Govt highlights rights as part of f

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

		Politics 
Govt highlights rights as part of foreign policy
THAILAND supports the efforts by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to
establish a regional mechanism for dealing with human rights issues,
Foreign Affairs Minister Surin Pitsuwan said on Friday. 
In a speech entitled ''The Role of Human Rights in Thailand's Foreign
Policy'', Surin said that Thailand would join the international community
in promoting human rights. 
''Although this is the first time that the government [Chuan's
administration] has specifically highlighted human rights as a part of its
foreign policy, the importance of human rights has actually been embedded
in previous foreign policy statements,'' he said. 
The idea of a regional mechanism on human rights was sparked in 1993, when
Asean foreign ministers agreed to set up a committee to consider the issue
at the 26th Asean Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in Singapore. 
But progress has been slow and there was no dialogue between the working
group and the Asean ministers until this year. This sluggishness is largely
due to the fact that many of Asean member countries do not have a national
commission on human rights. Only two countries, the Philippines and
Indonesia, currently have such a group, while Thailand is in the process of
establishing one. 
The NGO working group, which has been meeting every year and trying to
lobby for support, was finally able to meet with senior officials at the
30th AMM in Kuala Lumpur last year. Their proposal was subsequently taken
up for discussion at the senior officials' meeting. 
After much lobbying, the NGO working group received attention this year for
the first time at the July meeting in Manila, when Asean foreign ministers
reflected in the communique ''the recognition of the establishment of the
informal non-governmental working group for a Asean Human Rights Mechanism''. 
The working group assigned to work on the mechanism on human rights within
Asean was also able to present their report to some Asean foreign ministers
and meet separately with Surin and Filipino Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon. 
Stressing that democracy has been increasingly recognised as an essential
ingredient for the promotion and protection of human rights, Surin said
that Thailand, as a democratic country, would support the efforts by the
international community as expressed through the United Nations'
organisations to enhance the respect for human rights and the acceptance of
the enlargement of democracy by all governments. 
''It is our cardinal conviction that the world will be a safer and nicer
place to live if all governments were to be democratic and to respect human
rights,'' he said. 
At the Asean informal summit in Kuala Lumpur last December, Thailand
proposed the idea of an open society and that it be reflected in the Asean
vision 2020. Although the idea initially met with some hesitation, it was
finally adopted with a slight rephrasing. 
Surin said Thailand will promote and protect human rights in its own way
and capacity. 
Thailand is in the process of forming a national commission on human
rights. The country has already established a national committee, headed by
the Minister of Justice and the committee involves all those working in the
field of human rights, both governmental and non-governmental. 
The committee's current work includes the consideration of joining the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the
drafting of a national plan of action on human rights, and a national plan
for human rights education. 
Surin said he would convey the NGOs' message to Deputy Prime Minister
Bhichai Rattakul that there should be a public hearing before the draft of
the Human Rights Protection Bill is forwarded to the Cabinet for approval.
Bhichai has been put in charge of drafting new organic laws, which are
required to be enacted according to the Constitution. 
The Thai committee is also organising an international symposium on human
rights and business ethics for Oct 24, the United Nations Day. The minister
said that the Thai government hoped to play a catalytic role in encouraging
the business sector to promote human rights. 
''It is not only the rights of the consumers and local workers that we aim
to protect. We shall also not neglect the needs and the rights of foreign
migrant workers, both legal and illegal,'' he said, adding that Thailand
now hosts nearly 1 million migrant workers. 
Surin's speech on Friday came at the close of a seminar entitled ''The
Promotion and Protection of Human Rights by Human Rights Commissions''. 
BY RITA PATIYASEVI 
The Nation