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AICHR: 15 years of promoting and protecting human rights in ASEAN
AICHR’s 15-year journey reflects both the progress made in promoting and protecting human rights in Southeast Asia, as well as the challenges that persist.
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ASEAN foreign ministers (left) meet with ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights Representatives (right) as part of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta, on July 11, 2023. (-/Bay Ismoyo/Pool via Reuters)
T
he ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), established in 2009 during the 15th ASEAN Summit, will mark its 15th anniversary today.
The AICHR's creation was grounded in the 2007 ASEAN Charter, which highlighted human rights as one of the core principles of the ASEAN community, with a focus on developing forward-looking strategies for regional human rights cooperation.
However, unlike regional human rights bodies in other parts of the world, the AICHR lacks the authority to investigate or conduct fact-finding missions related to human rights violations or hold member states accountable for non-compliance.
This limitation undermines the commission's effectiveness in addressing serious human rights abuses and reduces its credibility as a regional human rights institution.
Reflecting on 15 years ago, representatives of Southeast Asian countries, including myself, gathered at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta for the AICHR’s first ever meeting, which took place from March 28 to April 1, 2010.
We called on ASEAN member states to implement policy reforms that would protect the rights of refugees, migrant workers, women and children and persons with disabilities.
We also urged the AICHR to find creative ways, despite its limitations, to defend the rights of victims of past human rights abuses and address issues related to the protection of human rights defenders and journalists.
