From 1993 To 2023: 30 Years Of Human Rights Process In The Association Of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Abstract

ASEAN first incorporated the human rights into official regional discourse in 1993. It was only in 2007 with the ASEAN Charter did ASEAN determine that a regional human rights body would be established in the last region of the world where a regional mechanism was not present. With the establishment of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights in 2009, ASEAN official became a ‘normal’ regional organization by incorporating a human rights mechanism into its regional integration project. This article will trace the contours of human rights institutionalism in ASEAN and pinpoint the major conjuncture points and reasons for progress. This will provide insights into the nature of ASEAN regionalism, identify primary trigger factors for integrative projects and point and analytical arrow towards the possible evolution of AICHR in being a human rights mechanism which engages in protection activities or not.