The Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Abstract

Norm-building has been one of the main preoccupations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since its creation in 1967. Since its formative years, Member States have held sacred its traditional norms – i.e. protection of State sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the principle of non-interference. However, in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis of 1997, which led to democratic transition in Indonesia and calls for political reforms in other parts of the region, the idea of a people-centred ASEAN emerged as key to transforming this regional organisation. In 2003, the Bali Concord II – also known as the ASEAN Community Framework – incorporated principles that give importance to the promotion of democracy, good governance and the rule of law among its Member States. Subsequently, the adoption and ratification of the ASEAN Charter and the creation of a regional human rights body in 2008 and 2009, respectively, became part of the process of norm-building within ASEAN. This chapter identifies the institutional frameworks of ASEAN that could be linked to the norm of Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) and attempts to examine the process and dynamics of norm-building and practice of human rights and civilian protection in the region. It argues that although ASEAN has not formally adopted the language of RtoP in its institutional frameworks and documents, it has nonetheless incorporated certain elements of the norm, particularly in the areas of human rights promotion, international humanitarian law, as well as principles related to conflict prevention and post-conflict rebuilding. ASEAN members have also ‘practised’ some elements of RtoP albeit unconsciously, as demonstrated in the case of Cyclone Nargis in 2008 and participation of some of its members in UN peacekeeping operations within and outside the region. This regional organisation clearly has a long way to go as far as capacity-building of its Member States in the preventive aspect of RtoP is concerned. Even so, ASEAN and the larger security framework of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) have a significant role to play in strengthening and implementing the norm in this part of the world.