by Basil Fernando

The action by the Malaysian government on Saturday, 9 November 1996, to forcibly stop a small meeting organised by the Second Asia-Pacific Conference on East Timor had many very disturbing aspects:

o There was no respect for the peaceful character of the meeting. The meeting was also to be a closed door meeting for invitees only.

o The use to mobs to disrupt the meeting. About a thousand persons stormed into the conference, shouted slogans and prevented the holding of this closed door meeting which was to be attended by about two hundred persons. The disrupters of the meeting used loud speakers and shouted slogans chanting “stop the meeting.”

o The mobs that disrupted the meeting belonged to the political parties supporting the Malaysian government. They were from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the Malaysian Chinese Association and the Malaysian Indian Congress. Malaysian Action Front Secretary-General, Saifudin Nasution, himself defended the actions of these three groups.

o The direct collaboration between the disrupting mobs, Malaysian police and the immigration authorities.

o The reason given for the disruption was that the holding of the conference would affect bilateral relations with Indonesia and violate Malaysian policy of not interfering into the internal affairs of another country. This meant the citizens were not even allowed to discuss foreign policy issues. Discussions on internal issues have been forbidden for a long time in Malaysia. And draconian internal security laws are in place to prevent such discussions. The recent case of Irene Fernandez demonstrated how ruthlessly any criticism is dealt with (a detailed report on this case prepared by George Edwards, an observer at the Fernandez trial, is found in the Human Rights SOLIDARITY -- the AHRC Newsletter, Volume 11, September, 1996, issue).

o The arrest of journalists; five reporters were arrested,, two foreigners, Roger Milton of AsiaWeek and Catherine McGrath from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and three Malaysians. The reason given for the arrest by police chief Wong Pui Lam was that,”They were not supposed to be covering the event as it was a private function.”

o Deporting of a chief organiser, and all foreign delegates thus disrespecting the rights of these persons to associate with Malaysians on peaceful activities.

o The detention of the participants.
These acts violate the Right to Freedom of Expression, Association, and Due Process Rights, and the Right Not to be Arrested and Detained Illegally and the Right of Movement.

The Use of Violence

Physical violence against opposition personalities in Burma, mob intervention to disrupt a peaceful meeting in Malaysia, followed by arrest, detention and deportation of participants, a renewed crackdown on political groups in Indonesia, and a ban on a Nobel Prize Laureate to enter the Philippines to attend a peaceful meeting have all taken place in one week. Who would say that the ASEAN region is a “peaceful” place?
Why all these all of a sudden one may ask? One reason is very clear. Fear of democracy. Just two weeks back tough speaking Premier Mahathir of Malaysia has said, “As you know, we have a democracy. We have always had a very vocal opposition in this country. Not that they make sense but they talk. We tolerate that. So if you say we don’t have debates, it’s sheer nonsense.” (Far Eastern Economic Review, October 24, 1996, p. 23) 

Events this week have showed that even an issue like the independence of East Timor will not be allowed to be discussed in Malaysia. 

The truth is that in the ASEAN region democracy has remained skin deep. Fear of democracy is the foundation on which it has been built.

Any action that is not state sponsored is seen as a threat. Particularly the unrest in Indonesia, and the strengthening of the “opposition” in Burma, have been perceived by the ASEAN leaders as a threat to security of the region. If anyone had illusions about ASEAN’s attachment to democracy, this week’s events ought to be an eye opener.