AICHRs White Elephant

The Case for a Regional Protection

Framework in Asia

Professor Harry L. Roque

Roque & Butuyan Law Offices
University of the Philippimes

AICHR Background
The ASEAN Intergovernmental
Commission on Human Rights
(AICHR) was established on 23
October 2009.
ASEAN Charter Article 14
ASEAN Charter Terms of Reference (TOR)

Its purpose is to promote and protect

human rights and fundamental
freedoms as an intergovernmental
human rights body in the ASEAN
region.

AICHR TOR
Guiding principles
[R]espect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial
integrity and national identity of all ASEAN Member States;
[N]on-interference in the internal affairs of ASEAN Member States;
and
[R]espect for the right of every Member State to lead its national
existence free from external interference, subversion and
coercion.
Form The AICHR is an inter-governmental body and an integral
part of the ASEAN organisational structure. It is a consultative body.
Membership The AICHR shall consist of the Member States of
ASEAN. [] Each ASEAN Member State shall appoint a
Representative to the AICHR who shall be accountable to the
appointing Government.
Review & assessment This TOR shall be initially reviewed five
years after its entry into force. This review and subsequent reviews

AICHR Report Card

A review of AICHRs performance in
combating state impunity in the ASEAN
region.

The Philippines
Duhay v. Philippines
Impunity against journalists
The Philippines ranks third in Committee to
Protect Journalists (CPJ) Impunity Index.
People v. Ampatuan

Criminalization of libel
Cybercrime Prevention Act
Adonis v. Executive Secretary

Absence of a freedom of expression (FOE) law

duhay v. philippines
Maguindanao massacre vicitims 58 people
(32 journalists and media workers) killed on
23 November 2009.
Maguindanao massacre perpetrators
provincial and regional governors, local
mayors, local government officials, police
officers, and paramilitary personnel
AICHR petition CenterLaw files preliminary
request titled Duhay v. Philippines before
AICHR on 3 February 2010.

duhay v. philippines
Petitioners hereby make a preliminary request for an
urgent declaration from the Commission calling on the
Philippine State to ensure that the perpetrators of the
heinous human rights violation who are all agents
of the Philippine State are brought to justice and
adequate reparations are made to the heirs of the
victims under applicable rules of international law.
[T]he Philippines could have disarmed the Ampatuans []
continued to supply them with high-powered firearms so
that the clan could maintain a private army.
The Philippines refused to send police and military
personnel to protect victims and gave assurances
[highway] safe and secure.

duhay v. philippines
AICHR response Counsel for Duhay v.
Philippines visit the AICHR Secretriat in
Jakarta on 29 March 2010.
AICHR does not have individual complaint
mechanism.
AICHR mandate is the promotion of human
rights.

RP response AICHR cannot get involved in

any case concerning the Maguindanao
massacre, which is a purely domestic issue.

INDONESIA
Udin Udin wrote and published articles on regent
selection process. Subsequently, he was beaten to
death.
Impunity against journalists
45: annual average of violent cases against journalists
(2010+)
Failure to investigate extrajudicial killings

Repressive FOE laws

Law No.17 of 2011 (Intelligence Law) news articles
can be a national security threat
Pending bills on state secrets, information technology, and
telematics convergence

Vietnam
52 Vietnamese bloggers imprisoned for
alleged violations of tax and national security
laws.
Repressive state security laws
Vietnam Penal Code Article 79 (activities
aimed at overthrowing the peoples
administration), Article 88 (conducting
propaganda), Article 258 (abusing democratic
freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the
State).
Decree No. 72 Decree on management,
provision, and use of internet services requires
internet companies to have at least one server

SIngapore
Highly regulated media environment
Interlocking laws designed to curb FOE Internal Security
Act, Sedition act, Defamation act, Newspaper and Printing
Presses Act, Telecommunications Act, Undesirable
Publications Act, Public Order Act, and contempt of court
laws.
License for online news sites "Under the licensing
framework, online news sites will be individually licensed if
they report an average of at least one article per week on
Singapores news and current affairs over a period of two
months, and are visited by at least 50,000 unique IP
addresses from Singapore each month over a period of two
months.

Self-censorship

Thailand
Strict les majeste laws Chiranuch
Premchaiporn, editor of the Prachatai website,
was sentenced to an 8-month suspended
prison term and to pay a fine of 20,000 baht
for comments deemed insulting the Thai
Monarch which were posted by visitors on her
online forum.
Defamation suits

CAMBODIA
Limited right to freedom of speech and of
assembly
Lack of media (TV,radio, etc.) system for
opposition party.
Lack of access to real and trustworthy
information for the people