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
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
2 comments:
I am okay with the Burmese rulers
so long they don't have self-
interest, but the interest
protecting the burmese people
from self-destruction, culture,
and tradition ... . No one else
will cared more for them than the
Burmese officials themselves.
LOL, hahaha, Global Witness think
that women love to invest in
lumbers and woods, hahaha, LOL,
hahaha. What is a joke?
Post a Comment