ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights
Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations officially inaugurated the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) in October 2009.
The Terms of Reference, drafted by a High Level Panel and agreed to by all the ASEAN members, set out the role and functions of the new body.
The AICHR will initially focus on human rights promotion and will not receive or investigate complaints of human rights violations.
One of its primary tasks is to “enhance public awareness of human rights among the peoples of ASEAN through education, research and dissemination of Information.”
It is also required to develop an ASEAN Human Rights Declaration “with a view to establishing a framework for human rights cooperation through various ASEAN conventions and other instruments dealing with human rights.”
The AICHR will comprise one representative appointed by each member country to serve a three-year term. When appointing representatives, either drawn from civil society or government, member countries are required to consider “gender equality, integrity and competence in the field of human rights.”
ASEAN says its human rights body will be reviewed and strengthened over time.
While national human rights institutions (NHRIs), civil society groups and others in the region have welcomed the establishment of the AICHR, concerns have been expressed that the body will fall short of international standards and that it lacks the powers to effectively protect ASEAN’s 500 million citizens.
NHRI engagement
In August 2009 the four NHRIs in the region – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, known collectively as the ASEAN NHRI Forum – jointly prepared a position paper on the AICHR, which set out a number of key steps to foster the “progressive realisation” of human rights in the countries of south east Asia.
While the position paper notes significant deficiencies in the powers and mandate of the AICHR, it states that “the pursuit of human rights is progressive and changes with time.”
“This progressive realisation demands institutionalised interaction among various stakeholders such as governments, inter-governmental bodies, civil societies, NHRIs and national, regional and international institutions concerned with the promotion and protection of human rights," it said.
The position paper recommends that the AICHR establish a process for regular engagement with the region’s NHRIs, set out in a formal Memorandum of Cooperation with the ASEAN NHRI Forum, along with regular meetings with civil society organisations regionally and in individual ASEAN countries.
It also said that the AICHR should be supported by a separate, permanent and professional Secretariat “to ensure that the functions of human rights, promotion and protection can be effectively carried out.”
The ASEAN NHRI Forum intends to work closely with the AIHRC and ASEAN member countries that have not established independent national human rights institutions.
The collaboration would focus on capacity building, sharing experiences between all stakeholders working towards the promotion and protection of human rights and the establishment of independent national human rights institutions in compliance with the Paris Principles.
