Declaration falls short of international standards

Malay Mail 
by Andrea Mathew

THE first Asean human rights declaration signed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been labelled as a document to justify human rights violations.

Civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan (pic) said the declaration falls short of international standards, specifi -cally the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and has a caveat counter to human rights.

“There is an important caveat that it (protection of human rights) must be ‘in the regional and national context bearing in mind diff erent political, economic, legal, social, cultural, historical and religious backgrounds’ and ‘meet the just requirements of national security, public order, public health, public safety, public morality, as well as the general welfare of the peoples in a democratic society’.

“Thus member states can basically justify human rights violations if it falls under these wide caveats.” Syahredzan said the Declaration is nothing more than a public relations exercise to project a more ‘human-rights friendly’ image of Asean member states.

The Declaration is also said to have some glaring exclusions including freedom of association.

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) executive directo Cynthia Gabriel said the government has signed onto a flawed and incomplete document that leaves out many components.

Gabriel who was involved in civil society discussions with Asean intergovernmental commission of human rights said, “Some recommendations were proposed but not incorporated into the final version of the declaration.

“We are disappointed that this is the final version because many communities are not protected under the Declaration such as rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups.

This is important because they are a vulnerable community that is often harassed by law enforcement agencies.

“We had also suggested compliance of domestic laws with international standards as many Asean countries practice the death penalty.

In addition many socio-cultural rights were generalised as the Declaration focused on civil and political rights.”

Gabriel said many Asean governments are authoritarian regimes and not promoters of human rights.