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NGOs to report rights abuse cases to AICHR
NGOs will submit reports on human rights violations at the first formal ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) meeting, despite the fact that the commission has no mandate to investigate rights abuse cases
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GOs will submit reports on human rights violations at the first formal ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) meeting, despite the fact that the commission has no mandate to investigate rights abuse cases.
The meeting is being held at the ASEAN Secretariat from March 28 to April 1.
“We will bring reports of political human rights violation, women’s rights abuses and abuse of migrant worker rights,” Purnomo Satriyo P. from the ASEAN People’s Center, a coalition of ASEAN civil society organizations, said on Sunday.
The NGOs include the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Indonesian Legal Aid Association (PBHI) and migrant care groups.
Among the reports to be aired at the AICHR meeting are the murder case of noted rights activist Munir Said Thalib in 2004 and the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre.
Purnomo said rights activists wanted to get the regional rights watchdog to formulate a mechanism to process cases reported by the public.
“We want [the mechanism] to be included in the commission’s Rule of Procedure (RoP). They should be able to do so because it is the commission’s mandate to promote and protect human rights,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Indonesia’s commissioner to the AICHR, Rafendi Djamin, said the 5-month-old commission “does not have the power” to investigate cases of human rights violations. Today’s meeting, he added, would not discuss these cases.
Rafendi said that the commissioners would instead discuss human rights issues including rights abuses related to migrants and trafficked persons, rights violations in business practices and the role of women in conflict.
“All these issues are relevant to [what we face] in Indonesia,” he said.
The AICHR was established at a meeting between the 10 ASEAN leaders in October last year. Critics slammed the regional rights commission as toothless and lacking the authority to investigate cases or prosecute human rights offenders.
Also in the commission’s agenda for today’s meeting is the formulation of its 2010-2014 work plan and budget, formulating the RoP and dialogues with the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development.
The AICHR has also scheduled a dialogue with the ASEAN committee on women, which will address the AICHR’s coordination with the planned Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Women and Children’s Rights (ACWC) to be established in April.
Rafendi said the commission would make capacity building a part of its priority at the meeting.
“This includes [strengthening] commissioners’ capacity with educational programs in the US and African rights commissions and in the European human rights courts,” he said, adding that all the programs would commence this year.
“We will also focus on capacity building of our secretariat, [hiring] skillful people, [building] a library and [conducting] research,” he said. The commission is currently based at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.
Purnomo said the AICHR should deliver clear procedures to prove its commitment to engage with civil society. “The RoP needs to include scheduled sessions with civil society groups at least twice a year,” he said.
