Pillay urges ASEAN to set the bar high with its regional human rights declaration

GENEVA (11 May 2012) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillayon Friday offered her encouragement to ASEAN (the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations) in drafting a regional human rights declaration, but calledfor a meaningful consultation on the draft with the widest spectrum ofpeople in the region before it is presented to ASEAN’s foreign ministersin July.

As the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commissionon Human Rights (AICHR) concludes its latest drafting meeting in Bangkok,Pillay expressed her hope that the Declaration will play an important rolein improving the enjoyment of human rights for people in South-East Asia.

“Regional human rights instruments shouldcomplement and reinforce international human rights standards,” Pillaysaid. “But my hope is that that the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration willgo further by setting the bar higher for governments to ensure full protectionand promotion of human rights through their policies, legislation and practices.”

While welcoming the consultation AICHR hashad with ASEAN sectoral bodies as well as the planned consultation withNGOs at the end of June, Pillay emphasised that engaging early, in a transparentprocess of inclusive and meaningful consultation will help the Declarationto acquire the status and popular support it deserves.

Asean commission 'fails miserably in promoting, protecting human rights'

August 8, 2011
By Pravit Rojanaphruk
Jakarta

The Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), created in 2009, has largely failed to promote and protect human rights in the region in any meaningful way, many delegates to a civil society workshop in Jakarta have concluded.

The meeting, on strengthening AICHR's mandate on protection, was organised by a number of NGOs.

Problems with the commission included serious allegations that AICHR was becoming a shield for Asean to deflect world scrutiny from its troubling human rights record.

Other criticism ranged from most Asean government's choosing their own conservative people to be AICHR representatives, and the lack of a secretariat and budget.

Regional Rights Groups Disappointed in Asean Commission

Im Sothearith, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Thursday, 11 November 2010

“Free expression remains a dirty word, press freedom remains a dirty word, access to information remains a dirty word.”

Civil society leaders from six Asean countries say they are disappointed in a new commission meant to monitor human rights in the 10-member bloc.

In a forum to discuss the newly established Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, or AICHR, in Washington, various groups said the body could do more to ensure the mitigation of rights abuses in member countries.

“We are very disappointed that for the whole year the commission has not been engaging civil society organizations as well as national human rights institutions in the region,” said panelist Yap Swee Seng, who is the executive director of the Thai-based Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development.

Human rights abuses remain a problem across Southeast Asia, particularly Burma. The AICHR was meant to be a major step toward strengthening rights in member countries. However, activists at the forum said by not allowing civil society to engage, the commission could not address abuses.

Irene Fonacier-Fellizar, a child rights activist for Solidarity for Asian People's Task Force, based in the Philippines, said the AICHR faced a “daunting task” in engaging with rights groups and protecting children. That's because the gulf between civic groups and governments in the region remains wide, she said.

Some were upset by the lack of provisions within Asean and its commission on key rights freedoms.

“Free expression remains a dirty word, press freedom remains a dirty word, access to information remains a dirty word,” said Roby Alampay, the editor of an online portal for TV5 in the Philippines. “And you will literally not see any of these, either in the charter of Asean or in terms of reference of Asean's Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.”

The forum did provide an opportunity for different groups to come together from across the region to share their areas of expertise, said Andy Lim, a student at American University, where the event was held.

“They have the best experience and the best knowledge available to us,” he said. “Some of the knowledge I have about Asean comes especially from Western experts, people we know, and professors we have. Today we have points of view of the people from the region.”

Photos from the HRRCA official launch in Jakarta, 19 October 2010

Opening speech by Marzuki Darusman at the Shangri La Hotel in Jakarta on 19 October 2010 (All Photos: Courtesy of Theary Seng)

Participants to the launch from Cambodia: Theary Seng and Mardi Seng

Theary Seng with 2 other participants to the launch

To learn more about the HRRCA, click here

To read The Jakarta Post on the HRRCA, click here

Think tank [HRRCA] set to support ASEAN rights body

Wed, 10/20/2010
Mustaqim Adamrah
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) finally gets a think tank to help it carry out its duty, with the establishment of the Human Rights Resource Center for ASEAN (HRRCA).

HRRCA chairman Marzuki Darusman said Tuesday the HRRCA was forged to conduct training and research that would support the AICHR’s work.

“We are entering a new phase of improvement and protection of human rights. We need a new system that is analytic, systematic and empiric,” he said after the launch of the HRRCA at the Shangri-La Hotel.

An NGO, the HRRCA is set up on funding, among others, from USAID, the Canadian International Development Agency and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The HRRCA’s members are partner and affiliated institutions, including the University of Indonesia, Ateneo University School of Law (Philippines), the University of Malaya (Malaysia), the Law School of the National University of Singapore and the State Islamic University in Jakarta.

“Universities that have signed a cooperation agreement [with the HRRCA] are those from Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore only,” Marzuki said. “We expect more universities from the Philippines and Thailand will follow suit.”

He said the HRRCA had begun its study on law enforcement of human rights laws in ASEAN and would announce the results in March next year.

The HRRCA, whose office is located in University of Indonesia’s campus in Depok, provides reports, studies and training related to a range of human rights issues in the region in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the rule of law, judicial independence, women and children’s issues, indigenous peoples and migrant labor rights.

The HRRCA has a governing board, whose members are Marzuki, activist Asmara Nababan and University of Indonesia scholar Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, as well as noted scholars from ASEAN countries such as Theary Seng from Cambodia, Param Cumaraswamy from Malaysia, Carolina Hernandez from the Philippines, Ong Keng Yong and Kevin Tan from Singapore and Kavi Chongkittavorn from Thailand.

ASEAN gets commission for children and women

Thursday, April 8, 2010
Sri Wahyuni
The Jakarta Post
Hanoi

ASEAN officials inaugurated Wednesday the Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC), to augment the human rights body established last year.

The ACWC has a mandate to, among others, develop policies, programs and innovative strategies vis-à-vis the rights of women and children in the region.

“As commissioners we have the task of improving the standard of implementation of the rights of children,” Indonesian ACWC commissioner Ahmad Taufan Damanik said after the inauguration, held a day prior to the bloc’s summit, which kicks off Thursday in Hanoi.

Under the terms of reference of the establishment of the commission, the ACWC comprises representatives from the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Each state is represented by two commissioners, one for women’s rights and the other for children’s rights, who serve three-year terms and may be consecutively reappointed for an additional term.

Child rights activist Damanik, based in North Sumatra, has been appointed the Indonesian commissioner for child rights, while activist Rita Serena Kalibonso, from the Mitra Perempuan women’s crisis center, has been named the country’s commissioner for women’s rights.

“In the next three years, we are mandated to establish a children’s and women’s rights monitoring system in Southeast Asia and will deal with sensitive issues relating to children and women,” Damanik said.

Among the issues are child trafficking, abuse and labor, which he said was experienced almost universally in the 10 ASEAN member states.

Some states also face the problem of child combatants.

Damanik said tackling child trafficking could begin by focusing in the Mekong Delta countries of Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, and between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Indonesian human rights activist Yuyun Wahyuningrum, who works with ASEAN, lauded the inauguration of the ACWC and said the new body had an even bigger mandate than the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).

“The ACWC has a protection mandate, which the AICHR doesn’t,” she said in Hanoi.

She added the ACWC had the mandate to support the participation of women and children in the dialogue and consultation processes in ASEAN as related to the promotion and protection of their rights.

“This opens up the opportunity for public participation in the processes,” Yuyun said.

Indonesia’s representative to the AICHR, Rafendi Djamin, was upbeat about the rights commission and the ACWC working together and cooperating closely to prevent an of overlap of responsibility or scope of work.

Djauhari Oratmangun, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s director general of ASEAN affairs, said the establishment of the new commission boded well for the region.

“Some five years ago it was difficult to imagine that ASEAN would have special bodies dealing with human rights issues,” he said.

“Now, a year since the ASEAN Charter took effect, we have inaugurated the AICHR and the ACWC.”

As Asean Dithers, the US Circles

29 October 2009
Asia Times Online

HUA HIN, Thailand - While the bland regimen of inter-governmental summits does not usually spark juxtaposition with, say, Bob Dylan, there was a mocking appropriateness to the American singer's The Times They Are A Changin' ringing through the lobby at the Hua Hin Sheraton, one of the venues for 15th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit held over the past weekend.

By Simon Roughneen

Times might be changing across the 10-state regional bloc [1], but whether this means lofty goals, like implementing an ASEAN community by 2015, will be realized any time soon still seems unlikely. Outgoing ASEAN chair and Thai Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, spoke of "realizing a people-centered ASEAN community", but a good post-summit press sound bite does not easily translate into a viable policy platform.

Indeed, such grandiose language risks generating false expectations of making ASEAN appear more like a nascent European Union (EU)-style body than is the case. Walter Lohman, head of the Asia section of the Heritage Foundation, a US-based conservative think-tank said, "At best, ASEAN economic integration will mean a broad lowering of trade and investment barriers."

However, even the wheels of that project are spinning in the political sands. With Thailand and the Philippines failing to cut a deal on rice trade over the weekend, a bilateral roadblock has been raised that will impede the goal of an ASEAN free-trade area by January 1, 2010.

In what was meant to be the highlight of the meeting, ASEAN inaugurated a new Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). This features a majority of government appointees, and can only promote human rights as a concept, with no enforcement mechanism to take countries to task for human-rights abuses. Government-centered, rather than people-centered, some said on the meeting's sidelines.

Such a low expected yield does not augur well for growth toward an ASEAN community. "The idea of an economic community is an ideal, and, given the implementation of other mechanisms such as the human-rights community, a goal that will not be reached in any substantive form," said Bridget Welsh of the Singapore Management University.

Some of the changes in ASEAN seem retrograde. According to the final ASEAN summit statement, the grouping "had extensive, open and fruitful discussions under the theme of 'Enhancing Connectivity, Empowering Peoples'." Yet some people were in fact disempowered at the meeting, symbolic of the millions disenfranchised across the diverse region.

A scheduled meeting between heads of government and civil society groups from across ASEAN was scuttled, as five governments - Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines and Myanmar - refused to meet the delegates selected for the ASEAN People's Forum, a gathering of non-governmental leaders from across the region, and instead put forward government-appointed candidates.

The Myanmar representatives were said to include two former junta anti-narcotics officials, according to Myanmar human-rights activist Khin Ohn Mar, who was selected to represent her country by the ASEAN People's Forum.

Substantial differences

There are still substantial political and economic differences between ASEAN countries. Singapore is an authoritarian city-state, but one of the most modern economies in the world. Indonesia is a vast, poly-religious democracy stretched over 17,000 islands. Thailand remains politically divided and unstable, with a Muslim rebellion in its south, partly paralleled by the Philippines, whose politics remain mired in the clutches of a wealthy and connected oligarchy. Newer ASEAN members, such as Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, are among Asia's poorest.

Such disparities go against the grain of economic integration experiences elsewhere, such as in the EU, where political and economic gaps between countries must be narrowed before a candidate country can join the club. Still, the impression given at the meeting was of an ASEAN - and an Asia - on the up and up.

After the ASEAN members held their series of meetings, the proceedings moved to include heads of government from Asia's giants: China, Japan and India, as well as Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. The ASEAN secretary general, Surin Pitsuwan, spoke in faux-diligent terms about "not disappointing the international community" by "undertaking our heavy responsibility to pull the world economy along".

China and India will both soon launch free-trade areas with ASEAN, and pan-Asian cooperation has been stepped up in areas such as currency support and infrastructure funding. On Monday, Malaysia and New Zealand signed a free-trade agreement that is hoped will increase their US$1.8 billion in bilateral trade. Under the agreement to come into effect in 2010, Malaysia will eliminate import taxes on 10,293 products by 2016. New Zealand will end import tariffs on 7,238 products imported from Malaysia by 2016.

Statements released after the summit suggested that Asia needed to boost domestic consumption and lessen export reliance on the debt-addled US and European consumer markets.

In July, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the US was "back" in Southeast Asia. Despite his statements suggesting that East Asia "should lead the world", Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama wants the US involved in his East Asia Community (EAC) brainchild, perhaps after realizing that his leadership claims might be taken as something of a challenge in Washington. He might also have broached the idea to needle China, which has its own ideas on how to take Asian economic development forward.

In any case, his about-turn might be a more realistic assessment of the numbers - despite the debt-laden US economy. Arpitha Bykere is senior Asia analyst at Roubini Global Economics - which is run by Nouriel Roubini, the "Dr Doom" who predicted the 2008 economic crisis. Bykere said that Asia would remain economically dependent on the US for at least five to 10 years. "In 2008, US and EU consumption amounted to US$19 trillion, while Asian consumption was less than US$5 trillion."

The first US-ASEAN summit will take place in Singapore in November, the same week that Obama meets his Chinese counterpart, President Hu Jintao. While economic issues will doubtless dominate the agenda, both meetings should give a good indication of international policy towards military-run Myanmar going forward.

Rights abuses

As ever, Myanmar was a key ASEAN summit issue - at least to those watching from the outside. Aside from the Japanese Foreign Ministry, whose spokesperson gave a fairly detailed account of what Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein told the ASEAN/Japan summit, there was scant official comment on Myanmar. The country, known also as Burma, received a mere two-line mention in the final ASEAN chair's statement.

This despite pro-democracy Aung San Suu Kyi being sentenced to an extra 18 months house arrest on August 11 for breaking the terms of her previous incarceration for hosting an unregistered American guest who swam, apparently unannounced and undetected by junta security, across the lake to Suu Kyi's Yangon home.

The sentencing at the time prompted a relatively strong statement from the Thai premier, in his role as ASEAN chair, when he asked that the sentence be revoked. Only two months has passed, Suu Kyi is still in detention, and many at the meeting questioned the official reticence on the issue.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told the media at the summit that "there has been some progress recently, with Suu Kyi's letter to Myanmar President General Than Shwe followed by two meetings with a junta representative, and another meeting between Suu Kyi and foreign diplomats".

Yet she is still under house arrest and more than 2,000 political prisoners remain in jail. Myanmar's flawed 2008 constitution will be the bedrock for elections slated for 2010, leaving the military in command, irrespective of what result the elections throw up. Meanwhile, the eastern borderlands are tense, as the junta and ethnic militias gear up for a potentially-devastating new round of civil conflict, all in the name of the Myanmar regime centralizing control ahead of the elections.

This has the potential to send new legions of refugees into Thailand, China and perhaps elsewhere in the region, and could perhaps undermine current and future investment plans by Southeast Asian and other states in Myanmar, which remains under Western investment sanctions.

Despite the obvious threat to regional security posed by Myanmar, and the rhetorical assent promoting democracy and human rights in the ASEAN charter, old-school "non-interference" in the internal affairs of other countries is clearly still standard operating procedure in the grouping.

Thai premier Abhisit, for one, seemed resigned to the prospect of renewed fighting in Myanmar. When questioned on this topic by reporters after his meeting with Thein Sein, he said, "Thailand stands ready to do its humanitarian duty, as always," when the inevitable flight of refugees from Myanmar enters Thai territory.

It thus appears that ASEAN has regressed to its old habits on Myanmar, perhaps in part due to the new US policy which will combine engagement through talks with continued sanctions. Abhisit told the media at the summit that "we always felt that engagement is the right approach" - even though the US and the EU retain sanctions on the Myanmar junta over its abysmal rights record.

ASEAN let Thein Sein off the hook at the meeting, and appears to be coasting on the back of a misinterpreted US policy shift. "How can the new US approach vindicate ASEAN when ASEAN's engagement, whatever you call it - constructive, flexible or forward - has proven to be ineffective?" asked Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a visiting fellow at the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

Despite the reality that the US has not changed its policy on Myanmar, the message is getting blurred. There may be an impact on Southeast Asia, beyond Myanmar, where despite summit pledges to connect ASEAN peoples and promote human rights, the reality remains disconnected. That's seen in authorities in Vietnam jailing reporters and clamping down on religious minorities.

Cambodia is implementing restrictive new press laws, and Malaysia continues to use a draconian colonial-era Internal Security Act when it wishes to restrict political protest and freedom of expression. A spokesman for the US Embassy in Bangkok told Asia Times Online that the US "supports the establishment of the AICHR, and welcomes the new focus on human rights in ASEAN" - despite the new commission's circumscribed mandate.

With US regional influence in the balance, if not on the wane, it is unclear how the Obama administration can or will leverage its Asia policy. The November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and ASEAN meetings should reveal whether the US will base its Asia policy on getting its own economic house in order.

This could mean putting political issues on the back burner, as per Obama's recent refusal to meet the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, for fear of offending a China that is becoming increasingly intertwined with the US economy and its future sustainability. But Obama's inchoate approach to foreign policy in the region is starting to stoke criticism.

"The Obama administration has failed to effectively signal that it genuinely cares about human rights in Asia," said academic Welsh.
--------
Note
1. ASEAN comprises Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia. Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Simon Roughneen is a roving freelance journalist. He has reported from over 20 countries and is currently based in Southeast Asia.

Asean's 'Human-Rights' Council: Not off to a great start

Sunday, October 25, 2009
The Wall Street Journal

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations inaugurated its human-rights commission Friday. Like its United Nations equivalent, it's a toothless body, but it can still do damage to the cause it's supposed to serve.

Asean members aspire for the council to be "a vehicle for progressive social development and justice, the full realization of human dignity and the attainment of a higher quality life for Asean peoples," according to their inaugural declaration. These are worthy goals.

But Asean is a broad church that includes countries like Burma and Laos that want to rubber-stamp their authoritarian regimes, not submit to real scrutiny. All 10 commissioners who will serve on the council for three year terms were chosen by their respective Asean member nations, in most cases through opaque selection processes that involved little or no public consultation. Commissioners include Kyaw Tint Swe, the Burmese ambassador to the U.N. who has long defended the junta's rights record there, and Brunei's Abdul Hamid Bakal, a Shariah court judge. The commission operates by consensus and its mandate focuses on promoting human rights, not protecting them.

The initial signals aren't encouraging. At the weekend Asean summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, delegates discussed regional integration, climate change and removing trade barriers. No less than five Asean nations—Burma, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines and Singapore—refused to meet with civil society representatives during a scheduled "interface meeting" Friday meant to act as a forum for discussion between heads of state and civil society representatives.

This was nothing if not predictable, given the composition of the council. It's also a shame, given the need for an effective human-rights watchdog in the region. Burma, for instance, will be holding elections next year. If the human-rights council meant what it said about upholding "human dignity," it could mention the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi, the jailed opposition leader who is still under house arrest. Or it could examine the status of the Rohingya refugees who routinely wash up on the shores of Thailand and Malaysia as they flee from Burma.

Asean aspires to be a regional organization with bigger global clout. Embracing a human-rights council like this is detrimental to that goal.

Indonesia to raise problem of press freedom at AICHR meetings

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Om Yentieng is a member of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR)

Hua Hin (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s representative in the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), Rafendi Djamin, said he would bring up the question of press freedom at the commission`s meetings.

"The problem of press freedom poses a great challenge in ASEAN despite it being one of the three pillars of democracy," Djamin said on the sidelines of the 15th ASEAN Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, on Friday.

He said there was need for tangible steps to prevent the suppression of press freedom in ASEAN member countries and therefore Indonesia would try to bring up the matter at AICHR meetings.

The problem of press freedom must receive the same portion of attention in AICHR as other human rights issues in ASEAN member countries, he said.

The first meeting among the AICHR members would take place on Saturday (Oct 24) on the sidelines of the 15th ASEAN summit where they would introduce themselves to each other.

AICHR is an inter-governmental consultative group and an integral part of ASEAN`s organizational structure.

The commission`s task is to formulate efforts to promote and protect human rights in the region through education, monitoring, and dissemination of international human rights values and standards as laid down in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the Vienna Declaration and other human rights instruments.

It is responsible for the advancement and protection of human rights in ASEAN and would cooperate with other ASEAN organs dealing with human rights for proper coordination and synergy in the field of human rights.

AICHR has 10 members, each representing one of ASEAN`s 10 member countries, with Dr Sriprapha Petcharamasree of Thailand as chairman.

The nine other commission members are Om Yentieng (Cambodia), Rafendi Djamin (Indonesia), Bounkeut Sangsomsak (Laos), Awang Abdul Hamid Bakal (Malaysia), Kyaw Tint Swe (Myanmar), Rosario G. Manalo (Philippines), Richard Magnus (Singapore) and Do Ngoc Son (Viet Nam).

Asean struggling with human-rights issues

Saturday, March 28, 2009
Llanesca T. Panti
The Manila Times (Philippines)

Varying and longstanding traditions, cultures and religions hobble member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in looking at human rights as a major issue in governance, Philippine Ambassador Rosario Manalo said Friday.

“Some [member-countries] are ready, some are not [in putting human rights on top of their agenda] because, to tell you the truth, [all of them] are still in the process of getting acquainted with human rights and are still learning [how to go about treating such rights as important],” added Manalo, the head of the High-Level Panel of the regional bloc’s Human Rights Body (HRB).

Alistair MacDonald, ambassador of the European Commission to the Philippines, earlier said that the body would meet difficulties ties because of the member-countries differing perceptions of human rights.

“Not all of the member-countries are quite as committed to the idea [of human rights], but the existing traditional Asean spirit of consensus is already a significant progress. As long as there dialogue [among them], the HRB is likely to be given a mandate that will address protection as well as promotion [of such rights], and will underline the universality of human rights,” MacDonald added.

The Asean observes a policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of its member-countries. It groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Asean way

“You can’t change society in a wink of an eye. The Asean works as one, not individually,” Manalo told a press conference at the Department of Foreign Affairs. “Besides, you can’t negotiate sovereignty.”

But the Human Rights Body, she added, could come up with policy recommendations to member-countries not protecting their people’s human rights. Manalo noted that the Asean secretary-general is empowered to report human-rights violations to the body. Set for launching in October, the body will not have any investigative powers.

The Philippine ambassador stressed that the Asean member-countries are serious in defending the human rights of their peoples.

“The Asean member-countries are sincere in making the HRB work, and I don’t think that they are playing around,” Manalo said. She pointed out that only the member-countries were able to enter Myanmar after the country was ravaged by Cyclone Nargis in May last year.

Cyclone Nargis killed more than 100,000 people in Myanmar and non-Asean countries were not able to send help because of resistance from the country’s military leaders.

Manalo disclosed that the Asean terms of reference on human rights could be done by July. She said that Asean foreign ministers have welcomed the draft version of the terms.

“They [foreign ministers] want to strengthen the protection part, but basically they all agree with [provisions of the draft],” Manalo said. She also disclosed that the terms of reference allows the rights body to raise funds for its operations. Manalo did not give figures, except that the member- countries would give equal contributions.

The Philippine ambassador said that the regional bloc is open to getting help from non-Asean countries and private institutions, “provided that there are no strings attached.”

According to Manalo, the body would not require the member-countries to put up human-rights institutions in place. Only the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have formed such institutions.

Heading Down the Same Road

Monday, 23 March 2009
Hakim Joe
Malaysia Today

Cambodia has had a turbulent history even before the Khmer Rouges took over and started those “killing fields”. What and why it happened are all chronicled in history books but it was trifling as compared to the Pol Pot regime that killed a fifth of its populace within three years of its reign.

However insignificant it may be during the years when Norodom Sihanouk ruled the nation with an iron fist, his actions and deeds are the purveyor of widespread dissatisfaction that ultimately caused the Cambodian Civil War and later led the Prime Minister to depose of him.

So what exactly happened in Cambodia between Independence from the French in 1953 to the 1970 bloodless coup by his Prime Minister? What made the people of Cambodia support the revolution in 1975 that forced its monarch into exile?

One: Sihanouk intimidated all political opponents with overt threats of incarceration, bodily harm or death. This is achieved by utilising Sam Sary, a magistrate close to Sihanouk, the Security Minister Kou Roun, and the entire police force to do all his dirty work. The Opposition party, the Democrats ceased to exist after official sanctions were directed against them. All their party leaders were jailed on the night before the first democratic elections after independence in 1953 and were only released after the election results were announced. No formal charges were ever laid. Keng Vannsak and Thiounn Mumm, the Opposition leaders were amongst those arrested for murder but the courts retracted after finding nothing to implicate them. Pro-republican candidate Son Ngoc Thanh (at that time the most popular Democratic politician in Cambodia) was not even allowed to be a candidate as he was exiled by Sihanouk.

Two: Sihanouk closed down all pro-Opposition newspapers. This is done by citing lèse-majesté and any articles not in support of himself or his political party is deemed seditious. Since his abdication a year ago to form the royalist political party, how this charge was ever applied remains a mystery. L’Observateur, Pracheachon and Réalités Cambodgiennes were all ordered to cease operations when they pointed out that corruption is widespread. The editor of L’Observateur was beaten up by a group of unknown assailants a few meters from a police station, sacked and later jailed. The entire 12 staff of the Pracheachon were arrested. Even the openly pro-monarchy newspapers were not spared. Armed soldiers were stationed outside the editor’s office “for their own protection”.

Three: Sihanouk ordered a Military Tribunal set up to deal with state security offences with its selected officials enjoying full indemnity and its judgments non-questionable, non-appealable and not subjected to the course of law. Within two months of operations, this tribunal handed out death sentences to 22 so called “treasonous” offenders and another 9 within the year. No evidence was forwarded. The verdicts were decided by Sihanouk without the least concern to maintain even the sham appearance of judicial independence.

Four: Any person even hinting that this was unconstitutional and illegal was incarcerated immediately under the Cambodian Sedition Act. Sihanouk, using the Cambodian Police Force forcibly detained almost 2,000 such “suspects” in holding camps outside Phnom Penh without trial or appeal. Nothing was ever heard from this group again. Large mass graves later found near the site of this holding camp were attributed to the Khmer Rouge’s “intellectual” cleansing efforts.

Five: Political assassinations were rife. Political activists went “missing” day in and day out. Opposition politicians were spared bodily harm but were ridiculed daily in the state sanctioned newspapers. When Sihanouk felt that this was insufficient, he would demand these opposition politicians to be present at his palace for a full-scale condemnation session that was broadcasted out by loud speakers to the public.

Six: Sihanouk altered the Constitution so that he can remain head-of-state for life. He was the King before he abdicated and now he is the head-of-state with all the perks and benefits accorded a King. The ultimate reason for this is that he can lead his political party as a “commoner-prince” when he was unable to do so as the reigning monarch. He installed his ageing father as the puppet king and when he died, his mother took the throne.

Seven: Sihanouk became the ogre that strengthened and legitimised the Khmer Rouges. When Lon Nol deposed him in 1970, he fled to Communist China and resided in Beijing, and proceeded to give his full support to the Khmer Rouges (which he made illegal in 1954 and was fighting before his downfall), which was then only a small time outfit. With his royal patronage, the Khmer Rouges army grew from 6,000 to 50,000 armed fighters within the year. Many of the new recruits for the Khmer Rouge were apolitical peasants who fought in support of the King, not for communism, of which they had little understanding. No points for guessing who was arming these peasants.

Eight: Sihanouk promoted “Khmer Rights” which discriminated against anyone not of pure Cambodian birth. Ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese and indigenous hill tribes were considered “non-persons” even if they were born in Cambodia or have been in the country for the past few generations. These people do not possess the full citizen rights as accorded any person born within a country who happens to have pure Khmer parents. Some indigenous hill tribes cannot even get government papers identifying them as Cambodians.

Find any similarities?

Because of what Sihanouk did and the manner in which he controlled the lives of all Cambodians, the Khmer Rouge went on an unstoppable killing spree to exact the revenge for its fallen comrades during Sihanouk’s reign. The irony was that Sihanouk returned as the puppet King during the time when the Khmer Rouges took control of the country for one whole year before he was again forced into exile. During the one year as the Cambodian King (again) he stood by and watched his people being slaughtered. One might say that he had no choice whatsoever but he did nothing at all and would have continue presiding over these killings nonetheless if he were not forced by Pol Pot into exile (this time in North Korea).

Pracheachon’s editor had this to say after his arrest, “Our country is supposed to have a constitution… and to have proclaimed its attachment to the Declaration of Human Rights.”

Will Cambodia finally have its own National Human Rights Commission with extended powers?

Phnom Penh (Cambodia). 12/12/2008. Human Rights Day celebrations (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)

15-12-2008
By Duong Sokha
Ka-set in English
Click here to read the article in French
Click here to read the article in Khmer

More than two years ago, on the occasion of a regional conference for the creation of a national body for the promotion and protection of Human rights, Cambodian prime Minister Hun Sen declared he was in favour of the establishment, in Cambodia, of a “National Human Rights Commission”. The head of government also mentioned his wish to see Cambodia become the fifth country-member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, to create such an institution. The Cambodian government went as far as to ask representatives of the civil society to work on a text which should later serve as a pattern for a draft law concerning the Commission. A first draft has been finalised and presented on December 6th and 7th to about sixty representatives of local Human rights NGO, the Government, the two Chambers of Parliament and the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR). The conference gathered the officials in the city of the Angkor temples, Siem Reap, and was attended by Thai and Filipino experts who came there to share their own experience in that matter.

NGOs mainly worried about independence, power and budget autonomy

The first draft of the text elaborated by the main NGOS working in the field of Human rights in Cambodia became the focus of the attention at the beginning of December and does not yet take into account the government's recommendations. But voices soon emerged, denouncing their fear to see several fundamental points of the text being set aside by the authorities, starting with articles giving precisions about the independence of the body, stipulated by the Paris Agreements signed on October 23rd 1991.

“Independence means that this institution shall be free to lead investigations, that its budget will be autonomous”, Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights , observed. “The members of the future Commission will also enjoy immunity so they can lead their missions correctly.” “In the Philippines, immunity is even given to informers to protect them from potential reprisal”, he stressed, declaring straight away that he would firmly insist on these elements, for them to be taken into account and kept in the text.

A large scope of powers

Representatives of the civil society, directly involved in the creation of what the Commission shall eventually look like, are trying to insist on the large scope of the powers conferred to the Commission, claiming it shall be entitled to issue judicial summons for suspects; to proceed to requisitioning; to receive and gather evidence; to order the government and state institutions to provide reports and statements while respecting the deadlines defined beforehand as part of investigations; to protect witnesses and informers by requiring the intervention of the authorities linked with the matter; and to cover the expenses of witnesses who came to testify before the Commission.

“The members of the Commission shall also be entitled to go and visit prisons without warning the institutions' managers [in order to observe conditions of detention]. If they notice any irregularity, they shall be entitled to draft a report and send it to the National Assembly so that a solution in compliance with the Paris Agreements can be reached”, Ou Virak detailed.
On top of these important powers would come the right for the Commission, in the event of an obvious case of Human rights violation, to ask the executive power, Ministers and Directors of Departments to suspend civil servants involved in a legal case until the proceedings and investigations are closed. The Commission shall also be able to open investigations without having to wait for complaints to be lodged.

To conclude, the Commission shall also be entitled to give its opinion and recommendations to the government regarding bills or regulations that may possibly affect Human rights, but also regarding the drafting of the annual report addressed to the United Nations concerning the situation of Human rights in Cambodia.

What budget and what means?

With regards to the budget, NGOs demand that it be attributed every year to the Commission, directly via the National Assembly, regardless of the “budget package” given to the government, and after a distinct vote and procedure. Besides, the Commission shall be able to receive financial assistance from donor countries and private support, with the exception of local commercial companies. “The government, for their part, would like to see the Ministry of Economy in charge of the Commission's budget. But if it were the case, it would not be independent and that would, once again, contravene the principles of the Paris Accords put forward by Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen”, Ou Virak explained.

The draft law might suffer a makeover

The list of requirements expressed by the civil society concerning the Commission are far from being insignificant and might well be set aside from the final draft presented to the Council of Ministers, before the latter is discussed by deputies and senators. The procedure has already been delayed... The working group of the civil society, in charge of drafting the bill, sent its text to the Human Rights Committee, a governmental body directed by Om Yintieng, in September 2007, in order to have the authorities' point of view on it. As of today, no official reaction has come from the text although, according to Mak Sambath, deputy chairman of the government's Human Rights Committee, the government would like to create the Commission as soon as possible.

“The government's working group also need to examine the document for the law to be in compliance with the Paris Agreements”, he justified. “The text should suit perfectly. But the civil society still needs some time to make citizens aware of it. Therefore, this task does not depend on the government but on local NGOs in charge of the drafting”, he observed. Not willing to express his views about the three key-matters (independence, power and budget), the high-ranking official simply answered that the Commission would be independent if the law said so. “If the law stipulates that it will be independent, then yes, it will be”, he commented.

NHRC and governmental Human Rights Committee, two different bodies

The Commission will neither be under governmental control nor benefit from the full status of 'non-governmental organisation' but will rather be a hybrid body, different from the existing Human Rights Committee. “By request of the government, the latter takes or interprets cases of Human rights violations. The current Committee is in fact a simple assistant of the government and is not independent”, Ou Virak indicated.

To the deputy chairman of the Human Rights Committee Mak Sambath, the NHRC would rather be a big institution that would cover local Human rights NGOs, parliamentary commissions for Human rights, governmental bodies for Human rights and international relations.

Asean must nudge 2 states [Burma and Cambodia] on rights

Sunday, 16 November 2008
Written by Estrella Torres / Reporter
Business Mirror (The Philippines)

JAKARTA—Former Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) needs to “convince” younger members, particularly Burma and Cambodia, on the importance of adopting a human-rights body as part of its charter, as he expressed pride in having his country adopt that particular provision.

Alatas is Indonesia’s representative to the Asean Eminent Persons Group (EPG) that provided policy advice on the charter.

“I’m happy that Indonesia has finally ratified the Asean charter,” said Alatas, who expressed hopes the charter “will finally be adopted” in the next Asean Summit in Chang Mai, Thailand.

Alatas was interviewed at the sidelines of the recent Asia-Pacific Regional Media Program on Journalism, Politics and Religion here, where he was the keynote speaker.

He said the human rights body has been accepted as essential by members Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei. “But we need to do more convincing of the younger members of Asean.”

He also stressed that the Asean charter is important in helping individual member-countries address the lingering conflict and terrorism, particularly in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, where there is a large presence of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jema’ah Islamiyah and pockets of rebellion and Islamic secessionism.

These lingering problems have “given Asean a bad name,” said Alatas and “it is our hope that [the Asean Charter] will help the governments of Asean address the conflicts in the region.”

Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, secretary-general of Asean, congratulated Indonesia for ratifying the charter. “I would like to thank Indonesia for their support of the Asean Charter process. Counting Indonesia, nine Asean member-states have now deposited their instruments of ratification. We are right on track to have the entry into force of the Asean Charter by the 14th Asean Summit.”

Thailand, now facing political turmoil, is the remaining member that has yet to deposit its instrument of ratification. The Asean Charter will enter into force 30 days after the 10th Asean member deposits its instrument of ratification.

Asean groups the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam.

ASEAN to establish human rights body

Wednesday, January 30, 2008
AFP

MANILA: Human rights commissioners from four Southeast Asian nations began a two-day meeting in Manila Tuesday to try to establish the framework for a regional human rights body. The 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) last year agreed to set up an Asean human rights mechanism as part of its charter. But it did not agree a framework for the establishment of such a mechanism.

The four commissioners will try to work out a way of setting up a rights mechanism that is acceptable to all member states in the diverse regional grouping.

“Among all the regions of the world, it is only Asia that does not have a regional human rights system,” the human rights commissioners said in a joint statement at the start of the closed door meeting Tuesday.

They said there needed to be “a more active engagement in Asean to push for such a mechanism.”

Only four of the Asean countries, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have human rights commissions.

The commissioners said the fact Asia does not have a human rights system in place is “detrimental to the Asian people.”

“It is for the benefit of all that every region has a functioning human rights system so that all can invoke international standards,” the statement said.

During the two-day meeting, the four will discuss terms of reference and joint projects to improve human rights throughout the Asean region where some members, such as Myanmar, have poor records.

Asean members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam last year agreed to establish a regional human rights body, but have to individually ratify the charter for it to come into force.

Rights groups have cautiously welcomed the move, but stressed that time was running out to reverse abuses in rogue state Myanmar, which continues to detain democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

ASEAN sees tough times ahead in setting up human rights body [-Are CLMV authoritarian regimes ready to accept this body?]

Jul 31, 2007
DPA

Manila - South-East Asian nations face tougher negotiations on the timeframe, scope of work and other details of a regional human rights body they had agreed to form under a proposed charter, Malaysia's foreign minister said Tuesday.

Foreign ministers of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed on Monday to form the body despite initial objections by Myanmar, which has been highly criticized for its dismal human rights record.

But the 10-member regional bloc has not reached consensus on when the body would be formed, what scope of work it would have and other details on the setting up of the mechanism.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said he does not expect discussions for the setting up of the human rights body to be easy, but stressed that ASEAN has already taken an important first step.

'From the start, we thought it's going to be a very thorny issue, a difficult issue,' he told a press conference in Manila where annual ASEAN ministerial meetings are being held. 'But ASEAN has to move to the new world. It cannot stay at the old line and keep on putting barriers and obstacles and excuses.'

'This is the first step,' he added. 'The next step is getting it formed. Let us cross the bridge when we come to it. I'm not saying that it is easy.'

Albar said that despite initial objections by Myanmar, the foreign ministers agreed that ASEAN had to include an enabling provision in its proposed charter for the creation of a human rights body to boost its credibility.

'At the end of the day, we must be seen not to be allergic or not supportive of human rights,' he said. 'If for any reason, the human rights provision is not in the charter, then people will think ASEAN is not pro-human rights and that is nonsense.'

'We are for human rights, we are for civil liberties, we want to see democracy, we want to see rule of law, we want to see good governance,' he added.

Albar noted that while everyone in ASEAN support the protection of human rights, 'there are some fears' that the issue is 'being used as a political instrument.

'We need to allay those fears about how it should be,' he said.

The enabling provision of the human rights body has been the most controversial issue in the proposed charter of the ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

Albar said the target for the completion of the draft of the charter was in November at the 13th leaders' summit in Singapore.

'Our target is the November meeting as the date when the leaders will approve the charter,' he said. 'There is a lot of hope and expectation that we should be able to complete it. The rest of it is just a question of formulation and semantics.'

ASEAN Charter to Include Human Rights Commission

By Nancy-Amelia Collins, Voice of America
Manila
30 July 2007

Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed during their annual meeting in Manila to create a human rights body in the draft of ASEAN's first ever charter. VOA correspondent Nancy-Amelia Collins is in the Philippine capital and brings us this report.

The agreement moves the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, closer to having its first charter.

The deal reached Monday by the foreign ministers of the 10 ASEAN members overcame fierce objections from Burma's military government.

Burma, which has long been condemned by many governments, including the European Union and the United States, for its poor human rights record, initially objected to the creation of the human rights commission.

Some other ASEAN members want to avoid close scrutiny of human rights, including Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, which all have authoritarian or single-party governments.

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo says the details will need to be worked out later but confirmed a consensus had been reached to include the rights body in the organization's charter.

"We have to establish a sense of reference and discuss specifics, however, we did establish a human rights body."

ASEAN is drafting its first charter so it can become a more rules-based organization similar to the European Union. The charter, which needs to be ratified during a leader's meeting in November, will bestow a legal identity to ASEAN for international negotiations and transactions.

Among other things, the charter promotes free trade and economic integration and incorporates a 10-year-old treaty banning nuclear weapons in the region.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo stressed the importance of the grouping for regional security.

"Historically the European Union has shown how a region beset by conflict can become a force for peace and security and prosperity," said Arrroyo. "So, too, in our region that has faced many of the same historic divisions. A more united region will aid in the same. ASEAN has proven that it can make a difference for peace and security in Asia."

The ASEAN countries are the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, Laos, Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore.

The foreign ministers will spend the next two days meeting with other Asian nations and leading partners, including the U.S., before holding the ASEAN Regional Forum on Thursday.

ASEAN ministers take up Myanmar

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (C) walks with Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo (L) and Foreign Ministers of participant countries before the opening ceremony of the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Manila July 30, 2007. From L-R: Romulo, Malaysia's Hamid Syed Albar, Arroyo, Cambodia's Hor Namhong, Myanmar's U Nyan Win, Singapore's George Yeo and Indonesia's Hassan Wirajuda. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

Monday, July 30, 2007
Raju Gopalakrishnan

MANILA (Reuters) - Southeast Asian foreign ministers began a meeting on Monday that will focus on how to deal with military-ruled Myanmar, whose dismal human rights record is diverting attention from the bloc's efforts at economic integration.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo inaugurated the annual ministerial meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) but did not specifically mention Myanmar or human rights, an issue that has divided the group.

"An ASEAN community is going to be anchored first and foremost on economic integration, with a focus on social justice and raising the standard of living in the region," she said. "It is about creating a dynamic force in Asia to maximize the benefit of globalisation."globalization

ASEAN's goal is to achieve economic integration among its 10 members by 2015 but the task looks difficult with nations at differing stages of development. Singapore for example is one of the richest nations in Asia while Laos is among the poorest.

The bloc is also under a cloud over Myanmar and its military regime. The European Union, which ASEAN hopes to emulate, and the United States have criticized the Asian group for failing to bring enough pressure on Myanmar to restore democracy and free Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

That, however, may be changing. At an informal dinner on Sunday, many of the ASEAN ministers sharply criticized Myanmar.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said the host nation was joined by several other countries in calling for the restoration of democracy in the former Burma and the release of Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since May 2003.

IMPATIENCE

"I sense there is impatience, there is frustration," Romulo told reporters. "So we urged Myanmar in the spirit of ASEAN that they should accelerate the process of the roadmap to democracy.

"This will not only benefit the people of Myanmar, but our own credibility as ASEAN will be enhanced."

It was a major departure from tradition for ASEAN, which usually avoids commenting on the internal affairs of member states.

ASEAN diplomats have also blamed Myanmar for blocking an attempt by the group to set up a human rights commission under a landmark charter that it is preparing.

A task force drafting the charter has completed the first version but left out a provision creating a human rights body. The issue will now be decided by the foreign ministers, the diplomats said.

The first draft, a copy of which was shown to Reuters, agreed to maintain the bloc's traditional way of deciding issues through a consensus and made no mention of sanctions for member states guilty of serious violations of the charter.

These issues have polarized ASEAN, with the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia among those pushing for a human rights body and for a departure from ASEAN's time-honored consensus diplomacy.

Myanmar is among those blocking the moves, while Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, which all have one-party governments, are also not comfortable with the ideas, diplomats have said.

Singapore and Brunei make up the rest of the grouping.

Analysts however say that the idea of an ASEAN human rights code will be difficult to achieve given the differing interpretations of the term within the group and stricter anti-terrorism laws across the region.

"The best that ASEAN can achieve in its landmark charter is a best-efforts pledge to work for adherence to human rights," said columnist Ana Marie Pamintuan in the Philippine Star newspaper.

"The charter provision will have to be vaguely worded or several laws used to fight terrorism could be considered violations."

(Additional reporting by Manny Mogato)

Myanmar blocks ASEAN [human rights] charter

Saturday, July 28, 2007
Pia Lee-Brago
AP

Myanmar has objected to a proposal to create a regional human rights body under a charter being drafted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), two diplomats said yesterday.

Backed by the Philippines and other liberal member states, the proposal is among the few remaining contentious issues holding up approval of the draft ASEAN charter, the diplomats said.

The diplomats, who were helping draft the charter, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

ASEAN has decided to draft a charter to become a more rules-based organization with better bargaining power in international negotiations.

It hopes the charter can be signed at an annual ASEAN leaders’ summit in November.

A high-level ASEAN task force has completed about 95 percent of the work and plans to submit a final draft to the region’s foreign ministers at a meeting in Manila on Monday.

“We’re working on it,” ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong said.

Enshrining human rights protection in the charter has been a touchy issue because some ASEAN countries have spotty rights records, such as military-ruled Myanmar.

Diplomats have agreed to guarantee the protection of human rights in the current draft charter, but Myanmar rejected a proposal to specifically mention creation of a rights commission, the two diplomats said.

A draft of the charter calls for the “respect of fundamental freedoms, the promotion and protection of human rights and the promotion of social justice,” but made no mention of a human rights body.

Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Thursday the government wanted the creation of such a body guaranteed by the charter to give ASEAN “more credibility in the international community.”

Thailand and Indonesia have also raised the need for such a rights body in the past but other ASEAN members have opposed it.

Some ASEAN members fear such a commission could allow scrutiny of rights conditions in one country, possibly violating the group’s cardinal policy of noninterference in each other’s affairs.

Meanwhile, the Philippines will push its agenda of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting starting tomorrow.

Romulo said an important key to regional and global security and stability is ridding the world of the scourge of nuclear weapons.

Several topics with a nuclear dimension will be taken up during the meetings.

Romulo said the liberation of the Korean peninsula from nuclear weapons, as well as the nuclear issues involving Iran, will also be taken up in the AMM.

Romulo said another important meeting will be the historic first gathering of the Commission for the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone which he will chair.

“During this meeting, we will chart the future course in implementing the SEANWFZ Treaty through the adoption of a Plan of Action,” he said.

Romulo said the SEANWFZ entered into force in 1997 and all ASEAN states are parties to the treaty.

“Part of ASEAN’s advocacy in the meetings here in Manila, is to encourage the five nuclear weapons states to adhere to the Protocol of the SEANWFZ or Bangkok Treaty,” he said.

Romulo said the ASEAN Regional Forum participants will adopt an ARF Statement on the Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1540.

“We must continue to implement Resolution 1540 in order to ensure that weapons of mass destruction do not spread, and that non-state actors are denied access to weapons of mass destruction or to materials that can be used to produce these weapons,” he said.

Romulo will also chair the Ministerial Meeting of the Southwest Pacific Dialogue that brings together some members of the Bangkok Treaty (the Philippines, Indonesia) and the Treaty of Rarotonga or the South Pacific Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty (Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea) to discuss the importance of continuing to work for nuclear disarmament.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

It admitted Myanmar in 1997 despite strong opposition from Western nations.

ASEAN Human rights body not ready to castigate rulers

03/06/2007
Human rights body not ready to castigate rulers

By Barbara Mae Dacanay,
Bureau Chief
Gulf News (UAE)

Manila: The human rights body being set up by the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian nations (Asean) is not yet ready to castigate rulers that spawn political killings and the indefinite incarceration of democracy fighters, senior Philippine diplomats told Gulf News.

The proposed human rights body is not yet geared to pressure the military rulers of Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi, said a foreign affairs official who requested anonymity.

It will also not pressure the Philippine government to stop ongoing political killings, now estimated at more than 830 since President Gloria Arroyo came to power in 2001, the official added.

"Leaders of the 10 Asean countries have ratified only two human rights issues that the proposed body could handle," said Ambassador Rosario Manalo, head of the task force that is drafting the Asean Charter, which will be the guideline in establishing Asean's human rights body.

Treaties

The 10 Asean countries have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) and the United Nations International Convention on the Rights of the Child, said Manalo.

"The two UN rights treaties would be used as a term of reference in formulating the Asean Charter," said Manalo, adding this will help pave the way for establishment of the Asean human rights body.

Manalo's draft will be presented to the meeting of Asean foreign ministers in Manila next month.

"By August, we will do some legal scrubbing," said Manalo, when asked if censures on erring Asean countries would be aired in the proposed Asean charter.

"Asean is expected to go forward and beyond its initial commitment to the two UN human rights treaties," explained Manalo.

"Asean's efforts in creating a body to uphold human rights would be a laughing stock if it does not tackle relevant political issues that are happening in the region," Manalo added.

- With inputs by Estrella Terroes, Correspondent