Despite the fact that the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) has existed for three years, human rights in ASEAN are going nowhere. The AICHR’s silence to a number of human rights violations in the region is scandalous. Unless there is a maneuver in between, the AICHR will continue its “legacy” of being irrelevant in the lives of the people in the region.

After its first meeting last month, with the new set of members, in Brunei Darussalam, the AICHR regrouped in Jakarta last week and will hold a five-day meeting session in May, also in Jakarta.

The establishment of the AICHR in the process of community building in ASEAN signifies a regional integration that is not merely about economic growth. Institutional building, norm setting and the formation of a community are crucial elements in the process to create a community, in which the AICHR should play a leading role on its