{"id":21330,"date":"2021-11-15T14:06:05","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T08:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.askbd.org\/ask\/?p=21330"},"modified":"2022-10-26T12:16:10","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T06:16:10","slug":"experts-opine-the-necessity-for-an-effective-south-asian-regional-human-rights-mechanism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.askbd.org\/ask\/2021\/11\/15\/experts-opine-the-necessity-for-an-effective-south-asian-regional-human-rights-mechanism\/","title":{"rendered":"Experts Opine the Necessity for an Effective South Asian Regional Human Rights Mechanism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is an inevitable necessity to have a framework through which the inherent, indivisible and inalienable human rights can be guaranteed and protected especially in the South Asian region. The experts and discussants echoed similar opinions while attending the \u2018National Strategy Consultation for the establishment of South Asian Regional Human Rights Mechanism\u2019 at Hotel Lakeshore on 15 November 2021. It was jointly arranged by Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) and Asian Forum for Human Rights &amp; Developments (FORUM-ASIA) as a part of their advocacy efforts to build a human rights mechanism to address common threats and challenges and strengthen the human rights culture in the South Asian region.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\r\n\t<div class=\"slideshow_container slideshow_container_style-light\" style=\"height: 350px; \" data-slideshow-id=\"21312\" data-style-name=\"style-light\" data-style-version=\"2.3.1\" 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slideshow_transparent\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div style=\"clear: both;\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"slideshow_view\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"slideshow_slide slideshow_slide_image\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img src=\"https:\/\/www.askbd.org\/ask\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/21.jpg\" alt=\"21\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"slideshow_description_box slideshow_transparent\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div style=\"clear: both;\"><\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t<div class=\"slideshow_controlPanel slideshow_transparent\" style=\"display: none;\"><ul><li class=\"slideshow_togglePlay\" data-play-text=\"Play\" data-pause-text=\"Pause\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t<div class=\"slideshow_button slideshow_previous slideshow_transparent\" role=\"button\" data-previous-text=\"Previous\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t<div class=\"slideshow_button slideshow_next slideshow_transparent\" role=\"button\" data-next-text=\"Next\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t<div class=\"slideshow_pagination\" style=\"display: none;\" data-go-to-text=\"Go to slide\"><div class=\"slideshow_pagination_center\"><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t<!-- WordPress Slideshow Version 2.3.1 -->\r\n\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Golam Monowar Kamal, Executive Director, ASK and Shamini Darshini Kaliemuthu, Executive Director, FORUM-ASIA were given the floor to officially inaugurate the event. In his opening remarks, Mr. Monowar painted a picture of gross human rights violations which are taking place in this region and emphasised on the need for a collaborative mechanism to address these challenges. Ms. Darshini expressed her concerns about the negative impacts of the pandemic on human rights and stated how FORUM-ASIA is working towards addressing the core human rights issues in the region. According to her, FORUM-ASIA believes that a regional mechanism would facilitate a common platform for the South Asian countries to discuss and address such human rights issues more effectively.<br \/>\nThe background and objective of the event were illustrated by Debendra Adhikari, South Asia Programme Manager, FORUM-ASIA, where he opined as to how this consultation will act as a breakthrough initiative towards creating a regional human rights mechanism.<br \/>\nThe keynote speaker of the event, Mohammad Golam Sarwar, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Dhaka, presented his paper on \u2018Addressing South Asian Human Rights Issues: The Need for a Regional Mechanism\u2019 and outlined three substantial recommendations for the realisation of establishing such a mechanism: they were: (a) create regional human rights commission; (b) an instrument\/convention; and (c) a court to address these issues.<br \/>\nIn light of his presentation, the panelists made valuable observations and gave insightful remarks on the paper. Barrister Sara Hossain, Honorary Executive Director, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), advised to incorporate the customary international law as another source of human rights principles in the paper, and not limit it to the Constitution and the International Conventions. Although other regions have regional mechanism, she expressed her regrets as there is no discussion yet at the inter-state level in South Asia to establish such a mechanism While the failure and inefficiency of SAARC to deal with the human rights issues was repeatedly raised by the commentators, Dr. Faustina Pereira, Senior Fellow, Centre for Peace and Justice, Professor, BRAC University and Executive Committee Member, ASK opined to explore and consider other regional mechanisms, such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) as an option to activate this framework. Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed, Professor, Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka, recommended certain aspects for the creation of the human rights mechanism which includes taking a central approach across the region for addressing each human rights issue individually and considering bilateral and trilateral approaches for the conflicting countries.<br \/>\nThe second session of the panel discussion focused on thematic issues. Shaheen Anam, Executive Director, Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) discussed the endemic discrimination women faced in the legal arena which placed a significant impact individually and collectively on women in the entire south Asian region. Subsequently, Syed Rizwana Hasan, Chief Executive, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) shed light on the environmental issues where she suggested that the regional human rights mechanism as an alternative development agenda should include climate change, renewable energies, issues related to the right to water and food security. Furthermore, Sanjeeb Drong, General Secretary, Bangladesh Indigenous People Forum opined that the indigenous people across the region have similar realities. Such a mechanism would definitely open up a door for the discussion of the development of their rights.<br \/>\nIn the closing session, Dr Hameeda Hossain, human rights activist and Founding Member, ASK contended that the unity of the South Asian countries is required to identify some common cross-borders issues and recommended to make the CSOs more powerful to address these issues by implementing a human rights mechanism beyond the bureaucracy of SAARC. In this regard, Shamsul Haque, Additional Foreign Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Bangladesh ideated the possibility of creating a human rights mechanism both within and outside SAARC. He further mentioned that a member state may approach the SAARC secretariat and submit a proposal for the creation of a new mechanism. On the contrary, Nasima Begum, Chair, National Human Rights Commission, Bangladesh (NHRCB) emphasised that instead of creating a new regional mechanism that would be time-consuming, the member states can be approached cumulatively to incorporate the human rights issues within the ambit of SAARC. In this regard, the Chair expressed NHRCB\u2019s willingness to be involved in the endeavour to create an effective human rights mechanism.<br \/>\nFinally, Mr. Adhikari reiterated the significant role of CSOs across the region in activating and implementing a proper and effective human rights mechanism in his closing remarks and way forward. Collating the remarks by the commentators, he suggested that this team may meet the Foreign Minister with the final keynote paper and the NHRCB may facilitate the meeting and advocate the establishment of this mechanism. Finally, Mr. Monowar concluded the consultation with a vote of thanks to the keynote speakers, dignitaries, panelists, and all the participants.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.askbd.org\/ask\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Keynote-paper-Addressing-South-Asian-Human-Rights-Issues-The-Need-for-a-Regional-Mechanism.pdf\">Keynote paper Addressing South Asian Human Rights Issues- The Need for a Regional Mechanism<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe style=\"width: 100%; height: 500px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.askbd.org\/ask\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Keynote-paper-Addressing-South-Asian-Human-Rights-Issues-The-Need-for-a-Regional-Mechanism.pdf\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is an inevitable necessity to have a framework through which the inherent, indivisible and inalienable human rights can be guaranteed and protected especially in the South Asian region. 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