Team ABA

The Phnom Penh Post | The Cambodian Human Rights Committee issued an urgent appeal to UN and ASEAN agencies concerning unlawful barbed wire deployment and related actions by Thai armed forces. One of the appeal letters was sent to Edmund Bon Tai Soon, the Chair of AICHR.

Khmer Times | The Cambodian Human Rights Committee has called on the UN and ASEAN human rights bodies to urgently intervene following what its president described as “unlawful” incursions by the Royal Thai Armed Forces into Cambodian territory. A letter was sent to AICHR Chair Edmund Bon.

AICHR | The 6th Interface Meeting between AICHR and CSOs with a Consultative Relationship with AICHR allowed the sharing of insights, challenges, and good practices in promoting and protecting human rights in ASEAN. Parties also explored ways to enhance cooperation and reaffirmed the importance of sustained and meaningful engagement between AICHR and the CSOs.

Kompas | Bon menjelaskan, semasa kepimpinan Malaysia, AICHR menyasarkan untuk menghasilkan panduan penanganan konflik dan membina perdamaian. Kandungannya berupa langkah-langkah yang perlu diambil apabila berlaku konflik di rantau ini ataupun dalam negeri negara-negara anggota ASEAN.

Kementerian Luar Negeri Malaysia | AICHR akan menganjurkan tiga bengkel di Jakarta untuk membincangkan mekanisme pencegahan konflik dan pembinaan keamanan, kerangka dan pendekatan keamanan antarabangsa, serta perlindungan hak asasi manusia dalam situasi konflik.

ASEAN IPR | AICHR Chair Edmund Bon praised the “Advancing Gender-Responsive Conflict and Crisis Prevention in ASEAN” policy research report, calling it “the answer to a lot of questions”. He added that it contains a lot of really good recommendations, such as establishing a regional conflict and crisis prevention mechanism.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia | AICHR will convene three workshops in Jakarta to discuss mechanisms for conflict prevention and peacebuilding, international peace frameworks and approaches, and protecting human rights of all in conflict situations.

HDFF | Under Malaysia’s chairmanship and leadership of Edmund Bon, AICHR has proposed a roadmap for legally binding human rights conventions by 2030. But the region’s longstanding legal and political culture raises significant questions: Can ASEAN turn Southeast Asia’s ‘soft law’ human rights regime into a rules-based legal order? And if so, at what cost?

AICHR | On 1 July 2025, AICHR launched a report on its thematic study on the right to peace. On 2 July 2025, it conducted the “Building Peace — From Conflict Prevention to Sustainable Peace” workshop, the first in a series of six themed “Workshops on Intersection between Conflict and Human Rights: Pathways and Approaches to Peace in ASEAN”.

AICHR | AICHR held a regional consultation from 30 June to 1 July 2025 aimed at identifying best practices and challenges in promoting gender-responsive business conduct while exploring pathways towards an ASEAN approach on gender lens integration in business and human rights matters.

BFM | Edmund Bon, AICHR Chair and Representative of Malaysia to AICHR, shares an update on a proposed legally binding human rights resolution targeted for adoption within five years. He also discusses two key declarations on the environment and on peace that are expected to be adopted at the 47th ASEAN Summit.

AICHR | Participants at AICHR’s Regional Dialogue on Responsible Business and Migration in ASEAN encouraged the Commission to explore its role further in promoting responsible business conduct and labour standards in the context of migration.

Scoop | New ASEAN declarations on human rights, while not legally binding, are designed as powerful tools for legal advocacy that can be used in court, said AICHR Chair Edmund Bon. They serve a dual purpose, providing civil society groups with a “moral imperative” for advocacy while also giving lawyers a new standard to reference in legal arguments.

Free Malaysia Today | AICHR is set to propose that ASEAN adopt legally binding human rights instruments across Southeast Asia within the next five years. Edmund Bon, AICHR Chair and Representative of Malaysia to AICHR, said the move aims to address the absence of enforceable regional agreements comparable to the UN’s international human rights conventions.

AICHR | At the inaugural Interface Meeting between AICHR and New Zealand on 9 July 2025, potential areas of collaboration were discussed, particularly in capacity building, technical assistance, and knowledge-sharing on a wide range of human rights thematic areas, including gender equality, online safety, business and human rights, and effective access to remedies.

Scoop | AICHR chairman Edmund Bon said Malaysia has nothing to fear in signing the Rome Statute. The Representative of Malaysia to AICHR added that doing so would not undermine the position or powers of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or the Conference of Rulers.