MEDIA RELEASE
“Cambodian Civil Society’s View
towards the Drafting Process of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration” Phnom Penh,
July 06, 2012
We, the
Cambodian Civil Society Organizations, who have closely monitored the
development of the drafting process of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration
(AHRD), urge the ASEAN members to develop an AHRD that meets international
human rights stands. The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights
(AICHR), under the ASEAN Charter and its Terms of Reference (ToR), is mandated
to draft an AHRD that is then to be reviewed by ASEAN Foreign Ministers and to
be adopted by ASEAN Heads of States and Governments, scheduled on the 21st
Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
We welcomed
the opportunity to have been consulted by Cambodia’s AICHR Representative on
the 3rd of July 2012. However, we were at a loss due to the fact that the
current draft version of the AHRD was not made publicly available for a
meaningful dialogue. Numerous national NGOs were not present due to the
complicated registration procedure and given the short notice, which
unfortunately left their comments unnoticed. In the mean time, at least four
other countries in ASEAN have not yet conducted any consultations with their
constituencies, while five countries had publicly provided consultations. It is
unfortunate that in the absence of the draft AHRD, which will be the first and
most important human rights document in the Southeast Asian Region once
adopted, only the NGOs attending the consultation meeting were able to give
their inputs on what we would like to have in the draft document.
The CSOs
believe that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent,
interrelated and of equal importance. Thus, we would like to convey our
aspirations of the Cambodia’s CSOs for AICHR and ASEAN leaders to (a) adopt
whole articles in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR), (b) add value to the existing human rights standards, and (c) address
the current issues in human rights in order to safeguard the economic,
political and security impact of the rights of ASEAN people. With that in mind
we strongly support the declaration and assurance of AICHR chair that the final
declaration should not fall below the internationally accepted UDHR, the Vienna
Convention and Programme of Actions and other International human rights
instruments. We also insist that, to guarantee the rights of the ASEAN people,
the member states of ASEAN must have the obligations and duty to promote, to
protect and to fulfil hum rights, free from any form of violation by Official
State Agencies and or any third party. We uphold the view that is is important
to open more space for vibrant civil society engagement and cooperation, and should
therefore be included into the AHRD.
Cambodia, as the chair of ASEAN this year, has ratified many
international human rights treaties as clearly indicated in its 1993
Constitution. Its commitment to promoting and respecting human rights through
the signing and ratification of these international human rights treaties is
very much appreciated. Therefore, the prominent role as the Chair of ASEAN for
Cambodia is very significant to bring together common voices of the ASEAN
people and to persuade the other member states to adopt an AHRD that is
internationally acceptable for our ASEAN region.
The Cambodian Government and
Cambodia’s AICHR Representative should:
• Not accept any AHRD that falls
below the UDHR and other International Human Rights Standards or treaties;
• Ensure that the process of
drafting AHRD before its adoption is more inclusive and transparent with the
participation of all relevant stakeholders;
• Make sure that this
Declaration follows and adopts the key principles and articles in the UDHR;
• Encourage
other state members to conduct meaningful consultations at their national level
with their constituencies, in particular by those AICHR representatives that
have not yet done so;
• Continue
wide-range and inclusive consultations, at both national and regional levels,
in order to discuss the latest drafts of the AHRD. AICHR, particularly the
Cambodia’s AICHR Representative acting as Chair, should seriously consider
submissions from CSOs, national human rights institutes and other stakeholders,
and provide them with feedback;
• Translate drafts of the AHRD
into national languages and other local languages of the ASEAN countries in
order to encourage broader public engagement in the region;
To ASEAN leaders:
• In the
upcoming ASEAN Foreign Ministerial Meeting, ASEAN Foreign Ministers should not
finalize the draft AHRD to AICHR for enabling more consultations as openly as
possible, with the latest draft version of AHRD to be openly disclosed at least
2 months before the ASEAN 21st Summit ;
• The ASEAN
Heads of States and of Governments should make sure that the AHRD is made in
accordance with the UDHR standards, the Convention on the Elimination of all
Form of Discrimination to Women, CEDAW, and the Convention of the Rights of the
Child, Labor rights standards and includes more value-added, which will be a
human rights document that promotes and protects the rights of the 600 million
ASEAN people as proclaimed in the ASEAN Charter.
This Press Release is
endorsed by Cambodian Civil Society Organizations:
1. Cambodian Defenders Project
(CDP)
2. Cambodian Human Rights Action
Committee (CHRAC)
3.
Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC)
4. Cambodian Labor Confederation
(CLC)
5. Cambodian Volunteers for
Society (CVS)
6. Committee for Free and Fair
Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL)
7. Committee to Promote Women
Participation in Politics (CPWP)?
8. Coordination of Action
Research on AIDS and Mobility (CARAM-Cambodia)
9. Khmer Youth Association (KYA)
10. Legal Aid of Cambodia (LAC)
11. People Center for
Development and Peace (PDP-Center)
12. SILAKA
13. Star Kampuchea
14. Cambodian League for the
Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO)
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