Asia Pacific Forum
Encyclopedia
The Asia Pacific Forum is one of four regional networks of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) within the International Co-ordinating Committee
International Co-ordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions
The International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions, sometimes shortened to the International Coordinating Committee , is a global network of national human rights institutions - administrative bodies set up to promote, protect and monitor human rights in a given country...

 of NHRIs. The APF formerly accredited NHRIs for compliance with the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

' Paris Principles
Paris Principles
The Paris Principles were defined at the first International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights held in Paris on 7-9 October 1991. They were adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Commission by Resolution 1992/54 of 1992, and by the UN General...

, but now acknowledges the accreditation decisions of an ICC sub-committee on which the APF has one of the four (regional) seats.

The APF is unique among the four regional networks in having close working relations with non-governmental organisations in its region.

Members

The full members of the APF (as of 31 May 2010) are the following national institutions deemed to be fully compliant with the Paris Principles
Paris Principles
The Paris Principles were defined at the first International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights held in Paris on 7-9 October 1991. They were adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Commission by Resolution 1992/54 of 1992, and by the UN General...

:
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission
Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission
The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission is an Afghan organisation dedicated to the preservation of human rights and the investigation of human rights abuses....


Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

Australian Human Rights Commission

India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

National Human Rights Commission
National Human Rights Commission of India
The National Human Rights Commission of India is an autonomous statutory body established on 12 October 1993, under the provisions of The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 .-Functions:...


Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

National Human Rights Commission (KOMNAS-HAM)

Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

National Centre for Human Rights (Jordan)

Korea, Republic of
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

National Human Rights Commission of Korea
National Human Rights Commission of Korea
The National Human Rights Commission of the Republic of Korea was established on November 25, 2001 under the National Human Rights Commission Act. Fulfilling an election pledge of then-President and 2000 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kim Dae-Jung, the Commission was launched as an independent...


Malaysia
Human Rights Commission of Malaysia
Human Rights Commission of Malaysia
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia better known locally as Suhakam is a national human rights institution in Malaysia. It was established by the Malaysian Parliament using the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999, Act 597, with a mandate to promote human rights education, advise on...

 (SUHAKAM)

Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

National Human Rights Commission

Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

National Human Rights Commission
National Human Rights Commission (Nepal)
The National Human Rights Commission of Nepal was established as an independent body in 2000. The country has since displayed a poor record in human rights . During 2005, Sushil Pyakurel, an NHRC Commissioner, was barred from his monitoring work and left the country...


New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

New Zealand Human Rights Commission
New Zealand Human Rights Commission
The Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution in New Zealand. It is funded through the Ministry of Justice, but operates independently of the New Zealand Government...


Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizen's Rights

Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

Commission on Human Rights (Philippines)
Commission on Human Rights (Philippines)
The Commission on Human Rights is an independent office created by the Constitution of the Philippines, with the primary function of investigating all forms of human rights violations involving civil and political rights in the Philippines....


Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

National Committee for Human Rights (Qatar)

Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

National Human Rights Commission
National Human Rights Commission (Thailand)
The Thai National Human Rights Commission was established on July 13, 2001 as a national human rights institution. From its inception to May 31, 2005, it received a total of 2,148 complaints of which 1,309 had already been investigated, 559 were still in the process of investigation, and 209 were...


Timor Leste
Office of the Provedor for Human Rights and Justice (Timor Leste)


There are at present no candidate members, a category for NHRIs that are close to Paris Principles
Paris Principles
The Paris Principles were defined at the first International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights held in Paris on 7-9 October 1991. They were adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Commission by Resolution 1992/54 of 1992, and by the UN General...

 compliance.

There are two associate members, NHRIs not in compliance with the Principles:
Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...

Human Rights Commission of the Maldives

Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

National Human Rights Commission

Activities

Asia Pacific Forum also work for human rights of women and LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 person in relation to universal implement of human rights.

From 9 May to 3 June 2011, they held "Equal State and Human Rights of Women in Southeast Asia" sopported by "Raoul Wallenberg Institute" of Lund University
Lund University
Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...

 and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency is a government agency of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sida is responsible for organization of the bulk of Sweden's official development assistance to developing countries....

.

They also perform "Champain caals for respect, protection and acceptance" for LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 people and as part of campaign, which was officially launched on 17 May 2011, national human rights institution, civil society groups and human rights defenders are encouraged to;
  • learn more about the Yogyakarta Principles
    Yogyakarta Principles
    The Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity is a set of principles relating to sexual orientation and gender identity, intended to apply international human rights law standards to address the abuse of the...

     and the human rights issues confronting LGBT
    LGBT
    LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

     people across Asia.
  • introduce the campagn to individuals, communities and stakeholders.
  • take action to address violence
    Violence
    Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...

     and discrimination
    Discrimination
    Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...

     against LGBT people within their countries or community.

See also

  • International human rights law
    International human rights law
    International human rights law refers to the body of international law designed to promote and protect human rights at the international, regional and domestic levels...

  • International human rights instruments
    International human rights instruments
    International human rights instruments are treaties and other international documents relevant to international human rights law and the protection of human rights in general...

  • Yogyakarta Principles in Action
    Yogyakarta Principles in Action
    Yogyakarta Principles in Action is a movement for activists and human rights defenders to promote human rights, especially those of LGBTI around the Yogyakarta Principles, supported by ARC International, Hivos and Dreilinden Gesellschaft für gemeinnütziges Privatkapitel, Germany.They published the...

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