PHUKET - Indonesia failed to get the support of the majority of the other ASEAN member-states in its bid to give more “teeth” to the ASEAN human rights body (AHRB).

Documents obtained by Abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak show that the terms of reference (TOR) for the regional human rights mechanism does not specify measures for the enforcement of its rights protection mandate, leaving it with no power to investigate human rights violations.

According to the report of the AHRB chair of the high-level panel (HLP), majority of the member-states believed that the current TOR already “embraces” elements of Indonesia ’s call for the body to have stronger protection powers.

“Most of us believed that the current draft TOR already embraces elements of those proposals, even though it does not explicitly say so,” the chair’s report stated.

The HLP is scheduled to endorse the draft TOR to the foreign ministers on Sunday.

However, the HLP noted that the body’s protection powers could still evolve. “We hope that the existing protection functions in the draft TOR shall be further developed to become a stronger mechanism,” the report stated.

The AHRB’s rights protection mandate –or the lack of it, as critics said – is one of the most ticklish issues in its creation, as the ASEAN reels from international criticism over its stand not to push for sanctions against Myanmar.

Myanmar took the heat from the international community after it put pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on trial for allegedly harboring American John William Yettaw in her home last May.

The junta reportedly opposed the strengthening of the AHRB’s rights protection powers in the HLP meeting in July 2008. Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win purportedly said that the human rights body should also observe ASEAN’s principle of non-interference.

In a press conference last Friday, ASEAN secretary-general Dr.Surin Pitsuwan said that “some member-states are emphasizing the promotion and protection of human rights,” while some are “satisfied with the rule of law.”

Vitavas Srivihuk, ASEAN director-general for ASEAN affairs, echoed this in a press conference on Saturday.

He stressed that there is a need to “strike a balance between protection and promotion powers,” adding that the AHRB should be developed “step-by-step.”