US: Make Human
Rights a Priority for Clinton’s Trip
Press
Vietnam, Cambodia, and
Malaysia Governments to Respect Rights
HRW News
New York,
October 27, 2010
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
should make strong appeals for human rights when she visits three Southeast
Asian countries in the coming week, Human Rights Watch
said today. Human Rights Watch urged Clinton to call for the immediate release
of imprisoned Vietnamese bloggers and human rights
activists, seek an immediate halt to deepening harassment of the
political opposition in Cambodia, and press for revocation of the
Internal Security Act in Malaysia.
Clinton will travel to Vietnam on October 29-30, 2010, Cambodia on October
31-November 1, and finally to Malaysia from November 1-3, meeting with the
prime ministers and other top-level officials in
each country.
“This is Secretary of State Clinton’s chance to tell top officials face-to-face
that the US will not turn a blind eye when they try to cement their power by
beating peaceful protesters or jailing opposition politicians,” said
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at
Human Rights Watch.
In July, Clinton said, "The United States will continue to urge Vietnam to
strengthen its commitment to human rights and give its people an even greater
say over the direction of their own lives."
Unfortunately, many peaceful bloggers, community activists, anti-corruption
watchdogs, and democracy advocates in Vietnam are bearing the brunt of an
intensifying campaign of harassment, arrest, beatings in custody, unfair trials,
and long prison terms as the Vietnamese Communist Party
prepares for its five-year Congress in January 2011.
“Hillary Clinton should follow up on her tough
comments in July by reminding the Vietnamese Prime
Minister that an internal party meeting is no excuse to ratchet up
attacks against people peacefully demanding accountability and respect for
human rights,” Robertson said. “Free expression, including for bloggers, is
critical for the Vietnamese economy and society to advance and grow.”
In particular, Clinton should call for the immediate release of Nguyen Van Hai
(known as Dieu Cay) and Phan Thanh Hai (AnhbaSG), both bloggers jailed for their
writings, Human Rights Watch said.
In Cambodia, Clinton will meet Prime Minister Hun Sen
and other top officials responsible for a systematic attack on the rights to
freedom of assembly, association, and
expression. The government crackdown appears designed to eradicate any organized
political or civil society opposition to increasingly dictatorial rule by Hun
Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
The recent sentencing in absentia of Sam Rainsy,
the leader of the parliamentary opposition, to 10 years in prison on trumped up
charges related to disseminating a map of the Cambodia-Vietnam border is just
the latest travesty of justice under the ruling party’s complete control of the
judiciary, Human Rights Watch said. Clinton should clearly state the US
government’s serious concerns about the inadequacy and lack of fairness of the
judicial proceedings against Rainsy and in other political cases.
“Controlled judiciary, muzzled media, jailed political opponents, brutal
military and police – Cambodia has it all,”
Robertson said. “The US can either stand with embattled activists pressing for
human rights and accountability or close its eyes as authoritarian rule in
Cambodia is institutionalized for years to come.”
It is critically important for the US to ensure proper and thorough vetting
of both individual soldiers and military units seeking to take part in
US-financed training and assistance programs with the
Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, Human Rights Watch said. The credibility of
the US military and government is on line with the Cambodian people, who have
long suffered from human rights violations by
army troops acting on their own, or at the behest of influential local
businessmen, ruling party cadres, and local
politicians.
Finally, Clinton will travel to Kuala Lumpur to
reinforce Washington’s support for Malaysia. Human Rights Watch urged Clinton
to make use of this relationship to press for much needed human rights reforms
in Malaysia. Malaysia has a shameful record of violating basic rights using
three varied yet highly draconian preventive detention
laws – the Internal Security Act (ISA), the
Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance, and the Dangerous
Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act.
Upon taking office in April 2009, Prime Minister Najib
Razak stated an "intention to uphold civil
liberties" and expressed his "regard for the fundamental rights of the
people of Malaysia." Yet despite government pledges to review and reform the
preventive detention laws in parliament, the promised actions have yet to
materialize.
“Secretary of State Clinton should press the Malaysian government to end its
addiction to preventive detention,” Robertson said. “These laws are invariably
misused and abused against criminal suspects and political opponents. So long
as they are on the books, these laws spell trouble for basic rights.”
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Vietnam, please visit:
https://www.hrw.org/en/asia/vietnam
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Cambodia, please visit:
https://www.hrw.org/en/asia/cambodia
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Malaysia, please visit:
https://www.hrw.org/en/asia/malaysia
For more information, please contact:
In Bangkok, Phil Robertson (English, Thai): +66-85-060-8406 (mobile)
In Washington, DC, Sophie Richardson (English, Mandarin):
+1-202-612-4341; or
+1-917-721-7473 (mobile)
In New York, Elaine Pearson (English):
+1-212-216-1213; or +1-646-291-7169
(mobile)