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Amnesty International Report 2017/18

used to justify further human rights abuses. The government attempted to reintroduce the 

death penalty.

In Indonesia, police killings of suspected drug dealers rose sharply.

Australia continued to pay lip service to human rights while subjecting asylum-seekers and 

refugees to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

Governments in Southeast Asia and the Pacific failed to uphold economic, social and cultural 

rights. Villagers in Laos were forced to relocate due to development projects; the right to 

adequate housing in Cambodia was undermined by land grabbing; and housing conditions for 

foreign workers in Singapore were criticized as poor by NGOs.

National elections were held in Papua New Guinea, amid allegations of corruption and heavy-

handed actions by the authorities, including violence and arbitrary arrests.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

Human rights defenders, peaceful political activists and religious followers were subjected to 

violations including arbitrary detention; they faced vaguely worded charges; and they were 

tried in trials that did not meet internationally defined standards of fairness. Prisoners of 

conscience were tortured and otherwise ill-treated.

In Cambodia, the government’s relentless crackdown on civil society and political activists 

intensified ahead of a general election scheduled for 2018. Human rights defenders were 

monitored, arrested and imprisoned; media outlets were shut; harassment of civil society 

through misuse of the criminal justice system escalated; and an amendment to existing 

legislation provided the authorities with additional powers over political parties. The judiciary 

was used as a political tool to silence dissent, and in a blatant act of political repression the 

Supreme Court ruled to dissolve the main opposition party ahead of the election.

Thailand’s military government continued its systematic suppression of dissent, preventing 

people from speaking or assembling peacefully, and criminalizing and targeting civil society. 

Dozens of human rights defenders, pro-democracy activists and others faced investigation and 

prosecution under draconian laws and decrees, many facing lengthy, unfair proceedings 

before military courts.

An ongoing crackdown on civil and political rights by Malaysia’s government included 

harassment, detention and prosecution of critics through the use of restrictive laws; an 

increase in open-ended, arbitrary travel bans that violated human rights defenders’ freedom of 

movement; and the arrest and investigation of Indigenous rights activists and journalists for 

peacefully demonstrating against abuses.

Fiji’s government used restrictive legislation to stifle the media and curtail freedom of 

expression and peaceful assembly. Charges against staff members of the Fiji Times were 

changed to sedition, in a politically motivated move designed to silence one of the country’s 

few remaining independent media outlets.

Amendments to Singapore’s Public Order Act gave the authorities greater powers to restrict 

or ban public assemblies, and human rights defenders were investigated by police for taking 

part in peaceful protests. Charges were brought against lawyers and academics who criticized 

the judiciary, and restrictions placed on media freedom.

In Laos, the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly remained 

severely curtailed and criminal code provisions were used to imprison peaceful activists.

A crackdown on dissent in Viet Nam intensified, forcing numerous activists to flee the 

country.

Erosion of the space for a free press increased in Myanmar, where journalists and other 

media workers faced intimidation and at times arrest, detention and prosecution in connection 

with their work.

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IMPUNITY

Impunity for deaths in custody and unnecessary or excessive use of force and firearms 

persisted in Malaysia. There were several deaths in custody, including that of S. Balamurugan 

who was reportedly beaten by police during interrogation.

In Indonesia’s Papua province there was a lack of accountability for unnecessary or excessive 

use of force during mass protests or other security operations. Fiji’s government failed to 

ensure accountability for torture and other ill-treatment of detainees by the security forces.

In Timor-Leste, victims of serious human rights violations committed during the Indonesian 

occupation (1975-1999) continued to demand justice and reparations.

MYANMAR’S CAMPAIGN OF VIOLENCE AGAINST THE ROHINGYA

The security forces launched a targeted campaign of ethnic cleansing, including unlawful 

killings, rape and burning of villages – amounting to crimes against humanity – against the 

Rohingya people in northern Rakhine State. The atrocities – an unlawful and disproportionate 

response to attacks on security posts by an armed Rohingya group in August – created the 

worst refugee crisis in decades in Southeast Asia. Severe restrictions imposed by Myanmar on 

aid groups working in Rakhine State worsened the suffering.

More than 655,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh. By the end of the year, nearly 1 

million Rohingya refugees were scattered across Bangladesh's Cox’s Bazar District, including 

those who had fled earlier waves of violence. Those who remained in Myanmar continued to 

live under a regime amounting to apartheid in which their rights, including to equality before 

the law and freedom of movement, as well as access to health, education and work, were 

severely restricted.

The Myanmar security forces were primarily responsible for the violence against the 

Rohingya. However, the civilian administration led by Aung San Suu Kyi failed to speak out or 

intervene. Instead it maligned humanitarian workers, accusing them of aiding “terrorists” while 

denying the violations.

Despite mounting evidence of atrocities in Myanmar, the international community, including 

the UN Security Council, failed to take effective action or send a clear message that there 

would be accountability for the military’s crimes against humanity.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Australia maintained its hardline policies of confining hundreds of people seeking asylum in 

offshore processing centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, and turning back those 

attempting to reach Australia by boat – failing in its international obligation to protect them.

Refugees and asylum-seekers remained trapped on Nauru, forcibly sent there by the 

Australian government – most more than four years previously – despite widespread reports of 

physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Several hundred people living in the offshore 

processing facility, including dozens of children, faced humiliation, abuse, neglect and poor 

physical and mental health care. More than 800 others living in the community faced serious 

security risks as well as inadequate access to health care, education and employment 

opportunities.

The Australian government withdrew services from its facility on Manus Island in Papua New 

Guinea at the end of October in order to force refugees to move closer to town where refugees 

and asylum-seekers had well-founded fears for their safety. Refugees were forcibly moved to 

new but unfinished facilities in November. They continued to face challenges with inadequate 

health care, violence in the community and no clear plans for their future.

Fiji forcibly returned people to countries where they might be at risk of serious violations.

Cambodia rejected 29 applications for refugee status by Montagnard asylum-seekers, forcibly 

returning them to Viet Nam where they faced possible persecution.

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