Keynote Address by Second Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore, Mr Raymond Lim, at the 7th Workshop on the Asean Regional Mechanism on Human Rights at the Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa, Singapore, on 12 June 2008 at 0900 Hrs

Excellency Dr Surin Pitsuwan
Secretary-General of ASEAN

Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn
Co-Chairman of the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism

Associate Professor Simon Tay
Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs and Chairman of the Organising Committee

Members of the Organising Committee and Distinguished Participants of the 7th Workshop on the ASEAN Regional Mechanism on Human Rights

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

1 I am happy to join all of you here at this 7th Workshop on the ASEAN Regional Mechanism on Human Rights.

The ASEAN Charter and Human Rights in ASEAN
2 This workshop comes at a timely juncture. Last November, ASEAN Leaders signed the ASEAN Charter at the Summit here in Singapore. The Charter is a landmark document for ASEAN, and for human rights. It articulates a comprehensive set of common purposes and principles for ASEAN, including the promotion and protection of human rights. The Charter calls for, among other things, the establishment of an ASEAN human rights body.

3 The Charter builds on ASEAN's initiatives in the field of human rights, including the ASEAN Declaration Against Trafficking in Persons Particularly Women and Children adopted at the 10th ASEAN Summit in 2004, and the Cebu Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers at the 12th ASEAN Summit in 2007. It also goes one step further than the Vientiane Action Programme, which only called for an ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children.

4 This July, at the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Singapore, the High Level Panel that will draft the Terms of Reference of the ASEAN human rights body will begin its work. This will start an important new ASEAN process. Let us have no illusions that the road ahead will be easy. Civil society will have an important role in providing ideas and suggestions for the High Level Panel. But we should not prejudge its work. We are engaged in an unprecedented enterprise for ASEAN and should, as Prof Vitit Muntarbhorn has just said, take a step-by-step and consultative approach. We should "cross the river by feeling the stones beneath our feet".

5 I would like to suggest three broad criteria that we should bear in mind as we navigate our way forward.

6 First, any new ASEAN institution must have the support of all 10 member states. To do so, it must recognise the complex history of our region, the diversity of political systems in ASEAN and the realities that this imposes on ASEAN in all fields. This does not mean that we should lack ambition. But our policies must take cognisance of ASEAN's established traditions and procedures.

7 Second, advancing the human rights agenda within ASEAN will best be achieved through an evolutionary approach. The fact is that while universality is an ideal that we must aspire to, the interpretation of most rights are still essentially contested concepts. A few years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine that ASEAN would commit itself to establishing a human rights body of any kind. But we have clearly moved ahead. Perceptions and policies towards human rights in ASEAN countries will continue to develop over time. So we should allow the functions of this human rights body to evolve. Too much ambition can as easily scuttle this important project as too little.

8 Third, we must not set artificial deadlines for the creation of a new institution or create an institution simply to be able to say that we have established one. We must ensure that this ASEAN human rights body is credible and meaningful to its members. We must be realistic. However, a direction has been set from which there is no turning back. Thus, as we feel our way forward, realism and the need to establish consensus should not be an excuse for inaction. An important responsibility has been placed on ASEAN and we should not be found wanting.

The ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism Process
9 I would like to applaud the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism (WG-AHRM) for its continuing role in advocating the promotion and protection of human rights in ASEAN. Established in 1993, the WG-AHRM serves as a bridge between expert and civil society views, and the governments of ASEAN Member States.

10 This workshop series co-organised by the WG-AHRM and governments of ASEAN member states is an important part of ASEAN's overall approach towards human rights. It is an opportunity for an annual meeting of minds of experts, civil society organisations and national institutions that are passionate about human rights. It is also a valued means, for the government representatives in attendance, of obtaining feedback from the ground on issues relating to human rights. These workshops have made a significant contribution to the discourse on human rights issues within our region.

11 The outcome of your discussions will be surfaced to the High Level Panel drafting the Terms of Reference for the ASEAN human rights body that will begin work at the 41st AMM. It will be the most current set of civil society recommendations provided to that body when it begins its work.

12 Your discussions and recommendations will therefore be important to the High Level Panel and to ASEAN. I wish all of you meaningful discussions over the next two days. I am confident that with this gathering of leading minds on human rights in ASEAN, we will have constructive and important recommendations from this Workshop.

13 Thank you.
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