ASEAN mechanism on human rights hits snag
ASEAN mechanism on human rights hits snag
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta
A session of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) to discuss the establishment of a
regional mechanism on human rights hit a snag as several member
countries appeared to be reluctant about moving forward with the
idea.
Proposals from the regional grouping of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) for the establishment of an ASEAN commission
on human rights and another on an Eminent Persons Group to
monitor rights implementations received little response from
member countries at the session.
"Only four countries -- Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the
Philippines -- agreed to conduct further discussions on the two
issues," the foreign ministry's director of human rights
humanitarian and socio-cultural affairs, I Gusti Wesaka Pudja,
told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
The four countries are the only ones among the 10 ASEAN
members that have national human rights commissions.
He said the discussion would be held in October with Thailand
hosting.
"Ideally, we should have an institution that ensures the
protection of all ASEAN citizens with a sufficient mandate from
each government to do so," Pudja said.
As the outgoing ASEAN president, Indonesia highlighted the
importance of taking further steps on promoting human rights in
the region, referring to the 1993 Vienna Convention underlining
the importance of all United Nations member countries to have a
national human rights commission.
The issue was raised at a recent human rights workshop held by
ASEAN NGOs in Jakarta, when the establishment of a regional human
rights commission was also proposed.
"This is not a new proposal, and all member countries have
shared the commitment for more than 10 years. We simply want to
take the commitment to the next level," Pudja remarked.
He said some countries had used their lack of a national
rights commission and the policy of non-interference in domestic
affairs as reasons to delay the talks.
"The authority and responsibility of a proposed regional
commission are always a subject of discussion, and of course we
respect the sovereignty of each member country," he stressed.
ASEAN members have so far agreed to sign a declaration on the
elimination of violence against women in the region.
"This is a good beginning to secure a political commitment
from all member countries on human rights. We had hoped that
ASEAN could actually move further on the issue," Pudja said.
A Singaporean diplomat told the Post that the absence of a
national commission on human rights did justify a country's
reconsidering the proposal for an ASEAN commission.
"Not just that, there has been no official proposal from the
forum to establish such commission. So how can we be against an
idea that has not even been proposed yet," he said.