US Congress passes ARIA Law to promote interests in Indo-Pacific

The United States (US) Congress has passed a legislation that seeks to promote its interests in the Indo-Pacific Region, including in the area of human rights.

Called the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act (S. 2736) or ARIA, it was passed last week by the US Senate and was unanimously approved by the House of Representatives on December 12, 2018. It is now awaiting the signature of US President Donald J. Trump.

The bi-partisan initiative of the US Congress provides $1.5 billion annually in security assistance to America’s allies to promote the values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific

region.

Under Section 408 of the legislation, it calls on the US president to “impose targeted financial penalties and visa bans sanctions” on human rights violators and persons who “engage in censorship activities” of the news media in the region.

It further urges the American leader to “terminate, suspend, otherwise alter… economic assistance to any country that has engaged in serious violations of human rights or religious freedoms.”

Sen. Corey Gardner (R-Colorado), one of the principal authors of ARIA, said the legislation provides the US “a whole-of-government, longterm strategy in Asia that advances American national security interests, promotes American businesses and creates jobs through trade opportunities, and projects American values of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms."

“The United States has always been, and will always remain, a Pacific power, and this legislation ensures that the United States government will speak in one voice to reassure our allies and to deter our adversaries in the Indo-Pacific region,” Sen. Gardner said in a statement posted on his official website.

The initiative's co-author Democratic Senator Ed Markey noted that Asia, arguably the most consequential region for the US, “faces critical challenges – such as nonproliferation, human rights, and respect for democratic values."

The legislation calls for no counter narcotics funding assistance to the Philippine National Police unless the Duterte administration implemented an anti-illegal drugs approach “that is consistent with international human rights standards including investigating and prosecuting individuals who are credibly alleged to have ordered, committed, or covered up extrajudicial killings.”

A Filipino-American group advocating for good governance, meanwhile, lauded the passage of the ARIA in the US Senate last week and by the House of Representatives on December 12.

“This new law will be a morale boost and a Christmas gift to our courageous human rights defenders, journalists, and civil society friends in the Philippines, China and in Asia who are persecuted by their governments,” said San Francisco-based lawyer Rodel Rodis, president of the national advocacy group, US Pinoys for Good Governance.

There are at least 22,000 deaths that are being investigated by the PNP since the Duterte administration launched its war on drugs in 2016.

Official government data showed that more than 4,900 drug personalities have been killed in the counternarcotics operations.