Amnesty names 6 women leading

human rights activism in Southeast

Asia

Maria at the police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on

Wednesday, Sept 2, 2015. Source: AP

8th March 2017

IN CONJUNCTION with International Womens Day, Amnesty
International has recognised Southeast Asian women activists for
their resolve to stand up for human rights in the face
of harassment, threats, imprisonment and violence.
In Southeast Asia, there are few governments who can be proud
of their human rights records, but there are countless women
across the region who have braved great dangers to take a stand
against injustice, Amnesty International director for Southeast
Asia and the Pacific Champa Patel said in a statement on
Wednesday.
On this International Womens Day, we want to recognise
women, from different countries, whose heroism inspires many
in the region and whose contributions to society should be
commended, not condemned.
The six women are:
Thailand: Sirikan Charoensiri
Sirikan regularly defends clients investigated and prosecuted for
peacefully defending human rights guaranteed by international
law. The 31-year-old lawyer, who is a leading member of
Thailands civil society, faces 15 years imprisonment under
charges of treason and violating a ban on political assembly of
five or more persons.
The charges, Amnesty said, were filed in connection with her
defence of her clients, penalised for acts of peaceful protest.
Malaysia: Maria Chin Abdullah
Last November, Maria Chin Abdullah, 60, was detained without
trial and held in solitary confinement for 11 days.
Maria, who is known as a soft-spoken mother of three, was
arrested under Section 124C of the Penal Code for activities
detrimental to parliamentary democracy and held under the
Security Offences (Special Measures) Act.
This draconian law allows detention for prolonged periods
without judicial oversight in secret locations. Her only crime was
to have led the Bersih (clean in Malay) protest, where thousands
took to the streets to peacefully call for electoral reform and good
governance, the watchdog said.
 Maria chairs Malaysias Bersih 2.0,
the Coalition of Clean and Fair Elections. Source: @Reaproy.
Amnesty said Maria was the most prominent of 15 civil society
activists who were arrested under various penal code offences for
their connection with the Bersih rally.
She has also been repeatedly investigated and charged under the
Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 for the organisation and participation
in the other peaceful rallies, the group said.
Cambodia: Tep Vanny

Housing rights activist Tep Vanny has been detained in Phnom

Penhs Prey Sar CC2 Prison Since August 2016.
Amnesty said her incarceration is meant to silence her and send a
chilling message to other activists.
The group said Vanny and her community had attracted hostile
attention from the authorities despite peacefully protesting
against the forced evictions of thousands of people from the
Boeung Kak Lake area in Cambodias capital city for almost a
decade.
She and the other women activists from Boeung Kak have been
subjected to arbitrary arrest, violence from security guards, unfair
trials and imprisonment for their peaceful protests. Yet, they are
still determined to stand up for their rights and justice.
Philippines: Leila de Lima
Senator Leila de Lima, a former justice secretary and former chair
of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, has been
recognised as the most prominent critic of President Rodrigo
Duterte and his bloody war on drugs.
Amnesty said De Lima, 58, had been arrested on politically-
motivated charges to silence her.
De Lima, who is currently held at the Philippine National Police
headquarters in Manila, faces 12 years imprisonment if
convicted.

De Lima remains defiant in the face of three drug-related

charges. Source: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco
Duterte made de Lima the target of his divisive rhetoric when
she convened Senate hearings last August, when the wave of
extrajudicial executions of alleged drug offenders had claimed the
lives of more than 2,000 people, the group said.

Since then, de Lima has been the target of vilification.

Last month, Duterte told a crowd of his supporters: If I were de

Lima, ladies and gentlemen, Ill hang myself.
Despite her detention, Amnesty said de Lima has remained
resolute. My arrest is an appalling sign of the return of a power-
hungry, morally bankrupt and abusive government, she said
prior to arrest.

Vietnam: Trn Th Nga

The land rights activist and pro-democracy advocate from H

Nam province was arrested in January under Article 88 of the
Vietnamese Penal Code for spreading propaganda against the
state, a provision regularly used to jail dissidents for lengthy
periods.
Amnesty said Nga was one of 94 prisoners of conscience behind
bars in the country.

Nga was accused of spreading propaganda against the state.

Source: YouTube.

The group said Nga taught herself about human rights while
recovering from a serious traffic accident while working in Taiwan,
where she suffered abuse as a migrant worker.
After her stint in Taiwan, Nga returned to Vietnam where she has
relentlessly advocated for human rights, joining the independent
Vietnamese Women for Human Rights network.

Nga has been targeted and physically assaulted on a few

occasions by men in plain clothes, as well as police. These attacks
have happened in front of her four children, Amnesty said.

Burma (Myanmar): Wai Wai Nu

Under the countrys military government, Wai Wai Nu, her two
siblings and parents were prisoners of conscience.

Amnesty pointed out in 2005, the family was shown to a closed-

door room, where there was no lawyer present and they were not
allowed to speak, to be tried and convicted. Wai Wai Nu, who
was an 18-year-old law student at the time, was told she would
have to spend the next 17 years behind narrowly spaced bars.

Wai Wai Nu, who was an 18-year-old law student at the time, was
told she would have to spend the next 17 years behind narrowly
spaced bars.

As Burma creaked open to reforms in 2012, Wai Wai Nu walked

out of her cell determined to rid her country of the injustices
she grew to know so intimately in jail.

At the age of 25, she completed her law degree and founded two
human rights organisations, the Womens Peace Network-Arakan
and Justice for Women.
Wai Wai Nu, a member of Burmas repressed Rohingya minority, is
now widely regarded as an eloquent and fearless advocate for
quality and tolerance, Amnesty said.

Posted by Thavam