The Manila Times, 25 Oct 2009
Southeast Asian leaders faced fierce criticism on Friday after they launched a widely derided human rights body and barred activists from a key meeting at a regional summit.
But the launch was marred by a row over the exclusion of rights activists from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines and Singapore who were meant to meet Asean leaders at Hua Hin to discuss the new watchdog.
“This is an outrageous development,” said Debbie Stothard of the independent Asean People’s Forum, which nominated the activists. “It is a rejection of civil society and of the democratic process by which they were selected.”
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