Catherine Renshaw

Joining the Club: The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, the Paris Principles, and the Advancement of Human Rights Protection in the Region

The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) is a membership organisation of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) from across the Asia Pacific region. As at the end of 2008, there were 14 full members and three associate members. The underlying eligibility criterion for membership is compliance with the United Nations Principles Relating to the Status and Functions of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (the Paris Principles). Full membership is open to those NHRIs which comply with the Paris Principles, candidate membership is available to those which do not do not fully comply with them but which could do so within a reasonable period of time, and associate membership is available to those NHRIs which do not comply with the Paris Principles and are unlikely to do so within a reasonable period. This article explores the way in which APF membership criteria have been applied by the Forum in its assessment of applications for membership and for upgraded membership (and in its other activities), and considers whether this has resulted in greater compliance by potential and existing members of the APF with the Paris Principles. It examines the APFs activities in relation to its membership procedures within the framework of writing about transnational government networks as a form of international governance.

Testing the mettle of National Human Rights Institutions : a case study of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia

In April 2008, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) was informed of the possible downgrading of its ‘‘A’’ status within the UN system, due to its apparent failure to comply with the Paris Principles relating to the status of national human rights institutions. This article explores this threat to downgrade SUHAKAM and the actions which it stimulated on the part of the Malaysian government and SUHAKAM itself. It argues that despite expectations by government and civil society at the time of its establishment, SUHAKAM has directly challenged government on major human rights issues on a number of occasions. At the same time, it has had difficulty persuading government to give effect to its recommendations and has as a consequence drawn strong criticism from civil society for failing to protect human rights that are within the government’s power to rectify. In April 2008, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia—SUHAKAM) was informed by the Sub-Committee on Accreditation of the International Co-ordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC), that it was considering downgrading SUHAKAM from an ‘‘A’’ to a ‘‘B’’ status institution. The Sub-Committee gave * Research Fellow; Director, Project on National Human Rights Institutions in the Asia Pacific Region, Australian Human Rights Centre, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales. The research on which this article is based forms part of an Australian Research Council Linkage project between the Australian Human Rights Centre and the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (LPO776639). In July and August 2008, the authors conducted interviews with SUHAKAM commissioners, members of civil society, and government representatives, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. These interviews form part of the research presented in this article. We are grateful to Francesca Erts and Eleanor Bath for their assistance with the preparation of this article, to Jono Lusthaus for his research assistance in Sydney and Kuala Lumpur, and to Greg Heesom and Suraina Pasha for their comments on earlier drafts of this article. We are also grateful to Amanda Whiting who provided us with contacts in Malaysia. y Professor of Law; Chair, Australian Human Rights Centre, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales. z Associate Professor of Law; Director, Australian Human Rights Centre, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales.