20 Jan 14 | Asia and Pacific, News and features, Vietnam
Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy, of Cambodia National Rescue Party (Image: Kimlong Meng/Demotix)
Cambodia, a nation once traumatised by the ‘Killing Fields’ of the Pol Pot regime in the 1970s, has come a long way since then in rebuilding the nation from year zero, including the holding of elections and the creation of a multi-party system. But the recent flood of hate-mail and death-threats sent to Mr Ou Virak, the president of CCHR (The Cambodian Centre for Human Rights) in the capital Phnom Penh, points to a society still dangerously divided over ethnic and racial issues.
Attacks on human rights activists in Cambodia and around the world mostly come from the agents and the guardians of the status quo — the police, army, militias and private security companies deployed by major corporations seeking to block workers rights. But the death threats in this case, delivered by phone, email and Facebook to Ou Virak, did not come from government quarters, but from the virulent opponents of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), led by long-serving prime minister Hun Sen.
The hate-speech was triggered by a CCHR letter to opposition leaders representing the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), urging them to stop using racist language against the Vietnamese, the largest foreign community in Cambodia.
During one election rally long-time CNRP opposition leader Sam Rainsy told a crowd in Pray Lang Kompong Thom province: “The Yuon [The Vietnamese] are taking the Khmer land to kill the Khmer people. So the Yuon come to Cambodia to spread their relatives, to form their families and then spread out. There will be so many Yuon in Cambodia that the Khmers will be the ethnic minority. The Yuon are like thieves stealing from the Cambodian people.”
The group’s letter reads: ”CCHR is disappointed that the CNRP is once again using such harmful language, which can only encourage racism towards Cambodian citizens of Vietnamese origin, as well as Vietnamese people living in Cambodia.” This letter touched a raw and racist nerve among many opposition supporters who had been fired up by rabble-rousing speeches over the “Vietnamese threat” to their nation.
Opposition campaign speeches do not distinguish between the estimated 5% of Cambodia’s population who are ethnic Vietnamese but born in Cambodia, illegal immigrants, Vietnamese companies and citizens of the neighbouring state of Vietnam. Opposition leaders tend to lump them together as the collective “Yuon”, a pejorative word for all Vietnamese, and a convenient scapegoat for Cambodia’s ills.
Ou Virak drawing attention to the universal nature of human rights that covers all groups, including the Vietnamese minority living in Cambodia, should not provoke such rabidly violent reactions in the eyes of international human rights organisations.
Virak and the CCHR have received support from abroad, but little or no encouragement from other Cambodian human rights NGOs. Virak explained to Index: “ I think there is definitely a fear by the other NGOs that they will be attacked if they express concern regarding anti-Vietnamese rhetoric, and that they won’t be able to continue doing the work that they’re doing.”
Pung Chhiv Kek, president of local rights group Licadho, has stated “I don’t like to comment on the campaign against Mr Ou Virak. I’m not at all interested in this campaign against or for.” Yet back in the early 1990s Ms. Kek told this correspondent how she was bitterly disappointed that so many of her NGO staff at Licahdo harboured resentment towards any application of human rights principles to cover discrimination against Vietnamese residents in Cambodia.
“Sadly, many of these NGOs have shown themselves to be clearly aligned with the CNRP,” said Virak, and added “a lot of people are confused between fighting repression and just fighting the CPP”.
Thun Saray another well-known NGO leader was quoted in the Phnom Penh Post: ”I worry that if we damage one political leader, it could damage their reputation. Now it is a sensitive moment, we have to be careful.”
Cambodia, sandwiched between the two far bigger nations of Thailand and Vietnam, has suffered a substantial loss of territory during the past 600 years as a result of periodic invasions from their neighbours and the decline of the Angkorian Empire. There is a perennial fear among some Khmer people that Vietnam has evil designs to swallow Cambodia, based on a mixture of folklore, paranoia, political agitation and a jaundiced grasp of history.
The burgeoning anti-Vietnamese constituency is bolstered by their reading of Vietnam’s occupation of Cambodia from 1979-1989, as proof of a Hanoi-orchestrated plot to colonise Cambodia. Vietnam is often depicted as the hidden power behind Hun Sen, the longest-serving prime minister in the region, who enjoys special historical links to Hanoi dating back 30 years.
On the other hand millions of Cambodians share a different memory of Vietnam’s intervention in 1979, which rescued them from the genocidal grip of the Khmer Rouge regime and the “Killing Fields” at a time when Sam Rainsy was living comfortably as a banker in Paris. An United Nations-backed special tribunal has been conducting trials in Phnom Penh since 2006 to hold the former Khmer Rouge leaders accountable for crimes against humanity and genocide.
Much older generation of Cambodians, who survived the “Killing Fields”, view Sam Rainsy’s vitriolic attacks as deeply divisive. Hun Sen and the CPP government have exploited these sentiments to the hilt in their electoral campaigns. Using the “Vietnamese card” did not mobilise votes for the opposition only — it can also be a double-edged sword.
In the first democratic election in 1993, under the auspices of the UN peacekeeping mission (UNTAC), Sam Rainsy was required to delete countless references to the “Yuon” in his prepared speech. Khmer-speaking UN official Tim Carney judged these to be inflammatory and offensive. In the 1998 election, however, Mr Rainsy was again criticised by UN experts for resorting to the same tactic. “Opposition leaders are inciting hatred and racism against the ethnic Vietnamese,” complained Thomas Hammarberg, the UN human rights envoy to Cambodia in 1998.
Rainsy, a former finance minister in the Cambodian coalition government in 1994 has always denied the many accusations of racism levelled at him, claiming that he is only expressing “legitimate patriotic concern that has nothing to do with stoking racial nationalist sentiment.”
Since the September 2013 election there has been major controversy over possible election irregularities and the opposition’s demand for a fresh election. The opposition has boycotted parliament, despite winning an impressive 55 seats, with the ruling CPP gaining 68 — a loss of 24 seats.
At the same time unrest has intensified with a nationwide strike of garment workers who are demanding a living wage and are also backing the political opposition calls for Hun Sen to resign.
Against this backdrop Ou Virak is deeply worried that “anti-Vietnamese sentiments are becoming more widespread as the population becomes increasingly frustrated with the political deadlock. “
During protests outside of the Canadia factory on Veng Sreng road on 3 January 2014, there were many reports of Vietnamese shops being targeted, looted and completely destroyed by protestors.
“These actions are being left un-condemned by the leadership of the CNRP,” says Virak “which brings up clear concerns as to what the CNRP would do if in power.”
But a deepening vein of racism tainting the opposition’s campaign to unseat the entrenched ruling elite around Hun Sen is likely to prove counter-productive in the long term. At a time when the opposition is buoyed by unprecedented popular support at the polls and is getting closer to achieving power, Vietnamese-bashing is not the best way for them to convince the sceptics and the international community that they could do a far better job than the CPP of running the country.
This article was posted on 20 January 2014 at indexoncensorship.org
15 Jul 13 | Burma, Digital Freedom Reports
Real improvements have been made that strengthen digital freedom of expression in Burma from ending the blocking of Skype calls, to restrictions on internet cafe use being lifted and a reduction in SIM costs which will open up access to the internet and mobile telecoms. However, the legal framework remains largely unchanged during the transition to civilian government, in particular the draconian Electronic Transactions Act which contains many restrictive provisions on internet use. Built into the network infrastructure there are physical restraints on the internet in Burma with only one internet gateway for personal users allowing the possibility of deep packet inspection and web filtering. Upload speeds in Burma remain slow and the country’s mobile telephone and internet usage is one of the world’s lowest, which affects the dissemination of information. It is also alleged that activists’ email accounts have been hacked by the state. While in practice the internet and internet activists are considerably freer than a year ago, in theory they are still liable to lifetime prison sentences for the political use of email accounts. Without legal reform and technical reform, digital freedom of expression will remain chilled and mobile and internet use will continue to be highly limited.
(more…)
28 Jun 13 | In the News
INDEX POLICY PAPER
Is the EU heading in the right direction on digital freedom?
While in principle the EU supports freedom of expression, it has often put more emphasis on digital competitiveness and has been slow to prioritise and protect digital freedom, Brian Pellot, digital policy advisor at Index on Censorship writes in this policy paper
(Index on Censorship)
BRAZIL
Brazil protesters: Is common ground really necessary?
The bus fare hikes that sparked widespread Brazilian protests have been reversed, but protests continue. Can they last?
(The Christian Science Monitor)
BURMA
Burma censors Time Magazine for coverage of radical Buddhists
Reporters Without Borders condemns the decision by Burmese magazine distributor Inwa Publications not to sell Time Magazine’s July issue, which has cover story about the Burmese Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu headlined “The Face of Buddhist Terror.”
(Thailand Business News)
CHINA
Rethinking the Firewall as a One-Way Mirror
Maybe he should be known for hanging China’s One-Way Mirror instead constructing its Great Firewall. That’s the message Chinese Internet users are sending as the nation’s best-known censorship engineer, Fang Binxing, said he was retiring. Known as the father of China’s Great Firewall for helping develop tools that keep Internet users in the country from surfing websites available elsewhere, Mr. Fang is facing a fresh line of criticism in the wake of allegations by former U.S. defense contractor Edward Snowden that American intelligence agencies regularly compromised Chinese servers.
(Wall Street Journal)
CANADA
Bill to end ‘hate speech’ portion of human rights law gets mixed reviews but Senate approval
A contentious section of Canadian human rights law, long criticized by free-speech advocates as overly restrictive and tantamount to censorship, is gone for good.
(The Province)
EUROPEAN UNION
Post-Prism leaks, where does the EU stand on digital freedom?
The EU needs to develop a coherent and comprehensive digital freedom strategy. Brian Pellot writes
(Index on Censorship)
HUNGARY
Can free expression survive in Hungary?
Funding has been removed from projects not deemed to be in keeping with the official view of Hungarian culture.
(New Statesman)
SUDAN
Sudanese journalist targeted for allegedly insulting the military
When three journalists were invited to accompany a military official to a town supposedly recaptured from rebels, they did not expect to end up caught in crossfire. One journalist is being targeted after an anonymous and more honest account of the incident appeared online. Reem Abbas reports
(Index on Censorship)
TUNISIA
Tunisian court sets free Femen activists
Three European women who were sentenced to four months in jail for staging a topless protest in support of a detained Tunisian Femen activist have arrived in Paris after being freed a day earlier by a Tunisian court, French media has reported.
(France 24)
TURKEY
Angela Merkel warns Turkey European democratic values ‘non-negotiable’ for EU entry
GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel said she welcomed an agreement to reopen talks with Turkey about joining the European Union but warned in the light of the crackdown on Turkish anti-government protests that democratic values were non-negotiable.
(Irish Independent)
Turkey heads for Twitter showdown after anti-government protests
The Turkish government is heading towards a showdown with Twitter after asking it to set up a “representative office” inside the country. The move could presage censorship of the microblogging service it has accused of helping stir weeks of anti-administration protests.
(The Guardian)
UNITED KINGDOM
British media ‘may leave Belfast over province’s refusal to change libel laws’
British media groups may pull out of Northern Ireland because the province is refusing to implement changes to antiquated libel laws, the House of Lords has been warned.
(The Daily Mail)
Wealthy are gagging the media: Nesbitt
The UUP leader and a retired part-time judge yesterday told MLAs that the wealthy and powerful are using the current libel laws in an attempt to “control” the media.
(News Letter)
Libel lawyer: I did not lobby DUP to block bill
Belfast’s most prominent libel lawyer has said that he did not lobby DUP Finance Minister Sammy Wilson to block British libel reforms extending to Northern Ireland.
(News Letter)
Free Speech or Hate Speech? Britain Bans U.S. Anti-Muslim Bloggers
A British decision to bar a visit by two prominent American anti-Islam activists has prompted righteous indignation from the targets of the ban as well as a more measured debate about the limits of free speech.
(The New York Times)
Free Speech Dies in UK: Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller Banned from Entering
“U.S. Bloggers banned from Entering the UK.” That’s how a BBC headline broke the news that authors Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer were denied entry to the country that gave the world the Magna Carta.
(PJ Media)
UNITED STATES
Kickstarter’s Choice: How free should speech be on the web?
“No problem. I don’t want you to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.” Memorize that line. It is your go-to when faced with resistance. Say it genuinely, without presumption. All master seducers are also masters at making women feel comfortable. You’ll be no different. If a woman isn’t comfortable, take a break and try again later.”
(The New Yorker)
Another ‘Free Speaker’ Jailed for Views
Speaking one’s mind in American police state becoming an increasingly dangerous proposition
(American Free Press)
Virginia-based appeals court reinstates NC dietary advice blogger’s free-speech lawsuit
A federal appeals court has reinstated a North Carolina blogger’s lawsuit claiming state officials violated his free-speech rights. The North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition last year told Stanley resident Steve Cooksey to take down or modify parts of his website offering dietary advice to fellow diabetics. The board said it had received a complaint that Cooksey was operating as a dietician without a state license.
(The Washington Post)
For Censoring Websites, the Muzzle Award Goes to Rhode Island Public Schools
Over the past two decades, the Internet has become a crucial tool in public education, opening schoolchildren to the broader world. Yet concerns about sex, violence, and other inappropriate content has led many school districts to impose draconian restrictions limiting kids’ access to even the most innocuous material.
(WGBH Boston)
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19 Jun 13 | In the News
BRAZIL
Brazilian protests see 200,000 take to the streets
As many as 200,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Brazil’s biggest cities on Monday in a swelling wave of protest tapping into widespread anger at poor public services, police violence and government corruption.
(Reuters)
CAMBODIA
As free expression groups meet in Phnom Penh, police target demonstrators
In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for theIFEX General Meeting and Strategy Conference 2013, Index Director of Campaigns and Policy Marek Marczynski reports back on a protest outside the Royal Palace
(Index on Censorship)
ECUADOR
Stop press!
HE WAS a media darling before his inauguration in 2007, but President Rafael Correa’s adversarial relationship with the press has counted among the defining characteristics of his six-year rule. On June 14th a legislature now dominated by his allies whisked through a bill to regulate the media. Gabriela Rivadeneira, the president of Congress, praised the reform for outlawing practices such as “lynching by media” (roughly, character assassination), and said that the new law would curb the press’s supposed habit of “vetoing and vexing citizens”. Many journalists fear it in fact spells censorship. (The Economist)
EGYPT
Egyptian rights lawyer sentenced to 5 years for defamation of religion
As many as 200,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Brazil’s biggest cities on Monday in a swelling wave of protest tapping into widespread anger at poor public services, police violence and government corruption.
(IFEX)
Egypt takes steps towards addressing sexual harassment
A proposed bill in Egypt outlawing violence against women has now been proposed by the country’s National Council for Women. But is it a step forward in tackling the silence around sexual harassment in the country? Shahira Amin reports
(Index on Censorship)
JORDAN
The New Arab Censors
The Internet has proved to be a powerful tool for overcoming media restrictions and censorship worldwide. But new restrictions on Web-based news media, such as those in Jordan, threaten to reverse the progress that the Internet has enabled.
(Project Syndicate)
INDIA
India Media Buries Paid News Report
A major new report on the phenomenon of paid news in India’s media is, well, hardly making big news. The report, submitted to Parliament last month by the Standing Committee on Information Technology, is pretty racy stuff.
(Wall Street Journal)
‘Just’ artistes, not arsonists: Free speech vs state
The Social Network: We discuss the narrowing scope of free speech in India as filmmaker K P Sasi and 4 others get booked with ‘rioting’ for their peaceful anti-Capital punishment protests, and Kabir Kala Manch members languish in Pune jail branded as Naxalites even as a film based on them bags National Award. Filmmakers K P Sasi and Anand Patwardhan and lawyer Chinmayi Arun join us.
(NDTV)
IRAN
Adieu Ahmadinejad
The controversial Iranian president leaves office in August. Sara Yasin looks back at how he has restricted freedom of expression during his presidency
(Index on Censorship)
PHILIPPINES
Village captain sues Cebu blocktimer for libel
Radio blocktimer Oscar Pasaporte told CMFR last 14 June 2013 that Patupat barangay (village) captain Leonida Gabales filed a libel case against him after he allegedly accused her of using the barangay hall as her home. A blocktimer is an individual who buys “blocks” of TV or radio time which he then uses to air a program for which he solicits sponsors
(Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility)
SLOVAKIA
Coin bearing cross hits European Union hurdle
The National Bank of Slovakia announced that the European Commission (EC), the union’s executive arm, had ordered it to remove halos and crosses from special commemorative euro coins due to be minted this summer. (Times of India)
SOUTH AFRICA
Cruel, nasty attack
Certain aspects of democracy can sometimes be difficult to stomach. Take, for instance, free speech.
(The Citizen)
SRI LANKA
Media code threat to free speech
A new media code proposed by the Sri Lankan government contains overbroad and vague language that could have a severe and chilling effect on free speech, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today. (Colombo Gazette)
SUDAN
Censorship as a Human Rights Violation in Sudan
The Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Services, or NISS, confiscated over 10 major newspapers in Sudan in May of 2012, banned 13 journalists from operation, and identified several prohibited topics of discussion.
(Enough)
THAILAND
Thai Students Demand Freedom of Expression
In the face of a school system structured around discipline, obedience, and uniformity, students in Thailand are working to express themselves.
(Open Equal Free)
TUNISIA
Tunisia judiciary presses on with witch-hunt of artists and journalists
A Tunisian court on Monday charged two musicians and a journalist implicated in violence that erupted last week at the trial of a rapper who was controversially jailed for two years for insulting the police.
(Middle East Online)
Freedom Online Conference 2013
The third annual Freedom Online Conference is taking place in Tunis. Government and business representatives, civil society, academics and net activists are discussing how freedom of expression on the Internet is helping to promote social, cultural and economic development worldwide. Mike Harris collects the highlights
(Index on Censorship)
TURKEY
Turkey ‘too harsh’ on protesters, says Merkel
Angela Merkel has risked a diplomatic backlash from Turkey by condemning its response to opposition protests as a violation of human rights.
(The Irish Independent)
UNITED STATES
Port Clinton police practice censorship
When it comes to releasing public information state law prohibits public officials from picking and choosing which documents to release.
(Sandusky Register)
Texas Email Privacy Bill Signed Into Law
Texas Gov. Rick Perry gave the green light to an email privacy bill that will guard Texans from warrantless searches by state law enforcement officials.
(Courthouse News)
Indiana Intimidation Law Challenged on Free Speech Grounds
A state law against making intimidating speech will be receiving First Amendment scrutiny from the Indiana Supreme Court.
(Lawyers.com)
Gay Censors Attempt to Cleanse Google of App they Disagree With
LGBTQ pro-censorship activists have gathered 150,000 signatures to a petition demanding that Google remove from the free market an app which promotes a philosophy they disagree with. (Rockland County Times)
Google files free speech challenge to FISA gag orders, renews criticism of Guardian
Google has sued to shine more light on the secret court that approves controversial national security letters — the petition also represents part of the ongoing PR strategy of tech companies caught up in a surveillance scandal. (Gigaom)
ZIMBABWE
Journalist in Zimbabwe battling for life after being kidnapped, assaulted
Freelance journalist, Paul Pindani, is reportedly battling for life after he was abducted from his home and severely assaulted in Mashonaland West’s provincial capital of Chinhoyi on Friday, 14 June 2013.
(IFEX)
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