AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

SOUTHEAST ASIA REGIONAL ACTION NETWORK

COUNTRY NEWS

Cambodia, p. 2

Indonesia, p. 2

Malaysia, p. 3

Papua New Guinea, p. 4

Philippines, p. 4

Update: Myanmar Singapore , p. 5

By Jim Roberts, Myanmar Country Thailand, p. 5
Specialist
Vietnam, p. 6
On November 13 the world learned the news that
Aung San Suu Kyi had been released upon the
expiration of her latest sentence (18 months) of
house arrest. While Amnesty International had
been calling for her release along with all prisoners
of conscience since she was first detained in back in
1989, AIUSA has been actively campaigning on her
behalf for many years.

AIUSA chose the 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate as one

of its 20 Priority Individuals at Risk (IAR) cases,
which meant that along with prisoners of
conscience and others at risk in 19 other countries,
her case received top priority in AIUSA’s IAR Aung San Suu Kyi
campaigning work. A special project called “Stand
Up for Suu Kyi” was created in the form of a photo
action in which AIUSA members and other human rights activists showed their support by
having their pictures taken with a life sized Aung San Suu Kyi cut out which were then
posted on Flicker at http://www.flicker.com/groups/standwithsuukyi . To date over 1,800
people have “stood up” for Aung San Suu Kyi on the Twitter site.

In addition to having been selected as one of AIUSA’s 20 top priority IAR cases, Aung San
Suu Kyi was “adopted” by the Northeast Region as its Special Focus Case in November
2009. Local groups in the northeast who signed up campaigned for her release as a part of
their other regular group campaigning.

Suu Kyi was also featured in AIUSA’s 2009 Global Write-a-Thon which is held every year in
celebration of International Human Rights Day.

November 2010 SEA RAN Newsletter 1

Update: Cambodia
In the News:

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has said that Phnom Penh is
unprepared for any large-scale disaster, as evidenced by the poor
response to the recent Bon Om Touk festival stampede. The stampede
left at least 375 people dead and 755 wounded. An estimated two-thirds
of those who died were women, as they were less able to fight their way
from the crowds. Eyewitness reports state that the military initially used
water cannons on the crowd after the stampede began, causing electric
shocks when the water came in contact with electric wiring on the bridge.
A number of deaths were due to electrocution. The AHRC calls on the
government of Cambodia to adequately care for survivors, and to
thoroughly investigate the incident and the governmental response.

Update: Indonesia
Amnesty News

Many Indonesian women and girls, especially those from poor and
marginalized communities struggle to achieve reproductive health in the
face of discriminatory laws, policies, and practices. These struggles are
even more astute for the estimated 2.6 million domestic workers in
Indonesia – almost all of whom are women and girls – who face specific
risks to the realization of their rights because they are not fully legally
protected as workers.

A new Amnesty International (AI) report, “Left without a choice: Barriers

to reproductive health in Indonesia,” highlights a range of laws, policies
and practices, which are discriminatory towards women and reinforce
gender stereotyping. These laws, policies, and practices constitute barriers
to the realization of reproductive health, and women and girls from poor
and marginalized communities are at an even greater disadvantage. Click
for action.

Check out:
AI prisoners of conscience, Filep Karma and Yusak
Pakage now have Facebook pages – follow the links.
Filep remains in jail on a 15-year sentence for
peacefully raising a flag at a rally, and Yusak was
released in July of this year.

Filep Karma

November 2010 SEA RAN Newsletter 2

Reading:

Check out a new online study: Attitudes to Human Rights and Freedom of
Religion or Belief in Indonesia: Voices of Islamic Religions Leaders in East
Java. This research was conducted by a team from the Muhammadiyah
University in Malang, and sponsored by the Norwegian Centre for Human
Rights at the University of Oslo.

Update: Malaysia
Amnesty News:

AI calls on the Malaysian authorities to ensure that two Georgian women

accused of drug trafficking receive fair trials that meet international
standards.

 Darejan Kokhtashvili and B abutsa Gordadze, who were
detained on 26 October in Penang and Sabah respectively, face the death
penalty under Malaysian law.

 B abu tsa Gordadze, aged 26, whose pre-
trial hearing was held on 4 November, was not provided either with a
lawyer or translation, according to news reports. The preliminary hearing
for Darejan Kokhtashvili, 32, is to be held on 8 November.

“The Malaysian authorities must ensure legal

representation for the two Georgian women who
face the death penalty," said Lance Lattig,
researcher on Malaysia at AI. "These women
must have an interpreter to translate the
proceedings into a language they can
understand."

Background:

Sixteen countries in Asia apply the death

penalty for drug-related offences. Since many
countries in the region do not make information
on the death penalty available, it is impossible
to calculate exactly how many drug-related
death sentences are imposed. 


However, in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, reports indicate

that a high proportion of death sentences are imposed upon those
convicted of drug offences. 
 Despite these executions in Asia, there is
no clear evidence of a decline in drug-trafficking that could be attributed
to the threat or use of the death penalty. There is no credible evidence
that the death penalty deters serious crime in general more effectively
than other punishments.

November 2010 SEA RAN Newsletter 3

Update: Papua New Guinea
Amnesty News:

Between April and July 2009, police officers in Papua New Guinea illegally
and forcibly evicted people from their homes alongside one of the biggest
mines in Papua New Guinea, the Porgera gold mine, burning down houses
and assaulting and threatening residents.

The Porgera mine is 95 percent owned and operated through the Porgera
Joint Venture (PJV) by subsidiaries of the Canadian-based mining
company, Barrick Gold Corporation (Barrick). At the time of the police
action, Barrick and the PJV were providing support to the police force
conditional on the police respecting national law and international human
rights standards; Barrick and PJV continue to provide this support. Click
for action.

Update: Philippines

Amnesty News:
AI has called on the Philippine authorities to
ensure timely justice for the Maguindanao
massacre, and to abolish the private armies
that continue to operate one year after the
killings. 
 On 23 November 2009, at least
57 people were abducted and brutally killed
and their bodies dumped in a mass grave on a
hillside above the town of Ampatuan in the
southern Philippine province of Maguindanao.
Those killed included 32 journalists.

“How the Philippine government handles this case will demonstrate how
serious President Aquino is about reining in private armies and curbing
human rights violations,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-
Pacific Programme Director. 
 “The government has to show that the
Philippines has the ability and will to deal fairly but resolutely with a
massacre that constituted the worst ever attack on journalists anywhere in
the world.” 


Those killed had been travelling in a convoy to witness the filing of

candidacy papers for a local politician when they were stopped by a group
of about 100 armed men. The ambush was motivated by a long-standing
political feud between members of the group and the Ampatuan clan.
Leading members of the powerful local Ampatuan clan have since been

November 2010 SEA RAN Newsletter 4

charged in connection with the killings, however the trials have been
marked by delays and no prosecutions have been concluded.

Update: Singapore
Amnesty News:

Singapore dealt a sharp blow to freedom of expression by sentencing 76-

year-old British author Alan Shadrake to jail for publishing a book that
criticizes the Singaporean judiciary. Shadrake was sentenced to six weeks
in jail and a fine of 50,000 Singapore dollars (US$15,400). He was
convicted of contempt of court for ‘scandalizing the judiciary’ over
allegations of judicial misconduct in his book on Singapore’s death
penalty.

“Singapore is answering criticism by jailing its critics,” said Sam Zarifi,

Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director. “Alan Shadrake’s sentence is
a major step backwards for freedom of expression in Singapore.”

Shadrake was arrested in Singapore in July 2010 after launching his book,
Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock.

Update: Thailand
In the News:

Democrat MP for Rayong Sathit Pitutecha has proposed that a bill on

“consensual and necessary abortion” be drafted to give women more
options when dealing with unplanned pregnancies. The proposed bill
would advocate a committee to consider abortion requests from women or
their guardians. Under current law, abortions are permitted in the cases
of rape or incest, or if the mother’s life is endangered. Maytinee
Bhongsvej, of the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women
(APSW), said, “People’s attitudes are the major
obstacle. For Thai society, abortion is a sin.”

In the News:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is

helping with an international effort to provide
assistance to an estimated 20,000 people who
fled to Thailand as a result of post- Camp along the border of Thailand and Myanmar.
election violence in Myanmar. People (Photo: Peter Biro/IRC, with permission.)
fled to Thailand after fighting broke out

November 2010 SEA RAN Newsletter 5

between government troops and an ethnic rebel group in eastern
Myanmar. Minority groups in eastern Myanmar have been fighting against
governmental control since the country’s independence from Britain in
1948.

Update: Vietnam
In the News:

Flooding in early and mid-October has left hundreds of thousands of

Vietnamese residents, particularly in the Ha Tinh area near the Lao
border, in need of assistance. Infrastructure damage to roads, bridges
and canals was substantial, and in addition, over half the Vu Quang
District’s rice paddy was lost. Communities will likely face food shortages
before the next rice crop harvest in May 2011. (Source: IRIN)

Meet your amazing and dedicated team of Country

Specialists:

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

Malaysia
Indonesia Max White (and Timor- max33@comcast.net
Leste, Papua New isgartini@yahoo.com
Guinea) carole_marzolf@yahoo.com
Gartini Isa
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 RAN (Regional Action Network) Coordinator, Claudia Vandermade.

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

International USA Southeast Asia Action Network.

November 2010 SEA RAN Newsletter 6