(NGO

in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, Ref. No : D1035)

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INFID Statement to Welcome the ASEAN InterGovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Consultation with Civil Society on Term of Reference (ToR) Review Jakarta, April the 29th 2014 This year the ASEAN InterGovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) is entering its 5th year. But along these years, its very rare to hear any investigation being held by AICHR on any cases of human rights violation in the Southeast Asia region. AICHR has not responded on the forced disappearances of Laos activist Sombath Somphone, series of violence experienced by the Rohingya minority in Myanmar, the murder of Philippines indigenous peoples activist William Bugatti, or oppressions against the Ahmadiyah and Shia minority in Indonesia. According to the civil society, one of the roots of the weak human rights protection by the AICHR is the weak Terms of References that AICHR is based on. The ToR stresses more on the promotion instead of protection of human rights. The ToR does not mention any mandate to accept any complaints both from inviduals or groups about human rights violation. The ToR also does not mention any mandate to investigate human rights violation in ASEAN country members. AICHR has not been fully functioned in playing its role to promote human rights, as mention in the ToR. ACHR has never pushed any ASEAN country members to ratify international human rights instruments, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) two most crucial instruments in protecting human rights. Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Myanmar have not signed neither the ICCPR nor the ICESCR. Its promotional function has also not been used to push country members to start a National Human Rights Institution. The recent country to have such institution is Myanmar back in 2011, but no other countries have followed the path afterwards. This means only 5 out of 10 ASEAN country members that have a National Human Rights Institution. AICHR has the mandate to start a dialogue with civil societies but until now theres a limited and relatively closed relationship between AICHR and civil societies. AICHR has been refusing proposals of dialogue for several times saying that it doesnt have any Engagement Guidelines with civil societies. The draft is available now but it has not been discussed yet formalised. Theres a very limited practice of consultative dialogue, for example between representatives of AICHR Indonesia with CSOs. But theres no similar practice in other countries. As a result there has not been any active participation and meaningful dialogue held so far.

Indonesia and Thailand are the only countries that have done a selection process for representatives of AICHR in a participative and transparant way while other countries dont. A participative and transparant selection process is vital to have gather representatives who are competent and with full integrity, as mandated by the ToR. In the article 6.7 in the ToR, AICHR is obliged to give regular information to public about its activities through proper public information materials published by AICHR. In the reality, this happens very rarely. Until now, AICHR has not published any annual report that can be accessed by the public. Theres a thematic review done by AICHR on CSR and human rights, but its not accessible to the public. In a recent dialogue with CSO in Jakarta, the review was being discussed but the full text is not accessible. As a result, its difficult for the public to demand AICHRs responsibility. Its possible to create a better ToR for AICHR. In the article 9.6 of the ToR, its said that A review of the ToR is a mandatory five years after it started... and that means this year. And its also possible for civil societies to review AICHR progress so far and advise recommendation for the ToR. Recommendation 1. Any recommendation after the review must not create a weaker ToR compared to the current one. 2. AICHR needs to strengthen its protection mandate and that should be accompanied with proper mechanism to accept complaints, investigate and visit locations to monitor and take emergency steps in a crisis human rights situation. 3. AICHR has to make use of its promotion mandate to push other ASEAN country members to ratify ICCPR and ICESCR and to urge countries to create an effective National Human Rights Institution. 4. AICHR needs to finisih the Engagement Guidelines with civil societies and be open to any participation of civil societies to accomplish whats mention in the article 4.8 in the ToR: To have a dialogue and consultancy with ASEAN bodies and other entities related to ASEAN, including the civil societies. 5. AICHR needs to apply a participative and transparant mechanism to select representatives in order to have competent members for the Commission. 6. AICHR needs to be accountable not only to governments as mentioned in the ToR but also to the people of ASEAN. 7. Indonesia is the home of ASEAN Secretariat and also the third largest democracy in the world. Therefore Indonesia also shares the responsibility to play a bigger role to ensure a stronger mandate for the AICHR.
For more information please contact: Hilman Handoni, Program Officer Human Rights and Democracy Tel +62 815 8685 3633 Email hilman@infid.org