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 ASEAN body to address rights of women and children
HANOI--Southeast Asia on Wednesday took another step towards addressing long-neglected human rights issues, with the inauguration of a commission to address the rights of women and children.
Regional campaigners welcomed the creation of the body but said it could face the same limitations as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' human rights commission founded late last year.
They expressed concern about the independence of commissioners, and whether either body can actually protect the region's most vulnerable.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, called the commission a step forward but said: "We're really going to have to watch very closely."
At a ceremony in Hanoi, ASEAN proclaimed that the commission on women's and children's rights marks a "turning point" for the region.
"These are the vulnerable half of the ASEAN community, the women and the children," the bloc's secretary general, Surin Pitsuwan, told reporters ahead of a summit which opens Thursday.
"So if we wish to become a compassionate community, a sharing and caring community... we have to take care of the women and the children."
ASEAN aims by 2015 to form a free-market "community" of almost 600 million people committed to democratic ideals.
Activists say they expect the new commission to examine issues including human trafficking, child labor, child soldiers, and gender discrimination.
Among its stated functions, the 20-member commission is to "promote and protect rights"; build judicial and administrative capacity; and encourage data collection, studies and research.
Yap Swee Seng, executive director of Forum-Asia, an umbrella for regional rights groups, said the commission's terms of reference lean more towards promotion of rights.
"I think it will be difficult for the commission to embark on a protection mandate," he said, a criticism also levelled at ASEAN's human rights commission.
The 10-nation ASEAN has a principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states, which activists say has restricted its ability to criticize rights abuses, particularly in military-run Myanmar.
Activists said rules and procedures for both the new commission and the existing rights body need to be further defined for them to work effectively, including with non-governmental organizations.
Robertson said both commissions are dominated by current and former civil servants, rather than independent experts, raising questions about their potential effectiveness.
"I think, before this, ASEAN was criticized for not having these kind of mechanisms. Now that we have them we are being criticized that they will not be effective enough. I think, give us a chance," Surin told AFP.
He said that, given time, the institutions can develop "into something that I think the region can be proud of."
In the past, ASEAN was focused on economic issues, but since the bloc's 2008 charter committed it to tighter links as a "community", there must be a strong social component as well, said one Asian diplomat.
Despite what critics say, the new rights mechanisms will at least "put things on the table to talk about," said the Hanoi-based diplomat.
Asia-Pacific was the only region in the world without a formal human rights body, Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in its latest report on global rights.
It said it welcomed ASEAN's commitment to establish a rights mechanism.
(2010-04-10 / inquirer.net)
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