Nothing Less Than International Standards

Open Letter to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) on the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, 7 July 2012

Your Excellencies,

We, the undersigned organizations, welcome the important initiative of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) in drafting the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) and the determination that the Declaration will not be lower than international human rights norms and standards, as expressed in AICHR’s first official consultation meeting with civil society organizations on 22 June 2012 in Kuala Lumpur. We understand that the draft prepared by the AICHR will be presented at the 45^th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) on 9 July 2010. As such, we appeal to you to take into considerations our following concerns in discussing the draft of the AHRD at the AMM.

Firstly, we regret that the draft AHRD was prepared without sufficient and meaningful public consultation. Throughout the entire drafting process of the Declaration, only one regional-level consultation was held by AICHR – and even that was only partially represented by civil society as several national and regional as well as international organizations were barred from the consultation. This, coupled with the absence of national-level consultations in at least half of all ASEAN member states, has resulted in many civil society organizations, especially grassroots organizations, being totally sidelined from the entire process.

Secondly, the continued non-disclosure of the draft Declaration by AICHR has rendered all previous limited consultations largely meaningless, and has hindered civil society’s substantive contributions and input to the contents of the AHRD.

Without the benefit of the Declaration at hand and based on the very limited information gathered from the national consultation meetings with civil society in several countries and the meeting in Kuala Lumpur, we are further alarmed by some of the problematic provisions in the Declaration that may run counter to international human rights standards. These include the provisions on national and regional particularities in promoting and protecting human rights, the concept of balancing of rights and duties of individual that is alien to international human rights instruments, and the superimposing of overarching restrictions of rights on broad terms such as national security and public morality. Furthermore, we also learned that certain rights, such as the right to self determination, rights of the indigenous peoples, right to sexual orientation and gender identity, and the prevention of enforced disappearances may not be included or adequately recognized in the Declaration.

We also recall that all ASEAN member states have committed, under the ASEAN Charter, to “promote a people-oriented ASEAN in which all sectors of society are encouraged to participate in, and benefit from, the process of ASEAN integration and community building”. This commitment is far from being met in the drafting process of the AHRD to date.

Thus, in view of the upcoming submission of the draft AHRD by AICHR to the 45^th AMM on 9 July 2012, we urge the AMM to:

1. Postpone the finalization of the AHRD at the upcoming 45^th AMM;
2. Make public the draft AHRD after the 45^th AMM without further delays;
3. Allow AICHR to organize more public consultations after the 45^th AMM with all stakeholders in a transparent, meaningful and inclusive manner, and ensure the participation of all relevant stakeholders, especially civil society organizations, national human rights institutions, independent human rights experts, the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) and other ASEAN sectoral bodies and the public members that are to be the beneficiaries of this Declaration;
4. Secure expert assistance and technical support from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UN Women, United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and other UN specialized agencies in order to ensure that the AHRD will not be lower than international human rights standards.

We believe that only once these steps are taken by ASEAN and the AICHR will the AHRD be a regional human rights declaration that is authoritative, credible, legitimate, and more importantly, enjoying the support and sense of ownership by the peoples in the Southeast Asian region.

Thank you.

 

List of organizations that endorsed this open letter

1. Alternative Asean Network on Burma (ALTSEAN-BURMA)
2. Amnesty International Philippines
3. Amnesty International Thailand
4. Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) Secretariat
5. Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples (ACPP)
6. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
7. Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearance (AFAD)
8. Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact
9. Boat People SOS (BPSOS)

10. Building and Wood Workers Trade Union Federation of Cambodia (BWTUC), Cambodia

11. Burma Partnership

12. Cambodian Committee on CEDAW (NGO-CEDAW), Cambodia

13. Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), Cambodia

14. Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), Cambodia

15. Cambodian Food and Service Workers’ Federation (CFSWF), Cambodia

16. Cambodian’s Independent Civil-Servant Association (CICA), Cambodia

17. Cambodian Labour Confederation (CLC), Cambodia

18. Cambodian League for The Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), Cambodia

19. Cambodian Tourism Service Workers Federation (CTSWF), Cambodia

20. Cambodian Workers Center for Development (CWCD), Cambodia

21. Cambodian Youth Network (CYN), Cambodia

22. Center for Migrant Advocacy, Philippines

23. Claimants 1081, Philippines

24. Coalition to Abolish Modern-day Slavery in Asia (CAMSA)

25. Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC), Cambodia

26. Community Action Network (CAN)- Pax Romana ICMICA Malaysia

27. Community Legal Education Center (CLEC), Cambodia

28. Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN)

29. Housing Rights Task Force (HRTF), Cambodia

30. Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB)

31. Independent Democracy of Informal Economy (IDEA), Cambodia

32. Indigenous Peoples Task Force on ASEAN

33. International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)

34. Justice and Peace-Social Action Center – Marbel, Philippines

35. Koalisi Rakyat untuk Keadilan Perikanan (KIARA), Indonesia

36. Makabayan-Pilipinas

37. Messenger Band (MB), Cambodia

38. Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA)

39. Mplus Foundation, Thailand

40. People’s Action for Change (PAC), Cambodia

41. People’s Empowerment Foundation (PEF), Thailand

42. Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS), Malaysia

43. Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Philippines

44. Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PHILRIGHTS), Philippines

45. Philippine Misereor Partnership, Inc., Philippines

46. Pokja 30, Indonesia

47. Positive Change for Cambodia, Cambodia

48. Pusat Komas (KOMAS), Malaysia

49. Rainbow Community Kampuchea (RoCK), Cambodia

50. Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand, Northern Office, Thailand

51. Social Action for Change (SAC), Cambodia

52. South East Asia Popular Communications Programme (SEAPCP), Malaysia

53. Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Malaysia

54. Sumpay Mindanao, Philippines

55. Task Force Detainees of the Philippines

56. The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), Indonesia

57. The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), Indonesia

58. The South East Asian Committee for Advocacy (SEACA)

59. Think Center, Singapore

60. Volunteers for Sustainable Development (VSD), Cambodia

61. Women’s Aid Organization (WAO), Malaysia

62. Worker’s Information Centre (WIC), Cambodia

63. Women’s Network for Unity (WNU), Cambodia