Fourteen
human rights groups have called on the Asean Intergovernmental
Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) to take the necessary steps to
ensure the process of drafting the Asean Human Rights Declaration
(AHRD) is transparent and fully consultative with civil society
organizations in the Asean region.
In a joint statement released on April 8, over 130 local, national and regional civil society organizations across the Asean region called on AICHR to implement the following steps:
In a joint statement released on April 8, over 130 local, national and regional civil society organizations across the Asean region called on AICHR to implement the following steps:
1) To
immediately publicize the draft AHRD so that the public can
meaningfully participate in the drafting process. Consultations will
remain meaningless if the draft declaration is kept confidential and
out of reach of the peoples.
2) AICHR
representatives who are already conducting national consultations in
their respective countries must continue to do so, and ensure that
these consultations are held nation-wide and in an inclusive and more
regular manner. They should further encourage other AICHR
representatives that have not taken such initiatives to do the same.
The AICHR should also conduct consultations both at national and
regional levels, especially if national consultations are not
applicable yet in particular places.
3) To
translate the draft AHRD into national languages and other local
languages of the ASEAN countries in order to encourage broader public
participation in the region.
4) To
ensure that consultation meetings of the AICHR will be inclusive of
all stakeholders, especially civil society organizations and national
human rights institutions.
On
April 12, AICHR announced that it would finalize the draft of the
AHRD by July 2012 and hold one consultation with civil society
organizations in late June 2012. A single consultation, conducted not
at the outset but rather towards the very end of the drafting
process, cannot be considered consultative and transparent, according
to the statement.
The
group said in addition to being non-transparent and non-consultative,
“this process has been clearly rushed with little thought provided
on some of the key elements that have been articulated by Asean civil
society for decades.” An instrument of this importance and
magnitude needs more time for adequate deliberation and discussion,
it said.
The
group endorsed the April 8 statement made by national and regional
civil society organizations and strongly urge all representatives of
the AICHR to fully and immediately implement these recommendations.
This would ensure that the AHRD reflects the legitimate concerns of
civil society and human rights defenders in Asean and reflects
existing international human rights standards.
The
drafting of the AHRD is a litmus test of AICHR’s willingness to
constitute a credible, respected, and effective regional human rights
body, the statement said.
Principles
of transparency, accountability, and consultation are applied by the
United Nations and all other regional bodies when they engage in
human rights standard-setting, the group said, and the Asean should
not fall below well established international standards and practice
This
joint statement is endorsed by:
1. Amnesty
International
2. Asian
Legal Resource Centre
3. Association
for the Prevention of Torture
4. Christian
Solidarity Worldwide
5. Civil
Rights Defenders
6. Freedom
House
7. Human
Rights Now
8. Human
Rights Watch
9. International
Commission of Jurists
10. International
Federation for Human Rights
11. International
Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
12. Protection
International
13.
Reporters Without Borders
14. World
Organization Against Torture
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