Part 3 7. SECURITY LAWS In the aftermath of Sept. 11 last year, there is a widespread tendency throughout the world to promote draconian security laws that can cripple functioning democratic institutions. The experience of many Asian countries-Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and others during the last 40 years-demonstrates that the laws promulgated in the name of national security have eaten into the very core of democratic institutions and have caused them harm that is difficult to repair. It is in this sprit that AHRC has critiqued the proposals of the Hong Kong government to enact legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-Constitution, against treason, subversion, secession, sedition and the theft of state secrets. 7.1 Singapore One of the most sophisticated and subtle uses of the law to negate democratic checks and balances and human rights in Asia is found in Singapore where the law continues to be employed to obstruct people's freedoms rather than protect them. This misuse of the law in the city-state is evident by the arrest of opposition politician Dr. Chee Soon Juan, the secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), and Ghandi Amablam, an SDP executive committee member, on May 1, 2002, for holding a Labour Day demonstration for the rights of workers outside the gates of the presidential palace without a police permit as required under the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act (PEMA). The police cited potential law and order problems for refusing to grant the permit.. 7.2 Malaysia In neighbouring Malaysia, an essentially similar draconian ISA is in place under which five political activists have been kept in prison for almost 20 months under allegations of attempting to overthrow the government with the use of force. The government, however, has not produced any evidence to prove these charges. On Sept. 6, 2002, on the basis of the facts contained in the affidavits of the detainees regarding their interrogations by the police, a four-member Federal Court ruled that their initial 60-day detention under Section 73 of the ISA was unlawful. The four judges unanimously agreed that the police had failed to prove that the detainees had committed, or may have committed, activities prejudicial to national security and thus ordered the immediate release of the detainees. Although the judges did not go as far as to order the release of the detainees, the government was still so upset by the possibility of an independent judgement of the court that it promptly amended the ISA, forbidding the submission of such affidavits as evidence in future habeas corpus hearings. In this way, the executive wields power over the judiciary, illustrating the absolutely undemocratic nature of such national security legislation. 8. TORTURE AHRC also wants to draw attention to the endemic use of torture in most Asian countries. Of particular concern is the prevalence of the practice in Sri Lanka. The use of torture in Sri Lanka is an ingrained habit within the military and criminal investigations of the police. AHRC's sister organisation, the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), published an extensive report on Oct. 3 this year reporting 22 torture cases affecting 38 people who have suffered the cruellest infliction of pain during criminal investigations for mostly petty crimes. The victims, moreover, were innocent of the crime. The peace talks and ceasefire that now offer the possibility to extricate the country from the prolonged violence of its ethnic issue provide an opportunity to deal with these deeper problems affecting everyone in the country. 9. CHILDREN Sadly, children have not been immune from the violence described above in Nepal as 100 children have been killed, 1,500 have been orphaned and 3,000 have been displaced. Moreover, the Maoists have been blamed for using children in the remote battle zones as porters, messengers and even on the frontlines. The use of child soldiers has been reported in other parts of Asia as well with the highest numbers recorded in Burma, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Apart from the use of child soldiers, Asia is also host to an ever-growing number of other abuses affecting children's rights, such as child prostitution and trafficking, child labour, acid attacks on children, honour killings, rape, etc. Governments in Asia must cease using poverty and other rationales as a justification for child abuse. The voice of the international community has long been tempered by these explanations, but it is now time to hold Asia's governments responsible for the continuing abuses that children face every ! day in the region. 10. INSTITUTIONAL CONFUSION: SOLDIERS FUNCTION AS POLICE OFFICERS In Bangladesh, Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia launched Operation Clean Heart on Oct. 18, 2002, through an executive order that empowered the military to usurp the law enforcement function in the country from the police. The result though has been serious human rights violations, not law and order, with reportedly at least 26 deaths in custody, extrajudicial killings, the creation of an atmosphere of fear and a further erosion of the people's faith in the police. Moreover, Operation Clean Heart has been implemented in a cloak of secrecy: no one knows the mandate given to the military in the executive order, the number of people arrested, where they are being held, what are the charges, how long they will be held nor when Operation Clean Heart will end. Thus, employing the military to restore law and order without addressing the need to create professional police officers who are free from political interference and corrupting influences will only lead to more lawlessness and human rights abuses. What is needed is the commitment of the government to establish the rule of law in the country. 11. CONCLUSION Human Rights Day this year must be an occasion to renew the resolve to face up to difficult challenges if the promotion and protection of human rights are to be a reality in Asia. The main initiative in this endeavour, however, must be by the people themselves. An exuberant human rights movement of the people, committed to the people's welfare and relying mainly on its own strength, can make the difference. The ordinary people's sense of dignity and their commitment to assert their rights is the only ground on which human rights, democracy and people-oriented development can take place. __________________________________________________________ Asian Human Rights Commission | Tel: +(852)-2698-6339 Unit D,7 Floor,16 Argyle Street,| Fax: +(852)-2698-6367 Mongkok Commercial Centre, | E-mail: ahrchk@ahrchk.org Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR | Web: www.ahrchk.net __________________________________________________________