A Force Profonde: The Power, Politics, and Promise of Human Rights

9. Southeast Asia

Chapter 9 Southeast Asia Clark D. Neher Human rights have become important to Southeast Asian citizens and their leaders because the Western world, in particular the United States, has argued that modern nations must adhere to certain principles. Western leaders believe that, because the world is increasingly interdependent politically and economically, universal values of human rights must be followed by nations that expect to be viewed as democratic and modern. Modern technology has shrunk the world. A global society has emerged that is led by a "world culture" that is predominantly Western. Since the end of the Cold War, for example, free enterprise has emerged as the consensus "superior" economic system, while democracy is the accepted "best" governmental system . The rights of citizens to live in freedom are viewed as obvious, even by societies formally oppressed. The ten Southeast Asian nations have not been left out of the Western worldview. However, their responses to Western human rights values have differed from one nation to another. These notions ofinterdependence and convergence do not neatly fit the Southeast Asian milieu. Not only are the Southeast Asian nations not reaching consensus about human rights and democratization, but the leaders of some of these nations are also assiduously opposing their spread. Diversity in Southeast Asia All too often, analysts refer to Southeast Asia as if it were an identifiable entity about which one can generalize. Although the goal of political scientists is to find uniformities and patterns, generalizations across the nations ofSoutheastAsia confuse more than clarify. This remarkable region includes nations with fundamentally different histories, including French colonization (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos), British colonization (Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, Brunei), Dutch colonization (Indonesia), Spanish and U.S. colonization (Philippines), and independence (Thailand). The people worship 164 Clark D. Neher according to the traditions of Islam (Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia), Christianity (Philippines), Hinayana Buddhism (Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia ), Mahayana Buddhism (Vietnam), and Taoism and Confucianism (Singapore). I have simplified a complex set ofbeliefs and understated the diversity ofreligious views in each of the countries. The nations today practice semi-democracy (Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia), "soft" authoritarianism (Singapore, Malaysia), Communist authoritarianism (Vietnam, Laos), military dictatorship (Burma), and absolute monarchy (Brunei). Finding patterns in Southeast Asia is difficult because the region is constandy changing. In contemporary times, for example, Indonesia has been transformed from military dictatorship to semi-democratic rule. Since 1997 Thailand has moved from being the world's fastest growing economy to negative growth rates. Malaysia has moved from democracy to authoritarianism. The Communist regimes in Vietnam and Laos have opened their economies to free enterprise. Cambodiawas taken over by the United Nations and had a semi-democratic government installed, which in turn evolved into a civilian dictatorship and at present a semi-democratic government. The Philippines moved from the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos to the democracy of Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, andJoseph Estrada. The Burmese voted for democratic rule, but the military refused to give up power and denied their choice. The changes are stunning, rapid, and unpredictable. Human Rights Diversity in Southeast Asia Diversity also marks the way SoutheastAsian nations practice human rights. SoutheastAsian leaders differ markedly about the norms and rules that they believe should govern their societies. The nations differ regarding rights of individuals and groups face-to-face with the power and authority of the rulers. The standard Western definition of human rights is based on presumed universal rights: equality of rights without discrimination; protection of life, liberty, and security of all persons; protection against slavery; protection against torture and cruel and inhuman punishment; presumption of innocence; protection of privacy, family, and home; freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. Using this definition, the nations ofThailand and the Philippines have a generally positive record. At the other extreme, Burma, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodiaviolate human rights. Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore , and Malaysia have mixed records at the present time. For a summary ofeach country's record on human rights see the 1998 Human Rights Watch World Report. Westerners claim that human rights are universal, whereas many SoutheastAsian leaders view their societies as sufficiendy different tojustify divergent normative prescriptions. Indeed, these SoutheastAsian leaders believe that the West is bullying Asia to adopt Western values even though they are "inappropriate" for Asian societies. Every time the U.S. State Department Southeast Asia 165 issues its annual human rights report, these leaders vociferously complain that Southeast Asia does not need to follow the "distorted" human rights views of U...