Regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Asian and Pacific region

Regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Asian and Pacific region

Commission on Human Rights resolution 1995/48

The Commission on Human Rights, Recalling that the General Assembly, in its resolutions 41/153 of 4 December 1986, 43/140 of 8 December 1988 and 45/168 of 18 December 1990, affirmed the value of regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Asian and Pacific region, Recalling also its own resolutions 1988/73 of 10 March 1988, 1989/50 of 7 March 1989, 1990/71 of 7 March 1990, 1991/28 of 5 March 1991, 1992/40 of 28 February 1992, 1993/57 of 9 March 1993 and 1994/48 of 4 March 1994, Recalling further that the World Conference on Human Rights, in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (A/CONF.157/23), emphasized that regional arrangements played a fundamental role in promoting and protecting human rights, Taking note of resolution 45/2 adopted by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific on 5 April 1989, Bearing in mind that intergovernmental arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights have been established in other regions, Welcoming the holding of the Colloquium on Human Rights in Manila on 16 and 17 January 1994, the first in a series of workshops to be organized by the ASEAN Institute of Strategic and International Studies, intended, inter alia, to facilitate the process of developing a subregional human rights body for the promotion and protection of human rights in the ASEAN countries, in fulfilment of the decision of the Association to consider the establishment of an appropriate mechanism on human rights, Recognizing the valuable contribution that independent national institutions can make in the field of human rights to the concept of regional arrangements, Recognizing also that non-governmental organizations involved in the field of human rights have an important role to play in this process, Recalling the contribution made by the third Workshop for the Asia and Pacific Region on Human Rights Issues held in Seoul from 18 to 20 July 1994, particularly its Chairman's concluding remarks, Recalling also that the accomplishments of the 1994 Seoul Workshop were built upon the consensus achieved at the 1993 Jakarta Workshop,

1. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/1995/44) and the progress achieved in the implementation of Commission on Human Rights resolution 1994/48 of 4 March 1994;

2. Encourages all States members and associate members of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and other parties to make full use of the depository centre of that Commission, and requests the Secretary-General to maintain a continuing flow of human rights materials to its library;

3. Welcomes the regional workshops on various human rights issues which have been held in the Asian and Pacific region, starting with the Workshop for the Asia and Pacific Region on Human Rights Issues held in Manila from 7 to 11 May 1990, the Workshop held in Jakarta from 26 to 28 January 1993, and the Workshop held in Seoul from 18 to 20 July 1994, which focused, inter alia, on national institutions and regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights;

4. Also welcomes the establishment of national commissions for human rights by the Governments of India and Indonesia;

5. Further welcomes the decisions concerning and the preparatory steps taken towards the establishment of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights by the Governments of Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Thailand;

6. Endorses the substantive conclusions of the Workshop for the Asia and Pacific Region on Human Rights Issues held in Seoul contained in its Chairman's concluding remarks, inter alia, that such workshops should be organized regularly, as proposed by the Government of the Republic of Korea, and if possible annually, with a view to facilitating the exchange of ideas and information regarding matters of common interest in the field of human rights in the Asian and Pacific region;

7. Requests the Secretary-General to facilitate the realization of that activity under the regular budget for advisory services and technical assistance;

8. Notes that Asian and Pacific countries have developed a number of models of national institutions in accordance with their own national conditions;

9. Appeals to all Governments in the Asian and Pacific region to consider making use of the facilities offered by the United Nations to organize, under the programme of advisory services and technical assistance for the promotion and protection of human rights, information and/or training courses at the national or regional level for appropriate government personnel on the application of international human rights standards and the experience of relevant national and international organs;

10. Requests the Secretary-General to give adequate attention to the countries in the Asian and Pacific region by allocating more resources from existing United Nations funds to enable the countries of the region to benefit from all the activities under the programme of advisory services and technical assistance in the field of human rights;

11. Calls upon the Centre for Human Rights to provide specific information on programmes available under the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights, to facilitate better access to and fuller utilizations of those programmes by all countries in the Asian and Pacific region;

12. Encourages States in the Asian and Pacific region to request assistance for such purposes as regional and subregional workshops, seminars and information exchanges designed to strengthen regional cooperation for the promotion and protection of human rights;

13. Also encourages all States in the Asian and Pacific region to consider ratifying and acceding to international human rights instruments adopted within the framework of the United Nations system, with the aim of universal acceptance;

14. Further encourages all States and regional and subregional organizations in the Asian and Pacific region to develop programmes for human rights education in that region;

15. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the Commission at its fifty-second session a further report incorporating information on the progress achieved in the implementation of the present resolution;

16. Decides to continue its consideration of the question at its fifty-second session under the agenda item entitled "Further promotion and encouragement of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the question of the programme and methods of work of the Commission".

53rd meeting 3 March 1995 [Adopted without a vote]
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