NGOs Ask Asean for More Say on Human Rights

22 October 2012
The Cambodia Daily
Economy and commerce / Human rights / Social development / Trade / Trade policy and regulation / Unions
AHRD / ASEAN / ASEAN development / ASEAN Human Rights Declaration / Cambodian NGOs / CHRAC / Human Rights / human rights conventions / international human rights conventions / NGOs / rights groups

Less than a month before Asean heads of state are expected to approve the first-ever human rights declaration for the regional group, Cambodian and Indonesian NGOs yesterday urged member states to give their organizations a larger role in the process. In the works for more than a year, the declaration is set to be approved during this year’s Asean Summit, which begins November 18 in Phnom Penh. But rights groups across the region worry it will be weaker than the international conventions some of the countries have already signed. … In September, more than 50 NGOs and unions from across the region, including Chrac and five others from Cambodia, issued a joint statement urging Asean to amend the articles and bring the declaration in line with other international human rights conventions.