ASEAN 'must establish regional mechanism on human rights'

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta

Southeast Asian nations must continue their endeavors to establish and develop a network of human rights mechanisms, the participants of a regional workshop said on Friday.

At the two-day gathering, which was attended by government officials, human rights activists, non-governmental organizations and scholars, the possibility of forming a regional mechanism on human rights was discussed at length. The meeting also focused on setting up a joint working group, an eminent persons group, and a regional commission for the promotion and protection of the rights of women and children.

Human rights and fundamental freedoms -- including civil liberties -- are the hallmarks of a democratic society. However, participants agreed that human rights was not the only issue that needed to be addressed. In a world that so recently experienced terror attacks, including in Bali, Jakarta and Madrid, security too was a crucial concern.

That is why the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted the ASEAN Security Community (ASC) concept during its Bali summit last year.

Marty A. Natalegawa, director-general for ASEAN cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stressed that the recognition of a need for an ASEAN Security Community had alerted ASEAN to slow progress in the realization of a regional mechanism on human rights.

"The more ASEAN governments and societies are committed to the establishment of an ASEAN Security Community (ASC), the more we can be assured that an effective regional mechanism will be formed to promote and protect human rights," Marty said on Friday.

The formation of an ASC and the establishment of an ASEAN Regional Mechanism on Human Rights must be regarded as complimentary endeavors, said secretary-general of the foreign ministry Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat.

"A government's commitment to the Security Commitment may also be seen as a commitment to the conscientious promotion and protection of the human rights of its citizens," Sudjadnan said in his closing remarks on Friday at the workshop.

Another participant said that progress on the planned regional human rights mechanism was relatively slow.

"We have to admit that, in terms of a substantive agreement among the ASEAN governments in establishing the proposed regional mechanism, and in taking concrete action in various fields, progress so far has been decidedly slow," Ali Alatas, former Indonesian foreign minister told participants on Friday.

The meeting's recommendations will be presented to the forthcoming ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting to be held on June 28 in Jakarta.