Asia remains notorious for rights abuses
The Asian political scene is rigged with authoritarian regimes but the ugliest part is the treatment meted to the citizens.
In some Asian countries, the abuse of human rights is a daily happening and it is part of some policies.
But these regimes are facing a rising tide of protests resulting in extrajudicial killings (India), jailing and forced migration (Myanmar).
The countries in the Asia Pacific region that tops the abusive list are India and China.
An Amnesty International survey says the two most populous nations on earth are bullies.
They are trying to impose their own “bleak, domineering vision on the continent. They are also perceiving minorities as a threat to `national security.’
PEOPLE FIGHT BACK
But the people are fighting back. We have all noticed a sudden increase in protests in China, India, Hongkong, Myanmar.
This is a sign the people are using modern tools to fight back tough the regimes are blocking these tools.
India’s invasion of Kashmir is another sign of rising oppression in India. The blockade of the internet by the Indian government in Kashmir is an example of the role tech is playing.
During the Arab Spring, technology did play a major role in street fights. They will continue to be an important revolutionary element in the people’s uprising across the globe.
HONG KONG PROTEST
A marked element in 2020 was the young people from Hong Kong, India, Kashmir, Myanmar, Thailand in particular fighting back.
We have seen resistance and protests, blockades and standoffs. We believe the more oppressive these regimes get, the more fights there will be.
“We saw increased mobilization by young people to defend their rights. Demand accountability, justice, action on climate and rights for all,” Nicholas Bequelin, regional director for Amnesty International, told The Associated Press.
SILENCING THE TRUTH
With technology blockades in India, China and Myanmar for example, it is clear there is an attempt to silence the protestors.
AI says this is a worrying trend though anti-government protests showed an abiding will to resist repression.
THROWBACK ON REPRESSION IN 2020
- RISING REPRESSION CHINA: Chinese leader Xi Jinping is pushing for absolute control by the Communist Party of China. There is intensified persecution in China. Look at what they are doing to the Muslims in the Xinjiang province!
- Sri Lanka is highlighted in the report for the anti-Muslim violence after Easter Sunday bombings.
- Afghanistan’s war where 2500 people died and 5,676 people were injured.
- In Myanmar, the military carried out war crimes in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan states, as internal strife continues.
- Australia’s detentions of refugees and asylum seekers and turning boats of people fleeing their home countries back to sea are not spared.
- In Japan, refugees rarely are granted asylum. Japan has gone rogue on the Migrant’s Convention to protect the rights of imported workers!
EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS
In Pakistan, journalists, human rights defenders and members of the Shiá Muslim community were among the hundreds of people missing.
Still, in Pakistan, there are thousands more missing and they are also from the Sunni communities.
Across the world, there is still the use of laws against sedition and defamation to curtail media freedoms.
This happened in the Philippines too where a veteran journalist Maria Ressa is harassed by the government.