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12. Challenges to Human Rights and Civil Liberties
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
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Challenges to Human Rights and Civil Liberties 291 Chapter Twelve Challenges to Human Rights and Civil Liberties Anja Jetschke SECURITY CONCEPTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN ASIA: PAST AND PRESENT Within the framework of human security sketched in the introductory chapters of this book, this chapter describes and assesses security threats at the interface between the state and the individual in Asia. Post-independence Asian security policy has focused on internal security, that is, the strengthening of state capacity and nation-building has been emphasized more than the defence against an external aggressor. For example, in the 1960s Indonesia’s then President Suharto popularized the concept of “national resilience” (ketahanan nasional). National resilience encapsulates the idea that only stable, prosperous states will be peaceful states and will not pose a threat to their neighbours. Though formally independent, many Southeast Asian states were weak states and therefore not capable of dealing with political turbulence such as secessionist movements, challenges to the central government posed by Communist or Islamic movements and border disputes. Cases in point are Indonesia’s konfrontasi against Malaysia and Singapore (1963–66) and the 12 Asian Security Ch 12.pm65 6/12/06, 2:42 PM 291 292 Anja Jetschke Philippine–Malaysian dispute over Sabah. These developments and Southeast Asia’s precarious situation during the Cold War prompted Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines to found the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional organization to promote cooperation in the economic, cultural and security area, in 1967 in an attempt to regionalize “national resilience”. The Bangkok Declaration, the founding document of ASEAN therefore emphasized the principles of non-interference and economic development. With regards to human rights, the emphasis on state-building appeared most rational, given the fact that an effective promotion and protection of human rights first and foremost requires the existence of a capable state. As such, much of the current debate on state capabilities and good governance has been anticipated by the concept of national resilience, except that national resilience heavily relied on each state’s own ability to manage state-building and did not build on active international financial support. In other words, regional resilience rested on the assumption that in order to achieve truly national independence, Southeast Asian governments had to guarantee themselves a considerable measure of autonomy and abstain from intervention. This included the assurance that they would not interfere in each other’s affairs and that they would equally prevent great powers, such as China, the United States and the Soviet Union from interfering in the region. Regional resilience has since lost much of its relevance given that ASEAN member states, and Asian states more generally, have prospered over the past decades and most of the countries have developed stable political systems. In fact, it has been argued (at least prior to the Asian financial crisis) that ASEAN is one of the most successful regional organizations in the Third World. Yet, when national resilience was envisioned ASEAN governments could not anticipate that challenges to their political legitimacy would emerge from globalization rather than from military interference or economic dependence. International models of good governance and standards of good behaviour, of which standards for human rights practice constitute the core, soon provided challenges to the political legitimacy of Southeast Asian governments which also threatened the traditional Asian concept of security. Moreover, in the age of globalization the dual process of economic integration and cultural fragmentation has also led to a reaffirmation of cultural identity among Asia’s many ethnic minorities and revived the idea of national selfdetermination . These developments present Asian governments with the 12 Asian Security Ch 12.pm65 6/12/06, 2:42 PM 292 [44.200.174.157] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 09:08 GMT) Challenges to Human Rights and Civil Liberties 293 dilemma of preserving their relatively new nation-states and maintaining their political legitimacy on the one hand and choosing means which are in accordance with international models for good behaviour, particularly human rights standards, on the other. HUMAN RIGHTS AFTER SEPTEMBER 11 The link between security and human rights has become even more visible after 11 September 2001. Shortly after the terrorist attack, many Asian governments introduced new security or anti-subversion legislation and explicitly referred to the new threats posed by allegedly terrorist organizations. Almost immediately after the enactment, human rights organizations complained about the detrimental effects of this legislation on human rights. In a recently released report, Amnesty International concludes, for example...