HLP Dialogues with
Representatives of Regional Human Rights Systems
In line with its mandate to draft a terms of reference
(ToR) that will establish a human rights body appropriate
within the context of ASEAN, the High Level Panel (HLP)
on an ASEAN human rights body exchanged views and experiences
with representatives of regional human rights systems
in Africa, the Americas and Europe. The dialogue took
place during the HLP’s 11th meeting in Geneva, Switzerland
on 19-21 April 2009, which was organized by the Office
of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR).
Prof. Jeremy McBride who spoke of the European Human
Rights System, likened its historical development to the
ASEAN-espoused evolutionary approach on the AHRB which
gradually advanced to where it is now.” On the African
human rights system, Prof. Christof Heyns pointed out
the adherence of the African Union to the principle of
non-interference by any member state in the internal affairs
of another, and yet the African Union has an existing
human rights commission and human rights court. Prof.
Christina Cerna shared that even the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights underwent an evolutionary process that
started with on-site visits upon the request of member
states and later on to its acceptance of individual petitions.
She also emphasized that “the work of the Inter-American
system is subsidiary to the national system and that the
most important requisite for admissibility of a petition
is the exhaustion of domestic remedies.”
Maximizing the opportunity of learning about the different
human rights systems, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation
also organized an information briefing of the HLP on some
of different human rights mechanisms in the Council of
Europe, including the European Committee for the Prevention
of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(CPT) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR),
on22-24 April 2009 in Strasbourg, France.
The HLP representatives found the capacity of the CPT
to visit any place of detention and produce a report on
its findings remarkable and interesting. They noted further
that the existence of other human rights bodies in the
region, such as the ECtHR do not limit the investigative
powers of the CPT.
Ray Paolo Santiago, Program Manager of the Working Group
for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanisms who accompanied the
HLP delegation, observed that “it is amazing to
see and learn how European human rights mechanisms have
evolved in a way that allows its member-states to improve
its national human rights promotion and protection. The
CPT, for example, has paved the way, thorough its visits,
for some Council of Europe member-states to improve their
prison facilities in such a way that it will not be violating
its prisoners’ human rights. These unhindered visits
of the members of the CPT to the member-states demonstrate
their political will in addressing human rights issues
in their region.”
The information briefing in Strasbourg was attended by
HLP participants from Brunei, Indonesia, Lao P.D.R., Malaysia,
the Philippines and Thailand, as well as members of the
ASEAN Secretariat.
