From Afghanistan to East Timor, human rights were trampled with impunity in Asia last year by governments and armed rebel groups, Amnesty International said yesterday.
People were jailed indefinitely without trial in Malaysia and Singapore, religious minorities were persecuted in China and Vietnam and security forces committed extra-judicial killings in Nepal, Thailand and Indonesia, the London-based watchdog group said in its 2005 annual report.
"In 2004, we saw that governments betrayed their promises and sold out their people," Si-si Liu, chairperson of Amnesty International Hong Kong, told a news conference.
PHOTO: AP
Women were a major focus of the report -- Amnesty's latest report card on the state of human rights around the world -- and suffered violence and systematic discrimination ranging from acid attacks in Bangladesh to forced abortion in China, rape by soldiers in Nepal and domestic beatings in Australia.
While Amnesty reported moderate improvements in the protection of rights in some countries, the list of places where rights deteriorated was much longer.
In North Korea, people starved because of a food crisis, and radio and television sets were tuned to receive only state broadcasts. In Myanmar, the ruling generals continued to deny democracy despite promising reforms, Amnesty said.
Extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence and destruction of property continued to be reported in Indonesia and Nepal, and politically motivated killings rose dramatically in Sri Lanka.
Following are summaries of rights abuses alleged by Amnesty in Asian countries:
Although Afghanistan has a new constitution that guarantees gender equality, women still faced widespread discrimination. Hundreds of women set fire to themselves to escape violence at home and forced marriage. Rape, forced marriage and the exchange of girls to settle disputes were frequently not treated as crimes. US forces arbitrarily detained people unlawfully, and large chunks of the country were off limits to aid groups.
In China, authorities used the threat of terrorism to justify a crackdown on minority Muslim Uighurs, closing many unofficial mosques, arresting imams and restricting the use of the Uighur language. Freedom of expression and religion was severely restricted in Tibet. Political crackdowns continued on specific groups, including the Falun Gong spiritual movement. Thousands of people were sentenced to death or executed, many after unfair trials.
In Myanmar, more than 1,300 political prisoners are being held, and arrests and imprisonment for peaceful opposition activities continued. Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest and the army committed serious rights violations against ethnic minority civilians during counterinsurgency operations in the Mon, Shan and Kayin states.
In Thailand, more than 500 people were killed in the southern provinces where security forces are battling a Muslim insurgency. Attacks against government officials and installations by unidentified groups continued in the south. No one was brought to justice for the deaths of 78 people who suffocated in army trucks after being arrested at a demonstration.
In the Philippines, summary execution of suspected Muslim rebels during military operations were carried out. Scores of suspects were reportedly tortured or ill-treated by police or the military to extract confessions on information.
Singapore, the city-state of 4.2 million people, retains the highest per capita execution rate in the world. It also maintains a "broad array" of laws restricting speech and assembly.
In Australia, new counterterrorism laws extended the period of detention without charge and further restricted choice of legal representation. Refugee families were kept separated by the government's mandatory detention policy, and the treatment of indigenous Aborigines remained of concern.
In India, Gujarat state authorities still haven't brought to justice those responsible for violence in 2002 when hundreds of Muslims were killed by Hindu mobs. Security legislation was used to facilitate arbitrary arrests, torture and other grave rights violations, often against political opponents.
In Pakistan, arbitrary arrests and detentions continued in the context of combatting terrorism, and possible extrajudicial executions were reported during security operations in tribal areas. Blasphemy laws were used to prosecute Christians. In East Timor, the world's newest country, the rule of law and human rights were undermined by the weakness of key institutions, leading to unlawful arrests, long court delays and impunity for police accused of using excessive force and assaulting suspects.
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