World Social Forum 2024 Discussion Panel

on

"Civil Liberties In South Asia"

Date : 16th Feb 2024

Time : 11:30AM – 13:00 PM Nepali Time (Duration 90 mins) 

Venue :  Ratna Rajya Campus, Block-B, Floor-Ground,Room No. 3

Speakers :

Pakistan - Diep Saeeda, Peace Activist

Nepal - Namrata Sharma, Coordinator mass communication, Nepal national commission for UNESCO 

Srilanka - Nalini Rathnarajah, Women's HRD and SAPPE

India - Avinash, Wada Na Todo Abhiyan

Bangladesh - Zakir Hossain, Nagorik Uddyog (Citizen’s Initiative)

Chairperson : Kavita Srivastava, PUCL, India

Moderator : Lara Jesani, PUCL India

DISCUSSION PANEL – “CIVIL LIBERTIES IN SOUTH ASIA” at WSF 2024, Kathmandu on 16th February 2024 at 11.30 pm (RR-VLC B-5G-R2)

The panel discussion on “Civil Liberties in South Asia” was held on 16th February 2024 from 11.30 am to 1 pm. Lara Jesani, a human rights lawyer from India and member of PUCL, moderated the panel. She gave a background of the session and introduced the panelists, Diep Saeeda, Peace activist and Director Institute of Peace and Secular studies, Pakistan, Namrata Sharma, Coordinator mass communication, Nepal National Commission for UNESCO, Nepal, Nalini Rathnarajah, Woman Human Rights Defender and member SAPPE, Srilanka, Biraj Patnaik, former South Asia Director Amnesty International and former Principal Adviser to the Commissioners of the Supreme Court on the Right to Food in India, India and Zakir Hossain, Nagorik Uddyog(Citizen’s Initiative), Bangladesh. The session was chaired by human rights activist, feminist and PUCL National President Kavita Srivastava. While setting the context, Lara informed the participants that the session had been organized to inquire into and assess the situation of Civil Liberties in the South Asia region, since it was fundamental to the assertion and achievement of all human rights. 

Diep Saeeda provided insights on the continuing human rights violations in Pakistan, in particular the violence and discrimination against religious minorities, lack of independence of media and judiciary, the shrinking democratic spaces to express and protest. Despite the silencing and criminalizing of dissent, citizens and movements did not stop raising their voices on the streets, which also had the consequences of arbitrary arrests and intimidation by the security establishment. She also emphasized that the strife between the neighbouring countries India and Pakistan, had an adverse impact on the people of both countries and on the region, and more civil society efforts were necessary to facilitate travel between the countries and camaraderie amongst the people.

Nalini Rathnarajah highlighted the misuse of online safety bill in Srilanka, stating that in the age of online advocacy it poses another restriction on the expression of dissent. She also spoke of the attacks on academic freedoms and the various restrictions put on the right to protest and freedom of movement. She informed the audience that the restriction on women to own property through the religious property laws were hampering their entrepreneurship. She talked of how as a fall out of the people’s movement in Srilanka(Aragalaya), there have been increasing restrictions imposed on the right to protest using laws and executive orders, including monthly monitoring of accounts to reign in civil society. 

Namrata Sharma started by providing a background of how the Nepal Constitution provided progressive laws and rights to the people, for instance the representation it provides for different genders and ethnicities in the government, right upto the ward level. However, she stated that there were several lacunae and corruption in the delivery of rights. She stated that civil liberties were being curtailed, with laws such as Online Security Act and Social Media Act and in the name of sovereignty there was an exercise of control. She expressed a need for all of South Asia to have open borders as is the case with Nepal and India.

Zakir Hossain informed that since the last 3 elections in Bangladesh, there was an artificial democracy functioning and it has been a mockery of the right to vote of citizens, with governments being formed without opposition. Meanwhile the accountability institutions of democracy, such as law enforcement agencies and election commission were ineffective. He stated that for 12 years civil society has been demanding for anti-discrimination law to curb atrocities on Dalits and marginalized groups. He also spoke of the restrictions on organisations, the increasing self censorship in media due to criminalization of freedom of speech and expression and misuse of digital security act, and pointed out that the OTT Act, Press Council Act and Data Protection Act, were tools of control. He said that growing authoritarianism in India has also had an impact on civil rights of citizens in Bangladesh. He expressed a need for a campaign at South Asia level to address the growing authoritarianism in the region.

Biraj Patnaik highlighted that India’s geopolitical status has led to India getting a free pass on human rights violations. He spoke of how the country is slowly becoming an elections-only democracy, an electoral autocracy. While focusing on the common challenges posed to South Asia, he said that in all the countries there was a roll back on socio economic rights. He also said that there was hope in the younger generation of the countries to end this authoritarianism.

The chair Kavita Srivastava while summing up the discussions, emphasized on the need to address the growing sectarianism, islamophobia and identity-based violence in the region. She said that there had been an increase in the attacks on minority rights, and in India the present situation of minorities was that of being relegated to almost secondary status. She added that the country was witnessing an everyday undermining of dissent in the name of threat to national security and terror, along with various forms of digital security laws and the new media broadcasting in the process of being legislated, were tools to outright curtail people’s autonomy vis a vis the social media. The continuing ethnic conflict in the Northeast for the last nine months in Manipur presented a grim situation. Cases continued to be filed against activists who did fact finding and spoke the truth. Domination of agencies of non-state actors in the dispensation of the rule of law was extremely worrying. Similarly, in the Kashmir valley, encounters, suppression of the people, in an increasingly militarized terrain, silencing of the media in the valley, denial of elections, showed how the dreams and aspirations of the Kashmiri people were still being throttled. She emphasized on the need for civil society of all countries in the region to connect with each other and build solidarity across the region to stand up for truth and justice. She concluded by saying that only a people’s movements for human rights would rebuild the eroding democracy and restore the civil liberties of the people from authoritarian Governments.

Several participants joined the discussions and presented their comments. 

From India, T.S.S. Mani, a human rights activist and member of PUCL, spoke of the criminalization and vilification of defenders as anti-nationals, as was seen with anti-Sterlite protestors in Tamil Nadu. Also Mr. Tejinder Ahuja, a human rights lawyer and PUCL member, emphasized on the importance to raise the issue of Dalit rights across the region. A participant from Bangladesh also raised the need for laws addressing caste atrocities and discrimination.  From Nepal, Amnesty International Nepal Director intervened to inform that in the name of gentrification and urbanisation, informal settlements in Kathmandu were being demolished and protests of the slum dwellers were being curbed. 

Various participants and the speakers resolved to work towards building solidarities among people of the countries and strengthening civil liberties in the South Asia region, and a statement was proposed to endorsement and formulation of follow ups after this discussion ( see the section "other details" below) 

They resolved that with the democracies in South Asia region witnessing erosion and people’s basic freedoms like right to express dissent, protest, form association and freedom of movement being suppressed, media and judicial independence being compromised, the governments in the region need to be called upon to restore and ensure civil libertiesand democratic rights. 

They also agreed on the need  to ensure that the breakdown of the rule of law and attack on people’s rights is not allowed, and to build a strong people’s movement to protect our human rights collectively as people from the South Asia region.

Thanks to the participants, speakers and to WSF, for providing rich engagement and discussions.

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STATEMENT ISSUED IN PURSUANCE OF THE DISCUSSION PANEL –

“CIVIL LIBERTIES IN SOUTH ASIA” at WSF 2024, Kathmandu

On 16^th February 2024 at 11.30 pm (RR-VLC B-5G-R2)

Description of Context :

A panel discussion on “Civil Liberties in South Asia” was held on 16^th February 2024 from 11.30 am to 1 pm at the WSF 2024 in Kathmandu. https://wsf2024nepal.org/organization/activity/380

The eminents speakers were
Diep Saeeda, Peace activist and Director Institute of Peace and Secular studies, Pakistan,
Namrata Sharma, Coordinator mass communication, Nepal National Commission for UNESCO, Nepal,
Nalini Rathnarajah, Woman Human Rights Defender and member SAPPE, Srilanka,
Biraj Patnaik, former South Asia Director Amnesty International and former Principal Adviser to the Commissioners of the Supreme Court on the Right to Food in India, India
Zakir Hossain, Nagorik Uddyog (Citizen’s Initiative), Bangladesh
Lara Jesani, a human rights lawyer from India and member of PUCL, moderated the panel.
The session was chaired by human rights activist, feminist and PUCL National President Kavita Srivastava.

Several volunteers, who were mostly budding journalists and from the youth movement, assisted us in organizing this session and the participants included several civil liberty lawyers, media persons and activists from the region.

The panel discussion was organized with a view to inquire into and assess the situation of Civil Liberties in the South Asia region, since it was fundamental to the assertion and achievement of all human rights.

The panel brought to the fore several important human rights concerns afflicting the nation states in South Asia region. Through the discussions, it emerged that the region is witnessing an increasing attack on civil liberties on account of growing authoritarianism and introduction of domestic laws and policies to curtail people’s rights and freedoms. Democracy itself is being undermined with a rise in electoral autocracy and mobocracy. The right to protest, express dissent and form associations, is facing severe clampdown.

On the one hand, the systematic decrease in media freedoms and social media freedoms is resulting in self-censorship and silencing through the criminalization of dissent. On the other hand, fake news and unethical media has resulted in the proliferation of untruths and suppression of truth. The institutions and mechanisms put in place to safeguard democracy are facing steady corrosion. There is a loss of judicial independence and accountability, thereby impacting the access to justice. The rights of religious and ethnic minorities, Dalits and indigenous persons are under systematic attack, as islamophobia and sectarianism is on the rise. While the degree of this collapse and specific concerns differ from country to country, it signals a need for civil society in the region to collectivize efforts at the South-Asia level, with a view to restore democracy in its true form and ensure that people’s rights are protected.

Participants pointed out that  it was time for India to shed its paternalism, due to the long-standing relationship in between the people and the states of our neighbouring countries. It was important to take forward this legacy of unity, strengthen ourselves geopolitically and correct our democracies. It was brought on record by participants from Pakistan, that they could not travel directly to Nepal and had to come via Dubai in order to participate, showing how restrictions in travel between our nations had made us inaccessible to each other. Opening up the borders that currently divide and distance the countries in the region while disregarding the aspirations of the people, is one important step in making South Asia stronger and unified in its efforts for the betterment of the region. That regional cooperation was a necessity and not a matter of choice anymore with the growing unemployment, hate and divisiveness in the region.

It was also stated that international law requires states to act with 'due diligence' to protect women, minorities, indigenous and people of all ethnicities and race including caste groups, who are discriminated across our regions despite being prohibited under international human rights law. Violence against these groups is one of the most pervasive and pernicious forms of targeted violence, It is important that special protection measures be made to protect each of these groups by our Governments in the region. .

Committments  

In the scenario summarized from the discussion in activity 380 , we the undersigned, " with" or "for" the mentioned organizations, depending on the case,  resolve to :

1. Renew the work towards building solidarities among the people of South Asia and to strengthen civil liberties in the region.
    
2. Strive towards building a strong people’s movement to protect our human rights collectively as people from the South Asia region.
    
3. Call upon the governments in the region to restore and ensure civil liberties and democratic rights. In particular to –

• Stop restricting people’s right to democratic expression and to peacefully protest
• Bring in legislations to protect rights of ethnic and religious minorities, Dalits, Adivasis and vulnerable groups, ensure breakdown of rule of law and attack on people’s rights is not allowed.
• Stop the weaponization of law to curb dissent
• Remove restrictions on organisations and the right to association.
• Ensure independent and effective functioning of institutions safeguarding democracy
• Open borders in South Asia, have a relaxed / no visa policy to allow free movement of the people and pave way for peace and camaraderie. We all have to pressurize our Governments towards facilitating access in order to build people’s solidarity in the region.
• Bring in a regional Human Rights mechanism needs that has to be discussed in our countries, including to explore working towards reviving SAARC, irrespective of whether it would be the platform to  host this mechanism or not.

List of first signatories endorsing this statement 

Kavita Srivastava  with PUCL india 
Lara Jesani with PUCL, india 
Diep Saeeda, Peace activist and Director , with Institute of Peace and Secular studies, Pakistan,  https://wsf2024nepal.org/organization-registered-in-wsf/895
Namrata Sharma, Coordinator mass communication, Nepal National Commission for UNESCO, Nepal,
Nalini Rathnarajah, Woman Human Rights Defender and with  SAAPE, Srilanka, https://www.wsf2024nepal.org/organization-registered-in-wsf/48
Biraj Patnaik, former South Asia Director Amnesty International and former Principal Adviser to the Commissioners of the Supreme Court on the Right to Food in India, India
Zakir Hossain, with Nagorik Uddyog (Citizen’s Initiative), Bangladesh   https://wsf2024nepal.org/organization-registered-in-wsf/885

To endorse the statement :  kindly contact by mail or phone the contact person indicated for the activity

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