ASEAN HUMAN RIGHTS BODY - A POLITICAL COMPROMISE

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, March 24 (Bernama) -- Singapore says the final document on the
proposed human rights body of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)
will be a "political compromise".

Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo said the document would reflect the
current state of consensus on human rights in Asean member countries at a
particular time although "it will not be a perfect document".

He said this in his written reply to Parliament Tuesday, on Singapore's
position on the draft terms of reference for the proposed human rights body and
the progress of the drafting work by the High Level Panel.

The grouping is currently finalising the draft proposal which is expected to
be endorsed by Asean foreign ministers at the Asean Ministerial Meeting in
Thailand this July.

The first draft was presented to the foreign ministers for comments during
the 14th Asean Summit in Cha-Am, Thailand on Feb 27.

The regional human rights body is expected to be launched by the Asean
leaders at the 15th Asean Summit, also in Thailand, in October.

Yeo said although the document would be adopted in July, the grouping
would continue to improve it one step at a time, adopting what it called "an
evolutionary approach".

The minister said Asean members were diverse in their opinions on the human
rights body and "this diversity is a political reality that cannot be wished
away".

He said some member states preferred a body which was less intrusive because
they believed that Western countries and non-governmental organisations might
manipulate it to interfere in their domestic politics.

But, there were also other members who argued that a robust and credible
human rights body would help the grouping address this issue on its own terms,
added Yeo.

Saying he was not pessimistic on the matter, the minister said looking only
a few years ago, no one could have imagined that today, Asean would be seriously
considering establishing a human rights body.

He said the initial positions among Asean member states were so polarised
that some of them then did not dare to believe that Article 14 of the Asean
Charter on the establishment of an Asean human rights body was possible.

"That we are today, agreed that Asean should create such a body is thus, a
major step forward," added Yeo.

So, he said, even if the High Level Panel were unable to move the terms of
reference forward, from where it was in February, Asean was already better off
than before.
-- BERNAMA