Conflicts and Culture of Impunity in Asia

CONFLICTS AND CULTURE OF IMPUNITY IN ASIA

(Presented by Carmencita P. Karagdag, Coordinator Peace for Life, at the CCA pre-assembly People’s Forum, Kuala Lumpur, April 12-13, 20010)

Wars and conflicts have always plagued humankind since time immemorial, causing untold misery and despair. But in this time of militarized globalization and US exceptionalism, wars of plunder and occupation under the guise of war on terror—specially in oil and resource-rich regions of the world—have become the order of the day. This notwithstanding the so-called politics of hope inspired by US President Barack Obama, now the US leader invested with the task of securing the world, that is, of saving, the global Empire.

But wars are not only among nations and states. Internecine wars—be they racial or ethnic, sectarian, communal and civil conflicts—have in fact proliferated specially in Asia, a region of vast racial and cultural diversity and home to the world’s most ancient religions predating Christianity. Moreover, of special interest to us, people of faith. is the rise of religious fundamentalism (whether Islamic, Hindu or Christian) and the all-too glaring fact that religion has been used and misused to legitimize the immoral project of empire as well as to justify jihad and terrorism on the part of those who are aggrieved..

Some of these internal conflicts may not get the same media currency as the outright wars of invasion and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet while often hidden and less visible, these wars are said to have cost more lives than the two world wars put together; the number of displaced people resulting from these internal conflicts is believed to far outpace that of traditional wars.

Allow me to make a quick scan of the Asian political landscape and highlight some countries where conflicts have become endemic, resulting in widespread human rights atrocities and a prevailing culture of impunity.

SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka, where an NCC Sri Lanka staff Shanta Fernando continues to languish in jail, has been one dramatic case of massive humanitarian catastrophe since the collapse of the Permanent Ceasefire Agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the insurgent Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), giving free rein to the government’s total war against the LTTE which ended in May last year with the defeat of the insurgents and the capture of their strongholds.The government’s apparent success in decimating the insurgency has been attributed to its all-out military offensive, that is now being hailed as model. Already there are reports that Sri Lankan military advisers have been briefing the Philippine counterinsurgency operatives.

During the final months of the 28-year old conflict, which already cost 80,000 lives, the government confined nearly 300,000 people displaced by the conflict in what are euphemistically called "welfare camps" in the north. This apart from the mayhem and human rights atrocities inflicted on entire communities.

Today, nearly a year after the so-called victory of government forces, some 100,000 Tamils are still kept in camps where they are routinely denied basic rights and freedom of movement. Worse the authorities have forcibly separated more than 11,000 individuals with suspected ties to the LTTE and detained in "rehabilitation centers." Also, more than 550 children were among those transferred to these centers. The lack of information about the fate and whereabouts of some of the detainees raises concerns about the possibility that some may not only have been tortured, but also forcibly disappeared. Enforced disappearances have been a longstanding problem in Sri Lanka, and thousands of people remain unaccounted for.

Much of the blame for the collapse of the peace process that led to last year’s bloodbath centered on what is perceived as the negative role played by the international community. In 2006 the European Union added the LTTE to its list of terrorist organizations, destroying the parity of status believed to be necessary for the continuation of the peace process. Indeed as the findings of the Permanent People’s Tribunal on Sri Lanka held in Dublin early this year pointed out, the so-called “global war on terror” has produced a new security paradigm that has led to the justification of human rights violations against those members of the population labeled “terrorists”.

INDIA

In India communal violence has escalated specially after September 11, fanned by a rightwing Hindutva ideology in which cultural nationalism, casteism, communalism, and religious fundamentalism find convergence and feed on one another. The result is even greater persecution, including outright massacres, if not genocide, of religious minorities like Muslims in Guijarat and Christians in Orissa, not to the mention the abominable treatment of the long-discriminated Dalits and oppressed adhivasis.

Also the escalation of conflicts between government forces and Maoist insurgents, labeled as terrorists and considered the principal threat to internal security by the government, has resulted in massive human rights atrocities specially victimizing tribals, many of whom have been forced to retreat deep into the jungles which are hideouts of the insurgents. Even government authorities have thus expressed fears that police atrocities in the tribal areas of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Bengal and Andhra Pradesh are pushing the tribals into the arms of the insurgents.

Not surprisingly tribal areas have rich mineral deposits coveted by profit-hungry Indian and multinational mining companies and other landgrabbers, with Orissa alone having 70% of all of India's bauxite reserves, 90% of India's chrome ore and nickel and 24% of its coal.

Displaced from their land and discriminated against, tribal people are the most marginalized section of Indian society. They are thus now struggling to defend or reclaim their land, their only remaining resource. The government’s response is one of massive military offensive to eliminate the Maoists in largely tribal areas, involving the recent deployment of nearly 100,000 troops. To strengthen the military’s hand, draconian anti-terrorist legislations like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act have been reintroduced and harsh provisions from previous counterterrorism laws that had either been allowed to lapse or been repealed have been resurrected. Also cause for concern is the proliferation of so-called peace committees organized by landgrabbers to counter legitimate tribal organizations and local vigilante groups funded by mining interests and armed by the state.

NEPAL

Another South Asian country that is threatened with renewed violence is Nepal, where following a popular revolt that ended the repressive Hindu monarchy, a comprehensive peace agreement to end the 10-year armed conflict is now fast unraveling. In May last year the Maoists, who were then the largest bloc in the coalition government, withdrew from the government and went into opposition. They also boycotted the Constituent Assembly, tasked with drafting a new constitution by May this year and formed after a 2008 election when members voted overwhelmingly to abolish the monarchy and restructure the country into autonomous states.

Several contentious issues have frustrated efforts to hammer out a new constitution. At the center of the controversy is the question of the integration and rehabilitation of nearly 20,000 Maoist combatants verified by the United Nations Mission in Nepal, who have been held in cantonment sites around the country for nearly three years. The Maoists are demanding the integration of their combatants into the security forces, a demand opposed by the mainstream parties who insist that the combatants be integrated into the society.

Other issues over which the different political forces are at loggerheads includes the question of federalism, the proposed referendum to address Nepal’s status as Hindu state which was abolished in 2008 when Nepal became a republic. More than 80% of the Nepalese are Hindus.

Moreover there has been lack of political will and consensus to investigate and prosecute those responsible for crimes and human rights violations during the armed conflict, as set out in the 2006 peace agreement.

What is clear is that Nepal is now suffering from grave political instability and a fragile government, hobbling efforts to make progress on crucial issues of economic development, including the dismantling of the feudal economy. Moreover tensions are rising regarding the lack of progress in framing a new constitution which, if not decisively resolved this year, may well plunge the country into another civil war worse than the previous one.

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BURMA

One of the countries in Asia particularly notorious for blatant political repression and culture of impunity is Burma, where a military junta that restricts the basic rights and freedoms of all Burmese remains entrenched. The ruling State Peace and Development Council systematically denies citizens the basic freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. To date more than 2,100 political prisoners continue to languish in jail. Moreover, the military continues to perpetrate human-rights atrocities against civilians in ethnic conflict areas, including extrajudicial killings, forced labor, and sexual violence.

Elections are supposed to be held this year for the first time in 20 years. However concern has been raised that the recently released Burmese election law may undermine the participation of opposition parties. This and the continuing house arrest since 2003 of opposition leader and human-rights icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, gives credence to the widely-held view that the military will not allow genuine political participation in the electoral process and is simply using the elections to legitimize its continuing hold on power. An ostensibly civilian parliament will be but mere front for continued military control. In fact under the new constitution, a quarter of the parliament’s seats are reserved for the military. Moreover, continuing uncertainties and a high degree of secrecy surrounding the election process, including the actual election dates, have raised tensions in the country. Already the opposition National League for Democracy, which won the previous elections but prevented by the military to assume power, have announced a boycott of the polls.

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PAKISTAN

Pakistan, an Islamic state, has been the site of some of the worst sectarian violence perpetrated by religious extremists with apparent connivance of the military. Suicide bombings, armed attacks, and killings have targeted civilians, minority religious groups, and the political elite.

Though it has a parliamentary system and democratically elected government now in place after eight years of disastrous military rule, the military has continued to assert its power and perpetrate human rights abuses with impunity, thus effectively subverting the political and judicial systems in the country. .

Meanwhile rising religious extremism and militancy as well as recent efforts by military elements to destabilize the civilian regime have been fuelled by a growing anti-US sentiment which deepened markedly in 2009 due to the US aerial drone strikes on suspected militant hideouts in the tribal areas, viewed by many as a violation of the country’s sovereignty and prompting allegations that US attacks that killed hundreds of civilians violated the laws of war. The current US military strategy after Bush is to shift focus to Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan in its drive to contain Al Quaeda and the Talibans.

The military also instigated a nationalist backlash when Obama signed into law last year the Enhanced Partnershp with Pakistan Act, linking its US$7.5 billion in non-military aid over five years to conditions relating to military conduct, dismissed by the military as compromising the country’s national security. This includes a requirement for the US secretary of state to certify that the Pakistani military is combating terrorism, not engaged in nuclear proliferation, and not "materially and substantially subverting the political or judicial processes of Pakistan."

Also a matter of concern to the ecumenical movement and human rights groups is Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law which has been used to quell dissent and oppress religious minorities specially Christians.

PHILIPPINES

I will not dwell lengthily on the Philippines, another Asian country plagued by human rights atrocities, notably extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances, that has victimized not only left-wing mass leaders and activists but also lawyers, doctors journalists, human-rights advocates and clergy, including a bishop. Suffice it to say that in the Philippines, the US’s first and hence highly prized colonial possession, both the communist and Muslim rebellions are being systematically subverted through a revitalized counter-insurgency campaign fashioned after the US-inspired “dirty war” in Latin America. No less than UN Rapporteur Philip Alston has asserted that extra-judicial killing is an integral component of this US-instigated counter-insurgency strategy the aim of which is to dismantle the mass base of the political left which has seen a resurgence with the onslaught of globalization and the war on terror.

Later I shall introduce my fellow churchworker from the Philippines, Rev. Berlin Guerrero, who will expand on the issue and offer a testimony of his own experience as victim of state terror.

As all these country cases illustrate, assaults on human freedom and grave threats to life have in recent years reached a new level of magnitude and barbarity. Untrammeled economic globalization, the US war on terror in the aftermath of September 11, and the immoral project of global hegemony and Empire have radically altered the Asian political landscape, resulting in more widespread impoverishment, massive displacement of entire communities and thus even more virulent strifes and blatant denial of political, economic, social and cultural rights. A lot of the insurgencies and conflicts, including terrorism as a response of the disempowered, do in fact have underlying social, political and economic causes, rooted as they are in the exclusion and marginalization of vast numbers of the Asian population.

Indeed peace advocates today face nearly insurmountable odds. For one thing, wars are profitable. Though wars result in large-scale destruction, enormous profits are made from lucrative defense contracts for reconstruction, for refurbishing the army, for further research to build sophisticated weaponry and nuclear technology.

To conclude, human rights advocacy from an ecumenical perspective cannot but cannot but go hand in hand with prophetic denunciation of globalization and empire building, accompanied by concrete work for justice, understood as distributive and transformative justice, which alone can build the regime of peace and universal rule of law that we in the ecumenical community have been called by our Christian faith to strive relentlessly for.