HANOI, Vietnam—Seeking to make the Philippines the premier human rights champion in the region, President Aquino offered to locate the headquarters of ASEAN’s new human rights body in Manila.
“As the country will endeavor to once again be the champion of human rights, the country will reiterate its offer to locate the Secretariat headquarters in Manila,” Foreign Affairs Sec. Alberto Romulo (picture) said in a statement.
The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) is a new mechanism launched last year to strengthen the “promotion and protection of human rights” in the region. The AICHR secretariat currently shares office with the ASEAN headquarters in Jakarta.
Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was the first to suggest moving AICHR headquarters in Manila. An Arroyo-appointee, Romulo will formally propose it in the ASEAN Regional Forum, the annual meeting of 27 states and the European Union.
“It was a very generous offer from the Philippines, but we need to get a consensus on it,” Indonesian foreign minister Dr. Marty Natalegawa told Newsbreak.
The same proposal was made by Thailand. The proposed relocation will put the successful country at the center of AICHR activities.
For the Philippines, hosting the AICHR headquarters can help the country re-position itself as one of the leaders in ASEAN, a stature that observers said now belonged to Indonesia following its aggressive stance on various issues including the protection of human rights.
But Natalegawa said the relocation may not happen soon because the other ASEAN members have yet to express their approval.
Ironically, Philippines and Thailand were recently criticized for opposing Jakarta’s push for stronger provisions in AICHR to include the investigation of human rights violations.
In a region beset with various cases of human rights violations, the creation of the AICHR is recognized as a big step.
However, regional civil society groups said AICHR’s policy of non-interference has seriously clamped its potential.
The principle of non-interference means AICHR cannot intervene or investigate individual cases of human rights violations. It cannot, say, sanction Myanmar for its continued imprisonment of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi because it is considered an internal matter.
In March, relatives of the journalists in the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre sought the intervention of the AICHR, but to no avail. While the AICHR Secretariat has received the complaint they filed, it maintains that it is not part of AICHR’s job.
At best, the new human rights body can only assess general situation of ASEAN country’s adherence international standards of human rights. How it will do that remains unclear. It is yet to finalize its rules of procedure.
Regional civil society groups have been actively calling for the AICHR to revise its terms of reference (TOR) but ASEAN officials said the review of the TOR will not happen until 5 years from now.
Filipino human rights lawyer Carlos Medina said it should be President Aquino’s advocay to call for a stronger AICHR.
“The Aquino administration should now take the lead in calling for the expansion of the protection powers of the commission, even as it recognizes the constraints faced by AICHR,” Medina said.
President Aquino should not forget to address the local human rights situation, added lawyer Harry Roque.
“You can’t champion it abroad unless we keep our house in order,” Roque said.
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