a fire.

It was the latest effort by the media in Cambodia to paint Thailand in a negative way. Earlier, some Cambodian radio stations reportedly claimed Thai troops intentionally fired at Preah Vihear temple. The Nation, Bangkok.

AUTHOR: Kerry B. Collison
URL: http://kerrycollison.blogspot.com/
E-MAIL: author@sidharta.com.au

The question that nationalistic extremists in both countries, be they politicians, activists or just the man on the street, have to ask themselves is: Are “real” people better off now that tanks, artillery and rockets are reinforcing territorial claims? Politicians and activists advocating war should be able to at least point to a group or community and say: “There, those people feel happier at the moment, so the fight should go on.”

War only fulfils the purposes of a few, but makes life miserable for countless others. Preah Vihear, proclaimed to be priceless, is nothing if villages around it are left in smouldering ashes. It’s pointless for both countries to get the temple and destroy everything else – things such as Bt81-billion worth of yearly bilateral trade, Thailand’s status as the third-largest foreign investor in Cambodia, the smiles at the border, the security that schoolchildren on both sides of the border had until recently.

Can diplomacy really draw a border? From dinosaurs to cavemen to ancient tribes to imperial rulers, boundaries have been marked through killings and intimidation. Preah Vihear, on the one hand, is just a place around which “real life” continues. On the other hand, it stands as one of the biggest challenges for both Thailand and Cambodia – daring them to break free from a glorious past so a new future can be built for people who really matter. Editorial The Nation, Bangkok.

AUTHOR: Kerry B. Collison
URL: http://kerrycollison.blogspot.com/
E-MAIL: author@sidharta.com.au