Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia | BHEUU, Wisma Putra, UN in Malaysia, and SUHAKAM jointly commemorated Human Rights Day with a forum with the theme, “Empowering Our Rights, Securing Our Future: Business Responsibility for People and Nation”. Edmund Bon contributed a video message as Malaysia’s representative to the AICHR.
Free Malaysia Today | An insurance agent, whose 37-year-old brother has been put on death row in Singapore for drug trafficking, submitted a memorandum to AICHR’s Malaysian representative Edmund Bon. Her brother had provided vital information to Singaporean authorities that led to arrests of suspects involved in drug syndicates but his contributions were dismissed.
The Edge Malaysia | The National Baseline Assessment (NBA) on Business and Human Rights in Malaysia called for the establishment of a Ministry of Human Rights and Justice to mainstream human rights issues in all government departments. The human rights portfolio only comes under a government agency, which is the Legal Affairs Division under the Prime Minister’s Office, which is short-staffed and under-resourced. The NBA offered 173 recommendations for both the government and businesses to better protect human rights.
AICHR | AICHR convened the Special Meeting 2/2024 of AICHR from 13 to 15 November 2024 in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, where human rights developments across the ASEAN region were discussed. The Meeting concluded with a handover ceremony of the AICHR Chairmanship from Lao PDR to Malaysia, represented by Edmund Bon.
Edmund Bon paid tribute to the late Ambassador Hla Myint of Myanmar, and highlighted how the unique nature and diverse membership of AICHR fosters new ways of doing things and are key elements of AICHR’s success in human rights diplomacy.
AICHR should conduct dialogues with relevant stakeholders as to post-conflict management, accountability and reconciliation in Myanmar, and any dialogue on the Five-Point Consensus needs to be conducted in a more inclusive and sustainable approach that will consider and realise the right to development of the affected people of Myanmar.
AICHR | The AICHR Regional Dialogue and Consultation on Advancing Development of Environmental Rights in ASEAN was convened at the ASEAN Headquarters. Participants reaffirmed the important link between the environment and full enjoyment of human rights protection.
Greenpeace Malaysia | Edmund Bon called on the environment ministry to champion the ASEAN Declaration of Environmental Rights, being negotiated over the past two years, as Malaysia chairs ASEAN next year. Environment minister Nik Nazmi agreed that the Declaration is a way for us to go beyond our borders to see what we can do, together as a region.
Free Malaysia Today | A technician’s son was allegedly duped by a drug trafficking syndicate when he went to Phnom Penh in 2016 before being arrested by police at a hotel there and sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined RM45,000. With SUARAM, the father handed a memorandum to AICHR’s Malaysian representative Edmund Bon. Bon said they will try to start bilateral discussions with Cambodia on options available.
Malaysiakini | Next year, Malaysia will take the helm of ASEAN. Newly appointed country representative to the AICHR, Edmund Bon, stressed the need for a more robust protection mechanism, one that would allow AICHR to investigate human rights abuses and receive formal complaints, and is capable of holding member states accountable for violations.
The ASEAN Human Rights Dialogue offers opportunities for Member States to be more transparent and frank in their discussions of human rights – as the key avenue for making stronger progress through normalizing talk of human rights and addressing issues.
While ESG is important, most of its measures are not couched in rights. Rights give rise to justiciable claims and empower victims and survivors to go to the courts. We need to take legal, policy, and administrative measures to incorporate human rights into our governance and laws. Human rights and environmental due diligence must be mandatory to protect vulnerable communities.
Oxford Law Blogs | DPRU Project Manager Daniel Cullen speaks to Edmund Bon, a Malaysian human rights lawyer, about his commitment to working on human rights issues, his experiences of representing clients in capital cases, the recent abolition of the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia and the potential barriers to the full abolition of capital punishment.
The Star | Malaysia’s representative to the AICHR, Edmund Bon Tai Soon, offered several suggestions on the measures that can be taken to commemorate World Humanitarian Day. He said the country should look into signing up to the International Criminal Court (ICC), make genocide and torture a crime under Malaysian law, and fully recognise the status of refugees.
Edmund extended his appreciation to the team of experts and everyone who contributed to the drafting of the National Baseline Assessment on Business and Human Rights in Malaysia. The report presented important recommendations: to mainstream human rights, to make human rights and environmental due diligence mandatory, and to better protect marginalised communities.
Speaking on geopolitical and geoeconomic megatrends in ASEAN, Edmund Bon cautioned that, while the economic “decoupling” between the West and China may offer opportunities to ASEAN, human rights including labour rights, environmental rights, right to information, and right to self-determination need to be at the forefront of economic development in the region. Only then can we say we have achieved an ASEAN Centrality that can adequately safeguard our peoples.
AICHR | The AICHR’s Special Meeting 1/2024 discussed the implementation of AICHR’s Priority Programmes/Activities — including business and human rights; the right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment; trafficking in persons; and implementation of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations — along with the Five-Year Work Plan of AICHR for 2026-2030.
A statement delivered by the Foreign Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad bin Hasan, about ways forward for the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).
Edmund Bon called on ASEAN’s foreign ministers and human rights experts to collectively rethink AICHR’s internal challenges and enhance AICHR’s institutional strength, by exploring new modalities that can effectively address regional human rights crises and make AICHR a force for change.
Malaysia has made strides in promoting and protecting human rights, including strengthening the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), continued engagement with UN human rights mechanisms, ratification of ILO’s Occupational Safety and Health Convention 1981, and improvements in addressing human trafficking.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia | BHEUU, Wisma Putra, UN in Malaysia, and SUHAKAM jointly commemorated Human Rights Day with a forum with the theme, “Empowering Our Rights, Securing Our Future: Business Responsibility for People and Nation”. Edmund Bon contributed a video message as Malaysia’s representative to the AICHR.
Free Malaysia Today | An insurance agent, whose 37-year-old brother has been put on death row in Singapore for drug trafficking, submitted a memorandum to AICHR’s Malaysian representative Edmund Bon. Her brother had provided vital information to Singaporean authorities that led to arrests of suspects involved in drug syndicates but his contributions were dismissed.
The Edge Malaysia | The National Baseline Assessment (NBA) on Business and Human Rights in Malaysia called for the establishment of a Ministry of Human Rights and Justice to mainstream human rights issues in all government departments. The human rights portfolio only comes under a government agency, which is the Legal Affairs Division under the Prime Minister’s Office, which is short-staffed and under-resourced. The NBA offered 173 recommendations for both the government and businesses to better protect human rights.
AICHR | AICHR convened the Special Meeting 2/2024 of AICHR from 13 to 15 November 2024 in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, where human rights developments across the ASEAN region were discussed. The Meeting concluded with a handover ceremony of the AICHR Chairmanship from Lao PDR to Malaysia, represented by Edmund Bon.
Edmund Bon paid tribute to the late Ambassador Hla Myint of Myanmar, and highlighted how the unique nature and diverse membership of AICHR fosters new ways of doing things and are key elements of AICHR’s success in human rights diplomacy.
AICHR should conduct dialogues with relevant stakeholders as to post-conflict management, accountability and reconciliation in Myanmar, and any dialogue on the Five-Point Consensus needs to be conducted in a more inclusive and sustainable approach that will consider and realise the right to development of the affected people of Myanmar.
AICHR | The AICHR Regional Dialogue and Consultation on Advancing Development of Environmental Rights in ASEAN was convened at the ASEAN Headquarters. Participants reaffirmed the important link between the environment and full enjoyment of human rights protection.
Greenpeace Malaysia | Edmund Bon called on the environment ministry to champion the ASEAN Declaration of Environmental Rights, being negotiated over the past two years, as Malaysia chairs ASEAN next year. Environment minister Nik Nazmi agreed that the Declaration is a way for us to go beyond our borders to see what we can do, together as a region.
Free Malaysia Today | A technician’s son was allegedly duped by a drug trafficking syndicate when he went to Phnom Penh in 2016 before being arrested by police at a hotel there and sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined RM45,000. With SUARAM, the father handed a memorandum to AICHR’s Malaysian representative Edmund Bon. Bon said they will try to start bilateral discussions with Cambodia on options available.
Malaysiakini | Next year, Malaysia will take the helm of ASEAN. Newly appointed country representative to the AICHR, Edmund Bon, stressed the need for a more robust protection mechanism, one that would allow AICHR to investigate human rights abuses and receive formal complaints, and is capable of holding member states accountable for violations.
The ASEAN Human Rights Dialogue offers opportunities for Member States to be more transparent and frank in their discussions of human rights – as the key avenue for making stronger progress through normalizing talk of human rights and addressing issues.
While ESG is important, most of its measures are not couched in rights. Rights give rise to justiciable claims and empower victims and survivors to go to the courts. We need to take legal, policy, and administrative measures to incorporate human rights into our governance and laws. Human rights and environmental due diligence must be mandatory to protect vulnerable communities.
Oxford Law Blogs | DPRU Project Manager Daniel Cullen speaks to Edmund Bon, a Malaysian human rights lawyer, about his commitment to working on human rights issues, his experiences of representing clients in capital cases, the recent abolition of the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia and the potential barriers to the full abolition of capital punishment.
The Star | Malaysia’s representative to the AICHR, Edmund Bon Tai Soon, offered several suggestions on the measures that can be taken to commemorate World Humanitarian Day. He said the country should look into signing up to the International Criminal Court (ICC), make genocide and torture a crime under Malaysian law, and fully recognise the status of refugees.
Edmund extended his appreciation to the team of experts and everyone who contributed to the drafting of the National Baseline Assessment on Business and Human Rights in Malaysia. The report presented important recommendations: to mainstream human rights, to make human rights and environmental due diligence mandatory, and to better protect marginalised communities.
Speaking on geopolitical and geoeconomic megatrends in ASEAN, Edmund Bon cautioned that, while the economic “decoupling” between the West and China may offer opportunities to ASEAN, human rights including labour rights, environmental rights, right to information, and right to self-determination need to be at the forefront of economic development in the region. Only then can we say we have achieved an ASEAN Centrality that can adequately safeguard our peoples.
AICHR | The AICHR’s Special Meeting 1/2024 discussed the implementation of AICHR’s Priority Programmes/Activities — including business and human rights; the right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment; trafficking in persons; and implementation of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations — along with the Five-Year Work Plan of AICHR for 2026-2030.
A statement delivered by the Foreign Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad bin Hasan, about ways forward for the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).
Edmund Bon called on ASEAN’s foreign ministers and human rights experts to collectively rethink AICHR’s internal challenges and enhance AICHR’s institutional strength, by exploring new modalities that can effectively address regional human rights crises and make AICHR a force for change.
Malaysia has made strides in promoting and protecting human rights, including strengthening the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), continued engagement with UN human rights mechanisms, ratification of ILO’s Occupational Safety and Health Convention 1981, and improvements in addressing human trafficking.
