scholarly journals Human Rights Policies and Regional Cooperation in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Study of the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-248
Author(s):  
Dong-Yoon Lee
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
The Philippines

scholarly journals Comparative Study of the Roles of ASEAN and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Responding to the Rohingya Crisis

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Irawan Jati
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Andaman Sea ◽  
Regional Organization ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
Target Community

Since 2012, Southeast Asia has witnessed the human rights tragedy of the Rohingya people of Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have been displaced from their homes and traveled to refugee facilities in Myanmar and Bangladesh, while others have been stranded on the Andaman Sea. The Rohingya crisis is perhaps the most horrific human rights tragedy after the crisis in Vietnam in the 1970s. As the crisis has developed, international communities, including ASEAN and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), have responded to the crisis. As the main regional organization, ASEAN has been hoped to elucidate the crisis tactically through peaceful means. OIC, meanwhile, has been expected to join humanitarian action using a diplomatic approach to other international humanitarian bodies, including the UNHCR. However, it is obvious that ASEAN's response to the crisis has been limited to diplomatic oration and failed to prevent a wider crisis. For OIC, its humanitarian solidarity has lacked access to the target community. Therefore, this paper would like to attempt a comparative analysis to describe the central inquiry; how have ASEAN and OIC responded to the Rohingya crisis? This analysis involves studying ASEAN and OIC publications and related references. The initial argument of this paper is that both organizations have given reasonable responses to the crisis, but have been unable to halt its advance.

scholarly journals Introduction: States, Critical Citizens, and the Challenge of Democratization in Southeast Asia

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-142
Author(s):  
LILY ZUBAIDAH RAHIM ◽  
JULIET PIETSCH
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
The Political ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Critical Citizens ◽  
Freedom House

The political trajectories in Southeast Asia are much more complex than neat theoretical models would suggest. In particular, the diverse experience of post-authoritarian states are far from linear – often moving forward, backward, and forward again, or stalling for a number of years. Political trajectories can thus be uneven and erratic, as exemplified by Thailand's military coups, graduating from hegemonic to competitive electoral authoritarian rule in Singapore and Malaysia and lingering within the zone of low-quality democracy as characterized by Indonesia's poor governance and neo-patrimonial dynamics. Indeed, since 2014, Freedom House no longer classifies Indonesia as ‘Free’, following the passage of legislation restricting the activity of civil society and the human rights violations against religious minorities. Similarly, Thailand lost its ‘Free’ ranking in 2006 and the Philippines in 2007.

scholarly journals Sex and Gender Diversity in Southeast Asia

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 357
Author(s):  
Douglas Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Couples ◽  
Discrimination In Employment ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Legal Sex

The United Nations human rights system has recognized rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual,  transgender and intersex individuals (LGBTI), with key decisions in 2011 and 2016. To what  extent are the rights of these groupings respected in Southeast Asia? The visibility of LGBTI is  low in Southeast Asia and government attitudes vary.  Criminal laws, both secular and Sharia,  in some jurisdictions, have prohibitions, but active enforcement is rare. Discrimination in employment is prohibited by law in Thailand and in local laws in the Philippines. Change of  legal ‘sex’ for transgender individuals is sometimes possible. Legal recognition of same-sex relationships has been proposed in Thailand and the Philippines, but not yet enacted. Marriage has been opened to same-sex couples in neighboring Taiwan. Laws on adoption and surrogacy generally exclude same-sex couples. So-called ‘normalizing surgery’ on intersex babies needs to be deferred to the child’s maturity, to protect their health and rights.

scholarly journals DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDONESIAN FOREIGN POLICY

2018 ◽  
pp. 17-24
Author(s):  
V. Matvienko ◽  
A. Smorzhevska
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
National Level ◽  
Multilateral Cooperation ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Democratic Transformation ◽  
Council Work

The article explores the practical aspects of Indonesia’s foreign policy agenda on the issues of democracy and human rights in multilateral dimension. It was clarified that state policy in this area is being implemented in the context of regional cooperation in Southeast Asia within ASEAN framework, as well as the Bali Democratic Forum and the Institute for Peace and Democracy created by Indonesia. At the international level, Indonesia’s position was expressed through the participation of the country in the UN Security Council work as a non-permanent member. It is emphasized that the ASEAN principles of regional cooperation impede Indonesia’s leadership efforts in the area of democratic transformation and complicate multilateral cooperation between the countries of Southeast Asia, and therefore Indonesia attracts other actors to this cooperation. It was found that, given Indonesia’s own problems in this area, the increased attention to democracy and human rights is indicative of their instrumental nature in Indonesia’s foreign policy, in particular its importance for strengthening Indonesian prestige abroad. At the same time, it is noted that such an agenda can stimulate Indonesia to implement more effective policy at the national level.

From the Global to the Local: The Development of Indigenous Peoples’ Land Rights Internationally and in Southeast Asia

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek INMAN
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
Legislative Reform ◽  
Implementation Gap ◽  
African Commission

Despite a noticeable shift in recent years, indigenous peoples in Asia continue to experience many forms of human rights violations, with the most serious perhaps being the loss of traditional lands and territories. The purpose of this paper is to examine indigenous peoples’ land rights and its application in Southeast Asia. To that end, the paper will provide an overview of the development of indigenous peoples’ land rights internationally; offer regional perspectives from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights; analyze the concept of indigenous peoples in Asia, juxtaposing it with concurrent difficulties being experienced on the African continent; examine three countries (Cambodia, the Philippines, and Malaysia) that recognize indigenous peoples’ land rights to some extent, whether through constitutional amendments, legislative reform, or domestic jurisprudence; and highlight the implementation gap between the rights of indigenous peoples in law and practice.

scholarly journals UPAYA ASEAN DALAM MENGHADAPI SKEMA LIBERALISASI E-COMMERCE DI ASEAN-6 (2015 – 2017)

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miftah Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Research Question ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Electronic Payment ◽  
Internet Infrastructure ◽  
Digital Era

This study discusses about digital era marked by the advancement of knowledge and innovation in the field of Technology, Information and Communication (ICT) which has provided major changes to all aspects of life, especially in economy. ASEAN as a regional cooperation in the Southeast Asia region, currently as an emerging market in e-commerce competition, especially for Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam (ASEAN-6). Based on this phenomenon, my research question is, how are ASEAN-6's efforts in facing of e-commerce liberalization in the digital era in line with the ASEAN framework (AEC Blueprint 2015 & 2025, ASEAN ICT Masterplan and ASEAN Digital Integration). This research use the theory of trade liberalization, the concept of economic integration and the concept of digital economics to be able to examine the phenomenon of e-commerce liberalization in ASEAN-6. The various literature reviewed by the author shows that the growth of e-commerce is influenced by four factors, namely: 1) internet infrastructure; 2) electronic payment system; 3) shipping services that has a wide coverage; 4) government policy framework in each ASEAN-6 country. In addition, there are several obstacles found including: 1) the geographical location of each ASEAN-6 country that affects the process of developing the internet infrastructure; 2) issues of personal data protection and cyber security related to electronic payment systems; 3) effectiveness and efficiency of the existence of shipping services, especially shipping between countries; and 4) policy discrepancies between countries. This study concludes that as a regional organization in Southeast Asia, ASEAN continues to strive to harmonize regulations among member countries, form a framework of cooperation and other agendas to be able to harmonize the development of ICT, especially the growth of e-commerce. The fundamental difference from this study with previous studies is that there have been no studies that examine e-commerce liberalization in the ASEAN region, so the author tries to collaborate on several facts related to the growth of e-commerce liberalization in ASEAN-6 Keywords: ASEAN, e-commerce, digital economy, economic integration

scholarly journals Quarantining activism: COVID-19, frontline defenders and intensifying extractivism in the Philippines

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfram Dressler
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
News Media ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Resource Extraction ◽  
Resource Exploitation ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Current Context ◽  
State Actors

How does the intersection of authoritarian populism and a global pandemic reinforce the suppression of human rights, dismantle environmental protections, and accelerate resource extraction? In parts of Southeast Asia, the rise of authoritarian regimes has created conditions of impunity in which state and non-state actors have exploited restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic to restrain activism, contain indigenous livelihoods, and intensify resource exploitation. This article explores how political control and violence against activists (‘defenders') under authoritarian Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte have intersected with and been reinforced throughCOVID-19 health measures to curtail grass-roots efforts to protect social and environmental safeguards. Since March 2020, violence against defenders has gone viral as activism in the country has been quarantined. Under Duterte's authoritarian populist rhetoric, state actors, parastatal and shadowy assassins have allegedly used public health measures to suppress activism further,enabling the harassment, arrests, and deaths of defenders and the intensification of resource extraction. Based on a critical review of news media and conservation policy, I describe the history and current context of defenders being 'quarantined' by authorities using lockdown measures to coercively suppress social and environmental activism across the country. I examine cases from Palawan Island to show how political authorities and elites have used COVID-19 to suppress defender mobility and enforcement practices and how lulls in defending and discourses of 'pandemic recovery' have facilitated mining and deforestation. The conclusion asserts that paying attention to how political conjunctures produce violent governance and local resistance reveals civil society's crucial role and vulnerabilities in protecting human rights and the environment in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.

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