ASIA REPORT 2013 ASIA REPORT TTORTURORTUREE ANANDD ILL-ILL-TRTREEATMATMEENTNT VVIOIOLELENCNCEE AGAINSTAGAINST WWOMOMEENN EEXXTRATRAJJUUDDICIAICIALL EEXEXECUTIONSCUTIONS ENENFFORCORCEDED DISADISAPPEAPPEArancrancEESS HHUNGUNGEERR ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION ASIA REPORT 2013 i Asia Report 2013 • Torture and Ill-treatment • Violence against women • Extrajudicial Executions • Enforced Disappearances • Hunger A Report by the ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION on Bangladesh • India Indonesia • Nepal • Pakistan Sri Lanka • The Philippines Hunger in Asia ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (AHRC) ii Asia Report - 2013 Asia Report 2013 ISBN 978-962-8314-66-9 (Print version) ISBN 978-962-8314-67-6 (Online version) AHRC-PUB-001-2014 Published by Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Unit 1 & 2, 12/F, Hopeful Factory Centre 10 - 16 Wo Shing Street Fotan, New Territories Hong Kong SAR, China Tel: +(852) 2698 6339 Fax: +(852) 2698 6367 Web: www.humanrights.asia December 10, 2013 (Updated, January 1, 2014) Layout and cover design AHRC Communication Desk Printed by Clear-Cut Publishing and Printing Co. A1, 20/F, Fortune Factory Building 40 Lee Chung Street, Chai Wan, Hong Kong SAR Cover Photograph: Kavitha is a 27-year-old mother whom we met at Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh state, India. Her malnourished son, Mottu (also used euphamistically to suggest ‘able bodied’ in Hindi) was Grade VI. Mottu passed away six days after this picture was taken. Thousands of children face similar fate in Khandwa, millions in India. Picture courtesy: AHRC. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS v Statement Chapter I Bangladesh 1 Death of Dignity Chapter II India 49 Pseudo Democracy Chapter III Indonesia Democracy Incomplete 75 Chapter IV Nepal 101 Rights in Abeyance Chapter V Pakistan 137 Killing Field Chapter VI Sri Lanka End the ‘Authoritarian Project’ 227 Chapter VII The Philippines 281 ‘Licensed’ to Torture Chapter VIII Hunger in Asia Home to Hunger 309 iv Asia Report - 2013 v AHRC STATEMENT: Civil Society Needs to Converge to Protect Rights Commemorating the 63rd Anniversary of Human Rights Day, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has released a comprehensive report, State of Human Rights in Asia 2013, covering Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hunger in Asia. The global theme for this year is 20 Years: Working for your rights. The theme marks the 20th year of the establishment of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The AHRC report has analysed the functioning of justice institutions in Asia. While in some states the functioning of these institutions contribute to the negation of rights, in others, it is the non-functioning of the justice apparatus that hampers the rule of law. Of particular emphasis in the report is the widespread use of torture, a phenomenon that the AHRC has documented sans jurisdictions. The report asks why, in countries like Sri Lanka, and the Philippines where torture is criminalised, it is in practice. The report concludes that it is not just adequate legislation that prevents torture; proper enforcement of the rule of law is needed to end torture and impunity. Central to the establishment of the rule of law in Asia is police reform. Democracy is only possible where justice institutions are conceived, created, and nurtured to prevent arbitrary abuse of power. In Asia what exists today are authoritarian states that, in the garb of democracy, promote impunity and nepotism. In countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Philippines, and Sri Lanka owing to entrenched corruption and impunity in governance, realising normative rights guarantees has remained elusive. This makes democracy a façade. The global convergence against extremism has worked as a catalyst in Pakistan and Bangladesh to further state impunity. The ensuing repercussions have increased disrespect for the rule of law. vi Asia Report - 2013 In Sri Lanka, the government has set up a military state. This has further pushed the country into a financial crisis, from which it will be difficult for the people of Sri Lanka to recover. Inquiry into war crimes and other human rights abuses reported from Sri Lanka, past and present, are being prevented by the state, since it would expose the empty shell of governance based on nepotistic interests. In India, protection, promotion, and fulfillment of human rights guarantees suffers formidably due to the state’s incapacity to encourage, investigate, and adjudicate complaints of human rights abuse. In Bangladesh, impunity and corruption has resulted in the country exporting bloodstained garments. Collective bargaining for better working conditions attracts murder. Politicians of all shades are deeply entrenched in promoting private interests, for which they have intentionally wilted justice institutions. Nepal continues to keep the democratic dreams of its people in abeyance and prevents justice and closure for the victims of war crimes. Pakistan, on the other hand, poses mortal danger for professional communities like judges and lawyers for standing firm against fundamentalist religious forces that collaborate with the military. Extrajudicial executions and disappearances in Pakistan are alarmingly high. In Indonesia, the façade behind democratic state-building is exposed in the curtailment of freedom of speech and expression and the widespread practice of torture. The country’s judiciary is unable to shake-off its compromised independence. In the Philippines, human rights guarantees remain a challenge difficult to achieve due to omnipresent use of torture and violence by state agencies, with impunity. Professional freedom of the media to report against human rights abuse is under exceptional control; those who dare challenge it face serious repercussions, including death. Across Asia, women, children, the underprivileged, and minority communities suffer the worst due to systemic denial of justice. In countries like Pakistan, fundamentalist religious forces, often acting in collusion with the armed forces have made life hell for women, restricting their freedom at all levels, including their right to equal opportunities to education. Pakistan is one of the worst Statement vii countries in Asia for women to live in, having the highest number of incidents involving gruesome acts of violence against women. In none of the Asian states assessed are institutional reforms a state priority. On the contrary, governments keep reform polices suppressed, and prioritise what is projected as ‘development’. However, these development models are mere enforcement of state writ that deepens income disparities and keeps millions in poverty, malnutrition, and hunger. Asia’s development model is at best the convergence of its privileged, and justice, equality and dignity are the immediate casualties. To counter an unjust development model, and protect rights of Asian people, the AHRC calls for Asian civil society to collectively challenge the region’s governments and demand that development should not be at the expense of justice institutions. AHRC also wishes to reiterate – on a day that globally rekindles hope for human rights – the best national investment that states can offer to their people is a life with dignity and equality. This, however, is impossible if Asian states do not prioritise institutional reforms to guarantee justice to every human within their jurisdiction. Asian Human Rights Commission 10/12/2013, International Human Rights Day Hong Kong viii Asia Report - 2013 CHAPTER I ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION BANGLADESH 2 Asia Report - 2013 Bangladesh 3 BANGLADESH Lust for Power, Death of Dignity Introduction Four decades since its independence, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh continues to struggle with legitimacy and maintenance of the rule of law. In 2013, human rights violations continued without relent, often under direct orders from the government and the police. The hands of Bangladeshi politicians, the military, and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) are stained with blood. Those ostensibly meant to protect Bangladeshi citizens, prey on them, all the while holding themselves above the confines of domestic and international law. Political factions incite violent confrontation. Opposition leaders are silenced or thrown in jail. Limitations on freedom of speech, expression, and assembly are enforced by the ruling regime; journalists are jailed, threatened, and killed for discussing political or military matters. Human rights defenders face harassment, threats, ill-treatment, and arbitrary detentions for fabricated charges. This is exacerbated if their work conflicts with the interests of the government or big business. Courts deliver guilty verdicts and hand out death sentences in the absence of appropriate investigative and judicial measures. Suspects, including the falsely accused, are repeatedly tortured by the police to satisfy conviction requirements, extract information, and obtain monetary bribes. Women, whose families are required to pay substantial dowries before marriage, are subject to abuse and then denied remedy for their ill-treatment. Enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing occur with impunity. Denial of human dignity has become part of the fabric of daily life in Bangladesh, and outright denial of this reality is the default setting of the Bangladesh government. For instance, in a 2006 correspondence and petition for entry to the UN Human Rights Council, Bangladesh claimed that it “has been at the forefront of promotion and protection of all human rights