Gains for Human Rights Reported in 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting

The issue of human rights took center-stage at the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in Manila, Philippines when ASEAN Foreign Ministers made the historic decision to include a provision for the creation of a regional human rights body in the ASEAN Charter. The Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism (Working Group), which has been advocating the establishment of such a mechanism since 1993, hailed the decision as a pivotal and critical development.

The Working Group was also kept busy during the days leading up to the AMM with a series of meetings, the most significant of which was the meeting with the ASEAN Senior Officials Troika on July 29, 2007, to review its efforts to help in the implementation of four program areas on human rights in the Vientiane Action Programme (VAP), as well as developments in the initiative to set up an ASEAN human rights mechanism.

Mr. Marzuki Darusman, Working Group co-chair and head of delegation, gave the ASEAN senior officials an overview of the progress of their activities since the Working Group was given the assignment at an earlier meeting on the occasion of the 38th AMM.

On the establishment of a commission on the promotion and protection of the rights of women and children, Dr. Sripapha Petcharamesree, chair of the Thai Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism, presented the initial findings of the ongoing research on the readiness of ASEAN countries for such a commission, and shared the recommendations of the Working Group with the ASEAN senior officials. The main recommendation made was to constitute within 3 months after the AMM, a Joint Task Force (JTF) to draft the appropriate instrument to establish the commission. The JTF can be composed of senior officials appointed by ASEAN governments, representatives of the Working Group, ASEAN-ISIS and other civil society groups, as well as women and children rights experts.

On the elaboration of an ASEAN instrument for the protection and promotion of the rights of migrant workers, the Working Group proposed that the “relevant ASEAN bodies” mentioned in paragraph 22 of the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers must be identified as soon as possible and that a meeting (possibly a Roundtable Discussion which the Working Group may organize) of the “relevant ASEAN bodies” be convened to follow up on the Declaration and to develop an ASEAN instrument on the protection and promotion of the rights of migrant workers.

On the promotion of human rights awareness and education in ASEAN, the Working Group reported that they have consulted with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) on this issue. The Working Group also noted that ASEAN member-countries and ASEAN itself can promote human rights awareness and education following three phases: (1) awareness-raising; (2) integration, where human rights/good governance standards are integrated into programs and policies; and (3) sustainability, where human rights is used as a tool in governance to transform governments and/or ASEAN into a human rights respecting community and to infuse the public service sector with the culture of human rights.

Finally, on the VAP’s call for networking among ASEAN national human rights institutions (NHRIs), the Working Group reported that the NHRIs of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand have signed a Declaration of Cooperation for joint programs and activities on human rights. The NHRIs, also known as the “ASEAN Four”, first explored the feasibility of a network during a 2nd Workshop for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism. The ASEAN Four and the Working Group have resolved to assist other ASEAN countries in establishing their own NHRIs and are currently supporting the ongoing initiative in Cambodia.

ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong noted the Working Group’s progress and suggested ways by which ASEAN and the Working Group can support each other. “We (ASEAN secretariat) can serve as your resource persons. From your side, you can encourage parliamentarians to see the bigger picture, especially on the issue of women and children’s rights. The Working Group can also enjoin other members of civil society to be on the same page as ASEAN”.

The Working Group stressed that the decisive steps in the implementation of the human rights program areas of the VAP will come from the ASEAN member-states. As such, it requested the senior officials for a more definite timeline for the implementation of the human rights program areas.

For its part, the Working Group will be continuously updating ASEAN on its progress in implementing the human rights program areas in the VAP. One opportunity to do this will be during the 7th Workshop on the ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism in 2008. “We are happy to host this activity,” said Singapore’s senior official, Mr. Peter Ho Hak Ean, in response to a comment made by Philippine Working Group chair, former Senator Wigberto Tañada, that the annual workshops of the Working Group have been co-organized and co-hosted by whichever ASEAN member state is Chair of ASEAN since 2004. Singapore assumed the ASEAN chairmanship on August 2, 2007. Read the Working Group Statement on the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Consensus for a Human Rights Commission in the ASEAN Charter" here.