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By Nora O. Gamolon Senior
Deskperson
Some 150 activists from 20 Asian countries participating in the
three-day World Forum for Democratization in Asia express “deep
concern” for the violence and internal conflicts caused or
aggravated by authoritarian rule or antidemocratic practices in the
region.
They expressed support for the
setting up of an Asean Human Rights Mechanism (Asean HRM), whose
secretariat is based in the Philippines for the moment.
Atty. Carlos Medina, Ateneo law
professor who chairs the working group for the Asean HRM, said there
is still no existing region-wide mechanism. Four requirements are
needed to set this up: approved program or plan of action, human
rights education, human rights institutions, and strengthening of
the right to develop the countries’ economy and culture.
An action program, called the
Manila Declaration, was adopted in which the participants call on
other representatives of non-government and people’s organizations
in the region to collaborate and share information and experiences
to build up solidarity and support for efforts to promote democracy
in the region.
The conference ended yesterday,
with some delegates joining Philippine counterparts in mass actions
commemorating the 35th year of the declaration of martial law in the
Philippines.
Yesterday, September 21, is
adopted by international civil society as International Day of
Peace.
Anwar Ibrahim, former Malaysian
deputy prime minister under civil interdiction, said that the human
rights report card of Asia is “dismal and damning”, noting the
drift to autocratic rule and widespread violation of legal
guarantees which have reduced many Asian states into
“pseudo-democracies.”
Ibrahim himself deplored the
conviction in a controversial trial, and continuing detention of
former president Joseph Ejercito Estrada, whom he calls a
“friend”.
The delegates point out that
there are “continuing dictatorships” in China, Laos, and
Vietnam, and unresolved internal conflicts in the Philippines,
Indonesia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
They “deplore the use of
national security as a pretext for attacks on democracy and
suppression of human rights in many Asian countries such as
Malaysia, Singapore, Tibet and Thailand.”
The participants championed
civilian rule, warning that “military rule can bring neither
democracy or peace.”
Efforts must be undertaken to
resolve conflicts through peaceful means, and to ensure that
marginalized and disenfranchised groups participate in civil affairs
using their rights to speak, associate and assemble.
The participants noted the
“courageous actions” of civilians and monks in Burma who “have
held more than 50 peaceful protests for democracy and economic
reforms” in the past month alone.
Senator Benigno Aquino III gave a
valedictory address, saying that “the democratic struggle should
go beyond the dramatic events and place itself firmly in public
institutions and practices.”
“Our problem is that we have
not had enough democracy that would allow people to be empowered to
take their destiny in their own hands,” stressed Aquino.
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