Dear
Mr. President,
The
US-ASEAN Special Summit on May 12, 2022 should feature robust discussion about
human rights, democracy, and rule of law, both in the region and in the United
States, and include clear acknowledgment about the bloc’s failure to
achieve progress in addressing the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.
We
know your administration is concerned about China’s growing economic and
security influence in Southeast Asia. We also understand that your
administration is seeking to strengthen US engagement with ASEAN, shore up
alliances with its members, and help ASEAN build a more functional
problem-solving regional architecture.
But
if your administration holds this summit and does not publicly raise human
rights concerns with ASEAN members, it will send a message that human rights
violations will now largely be tolerated in the name of forging alliances to
counter China.
The
summit’s goals will not be achievable without directly addressing the region’s
worsening human rights environment and democratic backsliding—not just the 2021
coup in Myanmar but also the deterioration of democratic institutions in
Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines, and the fact that
Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, and Cambodia are not democratic at all.
A
marked increase in serious human rights abuses has occurred in ASEAN in recent
years, including mass atrocities against Rohingya Muslims by the Myanmar
military, thousands of extrajudicial executions in Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte’s “war on drugs,” and a worsening crackdown in Vietnam, which has
imprisoned over 150 dissidents. Cambodia is now conducting mass trials,
many in absentia, of opposition political figures.
These
worsening trends and serious abuses threaten to corrode US efforts to
strengthen ties to Southeast Asia, a project that should be animated not just
by shared security interests but by shared commitments to the protection and
promotion of human rights.
We
urge that you speak openly, forthrightly, and publicly about specific concerns
and cases and ensure that issues are publicly and prominently raised in
bilateral meetings with ASEAN members and addressed in statements to the media
about the summit. This can be done credibly and effectively by focusing on the
factual situation in each country while honestly acknowledging the many deficiencies in
the US record and
the US government’s efforts and
challenges in taking corrective actions.
Specific
country issues that will be important to raise include:
Vietnam’s one-party
authoritarian state has imprisoned more than 150
people for exercising their rights to free speech and peaceful
assembly. The country’s penal code criminalizes criticism of the government. Cambodia’s Hun
Sen, who has used threats, violence and corruption to ensure victory in every
election since 1993, has now largely eliminated the political opposition, open civil society, and the independent media. There are
now over 50 political prisoners held on fabricated criminal charges, and over
100 more political activists and others are being harassed or prosecuted.
During the summit, your administration should publicly call for the
release of political prisoners in Vietnam and Cambodia and criticize their
governments’ use of overbroad and vague laws to target dissidents.
The Philippines,
holding its election on May 9, will have a new president-elect during the
summit and will likely only be represented by its foreign ministry. A key
question is whether the new administration will repudiate Rodrigo Duterte’s
murderous “war on drugs” and other widespread human rights violations and
reverse his abusive attacks on democratic institutions, including the baseless prosecution of
outspoken Senator Leila De Lima.
Your administration should make clear that improvement in US-Philippines
ties will depend on the new administration’s willingness to investigate and
prosecute officials involved in “drug war” atrocities and cooperate with the
ongoing investigation into grave international crimes by the International
Criminal Court. You should call on the new government to drop all charges
against Senator De Lima.
The
authorities in Thailand in
recent years have arbitrarily arrested democracy activists and critics of the
monarchy, dissolved a major opposition party, and suppressed – often violently
-- youth-led democracy protests. There have been numerous cases of torture and enforced
disappearances. The government is currently considering passage of a
new law on nongovernmental organizations that threatens the existence of the
country’s vibrant civil society.
Your administration should urge that the Thai government take all necessary
measures to end arbitrary arrests and prosecutions of critics of the government
and monarchy and shelve its draft nongovernmental organization law.
Under Singapore’s repressive government,
citizens face severe restrictions on the rights to free expression,
association, and peaceful assembly through overly broad criminal laws and
regulations, including overbroad and aggressive internet content laws.
Your administration should call for the Singapore government to revoke or
reform laws used to harass or prosecute critics of the government, journalists,
writers, and human rights defenders.
Indonesia and Malaysia,
ASEAN’s standout democracies, are increasingly repressing women, religious
minorities, and LGBT people, and using overbroad criminal defamation, sedition,
and other laws to prosecute critics.
Your administration should express concerns about worsening rights trends
in Indonesia and Malaysia, notably the persecution of vulnerable social and
religious minority groups, human rights defenders, and other critics of the
government.
In Laos,
the single-party authoritarian government systematically denies basic civil and
political rights, including freedom of expression, association, and peaceful
assembly, and has engaged in enforced disappearances of critics, notably the
rural development leader, Sombath Somphone.
Your administration should condemn rights abuses in Laos and call upon the
government to reveal the fate or whereabouts of Sombath Somphone.
The
government of Brunei Darussalam adopted
a Sharia penal code, which went into effect in 2019, that discriminates against
LGBT people, women, and religious minorities and specifies draconian
punishments that would amount to torture, including stoning and whipping
offenders.
Your administration should call for Brunei to revoke these provisions of
the penal code.
With
respect to Myanmar,
which will not be attending the summit, the military junta is continuing to
engage in a broad crackdown, carrying out atrocities against peaceful
pro-democracy protesters and committing war crimes against
ethnic minority populations.
Your administration should press ASEAN members to abandon their failed “five point consensus” approach to Myanmar’s
crisis. Like-minded ASEAN members, including Malaysia, Indonesia, and
Singapore, should be encouraged to join a coordinated international effort to
steer the junta toward reform, including increasing restrictions on its foreign
currency revenues and weapons purchases. The US and
like-minded ASEAN countries should develop a clear, timebound approach to
pressure the junta to end its abuses, including signaling support for
additional sanctions on oil and gas revenues and a Security Council resolution
instituting a global arms embargo.
These
pressing human rights concerns impact the human rights of hundreds of millions
of people across Southeast Asia. By speaking out clearly and honestly about
human rights in the region, your administration will not be undermining the
US-ASEAN alliance, but helping grow and develop more coherent, longer-term
attention to human rights in the regional body. This is critical not only for
the sake of the people of the region, but also as a bulwark against sustained
assaults by the Chinese government on the international human rights system.
Thank
you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Elaine
Pearson
Asia Director (Acting)
Human Rights Watch
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