Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

In 1975 – 1995

From Burma to the Philippines, Southeast Asia has had more than its share of misfortune in the last quarter century, enduring some of the most brutal governments since the Nazis ruled Germany.

1975 – The Communists triumph in Vietnam: The first communists from the National Liberation Front make their way into South Vietnam in the early 1960s. By 1963, 15,000 U.S. Military advisers are stationed in the country.

At the height of the Vietnam War, the United States has more than 525,000 men in Vietnam. Some 50,000 Americans and many, many more Vietnamese lose their lives in the war. A peace treaty is signed in 1973 in Paris, ending the longest military action in U.S history (war never was formally declared). Two years later, North Vietnamese forces capture Saigon. U.S. Marine guards and U.S. Civilians and dependents are evacuated by helicopter from the rooftop of the besieged U.S. Embassy there. In 1994, the United States and Vietnam take the first steps toward resuming normal diplomatic relations.

1975 – Phnom Penh falls to the Knmer Rouge: After more than five years, the war in Cambodia ends when Pol Pot leads his communist Khmer Rouge forces into the capital, Phnom Penh, where he establishes the Kampuchean People’s Republic. Just days before, U.S. Diplomatic staff members are evacuated by helicopter. Shortly after taking power, Khmer Rouge leaders expel the capital’s entire population to the countryside. In the next two years, an estimated 2 million to 4 million Cambodians die under the brutality of the Pol Pot regime.

Southeastern denizens of Earth. Photo by Elena

1986 – Marcos Ousted: Philippines leader Ferdinand E. Marcos flees his country for exile in Hawai’i after public outcries against a fraudulent election. Political opponent Corazon C. Aquino takes over the presidency with widespread support and tries to recover an estimated $27 billion that Marcos has allegedly stolen from the national treasury.

1994 – Labor Unrest in Indonesia: After months of strikes, workers in Medan, North Sumatra stage a mass rally and demand higher wages and the right to organize. The demonstration later turns violent, with Chinese -owned shops primary targets, and hundreds are arrested. Labor union organizers receive the harshest penalties.

Human Rights Watch

Burma’s house arrest – China’s hard line – Iraq’s crackdown

Burma: Arbitrary detention and torture are common. Freedom of association, expression, and assembly are severely limited. Democratic opposition leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest, and many of those speaking out for her release have been arrested. Trafficking of Burmese women into sex slavery in Thailand and other Asian countries is prevalent.

China: Human rights in China have been deteriorating progressively ever since President Clinton renewed China’s most favored nation trading status without insisting that the Chinese show progress on human rights. Torture and beatings are common in prisons, and freedom of association, expression, assembly, and religion are severely restricted.

India: Discriminatory arrests throughout the country continue unabated as security forces cite the powers granted them by the controversial Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (TADA) law. In Kashmir, Indian forces have executed detainees, killed civilians in reprisal attacks, and burned down neighborhoods and villages as punishment for suspected militants.

Iran: Tens of thousands of Christians, Jews, and Bahais have left Iran over the last 15 years, but those who have stayed have been direct targets of government abuse. Iranian Kurds face fierce persecution and members of Kurdish opposition groups are periodically assassinated by security forces. Villages in Iraq, where Iranian Kurds had taken refuge, have been destroyed by Iranian shelling.

Iraq: In response to rising crime, the government has established new cruel and extreme punishments, said to be founded on Islamic law. First-time convicts guilty of stealing cars and other property valued over 5,000 dinars ($15 U.S.) must have their right hands amputated and an X tattooed on their foreheads. Miliary deserters must have their earlobes amputated and their foreheads tattooed. Sh’a Muslims, which make up about 55 percent of the Iraqi population, are excluded from government by the ruling Baath party.

Saudi Arabia: Especially for political prisoners, arbitrary arrest, detention without trial, and torture are common. Authorities exract information from prisoners by using electric shock, falaqa (beating on the soles of the feet), and flogging with bamboo sticks. Convicted drug traffickers, almost all foreigners, are typically beheaded. Most do not get access to legal representation at trial. To rein in Islamic opposition groups who are critical of the government, a strict ban on public speaking, assembly, and association is enforced.

Former Soviet Republics: Civil war and repression of political dissent are the rule. In Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, for example, former communist leaders stifle dissent by censoring the press, prohibiting free expression and association, and keeping dissenters under constant surveillance, Armed conflict has continued in, among other areas, parts of Tajikistan and Azerbaijan.

Syria: A state of emergency, imposed in 1963, remains in effect, giving security forces wide powers of detention without charge. However, political dissidents have been released from prison, some having been held without charge or trial for more than 20 years. The government also has been lifting restrictions on freedom of movement for the small Jewish community by granting exit visas.

(Source: World report, Human Right Watch, 1995).