AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

aid in both states. Afghanistan’s armed
conflict continued due to a resurgent Taliban,
inflicting a devastating toll on civilians.
Armed groups fuelled insecurity and
suffering in several countries committing
abuses such as abductions and unlawful
killings in central and northeastern India and
in Jammu and Kashmir state. Bombings and
shootings in Indonesia by the armed group
calling itself Islamic State (IS) illustrated an
utter disregard for the right to life. In
Afghanistan armed groups carried out horrific
attacks in the capital, Kabul, including on aid
agency CARE International, which targeted
civilians in an act that constituted a war
crime.
The regional backdrop of repression,
conflict and insecurity fuelled the global
refugee crisis. Across the region, millions
became refugees and asylum-seekers, forced
from their homes often into appalling and lifethreatening
conditions. Many were stranded
in precarious situations, vulnerable to myriad
further abuses. In countries such as Australia
and Thailand, governments exacerbated
suffering by sending people back to countries
where they risked human rights violations.
Many others were displaced in their own
countries.
Corporations were frequently active or
complicit in abuses. The South Korean
government allowed private companies to
hinder lawful trade union activity, only
belatedly addressing ill-health and even
deaths caused by exposure to harmful
products. In India, the US-based Dow
Chemical Company and its subsidiary Union
Carbide Corporation failed again to appear
before a Bhopal court on criminal charges
related to the 1984 gas leak disaster.
The region was frequently at odds with the
global trend towards abolition of the death
penalty. China remained the world’s most
prolific executioner, even though the actual
figures remained a state secret. In Pakistan,
the number of people executed – since 2014
when it lifted a moratorium on executions –
rose to more than 400. In contravention of
international standards, some of those
executed were juveniles at the time of the
offence, some had a mental disability, and
others had been sentenced after unfair trials.
In Japan, executions were shrouded in
secrecy. In Maldives, officials threatened to
resume executions after a 60-year
moratorium. In the Philippines, draft
legislation to reintroduce the death penalty
was put before Congress. More positively,
Nauru became the 103rd country to repeal
the death penalty for all crimes.
Major developments included Myanmar’s
new quasi-civilian government to which Aung
San Suu Kyi was appointed de facto leader, a
role especially created for her after the
National League for Democracy party’s
election victory in 2015. The new government
took steps to improve human rights but faced
daunting challenges bequeathed by half a
century of repressive military rule. Its power
was constrained by the military’s enduring
influence, including its control of key
ministries and retention of a quarter of
parliamentary seats. There was little
improvement in Myanmar’s ongoing conflicts,
the Rohingya’s plight, humanitarian
assistance for displaced communities,
impunity for human rights violators and
reformation of repressive laws.
In the Philippines, state-sanctioned
violence, typically in the form of unlawful
killings, occurred on a massive scale under
Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency. The brutal
crackdown on those suspected of
involvement in drug crimes led to over 6,000
people killed in the so-called “war on drugs”.
In February, the devastating impact of
Cyclone Winston on Fiji highlighted the
country’s inadequate infrastructure when
62,000 people were displaced after their
homes were destroyed; discrimination against
some groups in aid distribution and a
shortage of building materials failed those
most in need.
In May, Sri Lanka ratified the International
Convention against Enforced Disappearance.
It remains to be seen whether Sri Lanka will
make enforced disappearance a specific
crime in its domestic law. Fiji ratified the UN
Convention against Torture with reservations
although accountability for torture and other
Amnesty International Report 2016/17 33