HURIGHTS OSAKA

NEWSLETTER of the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center (HURIGHTS OSAKA)
March 2009 Volume 55

Editorial

Nothing About Us Without Us
This motto of the Disabled Persons International presents a huge challenge togovernments and peoples. Discrimination against persons with disabilities is deeply
ingrained in peoples’ consciousness and reflected in the existing domestic political,
social, economic and cultural systems. While governments in the Asia-Pacific haveinitiated efforts to address the problems faced by persons with disabilities, the full
realization of these efforts is hindered to a large extent by the inadequate appreciation of
the issues involved by the government officials and the general public.
The active participation of the persons with disabilities themselves in the planning andimplementation of measures addressing the issues is a crucial element. In addition torecognizing the rights of persons with disabilities, the appropriate policies andmechanisms for their active participation have to be in place and effectively
implemented.
This idea however is not an easy task. Persons with disabilities have to empower andorganize themselves to be able to undertake the role. While some persons withdisabilities could easily become active participants in the planning and implementationof measures addressing their issues without problems, others need much support to do
so.
Governments and peoples have to provide the facilities as much as opportunities for
persons with disabilities to exercise their capacities and develop their potentials in orderto fulfill the motto “Nothing About Us Without Us.”

FOCUS Asia-Pacific is designed to highlight significant issues and activities relating to humanrights in the Asia-Pacific. Relevant information and articles can be sent to HURIGHTS OSAKA
for inclusion in the next editions of the newsletter.
FOCUS Asia-Pacific is edited by Osamu Shiraishi, Director of HURIGHTS OSAKA.

-1-

Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Asia-Pacific
Saowalak Thongkuay

lmost 60 per cent of the world’s 650 million ranging from 0.7 per cent (Cook Islands) to 20 perＡpersons with disabilities live in Asia and the cent (Australia).
Pacific according to the United Nations (UN)5

The UN, through the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia-Pacific (ESCAP), reports thatin many cases in developing countries disability iscaused by inadequate maternal and childhood
nutrition, infection and disease, lack of clean water,
accidents, armed conflict, terrorism and antipersonnel
landmines. Seventeen per cent of Afghans developed
disabilities as a direct result of the armed conflict. In
Cambodia, 18 per cent of the persons with disabilities
are amputees likely caused by antipersonnel
landmines.6

estimates.1 This translates into some four hundred
million persons with disabilities in the region who
need support in realizing their human rights. But
these figures are all estimates at present. Differencesin definitions of disability, methods of data collection
as well as capacity of data collecting professionals
prevent a more definitive accounting of the numberof persons with disabilities in the Asia-Pacific, and in
the rest of the world.2 There are also problems insome countries of low priority and exclusion fromofficial statistics of the data on persons withdisabilities.

In countries that are experiencing fast-paced
globalization with the consequent tougher
competition and higher level of stress, the number of
persons with psychosocial disabilities is on the rise.
Conflicts and natural disasters have also contributed
to the increase.

Data from the country profiles collected by the AsiaPacific Development Center on Disability (APCD)3
provide an approximated number of persons withdisabilities (PWDs) in some of the countries in the
Asia-Pacific region:

Poverty and marginalization characterize the situationof majority of the persons with disabilities in theregion. ESCAP considers them to be “among thepoorest of the poor and the most marginalized in thesociety.” Living mostly in the rural areas, they havedifficulty accessing whatever facilities for them areavailable because these facilities are usually locatedin the cities. They generally have limited access to
education, employment, housing, transportation,
health services and recreation, leading to theireconomic and social exclusion. The International
Labour Organization (ILO) states that the
unemployment rate among persons with disabilities isusually double that of the general population andoften as high as 80 per cent. They frequently facevarious barriers such as negative attitudes of
employers, lack of accessible facilities, and lack ofvocational and technical training.

Table 1Country

Estimate No. of PWDs

Bangladesh
BhutanChina
India
Indonesia
Japan4
Lao PDR
Mongolia
Nepal
Pakistan
The Philippines
Samoa
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Vanuatu
Viet Nam

518, 649
21, 000
60 million
15.9 million
6 million
7 million
52, 200
115, 000
103, 795
1, 918, 705
942, 098
2, 874274, 771
1, 100, 762
2, 7494, 039, 241

Women and girls with disabilities in developing
countries face triple discrimination due to their statusas females, persons with disabilities and their overrepresentation among the poor. They are two to threetimes more likely to be victims of physical and

Available data reveal wide disparities in the
proportion of persons with disabilities in the region,-2-

sexual abuse at home or in institutions for persons
with disabilities. Few victims ever talk or file agrievance due to lack of confidence and knowledgeof where or whom to turn to for help.

Two regional meetings in 1999, held in close
collaboration with stakeholders in the disabilityrelated concerns, developed practical guidelines foradvancing equal access by persons with disabilities
to mainstream development opportunities on thefollowing areas: 1) education and technology for the
specific needs of children and youth with disabilities;
and 2) implementation of the United Nations
Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities
for Persons with Disabilities and fulfillment of theDecade targets.

Children with disabilities are largely excluded fromeducational opportunities. It is estimated that for the
majority of countries in the region less than 10 per
cent of children with disabilities are enrolled inschool. The ESCAP Survey in 2004 indicates forexample that the school enrolment rate of children
with disabilities is 2 per cent in the Philippines and 4
per cent in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

ESCAP extended10 in May 2002 the Decade foranother ten years from 2003 to 2012, and started anumber of initiatives under the extended Decade. In
October 2002, the high-level intergovernmental
meeting held in Otsu, Shiga, Japan adopted as
guideline for action the “Biwako Millennium
Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrierfree and Rights-based Society for Persons with
Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific” (BMF). The
BMF promotes a paradigm shift from a charity-based
to a rights-based approach to disability. It promotes abarrier-free, inclusive and rights-based society, whichembraces the diversity of human beings. Further, it
enables and advances the socioeconomic contributionof its members and ensures the realization of thoserights by persons with disabilities. It identifies sevenpriority areas, four major strategic areas, withtwenty-one targets and seventeen strategies.

Regional response
The UN World Programme of Action concerning
Disabled Persons7 provided a framework foraddressing the disability issue. The World
Programme entails “long-term strategies integrated
into national policies for socio-economic
development, preventive activities that would include
development and use of technology for theprevention of disabilities, and legislation eliminating
discrimination regarding access to facilities, social
security, education and employment.”8 ESCAP
followed this up with the first regional decade on theissue, “The Asia Pacific Decade of Persons with
Disabilities, 1993-2002.”9 The Decade was aimed atstrengthening the regional support for the
implementation of the World Programme in the Asia
Pacific region beyond 1992, and to strengthen
regional cooperation to resolve issues affecting theachievement of the goals of the World Programme,
especially those concerning the full participation andequality of persons with disabilities.
An Agenda for Action adopted to implement the
Decade requests all members and associate members
to support its national implementation through publicawareness activities, appropriate policies and othermeasures, and the allocation of resources; invites all
governments, donor agencies and the private sector
to contribute to the trust fund for the Decade toensure the successful implementation of the Agenda
for Action; also invites the United Nations
Development Programme, the United Nations
Children's Fund and other concerned United Nations
bodies and agencies, in close cooperation with
ESCAP, to strengthen their support for the buildingof national capabilities for effective implementationof the Agenda for Action.

The BMF has five key strategies:
1. Reinforcing a rights-based approach todisability issues;
2. Promoting an enabling environment andstrengthening effective mechanisms for policy
formulation and implementation;-3-3. Improving the availability and quality of dataand other information on disabilities for policy
formulation and implementation;
4. Promoting disability-inclusive development;
5. Strengthening comprehensive communitybased approaches to disability issues for theprevention of the causes of disability and forthe rehabilitation and empowerment of
persons with disabilities.

BMF. Seven governments reported having adisability-specific anti-discrimination law.
3. National action plan, policies and decision-making
processes on disability - At least twenty-one
governments have such action plan, with elevenof them having developed it during the last five
years. At least thirteen governments have policies
to support the development of self-helporganizations of persons with disabilities (SHOs).
And at least fifteen governments have measures toensure the inclusion of persons with disabilities indecision-making processes.

One of the most significant developments during thefirst five years of the extended Decade was the
adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities (CPRD) and its Optional Protocol.11
This marked the beginning of a new era in the global
efforts to promote and safeguard the civil, political,
social, economic and cultural rights of persons withdisabilities, and to promote disability-inclusive
development and international cooperation. In AsiaPacific, fourteen countries as of March 200912 have
ratified the CRPD (Australia, Azerbaijan,
Bangladesh, China, India, Jordan, New Zealand,Oman, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Saudi
Arabia, Thailand, Turkmenistan and Vanuatu).

4. Anti-discrimination measures - At least ten
governments have anti-discrimination measures tosafeguard the rights of women with disabilities.
Over the last five years, governments and nongovernmental organizations have organized anumber of workshops and seminars focusing on
the theme of women with disabilities. In at least
fifteen governments, the participation and equal
representation of women with disabilities has
been promoted by either law or SHO policy. In
addition, fifteen governments reported that theirwomen’s associations included women withdisabilities in their membership.

Implementing the BMF

5. Primary education for persons with disabilities – atotal of eighteen governments reported thatchildren and youth with disabilities form an
integral part of their measures to attain Millenium
Development Goal 2 on achieving universal
primary education. But the report observes thatwhile “the general assessment on the attainmentof Millennium Development Goal 2 was positive
with most countries in the region having a
primary enrolment rate above 80 per cent, themajority of data available indicate lower rates forchildren and youth with disabilities.”

The midterm review of the implementation of the
BMF reveals some major developments:13
1. Institutional arrangements on disability – at least
twenty-seven governments reported having
national mechanisms on disability. Twenty
governments reported that their national
coordination mechanisms had representatives
from more than one ministry and disabled
people’s organizations. But some governments
still lack the financial and human resources aswell as the technical capacity to engage in policy
development and implementation using thesemechanisms.

6. Community-based mechanism - At least thirteen
governments have taken measures to provide
community-based early intervention services andtraining programs. Nineteen governments provide
services for the early detection of disability ininfants and young children.

2. Disability provisions in the legal system - theConstitutions in at least twenty governments havedisability provisions that are either of the two
major types: (a) the obligation of the State toprovide welfare, prevention and rehabilitation
programs; and (b) the obligation of equal
protection under the law and protection of therights of persons with disabilities. At least
fourteen governments have a comprehensive
disability law. Comprehensive laws in nine
governments cover the seven priority areas of the

The review also provides a set of challenges thathave to be overcome during the next five years of the
BMF implementation. The review states that14
Urgent action should be taken to reduce poverty
and improve educational and employment
opportunities for persons with disabilities.

-4-the opportunity for reviewing how persons
with disabilities want the society to think about
them, and how society think about disability
issues.

Similarly, measures to ensure that disabled
persons have access to information, in particular,
the use of sign language, and access to ICT haveto be taken. Disability-specific data collection
systems as well as the mainstreaming of thedisability perspective into existing censuses,
regular labour, education and health surveys, andpoverty mapping should be further promoted.
Enhanced support for women with disabilities,
persons with disabilities in rural and remoteareas, deaf-blind persons, persons withintellectual disabilities and persons withpsychosocial disabilities is required. Disasterresilient accessible communities have to be built
and disability-inclusive disaster preparedness has
to be promoted.

4. Use of legislative forums – A greater
understanding of disability and the needs of
persons with disabilities should be highlighted
in policymaking processes and legislative
forums to address the gap between
international standards and national systems.

Nothing about us without us
The Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) adopted
the motto “Nothing about Us without Us” at its
founding in 1981. The motto has been particularly
effective in capturing a key idea of the struggle forhuman rights – self-determination is essential forachieving true equality. This is clearly acknowledgedin the 1993 UN Standard Rules on the Equalizationof Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities. Rule
18 says,

CRPD: Challenges and Opportunities
Most countries in the Asia-Pacific are contemporarysocieties that have adopted new ideas such as thoserelated to persons with disabilities. But thepersistence of traditional thinking that oppose newideas (such as the rights of persons with disabilities)
poses a question on how a Barrier-free Society canbe achieved. An inadequately informed generalpublic and an ineffective system of monitoring theimplementation of relevant laws on disability reveal
an interesting interaction between social attitude andthe legal system. This situation leads to persons withdisabilities being confined at home and unable toavail of the protection and benefits that the laws aremeant to provide. The existence of the CPRD
provides challenges and opportunities for thepromotion of the rights of persons with disabilities
among the general public, such as through thefollowing activities:

States should recognize the rights of persons withdisabilities to represent persons with disabilities atnational, regional and local levels. States should also
recognize the advisory role of organizations of
persons with disabilities in decision-making on
disability matters.

The ideas of self-determination and human rights
developed and fought for by persons with disabilities
through their international disability movement andencapsulated in "Nothing about Us without Us"
motto are also at the very heart of CRPD. It
recognizes that "disability results from the interaction
between persons with impairments and attitudinal
and environmental barriers that hinders their full andeffective participation in society on an equal basiswith others.” (Preamble, CRPD)

1. Public debates15 – They can facilitate theunderstanding on the way language use,
attitudes, and people’s view of disability
impact on how societies handle disability
issues, and on the paradigm shift about persons
with disabilities.

Conclusion
The Disabled Peoples Organizations (DPOs) areworking hard to mainstream the rights of persons
with disabilities and related concerns within existing
inter-governmental and regional non-governmental
mechanisms in Asia-Pacific. They would like therights of persons with disabilities to be explicitly
stated in policy documents and program guidelines aswell as respected at all stages of program
implementation (including the stages of engagement,
country analysis, strategic planning, monitoring, and2. Cultural representations – They can properly
convey to the society the appropriate
messages, images and ideas about persons withdisabilities.
3. Review of disability portrayal in literature –The encounter of old images of persons withdisabilities in literature (novels and otherforms) and the contemporary ideas provides-5-

evaluation). The direct participation of persons withdisabilities and their organizations in the current
discussion on human rights in ASEAN through thenon-governmental networks (such as the Solidarity
for Asian People's Advocacy) is an example of suchmainstreaming efforts.

4

Based on Ryosuke Matsui, “Employment Measures for
Persons with Disabilities in Japan,” in FOCUS AsiaPacific, volume 54, page 8.
5 ESCAP, op.cit.
6 See Cambodia country profile, http://apcdproject.org/
countryprofile/cambodia/cambodia.html
7 United Nations General Assembly resolution 37/52, 3
December 1982.
8 History of United Nations and Persons with Disabilities The World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled
Persons, UNEnable, www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?
id=1319 http://www.unescap.org/esid/psis/Disability/bmf/
APDDP2_2E.pdf
10 ESCAP resolution 58/4 of 22 May 2002.
11 This optional protocol provides the Committee of Rights
of Persons with Disability the authority to accept
communications from or on behalf of individuals orgroups of individuals subject to its jurisdiction who claim
to be victims of a violation by that State Party of theprovisions of the Convention.
12 UN Treaty Collection, http://treaties.un.org/Pages/
V i e w D e t a i l s . a s p x ?
src=TREATY&id=1&chapter=4&lang=en
13 Review of Progress Made and Challenges Faced in the
Implementation of the Biwako Millennium Framework for
Action Towards an Inclusive, Barrier-Free and RightsBased Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and thePacific, 2003-2012, High-level Intergovernmental
Meeting on the Midpoint Review of the Asian and Pacific
Decade of Disabled Persons, 2003-2012, Report of
ESCAP to the ECOSOC (E/ESCAP/APDDP(2)/1, 22
August 2007).
14 Ibid., page 20.
15 Based on Antika Sawadsri, “Toward access legislations inpractice: Experience from field work study,” School ofArchitecture, Planning and Landscape, University of
Newcastle (United Kingdom), 27 February 2008.

Networking and collaboration among civil society
organizations, government agencies, international
development agencies, and multilateral and bilateralagencies are key requirements in the implementationof CRPD and other human rights instruments thatincorporate the rights of persons with disabilities intheir development agenda.
Social mechanisms are crucial in enabling theparticipation of persons with disabilities in processes
that would reduce the gap in implementing CRPD,
BMF and other related programs. The persons withdisabilities are the most qualified and best-equipped
people to support, inform and advocate for theirrights. Consequently, when including disability
issues in any development plan, the participation of
persons with disabilities is vital. Without theparticipation of the persons with disabilities in theprocess, especially in the decision-making one, it isunlikely to meet the needs of persons withdisabilities. The DPI motto ‘Nothing about Us
without Us’ proves true in many cases.
Saowalak Thongkuay is the Regional Development
Officer in the Regional Development Office,Disabled Peoples’ International Asia Pacific (DPI/AP).
For further information, please contact: Regional
Development Office, Disabled Peoples’ International
Asia Pacific (DPI/AP), 29/486 Moo 9, Soi 12, Muang
Thong Thani, Bangpood Sub-district, Pakkred
District Nonthaburi Province 11120, ph (66-2)
503-4268, fax (66-2) 503-4269, e-mail:saowalak@dpiap.org; www.dpiap.org

Endnotes
1

2

3

ESCAP Fact Sheet, page 11, available in http://
www.unescap.org/esid/psis/FactSheets.pdf
See Fifth quinquennial review and appraisal of the World
Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons,
Report of the UN Secretary General to the General
Assembly, A/63/183, 28 July 2008.
Country Profile, http://apcdproject.org/countryprofile/-6-

Bangladesh and Persons with Disabilities
Khandaker Jahurul AlamB

angladesh is not only one of the most densely
populated countries in the world (with 926
persons per square kilometer) but also located in theworld’s largest delta, facing the Himalayas in the
North, bordering India in the West, North and East,
Myanmar in the Southeast, and the Bay of Bengal in
the South. Its geographical position makes thecountry highly prone to natural disasters.
Crisscrossed by two hundred thirty recognized rivers,
each year about 30 per cent of the net cultivable landis flooded, while during severe floods, which occur
every four to seven years, as much as 60 per cent of
the country's net cultivable land is affected.
Moreover, since the Bay of Bengal records theworld's most pronounced storm surge disasters, thedensely populated coastal regions of Bangladesh are
subject to damaging cyclones almost every year.
These are further compounded by tornadoes that
affect the plains almost every year leaving a trail ofdeath and disability. Economically, Bangladesh has
one of the lowest annual per capita incomes in theworld (under 450 US dollars). Even though
agriculture is the premium bread earner of thecommon person and the nation, it also has the highest
percentage of people living in poverty where thepoorest 10 per cent and the middle 75 per cent of the
population are acutely and chronically malnourishedrespectively. The majority of the population isMuslim and almost all citizens speak one language,
Bangla. A country with a population close to 150
million people, it has a large human resource base.
This is compounded with some natural resources, anda potential field for tourism that can raise the profileof the country many folds.

disability prevalence rate of between 5 to 12 per cent.
This is close to the WHO estimate, which states that
10 per cent of any given population can beconsidered to have some or other form of disability.
Ignorance and wrong beliefs surrounding disability,
compounded with a negative and derogatory attitudeof the community (including family members) havecontributed to the marginal development in the
disability sector in Bangladesh.

Disability-related legislations and policy
framework
The National Constitution1 of Bangladesh has
numerous provisions that obligate the government toprotect the rights and dignity of all citizens of thecountry equally and without any bias whatsoever. It
also allows room for additional and/or supplementaryprovisions that will ensure that citizens who do nothave access to all the public amenities are able toobtain such services. This has given the government
ample opportunities to adopt legislative and policy
frameworks for the development of the full potentials
of persons with disabilities in the country.
In accordance with all national and international
commitments/obligations, and under the purview of
the National Constitution, the Bangladeshi
government developed a National Policy on
Disability in 1995. This policy embodies the first
official recognition by the government of the issue of
disability as part of development agenda. This policy
was given legislative support when the National
Parliament enacted the Disability Welfare Act on 4
April 2001. This law provides the first ever national
definition and classification of disability.

Disability scenario in Bangladesh
No comprehensive empirical study has been
conducted at present to determine the incidence andprevalence of disabilities in Bangladesh. The few
studies that have been conducted reflect a medicalrather than a social model of disability, and they arealso limited in geographical coverage. While no
reliable national data exist, anecdotal information anda number of micro studies generally suggest a

To implement the National Policy on Disability andthe Disability Welfare Act, the government
formulated a National Action Plan on 24 September
2006. The Action Plan is very comprehensive,
involving forty-six Ministries and divisions of thegovernment to undertake specific activities for
persons with disabilities. The government has also
appointed a focal person in every division of the-7-Ministries (forty-six focal persons) who can provide
the persons with disabilities the opportunity to get
services from the government easily. Bangladesh
signed and ratified in 2007 the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (CRPD). In May 2008 the government
signed the CRPD’s Optional Protocol.

step is the program of providing stipend to students
with disabilities. But this stipend is not for all
students with disabilities. Only 12,000 students withdisabilities are getting the stipend while 1.6 million
children with disabilities are waiting at home to beenrolled in educational institutions.

Employment

The Ministry of Social Welfare, the Department ofSocial Services and the National Foundation for
Development of the Disabled Persons are the three
government bodies that cater to the needs of persons
with disabilities.

The government had declared about two decades
back a 10 per cent employment quota for persons
with disabilities and orphans. But this quota has
never been properly implemented due to the lack ofsensitivity of employers about the potentialities of
persons with disabilities, contradictory employment
policies, loopholes in the system, and a lack ofproper monitoring system. A few years back, thePrime Minister of Bangladesh declared a 1 per centemployment quota for persons with disabilities in all
cadre service (government) jobs.

Prevention
As Bangladesh makes progress in implementing its
health policies on infant mortality rate, immunization
coverage, and general health care, there is likely alowering of incidence of disabilities. However, thegains due to improved health care can be outweighedby the triple effects of increased number of surviving
children with disabilities, increased number of people
incurring disabilities due to old age (e.g., cataracts
and arthritis), and widespread malnutrition.
Disabilities due to natural calamities and road traffic
accidents imply that the prevalence of people having
disabilities in Bangladesh is likely to continually riseover-time, although the nature and distribution of
disabilities are also likely to change considerably.

The Centre for Services and Information on
Disability, a non-governmental organization (NGO),
study found that only 5 per cent of the respondents
were in government jobs, 17 per cent in NGOs and66 per cent were self-employed. Only 22 per centhad been able to find a source of financial credit (ormicro-credit) support.
Bangladesh has a thriving corporate sector, which isthe principal job provider after the government. It isalso the largest backbone of the national economy,
after agriculture. Jute and tea used to be the prime
export items, however, readymade garments (RMG),
handicrafts and leather export has gradually takenover as the larger export-oriented industries.
Cosmetics and medicines produced in this country
are also gradually gaining popularity in the export
market. But in this large corporate structure,
employment or job creation opportunities for thepeople with disabilities had never really taken off.

Education
Access to education of children with disabilities is
extremely limited. An un-equal educational system, arigid and unfriendly school curriculum, ignorance
and lack of awareness of parents, compounded with
the inadequate knowledge of teachers and theunfriendly school environment are obstacles topromoting the education of children with disabilities
in Bangladesh. Under the government system of
Bangladesh, the education of persons withdisabilities is under the Ministry of Social Welfare
not under the Ministry of Education. This has createda big barrier to persons with disabilities to be
included into mainstream education. It is estimatedthat only about 5 per cent of children with disabilities
are enrolled in existing educational institutions.

Communications and accessibility
Bangladesh has a building code that clearly
demarcates accessibility options for all people
including persons with disabilities. Yet again
loopholes in the system, the lack of propermonitoring, and a lack of system to penalize violators
prevent accessibility for persons with disabilities.
Public and private offices, educational institutions,public transportation, utility infrastructures,
recreation and tourist spots, market places – almost
all are inaccessible to persons with disabilities. The

Recently, the government has been promoting
inclusive education for children with mild
disabilities. This may create a space for theenrollment of more children with disabilities in themainstream educational institutions. Another positive-8-

government has decided to require the establishmentof separate ticket counters and reserved seats for
persons with disabilities in public transports. But thisdecision has not been implemented since the public
transports themselves lack general accessibility
facilities.

two large NGOs – Action on Disability andDevelopment (ADD) and the Bangladesh Protibondhi
Kallyan Shomity (BPKS).
Bangladesh has a very active and well-informed civilsociety, which also plays a major role in the national
development. A few civil society organizations arealso gradually addressing disability issues. The
Rotary Clubs, the Lions Clubs and their affiliates
have long been involved in health camps and eye
camps for decades in this country, contributing muchin the area of control and prevention of blindness.
The Rotary Clubs have, during the last three years,
donated over eight hundred wheelchairs to poor
persons with disabilities.

Isolated NGO development program
Bangladesh has a plethora of NGOs (around 40,000)
sharing the development work in the country
alongside the government. In a background of such alarge number of NGOs, who are mostly dependent on
external funding, international NGOs, financeinstitutions and donors play a major role in thedevelopment scenario in Bangladesh.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, among the existing NGOs only four
hundred are working for persons with disabilities.
This has greatly isolated the work for the persons
with disabilities from the mainstream NGO
development work. Some of the active NGOs arepresented below.

Disability will always remain in Bangladeshi society,with the entire social stigma attached to it. But in the
backdrop of all the problems involved, the silver
lining is that the government is showing an
increasing interest on persons with disabilities, and akeen interest to work hand-in-hand with the nongovernmental sector. But to make real progress inthis field in a developing country like Bangladesh, an
all-out effort from all quarters is mandatory. The
persons with disabilities themselves, theirorganizations, other organizations working in thisfield, and all the advocacy platforms need to increase
their awareness campaigns for the prevention of
disability and for the recognition of the rights andprivileges of persons with disabilities as equalcitizens of this country.

The National Forum of Organizations Working with
the Disabled (NFOWD) is the apex federating bodyof NGOs working in the field of Disability in
Bangladesh with a vision of an inclusive society
where all persons with disabilities are visible andcontribute equitably in the nation-building process.
NFOWD works in three areas: (a) coordination
among its members, (b) raising national levelawareness and sensitization on disability issues, and(c) policy advocacy and lobbying work, and its
principal working relationship is with the governmentof Bangladesh. As such, over the years it has gained
the reputation and recognition within the country as
an example of a perfect interface between thegovernment and the NGOs in this field. Government
committee, taskforce, working group, etc. on
disability issues includes NFOWD as a member by
default. This is upheld either by law, policy or an
administrative decision. At the Asian regional level,
the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia-Pacific (ESCAP) has
recognized this linkage as one of the ‘best practices’in the area of ‘GO-NGO Collaboration’ in the region.

Khandaker Jahurul Alam is the Chairperson of the
Asia Pacific Disability Forum (APDF), President of
the National Disability Forum (NFOWD) and
Executive Director of the Centre for Services andInformation on Disability (CSID), Bangladesh.
For further information, please contact: Centre forServices and Information on Disability (CSID),
House# 715, Road # 10, Baitul Aman Housing
Society, Adabor, Dhaka-12107, Bangladesh; ph(880-2) 8125669, 9129727, 8143882, e-mail:csid@bdmail.net; www.csidnetwork.org.

Following the internationally acclaimed spirit of“Nothing About Us Without Us” and a more recent
target set in the Biwako Millennium Framework(BMF) on self-help initiatives, a large number ofDisabled People’s Organizations (DPOs) are coming
up all over Bangladesh, mostly being supported by

Endnote
1 These provisions are contained in Articles 10, 11, 15,
17, 19, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, and 36 of theConstitution.

-9-Normalization of Aceh:
Impossible Without Truth-telling

1

Amiruddin al RahabThe absence of acknowledgment andaccountability for the thousands of victims ofviolence during the period of armed conflict in Acehmakes the current peace settlement merely symbolic.
For the Acehnese, the only change that the peace
settlement brought was the change of people who
hold power, or the ranks of the elite. The politicalsituation in Aceh today and predictably even for the
next five years remains to be an ‘abnormality,’ and if
ignored for too long will destroy the peace
investment.2 Hence, steps to normalize Aceh have tobe taken.
The main step towards the normalization of thepolitical situation in Aceh is truth-telling. This article
explains why this step is important and what
requirements should be fulfilled to make truth-telling
possible.
Symptoms of abnormality
The symptoms of the abnormal situation in Aceh areseen in a number of incidents and situations that
occur in the area. The presence of the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) military wing and other militia
groups that perpetrate terror and armed robbery is
one example. Within the last few months, armed
groups were involved in robbery in several areas
around East and Central Aceh.
Another example is the lack of coordination within
the bureaucracy between the Governor, the executive
head, and the Regents who all belong to GAM. The
lack of coordination between them led to the many
complaints from the people about the slow process ofchange in the local governments.
The mobilization of support for the creation of newprovinces in Central, Western and Southern Acehconstitutes another symptom of abnormality. The
people behind this effort argue that the newprovinces would provide prosperity to the interior
and western coastal areas, and stop dependence on
the provincial government of Banda Aceh that does

not really pay attention to their situation. But
dividing the Aceh province into several provinces
does not necessarily mean obtaining better economic
condition since the natural resources and public
facilities are not evenly spread in the province.
Members of the Indonesian provincial elite still
believe this idea, which actually “betrays” the idealsof the 2005 Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding
and the Free Aceh Movement.
The most obvious symptom of ‘abnormality’ is theimplementation of the Islamic Laws (Syariat Islam).
While the Islamic Laws address the particularity ofthe situation in Aceh, they have also become meansfor political negotiation. The Islamic Laws are tools
to “threaten” the National Government to agree todemands of those in power in Aceh by making theAceh provincial government adopt strict Islamic
regulations that in turn become example for otherIndonesian provinces with majority Muslim
population to follow. The National Government does
not want this to happen, as this will cause disruptionof the national unity and stability. This also traps theelites and the Acehnese society as a whole since theAcehnese identity becomes strictly Muslim. Thismeans that those who were born and lived in Aceh all
their lives cannot declare themselves non-Muslim inorder to be identified as Acehnese. Finally, this has
become the source of confusion in the attempt of
people to institute political reforms.
Why do these symptoms of abnormality happen? Thelack of standard guidelines in understanding, as wellas the absence of a wide acknowledgment, of thebitter experiences of the Acehnese people in the pastwould explain these symptoms. All new politicalregulations and the coming of new elites in thepolitical arena merely function as short-termtransactions. This implies that the Acehnese society
faces difficulty in identifying substantial differencein the characters and systems of the ruling
governments in the past and at the present. The only
identified difference refers to the different
personalities among the elite.3-10-Suffering of the past and expected change

signing of the MoU; unconditionally release allpolitical prisoners and detainees held due to theconflict; restore to those who received amnesty
and freed from prison and detention allpolitical, economic and social rights as well as
the right to participate freely in the politicalprocess both in Aceh and at the national level –Article 3.2.

In 1989, the National Government established theMilitary Operation District (DOM) in Aceh insupport of its military response to the Aceh issue. In
1998, the DOM ended and a State of Emergency(DO) was instituted instead. During the DOM andDO periods, the armed conflict raged and thousandsof Acehnese suffered from human rights violations.
With the high cost of the armed conflict situation interms of lives lost and properties destroyed and otherproblems, the National Government and the armed
opposition group (GAM) started peace negotiations
through the mediation of Finland.
The peace process raised the expectation of a realchange in the situation of Aceh. But change turned
out to be merely symbolic.
This symbolic change started right after the leadersof GAM and the delegates of the government of theIndonesian Republic (RI) signed the Memorandumof Understanding (Helsinki MoU) on 15 August 2005
in Helsinki, Finland. The treaty was formallylegalized when the National Government passed Law
No. 11 Year 2006 on Aceh Governance (UU PA).
From that time onward, the existence of peace in
Aceh hinged very much on the fulfillment of themandates under the Helsinki MoU. The three major
mandates are the following:4
a. Autonomous governance of Aceh - “Aceh will
exercise authority within all sectors of publicaffairs, which will be administered inconjunction with its civil and judicial
administration…” – Article 1.1.25 UU PA has
established the autonomous Aceh government.
b. Resolution of human rights issues - “Thegovernment of Indonesia will adhere to theUnited Nations Covenants on Civil andPolitical Rights and on Economic, Social andCultural Rights;” establish a Human Rights
Court; and establish a Commission for Truth
and Reconciliation that will formulate anddetermine reconciliation measures...” – Article
2.
c. Amnesty and reintegration of former
combatants into the society - The National
Government, in accordance with constitutional
procedures, will grant amnesty to all persons
who participated in GAM activities as soon as
possible but not later than fifteen days from thePeace in Aceh therefore is very much determined by
the implementation of these Helsinki MoU mandates.
However, there is an old wound that cannot be healed
instantly. That wound is the collective memory of thepast atrocities that affect the whole body of thepeople of Aceh, especially the victims of violence
during the long-winding conflict in the past. That
collective memory has become a trauma that spreads
beneath the surface without getting noticed.
This wound (collective memory) should be cured
otherwise the process towards a peaceful Aceh would
be hard to achieve. This is a big problem whentalking about Aceh, a problem that weighs heavily in
discussing its future.
In general, the problems that are related to thecollective memory of violence and human rights
violations that happened in Aceh can be categorized
into two: first, violence and human rights violations
that happened during the DOM era (1980 – 1998);
second, violence and human rights violations that
happened post-DOM era.
Aceh in transition
The armed conflict situation in Aceh resulted fromtwo major problems that the Aceh people faced. The
first was the loss of opportunities for the Aceh people
to prosper under the centralized government system(with Jakarta as the center). The second was thebrutal system of the dual-function military
establishment that claimed thousands of lives.6
To address these root causes of the armed conflict,the Helsinki MoU called for the establishment of anautonomous government in Aceh in the context of
the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia(NKRI). An autonomous government started tooperate in Aceh by 2007 under the 2006 UU PA.
To solve the problems related to the brutality of the
security apparatus and other armed forces, a Human
Rights Court and a Truth Commission should be-11-established as soon as possible. The establishment ofthese two institutions will open a “gate of peace” thatwill help Aceh normalize the social life of its people
as they recognize the dark past through truth-tellingand by upholding the sense of justice of the society.
The process of solving the main causes of armed
conflict until a normal condition is achieved takes along time. The process from the initial peace to thenormal situation is called transitional process.
The transition time is an interval7 from the end of thearmed conflict to the process towards a new politicalsystem. This interval is politically seen as the mostcritical as it is the period when the moral legitimacyof the old order is lost, while the new order has yet tobe wholly established. In this kind of situation,
political compromises automatically ensue. Parties tothe peace process enter into these compromises sothat they will not risk their respective positions orcause the peace process to fall back to zero.8
The political transition currently happening in Aceh
is a “transplacement” process or a compromise, using
H u n t i n g t o n ’s t h e o r e t i c a l f r a m e w o r k o n
democratization.9 This transitional process ischaracterized by an opposition or resistance having
concluded that it could not win the battle against the
government, and the latter having realized that it
would not be capable of completely suppressing theformer. Another characteristic is the fragility of thesituation that can turn bad if the resistance force
continues resisting, bringing back the conflict andrisking the positions that have been secured. Or, on
the other hand, the situation can turn bad if thegovernment continues to suppress the opposition andbrings about the dilemma of either losing theinternational legitimacy of the government or thecurrent ruling group losing power to a moreconservative group.10
A closer examination of the process of Helsinki
negotiations that produced the MoU and of making it
legal through UU PA shows the “transplacement”
characteristics. Conservative groups within thenationalist faction of Partai Demokrasi Indonesia
Perjuangan (PDIP) and retired Army generals put
pressure on the government of Jakarta to review thepresent status of Aceh province based on the Helsinki
MoU and, if possible, revoke the special status andautonomy that the Aceh Province has been enjoying.
This is due to their centralistic governanceviewpoint. They also do not want an Islamic
province within a secular State.11 The National
Government that has the support of Golkar and

PDIP factions continues the negotiation to show thatthe ultranationalist groups could not dictate upon it
and to keep its international legitimacy. Meanwhile,
GAM itself is facing problems as it starts to lose its
legitimacy before the international community andthe people of Aceh. Other than that, GAM also faces
a shortage of personnel and weapons. In thatsituation both parties were not capable of taking any
offensive anymore, hence they resorted tonegotiation as a lose-lose solution.
Lose-lose solution as a political democratization stepin Aceh is marked with the shift of the demand forindependence to a form of autonomous government.
To reach this demand, GAM should surrender its
weapons, which means that they have to dissolve its
armed forces too. On the government end, it gaveamnesty by dropping all criminal charges against themembers of GAM. GAM also gained a political
opportunity to form a political party and compete in
the Provincial Elections (Pilkada) within the national
political system.

Officials of GAM announcing the new party symbol to besubmitted to the Department of Law and Human Rights ofIndonesia for approval.
(Photo courtesy of Aceh Recovery Forum/Jamal)

By characterizing the political transition in Aceh as a“transplacement” (compromise) transition the efforts
on dealing with problems of human rights violations
during the armed conflict (DOM era) come within
the political compromise domain. The question is,what are being compromised in solving the humanrights violations?

Amiruddin al Rahab is a member of Aceh Working
Group, Political and Human Rights Analyst of
ELSAM, Jakarta.

-12-

For further information, please contact: Institute for
Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM), Jl. Siaga II
No. 31, Pejaten Barat, Jakarta 12510, INDONESIA;ph (62-21) 7972662, 79192564; fax (62-21)
7 9 1 9 2 5 1 9 ; e - m a i l : o f f i c e @ e l s a m . o r. i d ,advokasi@indosat.net.id; www.elsam.or.id

8

The most obvious compromise was the willingnessof GAM to change its name, from GAM Party to
Independent Aceh Movement Party (Partai Gerakan
Aceh Mandiri) and finally to Party of Aceh. The
latest clarification by the General Elections
Commission (KPU/KIP) finally confirmed the nameas Party of Aceh (PA).

9

SamuelP.
Huntington,
The
Third
Wave:
Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century, (Jakarta:
Grafiti, 1995), page 146. Theoretically, Huntington
explains that there are three forms of transition transformation, replacement, and transplacement.
Transformation (reformation) is marked with thewillingness of the old ruling political regimes andelites to initiate change. It means that politicalchanges are conceived and initiated by the oldregime itself. Replacement is marked by the successof opposition forces or resistance to overthrow orreplace the old political regime and elites.
Transplacement means the change towards a newpolitical system is achieved through compromises
between the opposition or resistance forces and theold political regime.

Endnotes
1

Written in Bahasa Indonesia by the author, Dhyta
Catura translated the article into English. This is thefirst of two-part series of articles on Aceh peace
process.

2

The opening of political democratic space for GAM
exponents that allowed them to enter the formal
political arena is the most important investment, ofwhich the elements can now be seen from theelection of Irwandi Yusuf and Muhammad Nazar(known as IRNA), the presence of six local parties inthe elections, and the victory of personalities who
were associated with GAM in some municipal
elections. Another important investment is the spacefor freedom for the people of Aceh.

3

During the DOM regime, the elites in Aceh were
dominated by members of Golkar and supported by
the Armed Forces (ABRI), but now the elites areassociated with GAM. The method of governanceand the programs are similar but the budget for the
MoU regime is bigger.

4

See Memorandum of Understanding between the
Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Free
Aceh Movement. An Indonesian-version of the MoU
has been agreed upon by the delegates of both sides.

5

The power of autonomous governance does notextend to matters relating to foreign affairs, external
defense, national security, monetary and fiscal
affairs, justice and freedom of religion. (Article 1.1.2of the Helsinki MoU).

6

Tim Kell, The Root of Acehnese Rebellions, 1989-1992,

10 Ibid, page 192.
11 PDIP

Cornell Modern Indonesia Project No. 74 (Ithaca, New York:
1995).
7

Theoretically, “interval time” is marked by theuncertainty of rules in the political process. This
uncertainty occurs because of the ongoing changes
and the decision-making process being employed in
the conflict arena by the parties involved. See further,
Guillermo O’Donnell and Philippe C. Schmitter,
Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative
Conclusions and Uncertain Democracies, LP3ES,
Jakarta, 1993, pages 6-8.

-13-

was the faction of the ruling party thatdeclared the State of Emergency in Aceh in 2003.
PDIP was also against the peace negotiation process
in Helsinki and opposed the UU PA.

Symposium on Multi-cultural Families and the Local Community
Koonae Park and Nobuki FujimotoA

symposium entitled “Multicultural Families andthe Local Community - Examining Co-existencein Japan, Korea and Taiwan” explored the necessary
governmental policies and programs (central andlocal) to address the plight of foreign immigrants andmigrants in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The
symposium also discussed the experiences in thesecountries on securing the human rights of foreign
immigrants and migrants, and promoting the idea of“multicultural families.”
The symposium focused on the situation of foreign
immigrant women married to Korean, Taiwanese andJapanese husbands and who raised families in South
Korea, Taiwan and Japan respectively. Kim Hyun
Mee of Yonsei University (South Korea) gave apresentation entitled “Current Situation andChallenges in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan Integration for Whom?: Married Migrant Women
Policies in South Korea and Patriarchal
Imagination.” She pointed out that those cross-border
or international marriages constituted 11.1 percent of
the total marriages in South Korea in 2007. 88
percent of these marriages involve Korean men
marrying foreign women. And among the foreign
wives, Korean-Chinese women constitute 53.4
percent. Other nationalities constitute the rest:
Vietnamese (19.8 percent), Japanese (4.9 percent),
Filipino (4.5 percent) and Mongolian (1.9 percent)
women. International marriages have been a “boom”
since 2000 with the support of matchmaking
enterprises. She stressed that the Korean government
under its 2006 “Transition to a Multicultural,Multiethnic Society” policy saw international
marriage as an answer to a number of issues in thecurrent Korean society: low birth rate, high divorce
rate, the imbalance of the sex ratio in marriage
market, etc. Laws were enacted to address theincreasing number of fraudulent marriages as well as
to implement the integration policy. Matchmaking
enterprises treated international marriages as“consumer-broker-product/service” matter, whilescam marriages and marriages with false information
arose. The integration policy was criticized for
pursuing the assimilation of the foreign wives into

the Korean society and the lack of respect for theirown cultures. It was also criticized for promoting theobjective of international marriages of forming,
maintaining and reproducing the ‘family’. As aresult, the foreign wives dropped their cultural
identity in order to adjust to the expected genderroles in Korean society and suffered from the
problems of negotiating the adjustment process. She
posed the challenge of uniting the Korean andforeign women into a single cause and recognizing
the foreign women as the “new citizens” of Korea.
Hsiao-Chuan Hsia of Shih Hsin University (Taiwan)
gave a presentation entitled “The Development of
Immigrant Movement in Taiwan – the Case ofAlliance of Human Rights Legislation for
Immigrants and Migrants.” She explained that
according to the Ministry of Interior of Taiwan, as ofthe end of 2006, there were 384,000 foreign spouses,65.1 percent of whom were from Mainland China
and 34.9 percent from other countries (mostlySoutheast Asian countries). A study by the Ministryof Interior showed that between 1987 to August
2003, there were 240,837 foreign spouses, including
those from Southeast Asia (42.2 percent) andMainland China (57.8 percent). Ninety-three percentof these foreign spouses were women. Among thewomen from Southeast Asia, 57.5 percent were from
Vietnam, 23.2 percent from Indonesia, 5.3 percent
from Thailand and another 5.3 percent from thePhilippines. She said that foreign wives in Taiwan
suffered from economic difficulties, isolation, anddiscrimination due to public perception that theyacquired “fake marriages,” that they (and theirchildren) have low social status (low “quality”)
image, and that they were wasting social welfare
resources. She also mentioned that foreign wives
have difficulty getting Taiwanese citizenship due tolegal constraints (particularly on financial
requirement), which led to non-enjoyment of legal
rights. These problems increased the barrier between
the foreign wives and the mainstream Taiwanesesociety. Hsiao explained the response of the nongovernmental organization community to thisproblem by forming the Alliance of Human Rights-14-Legislation for Immigrants and Migrants (AHRLIM).
The AHRLIM wanted to make the public becomeaware of the situation of foreign wives and otherforeign immigrants and migrants in Taiwan; promote
the ideas of human rights, multi-culturalism anddemocracy; create public empathy to the plight of theforeign wives and other foreign immigrants andmigrants; and demonstrate the subjectivity of theimmigrant women. She stressed the need for theforeign women to participate in the campaigns, amulti-sectoral movement on immigrant womenissues, and networking with other institutions outside
Taiwan.
Emiko Miki a lawyer and the President of the nongovernmental organization House for Women“Saalaa,” gave a presentation entitled “Current
Situation and Challenges of International Marriages
and Multicultural Families in Japan – Women of
Foreign Nationality who have Chosen to Live inJapan and their Children.” She spoke about thehistory of foreign migration to Japan that led totrafficking and also international marriages. She
pointed out that by the 1990s there were many
children born of foreign mothers and Japanesefathers, as well as foreign parents who either havespecial permanent residence visa or lapsed visa.
She said that after 2000, many problems arose suchas the problem of migrant foreign children adjusting
to life in Japan, the aging of foreign womenthemselves, the adoption of regulations on humantrafficking and their effects, the relationship between
foreign children and the Japanese society, thedeclining birth rate, and the aging population in
Japan. She also mentioned that many junior andsenior secondary-level foreign students are struggling
to survive in the Japanese society.
Maria Hiramatsu, a Filipina married to a Japanese forabout ten years and a part-time staff of Toyonaka
Association for International Activities andCommunication, pointed out that since the situationsin Japan and in the Philippines were very different, it
was necessary for Filipinas to see such differences
through social interactions with the Japanese. But
there should be occasions for social interactions for
the Filipinas to participate in, and for the Japanese tolearn about the Philippines (its various languages,
religion, etc.). She also expressed the importance ofthe foreigners being able to empower themselves,and being able to say “no.” They should be able todecide by themselves on what to do, instead ofsimply accepting the advise of the Japanesesupporters.
Mariko Kawabata of Toyonaka Center for Gender
Equality spoke on the problems of foreign wives inJapan. She also stressed the importance of helping
the foreign wives and migrants in empowering
themselves. She agreed with Maria Hiramatsu about
the need to address the issue of proper
communication to government officials of the
problems and sentiments of the foreign wives. She
also supported the need for government officials to
explore other effective options, instead of strictly
sticking to one solution to the problems presented tothem. They should also be knowledgeable of othercountries, in addition to knowing foreign languages.
Most symposium participants from the local
communities in Japan did not know the current
situation of foreigners living in Korea and Taiwan.
The symposium made them realize the similarity ofissues regarding foreign immigrant women in Japan,
South Korea and Taiwan, and understood that thecivil movements’ lobby with the government toimprove the situation of foreign immigrant andmigrant women was much ahead in South Korea andTaiwan.
HURIGHTS OSAKA co-organized with the
Toyonaka Gender Equality Foundation and the
Toyonaka Association for International Activities andCommunication the symposium that was held on 18
October 2008 in Toyonaka city, Osaka prefecture.
The Women’s Studies Center of the Osaka Prefecture
University and the Asian Center for Women Studiesof the Ewha University (South Korea) cooperated inholding the symposium.

Koonae Park and Nobuki Fujimoto are staff
members of HURIGHTS OSAKA.
For further information, please contact HURIGHTSOSAKA.

-15-

HURIGHTS OSAKA CALENDAR

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HURIGHTS OSAKA (in cooperation with the Office of Human Rights Studies and Social Development in
Mahidol University) has published the full research report of the United Nations World Programme for Human
Rights Education – Asia Project in February 2009. The report is entitled Human Rights Education in the
School Systems in Southeast Asia - Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR and Thailand.

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HURIGHTS OSAKA, inspired by the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human
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