Transcript of Reply to Questions in Parliament by Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Raymond Lim, 27 August 2007

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS:

Prof Thio Li-Ann: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs (a) if he will provide an update on the reported ASEAN proposal to set up a human rights commission and what kind of time frame is envisaged before this is up and running; and (b) what implications, if any, this may have for Singapore's domestic laws and foreign policy.

REPLY:

At the recent ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Manila (30 July 2007), ASEAN Foreign Ministers agreed that the ASEAN Charter should state clearly our intention to establish an ASEAN human rights body.

2 This is a significant step forward for ASEAN. Some countries were reluctant to make this move at first because of the way the issue of human rights has been politicized by special interest groups. However, as Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda pointed out, there is no reason why we should be 'allergic' to the protection of human rights as if this is not an objective of our governments.

3 Once the Charter has been signed by the Leaders at the Summit in November, officials will proceed to draw up the terms of reference for the human rights body. This will have to take into account the history and diversity of political systems in ASEAN. The human rights body will have to respect the national laws covering this area. Its powers are more likely to be consultative than prescriptive, and will of course evolve with time. Singapore as ASEAN Chair will work with all the member countries to ensure that what we establish is practical, meaningful and has everyone's support.

4 I do not see the human rights body affecting Singapore's domestic laws or foreign policy. It will, however, raise ASEAN's international standing.

SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTIONS:

Mdm Halimah Yacob: I have two [sic] supplementary questions, Sir. First, I would like to ask the Minister as interpretation of human rights differ in region, what kind of benchmarks or reference points will be used by this commission in order to access the standards of observance of human rights in the region?

Second question Sir, will there be a mechanism put in place in the human rights commission for individuals or anyone in the region to make complaints of violations of human rights?

Third question Sir, Minister said that this commission is likely to be only consultative. It will then lead to the question whether this commission will really be effective in monitoring human rights in the region if it is only meant to be consultative? Thank you Sir.

REPLY:

As I said, it is very premature right now to prejudge what is the outcome of the human rights body. It is just in its early stages. Discussions are just starting. So we need to see exactly how it goes. But I think what is important on standards and whether individuals have rights, is that we need to take into account what is the history, realities and culture of all the ten ASEAN member states. This is to ensure that what we have is meaningful and have the full support of all the ASEAN member states.

Prof Thio Li-Ann: I would like to ask the Minister given that the idea of human rights beyond a core of rights like the provision against torture and genocide remains controversial, we still need to have a meaningful standard and we must ensure that the human rights standards in this new proposed mechanism will not be diluted. So I would like to ask whether or not if there are any plans to peg it against something like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or whether guidance will be taken from the UN human rights treaties that I believe all ASEAN states have already signed.

REPLY:

As I said Mr Speaker, it is really too early to prejudge this; they have just started discussing it. Whether it is the Universal Declaration or whether it is the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights, Economic, Social and Cultural rights; all these are quite in the early stages, and we will take it one step at a time.

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