(Global Campus, 2018-10)
Vyas, Ravi Prakash; Siwakoti, Sachin
Abstract: With the human rights situation in the Asia-Pacific region
characterised by clashes resulting from religious and ethnic extremism,
challenges to free speech, and attacks on women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender persons, the year 2017 in the Asia Pacific remains unchanged from
previous years. Incidents ranged from the systematic curtailment of basic
freedoms and violent religious, ethnic, and gender-based conflict. Even though
most Asia-Pacific nations are democratic in nature, arbitrary anti-democratic
actions by government remain common. The major incidents that occurred
during 2017 were the ongoing Rohingya crisis in Myanmar and religious
extremism in countries such as Afghanistan, India and Malaysia. These setbacks
were to some extent offset by the ratification of core human right treaties by
countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. Regional organisations
such as ASEAN, SAARC, and PIF continue to avoid systematically protecting
international standards and following up on UN recommendations.
Key words: human rights; ASEAN; SAARC; Rohingya; extremism
