Singapore Human Rights Working Group for ASEAN Charter Forum

The forum on the plausibility of forming a Singapore Human Rights Working Group at Allson Hotel in Singapore on 23 September drew a sizeable crowd of about 80.

The event, chaired by gay rights activist, Alex Au, started with his introduction on ASEAN, the upcoming ASEAN charter that will be signed by the various governments; and how the original members of ASEAN have all formed their own human rights commission and working group with the exception of Singapore.

Veteran politician, J B Jeyaretnam, talked about the lack of human rights in Singapore, touching on broad issues such as the curtailment of freedom of speech and assembly; the draconian Internal Security Act and the Criminal Code which is used by the current executive to detain people without trial.

He said, ” The first task is to secure these basic rights for our citizens accorded to the same rights as other people in other countries.” He also stressed that a court of human rights is essential.

Human Rights Lawyer, M Ravi, criticised the ASEAN charter for lacking in transparency and accountability, as it is drafted without allowing feedback and comments from the general public and civil society. As such, the ASEAN Charter needs to be people-centric in “substance and execution”. In addition, he also said the Singapore civil society needs to lobby the government to form a human rights commission.

Jolovan Wham, a social worker for Home, an NGO dedicated to migration workers advocacy, talked about the role that social work can contribute to human rights. He stressed that social work is not just “firefighting” but also communicating to the relevant government agencies on laws and regulations which affects the poor and disenfrenchised.

Arts researcher, Isrizal quoted extensively from Singapore’s deceased famous thespian, Kuo Pao Kun, on the need for “cultural space”. He believed that there is a need for the arts community to be more pro-active in promoting human rights.

Politician and political activist, Dr Chee Soon Juan, said a majority of Singaporeans cannot make the connection between human rights and their ordinary lives. He used the example of the annuity proposal to highlight how ordinary Singaporeans have no say on unpopular policies.

Iraqi Sovereignty

The issue of Blackwater’s action in Iraq raises a significant issue over who has sovereignty of Iraq.

If the Iraqi’s cancel Blackwaters licence to conduct business in Iraq, who is going to protect the US administraion officials and other foreign workers in Iraq?

If the US overrules the Iraqi government and says that Blackwater stays, then it proves the point that the Iraqi government does not really have control over their own country.

This is a true test for Al-Maliki - is he a puppet or is he his own man?

Remembering Sabra-Shatilla

 

From 16 to 18 September 1982, within a period of 3 days, as many as 2000 innocent civilians were believed to be killed in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra Shatila.

This was massacre on a large scale, inflicted in cold blood, against innocent civilians.

Israeli troops who surrounded the camp on 16th September, allowed the Lebanese Forces (LF), the militia arm of the Israel allied Phalange party into the camps to search for suspects who were thought to have assassinated the then Lebanese President, Bashir Gemayel, even though Palestinians had claimed they were not involved in the killing.

Says Jamila Khalife to Al Jazeera, who survived the slaughter,“The Israelis were wearing military uniforms. The Phalange wore jeans, normal clothes and military arm bands. They swore at us in Lebanese Arabic”.

According to “A Letter to Janet About Sabra-Shatilla” by Franklin Lamb, published in Counterpunch; “the families of the victims of the massacre daily sink deeper into the abyss.” even after 25 years. Many of the LF killers have admitted their role in the killing. They admitted to being “supplied with cocaine, hashish and alcohol to increase their courage.”

Yet, none of the killers have been held accountable for their actions.

Though Arial Sharon was found by the Israeli Kahan Commission Inquiry to be personally responsible for allowing the Sabra-Shatilla massacre to occur, and thus resigned as Minister of Defense; he retained his Cabinet position in Begin’s Government and held 4 more ministerial posts for the next 16 years. None of the Phalange and Haddad militia who were involved in the killings were punished but instead obtained blanket amnesty from the Lebanese government.