Indonesian lawmakers and experts welcomed Tuesday the decision of members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to include a provision for a human rights body in its proposed historic charter.
"We welcome the provision for a rights body in the charter. This is the breakthrough we have been fighting for. We hope the leaders will not have problems approving it in Singapore in November," lawmaker Marzuki Darusman from Golkar, the country's largest political party, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Marzuki, who is also the chairman of the ASEAN Human Rights Commission, said Golkar was ready to ratify the charter once it reached the House of Representatives.
Djoko Susilo, a lawmaker from the National Mandate Party (PAN), said he hoped the creation of the human rights body would force Myanmar, an ASEAN member, to speed up its road map to democracy and release political prisoners.
"I think it is time for Myanmar to comply with international human rights standards," he said.
The 10 foreign ministers taking part in the ASEAN Minister's Meeting (AMM) in Manila on Monday decided to include provisions for a human rights commission in the charter after Myanmar gave up its resistance to the plan.
"Conforming with the purposes and principles of the ASEAN Charter relating to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, ASEAN shall establish a human rights body", the first complete draft of the charter read.
The final draft of the charter will be submitted to ASEAN leaders in Singapore in November before a final vote on its contents takes place.
The provision for a human rights body would open up the possibility for the establishment of a regional human rights commission, which would have the authority to assess a country's human rights situation and investigate human rights violations in member countries.
Observers said Myanmar may have been fearful the commission would eventually force its military junta to account for human rights abuses in the country, including the prosecution of minority and opposition groups and the continued detention of Aung San Suu Kyi.
International relations expert at the University of Indonesia Hariyadi Wirawan said difficulties may be encountered when the grouping starts deciding on what kind of human rights body it should establish.
"It is a very encouraging progress. But the problem now lies in the authority and scope of the rights body. It will be difficult given the wide spectrum of political orientation of ASEAN members. We have the communist state of Vietnam, the junta-ran states of Myanmar and Thailand and quasi-democratic Singapore. However, we do have Indonesia and the Philippines, both of which are relatively advanced in their human rights affairs and democracy," he said.
He said Indonesia should take a leading role in drafting the terms of reference for the rights body.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda has expressed a willingness to make Indonesia the first ASEAN country to come up with a detailed draft of the terms of reference for the rights body.
"Don't worry, we will come up with the first terms of reference for the rights body. I have instructed my subordinates to work on it as soon as they return to Jakarta," he said in Manila.
Meanwhile, the high-level task force drafting the landmark charter is confident it will meet its November deadline in time for the 13th ASEAN Summit to be held in Singapore.
The task force's chair, Ambassador Rosario Manalo of the Philippines, said in a press briefing Tuesday that based on progress made, there was a great possibility the final draft of the charter could be submitted for approval in the first week of September.
"The foreign ministers are already happy with what we have accomplished. We are reasonably confident that we will meet the deadline," she said.
"That is why we're proposing to the foreign ministers to review first the substantive portion in a special meeting. If there is a need to go further than that, it will only have to be to tie up loose ends."
Rosario said the charter would strengthen ASEAN by making it a more responsive, rules-based and people-centered organization and would create a culture of honoring obligations among its members. (JP/Abdul Khalik)