Civil society organizations have a history of engagement with ASEAN on human rights issues. While ASEAN has established human rights bodies like AICHR, they lack protection mandates and independence. CSOs advocate for AICHR to have powers like a complaint mechanism and ability to conduct country visits. CSOs engage ASEAN through various platforms, but face challenges like lack of access and political will from ASEAN. The establishment of human rights bodies is a step forward, but more needs to be done to strengthen protections and CSO participation in the regional human rights system.

1. LINKING UP IN THE REGION:
CIVIL SOCIETY COOPERATION
AND THE REGIONAL HUMAN
RIGHTS SYSTEM
Yuyun Wahyuningrum
Senior 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

2. History CSO Advocacy in ASEAN
Within 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.

3. 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

4. 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).

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. CSO Platforms in engagingASEAN
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

10. ASEAN Community Dialogue
Jakarta, 2012 Jakarta, 2013

11. Dialogue with ASEAN Secretary General
on Human Rights
Jakarta, 2012 Jakarta, 2013

12. CSO’s Engagement
Meeting Minister Foreign Affairs,
Jakarta, 2012
Meeting CPR Indonesia, Jakarta,
2013

13. CSO’s Engagement
PwD-AICHR Dinner,
Jakarta, 2013
AHRD Consultation,
Manila 2012

14. CSO’s Engagement
Visit ASEAN Foundation 2014
Visit Myanmar Ambassador to
ASEAN, 2013-2014

15. CSO’s Engagement
Jakarta Human Rights Dialogue Consultation with AICHR on TOR

16. 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

17. 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