Maruah Singapore

Two representatives from MARUAH attended a briefing session organised by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) last week. At the briefing, MCYS announced that it is currently seeking nominations for Singapore’s representatives to the ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC).

The Terms of Reference of the ACWC were released in November 2009. The TOR of the ACWC requires each ASEAN member state to appoint two representatives to the ACWC, one on women’s rights and the other on children’s rights.

MCYS asked the groups present at the briefing to consult with their stakeholders on, and/or to nominate, suitable candidates for nomination to these positions, based on certain criteria that were shared at the briefing. The deadline for submission of nominations to MCYS is 9 February 2010.

MARUAH would be happy to share further details on this process with any interested parties, and/or to provide any required assistance in submitting their nominations. Please send an email to maruahsg@gmail.com if you wish to learn more about this.

In the interests of transparency, MARUAH hereby discloses that it is currently also considering whether to nominate candidate(s) to the ACWC. MARUAH will work with any interested parties who contact it, to ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to preserve confidentiality and to prevent any conflict of interests.

Garry Rodan has written an essay on human rights in Singapore, see below for an excerpt. The full article can viewed at the link here.

Human Rights, Singaporean Style
by Garry Rodan

Posted December 4, 2009

While there has been a lull in the debate over “Asian values” since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, the concept never disappeared. The development of a regional human-rights commission constitutes a fresh battleground where competing views are playing out. As in the past, the main interlocutors on the side of cultural relativism are Singaporean leaders and officials, but this time, opposing voices within Southeast Asia have grown louder and more self-confident.

Forming the Asian Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) has taken more than a decade of wrangling. Launched by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in October, the commission is the result of a protracted and contentious process of compromise. Now the fledgling organization faces an uphill struggle to show it can make political and bureaucratic elites accountable on human rights.

A Regional Meeting was held in Jakarta on 16-17 October 2009 with the aims of raising awareness about certain interpretations of Sharia laws and the impact of these on Muslim women in ASEAN as part of the ASEAN community.

This Meeting was also conducted to raise awareness about processes related to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).

Thirty Muslim participants, female and male, from five ASEAN countries with significant Muslim populations attended the Meeting and participated fully. These participants are from civil society organisations, religious institutions and academic institutions. There were four observers from development agencies and international NGOs.

Please click on the link below to view the recommendations in full.
Recommendations

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/28299/despite-its-imperfections-aichr-can-still-be-force-for-human-rights

29th Nov 2009
Thongbai Thongpao

Human rights activists gathered early last week in Bangkok to celebrate the nomination of Sriprapa Phetmeesri, director of Mahidol University’s Office of Human Rights Studies and Social Development, as chair and representative of Thailand in the newly established Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).
Read the rest of this entry »

The Terms of Reference (TOR) of the ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) have been released.

The TOR can be downloaded at the link below.
http://www.aseansec.org/documents/TOR-ACWC.pdf

Dear all,

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is observed on 3 December 2009. We at MARUAH (Singapore Working Group for ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism) are keen to build on the efforts by many actors who have been advocating on behalf of children with disabilities. In that context we would like to to invite you to attend a Focus Group discussion on Compulsory Education for Children with Disabilities in Singapore.

Day/ Date: Sat 28 Nov Time: 1.30 – 3.30pm
Venue: Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO),
96 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187967 (near Singapore Art Museum)
[This happens right before MARUAH's Open House]

Under Singapore’s current Compulsory Education Act (2003), ‘any  child who is unable to attend any national primary school due to any physical or intellectual disability’ is excluded from education act…
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MARUAH (Singapore Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism) invites you to join its Open House on 28th Nov 2009. In this brief but important session, you can find out more about the local human rights group MARUAH, the work it has done, the work it intends to do, as well as talk about the work that you wish to see MARUAH do.

Date: 28th Nov 09, Saturday
Time: 4-6pm
Venue: Training Room 2, SCWO Building (Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations)
96 Waterloo Street
Click here for map (gothere.sg)

Please RSVP to maruahsg@gmail.com. Thanks and we hope to see you there. Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=448966
Five Countries Reject Civil Society Reps At Asean Summit

By D Arul Rajoo

HUA HIN, Oct 23 (Bernama) — The governments of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Singapore have rejected members of civil groups from their respective countries at the 15th Asean Summit here.
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The Straits Times interviewed Ms Braema Mathi regarding the new ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), see below for the article.

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23 October 2009
The Straits Times
‘Bite the bullet and learn from mistakes’

LIKE most civil society activists, Ms Braema Mathi takes issue with several aspects of the new human rights commission – particularly its adherence to Asean’s policy of non-interference.
Read the rest of this entry »

MEDIA STATEMENT
22 October 2009

We congratulate the appointment of Mr Richard R Magnus as Singapore’s first representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).

MARUAH has engaged in informal discussions with him and are very pleased to note that he is open to discussions with civil society organisations in Singapore.

With his experience as the Senior District Judge prior to his retirement from the Legal Service, we look forward to his contributions to AICHR towards promoting and protecting the rights of people in ASEAN in accordance with international legal norms.

MARUAH calls on the Singapore Government to engage and consult civil society further and to include our voices in the future for such appointments.

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release can be found here.