Asia Overview
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ASIA 165 OVERVIEW In East and Southeast Asia, govern- India; the aftermath of the October 1999 coup ments relied on Asian initiatives during the in Pakistan; the continuing restrictions on year to address economic, political, and hu- Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma; Indonesia’s man rights issues. Gone was the rhetoric of failure to stop militia violence in West Timor; “Asian values” with its pre-financial crisis the obstructions placed by Cambodia in the premise that economic development and pro- way of a tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge; the tection of individuals rights were incompat- arrests of political and religious activists in ible. In its place was simply a determination, China; or the coup and hostage crisis in Fiji in from democratic and authoritarian govern- May. In all these countries, domestic political ments alike, to show that solutions to Asian imperatives far outweighed any fear of inter- problems were to be found within the region, national reaction, and as it turned out, there despite the diversity of cultures and political was not much to fear from donors worried interests involved. South Asia, as always, that pressure would inflict more damage on was a region apart, so divided by rivalries and themselves than on the offending country. security concerns that regional cooperation Unlike the years immediately prior to was all but impossible. the financial crisis when East and Southeast On the economic side, one example of Asian governments steadfastly refrained from East Asian regionalism was the movement criticizing each other (South Asian govern- toward developing the equivalent of an Asian ments felt no such hesitation), Asian region- Monetary Fund involving China, Japan, South alism in 2000 was more accommodating of Korea and the ten countries of the Associa- different viewpoints. This may have reflected tion of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). the impact of democratization in important It had a political parallel with the all-Asian countries in the region such as Thailand, resistance in late 1999 to an international whose foreign minister broke ranks with other tribunal for East Timor, balanced by the ASEAN countries and openly criticized prominent Asian participation in the U.N. Burma’s suppression of opposition political Transitional Administration for East Timor activities. It also reflected distrust between (UNTAET) in which peacekeeping forces the big regional powers, China, India, and were headed first by a Filipino and then a Japan, and suspicion within the less powerful Thai. In October 2000, South Korean Presi- countries about the long-term political and dent Kim Dae-Jung received the Nobel Peace economic agendas of the big three. Prize for his efforts to ease tensions with The phenomenon of finding strength as North Korea, a wholly homegrown initiative. a region without necessarily constituting a At the governmental level, the “We’ll do it our solid political bloc may also have reflected the way” stance was partly a case of resistance many internal conflicts that strained bilateral to solutions imposed from outside but also relations. Kashmir remained a constant source one of perceived common interest in building of tension between India and Pakistan. regional strength across a variety of fields— Indonesia’s inability to control the conflict in including human rights. Aceh worried Malaysia, just across the Straits Asian regionalism was helped by the of Malacca. The raid into eastern Malaysia by fact that the influence of the international guerrillas of the Abu Sayaf wing in the south- donor community was near an all-time low, ern Philippines led to the deportation of although aid levels were never higher: witness thousands of Filipinos from Malaysia and the helpless outrage of donor countries during strained that relationship. The ongoing ethnic the year over the treatment of women in insurgencies in Burma affected relations with Afghanistan; the attacks on minorities in India, Bangladesh, and Thailand, all of which 166 ASIA OVERVIEW had to shelter thousands of refugees from lies of those killed or unaccounted for in the those conflicts. Thai army’s May 1992 firing on unarmed Both governments and regional and local demonstrators demanded and got release of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were classified government documents about the committed, where possible, to regional ap- incident and continued to demand the pros- proaches to resolving regional human rights ecution of those responsible. Relatives of problems such as exploitation of migrant Tiananmen Square victims filed a civil com- labor, human trafficking, and child prostitu- plaint in a U.S. court in September against Li tion. There was less support among govern- Peng, then Chinese premier, now head of the ments for the international system for pro- National People’s Congress in Beijing. In tecting human rights. Not only did China Cambodia, international pressure forced the work harder than ever to escape censure at the Hun Sen government to agree reluctantly to U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, a tribunal over which it would not have weakening that body as a result, but the complete control to try former Khmer Rouge Australian government in September bitterly leaders for crimes against humanity commit- rejected the actions of several U.N. bodies ted from 1975 to 1979. The final establish- that had questioned its treatment of aboriginals ment of the tribunal, which would be based in and refugees. Phnom Penh and have a majority of Cambo- Asian NGOs as a group, however, re- dian over non-Cambodian judges, was still mained an important voice for the expansion awaiting action by the Cambodian parliament of the international system, pushing—as their by late October. A special panel of the Dili governments, with few exceptions, did not— district court in East Timor was set up in June for ratification of the Rome Statute of the to try those responsible for crimes against International Criminal Court, an end to the use humanity and serious crimes committed dur- of child soldiers, and implementation of hu- ing the period January to October 1999. man rights commitments made at the Beijing In part because of a rising interest in Women’s Conference in 1995. accountability, the International Criminal Court attracted more attention in the region. Human Rights Developments By the end of the year, New Zealand and Fiji In general, a rising concern with justice had ratified the Rome Statute while South for past abuses did not translate into effective Korea, Thailand, Bangladesh, Australia, the measures to prevent new ones. Serious prob- Solomon Islands, and the Marshall Islands lems remained in terms of protecting civilians had all signed. A conference of Asian NGOs, in areas of conflict; ensuring basic civil rights held in Bangkok in June, decided to make under authoritarian governments; and provid- ratification of the statute a key priority for ing protection to refugees, migrants, and traf- regional advocacy. ficking victims. Even as moves to punish past abuses The Pinochet precedent was very much were gathering strength, serious human rights on the minds of governments and NGOs in the problems continued to plague the region. region during the year, as accountability for Some were linked to separatist or nationalist past abuses was an issue as never before. In movements and governments’ abuse of secu- South Korea, efforts were underway to hold rity laws to detain, torture, “disappear,” or the U.S. accountable for the No Gun Ri kill suspected opponents. Some were classic massacre in July 1950, during the Korean war, examples of the refusal of authoritarian gov- in which some 400 civilians may have died. ernments to tolerate peaceful political oppo- Throughout the countries occupied by Japan sition. Others were linked to communal vio- during World War II, women forced into lence, still others to the failure of govern- sexual slavery as “comfort women” were still ments in the region to protect refugees and campaigning for individual compensation from migrants. the Japanese government. Relatives of fami- In all countries where armed rebellion ASIA OVERVIEW 167 against the central government was under- the trials of Anwar Ibrahim and Nawaz Sharif way, all parties to the conflict were respon- made clear. The use of draconian internal sible for abuse. In Sri Lanka, civilians in the security legislation remained an issue in many northeast of the country were caught in the of the region’s democratic or democratizing middle between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil countries. In Bangladesh, for example, the Eelam (LTTE) and government forces. In government signed the Public Security Act Kashmir, Indian security forces used draco- into law in January, affording sweeping pow- nian counterinsurgency measures, including ers to the police and circumventing guarantees arbitrary arrest, torture, and staged “encoun- of due process. ter killings”, against Muslim citizens who Where public advocacy was possible, were suspected of supporting guerrilla activ- human rights defenders were working toward ity, while armed Islamists were believed re- legislative change. In South Korea, for ex- sponsible for mass killings of Hindu civilians. ample, President Kim Dae-Jung announced in In Nepal, an ongoing Maoist insurgency con- August his willingness to repeal the harsh tinued to spread from four midwestern hill National Security Law, as recommended by districts to encompass nearly the entire na- the United Nations Human Rights Commit- tion. In Aceh, in Indonesia, the Gerakan Aceh tee and demanded by a coalition of more than Merdeka (GAM, Free Aceh Movement) was 200 local rights organizations; as of October, reported to have killed suspected informers; it was still on the books, but former prisoners government security forces were responsible who had been unfairly detained under it by for the torture and killing of suspected GAM previous administrations became legally eli- supporters. Separatist conflicts were also gible for rehabilitation and compensation. (In underway in West Papua, Indonesia; north- fact, a 1999 law made anyone who had suf- east India; Xinjiang, in western China; and fered detention, job loss, or expulsion from around all of Burma’s borders.