8th Annual Meeting, Kathmandu, Nepal, 16-18 February 2004

The 8th Annual Meeting of the APF was officially opened by the Rt. Hon. Surya Bahadur Thapa, Prime Minister of Nepal.

The meeting, hosted by the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal, primarily focused on the rule of law, anti-terrorism measures and the role of national human rights institutions.

Parallel to the annual meeting the APF’s Advisory Council of Jurists met to consider a reference on the Rule of Law in Countering Terrorism, before presenting its recommendations during a plenary session on the final day.

Other issues addressed during the three-day meeting included:

• the ‘Paris Principles’ and the independence of national human rights institutions

• development of a new international disability convention

• activities of APF member institutions in addressing trafficking, the death penalty and child pornography issues

Outcomes of the 8th Annual Meeting included:

Membership

• New Zealand Human Rights Commission reaffirmed as a full member.

• Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission admitted as associate member.

• Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens’ Rights admitted as associate member.

Advisory Council of Jurists

• The Forum Council agreed to develop a reference on the prevention of torture during detention.

Management

• Considered, for the first time, the issue of APF membership fees and agreed to adopt a flat fee of USD $3,000 per full member per annum and USD $1,500 per candidate and associate member per annum, with the possibility that these fees could also be paid ‘in kind’ by the provision of services to the APF.

• The National Human Rights Commission of Nepal was elected Chairperson of the Forum Council. The National Human Rights Commission of India and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea were elected to the two positions of Deputy Chairpersons.

9th Annual Meeting

The Forum Council accepted the offer of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea to host the 9th Annual Meeting in 2004.