Support a Strong Protection Mandate in ASEAN Human Rights Body!

Warm greetings!

The Women's Caucus for an ASEAN Human Rights Body, seek your support and endorsement of the letter copied below to the High Level Panel (HLP) tasked with drafting the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the ASEAN Human Rights Body (AHRB).

The TOR will be adopted at the next ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) to be held on 16 to 23 July 2009 in Thailand. However, the TOR as it stands does not include a strong protection mandate and focuses primarily on promotional aspects. In order for the AHRB to be effective and of any use in the region it is imperative that it includes a strong and effective protection mandate in the TOR which will determine the roles and functions of the Commissioners once the body is established.

The High Level Panel (HLP) will be meeting at the end of June 2009 to finalise the TOR. We seek your endorsement to the attached letter as an initiative to pressure the HLP to include our concerns and recommendations in the final TOR.

Please sign your name and organisation details below to support our stance for a Strong Protection Mandate in ASEAN's Human Rights Body.  

In solidarity,

Sunila Abeysekera, International Women's Rights Action Watch - Asia Pacific (IWRAW Asia Pacific)
Azra Talat Sayeed, Asian Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
On Behalf of the Women's Caucus for an ASEAN Human Rights Body

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23 June 2009

H.E. Sihasak Phuangketkeow
Chairperson
High Level Panel (HLP) on the establishment of the ASEAN Human Rights Body
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
No. 443 Sri Ayudhya Road
Rajthevi District
Bangkok 10400, Thailand

Cc.
H.E. Dato Paduka Haji Shofry Abdul Ghafor (HLP member Brunei Darussalam)
H.E. Om Yentieng (HLP member Cambodia)
H.E. Rahmat Budiman (HLP member Indonesia)
H.E. Bounkeut Sangsomsak (HLP member Lao PDR)
H.E. Tan Sri Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak (HLP member Malaysia)
H.E. U Myat Ko (HLP member Myanmar/Burma)
H.E. Rosario G Manalo (HLP member Philippines)
H.E. Bilahari Kausikan (HLP member Singapore)
Prof. Vitit Muntarbhorn (HLP member Thailand)
H.E. Pham Quang Vinh (HLP member Vietnam)
H.E. Surin Pitsuwan (Secretary General of ASEAN)

Your Excellency,
Women's Human Rights Groups in Southeast Asia call for an ASEAN Human Rights Body with a Strong and Effective Protection Mandate. The Women's Caucus for an ASEAN Human Rights Body (the Women's Caucus), representing women's human rights groups in Southeast Asia have been actively engaged in the process of establishing the ASEAN Human Rights Body (AHRB). The Women's Caucus has been supportive of the establishment of the AHRB and we have been calling for a mechanism which will promote, protect, fulfil and realise the rights of all who live and work in, and have connections with the ASEAN region. In particular, we have been advocating for full integration of women's human rights concerns and standards into the AHRB. While the establishment of the AHRB is necessary and should aid in the promotion, protection, realisation and fulfilment of all human rights, we are disappointed with the current Terms of Reference (TOR) drafted by the High Level Panel (HLP) which focuses primarily on the promotional mandates and appears contradictory in parts.

At this crucial point when the TOR of the AHRB is to be finalised, we reiterate our position on the need to include a strong and effective protection mandate in the TOR. The protection mandate should include the capacity to conduct on-site country visits, conduct investigations and issue
recommendations to a member state as well as to institute a mechanism for receiving and addressing complaints. It should also incorporate a framework for periodic peer reviews on human rights situation of ASEAN countries. In envisaging an independent, effective and credible AHRB, it is
imperative that the AHRB be given adequate power and resources to protect human rights and effectively address human rights violations in the region. To that end, a strong protection mandate and implementing powers are crucial to its effectiveness as the first and only regional human rights mechanism in Asia.

The Women's Caucus in particular call on the AHRB to further guarantee the following key elements of women's human rights:

2.1 commitments to uphold principles of universality, inalienability, indivisibility, interdependence and inter-relatedness towards the effective realisation of all human rights of women;
2.2 commitment to the principle of substantive equality and non-discrimination as enshrined in international human rights law, especially through CEDAW;
2.3 commitment to recognise the multiple sites of intersectional discrimination and violence experienced by women in ensuring equality; and
2.6 commitments to uphold justice and to recognise women's human rights in accordance with legal obligations of the State under CEDAW. This includes making commitments and taking actions to eliminate cultural and religious norms that perpetuate discrimination against women and to discontinue using the concepts of cultural diversity, pluralism and the notion of ASEAN values to undermine internationally recognised standards of women's human rights.

In conclusion, we assert that the need for an effective protection mandate should not be compromised in the expediency of establishing the AHRB by this year. Thus, we call on all members of the HLP to uphold the commitments made to the "People of ASEAN," guarantee that a strong TOR be adopted by ten Foreign Ministers at the 42nd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in July 2009 in Thailand, and ensure that the established AHRB will withstand national, regional and international scrutiny in upholding universal principles of human rights.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

IWRAW Asia Pacific and APWLD
On behalf of the Women's Caucus for an ASEAN Human Rights Body