Selected regional developments in human rights and democratisation in the Asia Pacific during 2017: ‘Diverse region with divergent stance’

Abstract

With the human rights situation in the Asia-Pacific region characterised by clashes resulting from religious and ethnic extremism, challenges to free speech, and attacks on women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, the year 2017 in the Asia Pacific remains unchanged from previous years. Incidents ranged from the systematic curtailment of basic freedoms and violent religious, ethnic, and gender-based conflict. Even though most Asia-Pacific nations are democratic in nature, arbitrary anti-democratic actions by government remain common. The major incidents that occurred during 2017 were the ongoing Rohingya crisis in Myanmar and religious extremism in countries such as Afghanistan, India and Malaysia. These setbacks were to some extent offset by the ratification of core human right treaties by countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. Regional organisations such as ASEAN, SAARC, and PIF continue to avoid systematically protecting international standards and following up on UN recommendations.

Key words: human rights; ASEAN; SAARC; Rohingya; extremism