3rd Workshop for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism
The Third Workshop on the ASEAN Regional Mechanism on
Human Rights was held in Bangkok, Thailand last May 27
to 29, 2003. It was co-organized and co-hosted by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand,
the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, and
the Working Group. Participants representing governments,
national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations
and academic institutions of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand,
including a representative from the ASEAN Secretariat
were present during the event. Also in attendance as guests
and observers were representatives of other countries,
various international and regional institutions, civil
society groups and funding agencies, particularly the
Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the Asia Foundation.
The Workshop was divided into five sessions. These were:
(1) Report on Developments and Stocktaking of Efforts
Towards the Establishment of the ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism;
(2) Human Rights Policies, Practices and Related Functional
Cooperation in ASEAN; (3) Cooperation on Issues of Common
Concern in the ASEAN Region; (4) Plenary Discussion on
the Draft Concept Paper on the ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism;
and (5) Moving Forward: Summarizing and Identifying Practical
Steps for Further Cooperation.
The Workshop decided that the following steps be specifically
undertaken: request ASEAN-ISIS to review the draft
agreement for the establishment of an ASEAN Human Rights
Commission; work towards the establishment of
an Eminent Persons’ Group; support
the coordination and networking activities of the National
Human Rights Institutions; form a team to identify
and study activities and programs under the Functional
Cooperation framework of ASEAN; expand the basis of activities
of the initiative by involving the support of the United
Nations and other International Agencies; and continue
the step-by-step, multi-track approach towards establishing
a regional human rights mechanism in line with ASEAN
Vision 2020 and its present and future Plans of Action.
Click
here to download Summary of Workshop Proceedings
