Human rights abuses growing in Asia | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Human rights abuses growing in Asia

HONG KONG – Human rights abuses are growing in Asia as most countries in the region face a breakdown of the rule of law, a Hong Kong-based rights group said on December 10.

The Asian Human Rights Commission said it had documented rights violations in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand, with most victims coming from poorer communities.

“The incidence of rights abuse in Asia is growing exponentially,” it said in a statement to mark International Human Rights Day on December 10.

“Asia’s human rights situation remains very bleak with most countries facing the breakdown of the rule of law that makes their people live in instability and constant fear,” it said.

“The absence of the rule of law permits the exercise of absolute power.”

More Asians were ready to defend and assert their rights, but many who dared to make complaints and seek justice often met harsher and more violent state reactions, it said.

“This popular upsurge in almost all countries is greater than at any time in the past,” the group said.

Of those who protested, “some were harassed and intimidated; some were killed,” the group said.

Forced disappearances and custodial torture are major threats to human rights in many places in the region, it said.

It highlighted Nepal and southern Thailand as places where the rising number of disappearances was causing deep concern.

Many countries used torture to maintain law and order, it said.

“Police stations and military barracks in most places double as torture chambers.”

The group said police were “the greatest obstacle” to the protection and promotion of human rights throughout the region, and were often the law breakers violating human rights.

“The majority of people suffer, a handful obtain extraordinary benefits. State security forces enjoy virtual impunity, and engage in extreme forms of cruelty,” the group said.
Source: Daily Times
Date:12/11/2004