AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

SOUTHEAST ASIA REGIONAL ACTION NETWORK

February 2011
COUNTRY NEWS

Cambodia, p. 1 Indonesia, p. 2

Myanmar, p. 3 Philippines, p. 4

Thailand, p. 5 Vietnam, p. 5

Cambodian Delegation Visits

Amnesty International’s
Washington DC Office
By Claudia Vandermade

Sam Rainsy, exiled leader of

Cambodia’s opposition party visited
Amnesty International’s Washington DC
office on February 25th. He was
accompanied by his wife, Tioulong
Josh Cooper, Sam Rainsy, Claudia Vandermade,
Saumura, who is a Member of
Tioulong Saumura, Suy Seng Hong
Parliament, Josh Cooper, a member of
the Southeast Asia Co-Group, and colleague Suy Seng Hong.

Rainsy’s message was that he feels that Cambodia is at a crossroads. With commune
and national elections approaching, the nation could head in the direction of a more
open and democratic society or the government could continue its crackdown on dissent.
The current Cambodian government depends on aid from the outside world, and as a
result, is more likely to react to human rights scrutiny than countries such as Burma.
Both Rainsy and Saumura said that when Amnesty takes action, people are freed.
Saumura added, “You people who work as volunteers may not know the value of your
work…you definitely save lives.”

The delegation left Washington shortly after our meeting and headed to Atlanta for a
meeting with Jimmy Carter.
February 2011 SEA RAN Newsletter 1
Update: Indonesia

Amnesty News
• Last month we reported on the
disturbing video that graphically
recorded the torture of two Papuan
men at the hands of the military.
Since that time, three soldiers have
been sentenced to prison terms of
between eight and ten months by a
military court in Papua. Amnesty
International has criticized the trial as
well as the light sentences. “It is
incredible that senior Indonesian © AP GraphicsBank
government officials have called this
abuse - which included one of the men having his genitals burned – a ‘minor
violation’." said Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Deputy Programme Director
Donna Guest. Amnesty International also maintains that human rights violations
should be prosecuted in civilian courts not military courts, so that trials can be
independent and witnesses properly protected

• Amnesty International has urged the Indonesian government to repeat its

commitment to protecting the right to freedom of religion in the face of calls from
radical groups to outlaw a religious minority community. Several hundred members
of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and other groups staged a demonstration in the
capital Jakarta on 18 February calling on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to
disband the Ahmadiyya group. A second protest is planned outside the Presidential
Palace for 1 March 2011. "The Indonesian government must state, clearly and
publicly, that it will protect the rights of all Indonesian citizens, regardless of their
religion – and that includes the rights of the Ahmadiyya community," said Sam Zarifi,
Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Director. The Ahmadiyya are a religious group
who consider themselves to be a part of Islam. Many mainstream Muslim groups say
they do not adhere to the accepted belief system.

• In a February 14th press release, Amnesty International stated that Indonesian

domestic workers, the vast majority of them women and girls, will remain vulnerable
to exploitation and abuse unless the country's parliament enacts a Domestic Workers'
Law. "As Indonesians commemorate National Domestic Workers Day on 15 February,
some 2.6 million domestic workers remain outside the law's protection," said Sam
Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Director. "Currently the 2003 Manpower
Act, which safeguards workers' rights, discriminates against domestic workers. The
Act does not provide the same protection it affords other workers, such as reasonable
limitation on working hours and provisions for rest and holidays." The failure to pass
a bill to protect domestic workers in Indonesia, more than a year after it was
prioritized by parliament, leaves domestic workers vulnerable to exploitation and
abuse.
February 2011 SEA RAN Newsletter 2
Update: Myanmar
Amnesty News
In a February 17th statement, Amnesty
International calls on the governments
of Thailand, India and Indonesia to
give persons claiming to be Rohingyas
on their territory access to full and fair
refugee determination procedures. A
group of 91 persons believed to be
Rohingyas, who landed on the
Andaman Islands, India, in early
February 2011, claim that the Thai
navy put them out to sea in January
2011 in an engineless boat with limited
A Myanmar refugee of Rohingya ethnic minority walks to food and water. Thai authorities,
her house in Kuala Lumpur January 31, 2009
however, claim that they returned 91
persons detained in Thailand to
Myanmar in late January 2011. Amnesty International called on the government of
Thailand to institute a prompt, independent and transparent investigation into how
Thai authorities treated this group.

Thai authorities have detained hundreds of individuals claiming to be Rohingyas,

including children, since January 2011. A further 129 persons claiming to be
Rohingya arrived in Aceh, Indonesia on 17 February 2011.

The Rohingya, who live in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, suffer from systematic
persecution, including forced labour, forced eviction, land confiscation, and severe
restrictions on freedom of movement. The Myanmar government refuses to grant
them citizenship, rendering them stateless, in violation of their international rights.
Many Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh, and have tried to seek work in other
countries.

In the News

• State Department Assistant Secretary Philip J. Crowley has expressed concern

about Aung San Suu Kyi’s safety and security. In the February 16th daily press
briefing he reported that within the last few days there have been veiled threats
suggesting that if Aung San Suu Kyi proceeds with her plans to reconstitute the
NLD that she could be in some danger.

February 2011 SEA RAN Newsletter 3

 • Perhaps fear of Aung San Suu Kyi is why Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his close aides
recently appeared on national TV dressed in women’s longyis. All appeared on
state television on February 12th wearing gongbong (headscarves) and acheik
(colorful sarongs worn by women at weddings and formal occasions). Speculation
is that the generals’ cross-dressing is an intentional act of superstition. Many
fortunetellers have predicted that a woman will rule Burma one day, and so the
generals’ fortune-tellers have advised them to dress as women.

• Larry Dinger, the U.S. charge d’affaires in Myanmar is talking to Aung San Suu
Kyi about U.S. aid to the country. The United States currently offers no direct
aid to Myanmar except in emergencies or on humanitarian grounds. Suu Kyi’s
National League for Democracy has called for discussion with Western countries
on possible changes to the sanctions. She has said that any discussions should
deal with when, how and under what circumstances the sanctions might be
modified “in the interests of democracy, human rights and a healthy economic
environment.”

Update: Philippines

Amnesty News
In the past decade, more than 200 Filipinos
have reportedly been victims of enforced
disappearance. In each case, the victims are
robbed of their liberty – and usually their life
as well. Few investigations take place into
allegations of abductions, torture and Raymond Manalo
killings and hardly anyone is brought to
justice for these abuses, resulting in a culture of impunity. Raymond Manalo, 29, is
one of a few abductees who survived to tell his story.
I need to expose the
Raymond and his brother Reynaldo were taken from
human rights their family home by armed men in February 2006.
violations taking Philippine security forces accused the brothers of being
place in the members of the New People’s Army, the military wing
Philippines and help of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Both
others who have brothers deny this accusation. After being taken by the
security forces, the brothers were held in a cell in a
been forcibly
military camp with 12 other abductees, where they
disappeared.
were given little food and regularly tortured.

February 2011 SEA RAN Newsletter 4

 One day, 18 months after Raymond was taken from his home, the soldiers guarding
him at the farm fell asleep, drunk. Raymond woke his brother: “It was time to leave
and make our escape… My brother and I fled and made it to the highway. As luck
would have it, just as we got out a bus went past. We flagged it down and got on.”

After his escape Raymond began to speak out about his ordeal. “I wanted to file a
case. I wanted to fight and to show that I was a victim who also witnessed crimes—
abductions and killings—carried out by the army. I need to expose the human rights
violations taking place in the Philippines and help others who have been forcibly
disappeared”

Click to take action.

Update: Singapore

In the News
A recent High Court ruling has reignited fierce debate on Freedom of Expression in
Singapore. Dr Chee Soon Juan, the leader of the opposition Singapore Democratic
Party, has just lost his appeal to overturn a conviction for speaking in a public place
without a license. Sentenced to a fine of $20,000 or imprisonment of 20 weeks in
default, the SDP leader is facing the very real risk that, incarcerated, he will be
unable to lead his party in the forthcoming general elections.

Dr Chee’s case is symptomatic of a wider problem in Singapore: the systematic

repression of the right to freedom of expression. On the issue of freedom of the
press, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew remarked:

We cannot allow [the press] to assume a role in Singapore that the American media
play to America, that of invigilator, adversary and inquisitor of the administration.

From the IBA Media Law & Freedom of Expression Blog

Update: Thailand

Amnesty News
In our last newsletter, country specialist Tyrell Haberkorn wrote the lead article on
the case of Chiranuch Premchaiporn. In a February 9th press release, Amnesty
International urged the Thai authorities to drop all charges against the human rights
defender and web forum moderator whose trial started in early February. “Chiranuch
should not be in the dock,” said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International’s Thailand
specialist. “The comments for which she is being held responsible should not be
prohibited in the first place—much less when they are posted by someone else.
Chiranuch’s case is significant because it threatens to ‘shoot the messenger’ in

February 2011 SEA RAN Newsletter 5

 addition to criminalizing the message,” said Zawacki. “But it’s also just the latest in a
series of attacks on freedom of expression in Thailand in recent years.”

Update: Viet Nam

Amnesty News
• Amnesty International has condemned the eight-year prison sentence handed
down to a Vietnamese pro-democracy activist and former Communist Party
official for posting articles on the internet calling for democracy.
 Vi Duc Hoi
was convicted of "spreading anti-government propaganda" by a court in
northern Lang Son province on Wednesday. He was also sentenced to five
years of house arrest after his prison term. Hoi, a member of the Bloc 8406
network of pro-democracy and human rights activists, had written extensively
about corruption and injustice in Viet Nam.
 He was arrested on 27 October
2010. Before his arrest public security officials had raided his home on 7
October.
"This verdict and sentence is a shocking testament to how the
Vietnamese authorities show complete disregard for freedom of expression
when it comes to people who peacefully challenge government policies," said
Donna Guest, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Deputy Programme
Director.


• Vietnamese human rights activist and Catholic priest Father

Nguyen Van Ly is at risk of being returned to prison in mid-
March despite his fragile health. He suffered from a stroke
in prison in November 2009 which left him partially
paralyzed, after being held in solitary confinement. He did
not receive adequate medical treatment.

Father Ly

February 2011 SEA RAN Newsletter 6

 Meet your amazing and dedicated team of Country Specialists:

Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia Jeanne Marie Stumpf anthropologyisfun@yahoo.com

Indonesia Max White (and Timor-Leste, max33@comcast.net
Papua New Guinea) isgartini@yahoo.com
Gartini Isa carole_marzolf@yahoo.com
Carole Marzolf
Laos, Thailand Tyrell Haberkorn tyrellcaroline@gmail.com
Myanmar Jim Roberts jroberts@aiusacs.org
Nancy Galib
Anil Raj

Philippines Perfecto Boyet-Caparas perfecto.caparas@gmail.com

Vietnam Jean Libby editor@vietamreview.net
Co-Group and RAN Claudia Vandermade claudiev@gmail.com
Coordinator, Newsletter
editor

Have a question about AI’s work in a particular country? Wondering how to take
your country work a step further? Contact a Country Specialist, or the Co-Group
Coordinator, Claudia Vandermade.

Stay up-to-date on a daily basis by joining our Facebook page: Amnesty

International USA Southeast Asia Action Network.

February 2011 SEA RAN Newsletter 7