Baseer Naweed is a senior researcher associated with the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Hong Kong where he has been working last 11 years; researching on human rights situation in Asia-Pacific and entire this Eastern part of the world.
He talked with Eurasia Diary on the overall deteriorating human rights in the Asia and their exploitation by the western world.
Eurasia Diary: Please explain about this Asian Human Rights Commission and on which kind of human rights violations you are working on?
Baseer Naweed: We are working in 12 Asian countries. We observe the situation with Human Rights, its violation. I am trying to find common issues in South Asia, regarding to the human rights problems, tortures and children abuses, the most important –freedom of expression. All these things that we observe and monitor. Since we have the status of ECOSOC in the UN, so we time to time go to the UN Human Rights council and submit statements about different issues. Particularly when there are Human Rights consultations. Generally, it happens three times in a year. We submit all issues related with Asian countries. So this is our work.
Eurasia Diary: What is the main focus of the Asian Human Rights Commission in Asian countries? Do your focus on one issue in all countries or it differs from country to country?
Baseer Naweed: Of course, there are different issues in different countries. Sometimes there is the same issue. But level of intensity is different. For example, in Sri Lanka there are more than 60000 people are missing after being arrested or something else. But now the policy of Sri Lanka is different because the government has been changed. So, we are working on human rights issues regarding this.
Eurasia Diary: So you just mentioned enforced and involuntary disappearances. So this number of disappearance has suddenly risen after 9/11. So, you as a researcher during 11 years, what do you think is a reason for increasing of this number?
Baseer Naweed: There was no responsibility for disappearance. So, that increased because of no law. Still it is going. There is no accountability to these agencies, no possibility to stop them. No one can ask from the Intelligence agencies or military agencies to stop it.
Eurasia Diary: There was also information about the detention of the disappeared people in Sumatra Islands in Indonesia. Are there so many people who accused the western countries behind these intelligence agencies acts? What is your opinion on this?
Baseer Naweed: It started by the western countries, particularly from the USA. USA used proxy torture in new terminology that arresting people from other countries and keeping them in other countries, like Indonesia, Pakistan, prisoners was there. So, if someone is killed or tortured we are not responsible because we do not know where it is. And they have total impunity on this issue.
Eurasia Diary: Right now, if we’ll see about current tension between Indian and Pakistan on Kashmir issue, what do you think about these numerous violations in Kashmir? Especially, when the Indian army forces are used the pellet guns which is disaster for the people because seven dozen people have lost their eyes in these attacks. So, what do you think?
Baseer Naweed: What do you expect from Modi? what he did in Ahmedabad it was a massacre in 2002. When he is there what else you can expect him? He talked that this is very easy to come that indigenous movement. Actually, these Kashmiri youngest people are fighting for the concretely indigenous movement. Neither Pakistan involved, nor India, nor any other countries was involved. Now he is shooting, he is not isolated from the area. What this man thinks about the human beings? Horrible! Horrible! Far after this, what the countries fighting with each other and this is a very serious thing they call for war. It is very serious and alarming situation.
Eurasia Diary: What is the situation of death penalty in Asia Pacific right now?
Baseer Naweed: There should not be any execution. Right to live is the basic thing. If you look at the Pakistan after the school incident of Peshawar were 149 children killed by Taliban. After that security establishment say they have started to the new reforms. They say that they want to take into the terrorism and hang them and give them exemplary punishment. But what is going on? Since December 27, 2014 till today 425 persons were executed. Among them only 25% were terrorists. All others who are in the dead row for 5 years, 10 years and 15 years, 20 years. The way they are doing these executions is condemnable.
Eurasia Diary: There are a lot of things which is discussed about the Western and American double standards for the third world countries and Asia Pacific. But when it comes to the human rights the West uses it as a tool in order to exploit and pressurize the third-world countries, they are publishing reports regarding the human rights situation. How do you see it? What is the human rights situation? Even inside of America we see the Pentagon war crimes, the war crimes that they did into Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries.
Baseer Naweed: I think this is a good thing that you are publishing the reports of human rights and they also published on their own. Otherwise, we aren’t able to know what is going on. I think human rights organizations should published the report. Why we blame the West and other countries? Why we never follow our own laws and constitutions? For example, if you see the role of law, so many laws in the country which is the good thing but if we are not implementing them then what is the mean of these laws? Then why we blame other countries?
Eurasia Diary: What do you think which kind of steps that are required to find the best human rights conditions?
Baseer Naweed: The basic thing is that we still have colonial criminalizing system. We are not ready to reform that criminalizing system. Criminalizing system is based on three main things: investigation, prosecution and court.
Investigators are still having their own methods, laws, trainings. They arrest, they beat, and they torture. And constitution does not look it at all, it depends on only police. So, these three things are the main issue on this process.
