Drafters of [ASEAN] rights doc say ‘secrecy’ no issue

The ASEAN logo.

By Thik Kaliyann
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
The Phnom Penh Post

The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights yesterday denied accusations it was operating in secrecy and said that ASEAN matters were for ASEAN members only.

The AICHR, which has been tasked with drafting the region’s first ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, came under fire from rights groups over the weekend, which fear a lack of stakeholder consultation will make any declaration adopted unsatisfactory.

“We have never acted behind a wall in secrecy,” Chet Chealy, president of the Cambodia-ASEAN Center for Human Rights Development, said yesterday at the conclusion of the first meeting of the AICHR in Siem Reap City.