Nominated Member of Parliament Siew Kum Hong will be holding a
public forum discussing ASEAN human rights issues tomorrow:
Public Forum: Human rights the Asean Charter and
beyond
I have been pretty busy the past 2 weeks. Firstly, I was in the US
on business last week, and so I missed Parliament. It was 20 hours
there and back in economy, for 72 hours or so of work -- very
tiring.
Secondly, I am involved with a group called MARUAH (Singapore
Working Committee for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism), or MARUAH
for short. MARUAH is Malay for "Dignity", and we are the Singapore
focal point for the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights
Mechanism, a regional group based in Manila. MARUAH is presently
led by Braema Mathi, a former NMP and civil society activist. A
short summary on our creation can be found here.
As the name (or rather, the sub-tag) might suggest, our mission
statement is to inform and facilitate, from a Singaporean
perspective, the establishment of an ASEAN human rights body. The
ASEAN Charter provides for the creation of such an entity, but is
silent on the details including its terms of reference. That
presents both a challenge, and an opportunity. We hope to play a
useful part in that process.
The Straits Times ran an article on our group on 3 October 2007.
The website should be going up soon. In the meantime, our first
public event will be a forum this coming Saturday 24 November 2007.
I am slated to be one of three speakers. All are welcome, including
media. The details are below.
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MARUAH
Singapore Working Committee for an ASEAN Human Rights
Mechanism
Human Rights the ASEAN Charter and beyond
A public consultation organised by Maruah
Date: Saturday, 24 November 2007
Time: 10:30 am - 12:30 pm
Venue: Singapore Council of Women's Organisations, 96 Waterloo
Street, Singapore 187967
On 20th November 2007, the heads of state and heads of government
of Asean countries are scheduled to sign the Asean Charter, which
would hereafter be the constitution of the regional grouping.
Notably, the Charter includes a reference to setting up a human
rights body.
What provisions does the Charter contain? How will it affect us?
Will it advance human rights in Singapore and our neighbours? What
new avenues does it open for the particular issues that you are
interested in? What else needs to be done to benefit from this new
start?
Speakers:
Braema Mathi - The road to here: How ASEAN got to signing the ASEAN
Charter.
Braema Mathi is the coordinator for MARUAH and a well-known civil
society activist in her own right
Siew Kum Hong - A brief introduction to MARUAH: Aims and Strategies
and a brief outline of the ASEAN Charter and what it contains with
regard to human rights
Siew Kum Hong is a lawyer by profession and a Nominated Member of
Parliament.
Peter Low - A bird's eye view of other regions/groupings' human
rights mechanisms. Would they be appropriate models for
ASEAN?
Peter Low is a lawyer with his own practice. He was formerly
President of the Law Society.
__________
Following the presentations will be a time for Q & As.
MARUAH recognises that most people approach the question of human
rights from the perspective of the particular issues they are
involved in, be they women's issues, migrant workers, the disabled,
parolees, etc. Participants are welcome to raise these issues
during the dialogue so that a more inclusive conception of 'human
rights' can be developed.
The development of human rights protection in ASEAN is expected to
be a long process, and this public consultation exercise by MARUAH
is intended to be the first of many.
http://siewkumhong.blogspot.com/