Human rights 'should be in charter'

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 06/29/2007 10:26 AM

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Sanur, Bali

Human rights bodies from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines ended a three-day joint meeting in Bali on Thursday by signing a declaration to work together to improve human rights conditions in the region.

The group agreed to forward the declaration to a high level task force -- currently drafting the ASEAN charter -- to ensure respect for human rights was included in the principles and objectives of the charter.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is currently drafting its charter -- a document that would give the group legal standing at the international level and help define the rules of the game among its members.

Many Indonesian and other regional parliamentarians said during the process of drafting the charter that several member countries asked for the removal of references to human rights and democratic values.

Activists along with inside sources from the charter drafting committee said Myanmar did not want the principles included and that Singapore also tended to oppose the references.

Thailand's military junta has reportedly expressed opposition because the Eminent Persons Group did not acknowledge transfers of power through military coup.

The meeting's chairman Enny Soeprapto from Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights (KOMNAS HAM) said the human rights commissions from the four countries acknowledged migrant workers and their rights were important matters and said they would make them priorities.

Commissioner for the Malaysian Human Rights Commission Tan Sri Abu Thalib Othman agreed human rights and protection of migrant workers were important and had to be included in the declaration.

KOMNAS HAM chairman Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara said the human rights institutions had limited authority.

""It has functions of monitoring, educating and advising the government only,"" he said.

Othman said the commission should examine human rights protection on a case by case basis.

He said each country had its own law on migrant workers and that they would respond according to their law.

Hundreds of thousands of illegal workers are estimated to be working in Malaysia.

Reports have suggested that Indonesian domestic workers are frequently abused.

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