The Asia-Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC), an international advocacy organization devoted to sustain and expand democracy in the region, expresses its disappointment over the International Bar Association’s choice of venue for its 2007 Conference.
Mr Fernando Pombo
President
and
Mr Mark Ellis
Executive Director
International Bar Association
10th Floor
1 Stephen Street
London W1T 1AT
United Kingdom
Dear Sir,
The Asia-Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC), an international advocacy organization devoted to sustain and expand democracy in the region, expresses its disappointment over the International Bar Association’s choice of venue for its 2007 Conference.
We would have resonated with your view of Singapore as “a unique and dynamic city, filled with culture and brimming with energy and finesse… where urban meets traditional offering the modern and cosmopolitan whilst retaining its local flavor” if we did not know any better. The description is at best a veneer of a moral darkness that has shrouded the lives of the denizens of this city.
Thus, we cannot fully understand why a prestigious international organization of men and women of the bar whose mission emphasizes “the importance of establishing and maintaining the rule of law as the basis for democracy” chose to confer honor on Singapore as the venue of its conference. We firmly submit that no greater insult can one give to the people of Singapore than to bestow the draconian state the prestige of hosting the conference of lawyers from the different parts of the globe.
We must be fully aware on what is happening inside Singapore; of untold stories of people’s sufferings behind a glittering iron curtain; and of people’s legitimate struggles for freedom and democracy. The recent of which was an obvious political harrassment of the outspoken Secretary-General of the puny Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), Dr. Chee Soon Juan. He was convicted by a Singaporean court for attempting to leave the country without permission last year. The conviction was meted out at a time when the SDP secretary-general was campaigning against the holding of your association’s 2007 conference in Singapore.
In Singapore, dissent- however minute- is pulverized!
It behooves us then to wonder how the decision was arrived by your association whose own Human Rights Institute “works across the Association, to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.” In fact, your condemnation on the three-month ban on political rallies and protests imposed by the Government of Zimbabwe on Mbare and Harare South following after the violent clashes between the police and protesters was greatly admired by pro-democracy organizations worldwide.
But your decision to hold your 2007 conference in Singapore casts doubts on IBA’s sincerity in its campaigns and support to “the fundamental role of an independent judiciary” while fully knowing that the country’s judiciary is the least independent in the world.
We could have admired IBA the more if its strongly worded condemnation on Zimbabwe for “undermining the guarantees of human rights and the rule of law by preventing the citizens of Zimbabwe from exercising their fundamental right to free assembly” is also echoed in a manifesto to the Singapore government.
In solidarity with the people of Singapore, we urge your association to reconsider your decision to hold the IBA 2007 Conference in Singapore. Doing this will reiterate’s IBA’s commitment to promote the independence of the judiciary and to protect, promote, and enforce human rights under a just rule of law.
Yours truly,
Gus Miclat.
Coordinator
Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC)
APSOC’s 15 founding organizations from 9 Asia-Pacific countries:
Indonesian Human Rights Committee (IHRC) – New Zealand
National Coalition for the Union of Burma (NCUB) – Burma
Alternative ASEAN Network for Burma (ALTSEAN-Burma)
Timor Leste Coalition for the Asia-Pacific (TILCAP) – East Timor
Friends of the Third World/Center for Peoples Dialogue (FTW/CPD) – Sri Lanka
Asian Students Association (ASA) – Hongkong
Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) – Philippines
Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) – Mindanao
Yayasan Anak Dusun Papua (YADUPA) – West Papua
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) – Malaysia
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) – Thailand
Support Committee for Human Rights in Aceh (SCHRA)
Philippine Solidarity for East Timor and Indonesia (PhilSETI) – Philippines
Solidarity Without Border (SOLIDAMOR)- Indonesia
Pax Christi – New Zealand
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