Human Rights' Dialogue in ASEM: Do NGOs Have a Role to Play?

On 10 and 11 September 2006, the sixth summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) took place in Helsinki, Finland. This summit provided a moment of reflection because of the tenth anniversary of the multilateral, informal dialogue between both regions. A Declaration was adopted, stating the most important focal points for the future of the ASEM dialogue, from strengthening multilateralism to sustainable development. The issue of human rights was not directly mentioned. In general, this issue has always played a rather peculiar role in the dialogue. It caused controversy between both regions on various occasions, of which the case of Myanmar's participation in the fifth summit was the most recent. The East Asian and European states have different views on the protection of their citizens and mutual respect in this matter is not easy to find. In this regard, there could be a role to play for civil society actors, especially non-governmental organizations (NGOs). However, the question is what role do they play now in the protection of human rights in South-East Asia, looking at the inclusion of the matter in the ASEM dialogue? And what role do states play in this respect and what is their interaction with these non-governmental organizations? The paper investigates possible answers to these questions by looking into the differences of opinion on human rights' issues between both regions, as well as in the context of the democratic developments in East Asia. Besides, the current role of NGOs in South-East Asia is considered, including differences with the role played by European organizations. Moreover, the case of Myanmar's participation in the ASEM's summits is taken as an example of the difficulty of including human rights in the ASEM process.

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