2nd APF Regional Workshop, 1997

The second meeting of the APF brought together the six national human rights institutions in the region – Australia, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

The workshop, hosted by the National Human Rights Commission of India, was opened by the Prime Minister of India, Sri Inder Kumar Gujral.

The New Delhi meeting reaffirmed the commitment of APF members to the universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated nature of human rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments.

APF members also emphasised that no category of rights takes priority over another and that national institutions should take a broad approach to their work, giving attention to economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights.

As part of the 2nd Regional Workshop, the APF:

• welcomed the establishment of the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission and its membership of the APF
• identified the importance of developing human rights jurisprudence for the Asia Pacific region and agreed in principle to set up an international human rights law advisory panel
• condemned the practice of child sexual exploitation, undertook to collate and share information on relevant laws and practices and supported the proposed Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on child sexual exploitation
• requested the APF Secretariat to gather information on various models for receiving, investigating and resolving complaints, to assist APF members facing increasing case loads
• accepted the offer of the Indonesian Human Rights Commission to host the 3rd Regional Workshop in 1998.

Meeting papers

Program

Concluding Statement