In Search of the Rights Track: Evolving a Regional Framework for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific Region

In retrospect, the sum total of the above resolutions from the UNGA and the UN Human Rights Commission advocated that the Asia-Pacific region should explore the possibility of setting up "regional arrangements" for the promotion and protection of human rights. These should he in the form of an inter-governmental "regional machinery", possibly a regional human rights commission - to review the human rights situation and provide redress where the national setting is unable or unwilling to deliver justice. In this regard, to what extent has there been progress ?

To date, there has been step-by-step progress in terms of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, although not to the extent of witnessing the setting up of a regional machinery in the form of an Asia-Pacific Commission (or Court) on human rights to review the human rights situation and to provide redress where the national setting is unable or unwilling to deliver justice. Progress has been seen through the evolution of three tracks.

First, regional seminars began to be organized for the Asia-Pacific region to explore the possibility of regional human rights arrangements. The first seminar for the Asia-Pacific region was held in Colombo in 1982, and since then, twelve (annual) workshops have been held for the Asia-Pacific region: Manila (1990), Jakarta (1993), Seoul (1994), Kathmandu (1996), Amman (1997), Tehran (1998), Delhi (1999), Beijing (2000), Bangkok (2001), Beirut (2002), Islamabad (2003), and Doha (2004). The next workshop is due to be take place in Beijing in 2005. These seminars have led to a cooperation framework with the Governments supported by the OHCHR for the Asia-Pacific region.

Second, sub-regional initiatives endeavouring to provide some monitoring and/or redress beyond the national setting have become more visible in recent years. Third, the presence of the OHCHR in the Asia-Pacific region has expanded at the field level. This provides possibly a nascent machinery to promote and protect human rights through the presence of the OHCHR, in cooperation with the rest of the UN family; it may offer a complementary system at least to advocate redress where there is a lack of or inadequacy of the national protection system. These may be explored further below.

Three Tracks:
a) OHCHR-supported Framework

Under the umbrella of the OHCHR, in 1998 Governments of the AsiaPacific region adopted a framework for technical cooperation at the regional level at the Tehran workshop noted above - known as the Tehran Framework - based upon a step-by-step approach with four "building blocks" or "pillars" to develop:

- national human rights institutions, such as national human rights commissions;

- nation human rights action plans;

- human right education;

- the realization of economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development.

The first phase of that framework was of two years duration and it has been extended by subsequent two-year plans of action as a result of various workshops: Beijing (2000), Beirut (2002), and Doha (2004). The annual workshops mentioned above have provided an avenue for promoting implementation of these pillars with Asia-Pacific Governments. The most recent workshop in Doha adopted the latest two-year plan with these activities (as per the Annual Appeal 2005 of the OHCHR):

                  - Revising OHCHRs handbook on national human rights plans of action to include updated material and greater details on methodology;

                  - Organizing a sub-regional workshop for countries in the Arab region, national human rights institutions and NGOs on evaluating human rights education;

                  - Supporting the annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Iluman Rights Institutions;

                  - Supporting the development of a training programme for national institutions in the area of investigation techniques;

                  - Supporting a sub-regional workshop for the Arab region on national human rights protection systems, including national human rights institutions;

                  - Organizing a workshop for judges and lawyers on the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights in the Pacific and

                  - Organizing three training workshops on accession and treaty-reporting in the Arab region and in North-east and South-east Asia, in collaboration with the Treaties and Commission Branch and the Arab region unit of OHCHR." Requirements for 2005 were estimated at USD 370,600.

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