| Regional inter-governmental human rights organizations have been in operation for sometime in Europe, the Americas and Africa. These regional human rights mechanisms have proven to be useful and effective in comparison to the global human rights mechanisms available at the United Nations. The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of establishing a regional inter-governmental human rights mechanism in East Asia, with a focus on the contributions of nongovernmental organizations' (NGOs) to such a development.; Chapter II examines such issues and concepts as functionalism, regional integration, interdependence, the global civil society, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), first, to determine whether and in what ways the theoretical literature can be helpful in understanding the absence thus far of a regional human rights organization in East Asia; second, to identify aspects of the theoretical literature that can be helpful in projecting future possible developments that might lead to the formation of an East Asian regional organization.; Chapter III makes clear that globalization has been the critical impetus for the establishment of regional human rights organizations and is very much in play as a key variable affecting current discussions in East Asia. A major focus of this section is an examination of the increasing global acceptance of the universality of human rights (as opposed to cultural relativism). The chapter also examines the development of international human rights treaties and the United Nations human rights mechanisms as well as the contributions of the United States and other major countries to the internationalization of human rights through diplomacy and development aid policies.; Chapter IV attempts to evaluate existing regional human rights mechanisms in terms of their institutional characteristics, strengths and limitations. This section includes an analysis of the current human rights situation in East Asia and an assessment of past initiatives (by the United Nations and NGOs) to set up regional human rights arrangements in other sub-regions of Asia. The concluding section explores the attitudes and activities of NGOs indigenous to East Asia, which could in the future be vital for establishing and maintaining an East Asian human rights organization. |
