Dialogue with ASEAN Senior Officials

On June 14, 2003 the Working Group met with ASEAN Senior Officials on the occasion of the 36th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) as part of its efforts to engage ASEAN on the initiative for a regional human rights mechanism. The Working Group formally submitted a document to ASEAN outlining its Plan of Action. It was also noted that 10 years have passed since the 1993 AMM when ASEAN first expressed its intention to set up a regional human rights mechanism. The Senior Officials were informed of its initiatives and proposals, particularly the results of the Third Workshop in Bangkok; the proposal for an ASEAN Commission on Women and Children; the need for a concept paper on the regional mechanism to be drafted jointly by ASEAN, the Working Group, and ASEAN-ISIS; the plan to set up an Eminent Person Group; the proposal for the creation of a Southeast Asian Institute on Human Rights; and the designation of a contact person on human rights within ASEAN to allow the Working Group to have continuous contact with ASEAN.

The Working Group also asked ASEAN to clarify and confirm its mandate for ASEAN-ISIS to review the Working Group’s proposal for the creation of an ASEAN Human Rights Commission. The Senior Officials were also informed of the training workshop the Working Group co-organized with the Lao PDR Ministry of Foreign Affairs on International Law and Human Rights Law on June 10 to 14, 2003 at Thalat, Vientiane Province.

The senior official from Cambodia, who is the chair of ASEAN SOM, said that in the Joint Communiqué, ASEAN foreign ministers will reaffirm ASEAN’s commitment to consider the establishment of an appropriate regional human rights mechanism, but stressed that the process is gradual.

The Indonesian senior official pointed out that ASEAN also has human rights commitments as expressed in documents like the ASEAN Vision 2020 and the Hanoi Plan of Action, despite the fact that some ASEAN countries are concerned with the interference in internal affairs which a regional mechanism will cause. He suggested for ASEAN governments to take the initiative to hold workshops on regional cooperation in human rights, focusing on the Hanoi Plan of Action and its implementation. Furthermore, he said that the Working Group’s Plan of Action is good and focused, and that the proposals for an Eminent Persons Group and a regional human rights institute are worth considering seriously.

The representative of Thailand declared that his country agrees in principle to the creation of an appropriate human rights mechanism in the region. In view of this, the Malaysian delegate expressed that the goal of a regional human rights mechanism is worth pursuing and suggested to encourage the establishment of a national human rights institution in each ASEAN country. The Working Group responded to this by referring to the previous meeting with ASEAN officials in Kuala Lumpur in which ASEAN said that there was no need to wait for such before a regional mechanism could be discussed.

Finally, the ASEAN Secretary General said that ASEAN is waiting for ASEAN-ISIS to make recommendations to ASEAN SOM on the Working Group’s proposal to establish an ASEAN Human Rights Commission.