in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Transcription

1 Check against delivery Statement by Ms. Kyung-wha Kang Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights 15 th Workshop on Regional Cooperation for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific Region. 21 April 2010 Bangkok, Thailand 1

2 Excellencies, Distinguished Representatives and Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the 15 th Workshop on Regional Cooperation for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific Region. I would like to warmly thank the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand for hosting this Workshop. I would like to thank all the participating Member States for their interest in this meeting, as well as national institutions and civil society for their active participation. When this Workshop was first convened in 1990 in Manila, the express intention of the States involved was to explore the possibility of developing a regional human rights arrangement for the Asia-Pacific. In the twenty years since that time, there has been a growing recognition in the region and around the world of the importance of developing regional arrangements to complement national and international efforts in promoting, protecting and realizing human rights. This 15 th workshop comes at a time when there have been significant developments towards this goal, with the recent establishment of the Human Rights Committee under the Arab Charter on Human Rights and of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, the first dedicated human rights mechanisms in these regions. The Organisation of Islamic Conference, many of whose members are represented here, is also engaged in consultations on the development of its own human rights mechanism. These developments in the Arab League and ASEAN, as well as growing interest in other regional fora present new opportunities and challenges. This meeting will be an important occasion to reflect on them and to refresh the agenda of the Asia-Pacific Regional Framework in ways that will make it more 2

3 meaningful, relevant and productive to the participating states and other stakeholders. One focus area of the Asia-Pacific Regional Framework which has seen significant progress is the development of national human rights institutions. For instance, the Framework has supported the work of the Asia-Pacific Regional Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, widely known as the APF, which provides training, capacity building, and staff exchanges to help establish and develop human rights institutions at the national level. There are now 13 A status NHRIs in the region, recognised by the International Coordinating Committee of NIs as having the appropriate mandate, independence and resources to promote and protect human rights at the national level, in accordance with the Paris Principles. In addition, progress towards the development of NHRIs has been made in Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Japan and Nauru. OHCHR seeks to engage with these key networks in the region in order to support information sharing and to increase awareness about the relevant international standards. A good example of this came with last Regional Workshop on the Establishment of National Human Rights Mechanisms in the Pacific, which was held in Apia, Samoa, in April This workshop was organised by OHCHR and the APF, with the endorsement of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the support of the Government of Samoa. The workshop gave participants access to experiences and lessons learned from the NHRIs of Australia, Maldives, New Zealand, Philippines and Timor-Leste and considered the international standards which NHRIs need to abide by in order to be credible and effective. OHCHR has also supported the 12 th Annual Meeting of the Asia- Pacific Forum of NHRIs which took place in Australia in September 2008, as well as the 14th annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Forum held in Amman, Jordan, in August 2009, hosted by the National Centre for Human Rights of Jordan. 3

4 Regional networks of NHRIs can also play a role in supporting the establishment of regional human rights mechanisms. For instance, the South-East Asia NHRIs Forum, composed of NIs from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, is actively seeking to support the new ASEAN human rights mechanism. Furthermore, regional networks of NHRIs feed into the international human rights system. For example, in 2003 and 2004, the APF developed a coordinated policy position on the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, helping to shape and improve this new core UN human rights treaty. The right to development and the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights is another pillar of technical cooperation identified by the Asia-Pacific Regional Framework. On this, the African human rights system has shown how a regional mechanism can set a benchmark for national, regional and international processes. The 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights treats economic and social rights, such as the right to food, health and education, as equally open to legal protection as civil and political rights. The Inter-American system has also developed solid jurisprudence related to economic, social and cultural rights, reflected in the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the area of ESCR adopted in 1988, which opened the door to the development of such jurisprudence. The Asia-Pacific Regional Framework added to the collective voice advocating for an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Thus, the sub-regional workshop held in the Philippines in 2004 recommended that governments move expeditiously to develop and adopt an optional protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Such a protocol was finally adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 2008, on the 60 th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Attention in the Asia-Pacific has now moved towards advocating for ratification of the Optional Protocol, with three countries, 4

5 namely Mongolia, Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands having signed, but no ratifications so far. In addition, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Human Rights Council has also opened new opportunities for reporting and monitoring the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights around the world. Recommendations stemming from the UPR have consistently paid attention to these, as well as civil and political rights, thus strengthening the interdependence and indivisibility of all human rights. Lastly, the Human Rights Council has recently created two new thematic mandates in the field of ESCR: the independent expert on water and sanitation and human rights and the independent expert on cultural rights. The Asia-Pacific Regional Framework has also helped in sharing information and good practices regarding national human rights action plans. As far back as 1999, it encouraged all Governments which have not already done so to consider initiating action to develop a national human rights plan of action. In the past year we have seen new national action plans developed by several countries, and others embarking on the review and reformulation of second, even third national action plans. If well designed, the very process of developing an Action Plan provides a number of valuable opportunities to strengthen the culture of human rights, raise awareness of human rights among the general public, and inform national policy debates. It can also consolidate cooperation among government agencies, NHRIs, NGOs, and other civil society stakeholders. The Asia-Pacific Regional Framework has also supported discussion on the role of human rights education, including the need to inject human rights modules in school curricula along with the importance of human rights education for professional groups such as parliamentarians, judges, lawyers and law enforcement personnel. OHCHR has advanced human rights education globally through our methodological and training support and technical assistance. OHCHR has also supported documentation of good practices namely, Schooling for Justice and 5

6 Rights: Human Rights Education in Indian Schools: Building a Model and Human Rights Education in the school systems in Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, and Thailand. Emphasis has also been placed on the rights-based approach to education that calls for greater participation, for instance of indigenous communities, in the design of education programmes, as well as the importance of applied training that goes beyond principles and encourages behavioural change. With the establishment of the first regional human rights mechanisms in the region, it will be important for the Asia-Pacific Framework to discuss how they can be strengthened and supported, and to explore how similar progress might be achieved in other parts of the region. The establishment of regional mechanisms lies at the heart of any credible regional human rights arrangement. Such regional mechanisms can take many forms, including regional human rights courts, special rapporteurs and regional human rights commissions. Yet what they all have in common is the purpose of making a meaningful difference to the human rights situation on the ground, translating commitment into real improvements for the people. What these mechanisms also have in common are the characteristics which make them credible and effective to the international community, namely: subsidiarity to national human rights protection systems; a normative framework, such as a regional human rights instrument in line with international standards; commissioners who are independent experts in human rights and persons of integrity; engagement in both promotion and protection work, including receiving and deliberating on individual complaints; a competent and full time secretariat with sufficient resources; established procedures for interaction with civil society and NHRIs; and well established cooperation with international human rights mechanisms. 6

7 The process of establishing and developing regional human rights mechanisms in Africa, Europe and the Americas has been a gradual, evolutionary process which continues to this day. While we are together here in Bangkok, we also have the opportunity to learn from the experiences and lessons learned from a region at the beginning of this process. We have with us here some of those involved in the establishment of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, which has just held its first formal meeting in Jakarta last month. We can also learn about developments in the League of Arab States, the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF),and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on the development of their own regional agendas. OHCHR is here to assist states in the sharing of information and lessons learned in the establishment and functioning of regional human rights mechanisms. Since 1993, the General Assembly and the then Commission on Human Rights have adopted a number of resolutions encouraging the establishment of regional human rights mechanisms as well as greater cooperation and dialogue between them and the international human rights system. A Human Rights Council Resolution from its 12th Session in October last year requested OHCHR to hold, on a regular basis, a workshop on regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights. The purpose of these workshops is to allow the sharing of information and concrete proposals on the strengthening of cooperation between the UN and regional human rights arrangements, with the participation of all relevant stakeholders. The first of these workshops will be convened next month in Geneva, from the 3-4 May. Furthermore, staff of OHCHR field presences, such as the Regional Office for South-East Asia here in Bangkok, work directly with government officials, UN agencies and civil society organisations in the region to support their work in developing a regional human rights system. Facilitating communication between 7

8 the different regional human rights mechanisms and the international system has been a key approach of the Regional Office in Bangkok. In April last year, OHCHR arranged for the drafters of the Terms of Reference of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights to visit Geneva for a dialogue with experts from Africa, the Americas and Europe as well as from the UN system. The meeting also noted the need for institutionalised cooperation between regional human rights mechanisms and the UN human rights system, including treaty bodies, special procedures, as well as the UPR. In a year which sees two new ASEAN human rights mechanisms start their work, namely the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and the ASEAN Commission on the promotion and protection of the rights of women and children, the OHCHR Regional Office will continue to do its utmost in support of ASEAN endeavours to strengthen human rights protection and promotion in the region. Let me end by wishing you every success in your deliberations over the next few days. Thank you