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Human rights in ASEAN at 10
By now the AICHR’s terms of reference should have been reviewed, long delayed since 2014 because of a lack of consensus on how the body could better protect human rights.
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Activists burn portraits of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during a rally to commemorate the 70th International Human Rights Day near the Presidential Palace in Manila. (AFP/Ted Aljibe)
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tarting Jan.1, 2019, Thailand takes ASEAN’s helm. With the theme Advancing Partnership for Sustainability, its representative will chair the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).
The theme aptly describes ASEAN’s priorities to, among other things, deliver a more sustainable and people-centered ASEAN Community and to complement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
When the AICHR turns 10 years old on Oct. 23, we can measure its achievements through improvement in the quality of life of Southeast Asians, including advancement in the standards of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration 2012 (AHRD) states that the process to realize the human rights and freedoms promulgated in the declaration shall take into account peoples’ participation, inclusivity and the need for accountability.
However signs of a regression of human rights in the region have come to light. Civil society organizations have worked tirelessly to share evidence of rising hate crimes and speeches that incite violence, massive internal displacement of persons because of systematic discrimination based on ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation, influx of asylum seekers and refugees, widespread extrajudicial executions and increasing attempts to silence the media and human rights defenders by physical harm or threats of imprisonment.
