41st Ministerial Meeting: ASEAN Acknowledges Working Group’s Efforts

 

Foreign Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) closed the 41st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in Singapore on July 21, 2008 with the release of a Joint Communiqué, a document which summed up their discussions. Among issues like regional security, narrowing the development gap, and disaster management, the Joint Communiqué mentioned steps taken for the ASEAN Charter and human rights in the region. On this issue, the Foreign Ministers acknowledged the role of the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism:

“…We reaffirmed our commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights. We set up the High Level Panel on an ASEAN human rights body, and endorsed its Terms of Reference. We look forward to the High Level Panel’s submission of its first draft of the Terms of Reference of an ASEAN human rights body at the 14th ASEAN Summit in December 2008 for our guidance and direction. We noted the reports of the 7th Workshop on ASEAN Regional Human Rights Mechanism in Singapore on 12-13 June 2008 and the Workshop on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Bali on 15-17 May 2008. We further noted the work carried out by the non-governmental Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism, including the meeting between the open-ended SOM Troika and the Working Group on the sidelines of the 41st AMM with the objective of facilitating the implementation of the activities under the promotion of the human rights component of the Vientiane Action Programme (VAP).”

Previous ASEAN Joint Communiqués trace the growth of the initiative for a regional human rights mechanism. The formation of the fledgling Working Group and its dialogues with ASEAN was first recognized by the Joint Communiqué of the 31st AMM a decade ago. The Foreign Ministers then noted with appreciation, in the Joint Communiqué of the 33rd AMM, the consultations between the Working Group and ASEAN Senior Officials. They also acknowledged the birth of national human rights institutions in some ASEAN member-states. Foreign Ministers would later affirm their support, in subsequent Joint Communiqués, for the creation of the VAP (a 6 year action plan which includes four action points for human rights in the region) and noted the activities implemented by the Working Group to facilitate this. Finally, Foreign Ministers used the Joint Communiqué of the 40th AMM - to pledge their support for the ASEAN Charter which, among other things, promised for the creation of an “ASEAN human rights body”. The ASEAN Charter was adopted by Heads of State six months after, a move that would allow the drafting process for the terms of reference that will define the ASEAN human rights body to commence.

The full length of the 41st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting Joint Communiqué may be viewed here.