Advanced search
Publication Cover
The International Journal of Human Rights Volume 23, 2019 - Issue 6
Submit an article Journal homepage
687
Views
2
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Promotional versus protective design: the case of the Asean intergovernmental commission on human rights

Hao Duy PhanCentre for International Law, National University of Singapore, SingaporeCorrespondence[email protected]
ORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5617-6844
ORCID Icon
Pages 915-937 | Received 15 Aug 2018, Accepted 10 Dec 2018, Published online: 21 Jan 2019
 
Sample our Politics & International Relations journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the role of international human rights institutions and their designs by bringing to bear evidence from the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). It draws attention to the distinction between the protective and the promotional design aspects of this institution, showing that the AICHR is, by design, not a protective mechanism. The paper argues, however, that the significance of the AICHR’s promotional function should not be dismissed. The paper identifies a number of promotional initiatives that the AICHR has undertaken in its first ten years of operation, including developing regional human rights standards, spreading human rights norms and facilitating dialogues and debates across ASEAN on the rights of women, children and persons with disabilities. The promotional work of the Commission, albeit still limited in scope, can provide the initial foundation for the long-term goal of building a protective human rights mechanism for Southeast Asia.

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Damian Chalmers for his comments. The views expressed here and all errors are of the author's own.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Hao Duy Phan is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore. His research covers a range of topics, including human rights, law of the sea, international dispute settlement, international organisations, ASEAN law and policy, and treaty law and practice. Hao Duy Phan was previously a legal expert at the Department of International Law and Treaties, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, and a visiting research fellow at the East-West Center in Washing-ton D.C. and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. He has published many books and peer reviewed articles on various topics of international law. Hao Duy Phan earned his BA in International Law from the Institute for International Relations in Vietnam, his LLM summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame Law School, and his SJD from the American University Washington College of Law.

Notes

1 On the impact of international human rights institutions, see Darren G. Hawkins, ‘Explaining Costly International Institutions: Persuasion and Enforceable Human Rights Norms’, International Studies Quarterly 48 (2004): 779–804; Beth Simmons, Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2009); Emilie Hafner-Burton, ‘International Human Rights Regimes’, Annual Review of Political Science 15 (2012): 265–86; Geir Ulfstein and Helen Keller, United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies (Cambridge University Press, 2012); Ryan Goodman and Derek Jinks, Socializing States: Promoting Human Rights through International Law (Oxford University Press, 2013), and Yonatan Lupu, ‘Legislative Veto Players and the Effects of International Human Rights Agreements’, American Journal of Political Science 59 (2015): 578–94. On the relationship between institutional design and institutional impact, see Leslie Johns, ‘Depth versus Rigidity in the Design of International Trade Agreements’, Journal of Theoretical Politics 26 (2013): 468–95; David Bearce, Cody Eldredge, and Brandy Jolliff, ‘Does Institutional Design Matter? A Study of Trade Effectiveness and PTA Flexibility/Rigidity’, International Studies Quarterly 60 (2016): 307–16 and Jana von Stein, ‘Making Promises, Keeping Promises: Democracy, Ratification and Compliance in International Human Rights Law’, British Journal of Political Science 46 (2016): 655–79.

2 See Andrea Durbach, Catherine Renshaw, and Andrew C. Byrnes, ‘“A Tongue but No Teeth?”: The Emergence of a Regional Human Rights Mechanism in the Asia Pacific Region’, The Sydney Law Review 31 (2009): 211; ‘Asean’s Toothless Council’, Wall Street Journal, July 22, 2009; ‘ASEAN Human Rights Commission “Toothless”: NGOs’, The Jakarta Post, May 8, 2012; Naila Maier-Knapp, ‘AICHR in October 2015 – Change or Continuity in the Diplomatic Club?’, Asia Pacific Bulletin 324 (7 October 2015).

3 For an overview of the diversity in human rights views among ASEAN member states, see Hao Duy Phan, ‘The Legal Framework of Human Rights Protection in Southeast Asia’, in A Selective Approach to Establishing a Human Rights Mechanism in Southeast Asia: The Case for a Southeast Asian Court of Human Rights (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2012), 42–90.

4 With the end of the Cold War, the development of international human rights norms, the proliferation of CSOs, and political changes in some member states, ASEAN was able to start addressing human rights cooperation, mainly on the promotion of the rights of women, children and immigrant workers.

5 Joint Communique of the 26th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, 24 July 1993, http://asean.org/?static_post=joint-communique-of-the-twenty-sixth-asean-ministerial-meeting-singapore-23-24-july-1993. The 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action emphasises ‘the need to [establish] regional and sub-regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights where they do not already exist’.

6 The Working Group is an informal non-governmental coalition that was formed in 1995 to engage with regional governments to establish an ASEAN human rights mechanism. In 2000, when the Working Group submitted to ASEAN a draft agreement on the establishment of such a mechanism, ASEAN did not have any specific responses except for noting the consultations between the two sides. See Hao Duy Phan, ‘The Evolution towards an ASEAN Human Rights Body’, Asia-Pacific Journal of Human Rights and the Law 9, no. 1 (2008).

7 For an overview of the economics-first argument and the Asian values school of human rights, see Li-ann Thio, ‘Implementing Human Rights in ASEAN Countries: “Promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep”’, Yale Human Rights and Development Journal 2, no. 1 (1999).

8 Final Declaration of the Regional Meeting for Asia of the World Conference on Human Rights, 2 April 1993, https://www.hurights.or.jp/archives/other_documents/section1/1993/04/final-declaration-of-the-regional-meeting-for-asia-of-the-world-conference-on-human-rights.html. The Meeting was participated by Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, China, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.

9 Speaking on behalf of the Indonesian government, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda said that he endorsed the Malaysian proposal for the establishment of a mechanism involving initially only member states who are ready for it. Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism, Roundtable Discussion on Human Rights in ASEAN: Challenges and Opportunities for Human Rights in a Caring and Sharing Community – Summary of Proceedings, paragraph 3, http://www.aseanhrmech.org/conferences/summary_of_proceedings_final.pdf.

10 ASEAN, Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Charter, 12 December 2005, http://asean.org/kuala-lumpur-declaration-on-the-establishment-of-the-asean-community/.

13 Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism, HLTF Consults with National Human Rights Institutions and the Working Group, http://www.aseanhrmech.org/news/hltf-consults-national-human-rights.html.

16 See Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism: Summary of the Proceedings of the first three workshops, available at http://www.aseanhrmech.org/conferences/index.html; Thai Gov’t Will Fully Support the Creation of an ASEAN Human Rights Commission, http://www.aseanhrmech.org/news/thai-supports-cretion-asean-human-rights.html; Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Extends Support to Working Group, http://www.aseanhrmech.org/news/malaysian-ministry-supports-rwg.html.

17 The first workshop on the establishment of an ASEAN human rights mechanism was held in Jakarta in 2001, the second in Manila in 2002, the third in Bangkok in 2003, the fourth again in Jakarta in 2004, the fifth in Kuala Lumpur in 2005, and the sixth again in Manila in 2006. Singapore hosted the seventh workshop on an ASEAN human rights mechanism on the occasion of the 41st AMM in 2008. See http://www.aseanhrmech.org/conferences/index.html.

18 Thailand pushes for Asean human rights mechanism, S’pore ‘strongly’ supports, https://yoursdp.org/news/thailand_pushes_for_asean_human_rights_mechanism_s_pore_strongly_supports/2007-03-06-4724.

19 Walter Woon, The ASEAN Charter: A Commentary (NUS Press, 2015), 25.

20 Tommy Koh, ‘The Negotiating Process’, in The Making of the ASEAN Charter, ed. Tommy Koh, Rosario G. Manalo, and Walter Woon (Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2009), 62.

21 Walter Woon, The ASEAN Charter: A Commentary (NUS Press, 2015), 25.

22 Walter Woon, The ASEAN Charter: A Commentary (NUS Press, 2015), 25.

23 Tommy Koh, ‘The Negotiating Process’, in The Making of the ASEAN Charter, ed. Tommy Koh, Rosario G. Manalo, and Walter Woon (Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2009), 62.

24 Tommy Koh, ‘The Negotiating Process’, in The Making of the ASEAN Charter, ed. Tommy Koh, Rosario G. Manalo, and Walter Woon (Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2009), 62.

25 The High-Level Panel proposed this name and the ASEAN Foreign Ministers supported the proposal. See Outcome of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting with the High-Level Panel on Human Rights Body, https://www.thaiembassy.sg/press_media/press-releases/outcome-of-the-asean-foreign-ministers-meeting-with-the-high-level-panel-.

26 AICHR TOR, Articles 3 & 5.9.

27 AICHR TOR, Articles 5.2 & 5.5.

28 AICHR TOR, Article 5.3.

29 AICHR TOR, Articles 5.2 & 5.6.

30 AICHR TOR, Article 5.4.

31 Indonesia and Thailand belong to the minority group of states that select their representatives through a more open process. See SAPA Task Force on ASEAN and Human Rights, ‘Hiding behind Its Limits: A Performance Report on the first year of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR)’ (2009), 5, https://forum-asia.org/2010/Report%20on%20AICHR%27s%20first%20year%20_for_dist.pdf.

32 AICHR TOR, Article 2.1.b.

33 AICHR TOR, Article 2.1.a.

34 AICHR TOR, Article 2.1.c.

35 AICHR TOR, Article 2.1.g.

36 AICHR TOR, Article 2.1.e.

37 AICHR TOR, Article 2.3.

38 AICHR TOR, Articles 4.1 & 4.11.

39 AICHR TOR, Article 4.2.

40 AICHR TOR, Articles 4.3 & 4.12.

41 AICHR TOR, Article 4.5.

42 AICHR TOR, Articles 4.4 & 4.6.

43 AICHR TOR, Article 4.7.

44 AICHR TOR, Article 4.8.

45 AICHR TOR, Article 4.10.

46 AICHR TOR, Article 2.4. The TOR, Articles 6.2, 6.4 & 8.3 also provide the AICHR has two regular meetings a year and can convene additional meetings as and when appropriate. The AICHR Guidelines on Operations, Articles 8.1, 8.2. & 10.2 further provide that the AICHR may establish working groups or task forces on an ad-hoc basis to facilitate its work, or request assistance from relevant sectoral bodies in respect to specific issues. The AICHR’s annual budget is funded equally by ASEAN member states.

47 For an overview of the situation in Rohingya, see Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/32/18 (2016), http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session32/Documents/A_HRC_32_18_AEV.docx.

48 AICHR TOR, Article 6.6.

49 See, for example, Frank M Häge, ‘Coalition Building and Consensus in the Council of the European Union’, British Journal of Political Science 43 (2012): 481–504.

50 C. Rodolfo Severino, Southeast Asia in Search of an ASEAN Community: Insights from the former ASEAN Secretary-General (Singapore: ISEAS, 2006), 34.

51 Some representatives did raise the situation in a special meeting of the AICHR in 2013. The AICHR, however, could not agree on how to address the situation. Yuyun Wahyuningrum, The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights: Origins, Evolution and the Way Forward (IDEA, 2014), 17.

52 AICHR TOR, Article 6.6.

55 Walter Woon, The ASEAN Charter: A Commentary (NUS Press, 2015), 158.

56 ASEAN Charter, Articles 20.1 & 20.3.

57 See Andrea Durbach, Catherine Renshaw, and Andrew C. Byrnes, ‘’A Tongue but No Teeth?’: The Emergence of a Regional Human Rights Mechanism in the Asia Pacific Region’, The Sydney Law Review 31 (2009): 211; SAPA Task Force on ASEAN & Human Rights, ‘AICHR: A window dressing for ASEAN’s Commitment to Human Rights’, 27 October 2010, https://www.forum-asia.org/?p=6901; ‘ASEAN human rights commission ‘toothless’: NGOs’, The Jakarta Post, May 8, 2012. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/05/08/asean-human-rights-commission-toothless-ngos.htm.

58 ‘Asean’s Toothless Council’, Wall Street Journal, July 22, 2009, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203517304574303592053848748.

59 On the general role of human rights awareness raising and education, see Eric Heinze, ‘Public Awareness of Human Rights: Distortions in the Mass Media’, The International Journal of Human Rights 14 (2010): 491–523; Anja Mihr, ‘Global Human Rights Awareness, Education and Democratization’, Journal of Human Rights 8 (2009): 177–89; Joseph Zajda and Sev Ozdowski, eds, Globalisation, Human Rights Education and Reforms (Springer, 2017); Monisha Bajaj, ed, Human Rights Education: Theory, Research, Praxis (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017).

60 The process informally started with an internal drafting group within the AICHR in 2011.

61 See Fifth Meeting of AICHR on the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD), Ninth Meeting of AICHR, and First Regional Consultation on the AHRD, 6–10 May 2012, http://aichr.org/press-release/press-release-fifth-meeting-of-aichr-on-the-asean-human-rights-declaration-ahrd/; Seventh Meeting of the AICHR on the AHRD and the Second Regional Consultation of AICHR on the AHRD, 22–23 June 2012, http://aichr.org/press-release/the-seventh-meeting-of-the-asean-intergovernmental-commission-on-human-rights-aichr/; Special Meeting of the AICHR, the Second Regional Consultation of the AICHR with ASEAN Sectoral Bodies, 24–26 August 2012, http://aichr.org/press-release/special-meeting-of-the-asean-intergovernmental-commission-on-human-rights-aichr/; Second Regional Consultation of the AICHR with CSOs, 12 September 2012, http://aichr.org/press-release/the-second-regional-consultation-of-the-asean-intergovernmental-commission-on-human-rights-aichr/. It should be noted, however, that national consultation was only held in a few member states, despite the call for more engagement with CSOs from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. See Pillay urges ASEAN to set the bar high with its regional human rights declaration, https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/pillay-urges-asean-set-bar-high-its-regional-human-rights-declaration.

63 Civil Society Denounces Adoption of Flawed ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/11/19/civil-society-denounces-adoption-flawed-asean-human-rights-declaration.

64 Nicholas Doyle, ‘The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration and the Implications of Recent Southeast Asian Initiatives in Human Rights Institution-Building and Standard-Setting’, International and Comparative Law Quarterly 63 (2014): 67–101, 68. See Attilio Pisano, ‘Human Rights and Sovereignty in the ASEAN Path Towards a Human Rights Declaration’, Human Rights Review 15 (2014): 391–411. For more comments on the ADHR, see Gerald Clarke, ‘The Evolving ASEAN Human Rights System: The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration of 2012’, Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights 11 (2012): 1–27; Mathew Davis, ‘The ASEAN Synthesis: Human Rights, Non-Intervention, and the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration’, Georgetown Journal of International Law (2013): 51–58; Catherine Shanahan Renshaw, ‘The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration 2012’, Human Rights Law Review 13 (2013): 557–579; Gino J Naldi and Konstantinos D Magliveras, ‘The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration’, International Human Rights Law Review 3 (2014): 183–208 .

65 ASEAN Charter, Article 7.2.a.

66 ASEAN Charter, Article 8.2.b; Article 9.4.a; Article 10.1.b.

67 ASEAN Charter, Article 52.1 (emphasis added).

68 ASEAN Charter, Article 2.1 (emphasis added).

69 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14.1, http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/.

70 ADHR, Article 11.

71 ADHR, Articles 16 & 27.2.

72 ADHR, Article 8. See ‘ASEAN Human Rights Declaration Should Maintain International Standards’, An Open Letter from the Coordination Committee of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council on the draft ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14864&LangID=E.

73 ADHR, Article 40.

74 ADHR, Article 4.

75 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 2; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 2; Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 1; American Convention on Human Rights, Article 1; African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, Article 2.

76 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 2; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 2; Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 1; American Convention on Human Rights, Article 1; African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, Article 2.

77 ADHR, Articles 35–38. African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, Articles 22 & 23. On 19 December 2016, the Declaration on the Right to Peace was adopted by the UN General Assembly.

80 Joint Event by the AICHR and the Committee of Permanent Representatives on ‘Contributing to the ASEAN Community Building through the Implementation of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration’, 23 August 2013, http://aichr.org/report/press-release-book-launch-and-panel-discussion-on-the-asean-human-rights-declaration-and-the-asean-community-building/?doing_wp_cron=1519057494.9068439006805419921875.

83 See, for example, Regional Workshop on Statelessness and the Rights of Women and Children, 18–19 November 2011, aichr.org/?dl_name=Doc-4-StatelessnessManila-SummaryFINAL22Nov12.pdf; Regional Workshop on Good Practices in Birth Registration, 7 December 2012, http://aichr.org/ai1ec_event/joint-regional-workshop-of-national-civil-registrars/?instance_id=; Regional Workshop on Human Rights-Based Approach to Combat Trafficking in Persons, 6 December 2013, http://aichr.org/news/philippines-promotes-human-rights-based-approach-to-combat-trafficking-in-persons-especially-women-and-children-in-asean/; Regional Workshop on the Promotion of Maternal Health and Reduction of Maternal Mortality, 30 November 2013, https://aichr.org/ai1ec_event/workshop-on-maternal-health/?instance_id=; Regional Workshop on Millennium Development Goals Post 2015 And Human Rights, 19 December 2013, http://aichr.org/news/aichr-regional-workshop-on-millennium-development-goals-post-2015-and-human-rights/; Workshop on Exploring Strategies to Protect Women and Girls from Violence in ASEAN, 27–29 March 2015, http://aichr.org/ai1ec_event/workshop-on-strengthening-aichrs-protection-mandate-by-exploring-strategies-to-protect-women-and-girls-from-violence-in-asean/?instance_id=; AICHR – SOMTC Joint Workshop on Human Rights-based Approach to Combat Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, 5–6 November 2015, http://aichr.org/report/press-release-aichr-somtc-joint-workshop-on-human-rights-based-approach-to-combat-trafficking-in-persons-especially-women-and-children-5-6-november-2015-yogyakarta-indonesia/; Workshop on Effective Communication Strategies to Combat Trafficking in Persons, 23–24 June 2016, http://aichr.org/press-release/press-release-aichr-workshop-on-effective-communication-strategies-to-combat-trafficking-in-persons-23-24-june-2016-nha-trang-viet-nam/; Regional Workshop on Strengthening National Plans of Action on Trafficking in Persons, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 1 & 2 December 2016, http://aichr.org/news/aichr-regional-workshop-on-strengthening-national-plans-of-action-on-trafficking-in-persons-to-ensure-effective-implementation-of-the-asean-convention-against-trafficking-in-persons-especially-women/; Regional Workshop on Enhanced Access to Education for Children with Disabilities, 13–14 December 2017, http://aichr.org/press-release/aichr-regional-workshop-on-enhanced-access-to-education-for-children-with-disabilities-13-14-december-2017-da-nang-viet-nam/; ASEAN Forum on Women’s Economic Empowerment, 27–28 August 2018, http://aichr.org/press-release/press-release-on-the-asean-forum-on-womens-economic-empowerment-27-to-28-august-2018-singapore/; ASEAN Dialogue on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Related Instruments, 25–26 October 2018, http://aichr.org/news/aichr-holds-asean-dialogue-on-the-un-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-and-its-related-instruments-25-26-october-2018-manila-6/; Regional Workshop on Prevention Strategies to combat Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children: Enhancing Access to Information and Community-based Protection System, 21–22 June 2018, http://aichr.org/press-release/press-release-regional-workshop-on-prevention-strategies-to-combat-trafficking-in-persons-especially-women-and-children-enhancing-access-to-information-and-community-based-protection-system-21-22/.

84 See, for example, AICHR Training of Trainers for ASEAN Member States Law Enforcement Officers, 2 December 2014, http://aichr.org/press-release/press-release-the-aichr-training-of-trainers-on-asean-human-rights-mechanisms-for-asean-member-states-law-enforcement-officers/; AICHR Advanced Programme on Human Rights: Training of the Trainers, 24 November 2013, http://aichr.org/news/aichr-advanced-programme-on-human-rights-training-of-the-trainers/; Training Of Trainers For Journalists, 25–29 July 2015, http://aichr.org/press-release/press-release-training-of-trainers-for-journalists-in-asean-member-states-25-29-july-2015-bangkok-thailand/; AICHR’s Training Programme on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 14 October 2016, http://aichr.org/press-release/press-release-aichr-training-programme-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-11-14-october-2016-bangkok-thailand/; AICHR-ACWC Training Workshop on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 13–14 July 2017, Singapore, http://aichr.org/press-release/press-release-aichr-acwc-training-workshop-on-the-un-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-13-14-july-2017-singapore/.

85 See Regional Dialogue on the Mainstreaming of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the ASEAN Community, http://aichr.org/press-release/press-release-the-aichr-regional-dialogue-on-the-mainstreaming-of-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-in-the-asean-community-1-3-december-2015-bangkok-thailand/; Second Regional Dialogue on the Mainstreaming of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the ASEAN Community, http://aichr.org/press-release/press-release-2nd-regional-dialogue-on-the-mainstreaming-of-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-in-the-asean-community-29-june-1-july-2016-chiang-mai-thailand/; Third Regional Dialogue on the Mainstreaming of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the ASEAN Community, http://aichr.org/press-release/press-release-3rd-regional-dialogue-on-the-mainstreaming-of-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-in-the-asean-community-19-21-june-2017-phuket-thailand; 4th Meeting of the Task Force on the Mainstreaming of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the ASEAN Community, http://asean.org/4th-meeting-of-the-task-force-on-the-mainstreaming-of-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-in-the-asean-community-15-16-december-2017-da-nang-viet-nam/. The AICHR, for example, provided inputs to the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and Violence against Children. It provided the support to the Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOM-TC), particularly on the issue of trafficking in persons. It provided comments on the mandatory HIV testing for migrant workers at the request from the Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development (SOMHD see SAPA Task Force on ASEAN and Human Rights, ‘Hiding behind Its Limits A Performance Report on the first year of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR)’ (2010), https://www.forum-asia.org/?p=5451.

86 For further details on some of these studies, see http://aichr.org/documents/.

87 Press Release of the Seventh Meeting of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission in Human Rights (AICHR), 28 November 2011, http://aichr.org/press-release/aichr-representatives-met-for-the-first-time-with-the-asean-commission-on-the-promotion-and-protection-of-the-rights-of-women-and-children/; The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Annual Report 2017, 11, http://aichr.org/?dl_name=AICHR_ANNUAL_REPORT_2017_adopted_on_11_July_2017.pdf.

88 The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Annual Report 2017, 21, http://aichr.org/?dl_name=AICHR_ANNUAL_REPORT_2017_adopted_on_11_July_2017.pdf.

89 Press Release: AICHR-ACWC Training Workshop on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 13–14 July 2017, http://aichr.org/press-release/press-release-aichr-acwc-training-workshop-on-the-un-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-13-14-july-2017-singapore/.

90 Press Release: 8th Meeting of the Task Force on the Mainstreaming of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the ASEAN Community, 14–15 September 2018, http://aichr.org/press-release/press-release-8th-meeting-of-the-task-force-on-the-mainstreaming-of-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-in-the-asean-community-14-15-september-2018-bangkok-thailand/.

93 Guidelines on the AICHR’s Relations with Civil Society Organisations, http://aichr.org/?dl_name=Guidelines_On_The_AICHRS_Relations_With__CSOs.pdf.

94 Guidelines on the AICHR’s Relations with Civil Society Organisations, http://aichr.org/?dl_name=Guidelines_On_The_AICHRS_Relations_With__CSOs.pdf. The Guidelines have, however, been criticised by the CSOs as ‘conservative’ and ‘unclear’ as they require that a CSO be ‘accredited’ to ASEAN before ASEAN bodies can officially engage. See Civil Society Forum, https://humanrightsinasean.info/engagement-asean-human-rights/cso-engagement-asean.html.

95 Guidelines on the AICHR’s Relations with Civil Society Organisations, http://aichr.org/?dl_name=Guidelines_On_The_AICHRS_Relations_With__CSOs.pdf.

96 Guidelines on the AICHR’s Relations with Civil Society Organisations, http://aichr.org/?dl_name=Guidelines_On_The_AICHRS_Relations_With__CSOs.pdf.

98 See Annual Consultation between Representative of Thailand to the AICHR and Representatives of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), 18 February 2014, http://aichr.org/press-release/annual-consultation-between-representative-of-thailand-to-the-aichr-and-representatives-of-civil-society-organisations/; Second Regional Consultation on the Contribution to the Review of the TOR of the AICHR and the Special Meeting of the AICHR, 30 June 2014, http://aichr.org/report/second-regional-consultation-on-the-contribution-to-the-review-of-the-terms-of-reference-of-the-aichr-and-the-special-meeting-of-the-aichr/; Special Meeting of AICHR and the Meeting of the AMM with the AICHR, 9 August 2014, http://aichr.org/press-release/special-meeting-of-aichr-and-the-meeting-of-the-amm-with-the-aichr/; Press Release of the Third ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Right, 24 September 2010, http://aichr.org/press-release/asean-intergovernmental-commission-on-human-rights-meets-visit-to-the-united-states/. Second Regional Consultation on the Contribution to the Review of the TOR of the AICHR and the Special Meeting of the AICHR, 30 June 2014, http://aichr.org/report/second-regional-consultation-on-the-contribution-to-the-review-of-the-terms-of-reference-of-the-aichr-and-the-special-meeting-of-the-aichr/. See also Annual Consultation between Representative of Thailand to the AICHR and Representatives of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), 18 February 2014, http://aichr.org/press-release/annual-consultation-between-representative-of-thailand-to-the-aichr-and-representatives-of-civil-society-organisations/.

99 Shashi Tharoor, ‘Are Human Rights Universal?’, World Policy Journal 26, no. 1 (2000).

100 ADHR, Article 7.

101 AICHR TOR, Article 2.3.

102 AICHR TOR, Article 4.8.

103 Although the AICHR has held consultations and dialogues from time to time with the CSOs to get their inputs, it is not clear as to what extent the comments and suggestions from CSOs have been considered and incorporated in its work. The CSOs in fact have complained that these consultations were too little, too late and several of their recommendations on the ADHR were not reflected in the adopted text of the Declaration. See Civil Society Denounces Adoption of Flawed ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, ADHR Falls Below International Standards, https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/11/19/civil-society-denounces-adoption-flawed-asean-human-rights-declaration.

104 AICHR TOR, Article 4.8.

105 ADHR, Article 1.1 (emphasis added).

106 For a discussion on the selective approach to establishing regional human rights mechanism, see Hao Duy Phan, A Selective Approach to Establishing a Human Rights Mechanism in Southeast Asia: The Case for a Southeast Asian Court of Human Rights (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2012).

107 See status of the American Convention on Human Rights at https://www.oas.org/dil/treaties_b-32_american_convention_on_human_rights_sign.htm.

Log in via your institution

Access through your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

Restore content access

Restore content access for purchases made as guest
Purchase options * Save for later

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 53.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 246.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.