ASEAN's Struggle with Human Rights: Universalism Versus Cultural Relativism
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ASEAN’s Struggle with Human Rights: Universalism versus Cultural Relativism Ilona van der Linden 4110773 Vrijheidslaan 840, 2321 DX Leiden [email protected] Master thesis January 14, 2019 Word count: 16.496 Thesis Supervisor: Peter Malcontent Utrecht University, Faculty of Humanities, Department of History and Art History Abstract When the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) was adopted in 2012, it led to international criticism that it fell below international human rights standards. Even nuanced scholarly works referred to cultural relativism and Asian values, while no research had been done on public opinion regarding the AHRD in the region. The AHRD therefore provides an interesting and concrete starting point to re-examine universalism versus cultural relativism in the region where Asian values were once so fiercely proclaimed. This thesis answers the question to what extent South East Asian newspapers lean towards universalism or cultural relativism in their articles on this declaration. It follows the definitions of David Duquette on several forms of universalism and cultural relativism and uses discourse analysis on the 86 articles from the Jakarta Post from Indonesia, the Bangkok Post from Thailand and the Phnom Penh Post from Cambodia between the first of January 2012 to the last of December 2013. It then concludes that these newspapers and their readers, the educated upper and middle classes, lean most towards strong universalism. Keywords: ASEAN, AHRD, human rights, Asian values, universalism, cultural relativism, public opinion, newspapers 2 Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................................ 2 List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 List of Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 7 1. Defining universalism, cultural relativism and the AHRD .................................................................... 13 1.1 Universalism versus cultural relativism ........................................................................................................ 13 1.1.1 Evolving concepts .......................................................................................................................... 13 1.1.2 A spectrum with multiple forms .................................................................................................. 15 1.2 Asian values in a human rights context ...................................................................................................... 16 1.2.1 Asian values as a form of cultural relativism .............................................................................. 17 1.2.2 Defining the AHRD on the spectrum ......................................................................................... 18 1.3 Methodology ............................................................................................................................................... 20 1.3.1 Selecting the countries and newspapers ...................................................................................... 20 1.3.2 Step by step discourse analysis ..................................................................................................... 21 2. Human rights portrayed in the Jakarta Post .............................................................................................. 24 2.1 Human rights landscape ....................................................................................................................... 24 2.2 Analysing the Jakarta Post ........................................................................................................................ 26 2.2.1 Positive ............................................................................................................................................. 28 2.2.2 Balanced ........................................................................................................................................... 30 2.2.3 Critical .............................................................................................................................................. 31 2.3 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 34 3. Human rights portrayed in the Bangkok Post ............................................................................................ 35 3.1 Human rights landscape ............................................................................................................................. 35 3.2 Analysing the Bangkok Post ...................................................................................................................... 37 3.2.1 Positive ............................................................................................................................................. 38 3 3.2.2 Balanced ........................................................................................................................................... 40 3.2.3 Critical .............................................................................................................................................. 42 3.3 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 44 4. Human rights portrayed in the Phnom Penh Post ....................................................................................... 45 4.1 Human rights landscape ............................................................................................................................. 45 4.2 Analysing the Phnom Penh Post ................................................................................................................. 47 4.2.1 Positive ............................................................................................................................................. 48 4.2.2 Balanced ........................................................................................................................................... 49 4.2.3 Critical .............................................................................................................................................. 50 4.3 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 53 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................................... 54 Appendices ........................................................................................................................................................ 58 Appendix A: A list of the nine core international human rights instruments ..................................... 58 Appendix B: The full text of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration ............................................... 59 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................................................... 67 Newspapers ................................................................................................................................................. 67 Jakarta Post ................................................................................................................................................. 67 Bangkok Post ............................................................................................................................................... 69 Phnom Penh Post ......................................................................................................................................... 71 Other ............................................................................................................................................................ 72 Literature ..................................................................................................................................................... 73 4 List of Tables Table 1. Number of Jakarta Post articles based on tone and identified concepts......................................30 Table 2. Number of Bangkok Post articles based on tone and identified concepts.....................................6 Table 3. Number of Phnom Penh Post articles based on tone and identified concepts..............................5 5 List of Abbreviations AAA American Association of Anthropology AHRD ASEAN Human Rights Declaration AICHR ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations CAT Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities FIDH International Federation for Human Rights HRWG Human Rights