The US said on Friday that Myanmar had far more to do to improve human rights after freeing Aung San Suu Kyi, in a report that also aired concern over Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.
In an annual survey on human rights, the US State Department pointed to “severe” abuses in Myanmar including frequent killings, rapes and forced labor of ethnic minorities at the hands of the country’s powerful army.
Myanmar freed pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in November. The military leaders have officially ceded power to civilians as part of a political transition, although outside observers consider the step cosmetic.
“We continue to be very concerned about the situation in Burma [Myanmar], especially, I would say, the continued detention of more than 2,000 political prisoners,” US official Michael Posner said as he presented the report.
“We continue to call for their release, but also [to end] the very harsh and unreasonable restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi and her party. So we have a long way to go,” said Posner, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.
US President Barack Obama’s administration is expected shortly to name a special coordinator on Myanmar policy, an appointment which Posner said would help the US engage on issues including human rights.
VIETNAM
The report also pointed to human rights concerns elsewhere in Southeast Asia — particularly Vietnam, where it said that at least 25 political activists were arrested.
“The government increased its suppression of dissent,” the report said. “Police commonly mistreated suspects during arrest or detention.”
The report said that historic discrimination persisted against ethnic minorities, although it also pointed to efforts by Vietnam to address grievances in the Central Highlands by improving education and infrastructure.
Human Rights Watch, a private US watchdog organization, said in a recent report that Vietnam was stepping up repression of the Montagnard people, forcing hundreds to renounce their religion.
The US State Department report also raised concerns about Cambodia, saying that security forces “committed arbitrary killings and acted with impunity,” often abusing detainees to extract confessions.
The survey said that Cambodia restricted freedom of speech and press and pointed to efforts seen as weakening non-governmental organizations, which have been active in the country since its recovery from war.
Posner said the push against NGOs was part of a worldwide trend by governments to make life difficult for critics.
“The law makes it very hard for NGOs to register, especially small ones, and I think it does not do a service to the Government of Cambodia to keep pursuing this law,” Posner told reporters.
PHILIPPINES
In the Philippines, the State Department report said that extrajudicial killings were “serious problems” and also pointed to harassment of leftist and human rights activists and arbitrary arrests.
“Members of the security services physically and psychologically abused suspects and detainees, and there were instances of torture,” it said.
On Laos, the US State Department said that the one-party state restricted freedom of speech and at times freedom of religion. However, unlike in previous years, the report said there were “no credible reports” of military action against insurgents — who consist largely of members of the Hmong hill people.
The survey pointed to concerns in Indonesia, including accounts of unlawful killings in violence-torn Papua along with interference against freedom of religion.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, presenting the global report, pointed to Indonesia as a success story.
“Indonesia boasts a vibrant free media and a flourishing civil society at the same time as it faces up to challenges in preventing abuses by its security forces and acting against religious intolerance,” Clinton told reporters.
The survey covers the period before Islamic fanatics killed three members of the Ahmadiyah Muslim movement in early February, drawing concern around the world.
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