Philippine human
rights group Karapatan joins other human
rights groups and advocates in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region in
expressing the strongest condemnation on the growing threats and attacks on
human rights defenders in the region, particularly the detention of Cambodian
human rights leader Mu Sochu
Philippine human
rights group Karapatan joins other human
rights groups and advocates in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region in
expressing the strongest condemnation on the growing threats and attacks on
human rights defenders in the region, particularly the detention of Cambodian
human rights leader Mu Sochua in Malaysia and the forced closure of the
Maldivian Democracy Network.
“While the Duterte regime is relentless in its crackdown on
progressive and democratic forces in the Philippines, human rights defenders in
Cambodia and Maldives face alarmingly similar attacks from their governments.
Clearly, there is an emerging trend of authoritarianism in Southeast Asia and
the Asia-Pacific region which has resulted to intensified attacks on human
rights defenders and the further narrowing of democratic spaces in the region,”
Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay said.
On Thursday,
November 7, 2019, Mu Sochua, vice president of the Cambodian National Rescue
Party (CNRP), was set to return to Cambodia as she arrived at the Kuala Lumpur
International Airport from Jakarta, Indonesia when Malaysian authorities
detained her at the airport. Sochua along with other CNRP leaders and members
have fled Cambodia following threats of arrests; they are currently gearing to
return and end their self-exile to articulate the opposition’s legitimate
issues within Cambodia . The Malaysian government initially threatened to
deport Sochua to another country but she was released from custody following
massive outcry calling for her immediate and unconditional release.
“Governments are colluding to suppress and harass activists and
Sochua’s brief detention in Malaysia sets a dangerous pretext for all human
rights defenders in Southeast Asia. Other governments in the region can now
follow suit with Malaysia’s actions to coordinate with each other in blocking
activists from either entering their country or returning to their
countries—effectively hindering us from doing our work and building networks
and alliances with other human rights defenders in the region. We hold
accountable both the Malaysian and Cambodian governments in this brazen assault
on human rights,” Palabay continued.
The Karapatan
official also slammed the decision of the Maldivian government to dissolve the
Maldivian Democracy Network last Tuesday, November 5, 2019. The motion comes
following allegations of blasphemy made in response to a 2015 report
‘Preliminary Assessment on Radicalisation in the Maldives’ as well as other
state-instigated smear campaigns which has resulted to the harassment of the
Maldivian Democracy Network such as death threats and incitement of violence
against its staff and associates. Palabay said that the attacks on the
Maldivian Democracy Network “closely mirrors state-led efforts to discredit and
delegitimize the work and advocacy of human rights organizations in the
Philippines, including Karapatan.”
“We stand with the Maldivian Democracy Network in asserting that
human rights defenders in all countries must be free to do our work without
threats, without intimidation, without fear of reprisals, without being
maliciously tagged as ‘terrorists’ or ‘radicals.’ Karapatan has been tagged as
a ‘communist terrorist’ front by the Philippine government numerous times which
has led to the threats on our members and even their deaths. These tags are no
joking matter as they put the lives of human rights defenders at extremely
dangerous risks,” she said.
“Karapatan expresses solidarity with all human rights defenders in Southeast
Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. As we all face the threats of closing civic
spaces and intensified attacks amid a growing trend of authoritarianism in the
region, now is the time, more than ever, to assert our rights, to resist and
fight back, to build solidarity and alliances since the people’s struggle for
human rights knows no borders. Together, we defend human rights and people’s
rights,” the Karapatan official ended.