CIVIL society organizations from the 10-member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) are proposing a review and amendments to the terms of reference (TOR) of the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).
CIVIL society organizations from the 10-member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) are proposing a review and amendments to the terms of reference (TOR) of the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).
The recommendations, according to Daniel Awigra of the Jakarta-based Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), were achieved following the third regional civil society meeting attended by 30 civil society organizations from 10 Asean member countries in Jakarta early this week. The set of recommendations will be presented to the Asean Ministers Meeting (AMM).
The recommendations were handed over Wednesday to Indonesian Foreign Minister DR. R.M. Marty Natalegawa in Jakarta. He is expected to submit the document to the Asean foreign ministers. But the document is hoped to be submitted to the 47th Asean Ministers Meeting in Nay Phy Daw, Myanmar in August.
Yuyun Wahyuningrum, senior advisor on Asean and Human Rights for Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), said the willingness of Minister Natalegawa to engage with CSOs in a dialogue sets a good example of a people-oriented Asean bloc.
She hopes that AICHR will come out as a “credible and strong human rights mechanism with protection mandate.”
“This is the time for AICHR to evolve through the review and amendment,” she said. “Denying the possible development of AICHR means denying justice for the victims of human rights in the region. That would be unacceptable”.
Wahyuningrum said AICHR must truly address “human rights issues in the region, such as the Rohingya crisis, the disappearance of Sombath Somphone of Laos, or the arrest of journalists, activists and academes during the military coup in Thailand.”
