The Universal Periodic Review Of Southeast Asia

The research presented in this book provides a stakeholder analysis of human rights protection at a time when the region appears to be regressing into an insidious and deep authoritarianism. As political space shrinks in Southeast Asia, the book provides an insight into how civil society engaged with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council during the first (2008-2011) and second (2012-2016) cycles. Through evidence-based research, the authors in this volume identify gaps in human rights reporting and advocacy during the UPR, notably on civil and political issues such as the right to life, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and belief, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention and claims for greater autonomy. In short, The Universal Periodic Review of Southeast Asia: Civil Society Perspectives, highlights the need for more engagement on civil and political issues during the third cycle of the UPR in 2017-2020. Failing this, the UPR process risks being reduced to a platform where civil society only engages on issues that States are willing to cooperate on. If this is the case, Southeast Asia's democratic transition will suffer a long term set back.

This book reviews Southeast Asia’s National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) as part of an emerging assessment of a nascent regional human rights architecture that is facing significant challenges in protecting human rights. The book asks, can NHRIs overcome its weaknesses and provide protection, including remedies, to victims of human rights abuses? Assessing NHRIs’ capacity to do so is vital as the future of human rights protection lies at the national level, and other parts of the architecture—the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), and the international mechanism of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)—though helpful, also have their limitations. The critical question the book addresses is whether NHRIs individually or collaboratively provide protection of fundamental human rights. The body of work offered in this book showcases the progress of the NHRIs in Southeast Asia where they also act as a barometer for the fluid political climate of their respective countries. Specifically, the book examines the NHRIs’ capacity to provide protection, notably through the pursuit of quasi-judicial functions, and concludes that this function has either been eroded due to political developments post-establishment or has not been included in the first place. The book’s findings point to the need for NHRIs to increase their effectiveness in the protection of human rights and invites readers and stakeholders to find ways of addressing this gap.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a peer-review mechanism, reviewing all 193 UN Member States’ protection and promotion of human rights. After ten years of the existence of the UPR mechanism, this collection examines the effectiveness of the UPR, theoretical and conceptual debates about its modus operandi, and the lessons that can be drawn across different regions/states to identify possible improvements. The book argues that despite its limitations, the UPR mechanism with its inclusive, cooperative, and collaborative framework, is an important human rights mechanism with the potential to evolve over time into an effective cooperative tool for monitoring human rights implementation. Divided into three parts, the first part focuses on exploring a variety of theoretical approaches to understanding the UPR mechanism. The second part examines specific human rights themes and the relationship between the UPR mechanism and other international mechanisms. Finally, the third part questions implementation and the ways in which states/regional groupings have engaged with the UPR mechanism and what lessons can be learned for the future. The volume will be a valuable resource for researchers, academics, and policymakers working in the area of international human rights law, international organizations, and international relations. We would like to acknowledge the UPR Academic Network (UPRAN) for bringing together the experts on this project and the University of Stirling for providing funds to facilitate open access dissemination for parts of this output.

This book analyses marginalisation and human rights in Southeast Asia and offers diverse approaches in understanding the nuances of marginalisation and human rights in the region. Throughout the region, a whole range of similarities and differences can be observed relating to the Southeast Asian experience of human rights violation, with each country maintaining particular aspects reflecting the variability of the use and abuse of political power. This book explores the distinct links between marginalisation and human rights for groups exposed to discrimination. It focuses on ethnic minorities, children, indigenous peoples, migrant workers, refugees, academics, and people with disabilities. This book highlights the disparities in attainment and opportunity of marginalised and minority groups in Southeast Asia to their rights. It examines how marginalisation is experienced, with case studies ranging from a regional approach to country context. Paying attention to how broader socio-economic and political structures affect different people’s access to, or denial of, their fundamental human rights and freedoms, the book argues that tackling human rights abuses remains a major hurdle for the countries in Southeast Asia. Providing a broader conceptual framework on marginalisation and human rights in Southeast Asia and a new assessment of these issues, this book will be of interest to readers in the fields of Asian Law, Human Rights in Asia, and Southeast Asian Studies, in particular Southeast Asian Politics.

This book proposes a selective approach for states with more advanced human rights protection to establish a human rights court for Southeast Asia. It argues the inclusive approach currently employed by ASEAN to set up a human rights body covering all member states cannot produce a strong regional human rights mechanism. The mosaic of Southeast Asia reveals great diversity and high complexity in political regimes, human rights practice and participation by regional states in the global legal human rights framework. Cooperation among ASEAN members to protect and promote human rights remains limited. The time-honored principle of non-interference and the “ASEAN Way” still predominate in relations within ASEAN. These factors combine to explain why the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights is unlikely to be strong and effective in changing and promoting regional human rights protection. This book suggests a selective approach to establish a human rights court for Southeast Asia. It posits that a group of nations within Southeast Asia may be more willing to consider the possibility of a stronger human rights mechanism. It investigates the challenges to and the feasibility of such a proposal. Furthermore, it examines the design of the three existing regional human rights courts in Europe, the Americas, and Africa, and compares the rationales for those institutional designs with the specific context of Southeast Asia. A human rights court for all ASEAN members may not be possible at this time, but a court for some nations in the region is feasible and worth exploring. The path towards this goal is never an easy one; however, the region possesses the necessary conditions to gradually translate that goal into reality.

"Southeast Asian Affairs is the only one of its kind: a comprehensive annual review devoted to the international relations, politics, and economies of the region and its nation-states. The collected volumes of Southeast Asian Affairs have become a compendium documenting the dynamic evolution of regional and national developments in Southeast Asia from the end of the ‘second’ Vietnam War to the alarms and struggles of today. Over the years, the editors have drawn on the talents and expertise not only of ISEAS’ own professional research staff and visiting fellows, but have also reached out to tap leading scholars and analysts elsewhere in Southeast and East Asia, Australia and New Zealand, North America, and Europe. A full list of contributors over forty years reads like a kind of who’s who in Southeast Asian Studies. Regardless of specific events and outcomes in political, economic, and social developments in Southeast Asia’s future, we can expect future editions of Southeast Asian Affairs to continue to provide the expert analysis that has marked the publication since its founding. It has become an important contributor to the knowledge base of contemporary Southeast Asia." - Donald E. Weatherbee, Russell Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of South Carolina

Tang and Wijaya present a range of new and established scholarly voices, including local activists directly involved in developments in Southeast Asia. This groundbreaking collection presents the current state of play and longstanding LGBTQ+ debates in this often-overlooked region of Asia. The diversity of both the subject and the region is reflected in the broad scope of topics addressed, from the impact of Japanese queer popular culture on queer Filipinos, to the politics of public toilets in Singapore, and the impact of digital governance on queer communities across ASEAN. Taken in combination, these investigations not only highlight the operations of queer politics in Southeast Asia, but also present a concrete basis to reflect on queer knowledge production in the region. A vital resource for students and scholars of gender and sexuality in Southeast Asia, or any Queer or LGBTQ+ studies looking beyond the West.

The Politics of International Criminal Law is an interdisciplinary collection of original research that examines the often noted but understudied political dimensions of International Criminal Law, and the challenges this nascent legal regime faces to its legitimacy in world affairs.