ABSTRACT
Governments are more likely to agree to effective machinery for supervision and implementation of human rights if treaties are adopted in a regional setting where cultural, legal and intellectual traditions are similar. Non-governmental human rights organizations in the region maintain close contact with international human rights groups such as Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists. Asian scholars have published perceptive reflections on the international human rights movement. Sub-regional organizations for economic and political cooperation, such as Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), could eventually lead to human rights institutional developments, but they must become organizations of democratic governments and more effective organs of cooperation before such developments are possible. “Asia” is not an homogenous entity that can be viewed as a single “region.” The term “Asia” covers an immensely complex and diverse number of states, communities, religions, languages and cultures.
