Hello MARUAH friends!

December 10th is Human Rights Day and we’d like to invite you to join us in the celebrations!

We have invited Mr Richard Magnus, the Singapore representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). You’ll also get to hear what human rights means to our competition winners from the Human Rights Day Creative Writing and Poem Competition.

This year, we’ll be hosting an Open Mic Event, happening for the first time so don’t miss your chance to participate in that as well. This year’s theme for Human Rights Day is the power of Social Media in helping activists (read more here). It will be interesting to hear what will be shared and talked about!

So bring your friends and family and have an enjoyable time on us at Blujaz Cafe this December 10th!

First 50 individuals get FREE drinks and food! And just for fun, the dress code is bohemian chic (open to the imagination).

Date: 10th December 2011

Time: 4-7pm

Venue: Bluejaz cafe 12 Bali Lane, Singapore 189848 (Entrance Via Ophir Road, Next to the Bus Stop after Golden Landmark Hotel)

Please RSVP here.

Ms Braema Mathi, president of MARUAH, started the session by providing a historical overview of human rights in ASEAN, beginning with the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in 1993, and culminating with the establishment of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) in 2009.

She then highlighted the current human rights challenges facing the ASEAN region. The participants were then provided with a draft of MARUAH’s recommendations on the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, which is expected to be finalised in 2012. Copies of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) were also distributed as an example of the content of a human rights declaration.

Next, the participants broke into small groups to discuss the draft and provide comments and inputs on what should be changed.

Finally, the participants reconvened and deliberated on the various changes suggested. The participants provided valuable inputs which will be incorporated into the final recommendations to be submitted to AICHR for consideration. MARUAH would like to thank all the participants for taking part in the public consultation.

What does Human Rights mean to you?

We are certain each one of us has a story to share. Send it to us in an essay format (not more than 2,000 words) or poetry.

There are 3 categories:
Cat A: 18 to 35 years old
Cat B: 36 to 65 years old
Cat C: 66 years old onwards

Deadline for submission has been extended to 24th November 2011, 1159 hrs.

See link here for the judging criteria.

To participate, please register via this link.

The HRC also decided to convene a panel discussion during the nineteenth session of the Human Rights Council, informed by the facts contained in the study commissioned by OHCHR and to have constructive, informed and transparent dialogue on the issue of discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.

The HRC will also discuss the appropriate follow-up to the recommendations of the study commissioned by OHCHR.

More details can be found in the link below
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38762

Election monitoring involves observation of election processes by independent groups to ensure that the conduct of an election is free and fair, based on both national legislation and international norms.

In the 1990s, UN and EU observers focused on elections in countries with weak democracies or democracies in transition. But in recent years countries with long-standing reputations as developed democracies, e.g. France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States – have also availed themselves to internal processes of scrutiny, as run by their NGOs and other International NGOs.

For us at MARUAH, as a human rights NGO, we want a free and fair election with an informed electorate participating in the process. Singapore has a good reputation for conducting its election process well. We have systems and processes that ensure scrutiny by both parties – the incumbents and the contenders.

Due to limited resource, we will focus on the administration of the election process (polling and counting). By conducting this exercise we are not saying that the administration is deficient. In fact what we are trying to ascertain, with the help of the electorate, is that we do have a good process administratively on Polling Day.

Also, the mainstream media has received its fair share of criticisms when it comes to election coverage with a commonly-held view that they are pro-PAP. In this case a monitoring of the media will show how the media covers election stories.

The aims of MARUAH’s Election Monitoring Process are:-

- To raise awareness among the voters on the processes in the polling station and counting centres

- To call upon the voters to become their own custodians of fair election processes

- To ascertain that we indeed have good administrative processes in these two areas of polling and counting of ballots

- To ascertain the level of objectivity displayed in the mainstream media with regard to the elections

- To build up a community of monitoring enthusiasts

Approach

Polling – we will conduct an e-survey and we need as many voters as possible to send us back their forms which are in a ‘tick-the boxes’ approach – quantitative. We will also conduct a street poll among voters. The survey form link will be uploaded on the MARUAH website, so that voters will know what to look out for when they are in the polling centre.

Counting – we will conduct a survey that we hope counting agents from all political parties will participate and send us back their responses.

A quick analysis will be done with the returned forms and we will share the findings within three days of Polling Day.

Media – we will be analysing the media and releasing the results preferably on a daily basis.

MARUAH requires volunteers to assist in this project. Interested individuals are encouraged to email maruahsg@gmail.com if they would like to be involved.

Below is the SMU campus map for reference.

Of note is the “Summary of stakeholders’ information”, a summary of the 18 submissions made by Singapore & overseas NGOs, and the “Compilation of UN information”, a summary of current information already available on the UN database.

MARUAH’s contributions can be found in the “Summary of stakeholders’ information” under both “MARUAH” and “JS3″.

AI found that countries which continue to use the death penalty are being left increasingly isolated following a decade of progress towards abolition.

The summary and full report can be found at the link below.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/death-penalty-2010-executing-countries-left-isolated-after-decade-progress

Also read a blog post on the issue by Salil Shetty, Secretary-General of Amnesty International
http://livewire.amnesty.org/2011/03/28/the-global-movement-to-kill-the-death-penalty/

In partnership with the Australian radio station ABC, the four-part series What Can I Say? explores freedom of speech and democracy in South East Asia.

Presenter Gary Bryson travels to Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore to meet people who are trying to find a voice for their village, their culture or their nation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2011/01/110131_what_can_i_say.shtml