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MANILA: Human rights commissioners from four Southeast Asian nations
began a two-day meeting in Manila Tuesday to try to establish the
framework for a regional human rights body. The 10-nation
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) last year agreed to
set up an Asean human rights mechanism as part of its charter. But
it did not agree a framework for the establishment of such a
mechanism.
The four commissioners will try to work out a
way of setting up a rights mechanism that is acceptable to all
member states in the diverse regional grouping.
“Among all the regions of the world, it is
only Asia that does not have a regional human rights system,” the
human rights commissioners said in a joint statement at the start of
the closed door meeting Tuesday.
They said there needed to be “a more active
engagement in Asean to push for such a mechanism.”
Only four of the Asean countries, Philippines,
Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have human rights commissions.
The commissioners said the fact Asia does not
have a human rights system in place is “detrimental to the Asian
people.”
“It is for the benefit of all that every
region has a functioning human rights system so that all can invoke
international standards,” the statement said.
During the two-day meeting, the four will
discuss terms of reference and joint projects to improve human
rights throughout the Asean region where some members, such as
Myanmar, have poor records.
Asean members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam
last year agreed to establish a regional human rights body, but have
to individually ratify the charter for it to come into force.
Rights groups have cautiously welcomed the move,
but stressed that time was running out to reverse abuses in rogue
state Myanmar, which continues to detain democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi.
-- AFP
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