Protesters burn an effigy of US President Donald Trump, who is attending
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and related
meetings in Manila, Philippines November 13, 2017. Source: Reuters/Erik
De Castro
IT’S been a pretty rough 12 months. Global political rights and civil liberties are at their lowest point in over a decade, press freedom feels like it’s in freefall, and, despite the world’s collective longing, Donald Trump remains in the White House.
It’s easy to feel beaten down and disillusioned by this continual onslaught, and the release of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report can only have reinforced this sense of powerlessness in the face of rising authoritarianism.
The findings of the report will come as little surprise to anyone who’s
so much as glanced at a newspaper in the last couple of years. All the
usual suspects were there.
Myanmar’s State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi looks
on during the opening session of the ASEAN and European Union summit at
the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay, metro
Manila, Philippines on November 14, 2017. Source: Reuters/Dondi Tawatao
Kenneth Roth, head of HRW, warned of authoritarian leaders across the
globe being emboldened after Donald Trump’s first year in office.
Nowhere does this seem more evident than parts of Asia-Pacific.
The civil and political rights environment in Cambodia markedly
deteriorated under Prime Minister Hun Sen, as the political opposition
was dissolved and its leader jailed. Prominent independent media outlets
were shuttered and rights activists were arrested.
Burma enjoyed its first full year under a democratically elected
civilian government; although at times it was hard to tell. The military
remained the primary power-holder, the government increasingly used
repressive laws to prosecute critics, and then, of course, there’s the
notable issue of ethnic cleansing.
On top of that you’ve got Prayuth Chan-o-cha of Thailand finding any
excuse under the sun to postpone elections and cling to power;
Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte condoning the slaughter of poor people as
part of his drug war and shutting new sites; Najib Razak’s government
continuing its crackdown on critical voices and human rights defenders,
while championing a less tolerant approach to Islam in Malaysia.
These are just some of the greatest hits. I’m sure there’s more; feel free to insert name here:
“[INSERT NAME] quashed human rights, clamped down on freedom of
expression, and imprisoned those who voiced dissent.” – It’s a fairly
reliable formula, straight out of the dictator handbook.
Have I lost you yet? If you’re feeling that creeping sense of
helplessness needling its way into your psyche, that’s understandable.
But let me stop you there because, while the HRW report didn’t make for
pleasant reading, they did offer up a glimmer of hope in all the madness
The pushback that’s rising in response to this wave of populism is starting to take effect.
In his introduction to the new report, Roth writes that
when strong voices in government can combine with mobilised publics to
fight for human rights principles, the position of anti-rights
governments can be disrupted and their rise no longer inevitable.
People take part in a protest against the government of Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte in front of the Philippine consulate in the
Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., December 10, 2017. Source:
Reuters/Eduardo Munoz
“The central lesson of the past year is that despite the considerable
headwinds, the defense of human rights can succeed if the proper efforts
are made,” says Roth.
The scapegoating of vulnerable minorities that is so common in the
rhetoric of these strongmen, acts as a reminder to others of the value
of human rights that so many of us have thus far taken for granted.
It is this realisation, and the movements that spring from it, that are the greatest threat to the populist politician.
While it can be tempting to sit back and watch the world burn because
dealing with it all is just too exhausting, now is really the time to
start to fight back. We cannot afford to become despondent and embrace
the inevitability of it all. As Roth says, the troubling state of world
politics should be “a call to action rather than a cry of despair.”
Each of us will have a part to play if we want to change the direction of the populist surge. We have to, as Roth says:
“Where capitulation meets their message of hate and exclusion, the populists flourish.”
** This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not reflect the views of Asian Correspondent
