LINKING UP IN THE REGION: CIVIL SOCIETY COOPERATION AND THE REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM

Yuyun WahyuningrumSenior Advisor on ASEAN and Human Rights

Human Rights Working Group (Indonesia)

Regional Seminar on Human Rights in Southeast Asia

Kuala Lumpur, 6-7 May 2014

History CSO Advocacy in ASEANWithin all limitation in ASEAN: History of civil society engagement with ASEAN. It is

a journey of believing that engagement can make change.

History of national political opening contribute to the political space at regional level.

History of democracy movements in ASEAN countries. The opening political spaces at the national level impact the situation at the regional level.

History of interaction between national and international efforts and dialogue on human rights.

Journey of believing that a human rights commission can be created in context of the region with no respect of values of democracy and human rights.

ASEAN Human Rights Systems

Conventions: Norms/

Instruments

Commission/Committee ASEAN Human Rights Court??

ACWC 2010

AICHR 2009 ACMW

2008

The 3Cs in Human Rights Architecture

AICHR after five years• Human Rights Dialogue (25 June 2013): Government of Indonesia invited

AICHR Representatives on Human Rights Dialogue to hear its report on human rights situation, its challenges and possible with AICHR in the future. The Government of Thailand has agreed to be the State to Report to AICHR on its human rights situation in August 2014

• AICHR-CPR joint-collaboration to have a public discussion during the 46th ASEAN Anniversary (August 2013) in ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta taking the theme “Community Building through the Implementation of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD)”

• AICHR Thailand initiative on visiting Klongprem Central Prison (November 2013) to observe detention and treatment of female, child and undocumented migrants facilities

• Held a retreat in May 2013 to talk about country’s human rights situation:

Laos (on S. Somphone) and Myanmar (on Rohingya).

AICHR after five years• AICHR Indonesia’s initiative to hold the annual Jakarta Human Rights

Dialogue as a venue for human rights stakeholders to discuss different topics on human rights: ASEAN Charter review and its implication to human rights architecture (2012), prevention of torture (2013) and death penalty (2014). Thailand will host similar initiative in November 2014 on Bangkok Human Rights Dialogue with the theme on access to justice.

• AICHR’s Stakeholders meetings/consultations took place from 2012-2014

• (On-going) AICHR Guideline in engaging civil society groups.

• Studies: CSR and human rights, migration and human rights, right to peace, trafficking in persons

• Country Visit 2014 – Indonesia• Engagement with International and regional human rights institutions

AICHR after five years

• The creation of AICHR is a step towards cooperation on human rights. It demonstrates that ASEAN integration is not always about economic cooperation.

• Generate human rights debates in ASEAN• Generate civil society movement on human rights

in ASEAN, both thematic-based or general issues• Generate interests from other neighbor sub-region

to establish similar mechanisms• Generate cooperation and dialogue on human

rights between ASEAN and its dialogue partners

Post-Charter Cooperation with Dialogue Partners on human rights

Area of Cooperation

Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Declaration on ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity (2011-2015)

1.6.1 Collaborate on human rights through regional dialogues, seminars and workshops, education and awareness raising activities, as well as exchanges of best practices and other capacity building initiatives aimed at enhancing the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. This includes supporting the work of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), which is the first regional mechanism and overarching institution for the promotion and protection of human rights in ASEAN.

ASEAN-European Union: READI

ASEAN human rights related mechanisms: AICHR, ACWC, ACMW, ACW

ASEAN-US ACWC

AICHR after five years• Generated more discussion in both bilateral and multilateral

relations among states in ASEAN and also with Dialogue Partners as well as among civil society in the region.

• Civil society groups are more organized in addressing issues both generally or thematically on human rights, especially to voice for the voiceless, promote social cohesion and equality, strengthen social capacities, advocate for ASEAN reform, ensure that ASEAN is accountable, and act as an important check-and-balance for the promotion and protection of human rights in the region.

• The growing activism of civil society organisations has been contesting the ASEAN’s way of human rights socialisation, especially on holding non-interference and the rejection to the inclusion of self-determination in AHRD.

• The space/platform to debate human rights publicly in the region is gradually opened up

CSO Platforms in engaging ASEAN

Name frequent Engaging the body

ACSC/APF annually ASEAN SUMMIT Head of States/Governments

ASEAN Disability Forum (ADF) annually

ASEAN Youth Forum annually

ASEAN Grass-root People Assembly annually

ASEAN Community Dialogue annually ASEAN Committee Permanent Representatives (CPR)

CPR

Civil Society Forum to AMM on human rights

annually ASEAN Ministers Meeting (AMM) Foreign Ministers

Informal Dialogue between CSO and ASG

annually ASEAN Secretary General (ASG) Secretary General

Jakarta Human Rights Dialogue in ASEAN

annually ASEAN Human Rights Mechanisms

AICHR, ACWC

GO-NGO Forum on Social Welfare & Development

annually ASEAN Senior Official Meeting on SWD

SOM officials

ASEAN Community Dialogue

Jakarta, 2012 Jakarta, 2013

Dialogue with ASEAN Secretary General on Human Rights

Jakarta, 2012 Jakarta, 2013

CSO’s Engagement

Meeting Minister Foreign Affairs, Jakarta, 2012

Meeting CPR Indonesia, Jakarta, 2013

CSO’s Engagement

PwD-AICHR Dinner,

Jakarta, 2013

AHRD Consultation,

Manila 2012

CSO’s Engagement

Visit ASEAN Foundation 2014 Visit Myanmar Ambassador to ASEAN, 2013-2014

CSO’s Engagement

Jakarta Human Rights Dialogue Consultation with AICHR on TOR

CSO’s Inputs to TOR Review: need your support

• 1)    On Protection mandates:

• (Individual) complaint mechanism: To receive, analyse and investigate individual petitions and produce recommendations on the alleged human rights violations committed by states and non-state actors.

• Special procedures – Working Group, Special Rapporteurs, Country visits: To carry out on-site visits to countries to engage in more in-depth analysis of the general situation and/or to investigate a specific situation by the Commission or by the appointed Special Procedures. The reports of these country visits shall be published publicly

• Human rights peer review – to explore ways and means of ensuring that review aims at promoting human rights protection cooperation among member states.

• 2.     On Independency of AICHR Representative, participatory selection process in all ASEAN member states, mechanism for accountability (to the people and not to the member states)

• 3.     On Transparency and civil society engagement mechanism for and access to information

Challenges• Lack of access, space, transparency, political will from

ASEAN and AICHR to engage with civil society• Lack of coherence on human rights cooperation in ASEAN,

including among human rights mechanisms in ASEAN• Different level of democracy in ASEAN member countries• Need to improve CSO capacity (skills, physical, resources) to

engage with ASEAN – intergovernmental bodies• Basic freedom has been targeted to be removed from

ASEAN human rights discussion:• Freedom of association – removed from AHRD• Peaceful assembly is going to be removed from Framework Instrument

on the Protection of Migrant Workers