ASEAN Human Rights Body Must Not Turn a Blind Eye on Human Rights Violations in the Region

Monday, March 29, 2010

JAKARTA, INDONESIA, 28 March 2010.

Today, in Jakarta, non-governmental organizations in Southeast Asia call on the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) to address severe violations of human rights in the South East Asia region. “AICHR has to protect us, the peoples in ASEAN”, said Khin Ohmar of Burma. “For instance, crimes against humanity and war crimes such as extra-judicial killing and military rape against ethnic minorities in Burma occur on daily basis with impunity.” 

From Indonesia, a group of women survivors from the 1965 mass killing of suspected communists expressed their frustration over the Indonesian government for lack of acknowledgement and addressing the injustice. “We want the AICHR to push the Indonesian government to answer our calls to redress justice and reparation”, said Sumini, 81 years old.

Sawart Pramoonsilp, the representative of persons with disabilities from Thailand said, “I would like the AICHR to push the ASEAN countries to sign and ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.” She also calls on the AICHR to pressure the ASEAN governments to provide equal access to facilities such as transportation, education and employment for persons with disabilities and elderly people.

Temme Lee, the representative from APRRN (Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network) based in Malaysia briefed on the situation of refugees in the SEA region and urged the AICHR to work towards a regional solution for the protection of asylum seekers and refugees based on international human rights standards including large population of Burmese refugees in ASEAN states, stateless persons such as the Rohingyas and internally displaced persons.

With regards to migrant issue, the Task Force on ASEAN Migrant Workers wants AICHR to engage with the civil society on the process of protecting the rights of migrant workers and their families. “We want the Rules of Procedure to formalize the engagement with civil society in their planning and implementation of their mandate”, said Ted.

Noemi E. Parcon, the widow of Filipino journalist slaughtered in Ampatuan, Maguidanao massacre said, “I appeal to the Commission to help our families to seek justice. The killing of 32 journalists is the worst ever happened in the world for journalists and the Philippines government is not responsive to our petition. We, therefore, come here to appeal to the AICHR.”

Cambodia, represented by Nay Vanda, proposed the AICHR to have a protection mandate to deal with all human rights violations and the AICHR representatives to engage with the civil society organizations at regional and national level to discuss case submissions and on-site investigations among others.

The AICHR is set to meet today to draft the Rules of Procedure.  The Solidarity for Asian Peoples’ Advocacy Task Force on ASEAN and Human Rights (SAPA TF-AHR) calls on the AICHR to adopt a set of RoP that will ensure its own independence and effectiveness in dealing with human rights protection and promotion in the region.

Among the key mechanisms and procedures recommended by the SAPA TFAHR that must be adopted in dealing with human rights include:

·         Petition mechanism, which will receive and respond to cases of human rights violations;

·         On-site observation;

·         Public hearing or inquiry; and

·         Friendly settlement.