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Human Rights Charter is a people's charter. It is part of an attempt to create in Asia a popular culture on human rights. Thousands of people from various Asian countries participated in the debates during the three-year period of discussion on this document. In addition, more than 200 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) directly took part in the drafting process, and many other NGOs and people's organizations (POs) have endorsed the document. Several drafts of the document, including some translations, were published widely in newspaper, magazines and NGO newsletters. This final version of the charter was written by Prof. Yash Ghai under the direction of a committee of which he was a member consisting of Justices Krishna Iyer and P.N. Bhagwati, Prof. Kinhide Mushakoji, Mercedes V. Contreras, Lourdes Indai Sajor and Basil Fernando, Mark Daly and Sanjeewa Liyanage from the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). This charter is presented to deepen the Asian debate on human rights, to present the people's views on human rights as against those of some Asian leaders who claim that human rights are alien to Asia and to promote political, social and legal reforms for ensuring human rights in the countries of the region. While drawing from the cultural wells of the region, it also points to the need for cleaning these wells that have been polluted by millenniums of prejudice, discrimination, inequality and violence. |
