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NORTHEAST ASIA
Setting Tibet free from forced assimilation
China appears to be intensifying its efforts to suppress Tibetan culture and identity, with recent moves targeting both the educational system and individuals disseminating Tibetan cultural materials. Such actions have raised the alarm among international human rights advocates over Beijing’s manifest control over the region and its disregard for cultural freedom.
The recent sentencing of Lobsang Thapkhey, a former librarian at Kirti Monastery in the Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, is a case in point. Thapkhey, 56, was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of attempting to import and distribute religious and cultural books from India.
China’s crackdown extends beyond individuals like Thapkhey to include the broader educational landscape in Tibet. Tibetans and their supporters recently testified at a U.N. Human Rights Council side event in Geneva, exposing China’s suppression of the Tibetan language and its closure of Tibetan schools.
FAST FACTS
- China has long maintained that Tibet is part of its territory and formalized this claim through a 1951 Agreement, which Tibetans argue was signed under duress. Since then, the region has been the target of a “Sinicization” campaign to assimilate them into Han culture, the dominant culture in China.
- Thapkhey has been in hot water since 2017, having been detained on multiple occasions for sending prayer offerings to the Lamas. He was arrested in June 2023 after the Chinese government accused him of collaborating with so-called “separatists” for importing Tibetan Buddhist texts, which are not explicitly banned but are sometimes deemed to contain separatist content, especially material that promotes the Dalai Lama.
- Thapkhey had been missing since his arrest until his family was notified last month of his sentencing. He is currently serving his three-year prison sentence in Deyang Prison in Sichuan Province, according to TCHRD.
- In a Sept. 18 forum in Geneva, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) lamented the closure of Tibetan monastic and public schools as well as a policy to make Mandarin Chinese the primary medium of instruction in Tibetan schools. As a result, ICT said, Tibetan children were “losing their mother tongue, are unable to speak to their relatives, are unable to navigate Tibetan society, and are unable to access Tibetan history, culture, and even their relationship to land and place.”
- At least 100 Tibetan and Himalayan scholars had previously appealed to the U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk to urge China to end its forced assimilation of Tibet.
ACTIONS SOUGHT
- The Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy has called on Chinese authorities to guarantee Thapkhey’s physical and mental well-being and urged the international community to pressure China to release him immediately.
- ICT president Tencho Gyatso challenged China to recognize the Tibetans’ right to education in their native language and stop attempts to suppress Tibetan culture.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Saving Myanmar’s activists from the gallows
Since the military seized power in 2021, Myanmar has executed several anti-coup activists, drawing widespread condemnations from the international community.
Five more are set to be executed by the junta on Sept. 24, prompting an earnest appeal by the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) for a stay of execution and the activists’ immediate release.
“The use of capital punishment as a tool to suppress dissent is unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” said Wong Chen, APHR Board Member and member of Malaysian parliament.
FAST FACTS
- The first reported post-coup use of the death penalty in Myanmar was in July 2022, when the junta executed four pro-democracy activists who were charged with organizing “brutal and inhumane terror acts.” Since then, at least 164 people have been sentenced to death by the junta, which has been struggling against rebel armed groups trying to regain control of the country.
- The five activists due for execution are believed to be Zaryaw Phyo, 32; San Min Aung, 24; Kyaw Win Soe, 33; Kaung Pyae Sone Oo, 27; and Myat Phyo Pwint (unknown), who were sentenced to death on May 2023 in a closed-door hearing at Yangon’s Insein Prison. They are charged with murder and illegal weapons for their alleged involvement in a fatal shooting of four police officers in a Yangon train.
- Activists Maung Kaung Htet and his wife Chan Myae Thu were scheduled for execution on Sept. 23 “without due process and a fair trial” over their alleged involvement in a parcel bomb attack in Insein Prison, according to the Women’s Peace Network (WPN). Chan Myae Thu is the first woman on death row under the junta.
- WPN said it was concerned that the executions would embolden the junta to execute the over 120 detainees charged with sham death penalties.
ACTIONS SOUGHT
- APHR has demanded that the State Administration Council refrain from this arbitrary execution and for the detainees to be released unconditionally.
- Indonesian lawmaker and APHR chair Mercy Chriesty Barends challenged the ASEAN foreign ministers to speak up against this execution policy.
SOUTH ASIA
Quelling ethnic violence
While India’s northeastern Manipur state has been wracked by violence for more than a year now, a fresh wave of ethnic violence has prompted authorities to impose stronger curfews, internet restrictions, and use of force against protesters.
These actions, warned the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-Asia), “undermined fundamental rights and exacerbated the already volatile situation” there. As such, the group called on Indian authorities to immediately end these human rights violations, engage in meaningful dialogue with the protesters, and initiate reforms to restore peace.
FAST FACTS
- Manipur has long been plagued by economic unrest and periodic insurgencies. But for over a year now, the state has been hounded by ethnic violence between the Hindu-majority Meitei and Christian Kuki communities. Specifically, the minority Kukis have been protesting a May 2023 Manipur High Court order granting the majority Meiteis official tribal status, making them eligible for benefits normally accorded to minority groups.
- The ruling was eventually reversed in February 2024, but it has not quelled ethnic violence against the Kuki people. Human Rights Watch reported that over 200 people have been killed, hundreds injured, and over 60,000 people displaced by the ongoing violence. Kuki-owned homes, businesses, and places of worship were burned down and vandalized by the Meiteis.
- The latest violence transpired this month when suspected militants staged multiple attacks with drones and rockets in separate districts. This eventually prompted authorities to impose an indefinite curfew and internet blocks for five days supposedly to bring the violence under control.
- India has a troubling record of using prolonged internet blackouts to suppress dissent, but such outages are especially pronounced in Manipur, which holds the record for the world’s longest blackout in 2023, which totaled over 5,000 hours during the year.
- The Indian government led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party is accused of being complicit in the violence. The BJP’s central ideology – which identifies Hindus as India’s rightful inhabitants, is consistent with the Meitei community’s belief that they are the original inhabitants of Manipur, observers note.
ACTIONS SOUGHT
FORUM-Asia executive director Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso urged authorities:
- To immediately halt their excessive use of force against protesters and to lift arbitrary internet shutdowns; and
- To prioritize the safety and security of human rights defenders and journalists so they can pursue their work without fear of reprisal.
GLOBAL / REGIONAL
Curbing abuse of AI
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI), exemplified by the widespread adoption of ChatGPT since its 2022 release, has sparked concerns about its potential to amplify misinformation, fake news, and copyright violations.
Last week, the U.N.’s high-level advisory body on artificial intelligence released its final report proposing recommendations to align AI use with international, specifically human rights, law.
“AI is transforming our world,” the report said. “If left ungoverned, however, AI’s opportunities may not manifest or be distributed equitably. Widening digital divides could limit the benefits of AI to a handful of States, companies and individuals.”
FAST FACTS
- In 2023 the U.N. created a 39-member advisory body to address issues in the international governance of AI. Its recommendations will be discussed at the U.N. Summit for the Future on Sept. 20-23.
- In the same year the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner expressed concern that while AI could be “enormously beneficial to humanity,” it could also “strengthen authoritarian governance, operate lethal autonomous weapons, and form the basis for more powerful tools of societal control.”
- The U.N. advisory body report said that experts were particularly concerned about AI risks relating to disinformation and use in armed conflict by state actors.
Experts’ level of concern about AI risks across multiple domains
Source: U.N. Advisory Body on AI report
- While many countries recognize the need for guidelines, the specific approaches vary widely. The most comprehensive and ambitious regulations are emerging from the European Union (EU), whose AI Act, currently under negotiation, proposes a risk-based approach that categorizes AI systems based on their potential harm and imposes different requirements depending on the system used.
- In Asia, the regulatory landscape for AI is more fragmented as only China and Singapore have so far implemented frameworks on its use. Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and South Korea are still in varying stages of crafting similar frameworks.
- In February 2024, ASEAN published its Guide on AI Governance and Ethics, a nonbinding framework that serves as a guide for member-states wishing to design, develop, and deploy AI technologies in commercial and non-military uses.
ACTIONS SOUGHT
- The U.N. advisory body recommends the establishment of a global AI fund to address gaps in capacity and collaboration among member states.
- It calls for the international scientific panel on AI who can help create a global understanding of its capabilities and risks.
- It also calls for an “intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder policy dialogue” on AI governance where member-states can share best practices and promote common understanding on AI implementation.
