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SAARC and Human Rights: Looking Back and Ways Forward

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SAARC and Human Rights: Looking Back and Ways Forward SAARC and Human Rights: Looking Back and Ways Forward SAARC_PR_body.indd 1 16/03/2012 17:22:09 Editorial Team: Maher Sattar Yap Swee Seng Sarah Muzart Graphic Designer: Eef Vermeij ISBN: 978-616-90352-8-2 Copyright@ 2012 This book was written for the benefit of human rights defenders and may be copied so long as the source of the and authors are acknowledged. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) 66/2 Pan Road Silom, Bangrak Bangkok 10500 Thailand Tel. / Fax: +66 2 6379126 / +66 2 6379128 Email: [email protected] Web: http://forum-asia.org SAARC_PR_body.indd 2 16/03/2012 17:22:09 Table of Contents Foreword 5 Chapter 1. General Overview of History and Process of SAARC 6-13 1.1 What is SAARC 6 1.2 Overview of SAARC Structure 7 SAARC Secretariat and Secretary General / Charter Bodies Programming Committee / Working Groups / Regional Centres 1.3 Brief History of SAARC Summits and Declarations 10 1981 – 1991 / 1991 – 1998 / 1998 – 2002 / 2002 – Present Day Chapter 2. Human Rights in SAARC 14-23 2.1 Human Rights Profiles of SAARC Members 14 Afghanistan / Bangladesh / Bhutan / India / Maldives / Nepal / Pakistan / Sri Lanka 2.2 Key Regional Human Rights Obstacles 22 Migration / Conflict / Climate Change Chapter 3. SAARC Charters and Human Rights Conventions 24-39 3.1 SAARC Charter 24 3.2 SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution 29 3.3 SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia 34 3.4 SAARC Social Charter 36 3.5 Other Treaties and Mechanisms 38 SAARC Charter of Democracy / SAARC Food Bank Action Plan on Climate Change Chapter 4. SAARC and Civil Society 40-42 4.1 South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) 40 4.2 South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) 40 4.3 South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR) 41 4.4 People’s SAARC 41 4.5 South Asia Forum 42 4.6 Working Group on South Asia Human Rights Mechanism 42 Chapter 5. Conclusion 43-45 SAARC_PR_body.indd 3 16/03/2012 17:22:09 Annexes 46-134 1. Charter of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) 46 2. SAARC Social Charter 51 3. SAARC Charter of Democracy 62 4. Agreement on Establishing the SAARC Food Bank 65 5. SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism 72 6. Agreement on SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) 77 7. SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution 92 8. SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia 99 9. Additional Protocol to the SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism 105 10. Kathmandu Declaration 114 11. Kathmandu Statement 2011 117 12. Addu Declaration 2011 128 13. Working Group on South Asian Human Rights Mechanism 132 SAARC_PR_body.indd 4 16/03/2012 17:22:09 Foreword 5 The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), humbly presents the SAARC and Human Rights: Looking Back and Ways Forward. Our sincere appreciation goes to Mr. Maher Sattar, who has devoted much time and effort as the main researcher and author of this report. FORUM-ASIA, along with the continuous engagement of its 21 South Asia members from five different countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), as well as its South Asia partners, have been working towards the promotion and protection of human rights in the region since 1991. Our commitment is reflected in the many lobbying activities that were undertaken with the assistance of South Asian government officials and parliamentarians. In particular, two Sub-Regional Workshops on a Human Rights Mechanism in South Asia were organized in Kathmandu, Nepal, respectively in March 2010 and July 2011. The need for the establishment of regional human rights mechanism under SAARC was a recurring topic, which was immediately endorsed as a core issue by the establishment of an informal Working Group of eminent human rights experts from South Asia after the Second Sub-Regional Workshop in 2011. This Working Group, to which FORUM-ASIA is proud to be part of, is currently working towards initiating dialogue and engaging with SAARC on the promotion and protection of human rights in the sub-region. Thus, the purpose of this publication is to serve as a baseline study of human rights situations in South Asia in relation to the functions of SAARC as a regional grouping. We hope this publication and the subsequent monitoring reports will help track the development of the role of SAARC in the promotion and protection of human rights in the coming years and generate wider interest and discussion in following this development. We would like to give further thanks to all those who have contributed in producing this publication: Mr. Raj Kumar and Mr. Anoop Sukumaran for kindly contributing their time in reviewing the report; Ms. Sarah Muzart for her part played in editing and proof-reading the report; Mr. Yap Swee Seng for providing wise advice and direction to the author, as well as his part played in editing the report; and Mr. Eef Vermeij for his contribution towards layout and design. FORUM-ASIA wishes to give deep gratitude to the donors for their support. In alphabetical order, we would to thank the Finnish NGO Foundation for Human Rights (KIOS), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and last but not least, the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF). This publication is only made possible with their support. SAARC_PR_body.indd 5 16/03/2012 17:22:09 SAARC and Human Rights : Looking Back and Ways Forward 6 1. General Overview of History and Process of SAARC 1.1 What is SAARC The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, better known as SAARC, is an inter-regional organisation whose members comprise of eight nations: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan is the most recent addition to SAARC, becoming a member in November 2005. The other seven nations were founding members, forming SAARC in December 1985. At the first SAARC summit in Dhaka, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan stated the rationale for the creation of SAARC thus: “We have to bear in mind that in spite of all our heterogeneity, we are geographically one homogeneous unit, that our peoples have lived together in peace and friendship for countless centuries, and that they share many values rooted in our common past.”1 With shared cultural and historical ties, the South Asian countries determined they also share many common challenges and opportunities. The objectives of SAARC as stated in its Charter are: • to promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and to improve their quality of life; • to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realize their full potential; • to promote and strengthen collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia; • to contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another’s problems; • to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields; • to strengthen cooperation with other developing countries; • to strengthen cooperation among themselves in international forums on matters of common interest; and • to cooperate with international and regional organisations with similar aims and purposes.2 SAARC is a regional intergovernmental organisation like the African Union (AU), 1 http://www.bhutan2008.bt/en/node/233 2 SAARC Charter, http://www.saarc-sec.org/SAARC-Charter/5/ SAARC_PR_body.indd 6 16/03/2012 17:22:09 Chapter 1 European Union (EU), the Organisation of American States (OAS), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Arab League, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Given the political sensitivities in the region SAARC remains non-political, and its 7 economic scope has been limited, despite initiatives such as SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) and its evolution into South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA). The latter agreement aims to reduce customs duties of all traded goods to zero by 2016, but is not operational as India and Pakistan are yet to ratify the agreement. Unlike the ASEAN, which has been the model which influenced the creation of SAARC, the economic driver has remained relatively muted. South Asia has a quarter of the world’s population. It is one of the fastest growing regions in the world, but has more people living in poverty than Sub-Saharan Africa. This report will focus on human rights in South Asia, and specifically on SAARC’s efforts to ameliorate the human rights situation in the region. The report will present an overview and history of SAARC in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2, an assessment will be made of the state of human rights in the eight members of SAARC. Chapter 3 will provide analysis of SAARC’s charters, conventions, and other initiatives related to human rights, while Chapter 4 will look at SAARC’s interactions with South Asian civil society on human rights issues. 1.2 Overview of SAARC Structure SAARC Secretariat and Secretary General The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu, Nepal in January 1987, and is headed by a Secretary General who is appointed to a three-year term. The Secretary General is chosen from a Member Country in alphabetical order, and is appointed by a Council of Ministers. The latest Secretary General was Uz. Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed of the Republic of Maldives. As the first female Secretary General she assumed office on March 1, 2011, but recently resigned on February 23, 2012, “amid controversy of her alleged involvement in the domestic politics of the Maldives.”3 On February 22, 2012, the Maldivian government selected Ahmed Salem to serve the remaining three-year term as new SAARC Secretary General.4 The process is still ongoing at the moment of writing; the SAARC Council of Ministers remains to endorse his appointment.
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