 |
| Dr Lin together with Ms Maria Chin ( Bersih), & Ms Debbie(ALTASEAN) |
The Second Regional Meeting of the ACSC/APF
was held on 12-13 December 2014 in Petaling Jaya to prepare its programmes for
the ASEAN Summit Meeting in April 2015 when Malaysia will take over the Chair
of ASEAN. It was attended by 110 members from the region. The ACSC/APF 2015
will mark the 10th anniversary since the first gathering of civil
society organizations in Malaysia 10 years ago. However, despite the submission
of extensive and constructive recommendations to ASEAN member states since
2005, they have not been implemented or adopted in any meaningful way.
The ASEAN Charter 2008 commits member
states to “the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance,
respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms”. Yet the
peoples of ASEAN continue to suffer from undemocratic processes, poor
governance, lack of fundamental freedoms and inequality, development injustice,
increased militarization, unlawful foreign interferences, and the inability to
participate fully in and to influence ASEAN and national level processes.
ASEAN has failed to address the persistent
human rights violations, including against the Rohingya (by Myanmar and asylum
states in the region) and other ethnic, minority and independent religious
communities, indigenous peoples, peasants, grassroots, human rights defenders,
and migrant workers. This demonstrate complicity and lack of commitment in
addressing human rights violations in the region that allows states to act with
impunity.
After extensive consultation and in
consideration of the previous 10 years of engagement, the ACSC/APF reiterates
its previous recommendations and will highlight the continuing priority areas
of concern for the region. These will include recommendations to improve
democratic processes, governance and fundamental rights and freedoms,
discrimination and inequality, as well as development justice.
--------------
Dr Lin represented Proham at this regional meeting.
No comments:
Post a Comment