Asean Charter Drafted: Human Rights Body Expected to be One of the Organs

Finished with the drafting of the ASEAN Charter, the high level task force pose together one last time.

The High Level Task Force (HLTF) on the Drafting of the ASEAN Charter has concluded its work of drafting the Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Aside from giving ASEAN its legal personality, the ASEAN Charter moves ASEAN from a loosely-organized regional body towards a more rules-based organization.

One of the expected and much anticipated key feature of the ASEAN Charter is the establishment on an ASEAN human rights body as an organ of ASEAN. During the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Manila last July 2007, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers agreed to include a provision in the ASEAN Charter that mandates the creation of a human rights body. ¹

In one of the Philippine consultations conducted by Ambassador Rosario Manalo, Philippine HLTF member and former chair of the HLTF, shared that the article on the human rights body will be worded as follows: “In conformity with the purposes and principles of the ASEAN Charter relating to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, ASEAN shall establish an ASEAN human rights body.”

The establishment of an ASEAN human rights body, however, is not automatic. The powers, functions, mandate, as well as details of such body, depends on the terms of reference (TOR) that still has to be drawn up.

“The incorporation of a human rights body as an organ of ASEAN is expected to be a breakthrough for human rights in this region and we very much welcome this development. In order to ensure that this becomes an effective tool to promote and protect human rights, the peoples of ASEAN should make known to our leaders that what we want is a body with teeth, and not only a paper tiger,” said Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism (Working Group) Secretary-General Carlos Medina.

Malaysian Working Group Chair Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy said that a TOR and a timeframe for completion for the proposed human rights body must also be drawn as soon as the Charter is signed. “ASEAN civil society must push their leaders to adopt a TOR and time frame without delay so that the human rights body may be established soonest. Without this commitment, we will be aiming too high but achieve nothing,” he expressed.

As part of its principles and purposes, ASEAN has committed in the Charter to “strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law, and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, with due regard to the rights and responsibilities of the Member States of ASEAN,” by upholding the United Nations Charter and international law, including international humanitarian law, and taking into consideration the goal of having a “people-oriented” ASEAN.

It can be recalled that the decisions to establish an ASEAN Charter are contained in the Vientiane Action Programme, the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Charter and the Cebu Declaration on the Blueprint of the ASEAN Charter.

To prepare for the drafting of the Charter, ASEAN established an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) to examine and provide practical recommendations on the directions and nature of the ASEAN Charter. The EPG Recommendations became one of the sources for the provisions of the Charter, together with existing legal commitments of ASEAN, decisions of the ASEAN leaders, guidance by the ASEAN foreign ministers, and results of the consultations conducted by the HLTF.

The HLTF started its work right after the 12th ASEAN Summit in Manila with Ambassador Manalo as chair. Professor Tommy Koh (HLTF member of Singapore) took over as soon as the chairmanship of ASEAN was turned over to Singapore.

The ASEAN Charter is expected to be signed by the ASEAN leaders during the 13th ASEAN Summit 18-21 November 2007 in Singapore.

The Working Group has been advocating for the establishment of an ASEAN human rights mechanism since 1996, pursuant to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Joint Communiqué in 1993 in Singapore wherein they “agreed that ASEAN should also consider the establishment of an appropriate regional mechanism on human rights.”

The Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism has been meeting with ASEAN, through its senior officials, since 1996. As early as 1999, ASEAN urged the Working Group to present a proposal for an appropriate human rights regional mechanism. After a series of expert meetings and consultations, the Working Group recommended the establishment of a regional human rights commission to ASEAN as the appropriate mechanism. Thus, during the meeting with the ASEAN Senior Officials in Bangkok in 2000, the Working Group submitted a working document entitled Draft Agreement for the Establishment of the ASEAN Human Rights Commission for the consideration of ASEAN.

 

¹ Statement of Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, chairman of the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, regarding the meeting between the ASEAN Foreign Ministers and the High Level Task Force on the Drafting of the ASEAN Charter.