In Cambodia too, the government has prohibited freedom of expression despite a constitutional provision to the contrary. Protests are quickly and uncompromisingly put down. Victims of abuses have no means to complain or assert their rights under law. As many other parts of Asia, the government has organized gangs such as the so-called “Pagoda Boys” to be used violently against opponents.

Burma is among the worst examples of a lack of freedom of expression in Asia. It has for decades been tightly controlled. Any form of dissent is fiercely opposed. There is only a single permitted narrative in the country: that imposed by the state. Persons seeking to complain about police abuses find themselves made the subject of fraudulent charges and jailed. Even farmers who complain about land confiscation, local corruption or ineptitude are arrested and prosecuted. The courts are completely corrupt and little more than a weak arm of the military government.

By contrast to Burma, Nepal is a country that is now coming out of a period of very severe repression; nonetheless, it faces enormous challenges in the days, months and years ahead. Both the government and Maoists have been responsible for huge numbers of atrocities in the last few years. Many incidents are still occurring. However, the trading of allegations and insults has damaged prospects for genuine discussion towards change. Both sides remain armed and ready to fight, and the lack of cases being investigated and brought against army and police personnel for abuses has the possibility to severely affect public confidence at this critical time. It may be that both sides will negotiate for an amnesty as part of a political settlement, to the detriment of countless victims and their families. So far also there has been no move to change the law on torture, which only allows for petty compensation, not prosecution. And as in other states, the courts and prosecution and investigating agencies are completely defective: restoring them will require immense work, resources and political will.

Both Nepal and India also suffer from the blight of caste discrimination, which is itself closely linked to torture and the failure of justice institutions in Asia. Throughout Nepal and in parts of India–such as Uttar Pradesh–separation by caste is still widely enforced. Huge numbers of people are classed as “untouchables”, today broadly identified as Dalits. These people suffer from excessive poverty and degradation. They starve in the face of utter neglect by the authorities. They cannot put their children into schools, eat in restaurants or drink in teashops, get registered to vote or listed as scheduled castes and tribes, rent accommodation, or visit temples. Feudal lords continue to hold them in modern forms of slavery, such as bonded labor. Laws to prohibit all of these practices and give relief are simply not applied.

The participants at the folk school agreed that there is still a long way to go for the rule of law and human rights in Asia to be made reality. However, they were encouraged by the commonality of their efforts and joint recognition that change and progress is possible. Authoritarian regimes in Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Bangladesh have all been brought down by their peoples. In 2006 the people’s overthrow of the absolute monarch in Nepal has been a great example for others in the region, as has the determined opposition to the illegal election of the government in Thailand by the public there. The government of the Philippines is being subjected to growing and determined pressure over its failure to end extrajudicial killings. There are continued serious efforts by legal professionals in China to make lasting reforms to criminal procedure and law. Still, there are only two states in the region that can be classed as democracies: Korea and Japan; while Hong Kong has done much to uphold rule of law principles despite not having obtained universal franchise. In the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka elected governments promote a false image of democracy while in fact undermining it through overt or covert control of the courts and laws, police, media and other key public institutions. And in all countries of the region there are many areas yet to be addressed in order to see that the rule of law and human rights are truly enjoyed. The participants reaffirmed their commitment to work together towards these goals, to utilize modern technology in order to advocate at the domestic, regional and global levels, and build a common understanding of the problems they face and possibilities for change.

August 28, 2006

The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organization monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

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