Basil Fernando

(Ed. note: The following is a speech made by Basil Fernando, executive director of Asian Human Rights Commission, at a human rights hearing at the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen organised by the Danish Daily on 10 December 1998.)

Even as we speak here today the spirit of democracy is sweeping through the streets in Asia. "Democratic Reform Now" has become the catchphrase, and there seems to be no way for governments to evade radical reform for democracy. In Indonesia the government, which had ruled for 32 years without facing any significant outburst of protest, collapsed last May under such protest, and the remaking of viable government will now depend on agreements that need to be reached through public debate. Equally important protests are taking place in Malaysia, and the basic issue is same: authoritarianism versus democracy. In Thailand the transition is taking place more peacefully with the introduction of the 1997 Constitution. This Constitution seeks to complete the democratic reforms started in 1932 under the leadership of a radical king who transformed absolute to constitutional monarchy. Although in less dramatic forms, in China, too, official policy is expressed as socialist democracy as against the socialist centralism of earlier years; the slogan in recent years is the rule of law as against the rule of man. Formerly socialist Cambodia adopted a liberal democratic Constitution in 1993, and, after many internal protests, a new government promising reforms was formed just a few days back. In South Asia, which took to formal democracy earlier than other places in the region, the demand today is for more substantive democracy: people want to have not only elections but means of actual participation. They want not only institutions following Western models but ones which guarantee actual transparency and accountability, institutions which address such real needs of the people as destitution, poverty and the very strong forms of discrimination prevailing despite constitutional guarantees of democracy. It is in this context of an Asia seething with discontent and rising with claims for fundamental reform that we must place the debate on human rights and Asian values.

Broadly speaking from the point of view of the upsurges for reform, Asian history this century may be divided into three parts: The first 50 years were devoted mostly to ending colonial occupation: this struggle was symbolised by such persons as Mahatma Gandhi of India and Aung San of Burma (now called Myanmar) rebelling against Western colonialism and by numerous heroes in South-East Asia rebelling against Japanese colonialism. The second phase, ending along with the Cold War, was marked by protest movements with mixed ideologies lacking a clear commitment to democracy. The third phase, since the end of the Cold War, has been marked by a clear search for democracy. It was during the second phase that the political doctrine known as Asian values came to being.

Asian values were the doctrine formulated by a new South-East Asian elite, well known among whom were General Suharto of Indonesia, Lee Kuan-yew of Singapore, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, and Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo of south Korea. These people claimed that strong government was essential for the modernisation of Asian economies. By implication, democracy was derogated as a path that led to inefficiency, insolvency and poverty. The main repressive instrument of such strong governments was the national security law (NSL) known in some countries as internal security act (ISA). The doctrine of Asian values arose as a justification for government by means of such strong social controls. It gave the NSL and the ISA a nationalist flavour.

In the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, some of these regimes came to be known as tiger economies. With the exception of the early years of Stalinist rule, the world had not witnessed such phenomenal economic growth in such a short time. In some instances, local people who had previously always been poor were able to end their poverty and achieve basic needs. It was claimed that it was Asian values that made the tiger economies’ performance possible. These values were identified as the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of the future as well as the place of family and the importance of the State as against the individual. It was not publicly acknowledged that everyone did not hold such values. Cronyism was unbounded, corruption increased and some families acquired massive bank accounts in safe banks in the West while the majority of the people were held to discipline.

Politically, too, a new discipline came into being. The essence of this discipline was one-party rule. Multi-party debates were decried as sources of national disunity and the absence of consensus. The election process was gradually reduced to a farce by harsh punishments, physical violence, psychological control and surveillance, as well as by legal proceedings which ended in bankruptcies. In some places, the attempt to introduce one-party rule and subvert democratic elections led to protests; these were answered brutally sometimes ending in torture, thousands of disappearances and even civil war.

Asian Values Vs Asian Values

In the international arena, the concept of Asian values became a defence against criticism of human rights abuses by U.N. human rights agencies and the international community. It was said that Asia had its own ways and was not bound by norms and standards formulated in U.N. conventions. In essence, what was said was that the way "We" treated our own people was "Our" own affair and nobody else’s business. It implied, for example, that there was nothing that could be universally condemned as brutal. What seemed brutal to "You" might not be brutal to "Us" was the message international agencies received when dealing with authorities hiding behind Asian values. Meanwhile, the likes of Lavrentii Beria and Andrei Vyshinsky have thrived under national and internal security laws. Recent affidavits coming from detainees in Malaysia make frightening reading as do the revelations made of Alexander Solzhenitsyn about the Gulag. The faceless interrogators operating behind closed doors protected by special orders behave the same way in Asia as elsewhere. In countries ruled under these special security laws a very low value is attached to truth.

But there have always been other streams in Asia which perceived and portrayed values quite differently. Five hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Buddha converted a major part of India to a doctrine of equality, ousting then-existing social controls based on caste. The Brahmin caste system postulated that there could be no social mobility and that each one’s status was determined by birth. Buddhist teachings helped undo this social control, establishing the principle of equality of all beings. Inspired by such teachings, Emperor Asoka, at the height of success in war, gave up war and devoted himself to the creation of a humane society. This society prevailed up to the 7th century A.D. Historians marvel at the creativity of that time, and one has called it: "The wonder that was India." Although this civilisation died, as did many others, it can nonetheless provide the roots for genuine Asian values. A formidable modern reformer, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the acknowledged leader of the radical movement within the community of untouchables (now known as Dalits) in India, often said that he learned the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity from his master - the Buddha - and not from anyone else. It has sometimes been said that Confucianism provides the basis for authoritarian interpretations of Asian values. Confucius, however, exhorted people to disobey bad rulers. Among the indigenous peoples of Asia, respect for each other on a basis of equality has always been there. In every Asian country there have existed and do exist humanist movements and traditions upholding principles now known as human rights. The importance given to education, health care, special care for children and the older persons, the emphasis on wisdom and consensus, great value attached to truth-telling are among the values treasured in various traditions composing the Asian heritage. (It must, however, be admitted that in terms of rights of women the Asian record is no better than that of others.)

International Community Can Do More

Within all modern political movements in Asia the respect for human rights has become a fundamental demand. In response to these demands almost all Asian constitutions devote at least one chapter to human rights. In every country there are a significant number of groups demanding the recognition of human rights and seeking their implementation by way of democratic reforms.

However, it must be said that it is not only a few authoritarian regimes that have promoted practices negating human rights. International financial agencies and international think-tanks have promoted in practice the notion that only "strong governments" (meaning authoritarian regimes) are suitable in order for "Third World" countries to effect the transition to modern economies. In many countries of Asia the deprivation of people’s basic rights has been caused by the collaboration of these agencies with the authoritarian regimes. An enormous amount of literature exists in Asia exposing such situations.

Professor Yash Ghai of the University of Hong Kong maintained at a recent conference that it is time to go beyond the Asian values debate. The publication of the Asian Human Rights Charter (A People’s Charter) is an attempt in this direction. The people protesting in the streets are making the same point. What is needed is an effective implementation of rights by means of effective political reform. This requires international cooperation. United Nations agencies can do much more than they do now to protect and promote human rights. So can the international community. What is most important is the cooperation of those who care for democracy and human rights in both parts of the world. Recently a Western friend of mine told me: "Democracy is under threat in the West, too." If this is so, there is even more reason for mutual cooperation.

Human rights discourse directed towards implementation of rights must necessarily deal with the consequences of economic globalisation. The most visible impact of such economic globalisation is the unprecedented spread of destitute poverty, for example, there are over four million badly malnourished children in Indonesia. Poorly fed children in many parts of Asia, child labour, deprivation of education and health care, jobless women being forced to take up sex work and ending in large numbers with HIV/AIDS, increase in young women’s suicides and mass unemployment are some of the most visible consequences of the globalisation process. The picture of Asia known throughout history for its food security has changed. If the international community is serious about the promotion of human rights it must address these issues. Where life is cheap rights are an illusion. The defence of right to life implies entitlements to basic needs. However, the world’s financial institutions demand cut down expenditures on items relating to the basic needs. There is then a vast conflict between the demands of human rights institutions of the world and the financial institutions. It is the duty of the concerned voices, particularly those of the West, to intervene to resolve this fundamental conflict.

Persisting Forms of Discrimination

Human rights implementation also requires resolution of the persisting forms of glaring discrimination in Asia. And none other form of such gross discrimination stands out so clearly as the caste discrimination in Asia, particularly the discrimination of Dalits in India. Caste-based discrimination grades human beings according to their birth and condemns vast sections of society to live in the most humiliating ways of life. Some are condemned, for example, to manually collect human excreta from generation to generation. The determined fight of Dalit people for themselves has brought some redress against this centuries-old problem that remains prominent. The world pressure that helped to end the South African apartheid should also be vigorously applied to stop this gross violation of rights by one small section of a community against the vast numbers of the same community. Caste discrimination is a slavery-like practice. It is not compatible with a world’s conscience conscious of human rights.