Originally posted by onceinabluemoon:
BATAM, Indonesia (Reuters) - Activists are considering
legal action against Singapore, accusing the government of
violating human rights after [b]police held members
incommunicado before deporting them, an activist said on
Saturday.
Lidy Nacpil said several NGOs that gathered on the Indonesian
island of Batam are considering taking legal action in
international courts or appealing to the United Nations Commission
on Human Rights.
Singapore, which is hosting the annual World Bank-IMF meetings,
initially blacklisted more than two dozen activists who had been
accredited to attend the event.
The government said late on Friday that it would allow 22 of the 27
blacklisted activists to enter, following strong criticism of its
actions by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
"The point is we have to show that we are serious, that they can't
get away with this," Nacpil said on the sidelines of a three-day
forum in Batam, a short boat ride from Singapore.
"We are still in the exploratory stage as to what our options are,"
added Nacpil, international coordinator of Jubilee South, a network
of non-governmental organizations.
She said NGOs including Jubilee South and the International NGO
Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) were discussing the
"appropriate action" to take.
"The fact is that they detained all these people without giving
them a chance to inform their colleagues or their family" or to
make any telephone calls, she said.
Singapore police declined to comment.[/b]
Our "authorities" decades-old habit of NOT giving any reasons or
explanations for their actions have and are finally receiving World
Attention.
Will their ways change? They will be foolhardy - NOT to.
They have already been given a choice: to be Internationally
recognized as an Authoritarian State, or one that is truly an
International player with real Democracy.
