John Samuel
The real sign of development and democracy is how a country
respects, protect and promote freedoms and human rights. The biggest challenge
of our times is the increasing gap between the promises and performance of the
states and government in relation to the protection of freedom and human rights
of the people. This challenge is most evident in many countries of Asia, with
the shrinking of freedom and democratic spaces and increasing attack on human
rights defenders.
Amartya Sen in his acclaimed book ‘Development as Freedom’ defined
development as the expansion of human freedoms and capabilities. However, the
biggest paradox among most of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region are that
there is a new stress on economic development model that often lead to
‘unfreedoms’ and economic social inequality, where freedoms of
people, particularly that of the marginalized groups and poor are increasingly
compromised. There is a resurgence of discriminations and repression of the
voices of dissent and democracy in parts of the region. China, the biggest economy in the world, in
many ways indicates the rise of ‘unfreedoms’ in the most evident manner,
despite economic development.
While many countries in the
Asia-Pacific region witnessed unprecedented economic growth, it also
paradoxically increased the social and economic inequalities, marginalization
of religious and ethnic minorities and the shrinking of democratic spaces. With new nexus of political and economic
elites, there is an elite capture of the governments. The rise of crony capitalism often leads to
destruction of environment, displacement of poor and marginalized people from
their habitat.
The politics of hate,
exclusion and violence adversely affect the freedom and human rights in the
region. In the last one year sixteen human rights defenders were killed in
different parts of the Asia. In the last two years, FORUM-ASIA documented 324
violation and abuses against Human Rights Defenders in the region Hundreds of
human rights activists receive threat from the government agencies or non-state
actors, religious fanatics and those who preach and practice politics of
violence. In the last year alone there are 108 cases of government harassment
and criminalization. It is estimated
that 45% of 156 human rights defenders killed in 2015 were defenders of
environmental, land and indigenous people’s rights. Many countries such as Cambodia, Bangladesh,
Maldives, South Korea, and Thailand adopted restrictive laws that violate the
right to association and the ability of civil society to function without fear
or favour. Many of the organisations are denied their right to raise
resources.
There is an increasing threat to free media and also targeting of
the journalists who expose corruption and human rights violations. In many
countries, right to information activists, bloggers and writers are specifically
targeted by the non-state actors, mafias and religious fanatics. For example in
India, academics and journalists are targeted by the police for writing on
human rights or conducting human rights investigation. In Pakistan, minority communities and
activists are specifically targeted by discriminatory laws, non-state religious
fanatics. In Bangladesh, many bloggers and journalists were targeted. In India
too, many of the activists and scholars were shot down religious fanatics. In
Cambodia, four well known human rights defenders are in jail.
In March 2016, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution
31/32 , reiterating “the urgent need to
respect, protect, promote and facilitate the work of those defending economic,
social and cultural rights as a vital factor contributing towards the
realization of those rights, including as they relate to environmental and land
issues and development”. The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights Defenders
recognizes the legitimacy of the work of
human rights defenders, as well as their need for better protection. Human
Rights defenders include civil society activists, professional as well as
non-professional human rights workers, journalists, lawyers and anyone who work
to protect and promote human rights. The UN Declaration also codifies the
international standards that protect the activity of human rights defenders. As
per the Declaration, the protected rights of human rights defenders include the
right to development and discuss human rights ideas and to advocate their
acceptance; the right to criticise government bodies and agencies and to make
proposals to improve their accountability and functioning; and the right to
provide legal assistance and support in defence of human rights; the right to
observe fair trials; the right to communicate with the non-governmental and
intergovernmental organisations and right to access resources for the
protection of human rights.
Despite the fact UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, human
rights and environmental activists and organisations are at the receiving end
of the government or religious fanatics or both. The increasing rhetoric on
‘national security’ and ‘national interest’ promoted by corporate and
government controlled media often target all human rights defenders and
activists as ‘anti-national’ or and working against the ‘national interest’
Hence, it is time to further promote the UN
Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. The forthcoming meeting of human rights
practitioners and civic activists in Sri Lanka will not only help to build
solidarity of civic and human rights defenders across the region but also help
to reclaim the spaces for freedom, human rights and justice in the region.
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