"The momentum of Indonesia`s ASEAN chairmanship in 2011 should be used to give special attention to human right issues in the ASEAN region," Choirul Anam, deputy director of the Human Rights Working Group, said here Thursday.
Indonesia as a democratic country was highly expected to use its term as ASEAN chair to promote respect for human rights within the national and international communities, he said.
There were several ways for Indonesia to put human rights on top of its priorities as the ASEAN chair and to maximize its role in advancing human rights in ASEAN.
"The first way is by providing support for the institutional building of the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR)," Anam said.
It had been more than one year since the establishment of the AICHR but until today this human rights body could not operate effectively due to lack of resources, including the non-existence of a regional secretariat and staff to support its work, he said.
A similar problem was handicapping the ASEAN commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC), he added.
"We hope that during its chairmanship, Indonesia can ensure that these human rights bodies will be equipped with sufficient resources to support their missions," Anam said.
As stated in the ASEAN Charter, ASEAN was a `people oriented` organization.
Therefore, it was also important for Indonesia to show its willingness to broaden people`s participation in ASEAN policy making especially those which would have a direct impact on people`s welfare such as the Instruments on Migrant Workers, the ASEAN Disability Forum, and the work of the ASEAN Community Councils, he said.
"By providing institutional framework for the engagement of civil society, the Indonesian government can ensure that there will be ample room for civil society to follow and be engage in ASEAN meetings," Anam said.
Indonesia is also known for having a good image at the international level on human rights and democracy. "We hope that Indonesia can also show its leadership in ASEAN in promoting and responding to human rights in this region," Anam said.
Meanwhile, Haris Azhar, coordinator of the Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kpntras), said there were many opportunities for Indonesia during its ASEAN chairmanship to increase ASEAN`s capacity with regard to law enforcement and human rights issues,
Indonesia within its 2011 ASEAN chairmanship could strengthen its national capacity towards relationship with ASEAN countries, he said, adding that Indonesia also had an important role to play in reinforcing Timor Leste to become an ASEAN member as the countries had a `special relationship.` .
Openness and candor of Indonesia as a democratic country should also be able to accommodate the voice of civilians and human rights violation victims to participate in ASEAN, he said.
"Indonesia should become the home ground for their voices in ASEAN," he said.
Indonesia should also put great emphasize for the faith of migrant workers by ratifying convention for migrant workers protection, he said. (*)
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
