The Malaysian Insider

OCT 27 — The birth of an Asean human rights commission at the grouping’s annual composite meetings last week in Thailand was eclipsed not just by practical matters, like faster economic integration and reinforcing linkages with China and India.

There was a sense also that expectations had to be understood as being realistic, although this was a development of some note in Asean’s evolution. The notion of reflexive respect for innate and law-based rights in the widely disparate Asean region will need time to develop.

It has taken 16 years for such an institutional mechanism to become fact, after the idea germinated following the 1993 leaders’ meeting. The United Nations’ perspective is also instructive. Its human rights commission’s regional representative, Homayoun Alizadeh, said the Asean commission will have to work hard to establish its credibility “and help close the gap between human rights rhetoric and the reality on the ground”.

Hard to swallow, obviously, for Myanmar and the Indochina states, or even the absolute monarchy of Brunei. There is no need to belabour the point about Myanmar, as criticisms of its record are well-documented and justified. But note that the concept of human rights and their applications are not immutable.

The United States is to open a dialogue with Myanmar after years of futile punitive actions, even if it appears to have a motive in also wanting to counter China’s diplomatic monopoly of the Indian Ocean region. The US has long had unresolved issues with its black citizens. As well, the European Union is proud of its rights tradition and its enforcement mechanisms — but its immigrant communities from South Asia and Turkey, religious minorities, native-born gypsies and Jews will beg to differ.

So, yes, the Asean Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights will have to perform contortions promoting human rights while taking into account ‘national and regional particularities’ and respect for different ‘historical, cultural and religious backgrounds’, as its terms of reference say. This alone is tricky, but the biggest deficiency is the lack of enforcement power as non-interference in members’ affairs remains steadfast.

Progress will therefore be incremental, but Asean can consider the usefulness of an enforcement enablement when the articles are reviewed after five years. One positive aspect is that member governments and activists will come under internal pressure to do a better job of defining, honouring and defending citizens’ rights.

The commission’s next task is to draw up a human rights declaration. Members will show their commitment best by reinforcing the commissioners’ work with more funding and staff secondments.