Asia and the Pacific

Unlike all other regions, Asia and Pacific does not have a regional inter-governmental system in place – such as regional courts, commissions and related institutions – to monitor and protect human rights.

A Working Group for the ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism has been established, but ASEAN is not particularly know for its priorities in the area of human rights and thus it may be a long while before anything comes of this.

Any civil society organisations and NGOs - Asia-based, from the Pacific or not - should take up this challenge and begin to pressure individual governments, ASEAN and the UN for more action in this field.