Category: Liberty

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History & heritage Liberty

[1395] Of October 3 1932 in Iraq

The Daily Kos writes a primer on events leading to October 3 1932.

Three-quarters of a century ago today – October 3, 1932 – British imperialists who had ruled Iraq on paper since the spoils-dividing Anglo-French Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916 (and in reality since their victory in Baghdad against the Ottomans in 1917) gave up everything. Except for their military bases, their imposed oil contracts and their right of future intervention.

During their 383-year reign in the region that today we call Iraq, the Ottoman autocrats established three provinces that reflected divisions reaching back 900 years to the Islamic conquest of Mesopotamia: Kurdish Mosul, Sunni Baghdad, Shiite Basra. In their far briefer rule, the British first administered two provinces, Baghdad and Basra, getting Mosul from the French a few years later. [An Iraqi Anniversary Unlikely to Be Celebrated in Baghdad. Daily Kos. October 3 2007]

75 years later, English is still the language of the occupier except that that quaint spelling style is no more.

That asides, it is interesting to find out that the suggestion to internally break Iraq into 3 parts is not without precedent: the Ottoman did it once.

Categories
ASEAN Liberty

[1387] Of for Myanmar, recurring nightmare

I hope that I am wrong but from the look of it, it has begun:

BANGKOK, Sept. 26 — The government of Myanmar began a violent crackdown today after tolerating more than a month of ever-larger protests in cities around the country, clubbing and tear- gassing protesters, firing shots into the air and arresting hundreds of the monks who are at the heart of the demonstrations.

The Reuters news agency quoted hospital and monastery sources as saying two monks and a civilian were killed and several people were wounded in the crackdown. [Police Clash with Monks in Myanmar. New York Times. September 26 2007]

Where is ASEAN? Busy drafting that little charter of yours?

Inaction would signal this: the worthlessness of the ASEAN Charter, for all its grand — and most likely empty — promises to ensure human rights.

Categories
Conflict & disaster Liberty

[1384] Of Akbar Ganji to Ban Ki-moon

An Iranian has just written an open letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

According to the writer, Akbar Ganji, Iranian liberal democrats, if I may describe them as such, are facing pressure from two fronts. Domestically, the pressure comes in form of oppression committed by Iranian autocratic government. Internationally, it is the military threat posed by the United States.

The US has not been helpful in promoting freedom and democracy in Iran and history proves this. US support for secession movements within Iran further strengthens that trend. Within this context, recent US administration’s support for democratic agents which are pro-US within Iran has enabled the autocratic Iranian government to label any liberal and democrat that love Iran of treason against the state of Iran. This has made sincere liberal democrats’ job harder than it should be. Actions pursued by the US is unhelpful in promoting liberty and democracy in Iran.

The writer further states that the uranium issue has divert attention from Iranian government’s disregard for liberty, which is a larger issue. Iranians are systematically being deprived of liberty. Iranians require moral support from the United Nations in the quest for liberty.

Those are the points which I feel should be read the loudest. Yet, picking out those points amid great words is blasphemous. Therefore, please read the letter in full (via):

To His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations,

The people of Iran are experiencing difficult times both internationally and domestically. Internationally, they face the threat of a military attack from the US and the imposition of extensive sanctions by the UN Security Council. Domestically, a despotic state has — through constant and organized repression — imprisoned them in a life and death situation.

Far from helping the development of democracy, US policy over the past 50 years has consistently been to the detriment of the proponents of freedom and democracy in Iran. The 1953 coup against the nationalist government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq and the unwavering support for the despotic regime of the Shah, who acted as America’s gendarme in the Persian Gulf, are just two examples of these flawed policies. More recently the confrontation between various US Administrations and the Iranian state over the past three decades has made internal conditions very difficult for the proponents of freedom and human rights in Iran. Exploiting the danger posed by the US, the Iranian regime has put military-security forces in charge of the government, shut down all independent domestic media, and is imprisoning human rights activists on the pretext that they are all agents of a foreign enemy. The Bush Administration, for its part, by approving a fund for democracy assistance in Iran, which has in fact being largely spent on official institutions and media affiliated with the US government, has made it easy for the Iranian regime to describe its opponents as mercenaries of the US and to crush them with impunity. At the same time, even speaking about ”the possibility” of a military attack on Iran makes things extremely difficult for human rights and pro-democracy activists in Iran. No Iranian wants to see what happened to Iraq or Afghanistan repeated in Iran. Iranian democrats also watch with deep concern the support in some American circles for separatist movements in Iran. Preserving Iran’s territorial integrity is important to all those who struggle for democracy and human rights in Iran. We want democracy for Iran and for all Iranians. We also believe that the dismemberment of Middle Eastern countries will fuel widespread and prolonged conflict in the region. In order to help the process of democratization in the Middle East, the US can best help by promoting a just peace between the Palestinians and Israelis, and pave the way for the creation of a truly independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel. A just resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the establishment of a Palestinian state would inflict the heaviest blow on the forces of fundamentalism and terrorism in the Middle East.

Your Excellency,

Iran’s dangerous international situation and the consequences of Iran’s dispute with the West have totally deflected the world’s attention and especially the attention of the United Nations from the intolerable conditions that the Iranian regime has created for the Iranian people. The dispute over the enrichment of uranium should not make the world forget that, although the 1979 revolution of Iran was a popular revolution, it did not lead to the formation of a democratic system that protects human rights. The Islamic Republic is a fundamentalist state that does not afford official recognition to the private sphere. It represses civil society and violates human rights. Thousands of political prisoners were executed during the first decade after the revolution without fair trials or due process of the law, and dozens of dissidents and activists were assassinated during the second decade. Independent newspapers are constantly being banned and journalists are sent to prison. All news websites are filtered and books are either refused publication permits or are slashed with the blade of censorship before publication. Women are totally deprived of equality with men and, when they demand equal rights, they are accused of acting against national security, subjected to various types of intimidation and have to endure various penalties, including long prison terms. In the first decade of the 21st century, stoning (the worst form of torture leading to death) is one of the sentences that Iranians face on the basis of existing laws. A number of Iranian teachers, who took part in peaceful civil protests over their pay and conditions, have been dismissed from their jobs and some have even been sent into internal exile in far-flung regions or jailed. Iranian workers are deprived of the right to establish independent unions. Workers who ask to be allowed to form unions in order to struggle for their corporate rights are beaten and imprisoned. Iranian university students have paid the highest costs in recent years in defence of liberty, human rights and democracy. Security organizations prevent young people who are critical of the official state orthodoxy from gaining admission into university, and those who do make it through the rigorous ideological and political vetting process have no right to engage in peaceful protest against government policies.

If students’ activities displease the governing elites, they are summarily expelled from university and in many instances jailed. The Islamic Republic has also been expelling dissident professors from universities for about a quarter of a century. In the meantime, in the Islamic Republic’s prisons, opponents are forced to confess to crimes that they have not committed and to express remorse. These confessions, which have been extracted by force, are then broadcast on the state media in a manner reminiscent of Stalinist show-trials. There are no fair, competitive elections in Iran; instead, elections are stage managed and rigged. And even people who find their way into parliament and into the executive branch of government have no powers or resources to alter the status quo. All the legal and extra-legal powers are in the hands of the Iran’s top leader, who rules like a despotic sultan.

Your Excellency,

Are you aware that in Iran political dissidents, human rights activists and pro-democracy campaigners are legally deprived of ”the right to life”? On the basis of Article 226 of the Islamic Penal Law and Note 2 of Paragraph E of Section B of Article 295 of the same law any person can unilaterally decide that another human being has forfeited the right to life and kill them in the name of performing one’s religious duty to rid society of vice. Over the past few decades, many dissidents and activists have been killed on the basis of this article and the killers have been acquitted in court. In such circumstances, no dissident or activist has a right to life in Iran, because, on the basis of Islamic jurisprudence and the laws of the Islamic Republic, the definition of those who have forfeited the right to life (mahduroldam) is very broad.

Are you aware that, in Iran, writers are lawfully banned from writing? On the basis of Note 2 of Paragraph 8 of Article 9 of the Press Law, writers who are convicted of ”propaganda against the ruling system” are deprived for life of ”the right to all press activity”. In recent years, many writers and journalists have been convicted of propaganda against the ruling system. The court’s verdicts make it clear that any criticism of state bodies is deemed to be propaganda against the ruling system.

Your Excellency,

The people of Iran and Iranian advocates for freedom and democracy are experiencing difficult days. They need the moral support of the proponents of freedom throughout the world and effective intervention by the United Nations. We categorically reject a military attack on Iran. At the same time, we ask you and all of the world’s intellectuals and proponents of liberty and democracy to condemn the human rights violations of the Iranian state. We expect from Your Excellency, in your capacity as the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to reprimand the Iranian government — in keeping with your legal duties — for its extensive violation of the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights covenants and treaties.

Above all, we hope that with Your Excellency’s immediate intervention, all of Iran’s political prisoners, who are facing more deplorable conditions with every passing day, will soon be released. The people of Iran are asking themselves whether the UN Security Council is only decisive and effective when it comes to the suspension of the enrichment of uranium, and whether the lives of the Iranian people are unimportant as far as the Security Council is concerned. The people of Iran are entitled to freedom, democracy and human rights. We Iranians hope that the United Nations and all the forums that defend democracy and human rights will be unflinching in their support for Iran’s quest for freedom and democracy.

Yours Sincerely,

Akbar Ganji

Well said, do you not think so?

Categories
ASEAN Liberty Politics & government Society

[1383] Of support the protest in Myanmar to solve the issue surrounding Burmese refugees

I was in Bangkok a several months before the Thai military launched a coup d’tat against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. During my time there, I witnessed processions at various parts of the city where individuals wore yellow colored attire, signaling support for the monarch and more loudly, expressing strong discontent against the former Prime Minister. The protests were not at full steam yet then but like a rolling snowball, it gained momentum and the rest is history. The same trend is happening in Myanmar except that the color is orange: Buddhist monks are marching across Myanmar protesting against the Myanmar junta. The gravity of this development cannot be understated and I wish for it to develop into something bigger, in the name of self-interest.

The protests by monks have been going on for weeks now. It all started with fuel price hike announced by the junta in August 19.[1] That protests were forcefully broken up by the authority and a number of participants of another protest on September 5, including monks and civilians, were beaten up. This enrages the monks and that further prompted larger protests against the junta.[2]

The size of the protests have been increasing and it is gaining support from the public. From a group of hundreds of monks[3], the size swelled to over 1,000 at various places[4] and on Saturday, 10,000 people took part, with almost half of the participants are from the general public.[5] The protests show no sign of relenting and the military has been quiet, seeking refuge within the new capital of Myanmar. The new capital is isolating the junta government from public protest, perhaps, much like the Malaysian administrative center of Putrajaya is detached from common Malaysians.

AFP. Fair use.

From protest against fuel hike, it is slowly turning into protests by the monkshood and at the moment, demand for democracy. This is proven when the monks visited Aung San Suu Kyi, an strong advocate of democracy in Myanmar, whom is currently placed under house arrest by the junta.[6]

In the Buddhist Myanmar, monks stand on a special position within the society: monks are the path toward better reincarnation in the next life. If the monks refuse to perform their tasks, opportunities for better reincarnation for common religious Buddhists diminished.[7] The social implication is huge. Furthermore, with monks and advocates of democracy joining hand in hand, sometimes by voicing clear ambition for a democratic Myanmar, it is hard to dismiss the latest protest as a non-event.

I do hope that this development continues with its amplification. It may lead to a larger crackdown by the junta, which could be ugly but it may also lead to democratic change. The main reason for my support for the protest however is more about self-interest rather than love for democracy. I have a love-hate relationship with democracy but for Myanmar, I recognize democracy as something better than the current autocratic military rule for Malaysia. But could Malaysia gain from a democratic Myanmar?

In a list of countries with the most illegal migrants in Southeast Asia, Malaysia probably sits close to the top if the number one does not belong to us yet. There are approximately 27 million Malaysians in this country[8] and there are close to 3 millions aliens of which approximately a quarter of them are illegal immigrants.[9] Immigrants which many Malaysians find faults wit originate from among others Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The flow from Myanmar results from the country’s poor economic performance and a number of political issues. In Malaysia, the issue of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar remains unsolved and has caused Malaysians to irrationally become hateful or at least distrustful of the Rohingya. This is proven by the hostility shown when a Rohingya couple was accused by many Malaysians, including by the mainstream media of kidnapping a Malay child regardless of proof, perhaps resorting to racism. Furthermore, Malaysians including the authority are quick to attribute the increase in crime rate to lower class immigrants — not necessarily the Rohingya or any other ethnic groups from Myanmar — despite the fact that most crimes are proportionately committed by the locals themselves. Even the legislature had contemplated to restrict foreign laborers’ liberty in hope to control crime, showing a hint of xenophobia, making foreign laborers as scapegoat.

A democratic, peaceful and stable Myanmar could lay a path towards economic prosperity. That could reduces the push factors for Myanmar immigrants and if I may, limit attraction differential between Malaysia and Myanmar and thus, lower the number of immigrants from Myanmar looking for better safety and better opportunity in Malaysia. For any government that wishes to solve the social and economic issues presented by the Rohingyas and other Myanmar economic or political refugees in Malaysia, or simply not fully committed to free flow of labor, the act of encouraging meaningful stability in Myanmar is crucial. In my humble opinion, ASEAN has a role to play towards that end.

As the protests grow in size and number, rumors are running around that the junta is preparing to act against the protesters. ASEAN must be prepared to moral condemn any harsh action done against peaceful protests. In fact, this preparedness must be made known to the junta now as a stiff stick. This preparedness will go a long way in solving the immigration problem originating from Myanmar that Malaysia has to face. Indeed, Malaysia is no the only country that has to solve this issue. Thailand which lays immediately to the east of Myanmar is another country that shares Malaysian concern.

Alas, believing that ASEAN is act for the peaceful protestors, in the name democracy, is probably a joke that I unwittingly made. Governments of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore themselves, are not known to be defenders of freedom of expression. Add Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam into the equation, we could reasonable expect ASEAN to keep its mouth shut.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

[1] — The monk’s activities have given new life to a protest movement that began a month ago after the government raised fuel prices, sparking demonstrations against policies that are causing economic hardship. [10,000 protest against Myanmar gov’t. AP via Yahoo! News. September 22 2007]

[2] — The campaign was launched after the Pokkaku incident on September 6, in which monks were beaten and humiliated by security officials and pro-regime thugs. Until an apology is received, the monks say they will refuse to accept alms, donations or robes from anyone associated with the regime. [Burma’s Regime Should Apologize to the Monks. The Irrawaddy. September 19 2007]

[3] — YANGON: Over 300 monks on Tuesday marched peacefully in Yangon, chanting Buddhist prayers in protest at Myanmar’s military regime, in a major sign of defiance against the junta. [Over 300 monks march through Myanmar’s main city. AFP via Channelnewsasia. September 18 2007]

[4] — Radio Free Asia reported police fired teargas and warning shots to disperse 1,000 monks in the port city of Sittwe, 350 miles west of the capital of Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon. [Myanmar monks defy government with marches. UPI via ScienceDaily. September 19 2007]

[5] — In the central city of Mandalay, a crowd of 10,000 people, including some 4,000 Buddhist monks, marched , witnesses said, in one of the largest demonstrations against the country’s repressive military regime since a democratic uprising in 1988. [10,000 protest against Myanmar gov’t. AP via Yahoo! News. September 22 2007]

[6] — YANGON, Myanmar – The wave of anti-government demonstrations sweeping Myanmar touched the doorstep of democracy heroine Aung San Suu Kyi Saturday as Buddhist monks marched past her home and said they were greeted by the detained political leader.

The encounter, described by a monk to a crowd of anti-government protesters and confirmed by several witnesses, ties together a month-long movement of protest against the ruling military’s economic policies with the country’s decades-old uphill struggle for democracy.

[…]

Suu Kyi, 62, has been under detention for more than 11 of the last 18 years, and continuously since May 2003. She is the leader of the National League for Democracy party, which won a 1990 general election but was not allowed to take power by the military. [Monks allowed past Suu Kyi’s house. AP via Yahoo News! September 23 2007]

[7] — The boycott, in which monks refuse to accept alms and offerings from well-wishers, is taken extremely seriously in the deeply devout country.

Without such rites, a Buddhist loses all chance of attaining nirvana, or release from the cycle of rebirth. [Buddhist monks stage protest in Myanmar. Aung Hla Tun. Reuters via The Scotman. September 17 2007]

[8] — Department of Statistics, Malaysia. Key Statistics. Extracted on September 22 2007.

[9] — Malaysia is home to 2.7 million foreign workers, including 700,000 there illegally. Caning of criminals is under scrutiny after a video of a prison caning was put on the internet. [Fury at Malaysia’s caning of immigrants. The Scotsman. August 8 2007]

Categories
Liberty Politics & government

[1381] Mengenai Utusan yang nakal

Utusan hari ini menyentuh tentang rakaman video yang didedahkan oleh Parti Keadilan Rakyat beberapa hari lalu. Di dalam laporan itu:

PUTRAJAYA 21 Sept. — Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi berkata, polis perlu menyiasat segera dakwaan kewujudan klip video yang menunjukkan seorang peguam kanan sedang bercakap dengan seseorang berhubung pelantikan hakim-hakim di negara ini. [Klip video: PM arah siasat. Utusan Malaysia. September 22 2007]

Perhatian harus diberikan kepada frasa ini: dakwaan kewujudan klip video. Adakah Utusan Malaysia sedang cuba memberi gambaran bahawa klip tersebut tidak wujud?

Tambahan lagi, Perdana Menteri yang dikasihi berkata:

Beliau berkata, langkah itu penting bagi menentukan sama ada klip video berkenaan boleh dipercayai atau tidak.

“Klip video dan transkripnya telah dihantar ke pejabat saya. Soalnya, adakah ia betul dan boleh dipercayai?

“Ini yang penting kerana video itu menunjukkan seorang peguam bercakap seorang diri sahaja. Lagi seorang kita tidak tahu siapa yang bercakap,” kata Abdullah pada sidang akhbar selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat Suruhanjaya Polis ke-71 di sini hari ini. [Klip video: PM arah siasat. Utusan Malaysia. September 22 2007]

Adakah PM percaya yang peguam itu bercakap seorang diri sahaja?