Human Rights Report Assails U.S.

By ALAN COWELL
Published: May 29, 2008
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PARIS — Sixty years after the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, governments in scores of countries still torture or mistreat their people, Amnesty International said Wednesday in a report that again urged the United States to close down the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba…

for detail see,

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/world/29amnesty.html?ex=1369713600&en=f55f0428dfa86312&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Amnesty int’s report at a glance

60 years of human rights failure - Governments must apologize and act now

Amnesty International today challenged world leaders to apologize for six decades of human rights failure and re-commit themselves to deliver concrete improvements.

“The human rights flashpoints in Darfur, Zimbabwe, Gaza, Iraq and Myanmar demand immediate action,” said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International, launching AI Report 2008: State of the World’s Human Rights.

“Injustice, inequality and impunity are the hallmarks of our world today. Governments must act now to close the yawning gap between promise and performance.”

Amnesty International’s Report 2008, shows that sixty years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations, people are still tortured or ill-treated in at least 81 countries, face unfair trials in at least 54 countries and are not allowed to speak freely in at least 77 countries.

“2007 was characterised by the impotence of Western governments and the ambivalence or reluctance of emerging powers to tackle some of the world’s worst human rights crises, ranging from entrenched conflicts to growing inequalities which are leaving millions of people behind,” said Ms Khan.

Amnesty International cautioned that the biggest threat to the future of human rights is the absence of a shared vision and collective leadership.

“2008 presents an unprecedented opportunity for new leaders coming to power and countries emerging on the world stage to set a new direction and reject the myopic policies and practices that in recent years have made the world a more dangerous and divided place,” said Ms Khan.
Amnesty International challenged governments to set a new paradigm for collective leadership based on the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“The most powerful must lead by example,” said Ms Khan.

China must live up to the human rights promises it made around the Olympic Games and allow free speech and freedom of the press and end “re-education through labour”.
The USA must close Guantánamo detention camp and secret detention centres, prosecute the detainees under fair trial standards or release them, and unequivocally reject the use of torture and ill-treatment.

Russia must show greater tolerance for political dissent, and none for impunity on human rights abuses in Chechnya.

The EU must investigate the complicity of its member states in “renditions” of terrorist suspects and set the same bar on human rights for its own members as it does for other countries.

Ms Khan warned: “World leaders are in a state of denial but their failure to act has a high cost. As Iraq and Afghanistan show, human rights problems are not isolated tragedies, but are like viruses that can infect and spread rapidly, endangering all of us.”

“Governments today must show the same degree of vision, courage and commitment that led the United Nations to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights sixty years ago.”
“There is a growing demand from people for justice, freedom and equality.”

Some of the most striking images of 2007 were of monks in Myanmar, lawyers in Pakistan, and women activists in Iran.

“Restless and angry, people will not be silenced, and leaders ignore them at their own peril,” said Ms Khan.

Amnesty int’s report is available at

http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Homepage

Peace, Conflict Management and Human Rights: Conflict between India and Pakistan in disputed Kashmir

1. Introduction
Where Marx believed that social class is the most basic division in any society, Max Weber saw conflict as having many possible bases religion, race, ethnicity, and more including social class. Where Marx believed that class inequalities would ultimately be ended by revolution, Weber saw conflict as eternal, although it could take new forms. Group conflict theory derives from Weber’s vision. Johan Galtung has come up with more concrete and specific expression about conflict, which is in fact fitted in the case of Kashmir conflict. Galtung (1998) has showed how conflict arises, “…goals may be incompatible and mutually exclusive, like two states wanting the same land, or two nations wanting the same state when goals are incompatible, a contradiction, an issue, is born… frustration may lead to aggression, turning inwards as attitudes of hatred, or outwards as behaviour of verbal or physical violence…”. Thus Galtung has drawn a triangle of contradiction, attitude and behavior centering a conflict. India and Pakistan both claims Kashmir, which originated the conflict. The 55 years long conflict has not yet been resolved, on the other hand it has intensified hatred between Indian and Pakistanis that can be termed as Galtung’s ‘attitude of hatred’ transformed from long lasting frustration. The bilateral dialogues between leaders of both countries had failed numerous times to reach at peaceful decision and resolution. The leaders of both countries have encountered each other with words of threat and by act of violence as well as exercised military power, tested nuclear weapons and missiles. The arm race and the cross boarder conflict between India and Pakistan to threat each other can be compared as Galtung’s ‘behaviour of verbal or physical violence’. India and Pakistan has enemy image for each other. They exert enmity though the conflict behavior e.g. action, threat, cross boarder shelling, hatred speech etc.

Kashmir fell in trouble because of the two-nation theory that was stimulated by the divided Muslim and Hindu leaders during partition at 1947. Muslim leaders felt for an independent state for Muslims as they realized that they would not receive freedom under a Hindu headed state. The two-nation theory is reasonable as it helps us to know source of Kashmir conflict. Kashmir conflict can also be defined as cultural and political conflict. Singh (1998: 320) has emphasized on cultural identity as he says, “…the ways in which each state’s respective relationship to the institutions of the Indian central state has served as the focal point for the creation and maintenance of cultural identity…”. Government of India has dominated ethnic and religious minorities to sustain on one cultural identity though the state has secular image in the outer surface. But the word ‘cultural conflict’ needs deliberately further investigation to adjust at Kashmir conflict because the world ‘culture’ has a set of different elements, which may have complex relations among each other. In my opinion, the concept of religious conflict is acceptable as a reason of origin of the conflict. In addition, Kashmir is now interstate political issue between India and Pakistan; the conflict in Kashmir also falls under intrastate conflict category. Kashmir was an issue of international politics during decade long cold war era while the two nuclear power of today was supported by the two super power of cold war era.

2. Background
Kashmir conflict is a long lasting issue between India and Pakistan. Historical, cultural and religious factors are involved here in the conflict. Under the scheme of partition provided by the Indian Independence Act of 1947, Kashmir was free to accede to India or Pakistan. Its accession to India became a matter of dispute between the two countries and fighting broke out later that year. Indurthy (2003:1) has showed the frequency of Kashmir conflict, “since partition of British India into India and Pakistan in August, 1947, the Kashmir dispute between the two countries has become an intractable one. They fought wars in 1947-48, 1965, 1971, and 1999, but have not been able to resolve the issue…”. During Partition in India Hindus were about 66 percent and Muslims were about 24 percent of the population. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, and other Muslim leader feared that an independent government over all India would favor Hindus over Muslims. Indian Muslims, Jinnah argued, would have no more freedom under such a government than they had had under British rule. Thus during time of partition Muslim leaders feared that after the departure of British, majority Hindu will dominate India that would be worse for the minority Muslims that they had experienced under British ruled India. They main cause of Kashmir conflict was rooted by the decision of Maharaja Hari Singh. Under the partition plan provided by the Indian Independence Act of 1947, Kashmir was free to accede to India or Pakistan. Maharaja decided to accede to India.

Mehta (2003:1) has explained the link between partition of India with today’s conflict on the line of control, “by the time the British abandoned India in 1947, their politics of “divide and rule” had effectively polarized the Hindu and Muslim populations…more than a million people died in the greatest migration in history, as Muslims from India headed to Pakistan and Pakistan was emptied of its Hindus and Sikhs…but the Hindu maharaja, who ruled over the Muslim majority, vacillated until an invasion by Pakistani irregulars convinced him to join India….the average Kashmiri now lives like a tongue between teeth, in a balance of terror between the security forces and the Islamic militants…”.

India has never accepted U.N. resolution for the plebiscite. In fact, India is quite sure that the accepting plebiscite means loosing the territory, as the Kashmiris prefer Pakistan. But the majority Kashmiris desire independence. India does not feel it necessary to consider U.N. proposed plebiscite because Kashmiris have voted in national elections in India; there is no need for a plebiscite according to Indian government. Pakistan always says that a plebiscite should be held. Several of the militant groups in Kashmir have also called for a plebiscite but argue that an independent Kashmir should be an option. On July 2, 1972, India and Pakistan signed the Simla Accord, under which both countries agreed to respect the cease-fire line, known as the Line of Control.

Since 1996, Indian forces have got control over major towns and villages of the Kashmir valley, militant groups have occupied far northern and southern borders of Kashmir, including the districts of Rajouri, Punch, and Doda. The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front was weakened later on by the continuous efforts of Indian government. The remaining groups, most of which have close ties to Pakistan, have been largely driven to the more remote mountain areas of Doda and other southern districts.

3. Map of Kashmir

Kashmir is a legendarily beautiful mountainous region that is located where the borders of India, Pakistan and China meet. Fig 1 shows the Schematic Map of conflicted Kashmir[i] The two countries went to war over the issue in 1947-49 and again in 1965. In those conflicts Pakistan and China gained control of territory claimed by India. In 1999 India fought a war with Pakistani-backed forces in the Kargil area.

Muslim-majority Valley of Kashmir is under Indian administration, along with Hindu majority Jammu and predominantly Buddhist Ladakh. Two other parts, both of them entirely Muslim, are under Pakistani administration, and some largely unpopulated areas are currently ruled by China.

3.1 Conflict parties
The Conflict parties are India, Pakistan and the Majority Kashmiri Muslims. In Kashmir All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) is an umbrella organization. The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has had developed political and militant movement for the independence of Kashmir. Major militant organizations include the Hizb-ul Mujahidin, Harakat-ul Ansar and Lashgar-i Toiba. Muslim United Front (MUF) attracted the support of a broad range of Kashmiris, including pro-independence activists, embittered Kashmiri youth and the pro-Pakistan Jama’at-i Islami, an Islamic political organization. In general there are there conflict parties,

a) India
b) Pakistan
c) Kashmiri Muslims

4. Conflict Mapping
Kamarulzaman Askandar (2004) has given a model of ‘conflict mapping’ and explained the steps of conflict mapping, which helps us to plot a specific conflict in to the structure for having clear picture about the conflict. Kashmir conflict can be better understood from needs and fear analysis of conflicting parties, issues, causes, effects and conflict relation which are the steps of Conflict Mapping.

4.1. Needs and fears

Party A (India)

Needs
- India regards Kashmir as an integral part of the Indian nation. India needs to keep Kashmir for the sake of territorial integrity.
- India wants Pakistan to cease support for cross-border terrorism launched by groups that want to unite Kashmir with Pakistan.

Fear
- From losing the territory Kashmir
- UN resolution for plebiscite
- Any third party negotiation or mediation
- Kashmiris independence movement
- Kashmiris unity with Pakistan
- Loosing Kashmir may escalate separatist movement in other provinces of India
- Arm race and Nuclear tension with Pakistan
- Hindu-Muslim riot
- Terrorism

Party B (Kashmiri Muslims)

Needs
- Majority Kashmir Muslim needs Independence
- Some militant Muslim groups wants to unite with Pakistan

Fear
- Death, rape, torture, arbitrary arrest, disappearance, summary execution, death in custody, Hindu-Muslim riot, suppression and ignorance, discrimination, unrest situation.
- Poverty, unemployment, lack of economic progress, political unrest, social and economic insecurity.

Party C (Pakistan)

Needs
- Pakistan favors a plebiscite, as called for in a 1949 U.N. resolution.
- Pakistan depends on rivers flowing out of Kashmir, the Jhelum, the Chenab, and the Indus, for irrigation and electricity generation.
- Unity of India ruled Kashmir with Pakistan
Fear
- Nuclear tension with India
- Terrorist network in Kashmir and its impact in Pakistan
- U.S. friendly relation with India
- Allocating high budget to sustain in the arm race against India
- Threat of combating war against India, if war outbreaks because of conflict.

4.2. Conflict trees
Conflict tree has three distinct parts. Causes are the roots of conflict, issue is the trunk of the tree and effects are the branches of it.

4.2.1. Conflict Issues

Conflict issues in Kashmir are,
- Self-determination: separatist movement against Indian government to free Kashmir.
- The LOC divides Kashmir: Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir to the east and south (population about nine million), and Pakistani-administered Azad (Free) Kashmir to the north and west (population about three million). China also controls a small portion of Kashmir.
- Nuclear tension between India and Pakistan
- Religion is an important aspect of the dispute. The population of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is over 60% Muslim. Indian government suppresses majority Muslims.
- Monitoring Line of Control
- Kashmiri militants are backed by Pakistan, they want to have unity of India ruled Kashmir with Pakistan.

4.2.2. Causes

Causes for the Kashmir conflict are,

- Accession signed in October 1947 by the Maharaja, Hari Singh that was not the choice of majority people in Kashmir
- Under India’s Public Safety Act, the border security forces have the ability to act at will without fear of retribution or justice.
- Kashmir problem is deeply rooted in the histories and national identities of India and Pakistan
- Cold War political tensions: India-Soviet ties against Pakistan-U.S. ties
- Post September 11 terrorism: India claims that some Muslim terrorist network has links with militants of Kashmir
- Hindu-Muslim riots escalate tension in Kashmir

4.2.3. Effects

The effects of conflicts are,
- Continuing turmoil in Kashmir
- Curbing religious extremism and militants
- Massive crackdown on the militants
- Shooting of unarmed demonstrators
- Civilian massacres
- Summary executions of detainees
- Militant groups continue their attacks
- Murdering and threatening Hindu residents
- Carrying out kidnappings and assassinations of government officials, civil servants, and suspected informers
- Sabotage and bombings
- 100,000 Hindu Kashmiris, known as “Pandits,” fled the valley
- Indiscriminate shootings, assaults, and rape committed by Indian army
- Detention and disappearances
- Human rights activists and lawyers have been killed or threatened
- Custodial killings
- Violent insurgency since 1989 that has claimed thousands of lives

4.3.Conflict relation

Pakistan naturally sympathizes with Muslims across the Line of Control in India. Thus the Kashmiri militants receive arms and training from Pakistan even though Pakistan claims to have only moral support for them. India has had allies with Soviet Union in the cold war era. After the fall of communism India continued to have strong relationship with Russia.

Shuja (2004: 3) shows how India has built a close relation with Russia for developing its military capacity, “…it is interesting to note that India continues to develop its nuclear arms program with foreign assistance, mainly from Russia…India also continues to modernize its armed forces through ‘advanced conventional weapons’, mostly from Russia. New Delhi received its first two MiG-21-93 fighter aircraft, and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd will now begin the licensed upgrading of 123 more aircraft”. On the other hand Pakistan was in close military ties with U.S. during the cold war, which kept balance of power between India-Pakistan in the South Asia.

Mr. Vajpayee’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is very much concerned about its popularity among the majority Hindus in India. Anti Muslim, fundamental image helped these political parties to win election in India. These political parties have different political ideologies but in case of Kashmir conflict they are united. Political leaders of India are waved by the strong nationalism, which does not permit separatism in Kashmir. BJP now relies more heavily on the support of fundamentalist and militant Hindus. The BJP leaders often mention at their statement and speeches that they will teach Pakistan a lesson on Kashmir issue. BJP wants to project itself as a true nationalist force. Any compromise or good decision for the future of Kashmiris is unthinkable for the sake of nationalism. Some Fundamental Hindu leaders and their followers in BJP exert enmity with Kashmiris as well as with Pakistanis.

Conflict relation lines:

President Musharraf is also under pressure from fundamentalists and the fundamental political parties are not happy with Musharraf’s policies for the US-led war in Afghanistan. They do not support President Musharraf’s cooperation with U.S. to fight against terrorism. After the cold war U.S.-Pakistan tie was weakened. After assisting U.S. at the war against Taliban in Afghanistan and helping at the war against terrorism, Pakistan has regained moderately a good relation. On the other hand, India is good market for U.S. economy. Thus the trade and business relation between the two countries is promising. They have jointly arranged military exercises. India arranged joint exercises between the US and Indian forces. The US has also indicated it will supply modern military wares to India. U.S. does not want to have bitter relation with any of these two countries. Therefore, U.S. refused to play the role of mediator or negotiator in Kashmir conflict though President Musharraf requested U.S. to resolve the conflict. The United States is pressuring Pakistan to curb terrorism while discouraging India from attacking. Above all, the U.S. wants to avoid a war between two allies that could hinder the U.S. war on terrorism in Afghanistan and the search for al Qaeda leaders believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

India has a broken relation with China following the dispute, which led to a war between them in 1962 and is still officially unresolved. China had occupied a small part of the Kashmir during the war and till today they have full control over their occupied portion. India has bitter relation with both China and Pakistan but Pakistan has very good relation with China since partition.

Muslim United Front (MUF) attracted the support of a broad range of Kashmiris, including pro-independence activists, disenchanted Kashmiri youth and the pro-Pakistan Jama’at-i Islami (an Islamic political organization), militant groups who increasingly crossed over to Pakistan for arms and training, the JKLF and other groups. In late 1993, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), an umbrella organization of the leaders of all the political and militant organizations, acted as the political voice of the independence movement. Major militant organizations fighting in Kashmir included the Hizb-ul Mujahidin, Harakat-ul Ansar and Lashgar-i Toiba receive moral support from Pakistan. Indian forces announced a unilateral ceasefire against militant groups in November 2000, but violence continued. Separatists demand that Pakistan should be included in any dialogue between them and the government. India disagrees with demand as Pakistan motivates cross boarder violence. Indian government had brutally and strategically destroyed the unity of all groups working for political voice for the independence in Kashmir. Insurgency is turned as the only path for independence when the political process failed.

Central government forces are operating Kashmir that includes the Indian Army and India’s federal security forces, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and the Border Security Force (BSF). Rashtriya Rifles, an elite army unit created specifically for counterinsurgency operations in Kashmir. Indian security forces began training local auxiliary forces made up of surrendered or captured militants to assist in counterinsurgency operations. India is committed to destroy any kind of initiatives that may have the purpose of separation of Kashmir.

There has been massive international pressure on both Delhi and Islamabad to resolve the crisis, including US, the EU and others. The UN has maintained a presence in the disputed area since 1949. Currently, the LOC is monitored by the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). UN role is not much significant in mediating conflict in Kashmir as its success is not remarkable including its monitoring over the line of control.

5. Current events and behavior of the parties
On May 11 and 13, 1998, India tested five nuclear devices, and three weeks later in response, Pakistan tested too. One month later shooting and shelling between troops of both countries on LoC killed around one hundred civilians. On February 1999, the Prime ministers of both countries signed the Lahore Declaration in which they agreed to talks on Kashmir and to alert each other about arms tests. Despite the Lahore agreement India tested long-range Agni missile, and on April 14 and 15, following the event Pakistan tested long-range Gauri and medium-range Shaheenmissiles. India conducted another ballistic missile test on April 16; the situation turned into an arm race in the region. In May 1999 India deployed thousands of additional troops at Kargil region. Later on the cross-border shelling between India and Pakistan escalated, and fighting between Indian troops and militants have worsened the situation and ruined any possibility for bilateral talks.

The attack in the Indian parliament in New Delhi on December 13, 2001 has raised the conspiracy theory between the two nations. India said that Pakistan has a connection with the terrorists who attacked the Parliament. Pakistan denied any connection. India deployed more than a million troops, backed by heavy artillery and air power, along the 2880 kilometer Line of Control. As India threatened war, Pakistan declared its readiness to combat war situation.
Shuja (2004: 2) has shown how intolerant the leaders of these two countries that fuels conflict, “On a recent visit to Indian troops deployed a few miles from the Line of Control, the Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, said: ‘Our goal is victory. It is time to wage a decisive battle. India is forced to fight a war thrust on it and we will emerge victorious. Let there be no doubt about it: a challenge has been thrown to India, and we accept it.’ In reply, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf vowed to use ‘full force’ if it were attacked by India…”. Most agreements between India and Pakistan have failed in deed. No agreement has provided a peaceful solution at all in this area.

About one million troops have been employed. These forces on both sides of the line are engaged in firing and shelling against each other in a regular fashion. Both countries are now powered by nuclear weapon, which is a big threat for spreading violence and power imbalance in South Asia. Even tough some critics assume there is no chance of nuclear devastation by any of these countries; 55 years Kashmir conflict insisted these nations to develop nuclear weapon for encountering threat from each other. Pakistan’s intention to have nuclear power is to ensure sovereignty and insecurity from the imbalance of power comparing with India.

6. Conflict management/resolution strategies and outcomes
All most all conflict management strategies and resolution did not work properly to bring peace and solution in Kashmir. Both countries have reached aggressive levels of conflict on the issue. Level of human development of Kashmiris is poor; on the other hand, scale of political repression is high. India and Pakistan have followed the method of withdrawal again and again from bilateral talks. Galtung (1998) has explained about the nature of meta-conflicts that is applicable in the Kashmir issue, “…the meta-conflict can be fought with physical means, violence, war and usually leads to victory for one and defeat for the…”. Among India, Pakistan and Kashmiris, none of them want to be defeated. All three parties want to win the situation. Top leaders’ high level negotiation between two countries has never been succeeded. Grass root leaders of Kashmir, who have had a desire to initiate political dialogue with government of India, were beaten and suppressed.

In January 1948, the Security Council adopted resolution 39 (1948), establishing the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) to investigate and mediate the dispute. In July 1949, India and Pakistan signed the Karachi Agreement establishing a ceasefire line to be supervised by the observers. On 30 March 1951, following the termination of UNCIP, the Security Council decided that The United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) should continue to supervise the ceasefire in Kashmir. UNMOGIP’s functions were to observe and report, investigate complaints of ceasefire violations and submit its finding to each party and to the Secretary-General.

Following the 1972 India-Pakistan agreement defining a Line of Control in Kashmir, India took the position that the mandate of UNMOGIP had lapsed. Pakistan, however, did not accept this position. Given that disagreement, the Secretary-General’s position has been that UNMOGIP can be terminated only by a decision of the Security Council. In the absence of such a decision, UNMOGIP has been maintained with the same mandate and functions.[i]

United Nations (UN) Security Council (SC) decided to determine the future of Jammu and Kashmir by the democratic method of the free and impartial plebiscite, which was not respected by Indian government because such a plebiscite means losing the territory. In 1948 and again in 1949, the United Nations passed two resolutions in which the Kashmir people were promised the right to determine their own future through a free and impartial plebiscite. These resolutions were never implemented. Hence the resolution made by UN has proved itself ineffective in the perspective of Kashmir conflict. Askandar (2003: 29) has explained why resolution is not always effective, “…resolution is sometimes not enough to ultimately end a conflict…using the techniques of conflicts resolution merely perpetuates the conflict due to its inadequacies…”. Couple of UN resolution in Kashmir conflict has left the issue unresolved though temporarily it reduced the intensity of violence.

The United States urged India and Pakistan to stop their armed conflict in Kashmir but made no offer to mediate. Asian Political News (1998: 1) has reported, “Rubin said the U.S. has no immediate plan to mediate between the two countries…”. India strongly oppose for involving third party mediation. Though Pakistan is enthusiastic about third party engagement, India refuses any chance of third party’s role in Kashmir. U.S. encourages both parties to keep themselves away from war but does not want to play an active role. European Union does not have any strong involvement in mediating the Kashmir conflict.

India has never accepted third party negotiator and Pakistan has never been trusted by India. Thus the Conflict management strategy has consisted of numerous dialogues between the two countries along with distrust. There is no significant outcome in the Kashmir conflict because India and Pakistan has always been there as enemy of each other with disbelief and hatred. They blamed each other and ended the dialogues without some concrete agreement and decisions. None of them has taken initiatives to transform the conflict in innovative way or to find strategy for ending violence. They made cease-fire numerous times and broke it in the same fashion. Violence in Kashmir has intensified over the decades because of the lack of initiatives. Dialogue, peace process and cease-fire had gone in vain and tension across the LoC fueled the conflict again and again. Even though India has secular democracy, in Kashmir India plays authoritarian role to dominate self-determination by any means.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has already proved itself an ineffective regional body to resolve conflict as well as to strengthen economy. The failure of SAARC for not emerging as a good mediator is the lack of consensus among the members because of India’s reluctance to allow SAARC. As a super power India holds enough control over the decisions of such a regional body. Indian government has shut downed windows for non-formal sector, non-government groups and individuals, religious leaders and academicians in Kashmir. Anybody talking about independence or separation of Kashmir is considered as the traitor of the state. Civil society in India is divided, a small part of it has courage to be critical about government policy but the large part is moved by nationalism that does not allow speaking on behalf of Kashmiris who are separatists. If India would have agreed for plebiscite, as called for in a 1949 U.N. resolution, the conflict could be resolved in a peaceful manner but the reality is cruel as the formula of resolution does not work because India wants to have win situation rather than losing Kashmir.

7. Success and Failure of conflict management
India and Pakistan have been engaging in violence for last couple of decades in Kashmir. Galtung (1998) has shown how violence affects, “…Direct, structural and cultural violence that hurts both directly and indirectly, and the culture that justifies it…”. Similarly India and Pakistan chose the path of violence from the very beginning of the conflict. Nevertheless, Indian government has continued domination over Kashmiris to suppress their desire for independence. Though UN made several resolutions, it had never shown any sign of ending conflict in Kashmir. The main disadvantage to imply any peaceful settlement could be the absence of communication channel and nobody is there to relieve anger of each conflicting party. The lack of approaches of peace building and lack of good will of actors are other reasons for continuous conflict in this region.

There is no remarkable success story in managing the conflict in Kashmir. In July 1949, India and Pakistan signed the Karachi Agreement establishing a cease fire line that would be supervised by the observers, which was the first noticeable success in stopping cross boarder tension. Security Council, by its resolution 91 (1951) decided that UNMOGIP should continue to supervise the ceasefire in Kashmir, which indicated UN’s initiatives regarding the conflict. In July1972, India and Pakistan signed an agreement defining a Line of Control in Kashmir that can be considered as a temporary step to stop violence. 1949 U.N. resolution was a good try to denote the future of Kashmir in a democratic way that suggested the residents of Jammu and Kashmir would vote for deciding. In my opinion, the resolution was good enough to resolve the conflict. India was the obstacle against the resolution and dismissed the chance to resolve conflict. It is also reasonable why India does not agree for plebiscite, as it may lead Kashmiris to separate from India. Hence UN has failed over the last fifty years to resolve or transform conflict of Kashmir.

Asian Political News (2002:1) has reported that, “A Pakistani special envoy voiced expectations that Japan will make further efforts to alleviate the current tension between…”. Pakistan has always welcomed third party negotiators as the bilateral dialogue with India.
United States can bring success as a negotiator but the lack of will is barrier. Over the fifty years, US relationships with India and Pakistan have experienced ups and downs, as one goes up, the other goes down. The United States has rejected President Pervez Musharraf’s call to mediate on the Kashmir issue as part of his roadmap for normalization of Indo-Pak ties.[ii] Already India denies Musharraf’s suggestion to involve any third party including U.S. to resolve Kashmir Conflict. Thus it is essential to have Indian government’s good will for engaging third party negotiator to mediate the peace process. Third party intervention, mediation or facilitation is impossible unless India accepts it.

The Muslim population of Kashmir has organized an umbrella organization consisting of 33 political parties. It is called the All Parties (Hurriyat) Freedom Conference. It was formed to conduct dialogue with Indian government. The government behaved worse with the organization. They have refused all dialogs with the organization and have beaten and imprisoned its leaders. Hence a democratic initiative to resolve conflict has resulted in harassment, insulation and ill judgment committed by Indian government against the political parties in Kashmir. It is comparable to structural violence done by Indian governments against Kashmiris, which is explained by Galtung (1998), “…structural violence may be as bad as, or worse than, direct violence. People die or lead miserable lives because they are politically repressed, or economically exploited, or deprived of the freedom…” It can be simply assumed from this analysis how difficult it is to resolve the Kashmir conflict as any peace process initiated inside the state can be brutally suppressed and third party intervention can be colored as interference in to sovereign state like India.

Conclusion
India had been and still is rigid at considering Kashmir as an internal problem. India has disobeyed the UN resolution of Plebiscite. During the long struggle of claiming Kashmir, India has changed the strategy from accession to bilateralism of Simla Agreement. India does not want to have any third party mediation because of fear from loosing the territory. If Kashmir is separated, insurgencies at other provinces may escalate. Hindu-Muslim riot in any part of India may trigger the communal black lash in Kashmir. Therefore, Kashmir is vulnerable to conflict. Though India believes in bilateralism, Indian government does not trust Pakistan. At the edge of around fifty years of conflict at Kashmir, both governments blame each other. Kargil war, nuclear test and missile race between the two countries centering Kashmir proves that there is no advancement in conflict resolution. The government of two countries have arranges bilateral talks many times to resolve the issue and but those dialogues could not bring any good result or decision. This means bilateral dialogues is not at all a fruitful strategy to manage conflict in Kashmir unless they trust each other.

Muslim leaders and militants of Kashmir have already lost their faith at Indian government after being suppressed, beaten and jailed when they came up with democratic and political approach to resolve conflict. Hence the Kashmiris do not have voice to raise the issue that may threat territorial integrity of India. Kashmiris desire for Pakistani involvement in resolving the conflict has intensified after the Indian government has undermined them. Another mistake of Indian government is that, they have employed fanatic Hindu leaders especially L.K. Advani in the bilateral talks, who is never trusted by the Muslims in India. Even these leaders spread hatred against Muslims and show their prejudices through their speeches and statements. They also play stimulating role in spreading communal violence in India. India blames that Pakistan encourages cross boarder terrorism in Kashmir. Pakistan officially denies all the blames of India except their moral support for the militants. Militants in Kashmir are mostly driven by the economic and political frustration. They are not the fanatic Muslims or holy warrior. They are fighting for the independence from oppression of Indian government. Though Indian government claims few terrorist network might have been active in Kashmir, Kashmiris have been fighting for political freedom. Pakistan is still holding long standing points of plebiscite that allows Kashmiris to choose either Pakistan or India. Many Kashmiri Muslims would prefer to be independent of both India and Pakistan. As the bilateral dialogue does not work, third party negotiation is not accepted by India, and Kashmiris does not have voice and political freedom, conflict management strategies are precisely helpless within the rigid conspiracy political structure of India and Pakistan

Recommendation
Long term or generational vision for peace building can be a fruitful approach to resolve conflict in Kashmir. The first recommendation for resolving conflict in Kashmir should to stop violence and war. As bilateral negotiation has made significant failure during last couple of decades, third party negotiator could be a fruitful way. U.S. can be a good choice as third party negotiator because U.S. has good foreign relation with both the countries. Following the background of the systematic distrust between the leaders of India and Pakistan, the United States may be able to help the two countries to bridge the gap. India’s reluctance for third party negotiation can be dealt by International community. U.N. can play a role for convincing India to accept U.S. as the negotiator. India and Pakistan have strong military capacity and nuclear weapons. It is relevant to choose a super power as negotiator otherwise both countries may undermine negotiator. European Union (EU) can also play the role of mediator but definitely not better than U.S.

It is also recommended to reduce the distrust between leaders of India and Pakistan. Especially the Elite Hindu leaders of India do not have respect for leaders of Kashmir. The elite leaders have negligence against Muslims of Kashmir besides disbelief for Pakistani leaders. In such a distrustful situation, training programs or workshops can be organized to boost up faith for each party towards another party. Education, training, and advocacy program for leaders of both countries can be an alternate way to improve tolerance and trust. Improve or bring changes in the behavior of the political leaders can be effective means for conflict management in Kashmir.

A regional body can play important role to mitigate conflicts. European Union could be a role model to develop a regional mechanism that can open up windows of opportunities in South Asia. ASEAN has proved itself as a useful body for escalating trade, business and economic activities in the South East Asia. A regional body’s success depends on the principle of consensus among its members. Principle of non-interference was equally important for the development of ASEAN. From the light of these regional bodies, strengthening SAARC or developing the similar kind with deferent mission could be an approach in South Asia to deal with the regional conflicts. Being nuclear power, India and Pakistan have developed huge power gap with other countries in South Asia, which has left the SAARC as a useless body. There is a doubt whether the concept of regional body fits within a regional structure where imbalance of power, economy and lack of consensus exist.

I agree with Galtung’s idea of creating a new reality, an ‘empirical reality’ that may lead a possibility to transform conflict in to a peaceful solution, Galtung (1998) says, “…the conflict between two countries over a disputed territory may end by one winning in a military or court battle, by a compromise dividing the territory, by both of them withdrawing their claims, leaving the territory to somebody else (such as the inhabitants!), or by the two owning the territory together. Clearly only the last outcome transcends empirical reality; the others conform to the formula that each square kilometre is owned by one state alone…”. Galtung’s idea of transcending empirical reality can be experimented on Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan.

It could be more effective to motivate the leaders of all three parties to sit at the table to have some prospective discussion over the issues. Leaders of the Indian government should show respect to the leaders of Kashmiri Muslims. Pakistani leaders have to be more considerate about what is good for Kashmiri people rather than their own benefit. Indian leaders should have the mentality for not wining at all situations. These leaders should understand that violence culture results more violence, catastrophe and loss of lives. In addition, the leaders should have the acceptance for new creative approaches and ideas to transform conflict for the better future of South Asia.

References

Askandar, Kamarulzaman (2003) ‘Management and Resolution of Inter-state Conflicts in Southeast Asia’, Malaysia: Southeast Asian Conflict Studies Network (SEACSN).

Asian Political News (August 10, 1998) ‘U.S. urges India, Pakistan to stop Kashmir conflict’, available at, http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m0WDQ/1998_August_10/53000374/p1/article.jhtml, accessed on February 23, 2004

Asian Political News (June 24, 2002) ‘Pakistan hopes for Japan’s role to settle Kashmir conflict’, available at , accessed on February 23, 2004

Galtung, Johan (1998) ‘Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means (the Transcend Method)’, A Manual Prepared by the Crisis Environments Training Initiative and the Disaster Management Training Programme of the United Nations, UN Crisis Environments Training Initiative (CETI) and the Disaster Management Training Programme (DMTP), available at http://www.transcend.org/CONFLENG.HTM, accessed on April 05, 2004.

Indurthy, Rathnam (July, 2003) ‘Seeking an end to the Kashmir Quagmire: can India and Pakistan be brought to the table to resolve the conflict that has been ongoing for more than half a century? (Worldview)’, USA Today (Magazine), available at, http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1272/2698_132/104971297/p1/article.jhtml, accessed on February 23, 2004.

Kashmir Map, The University of Texas at Austin, General Libraries, available at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/kashmir_disputed_2003.jpg, accessed on March 02, 2004.

Mehta, Suketu (July-August, 2003) ‘Too beautiful for death: vital to two nuclear powers, Kashmir is the epicenter of the world’s most dangerous conflict’, Mother Jones, available at , accessed on February 23, 2004

Ramesh, Randeep (2004) ‘Kahmir edges a step closer to peace’, Just Commentary, Malaysia

Schematic map of disputed Kashmir, Embassy of India, Washington D.C., available at http://www.indianembassy.org/new/Kargil/J&K_Map.html, March 02, 2004.

Shuja, Sharif (Oct, 2002) ‘The conflict in Kashmir’, Contemporary Review, available at http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m2242/1641_281/93827716/p1/article.jhtml, accessed on March 02, 2004.

Singh, Nirvikar, ‘Cultural Conflict in India: Punjab and Kashmir’, University of California, Santa Cruz available at, http://repositories.cdlib.org/uciaspubs/research/98/10/, accessed on March 02, 2004.

End Notes

[i] UNMOGIP’s presence was nothing but witnessing the disputes and massacres in Kashmir, see the background of UNMOGIP, accessed on March 02, 2004.

[ii] US denies to play the role of a mediator that indicates US’s reluctance to engage in Kashmir conflict to resolve it. For detail see, http://ushome.rediff.com/news/2003/jun/28pak1.htm, accessed on March 02, 2004.

How U.S. foreign policy influences the human rights situation in Indonesia

1. Introduction
Indonesian military was and still is used by the government of Indonesia directly or indirectly by the influence of U.S administration which results in violation of human rights in Indonesia. Military has been implied to fight against separatist movement, ethnical conflicts and terrorism. In this paper, I will analyze how U.S. foreign policy influences human rights situation in Indonesia. The Indonesian military could be beneficiary of the new domination given by the Bush administration to its war against terrorism, the same military suppressed East Timor and continued human rights abuses in West Papua, Aceh, and other conflicted area in Indonesia. This paper seeks how the decade long influence of U.S administration on Indonesian government depleted human rights values in Indonesia. This trend of violation of human rights is continued till date through the counter terrorism activities as post September 11 phenomenon. The paper therefore, an effort to critically investigate why U.S. foreign policies do not have any significant role in improving human rights values in Indonesia.

Democracy is not yet matured in Indonesia. Long term authoritarian rules have paralyzed the human rights practices. Even though respect for human rights is ‘western concept’[i] imported in to Asia, it is significant to find out the root causes for ignorance of human rights in Indonesia.
The country is stepping towards democracy from the long term authoritarian states. During the last couple of decades military had played a dominant role in Indonesian government and suppressed separatists’ movements at several provinces that cost loss of lives and violation of human rights. U.S. had supported the authoritarian Indonesia because Suharto agreed to have military ties between the two countries and it was important for U.S. to have a strong relation with Indonesia during cold war era. Indonesia is strategically important geographical location for U.S. to fight against terrorism as well as to keep control over this region. In addition, U.S. Indonesia military ties will ensure US’s military superiority in South East Asia. Human rights values have been slaughtered in Indonesia as a result of the U.S. foreign policy from Suharto to Megawati.

2. Evidences of degradation of human rights and the separatist movement
I will show some evidences that will agree with my claim of degradation of human rights in Indonesia. Firstly, Human Rights violations multiplied in Indonesia in 1965 when coup was committed by the communist party that removed President Sukarno. Suharto became President. 250,000 members and supporters of communist party were detained and equal numbers of persons were killed between 1965 and 1967 (Jetschke 1999: 140).Why U.S. government did not deny or refuse Suharto government as authoritarian ruler because U.S. policy that undermined human rights and emphasized economic and political benefits in this region.

Secondly, Indonesian military have killed a large number of people in East Timor, Aceh and Irian Jaya (recently renamed West Papua). In 1975 it invaded East Timor, a former Portuguese colony. In 1999 Indonesian army has stormed East Timor and killed thousands of civilian and destroyed the infrastructure of the country. The Indonesian army and its militia allies systematically destroyed the country, killing at least 2,000 people and forcing 250,000 more into concentration camps in West Timor. According to the United Nations, Indonesia’s 24 years of occupation resulted in the deaths of over 200,000 Timorese.[ii] Logic of dictator ruler behind these killings and destruction is to keep territorial integrity. Military hardware was supplied by U.S. and Indonesian army used it to suppress the independence movement in East Timor. Two other independence movements are going on in Aceh and Irian Jaya. Neither U.S. governments took strong position against Indonesian government or influenced to stop killing people in these provinces. A wave of extrajudicial killings of petty criminals resulted in between 3,000 and 5,000 victims between 1983 and 1985; approximately 2,000 alleged members of a separatist movement in the Indonesian province of Aceh were killed during counter insurgency campaigns between 1989 and 1991 (Jetschke 1999: 139). If U.S. foreign policies have had initiatives to improve human rights situation in Aceh, it would not have kept silence.

Thirdly, Clinton Administration had imposed ban on military aid to Jakarta following the invasion in East Timor. Bush administration now realizes that those bad days have gone and Indonesian army needs their help to combat against terrorism. Why counter terrorism policy of U.S. does not have clear indication to avoid human rights violation, the reason is, it would be a barrier to reach their goal. Therefore, these two countries have agreed to expand modest between their militaries to support Indonesia’s efforts at military reform and professionalism.

Fourthly, Conn Hallinan (June 12, 2002) in his article published in “Foreign Policy in Focus”[iii] has mentioned one statement from Magawati’s December 29, 2001 speech to military cadets, where she speaks towards the cadet: “You can do your duty without being worried about human rights,” which is an assurance from leader of the nation for the military cadets to ignore human rights values. Magawati being a representative of a newly born democratic government how relies on military to suppress self-determination movements. Either national sovereignty motivated her make such statement or territorial integrity urged her to humiliate human rights.

3. Economic interest and military ties
Here, I argue economic benefit of both countries is good reason for military ties. U.S. backed Suharto’s invasion of the former Portuguese territory. There is a reason why this continued through the Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton eras, when U.S. policy focused on supporting Suharto’s military and burnishing his image to the world. Clinton imposed ban on military aid to Indonesia because he realized that U.S. – Indonesia military ties might have been responsible for the severe violation of human rights in East Timor. Bush administration has welded the ties to fight against terrorism. Hence the relation is regained, which will secure U.S. business and economic interests. If military ties between two countries is important to balance power with China in South East Asia, economic profitability of American transnational companies is equally significant. Leading U.S. businesses including Texaco, Exxon-Mobil, Freeport McMoRan, Unocal, Elpaso Energy International, Halliburton, Anadarco and Conoco have considerable investments in Indonesia. For example the U.S. mining company Freeport McMoRan has built the world’s largest gold mine in West Papua and also began exploiting its plentiful copper resources.[iv] Mutual military ties are required for functioning billion dollar U.S. companies by proving security against terrorist, separatist and fanatic Islamic activists. The colonial British, Dutch and Portuguese during nineteenth and twentieth century have had more straight forward attitude for collecting mineral and resources, doing trade and businesses, and commercializing agriculture than today’s U.S., the economic imperial of twenty first century’s global market. Here, my intention is to link U.S. economic interest with U.S.-Indonesia military ties. As a result of strong ties, U.S. closes eyes when the Indonesia army violates human rights in separatist provinces coloring guerrillas or freedom fighters as member of terrorist groups under the anti terrorism program.

U.S. government has already realized the growing threat that is emerging from the fundamentalist Islamic groups in Indonesia. Therefore, after September 11, U.S. administration has taken initiatives to strengthen relationship with Indonesian government. During their meeting, Bush promised the visiting President Megawati a restoration of military aid and a total of US$ 657.4 million in financial aid.[v] Reason why large amount of money is allocated for the defence and security issues while low amount is assigned for the social welfare could simplify the equation of U.S. interest on Indonesia’s defence. The interest behind providing huge amount of fund is to ensure security for the American transnational corporations working in Indonesia. Here, in addition, I like to focus on Bush administration’s target to upgrade capacity of Indonesian defence and security system that would be utilized to fight against terrorism but there is a doubt of misusing military and police administration of Indonesia against innocent people, journalists, intellectuals, political activists and the separatists who are not engaged in terrorist activities. Hence U.S. government has planted the seeds, which will result in human rights violation.

4. Counter Terrorism: a controversial act
The main focus here is to analyze the adverse affect of counter terrorism measures in Indonesia. Megawati is caught between international pressure to aggressively crack down on terrorism, and domestic nationalist and religious forces that resent what they see as foreign interference. U.S. foreign policy in Palestine and Iraq has already generated unfaithfulness on U.S. government among the Muslims in Indonesia as well as across the world. It is necessary to keep it in consideration that working closely with US to fight against terrorism has created anti-Muslim image of President Megawati Sukarnoputri among Indonesians. The Muslims in Indonesia have not welcomed American foreign policy in Indonesia to work against terrorism and eventually have distrusted hypocritical US Middle East policy in Palestine and Iraq that undermines Muslim world. Indonesia being largest Muslim population in the world has brotherhood sentiment with the Muslim majority countries. Consequently Indonesian Muslims have already criticized the U.S. invasion in Iraq. Thus, it is important for U.S. government to have a close relation with government of Indonesia to protect any possible terrorist threat with the help of counter terrorism acts that may come out from the angry Muslims. As a part of the war on terrorism Bush administration wants to develop military to military relation between two countries even though Indonesian military have left evidences in the country’s history for the gross violation of human rights. Phasuk (2003:4) has explained how blindly Indonesian government has accused guerrillas of the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka or GAM) for their involvement in a series of bombings in Jakarta and North Sumatran city of Medan. Nevertheless in Aceh human rights defenders are in danger and journalists have faced serious interrogations and threats. The government also claims that GAM is linked to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) where JI is suspected as a terrorist organization, though JI has long evidence as an Islamic political party. Phasuk (2003: 4) says, “In the context of the US-led war on terrorism, the Indonesian government is waging campaign aimed at the international community to have the GAM declared a terrorist organization.” Under the banner of US-led anti terrorism program Indonesian government resists separatists’ movements at the conflict porn provinces.

Despite frequent bombings and attacks in Christian areas by Islamic groups, Bali bombing, Marriot hotel incident have reminded once again the strong presence of terrorist activities inside Indonesia. Growing Australian and American pressure to fight against terrorism has placed President Megawati in trouble. U.S. government is suspected that Islamist groups have connection with Al-Queda. On the other hand leaders of the Islamic groups in Indonesia are biased by the conspiracy theory of Bush administration. Din Syamsuddin, the vice chairman of Indonesia’s second largest Muslim group, Muhammadiyah, believes the United States is working against Islam.[vi] Like Syamsuddin his followers and many other Muslims in Indonesia believes that U.S. is against Islam. Timo Kivimaki[vii] (2003:15) has pointed out that, “wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have confirmed in the minds of Indonesians that this unfairness can not be fought by using nonviolent or conventional military means.” Which indicates the frustration, anger and anguishes of angry Muslims and they will choose the violent way to exert their hatred against U.S. administration. When situation in Indonesia is such a complex after September 11, President Megawati is standing between nationalism and Muslim belief in her country and allies of US-led counter terrorism program. Megawati is loosing her popularity among the Islamic political parties as well as their supporters due to her ties with U.S. administration on war against terrorism. The controversial counter terrorism act may increase arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, disappearance, and torture in prison. I think, War against terrorism can take the shape of war against separatist at the back end and Violation of human rights would be absolute byproduct at the end.

5. Indonesia – U.S. military relation is more important than human rights values
From Suharto’s new order to Megawati’ democracy era Indonesia remains as more or less an authoritarian state. The question is arised why human rights standards and practices have not been improved during this passage of time. The reason behind why human rights are not much emphasized by Indonesian government could be the contents of human rights are new in Asia and concept is western. Eldridge (2002:13) argues, “…many Asian leaders reject the basic idea of universality with regard to both meaning and application.” There is a debate about universality of human rights. Cultural relativity is accountable for the weak presence of western human rights values in South East Asia. In Indonesia Islam, nationalism and Asian values are key dominant elements, which act as barrier for the promotion of human rights. Jetschke (1999: 148) has mentioned how Suharto government mobilized nationalist sentiments against foreign intervention in Indonesia. He took benefit out of nationalist feeling. Nationalist sentiment is strong enough to be partial and do not hesitate to violate human rights of the separatists. NGOS, INGOs and transnational human rights groups have been working since long in Indonesia for establishing human rights values. National Commission on Human Rights was result of these efforts but the will of sovereign State is more important than a commission of human rights for improving respect for human rights. Eldridge (2002: 16) stated:

“The notion of universal human rights poses a fundamental challenge to the rationale underlying state sovereignty, by which states are autonomous both in exercising jurisdiction within their territorial boundaries and pursuing their national interest in conducting external affairs.”

Thus, conflict is clearly visible between sovereign state and universal human rights. Indonesia is not the exception where military dictatorship backed by U.S. support amplified the challenge of human rights to protect violations of rights, which are considered as internal issues of sovereign state.

Conclusion
During cold war it was more essential for U.S. to have military relation rather than to have respect for human rights values in Indonesia. Now war on terrorism is the first priority for U.S. government than to improve human rights and social welfare in Indonesia. Nonetheless, military relation can secure U.S. transnational companies and large scale investments in Indonesia. Economic and geopolitical interest of U.S. has lot more interests in Indonesia than human rights saga. On the other hand, national integrity instead of slaughtering freedom fighters and economic support from U.S. for the reformation of Indonesian military are more important than to develop human rights standards.

References

Boone, Bruce (December 2001) ‘Indonesia after S11: Anti-Terrorism, Geopolitics and Counter-Revolution’, (http://www.marxist.com/indonesia/indonesia_after_S11.html), site visited on December 11, 2003.

Eldridge, Philip J. (2002) ‘International Human Rights; Theory and Practice’, The Politics of Human Rights in South East Asia, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 12-31.

Hallinan, Conn (June 12, 2002) ‘Supporting Indonesia’s Military Bad Idea Second Time Around’, Foreign Policy in Focus. (http://www.selfdetermine.org/crisiswatch/0206indonesia.html), site visited on December 11, 2003.

Jetschke, Anja (1999) ‘Linking the Unlinkable? International Norms and Nationalism in Indonesia and the Philippines’, in Thomas Risse, Stephen C. Ropp, and Kathryn Sikkink (eds) The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 134-71.
Kivimaki, Timo (2003), ‘Terrorism in Indonesia’, Terrorism in South East Asia, NIASnytt, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies: pp. 15-18.

Phasuk, Sunai (2003), ‘A Sketch of Human Rights Situation in Southeast Asia’, The paper was presented on October 14, 2003 at Human Rights Department, Mahidol University.

Ressa, Maria (2003), ‘Radical Islam recruits on U.S. distrust’, Monday, September 8, 2003 Posted: 0503 GMT, (http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/09/08/indonesia.radicals/) site visited on December 11, 2003.

End Notes

[i] Universalist theories of human rights derive from western concepts of natural law originating from the Roman Empire, evolving in face of many challenges through the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods into the contemporary industrial and post-industrial age. (Vincent 1986: 19-36), quoted by Eldridge (2002: 1)
[ii] The information were picked up from Conn Hallinan’s “Supporting Indonesia’s Military Bad Idea Second Time Around”, June 12, 2002, published in Foreign Policy in Focus. For more details see
(http://www.selfdetermine.org/crisiswatch/0206indonesia.html), site visited on December 11, 2003.

[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Bruce Boone (December 2001) has explained about corporate takeover and the huge investment of American companies in Indonesia. For detail see: Indonesia after S11: Anti-Terrorism, Geopolitics and Counter-Revolution (http://www.marxist.com/indonesia/indonesia_after_S11.html), site visited on December 11, 2003.

[v] Ibid
[vi] Maria Ressa, Jakarta Bureau Chief of CNN, has discussed about rise of radical Islamic groups like Jemaah Islamiyah and Laskar Jihad and their hatred and anti-Americanism message through terrorist activities in Bali that killed 200 people and loss of lives by fueling Muslim-Christian violence. For details see: (http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/09/08/indonesia.radicals/), visited on December 11, 2003

[vii] Timo Kivimaki (2003: 18), Senior Researcher of Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, mentioned in his article “terrorism in Indonesia” that violent Indonesian Jihad could be targeted against financial institutions, international investments, companies, individuals and tourists.

Anti Conversion Law: to stop Dalits escaping from the prison of Caste System

Introduction
Dalits have been excluded from the caste structure of India since long and the discrimination against dalits are also found in the Indian mythology as well as in history. Varna system created different class in the ancient Indian society where the dalits were marked as untouchables as they had been involved or systematically forced to engage at lower end jobs e.g. agricultural labor, disposing dead bodies, working with leather, cleaning toilets and sewage etc. in the society. Dalits are known as the depressed class in the society as they have failed to receive respect as dalit identity. After a century long struggle, dalits are still discriminated in the contemporary India. They are not happy with their religious identity as Hindu because of low caste, untouchable status, social, occupational and economic backwardness. Therefore, they fall in identity crisis and hanker after for religious identity. High level of discrimination and inequality within Hindu religion stress them to convert to other religion especially Islam, Christianity and Buddhism. The reason why they choose other religions is that these religions do not have any caste hierarchy and inequality at least theoretically. B. R. Ambedkar, who is known as the founder of dalits movement in India, had embraced Buddhism along with half-million other dalits in 1956 (Vedantam: 2002). The trend of conversion was fueled and encouraged by Ambedkar among the dalits to escape the caste system as well as to exert their anger against the beneficiaries of caste system. Recently Tamil Nadu and Gujrat provinces have enacted anti conversion law on the line of the existing Acts in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Arunachal Pradesh. This law is criticized by the Christian missionaries, dalits and other religious institutions as a tool of provincial governments for curbing the conversion tendencies among dalits.

The main research question in this paper is why this anti conversion law was imposed. Simultaneously two other questions are derived from the question are: What are the intensions of government behind the law? And, why do dalits convert? Subsequently a third question is required to analyze, are not they still ignored in a rigid structure after being converted?
The objectives of the paper are to criticize intension of the governments and the criticism done against government in this connection, to analyze the discrimination practiced against dalits for centuries, to assess the struggle of dalits within a rigid structure.

Hierarchical caste system

Manusmriti is a Hindu doctrine that provided formal sanctions to social inequality in society based on a hierarchical caste system. Varna, derived from Manusmriti, has four layers of caste. These layers are,

Brahmins
Kshatriyas
Vaisyas
Sudras

In the Manusmriti, dalit is described as polluted. Ghose (2003) has explained the origin of the dalits exclusion, “The dalit is the “unborn,” with no physical link with the supreme being.….from the body of Brahma comes the four main categories of Hindu society, namely the four varnas (colors or castes): brahmins (priests), kshatriyas (warriors), vaishyas (businessmen), and shudras (servants). The priest is born from the mouth of the Creator, the warrior from the arm, the businessman from the stomach, and the servant from the foot. Untouchables are born from outside the body of the Creator, almost a different species from Brahma’s children.” In fact, dalit segregation is rooted in the Indian mythology from which the Hinduism was derived. They are not children of God; they are partitioned from caste Hindu through religious beliefs and practices. Hierarchical caste system is practiced over the centuries and thus has planted the seeds of discrimination against dalits.

Anti Conversion Law in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu government has recently enacted the Anti Conversion Law that bans religious conversion “by force, allurement or fraudulent means”. According to the section 3 of the Anti Conversion Ordinance, “No person shall convert or attempt to convert, either directly or otherwise, any person from one religion to another by the use of force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means.”[i] The ordinance was issued on October 5, 2002. Jail and monetary punishment are applied if anybody is accused under this law. This ordinance[ii] requires all conversions to be reported to a magistrate. The issue of dalits conversion had been annoying state and central governments of India for last couple of decades. Venugopal (2003) has supported the central government’s influences on state governments to enact such a law to curb the conversion rate as the Ministry of home affairs of government of India had advised the state governments to enact laws that prohibit change of religion on the line of the existing Acts in other states following the Meenakshipuram event in February 1981 when many Hindus converted into Muslim in Tamil Nadu.

Intention of Anti Conversion Law: Why the law was imposed?
To curb the mass conversion from Hindus to Christianity, Islam and Buddhism is the main intention for imposing the anti conversion law. A good evidence to prove this intention could be to refer Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s argument during the debate on the Bill of Anti Conversion.[iii] She has defended her good decision to pass the law by giving some examples of conversion that were took place in her state, which means if the law is there, no such free conversion process can take place that indicates the intension to prohibit individual’s freedom to choose his or her religion. Ordinance’s requirement for reporting to Magistrate for each conversion may have bureaucratic intention to create hassle, harassment and delay in the conversion process. Thus, the anti conversion law has two fold hassles for people who want to convert. One is reporting to a magistrate and the other is heinous interpretation of the words “force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means”. These words can be utilized sharply and brilliantly by the government administration to color white case into a black case that may lead accusing innocent into guilty. If it happens, the law can turn in to an evil law that could be manipulated by government to curb the conversion by shutting down the freedom of individual to choose religion.
Hindu leaders claim that the Christian missionaries are converting innocent and ignorant people by offering inducements such as free education, free medical facilities and employment opportunities.

Hindu leaders explain social services of Christian missionaries as inducement or bribe that attract dalits. Poverty stricken dalits are truly impressed by the chapel services and these good offers attract them to convert to Christianity. Therefore, Hindu leaders are happy as the new law is a way to resist these poor dalits to enjoy civilized facilities by conversion.

The law may encourage many vindictive groups to bring false charges against religious institutions and new believers that may escalate violence and riots between Hindus and other faiths. Even the promise for spiritual blessings and eternal life could be considered as the ground of accusation under this law. Anti conversion law reflects basically the interest of upper class Hindu fundamentalism that accuses low cast Hindus for converting to other faiths. In my opinion, unverified reports may increase the rate of administrative hassle against dalits and the term ‘forcible or induced conversion’ may transmit phobia among them about the conversion process.

Venugopal (2003) says, “In a predominantly Hindu Society, a large-scale conversion of Hindus to Christianity or Islam has a tendency to disturb the local custom and faith as well as indigenous institutions…”. As a retired justice and a member of the upper caste Hindu society, Venugopal criticizes large scale conversion process and claims it as disturbance that should be prohibited by law, and thus he indirectly approves that anti conversion law can stop conversion process. Therefore, there is no doubt about it that the state government of Tamil Nadu has enacted anti conversion law, which is highly appreciated by caste Hindus in India for curbing conversion rate among dalits.

Impact of the Law on dalits, Human Rights and religion
In response to the ordinance, Pope John Paul II has expressed concern, Christian leaders and churches rejected the concept of forcible or induced conversion. They claim that conversion is the exercise of free choice by an individual in fulfillment of his or her own spiritual needs, this is a basic Human Right, and is guaranteed in the Indian Constitution and by the United Nations. Such ambiguous terminology has been used to harass and intimidate Christians in the States of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh. Even Christian education and spiritual blessings and rewards have been treated as ‘allurement’ and divine judgment has been interpreted as ‘force’. Some Christian leaders fear that the chapel service in school, hospitals and children home may be considered as violating the new law.

The anti conversion ordinance is strongly criticized by leaders of different religious groups.[iv] Muslim and Buddhist institutions do not have chapel services like Christianity but they are accused of spiritual inducement by the fanatic Hindus. Hindu-Muslim religious conflict and riot is a well known phenomenon in India. Hindus preserve the beliefs that Islam and Christianity are the religion of invaders in the Indian subcontinent. Mughol Empire ruled by the Muslims and British Empire governed by the Christians might have raised such beliefs. Hindus have been encountering Muslim and Christians over the centuries and thus they have developed a sense of rivalry and intolerance among each other. Conversion of dalits into Muslim and Christianity is major assault on Hinduism. After the partition in 1947 Hindu-Muslim relation has reached at the pinnacle of rivalries especially among the fanatic Hindus and radical Muslims. Enacting such law may raise Hindu fundamentalism, which in turn may trigger angers and anguishes among oppressed.

A large number of Christian missions and institutions are based in Tamil Nadu. Christians have already built many Churches in Tamil Nadu and the process is continuing. Increasing demand of Churches was because of the increasing Christian community and most of them are converted from low caste Hindus. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bharatia Janata Party (BJP) have appreciated Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for her bold step to enact anti conversion law and eventually criticized leaders of other religious groups who have expressed their discomfort with the law. Dalits have become more desperate after their right to conversion has been outlawed. I think, dalits at post Ambedkar movement era are well organized and have strong network to survive for their rights. Even though the ordinance is passed, dalits still have arranged mass conversion program in front of police resistance and obstacles.

Escaping mistreatment: Why do dalits convert?
Over 200 million dalits have been subjected to discrimination. For the last 2,000 years dalits have continued to suffer humiliation and ill-treatment. Though the discrimination was initiated from the mythology of ancient India, it still persists in the modern India that is known as the world largest democracy with a progressive, secular and liberal constitution. Dalits are mostly landless labors who are often oppressed by the landlords and live segregated quarters in inhuman conditions. There are approximately more than hundreds of mistreatments that are committed against dalits.

Dalits are treated worse than buffaloes, cows and pigs that have access to the pond. Caste Hindus not only avoid dalits touch but also stay away from their shadow, pass up the wind blows across their body, keep away the water used by them. Dalits have been barred from entering into Hindu temple, other holy places, and from participating festivals. Dalits are symbol of pollutes in Hindu theology. After being excluded from the society they have habituated living in segregated quarters or residences separated from caste Hindus. Some time the local doctors do not treat them, grocery shops ostracize them and they do not have access to local restaurants and other public places. Bonded labors, sexual abuses and exploitation have become a regular phenomenon in the hand of upper caste. Due to lack of education, economic, social progress, and unwritten sanctions imposed by the upper caste, dalits adopted inhuman occupation e.g. scavenging, carrying night soil, leather work, beating drums, cleaning toilets, skinning, disposing dead animals, and digging graves etc. Dalit women have been recruiting as the ‘Devadasi’ by the ‘Purohits’ (priests) of Hindu temples for last 2000 years. The duty of ‘Devadasi’ is to entertain Purohits and other guests in the temple by dancing and singing. They are vulnerable to sexual abuses. Rape complaints made by dalit women are dismissed as false by the local police officer without investigation.

The discrimination against dalits existed and still exists in the modern India. Therefore, the dalits desperately convert to other religion because they believe in escaping exclusion by conversion.

Violation of human rights: examples of discrimination
Some examples can be analyzed to have a clear picture of violation of human rights against dalits by the caste system in India.

The Case of Ramvathi Chandra[v]
The case of Ramvathi Chandra exemplifies the types of abuse and discrimination faced by women in India. Ramvathi Chandra and her husband owned land that was coveted by her neighbors who belonged to an upper caste. In January 1999, Ramvathi was raped by five higher caste men. Amnesty believes the rape was a means of isolating her and her husband within the community because of the stigma attached to this crime in India. Ramvathi attempted to bring her attackers to justice, but police refused to file a report on her behalf or conduct an investigation of her allegations. Sometime later, both Ramvathi and her husband were severely beaten. He barely survived; she died.

Numerous cases of rape and kill of dlait women like Ramvathi are the evidences of discrimination against dalits in India. From this example it can be assumed that upper caste can violate the human rights without slightest hesitation because they are backed by corrupted police administration. The pathetic death of Ramvathi weakens the faith on justice and administration of the democratic secular India. Police do not register the case, and caste people dismiss witnesses, destroys evidences by accessing influence, bribe and power. Some time police also commit abuses against dalits. In the case of Ramvathi upper caste men are left unpunished even though she was raped, beaten and died at the end, which indicates the worse form of violation. It may give the impression from the case that Ramvathi does not have right to life because she born as dalit.

A Dalit woman in Madhya Pradesh, India, was raped on February 8 and set on fire by her landlord and one of his friends. They poured kerosene on her and set her ablaze when she threatened to speak up about the rape, according to rediff.com. The woman is hospitalized in critical condition with burns on 90 percent of her body.[vi]

This is another recent example of gross violation of human rights that is committed on February 8, 2004. The inhuman act committed against this woman shows the persistent evil within the caste system in India as well as existence of fanatic Hinduism within government that allows upper caste Hindu to commit violence.

Expectation from escaping

Choo-o, choo-o, na chee! O je chandalini’r jhi!
Noshto hobe je doi, she kotha jaano na ki?

(Don’t touch her, don’t touch her, ugh!
She’s the daughter of a Dalit woman!
Your yogurt will get spoiled, don’t you know?)

–Song from Rabindranath Tagore’s
Bengali dance drama Chandalika[vii]

Ghose (2003) has recited Tagore’s, a famous Bengali poet who got noble prize in literature in 1921, ‘Chandalika’ for showing desires of dalit woman to be respected, “In Chandalika, Prakriti, a young dalit woman, falls in love with a Buddhist monk, Ananda, who wins her heart by drinking water from her cup…. who encourages her to take to Buddhism to escape the cycle of degradation.” It is earlier mentioned that caste people do not touch water, food, and even shadow of dalits. Expectation of dalits from escaping their own religion is to get rid of degradation and inhuman treatment. Christian missionaries have chapel services that might be considered as the attracting factors for having a better life. A question may arise why dalits also convert to Muslim and Buddhist because these religions do not have chapel services. The answer is to get rid of century old caste system that has crashed their identity and respected as human being. A religious identity is very crucial for dalits in India. Being Hindu they do not feel proud as Hindu. Shah (2001) has explained the identity that dalits search for with some basic questions that may insist dalits to convert, “…who are WE?…What positions do we have in the society vis-à-vis other communities?….how are we related to others?… ”

Government of India has quota system in education, employment, in legislature and in parliament. When dalits convert, they usually fall out of the caste quota that is allocated for them. Either a religious identity and community is more important to them than government provided facilities or a negligible part of the dalit community is benefited by the quota system that does not fulfill dalits’ needs in general.

Very rigid structure: no where to escape
Dalits, in fact, trapped within a rigid structure of India society form which they can not escape, even after religious conversion. Dalits’ struggle against Bhaminis has encouraged them for converting to other faiths, which offers an identity and equal status. Vedantam (2002) has persuaded that dalis realized their similar kind of discrimination in other religion too, “…such a change neither improves their social status nor remedies their economic problems of unemployment and poverty… Sikh places of worship have separate quarters for dalit Sikhs. High-caste Muslims do not marry dalit Muslims. Dalit Christians can hardly hope to reach any high position within the church.” They may not face other form of assault like rape, abuse, and discriminations but still there is a gray line that alienates them. In the recent days dalits convert to Buddhism, they might have been realized the sense of equality in Buddhism as well as are encouraged by the idol Ambedkar who said, “…of all religions only Buddhism advocates equality of all human beings as a fundamental principle” (Vedantam: 2002).

Gandhi had taken initiatives to reconstruct Indian society, he named dalits as ‘Harijans’, which means ‘the children of God’ and he put lot of efforts to upgrade dalits living standards and quarters even though Gandhi was criticized by the Ambedkar. An argument can be raised from Prashad (1999) that a benevolent leader like Gandhi was not able to come out from the rigid structure, “when a dalit gave Gandhi some nuts, he fed them to his goat, saying that he would eat them later, in the goat’s milk. Most of Gandhi’s food, nuts and grains, came from Birla House…..” Either Gandhi’s efforts to break the wall of discrimination by the term ‘Harijan’ might have been a political hypocrisy or a wholehearted initiative but as an upper caste Hindu his rigidity with the caste society was widely criticized by dalit leaders.

Dalits have their umbrella organization National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), which is quite capable to negotiate with national, international and United Nations treaty bodies. NCDRH works closely with many dalit movements, activists, academics and organizations. NCDRH worked hard in the UN CERD 61 Session that was held in Geneva, Switzerland on 10th August 2002, where the decision was made by the committee to draft a General Recommendation of the caste based discrimination. However, dalits have continued fighting for rights with a goal to bring changes within the rigid structure.

Conclusion
Article 18 (1) of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) ensures the freedom of religion and religious beliefs, “…..Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice…. ” Therefore the anti conversion law enacted in Tamil Nadu and Gujrat has gone against the interest of U.N. even though defenders of the law may argue strongly on the ground of words like ‘force’ and ‘allurement’ that sounds legally accurate and defendable but the intention behind the law is vicious and evil. In the presence of protests and criticism why government is in its full pace to implement anti conversion law, which could be a relative question. Firstly, BJP, VHP, Congress and leaders of other political parties and groups keep the concept of caste based discrimination away from racial discrimination to divert the argument of international community on the ground of racial discrimination because these parties’ ideology represent hierarchical Hinduism and Casteism. Secondly, Indian bureaucracy and Judicial body are mostly consists of caste Hindus. Therefore, atrocities against dalits occur in spite of constitutional guarantees, and administration harasses dalits under the power of anti conversion law. And this is a worse example of the victim of evil law that fulfils the desires of majority caste Hindus.

References
Behind Jayalalithaa’s Ordinance, Volume 19 - Issue 22, October 26 - November 08, 2002, India’s National Magazine from the publishers of THE HINDU, (URL: http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1922/stories/20021108002903300.htm). Site visited on March 09, 2004.
Dalit Raped and Set on Fire (02/18/04), (URL: http://www.dalit-awakening.org/docs/news/2004/dalit021804.html). Site visited on March 09, 2004.
Discrimination Against Women, (URL: http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/india/women.html). Site visited on January 16, 2004.
Ghose, Sagarika (Spring, 2003) ‘The dalit in India. (caste and social class )’, (URL: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m2267/1_70/102140949/p1/article.jhtml). Site visited on March 09, 2004
Lindner, John (Editor, Christian Aid Mission) ‘India State Enacts Anti-Conversion Law’,(URL: http://www.crosswalk.com/). Site visited on March 09, 2004.
Prashad, Vijay (1999) ‘Untouchable Freedom: A Critique of the Bourgeois-Landlord Indian State’, Chapter 6, Subaltern Studies X, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, p.175
Shah, Ghanshyam (2001) ‘Dalit Movement and the Search for Identity’, Chapter 9, Dalit Identity and Politics, New Delhi: sage, p. 195.
Vedantam, Vatsala (June 19, 2002) ‘Still untouchable: the politics of religious conversion’, Christian Century, (URL: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1058/13_119/88581910/p1/article.jhtml). Sited visited on March 09, 2004.
Venugopal, Dr Justice P. (Retd) (May 11, 2003) ‘Why Anti-Conversion Law needed’, Organiser, (URL: http://www.organiser.org/11May2003/p14.htm). Site visited March 09, 2004.

End Notes
[i] Contravention can attract a jail term up to three years and a fine of Rs. 50,000. If the convert is “a minor, a woman or a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe,” the jail term can be for five years and the fine Rs.1 lakh. For details see, , visited on March 09, 2004.
[ii] The ordinance follows the pattern of those passed by the Madhya Pradesh state government in 1968, and the Arunachal Pradesh state government in 1978. Orissa enacted the “Orissa Freedom of Religion Act” in 1968, which was overturned by a higher court, and then restored by India’s Supreme Court in 1973. For detail see, , accessed on March 09, 2004.
[iii] Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said existing laws were not adequate to curb conversions. There had been reports of such conversions from Virdunagar, Ramanathapuram and Theni districts, she said. “More recently, there were similar reports from Kancheepuram district,” she said. For detail see, rediff.com: Anti-conversion bill passed by Tamil Nadu assembly , accessed on March 09, 2004.
[iv] The Dalit Panthers of India leader, R. Tirumavalavan, termed the law “anti-Dalit”, as it would force Dalits to accept untouchability crimes without seeking refuge in other religions. Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam president, M.H.Jawaharullah has termed the law as a black law. Tamil Nadu Bishop Council president and Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore, Arul Das James, said Christians were “greatly shocked, distressed and disappointed” at the “draconian” ordinance. For detail see, , visited on March 09, 2004.
[v] The case of Ramvathi Chandra is quoted here from ‘amnestyusa’ web site, for detail see Discrimination Against Women, , site visited on January 16, 2004.
[vi] The news ‘Dalit Raped and Set on Fire (02/18/04)’ is quoted from , site visited on March 09, 2004.
[vii] Quoted from Sagarika Ghose’s ‘The dalit in India.(caste and social class )’ for detail see(URL: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m2267/1_70/102140949/p1/article.jhtml). Site visited on March 09, 2004.

Internet an Alternate Powerful Medium for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights

1. Introduction
The Internet is a unique communications medium. Like no other medium before, it allows individuals to express their ideas and opinions directly to a world audience and easily to each other, while allowing access to many more ideas, opinions and information than previous media have allowed. Consequently, there is a vital connection between the Internet and human rights. The Internet is a democratizing medium; Uniquely Suited to the Promotion of Human Rights.It is more than a mere industry. The current regulatory framework is compatible in the context of the traditional print media, and the relatively newer media of radio and television broadcasting, telecommunications, films and videotapes. If censorship on Internet is to be enforced on an agreeable way, the present laws should be updated. In fact legislation always lags behind the changing technologies. Mailing lists via email and bulletin boards on the Internet enable people to speak out without the fear of being heard. It allows them to step out of their cultural and political boundaries as well by encouraging a true participatory democracy. Preventing this means it would be impossible to create a vocal and active global community, which transcends race and geography. This is insufficient to have a look at the Internet from one perspective. There are many human rights issues regarding the Internet. In this paper I will see it from three different perspectives. This paper will analyze the prospects of Internet medium for promoting human rights and how this medium can be a tool for organizations. It is also highlighted here in this paper that what international laws protect freedom of expression and privacy. The paper critically analyzes the nature of repressive government’s censorship on Internet and how they violate freedom of expression and interfere with privacy of individual.

2. The Internet and Human Rights Work: why Internet is powerful medium?
The Internet is one of the best means for communicating on human rights, because it is inexpensive and global. E-mail makes point-to-point communication between human rights workers and among NGOs (non-governmental organizations) cheap and easy, and allows for better coordination of actions. Furthermore, the Internet has the potential of reaching global audiences, including those most in need of such information. The Internet is important to those working for human rights, as it can provide a secure means of communicating between and coordinating the work of human rights groups. Internet in human rights is as a great tool for NGOs and activists to be in touch with each other, to share information privately, and to coordinate actions. Activists can expose human rights violations and let people know about them over Internet. Many human rights organizations throughout the world have instituted e-mail lists to propagate their press releases, alerts and denunciations vis a vis human rights violations[i]. Internet Access is important for the promotion of Human Rights. Net access without civil liberties guarantees in technology and in law may not benefit individuals and may be coupled with government control and extended surveillance capability[ii]. Governments take out the benefit of laws to impose censorship on Internet. Unfortunately autocratic governments make and use law as slave to work in favor of them and violate the right to access Internet. A good government should provide full disclosure of information infrastructure development plans and encourage democratic participation in all aspects of the development process. The idea of extra-territoriality is what the Internet is able to offer. Books can be physically turned back at the border or destroyed during a raid, but work published on the Internet is permanent and there is a greater potential of reaching the millions out there. As Internet is a global technology having fastest and cheapest communication channel, it has the ability to work for the universality of Human Rights. Internet is the network of networks; therefore, I believe it can help to integrate human rights activists’ networks worldwide.

2.1 Human Rights NGO: prospects and problem
Internet is the revolutionary medium for human rights NGOs. Large NGOs such as Amnesty International (AI), with over 60 offices and a million members, rely heavily on e-mail and the Internet for sharing information, consulting about strategy, debating new ideas, maintaining archives and initiating quick responses to current events[iii]. Similarly Human Rights Watch, Save the children, Action aid and many other international NGOs have adopted Internet technology not only by using e-mail and developing web sites but also by introducing net conferences, net messages, news groups, bulletin boards and online publications. On the contrary hundreds of small and medium scales local or national NGOs of developing countries are struggling to adopt Internet. Lack of Internet infrastructure, budget, technology skill, and training about Internet know how are the barriers to popularize Internet as a medium among these NGOs. In some countries where governments have control over other type of media as radio, television and print, Internet medium can be the only way for human rights activists to fight against government repression. Human rights communities that would find it difficult and dangerous to acquire hardcopy reports have been able to obtain and circulate them through cyberspace[iv]. Repressive governments have realized the power of Internet medium and started imposing restriction on free flow of information through Internet and nowadays maintain extreme control over it. These governments especially target to suppress human rights NGOs. For most human rights communities, therein lies the dilemma: it is precisely those communities in greatest need of empowerment that is least likely to have access to the Internet[v]. The de-centered, anti-hierarchical, network oriented, democratic natured and electronic modes of communication like the WWW encourages new ways of thinking, writing, reading, creating, communicating, organizing and learning. For grassroots organizations these attributes of the Net allow them to utilize technology which reflects their ideals of networking, inclusion and participation[vi]. From my point of view promotion, dissemination and awareness building programs can be run in faster pace through Internet by the human rights organizations that have been working for civil and political rights as well as for economic, social and cultural rights.

2.2 Freedom of expression and privacy: why these are essential to strengthen Internet as medium?
Online communication must therefore be fully protected by international guarantees of the right to freedom of expression. Let us see how we can strengthen the platform of Internet media by understanding international laws. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and other international human rights agreements enshrine the rights to freedom of expression and access to information.

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, and regardless of frontiers.” Article 19, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.” Article 19, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

“Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of borders.” Article 10, European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

The Internet is a medium for both public and private exchange of views and information. People must be able to express opinions and ideas, and share information freely when using the Internet. The potential of the Internet to allow public participation in governance processes, at international, national and local levels, should be utilized to its full. At the same time, there should be mechanisms in the public domain to oppose - or in extreme cases, ban - the publication of content that is harmful to women, children and other vulnerable groups, or content that can incite violence and hatred[vii]. Applying laws and licenses, content filtering, tapping and surveillance, pricing and taxation policies, telecommunication markets manipulation, hardware and software manipulation can restrict freedom of expression and limit access to information. Government-mandated use of blocking, filtering, and label systems violates basic international human rights protections. Efforts to force all Internet speech to be labeled or rated according to a single classification system distort the fundamental cultural diversity of the Internet and will lead to domination of one set of political or moral viewpoints. Free expression should not be restricted by indirect means such as excessively restrictive governmental or private controls over computer hardware or software, the telecommunications infrastructure, or other essential components of the Internet. Governments in Western democracies often appear guilty of violating human rights, especially the right to privacy and freedom of expression, and then governments in less democratic countries will use all infringements of the principle of freedom of expression on the Internet as excuses to strictly control how citizens use the system. Human Rights Watch seeks to encourage governments to strengthen protections for freedom of expression at this early stage of the Internet’s development.

The Universal Declaration, the European Convention and international human rights instruments protects the right to privacy. These core documents explicitly protect the privacy of correspondence and communication:

“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.” Article 12, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation.” Article 17, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

“Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.” Article 8, European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
Privacy is becoming increasingly important for citizens in the information society. Electronic communications can be very easily intercepted by anyone who wants to. Sending an e-mail message is thus the equivalent of sending a postcard. In the human rights arena especially, many matters discussed among NGOs are extremely confidential. Names of witnesses to human rights violations, for example, need to be kept from those who would harm them. Repressive governments commonly use their intelligence services to tap the phone communications of human rights groups and intercept their mail. It is very likely that they are also intercepting electronic mail. A global study of Internet censorship in over fifty countries and regions finds that Internet restrictions, government secrecy and communications surveillance have reached an unprecedented level across the world[viii]. Singapore’s citizens are still fearful. A bureaucrat told a local Internet service provider to scan 80,000 e-mail accounts of university researchers for pornographic material and in April, Singapore’s internal-security agency secretly scanned 200,000 private computers[ix]. Similarly the government of Burma and China has dishonored Internet privacy of individual, families and organizations. Basically repressive governments fear from the accessibility of Internet medium. I think that the nature of such ruling system is to oppress the freedom of speech and expression. In the early age it was quite easier to control press, audio and visual medium but the emerging Internet medium has unpredictable technical capacity that ensures privacy of users. Nevertheless Internet has encouraged millions of people around the world to exchange their ideas, visions, cultures, political debates and beliefs. Internet has become a threat for the dominating rulers. As it is difficult to have control over Internet medium, some governments have been installing filtering and baring technologies by spending millions of dollars. I believe governments are imposing censorship on Internet users to protect incoming- outgoing information and ideas because they scare from free flow of information. Governments should not require the identification of Internet users or restrict the ability to express political beliefs on the Internet anonymously.

2.3 Censorship on Internet: how has it become an evil force of repressive governments?
The Internet has the ability to explode information onto every user. More information can be gathered and distributed at a faster speed, meaning that the flow of information in circulation increases at an exponential rate. Technology and censorship are often seen as opposing forces in the information age. The problem of censorship and new technology is best highlighted by the Internet. The Internet is an example of a convergent medium: it has a mail function, a news-reading function and a computing-software function. Convergence poses problems for censorship because it becomes difficult to classify the new medium and to decide who regulates them and how. Singapore’s current censorship regime assumes that the media are distinct and separate from one another. Censorship does not sit well with computer culture, where maximum freedom is celebrated. Cyberspace culture privileges free speech and the free flow of ideas as a route to social and intellectual progress. For example, the US Senate Commerce Committee’s proposal to ban obscene material in cyberspace faces strong opposition from Internet users. I think the process of censorship in the age of new technologies is problematic, as new laws tend to be inadequate modifications of old laws applied to older technology. The National University of Singapore, for example, has different servers for staff and students. The idea is that staff will get materials with less censorship than students. The lesson from the West, however, appears to be that censorship using technology does not work well. Filtering and prohibiting technologies may not always work with accuracy. It may create some adverse effects or interruption to normal data transmission. Currently, Usenet groups in Singapore are censored using guidelines issued by the Ministry of Information and the Arts, the government body in charge of media censorship[x]. There are no widespread, uniform guidelines or procedures for restricting use of any Internet services, and local administrators have to make arbitrary decisions on access. Harish Pillay, who heads Singapore’s Internet Society, says “Singapore Internet users are always fighting the censorship in their own mind, the perceived fear .. that someone will come knocking on your door.” This is important to point out that Singapore government has already created panic among Internet users by the activities of censorship. I am quite sure that freedom of expression of the citizens is violated in Singapore as well as arbitrary interference of right to privacy is committed by ruling authority.

So when does it require to censor the Internet? Perhaps it is becoming obvious that the Internet now plays an important tool in politics, particularly for oppressed societies who can only transmit stories of state crime, in the hope that the global community will respond with help. It is therefore imperative that the Internet should not be permitted to be censored. In Burma, a law passed in September 1996 obliges anyone who owns a computer to declare it to the government. Those who fail to comply may face up to 15 years in prison. The introduction of the Internet to the Burmese diaspora in mid-1990 changed the power equilibrium, while the Internet has become the single most important medium among Burmese exiles in terms of debating issues, discussing ideas, drawing up strategies, and doing the lobbying work that helps to mobilize effective international pressure on the regime.[xi] Realizing the influence of Internet, Burmese military rulers have upgraded themselves with latest Internet infrastructure. In addition they have restricted the expansion of Internet among the Burmese people and the ISP is totally state controlled. Cyber cafes are very few in numbers and also monitored by the state officials. According to me Burmese government have brutally prohibited the citizens from accessing Internet or having an e-mail address, which is a massive violation of human rights regarding access to information.

Like Burma some governments take numerous steps to prevent their citizens from gaining access to the Internet. Nations such as Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Vietnam put lot of efforts to prevent Internet access. Also identified countries are of Central Asia and the Caucasus, like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. China’s authorities have spent the summer tightening up supervision of the Internet, clamping down first on domestic web portals, then Internet cafes and foreign-owned portals such as Google and Yahoo.[xii] Digital spying is part of China’s online economy that has received major investment. Human rights activists believe the effort employs 30,000 people. Since 2000, they say, China’s