ASEAN rights body better than nothing: Philippines

ASEAN rights body better than nothing: Philippines
Fri Mar 27, 6:03 am ET

MANILA (AFP) - A regional human rights watchdog expected to come into being later this year will have limited scope but still represents an important first step for Southeast Asia, one of its drafters said here Friday.

The body, which should be launched in October, is not expected to get sanction to investigate human rights violations in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said Rosario Manalo.

Nor will it have the power to prosecute abusers at the out-set, added Manalo, the Filipino envoy among a team appointed by members of the 10-nation ASEAN to draft the body's "terms of reference".

Manalo told reporters "there is no political will" in ASEAN -- which has junta-ruled Myanmar among its members -- to give the new watchdog an investigative brief.

"You don't change societies in the wink of an eye," she said in defence. "We are still grappling with what 'human rights' really is."

Manalo said she sees the watchdog initially doing "promotions" and education so that ASEAN, which includes democracies, communist regimes, Myanmar's junta and a monarchy, would eventually "internalise it in their own societies."

The draft is to be submitted to ASEAN foreign ministers later this year, and ASEAN leaders are expected to launch the body in October.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.