PWG Popularizes ASEAN Charter, Consults with Grassroots for Human Rights Body

 

Back to basics: WG Program Manager Arpee Santiago introduces the ASEAN

The Philippine Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism (PWG), together with member organizations Philippine Alliance for Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) and the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), held the first of a series of consultations in Manila on June 10, 2008 on the regional human rights body that the ASEAN Charter promises.

AIt brought together about 50 civil society organizations working on human rights to acquaint them with ASEAN and the implications of the ASEAN Charter on the lives of people in Southeast Asia. The consultation then sought their suggestions on what the ASEAN human rights body- should be like.

Participants said that they want the ASEAN human rights body to be able to investigate, monitor, and report. While they acknowledge that it will be governments who will ultimately appoint the members of the ASEAN human rights body, they want the process of appointment to be transparent and consultative. Lastly, they highlighted that the ASEAN human rights body can be “truly in the service of ASEAN peoples” if it maintains close ties to domestic institutions such as national human rights commissions and civil society groups.

The PWG will be holding three more national consultations in the cities of Manila, Cebu, and Davao. Outputs will then be compiled and submitted for the consideration of the soon-to-be-created High-Level Panel which will draft the terms of reference which will spell out the scope and powers of the ASEAN human rights body.