ASEAN II: HUMAN RIGHTS & ASEAN'S ROLE

THE AICHR

The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) is an ASEAN regional human rights institution established in 2009. Discussion on AICHR's formation can be traced back to the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993. In the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA) the world leaders, including the ASEAN Member States of reiterated, "the need to consider the possibility of establishing regional and subregional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights where they do not already exist".

That same year, during the 26th ASEAN Summit in Singapore, the ASEAN Foreign Minister’s meeting adopted a Joint Communiqué reaffirming the VDPA and agreeing that ASEAN should consider the establishment of a regional human rights mechanism. It was not until 2007, fifteen years later, that ASEAN incorporated human rights into its institutional structure.

The most important here is Article 14 of the ASEAN Charter states that:

1) In conformity with the purposes and the principles of the ASEAN Charter relating to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedom, ASEAN shall establish an ASEAN human rights body.

2) This ASEAN human rights body shall operate in accordance with the terms of reference to be determined by the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting.

In July 2008, a High Level Panel (HLP) was established to draft a Terms of Reference (TOR) that would specify the mandate and structure of an ASEAN human rights body. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers endorsed the Terms of Reference on 20 July 2009 during the 42nd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Thailand.

A year after AICHR’s Terms of Reference (TOR) were adopted, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers inaugurated the ten AICHR country representatives during the 15th ASEAN Summit in Cha-am Hua Hin, Thailand. The 23 October 2010 is now recognized as the AICHR's "birth date".

AICHR's TOR defines AICHR’s purpose, mandate and functions. AICHR’s primary purpose is to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of the peoples of ASEAN. AICHR is mandated to, among other things:

1. Develop strategies for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms

2. Develop an ASEAN Human Rights Declaration

3. Enhance public awareness of human rights through education, research, and dissemination of information

4. Undertake capacity building for the effective implementation of ASEAN Member States’ inter- national human rights treaty obligations and ASEAN human rights instruments

5. Encourage ASEAN Member States to ratify international human rights instruments

6. Provide ASEAN with advisory services and technical assistance on human rights matters upon request

7. Engage in dialogue and consultation with other ASEAN bodies and entities associated with ASEAN, including civil society organizations and other stakeholders

8. Obtain information from ASEAN Member States on the promotion and protection of human rights

9. Develop common approaches and positions on human rights matters of interest to ASEAN

10. Prepare thematic human rights studies

11. Perform any other tasks assigned by the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting

AICHR is comprised of ten government representatives; one per ASEAN Member State. Selection processes of AICHR Representatives differ amongst the ten Member States but they must, at a minimum, take into account the individual’s integrity and competence in the field of human rights, and ensure gender equality within the Commission. Member States are not obliged to have a transparent or consultative selection process. AICHR Representatives are not full-time and serve on a voluntary basis. Each AICHR Representative serves a term of three years and may be re-appointed for a second term. The government may decide at any time to replace its AICHR Representative without notice or explanation.

AICHR must meet at least twice a year and can hold additional meetings if required. Decision making in the AICHR shall be based on consultation and consensus in accordance with Article 20 of the ASEAN Charter. This means that AICHR cannot act without the full agreement of all ten Representatives.

AICHR is the overarching human rights institution in ASEAN with overall responsibility for the promotion and protection of human rights in ASEAN. However, AICHR must work with other ASEAN bodies dealing with human rights and ensure that their work aligns with the AICHR’s work.

Types of humans rights abuses

This committee will discuss the different types of rights listed below. Please come to committee session prepared with examples of human rights abuses in your country and how you would categorize the abuse and possible solutions

1. Fundamental Rights

2. Rights in the legal system

3. Rights in society

4. Political Rights Economic Rights

5. Social Rights

6. Cultural Rights

Human Rights Crisis in Myanmar

Human rights in Burma have long been regarded as among the worst in the world. International human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science have repeatedly documented and condemned widespread human rights violations in Burma.

Burma has a number of human rights violations, but the two worst crimes include ethnic cleansing and rape and sexual violence. First, Burmese authorities imposed an ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims in 2012. There are about 800,000 Rohingya left in Burma, and they mainly live in Arakan State, western Burma. Hundreds have been killed in domestic attacks, though the exact number is unknown because the government blocks international access to the Rohingya. Since the attacks began, thousands have fled Burma by boat, and at least hundreds have drowned. President Thein Sein, who has said the "only solution" to anti-Muslim violence is to deport all Rohingya or put them in camps, is ostensibly seeking to push all Rohingya out of the country by subjecting them to a fabricated and completely avoidable humanitarian crisis. Rohingya now languish under an imposed system of apartheid, and humanitarian aid workers assisting the Rohingya are intimidated and threatened.

The government discriminatorily considers Rohingya to be illegal Bengali immigrants and rendered them stateless through the 1981 Citizenship Law. The government has long exercised anti-Rohingya policies, including restrictions on travel, employment, education, worship, construction of religious buildings, marriage, childbearing, etc. The government's discriminatory policies have served to legitimize attacks and massacres against Rohingya, and since March 2013, against other Muslims throughout Burma. Muslims are targets of the “969 campaign,” which in the name of the Buddhist faith, promotes anti-Muslim hate and stigmatizes people who sell goods to Muslims.

Second, rape and sexual violence have long been used as weapons of war in Burma. In 2012 Burmese soldiers gang raped a group of women and girls in northern Kachin State. The soldiers then abandoned the women naked in the forest. Rohingya women are also being targeted for rape and sexual violence by Burmese security forces, and the US State Department has reported that Rohingya women are being kept as sex slaves on Burmese military bases in Arakan State. The international community, despite committing to end sexual violence in conflict zones around the world, has not placed any coercive pressure on the Burmese government to sign and has instead continued awarding the Burmese government further diplomatic legitimacy and economic concessions without preconditions.

In the Declaration of ASEAN, signed by the heads of state of the five founding members, the parameters of the grouping were drawn and the organization given life. In the document, the leaders declared that within ASEAN, member states should act “in accordance with the principles of self-determination, sovereign equality, and non-interference in the internal affairs of nations.” This statement set out what would eventually come to be a long-standing and entrenched “hands-off” practice among member states when in came to each other’s domestic affairs. In fact, the traditional ASEAN way of doing business has evolved into a non-confrontational approach that puts quiet diplomacy and behind-the-scenes action ahead of more overt procedures. This way of handling conflict is in contrast to the West’s relatively more confrontational approach that emphasizes critical dialogue. Accordingly, when it came to the problem of Burma and its human rights records, ASEAN’s preferred solution would be a policy that best reflected this principle of non-interference in domestic affairs. From this understanding constructive engagement was born. Delegates must weigh whether ASEAN nations should take a more confrontational approach towards the human rights issues and other issues within ASEAN.

● ASEAN has continued with a non confrontational approach towards each ASEAN nations internal affairs. However, issues such as human rights violations may call for a different approach. Should ASEAN nations take a more confrontational approach?

● Should ASEAN nations take a more confrontational approach what are the possible reactions from, in this case, Myanmar? Will it be accepted or will it cause tensions to flare in the region?

● What actions can countries in East Asia and the United States take to help alleviate these problems?

● What are human rights mechanisms, instruments and systems?

● Why is it important to have a human rights mechanism at the regional level?

● What role do National Human Rights Institutions play in advocating for a credible and 19 effective regional human rights mechanism?

● To what extent does ASEAN engage with civil society?

● What groups within ASEAN can help tackle the human rights issues in Southeast Asia?