The Regional Council of APWLD at its annual meeting on February 3-4, 2007, in Chiangmai, Thailand, had a session on human rights situation in the Asia Pacific region where our members from Bangladesh, Fiji, Thailand and Philippines shared their concerns with increasing militarisation in their countries and its implications for human rights. Virisila Buadromo, an APWLD Regional Council member from Fiji, was not able to attend the meeting because of the travel ban imposed on her by the military-led Fiji Government for her criticism of the December 5, 2006 military coup. Elisa Tita Lubi, an APWLD Programme and Management Committee member from the Philippines, has not been able to attend several APWLD meetings since February 2006 when Arroyo's Government charged her with rebellion among 51 other human rights defenders.

Since 9/11 the US-led 'war on terror' has been adopted by many governments worldwide which has resulted in the passage of politically repressive measures under the guise of national security and antiterror laws. So in many countries in Asia Pacific, such as Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand and others, 'war on terror' has legitimised the repression of dissent and criminalisation of human rights work. Many human rights defenders have been killed, arrested, or threatened.

A key characteristic of militarisation is the increased powers given to the military to search, question, arrest without warrant and kill under the garb of national security. Women are particularly vulnerable to violence, particularly sexual violence, under these laws. Furthermore, increased state militarisation of certain areas due to conflicts over natural resources has led to an increase in state violence against women, for example in Aceh, Philippines, and Thailand, implicating governments as the perpetrators of human rights violations.

In 2006, two countries in the Asia Pacific region had military coups: Thailand and Fiji.

In Thailand, on September 19, 2006, as a result of a Thai style 'friendly' coup, the military took over the power from the government of Thaksin Shinawatra who had been acting as a caretaker prime minister after the Constitutional Court nullified the results of the April 2, 2006 general elections because of electoral irregularities. This was the 18th coup since 1932 when absolute kingship was replaced by constitutional monarchy with the last successful coup mounted as recently as in 1991. Thaksin's five-year rule has been marked by serious human rights abuses. Thaksin's war on drugs in 2003 resulted in over 2,000 extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers, none of which have been properly investigated. Security forces responded to an insurgency in the predominantly Muslim southern provinces by committing widespread human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, disappearance of many people, including killings of 20 human rights defenders.

"The Thai 'friendly' coup led by the army chief was a result of the power play between full fledged capitalism personified by PM Taksin vs self-sufficient economy personified by the monarch. The civil society members are torn between these two. Women's groups are also split. Some groups visited the coup leader and received 10 mln Baht from the coup government for women's projects. This is Thai style democracy with a discreet dictator and where you have to worship a certain institution," said Virada Somswasdi of Women's Studies Centre, Chiangmai University at the APWLD Regional Council meeting.

Now six months after the coup, Thailand is without a parliament and a constitution. The right to free speech and assembly has been seriously eroded, including closure of around 300 community radio stations in Chiangmai province (Thaksin's stronghold), blocking of cable news channels whenever news on Thaksin and criticism of the coup came up, and the suspension of some Thai websites devoted to discussing the implications of military intervention to Thai democracy. Martial law has been declared in some areas resulting in a ban of political gatherings of more than five people with a penalty of six months imprisonment. Thai media resorted to self-censorship as the coup leaders called on the media to "cover news truthfully and constructively in order to promote unity in the country". General Surayud, the leader of the Thai military government, failed to keep his vow made back in September to bring government officials and military personnel responsible for enforced disappearances in the south to justice. And so violence in the south continues.

In Fiji, on December 5, 2006, military commander Frank Bainimarama has seized control of the country, marking the fourth coup in two decades. Prime Minister Qarase and the commander have long been in dispute over the commander's opposition to the

Government's racist policies and corrupt practices. Human rights defenders were illegally detained, as well as physically and psychologically abused, threatened with violence, including rape, for speaking out against the coup. APWLD members, Imrana Jalal and Virisila Buadromo of the Fiji Women's Rights Movement (FWRM) received threatening phone calls. The threats followed public statements by FWRM and an opinion piece by Imrana Jalal, in which she spoke of the need to break the cycle of coups and urged the military to solve problems using the rule of law, and not by supporting the illegal removal of a government through the rule of the gun. Imrana was dismissed from the Post Fiji board and her husband was fired from his post as CEO of the Fiji Airport. During the previous coup, Imrana was arrested for her criticism of the coup. On Christmas eve, Virisila and her partner were taken from their home and illegally detained by the military. During their detention, they were physically and psychologically abused for several hours.
Bangladesh has been plunged into political crisis since October 2006 over who will head an interim government to oversee elections in January 2007. The BNP-led government stepped down in October at the end of their term, and according to the constitution, a caretaker government was appointed immediately afterwards. The opposition party, Awami League, and its allies announced that they would boycott the general election questioning its fairness and nonavailability of correct voters list.
Sultana Kamal, head of the Bangladeshi human rights group Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) and APWLD Programme and Management Committee member, was elected into the 10 member caretaker government (advisory council). Sultana and three other members resigned in December in protest of abuse of power by the president who also appointed himself the chief of the caretaker government. In spite of strong objections from the advisory council, the President and Chief Adviser (CA), Iajuddin Ahmed, on December 9 ordered army deployment to help the civil administration maintain law and order in view of the coming general election. The advisers were concerned because the CA had not consulted them on this and several other major decisions. "We were concerned about military intervention. The Army chiefs said they were part of the civil society and had the right to engage in political process. We don't know how easily army will withdraw itself. We've been able to put pressure on the security forces not to clamp down on the media. The four of us in the caretaker government were very open to the media. There was a lot of hostility towards me from Jamati Islami people (the fundamentalist party) and the BNP and what helped me was that I had support of grassroots movements, national and international networks," said Sultana at the APWLD Regional Council meeting in February.

Bangladesh's security forces are implicated in a spate of extrajudicial killings since a state of emergency was declared in the country on January 11, 2007. According to Odhikar (Bangladeshi human rights group) 50 people were killed during operation by law enforcement personnel and 95,825 arrested in the first 60 days of the state of emergency from 12 January to 12 March, 2007. The killings have been attributed to members of the army, the police, and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), an elite anti-crime and anti-terrorism force. After weeks of violent protests, elections originally set for January 22 were indefinitely postponed. Killings in custody have been a persistent problem in Bangladesh. During the last large-scale military deployment in 2002, at least 50 people died in army custody in unclear circumstances. To date, no military personnel are known to have been held responsible for any of the deaths. RAB has been implicated in more than 350 killings in custody since 2004.

In Philippines, post 9/11 as part of Washington's "war on terror" President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's government has declared "all out war" against leftist groups such as CPP, NPA, NDF and any dissenting voices. "825 people, including 83 women, have been killed or disappeared since Arroyo came to power in 2001, " reported Vernie Yocogan- Diano of Innabuyog, Philippines, at the Regional Council meeting. "Thanks to calls from human rights organisations, including Gabriela's campaign to put international pressure, visits to Philippines by UN Special Rapporteur on indigenous rights, then Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, and several international fact finding missions took place." After an investigation in early February, UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston condemned Arroyo's government for the extrajudicial killings. Among those harassed by the Arroyo's government are APWLD members and allies in the Philippines:

• Elisa Tita Lubi, member of the APWLD's Programme and Management Committee and Founding Vice-Chair of Gabriela Women's Party
• Liza Masa, Gabriela party-list representative to the House of Congress
• Rita Baua, International Relations Officer, BAYAN (member of APWLD's Rural and Indigenous Women Task Force 2000-2002)
• Emy de Jesus, Secretary General, GABRIELA
• Carol Araullo, Chairperson, BAYAN

They have been on Arroyo's list of 51 people accused of rebellion which is a non-bailable offence in the Philippines.

After 9/11, militarisation has been accelerating with increased number of US military presence in the Asian region whether in the form of US bases or visiting troops with the disastrous consequences to the local communities in the form of rape, sexual abuse and prostitution. In Philippines, between 1981 and 1988, 2,005 cases were filed against U.S. servicemen in Subic and 1,269 cases in Clark. 15 cases of sexual abuse of children between ages 11 and 16 were filed against US servicemen. All were dismissed .

Eleanor Conda, APWLD Programme and Management Committee member from Philippines, updated on the Subic rape case involving a rape of a Pilipino woman by a US military servicemen in 2005. In December 2006, after two years of legal battles the Philippines government handed over the US military serviceman to the US custody after convicting him to 40 years imprisonment. The Philippines human rights groups are indignant and challenging the decision in the court. They are also campaigning for abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), the root cause of the US military impunity. The VFA grants extra-territorial and extra-judicial privileges to US troops taking part in the joint military exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines in any part of the Philippine soil.

Increased militarisation in the Asia Pacific region has led to diminishing enforceability of women's human rights and more violence against women. State inaction to redress human rights violations perpetuated by State agents and non-State actors has brought about impunity for these crimes. Alarmingly, there is also increasing repression of human rights groups and movements. There is a need for human rights groups in the region to mobilise and launch a coordinated region-wide campaign against militarisation in the region.