New East-West Center Publications (free, pdfs)

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• Repression and Punishment in North Korea: Survey Evidence of Prison Camp Experiences, by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland. October 2009.
• Japan's Approach to Building Peace: A Critical Appraisal and the Way Forward, by Kuniko Ashizawa. December 16, 2009.
• The Cambodia-Thailand Conflict: A Test for ASEAN, by Sokbunthoeun So. December 10, 2009.
• The Democratic Party of Japan and North Korea Policy, by Yoichiro Sato. November 16, 2009.

Repression and Punishment in North Korea: Survey Evidence of Prison Camp Experiences, by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland. East-West Center Working Papers, Politics, Governance, and Security Series, No. 20. Honolulu: East-West Center, October 2009. 39 pp. Paper, $3.00.

The penal system has played a central role in the North Korean government's response to the country's profound economic and social changes. Two refugee surveys--one conducted in China, one in South Korea--document its changing role. The regime disproportionately targets politically suspect groups, particularly those involved in market-oriented economic activities. Levels of violence and deprivation do not appear to differ substantially between the infamous political prison camps, penitentiaries for felons, and labor camps used to incarcerate individuals for misdemeanors, including economic crimes. Substantial numbers of those incarcerated report experiencing deprivation with respect to food as well as public executions and other forms of violence. This repression appears to work; despite substantial cynicism about the North Korean system, refugees do not report signs of collective action aimed at confronting the regime.

Such a system may also reflect ulterior motives. High levels of discretion with respect to arrest and sentencing and very high costs of detention, arrest and incarceration encourage bribery; the more arbitrary and painful the experience with the penal system, the easier it is for officials to extort money for avoiding it. These characteristics not only promote regime maintenance through intimidation, but may facilitate predatory corruption as well.

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Japan's Approach to Building Peace: A Critical Appraisal and the Way Forward, by Kuniko Ashizawa. Asia Pacific Bulletin, No. 45. Washington, D.C.: East-West Center in Washington, December 16, 2009. 2 pp. Electronic.

On the eve of President Obama's first visit to Asia in early November 2009, the new Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)-led government announced a new assistance package to Afghanistan amounting to US$5 billion over the next five years to support reconstruction and stabilization. This new package will, in effect, quadruple Japan's annual assistance, making it the second largest financial contributor to Afghanistan's reconstruction among individual donor states after the United States. Kuniko Ashizawa describes Japan's approach to peacebuilding in Afghanistan and other areas of conflict.

The Cambodia-Thailand Conflict: A Test for ASEAN, by Sokbunthoeun So. Asia Pacific Bulletin, No. 44. Washington, D.C.: East-West Center in Washington, December 10, 2009. 2 pp. Electronic.

The current conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), provides a test case for ASEAN to act as a key player in resolving disputes among its members. A failure by ASEAN to do so would reduce its credibility and impede the realization of an ASEAN community by 2015. Sokbunthoeun So discusses the Cambodian-Thai conflict and the implications for ASEAN.

Image by Akoaraisin via Flickr

The Democratic Party of Japan and North Korea Policy, by Yoichiro Sato. Asia Pacific Bulletin, No. 43. Washington, D.C.: East-West Center in Washington, November 16, 2009. 2 pp. Electronic.

When President Obama met Prime Minister Hatoyama of Japan in November 2009, a variety of contentious bilateral issues were on the table. However, despite divergence between the two countries on the military base issues in Okinawa and disagreement over Japan's emphasis on building an East Asian Community, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government will stay closely aligned with the United States in terms of its basic North Korea policy. Yoichiro Sato discusses the new Japanese government's policy toward North Korea.

Backlist of recent titles in the Asia Pacific Bulletin publication series:

The United States-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership and the New Yudhoyono Administration, by Thomas B. Pepinsky. Asia Pacific Bulletin, No. 42. Washington, D.C.: East-West Center in Washington, August 17, 2009. 2 pp. Electronic.

Bill Clinton in North Korea: Winners and Losers, by Denny Roy. Asia Pacific Bulletin, No. 41. Washington, D.C.: East-West Center in Washington, August 11, 2009. 2 pp. Electronic.

The ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights and Beyond, by Hao Duy Phan. Asia Pacific Bulletin, No. 40. Washington, D.C.: East-West Center in Washington, July 20, 2009. 2 pp. Electronic.

How the World Bank Let 'Deal Making' Torch the Rainforests

By LISA FRIEDMAN of ClimateWire

The World Bank ignored its own environmental and social protection standards when it approved nearly $200 million in loan guarantees for palm oil production in Indonesia, a stinging internal audit has found.

The report, detailing five years of funding from the International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank, lambastes the agency for allowing commercial pressures to influence four separate loans aimed at developing the industry.

"The IFC was aware for more than 20 years that there were significant environmental and social issues and risks inherent in the oil palm sector in Indonesia," auditors wrote. "Despite awareness of the significant issues facing it, IFC did not develop a strategy for engaging in the oil palm sector. In the absence of a tailored strategy, deal making prevailed."

The report (pdf) from the office of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman comes as Indonesia prepares to enter the carbon markets by protecting its tropical forests. Working in partnership with Australia, the Indonesian government currently is working to design a national carbon accounting system. Australia is building a satellite to monitor deforestation in the Southeast Asian country, according to new U.N. submissions.

Indonesia is home to the world's second-largest reserves of natural forests and peat swamps, which naturally trap carbon dioxide -- the main greenhouse gas that causes climate change. But rampant destruction of the forests to make way for palm oil plantations has caused giant releases of CO2 into the atmosphere, making Indonesia the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet.

The audit does not address climate change or how lending for palm oil -- an ingredient in foods and a biofuel added to diesel for cars -- fits into the World Bank's new "strategic framework" for development and climate change. It also does not examine any of the specific charges or environmental accusations lodged against the firm to which the World Bank loaned money.

Rather, the report confines itself to whether the IFC abided by its own standards. On that front, the multilateral bank came up short.

IFC saw burning the trees as having 'no impact'

Specifically, auditors said, when loaning to Wilmar International Ltd. and other firms between 2003 and 2008, the IFC did not check out concerns about the companies' supply chain plantations. The Forest Peoples Programme, a U.K.-based nonprofit group that originally brought the complaint, charged that the companies illegally used fire to clear forestland, cleared primary forests, and seized lands belonging to indigenous people without due process.

The IFC, auditors noted, labeled the initial loan as a "category C" -- a listing signifying that a project has little or no adverse environmental or social impacts, and which is typically given to financial intermediaries. But by failing to examine the subsidiaries that source the raw materials, IFC ignored issues like the absence of publicly available environmental impact assessments for the subsidiary companies.

"For each investment, commercial pressures were allowed to prevail," auditors wrote. "Commercial pressures dominated."

In a written response to auditors, the IFC acknowledged shortcomings in the review process. But the lender also defended investment in palm oil production as a way to alleviate poverty in Indonesia.

"IFC believes that production of palm oil, when carried out in an environmentally and socially sustainable fashion, can provide core support for a strong rural economy, providing employment and improved quality of life for millions of the rural poor in tropical areas," it said.

Hunting for a 'sustainable' strategy

The agency vowed to develop a new strategy to guide its future palm oil investments, to be completed in about three months, and to put "renewed emphasis" on assessing a company's supply chain before lending.

Marcus Colchester, director of the Forest Peoples Programme, called that response "inadequate."

In a letter to World Bank President Robert Zoellick and the board, Colchester and leaders of other nonprofit groups called on the World Bank to freeze palm oil lending, charging that IFC suffers a "systemic problem whereby the pressure to lend and to support business interests overcomes prudence, due diligence and concern for social and environmental outcomes."

They noted that the management response included no actions to address the problem of climate change being exacerbated by planting on peatlands and burning forests, and advised no discipline for staff that failed to comply with standards.

Barbara Bramble, a senior program adviser for international affairs at the National Wildlife Federation, said she believes the World Bank should help the Indonesian government at all levels change incentives for palm oil planting and refuse to invest in any company whose primary plantation is primary rainforest.

She, Colchester and even IMF officials widely agreed that there is in Indonesia an abundant amount of already degraded land that could be used for palm oil productuon. The challenge, Bramble said, is shifting national and local laws to encourage more sustainable production.

Meanwhile, the IFC indicated in a statement to E&E that the agency does not plan to give up palm oil investment anytime soon.

"IFC is aware of the environmental and social concerns associated with the palm oil sector in Indonesia. We also believe that the sector has considerable potential for job creation and economic growth," agency officials wrote. "We believe it is imperative to promote sustainable practices in the sector that will benefit the poor and preserve biodiversity."

ASEAN Commision on Human Rights and Beyond

The ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights and Beyond

by Hao Duy Phan

Asia Pacific Bulletin, No. 40

Publisher: Washington, D.C.: East-West Center in Washington
Publication Date: July 20, 2009
Binding: electronic
Pages: 2
Free Download: PDF

Abstract

More than forty years after its foundation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is on the verge of establishing a human rights body. On July 20, 2009, the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting adopted the Terms of Reference for the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). Hao Duy Phan discusses the implications of AICHR and whether the body will be adequate and effective in responding to major human rights problems in the region.