4.4 Asia-Pacific Initiatives

The honest opening: Asia has no comprehensive regional system — the world's largest region without a human rights court or charter. The reasons (the exam's list): the diversity (religions, systems, development levels); the sovereignty sensitivities (the ASEAN Way's non-interference); the Cold War's divisions; the "Asian values" debate (U7.1's territory). The initiatives that exist: ASEAN's Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR 2009) and the ASEANHuman Rights Declaration 2012 (the soft, state-led design — the civil-society critique); the AsiaPacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) — the NHRCs' network as the regional substitute; the OHCHR's regional offices; the stalled charter proposals (the Asian Human Rights Charter — the civil-society document).